Soccer Again

The kids started soccer yesterday and this year Emma gets to play too!

 Luke even got to practice a bit.

 Josh is still too little to be on a team, but maybe we can sign him up when he's old enough. Still a sweet picture, though.

  "I'm sorry, was that 'Listen to the coach' or 'Strike a Pose'?"

Boys being boys

The mud in the garden? TONS of fun! The cleanup afterward? Not so much.

Should I be worried that his mouth is only clean where his tongue can reach? 

Super (muddy) Levi! Well, that shirt was white...

Not-so-professional Lagoon Pics 2012

Emma waited in line with her brothers for the car ride, only to find out that she was too tall. She beat the ride's 54 inch height cap by one inch. against all the other rides measurements, she was only 53 inches. She did try the spider with me and LOVED it. We also got to watch some baby racoons playing in the trees and chew on bark while we waited for The Spider. I really wished I had my camera (and a much longer lens) with me while we watched. Erin had it with the boys while they rode their rides.

Found out this year that Luke is NOT a fan of ANY rides.

Emma's First Solo Skyride. She did great behaving herself and seemed to enjoy it.

 

We were waiting in line for Kontiki in kiddieland. Luke was okay until I pulled the lap bar down and he realised what was happening. I guess he was having flashbacks to the boats. Hopefully next year will be better.

The white spots are not rain, snow, or a dirty lens. They are gnats and flies. After I took this picture, the population (and density) probably quadrupled and they started dive-bombing people people. NAS. TY.

Lagoon Professional Pics 2012

The one I picked:

The others:

Memorial Day Pics

I guess my camera's on its way out. Maybe if I take it in for a cleaning and tuneup they can improve the focus and shutter speed.

Levi being blurry is pretty apropriate, if frustrating. He never holds still. Ever.

It's a Boy

So we didn't have the baby yet, but Erin's Ultrasound last week told us it's a boy! He's healthy and developing well and we'll name him Thomas Aaron Nielson. He's due Sept 15th, 2012, which is the day before Josh's fourth Birthday.

That makes the grandkid count now 18 boys to 11 girls, counting Foster Sister Amber's daughter Jorgia.

Goodbye, Mom and Dad

Yesterday Mom and Dad spoke in church, then all 40-something of us (except amber and her family) crammed into the house for food and then saw them set apart as full time missionaries. I shot the group shot below, Presley shot the two-generation shot, and Marci shot a whole bunch of candids, some of which I've posted below. We'll miss you, Mom and Dad but I know you'll be great missionaries for The Lord and his church.