Fern is 2

Well lots has been going on lately. Friday was Ferny's 2nd Birthday, but Mom and Dad Nelson couldn't get here till Saturday so we had her celebration then. It was pretty fun. We had lunch then we opened presents. She really loved the things that she got. She got a stuffed kitty from Lyn a really nice Suzy's Zoo book made by Grandma Tidwell. Grandma Nelson got her a cook set. As a family we got Fern a trike just like Henry's. Lately she has been trying to take his and ride it, so when she saw hers it was really fun to see.

After the celebration we decided to go to west Discovery Park which is north west of Seattle, We hiked out to he Puget sound where we spent quite a while playing and talking. Henry and Micah had a good time continuing construction on a driftwood 'fort'. The rest of us just sat on the beach and watched the afternoon go by. We could see Mt. Rainier from where we were at 90 miles away. Keep in mind that Rainier is 14,410 tall and we were at sea level. By comparison Mt. Timpanogos in Utah is about 9,000 feet tall but the view point on the valley floor is about 4,000. so net height is 5,000 feet vs. 14,410 feet! Every time I see it, It thrills me. I hope to one day summit it. We shall see. On a side note the BYU Cougars beat the UW Huskies in a very close and intense game. I'm not really into sports but I'm always happy to see my alma mater win, especially up here. After we got back from the beach we stopped and had dinner at our favorite place to eat: Chipotle. It was fantastic. We had dinner outside in the cool evening. It's times like these that I really love Seattle.
Sunday we received a surprise visit from Lyn's Bro Tad. He decide to come up for the game. It was a very pleasant visit yet all together too short. We wish that more people would come up and visit us. Although we miss everybody we love living her and can't imagine living anywhere else. Seattle is truly our home, It's where we fit in.
Oh, And I forgot that my younger Bro. Logan just had their 3 child Davis Logan Nelson on Sunday. He was 9lbs 11 oz. We are excited to have a 2nd male in he family, alhtough Grandpa cannot call Henry "his Favorite Grandson" anymore.

Wow--summer is going by so quick! We have been quite busy lately (as always). Caleb is working long days--leaving around 6am and coming back around 6pm. He enjoys what he is doing, but is quite worn out as there is always more stuff to accomplish than there is time. We hope that means there will be a reprieve in the fall/winter season!
The kids are busy playing and reading books and generally being their silly selves. Henry has his entourage of stuffed animals (penguin, little penguin, beaver, dog, prairie dog) and Fern has Coca, her baby doll (at least that is how I spell it--she named it!) and her rabbit and bear. For the most part they like to play together and when you hear giggling from both of them, you know it's time to find out what is up!

We had record-breaking heat in the Seattle area, so we decided to go to the WA beach. Little did we know that 90 degrees in Seattle translated to 60 degrees at the beach, along with rain! We did find a pocket of sunshine for an afternoon and were able to find some sweatshirts for the cold wet evening...(we were not prepared for the weather...once again, we learned that in WA you need to be prepared for ANY weather...rain, heat, wind, etc.) We saw some cool pelicans--i couldn't stop taking pictures of them!
And after the beach...the kids were kind of tired :)

On Saturday we went to the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe. Why is it that there are so many "state fair"s? Anyway, we had a fun time looking at the animals, riding a couple of rides and eating cotton candy. Henry decided that he is not quite ready for roller coasters (luckily the ride operator observed this was the case after about 3 times around the small track and also gave our tickets back). In contrast, Henry really did enjoy the motorcycle ride. He wanted to know if we could disconnect the motorcycle so that he could ride it home.
OK, the kids are waking up now, so I've got to go and get breakfast ready and get on with the day :)

Backpacking...yep, we all went

So, we decided that we needed to have time spent in the mountains, So we got the packs and headed for the hills. This was Fern's first and Henry's second overnight backpacking trip, and our first family backpacking overnight trip. Henry carried dinner, Lyn carried Fern, diapers, a sleeping bag and sleeping pad, and Caleb carried all the rest of the stuff. (Lucky dad carrying all the water too...) Anyway, it only took us 1 1/2 hours hiking time to get to the lake and it was beautiful and quiet. We had our pick of campsites and here is the one we got--doesn't it look nice? Don't you want to come here now? It even had a toilet...(well, it was only a hole in the ground with a wooden box on top, but I was glad for anything...)

Fern and Henry had a blast running down the trail around the lake and exploring. Fern wants to do EVERYTHING that Henry does. Henry is a regular mountain goat--he is very nimble on his feet running down the trail.
Doesn't this tree look like a whale? Henry thought so.
We got to see several chipmunks, squirrels, frogs, slugs, and fish jumping in the lake (only the fish and the frog were jumping in the lake...) After we ate our dinner and were sitting by the fire, we noticed one of our wrappers moving across the ground--just some friendly little hungry mice...needless to say, we cleaned up our site pretty thoroughly of food before going to bed and tied up all the food in a bag and hung it from a nearby tree--can't be too safe with bears around....

Henry was very sweet holding Fern's hand--what a good brother.
And this is Fern after the camping trip--do you think a little girl could get any dirtier?!!! The kids sure had a fun time--and got incredibly dirty.
Henry, Fern and Lyn went to see the Blue Angels in Seattle. Henry was very excited and enjoyed the loud engines, smoke trails and fly bys. Fern tolerated it all, but was content to just sit in my lap and have me hold her ears. I asked her a couple of times if she wanted to look up and see the planes, but she shook her head no and nestled back in my lap. This picture is really interesting if you notice what is right in the center of it--look closely...
It's a bumblebee! Not sure how he perfectly swooped into this shot, but he did! Cool picture, huh?

So, that's what we've been up to the last couple of weeks. Hopefully the sun stays out long enough this summer to turn our tomatoes red--we've had about 3 weeks of summer so far and it's August... This next week is supposed to be up in the high 70s and low 80s, so I'm excited for sunshine!!!

Caleb is still working crazy hours, making good sales and turning out really good designs--check out his link on the side (Caleb's portfolio).

Oops! It is already 9:40pm and past bedtime! (When you wake up at 5:30am--9:30pm is about the latest you should go to bed...) More later :)

Fun Times

Well as the title says we have been having some fun times. Life is truly good. Anyone who has experienced a summer in the Pacific Northwest knows how truly beautiful it can be. Sunny and 75 is the norm. Blues sky's and a light breeze, not too hot, not too cold, Awesome! Our back yard is a paradise. It is nice and shady. We have a nice deck, and lawn, and a hammock, and clothes lines, and a hiking trail. it is one of the reasons I can't see moving.
Lyn and the kids have been doing some neat stuff. I miss them sometimes. Sometimes it sucks to be a dad and have to work all the time knowing that your kids are making memories that don's have you in them. But I have a really great boss who tells me to take some time every once in a while to go do something with them, I usually work 10-12 hr days, but one day a week I work only an 7-8 hr day and I go and do something with them. One day Lyn and the gang went to pick berries. They went to the lake one hot day with lyns best friend Laura. We also went to the lake as a family. Saturday though was a fun day for me. We spent the morning at the garden, it was a gorgeous morning and we got alot done. Corn is doing well but my tomatoes aren't. I don't know... It has been a very cool summer. After the garden Lyn took me on a date. (much thanks in part to our friend Gary) We went to see the movie 'Get Smart'. Wow, I haven't laughed that hard in years. quite a funny movie. It was non-stop funny from beginning to end. At one part I though that I was going to pass out because I couldn't breathe from laughing so much. After the movie we went to a very expensive Italian restaurant. (30$/ plate) and we got take out with the bill coming to $15 for the 2 of us to eat! Lyn is so thrifty. We took our dinner over to a beautiful park and had dinner on the lawn. I feel that my life could not get any better at this point. It is as rich and full as I could realistically expect, and maybe more. [I mean, I do still have to go to work :) ]
I just put my bro Riley on the plane to Alaska, I will miss him, although it's just like having him at school. I hope that when he graduates that he will be able to live near me, so we can have more fun. Any how Till next week or so. Love Caleb and Fam.

Super-Mega-Blog

Ok, Here it is. I know... It's about time! But we have been very busy. We have had a lot of great adventures as of late. So first of all Henry and myself went camping at the church Fathers and Sons camp out. We had a great time. Camping is Henry's and my favorite thing to do. As you can see we took the new Troop. Then Lyn and the kids went to Utah to visit with her family. (ditching me... sniff) The were there for 7 days. The kids played with their cousins until they dropped... literally. The weather was hot and they got to play in the sun alot. That was nice for them because it has been chilly up here in WA, in fact it has been THE coolest spring since 1891. I'm thinking about moving to CA. ! While they were there they went to a parade, several museums, a farm, and hung out at Grandma Tidwell's house. I know that Lyn also had a nice time visiting with her sisters and parents. They did their usual 'Sisters Dinner' (when I get to go we have 'Brothers Movie')
Then when they returned we had a nice week together before Grandma Nelson took the children over to her house for Lyn and I's anniversary (June 26th) Lyn and I drove up to Anacortes, WA taking our Mtn Bikes and rode them onto the ferry headed to the San Juan Islands.We used the kiddie trailer to hold a tent, clothes, food and our sleeping bags. When we got off on the Island of San Juan [Friday Harbor], we asked around for directions on how to get to the west side of the island where I knew we could find a campground. It was and 8.5 mile ride to get there. Lyn started off a bit timid as the road gently climbed a gentle slope, then as she got warmed up the road turned steeply downhill and we had a thrill as we bombed the hill. That night we had dinner on the beach as we watched the sunset. In camp we saw a red fox trot thru the next campsite. When we got up the next morning we learned that a Sea Kayak tour left from that beach and went off in search for Orca Whales. (aka Killer Whales) . We decided to take the 6hr tour. We kayaked 13 miles, but never saw an Orca. We did see some Harbor Seals and ate some seaweed! and enjoyed a day on the water. Not to mention the fantastic arm workout...! We were planning on riding our bikes the 4 miles into Roche Harbor after ward but we were too tired so we hitched a ride with e campground manager. We got showers at the marina, as there were none at the camp. Then we had a nice little dinner and toured the town. The next day we decided to take the long way back to Friday Harbor. It was a 12 mile ride with gentle hills. We enjoyed to sweeping country vistas. We had a nice lunch while waiting for the ferry. We took an early ferry that took us around some of the islands and stopped at Orcas Island. There we had some ice cream before we took the ferry back to Anacortes. We had a great little adventure, all while on bikes. When we got to Anacortes we got a nice hotel room and had showers and went out for a nice dinner. A bed sure feels good after sleeping on a sleeping pad. It was very kind of Mom Nelson to take the kids for a few days. It was nice to be able to be just Lyn and I, and have adventures like we used to. Thanks.

Well I have been gnarly busy. I have had 2 project running simultaneously. One a $20k and the other a $27k. I have been nearly crazy trying to project manage these. But in the end they turned out nice. The one with the waterfall is perhaps the nicest I've ever done. both yards were basically erased and started fresh. The oval yard we literally bulldozed it to start anew. Believe it or not the oval pics are both taken from nearly the same vantage point.

Well we had a nice 4th also. We had a ward breakfast and kiddie parade. Lyn and I decorated the kids trikes. It was alot of fun to see. Henry loved zooming laps around the church with the other children. Fern just thought it was great to watch. In the second pic you can see fern's little accident from Wednesday night. Two little monkeys jumping on the bed one fell into the headboard and broke her head. Momma called the doctor and the doctor said "take your little monkey to the emergency room for stitches"! Luckily Fern got to try skin glue instead of stitches. So far it seems to be working. After the ward breakfast we went to the company BBQ and spent the day hangiong out with all my friends. As you can see life is full and rich. We feel very blessed to have such great families and each other, and each of you. I will try to keep up on the blog more regularly [and avoid Hate mail ;) ]
Well till next time, love, The Nelsons

And now, for something completely different...

This weeks Blog is a literary piece that I read in a design magazine. I really liked its style and I like the subject. It is just kind of odd, but fun reading.

"When at cocktail parties, the conversation turns from the fleeting news of the day to the subject of sublime beauty, I often find myself smiling, for soon, I will speak of mulch. Although I like all kinds of mulch-pine needles, straw, leaves, shredded tires- I think most highly of double-ground hard-wood mulch. Hardwood mulch is humble, which is ironic because it come from trees, and trees are quite proud. In fact trees make fun of mulch as they flail about dramatically in the breeze. Trees can be such jackasses.
But trees fall down, and then who’s laughing? A fallen tree is no longer quite a tree: It’s a disappointed, tree-shaped collection of wood that’s suddenly out of options. Not quite ready to be dirt just yet, it makes a last-minute, desperate deal with the earth: Grant me a couple more years before you take me back completely. I’ll sacrifice myself to the cause and perform many beneficial tasks in return. I’ll keep you tidy and free of weeds. I’ll control erosion and keep you moist. I’ll stop being a jackass.
Like the lone survivor of an airplane crash, hardwood mulch finds priority-shifting energy in its new life. Pride eroded, it learns to suck it up and get to work. Like Ernest Borgnine, it sets up the drama so that others can shine. We can learn much from mulch, just as we can learn much from Ernest Borgnine. We should honor and respect mulch, for we too shall one day fall down. We should buy large quantities of it, fall to our hands and knees and spread it around with great care and heartfelt words of thanks. Later when the subject of sublime beauty comes up at cocktail parties, we should smile knowingly. Embracing our inner Borgnine, we should stand up straight, limbs outstretched, and start taking the conversation down a notch."

-Dan Magnin, Dwell 4/08-

Everything else is going well. I love being a designer/Prject Mgr. Next wekk I start my largest project to date. It is 14 days and $26k worth of work. I will put up some pics later.
* Henry Update- He now likes to eat brocolli too. He aets about everything we ask him too. We keep thinking "Who is this Kid?" Can't complain.
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