Turkey Day is Coming

Hola Hermana Nielsen,
 
We are a little slow getting our letters out to you today.  I appoligize for that.  Last week was a blur.  I had a big report due on Friday and that is what I was working on all week.  It has been real cold here in the mornings and Saturday, it rained almost all day.  Chelsea and Brian drove up from New Mexico for Thanksgiving and I was worried about the roads but they got to Elko about 7:30 pm.  I guess the roads were pretty good for the most part.  Amber will come home on Tuesday.  It will be great to have the entire family together for thanksgiving.
 
Cody had basketball tryouts on Monday and Tuesday.  And he made the team.  They have 9 seniors on the team with the fab five and 14 total.  He likes bball but does not like Klekas much.
 
He dreads the practices as all they do is run.  He wants to work on his skills more.  Summer played her 1st games in bball for Adobe.  She did not play at all the 1st game and her team beat Owyhee.  In the 2nd game she started and made her 1st basket and missed a couple more shots, but early in the first half, she jumped up and came down on someones foot and sprained her ankle.  So it is all swollen and she is hoping around.  She is disappointed.  Hopefully, it will heal quickly.
 
There was a nice letter to the editor from one of the Moapa Valley parents telling the Elko team and parents that they were 1st class and all acted in dignity.  Her son only had one arm and caught a 42 yard pass and she was impressed that many of the Elko fans clapped and cheared.  I did not even realize that he only had one arm.  So I wasn't clapping.  It was a touching article.
 
We had a good Sunday yesterday.  We had a guy over for dinner who just got baptized 3 weeks ago and another family who Brian and Chelsea knew and were good friends at BYU who now live in our ward.  It was a fun day and great Sabboth.
 
Well we love you and are happy you are having miracles with your teaching.  It is amazing how the Lords provides the way for those who are ready and searching.  I had to teach part of the 5th sunday discussion yesterday in church on the retention of new converts.  But I was the last speaker and did not have much time.
 
Have a great week.  We are very grateful that you are serving a mission and preaching the Lord's gospel.  Our family has been extremely blessed.  Always be thankful for all you have.
 
Love,
 
DAD
 

Moapa 40 - Elko 7 :(

Querida Hermana Nielsen,
 
Well as mom told you we lost the big semi finals game in football.  I was so pumped up for the big game, I could hardly sleep Friday night.  I really liked our chances as I thought we matched up really well with them on paper size wise.  But they executed their offense alot better than we did.  They were very precise and did everything well.  Our offensive play calling has to change and mix things up if we every want to win it all.  We can't run the same plays over and over.  We needed Jason Wilson's dad out there calling the plays with misdirection, etc.  But it was a good season and a great year for Cody and the team.  Cody played really well.  He was fired up as well, but had nothing to give in the 4th quarter.  He was spent.  I felt the game was alot closer than the score indicated.  We lost 40-7.  But we were inside their 20 yard line, 3 times and came away with no points.  Near the end of the first half, they were up 14-0 and we were inside the 10 yard line ready to score.  If we score and go into half 14-7, I liked our chances.  But we turned the ball over on downs and they threw an 80 yard pass with less than a minute left and scored a touch down right at the end of the 1st half.  So instead of it being 14-7, it was 21-0.  And that took the wind out of our sails.  Our defense was on the field almost the entire game and the offense was 3 plays and out.
 
One of Cody's coaches asked him if he was going to go play at the next level.  But we do not do a very good job of exposing our players.  I think a BYU option after his mission is the best option.
 
Adelaide was funny this morning.  She does everything she sees her mom do.  This morning she was "getting ready for the day" combing her hair, etc. and I asked her, guess who's birthday is this Saturday?  And she did not know, so I told her it was Cody's.  She asked how old is was going to be and I said 18.   And she said, "Cody has not found the girl he is going to marry yet.  But I have, but we are just going to be friends since we are so young.  That's what you want us to do, huh?"  I guess she thinks she has found the person she is going to marry.  It snowed earlier this week and Addie was out building a snow man and could not get the head on top of the snow man.  So she told mom, "mom, can you help me, I'm struggling trying to get the head on" my snow man.  She talks so grown up.
 
These past few days, it has gotten very cold.  Coming home from Ely, yesterday, it was -7 degrees.  The highs are barely above freezing and it is getting down around 0 at night.
 
We also went to Carly's and Summer's parent teacher's conference this past week.  Summer is getting all A's except 1 B.  And Carly is getting good grades and her teacher, Mrs. Powers said Carly is the perfect student.  So they are all doing well.  Cody is really putting in the effort on his grades as well and getting good grades.
 
Well we had stake conference yesterday and it was really good.  We hope you have a great week.  Keep learning that Argentinian spanish.  Tell your argentine companion, "Che vos, que te pasa?"  They call everyone che.
 
Keep working hard, the days are going by too fast.  We love you and pray for you every day.  That was a neat little tender mercy with the dress and Grandma Nielsen.  I am sure those 2 are watching over you and cheering you on every day.  They were always so very interested in their missionaries.
 
Have a super week.
 
Love,
 
Dad

Semi-Finals

Hola querida hermana Nielsen,
 
How is every thing going?  This past week again passed by very quickly.  As mom said, Cody passed his Eagle scout board of review, so now he has completed everything but the dancing.  (2 weeks before his 18th b-day, nothing like waiting for the last moment).  But it will be good to have and a great accomplishment.  Now he can concentrate on a football state championship.  As mom said, we played Fernley here on Friday, and Fernley is a good team.  He had to go up against a 6'7" 275 pound kid.   That kid kept complaining that Cody was punching him in the gut the entire game.  After the game, he told Cody, you were punching me in the gut the entire game and Cody told him, that he only came up to his belly, so that is all he could block.  Elko played well.  We should have shut them out, they had a long pass play in the 2nd half that got them into scoring position.  We also got inside the 10 yard line 3 times and could not score.  We need to improve on that to win state.  Cody had a quiet game.  He had 16 tackles against Spring Creek and got defensive player of the week, and he said they were double teaming him all game long against Fernley.  So he hopes Moapa watches that film and over looks him.  Mom told you we play Moapa Valley, and coach Sellers told Cody that they are all Mormon down there and that the town paints their barns and gets into the football season.  So it should be a fun game.  I think we will match up great again them.  Cody hopes they keep playing in football so he can miss the basketball tryouts.  That starts a week from today.  He is not looking forward to Klekas and the bball year.
 
I was trying to get Summers deer all cut up last week.  It is mostly done now, just some little clean up work.  I worked on it all day on Saturday.  The Elko girls and boys soccer team did not make it to the playoffs.  Spring Creek girls made it and lost to Truckee in the 1st round.  Elko boys and girls cross country teams took 3rd place each at state.  The spring creek boys team won state, with their highest kid only placing 12th.  But their entire team were only 37 seconds separating them all.  So they got lots of middle points.  The elko volleyball team won the district tournament, so now they are going to state this weekend as the number 1 team from the north.
 
I saw the Woo (sp??) from Spring Creek, the one you went to EFY with, and she just got home from her mission to Guatamala.  She said she loved it.  Also, some Knight boy from Spring Creek got home about 6 months ago from El salvador was in my office last week.  Lots of spanish speakers.  They asked me to speak in the spanish branch on Nov. 30th.  We have stake conference this weekend, but we might miss most of it as we will be traveling home from the football game. 
 
We are having really nice weather.  It warmed back up and it gets into the low 60's during the day, which is really nice for November.
 
Well I can't think of too much more to say.  We love you and pray for you daily.  Keep working hard and the time goes by extremely fast.  There is no other time in your life that you can dedicate 100% of your time to the Lord.  Take advantage of it and love every minute of it.  It always ends too fast.
 
So do you have an Argentine companion now?  If you do you will need to tell her hola, and have her teach you some argentine spanish.  I would love to hear her argentine accent if you two are still together during the Christmas skype conversation.
 
Have a super week!!
 
Love
 
Dad

It feels like winter has arrived

Querida Hermana Nielsen,

I think our nice weather is over.  It got cold on Sat. and snowed in the mountains.  I guess it is suppose to get a in the low 60's later in the week.

We had a good busy week.  I had my accounting class on Monday so that is always a long day.  Getting home around 10 pm and starting my day at 5 am.

On Wed. we had our truck or treat combined with the elko 4th ward.  There were alot of people there.  We all ate chile after the treating.  It was good to associate with the members of the 4th ward.  Then on Thursday night, Elko played Spring Creek in Football for the final game of the season.  It was a very exciting and interesting game.  We got the opening kick off and marched down the field and had first and goal inside the 10, but we could not score.  We went for it on forth down and did not score a touch down. Spring Creek got the ball and moved down the field.  On one play the runner was stopped and we stripped the ball out and it landed in front of a spring creek player who ran it about 40 yards, which was a lucky play.  But they scored a touch down, went for 2 point conversion and made it, so it was 8-0 for spring creek.  Spring creek kicked off and we ran it back to the 45 yard line.  And on our first snap, we fumbled it and gave it back to spring creek.  From here it went back and forth and Elko eventually scored to make it 8-7 at half time.  Cody had a big sack on the SC quarterback and caused him to fumble, but SC recovered it.  That him changed the momentum in Elko's favor.  In the 2nd half, SC scored again and went up 15-7.  Elko eventually scored again I believe in the 4th quarter, and went for 2 and made it, so the game was tied.  We about 4 minutes to go in the game.  Elko was driving the ball down the field.  They came up with a 3 and 15 and they went to the wild cat, where they but their big boys on the offensive line and put Benton, Cody and Jordan Walters in the backfield, (the big power backs) and they gave the ball to Cody and he busted it to the out side and out ran a couple of players and ran over another and made 19 yards for the 1st down.  It was a great run.  So we kept the drive alive, and got down to the 8 yard line with 2:58  to go in the game.  Cody was back in the Wildcat position and I know he was going to score a touchdown and not be denied.  However, they hiked the ball to him and he took his eyes off it to look where he was going to go, and it went threw his hands and hit his shoulder pads and he went to catch it again and the SC player hit him and he fumbled the ball.  A SC player picked up the fumble and ran it back for a touch down with 2:45 to play in the game and now SC led 22-15.  They kicked off to us and we marched down the field and scored in 45 seconds and we went for 2 points and made it and we went ahead for the 1st time in the game 23-22.  And we ended up holding them and winning the game.  Cody was lucky, I did not want him to have to remember losing the game to his rivals his senior year and having to remember that for the rest of his life.  I told him afterwards, he needed to thank his team for bailing him out and he said he already had.  IT was a good exciting game that lived up to the big rivalry.

Friday was Nevada day, so Summer, cody and I went deer hunting for summer's deer.  We did not leave very early, we got a late start and it was 8 in the morning before we got to the area we wanted to hunt in area 7, northeast of wells, NV.  So we started hunting and were following a bunch a tracks.  Elk and deer.  It was in the area where we were hunting elk for Cody. But it was a very enjoyable hiked, nothing steep, just rolling hills.  We could have walked all day.  We got to this big canyon and we were going to have Cody walk down the middle and summer and I up top so we could see the game moving.  We were getting our walkie talkie radios ready and talking, and I looked at Summer and she all of a sudden got very interested in something down the mountain.  She took a couple a steps down, but did not day a word.  I asked her, Summer, do you see something, and she shakes her head yes.  So Cody goes over there and he sees something moving.  I look in the Binos and it is a doe and a fawn.  But she told Cody she saw one with horns.  But we could not see any thing and it was in thick juniper trees.  So I said shoot the doe.  And we fumbled around for about 5 minutes trying to get her situated and have her find the doe in the scope.  She has to shoot left handed as she can't close her left eye by itself.  The doe just stood there and looked at us.  We did not know if the gun was sited in or not, so I thought it would be good for her to take a chance.  She shot and dropped it.  So she is 1 for 1.  It was a nice big doe.  We did see the buck run off after she shot the doe, but we would have never been able to get a shot off as it took so long for her to get set up.  Cody carried the doe back to the truck on his shoulders.  We shot her at noon and was back home about 3:30 pm.  It was a very fun and enjoyable hunt.  I found a real indian arrow head made out of flint on the trail on the way back.

Sat. I had scout meetings at the church and watch some football.  It was very cold and wendy and a nice day to be inside.

Well we hope you have a great week.  We love you and pray for you daily.  We did get your package with the letters, thank you very much.  Cody and I love the ties.

Love

Dad