So Much To Be Thankful For

Hola Hermana,

We had a wonderful week this past week.  Chelsea and Brian were here and Amber came home on Wednesday.  We just stayed home and enjoyed each others company.  We did not go shopping or hit any of the big sales.  We really enjoyed our time together.  Brian cooked the turkey and it was really good.  Addie about ate it all before we sat down and ate dinner. Summer sprained her ankle last Sat. and it was all black and blue and really swollen.  She is still limping around on it.

Cody played his alumni game on Sat. and they won by 12 points.  I believe Cody had 7 points. 2 for 4 from the three point line and made 1 for 2 from the line.  The girl alumni team beat the elko team and only had 8 players.  Raelynn, Anna, Emma, Marissa, Butterfield, Rogers, Shae, and that is all I can remember.  But they were tied with just a few seconds to go in the game, and Raelynn drove the lane and threw up a prayer and it went in at the buzzer, so the alumni team won by 2 points.  Raelynn looked alot heavier, by about 20 lbs.  I hardly recognized her.  Everyone else looked the same.

Today in church I had to speak in the Spanish branch and spoke for about 30 minutes.  I did not think I could do that, but it went ok.  There were only about 16 people there in the branch.

Amber showed us this little thing in family search using puzzilla and hope chest with the Google chrome and it finds our cousins names in our lines that are in family search and do not have their temple work done.  She had 77 names reserved.  So I tried it today and last night and I have 74 names reserved about 50 of them just from one search.  So if you need names, let us know.  The names I found were on mom's side.

I fly out to Atlanta Georgia tomorrow for training for the financial aid and the new laws.  So I will be gone all week, and come back Friday.  Amber left today and Brian and chelsea went back yesterday.  It was cold this today and was snowing off and on.

Have a super week.  I love that story with the rain and the mamita.  Keep working hard, only about 6.5 months left.

Love 

Dad

Dearest Hermanita Nielsen,

What a wonderful week we have had with Thanksgiving and all.  It was wonderf'ul to have Chelsea and Brian here.  It had been quite some time since they were both here together, I think Christmas of 2011?    I didn't get everything in the house as tidy as I would have liked, but it was OK.  Chelsea had let her hair grow out really long, she was planning to cut it, but not until after she did the updo  like Elizabeth Swan for their Halloween couple costume.  She went Monday to Great Clips (new haircut shop here) and got her hair CUT.  It's really short and stylish.  It was a big change, but I think it looks good.  I'm sure she'll have pics on her blog.  Amber arrived on tues.,  that was so fun to have her back.  We just had such a great time all week.  Wed. I had bookclub and Chelsea went with  me to that.  The book was the original classic Dracula, and we both read up to about chapter 5.  Chelsea made the pumpkin pies that day, and Brian put the turkey in a brine (soaked it in a salty seasoned water) to soak over night.  Then on Thanksgiving I got up and cooked lots of different traditional dishes:  Grandma Tudd's stuffing, Brian made mashed potatoes, Amber made potato rolls that were "so yum".  We also had yams, cranberry sauce, corn, Colonial Green Beans, spinach salad, Chelsea made rainbow jello in Fall colored flavors.  Then we had the usual desserts.  Brian cooked the turkey in the rotisserie thing that Grandma and Gramps Croft gave us some years ago, remember "Set it and Forget it"?  Our turkey was a little too big for it, but Brian made it work, by tying it really tight with baker's twine.  He went to the store like 3 times to get little things we realized we needed.  He kept apologizing for the bird, but it actually turned out super moist and yummy.  We had so  much food I thought we were Tongan or something.  I would have traded the Christmas Skype with you for that day, since everyone was here.   Dad and Cody worked on putting the Serpentine belt back on the van.  It had come off when I went through the water puddle. Later that night we played a game that Brian and Chelsea brought, "Telestrations".  Its like playing telephones with drawing.  Its was fun and Carly really liked it.  We were all impressed with her drawings, she was definitely the best artist.  Black Friday sales started that evening, but I boycotted that, I don't think shopping should encroach on the holiday.  I didn't even go out all weekend to shop.  I just wanted to enjoy the family.
Friday we went out to the Calfornia Trail Center out on the I-80 freeway.  Its completed now and has a lot of native stuff to look out.  We had our Christmas card picture taken out there.  I guy that Amber served her mission with actually took the picture, he was traveling through Elko and wanted to stop and eat lunch with her.  We were heading out there when he was coming so she just told him to meet her out there and then they left and went in to town to eat.  We are kind of lost with out you as our photographer, but it's just going to have to do.

Chelsea went through a box of old friend notes and school/church stuff that was in the basement.  Some of them were really funny, especially the ones from you!  she saved those.  She asked Summer if she passed notes with her friends and she said, no.  Since texting and SnapChat kids don't pass notes.  Amber and Chels thought that was kind of sad, since they explained how cool it was to get a note with a new folding technique they hadn't seen before.  Things of the past...

We played a candy bar swap game on Fri. night.  Adelaide was kind of into it, she was fun.

Saturday morning Chelsea and Brian headed back to NM, it was great to have them here, they will spend Christmas in Arizona at Brian's cousins.  We went to the Elko-Alumni game that night.  The Alum. beat the Girls' Varsity by 2 pts.  Raelynn made the buzzer beater outside layout to win.  Anna Dubois was there, she looks and plays exactly the same.  Shay, Emma Sprout was there, and Dianne Rogers(she can't stay away). Rae looked like she had put on her freshman 20lbs, but she played well, and is still cute and smiley.  The boys beat the Alum. by 10.  We didn't look super sharp, but hopefully they get more into it-- the band wasn't there since they are on their trip to So. Calif/Disneyland. Cody played OK.  I don't think he is really looking forward to this season, but I hope that changes since this is his last year.

Amber got back to Rexburg last night and all is back to  normal now  (sigh)  it was a great week, I am so grateful for my family and my wonderful kids that I love so much.  

Have a great week, Love, Mom 
PS  I loved your miracle rain story, I shared that with a lot of people.  Is there anything you want to tell Elko 3rd ward?, I am giving the traditional "Mother of a Missionary" talk on Dec. 28th.