Annular Eclips

Yesterday we had lovely evening visiting with the family over another scrumptious dinner. After we had lots of fun trying to see the Eclipse...something that is rare indeed.  I remember seeing one when I was a kid in elementary school.  I want to say it was in third or fourth grade.  It was fun to educate Olivia about the eclipse and let her see it. Josh was very inventive and we got a pretty good view through our CD's.  I took some OK pictures considering there was no planning involved and I'm quite the amateur photographer.  It was fun being apart of something so unique. There was quiet the interesting feeling in the air and the light was lovely and odd as the eclipse progressed. It was fascinating for sure!

Here is a bit of info... an exerpt from the Salt Lake Tribune:
'Ring of Fire' eclipse puts on a show for southern Utah crowds

"Such an eclipse can occur multiple times a year, but it can only be seen from a small portion of the planet. The last annular eclipse visible from the United States was in January 1994, and the next one won’t happen until Oct. 14, 2023, Wiggins said.

The eclipse happens only during a new moon, when the illuminated side of the moon is facing away from the Earth. It doesn’t happen frequently because the moon’s orbit is tilted, so it is often below or above the Earth.

The difference between an annular eclipse and a full eclipse depends on how far from Earth the moon is as it makes its elliptical orbit. When the moon is closer to the Earth, it blocks only about 90 percent of the sun, causing an annular eclipse. In the Salt Lake City, eclipse watchers could see what is called a deep partial eclipse, when the sun becomes a crescent as the moon passes in front of it."
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/54150685-78/eclipse-moon-solar-annular.html.csp
By SHEENA McFARLAND and Brennan Smith| The Salt Lake Tribune

 

 

The eclipse starting, these three pictures were taken by Josh

Josh's hands... you can see the eclipse through the holes in his fingers. Too cool!

 

You can see the shadow of the eclipse in this picture, SO COOL! It was just a sliver, about as complete as we could get with our location. 

 

 

This was the best picture of the actual eclipse... seen though a cd.

 

The easiest way to show the kids. Poked some holes in a paper.

Birthday and Mothers Day

 I had a great weekend celebrating my 30th Birthday and Mothers Day this year. I hope everyone had a good time along with me.  I started celebrating early... a few of my amazing co-workers headed to breakfast with me straight after work Saturday morning. We had a good time at Jeremiahs and it was a great start to my days off! I have amazing co-workers and they made me feel so loved and appreciated.


After some sleep... we headed to the Boy Scouts Annual Spaghetti Dinner over at St. Olaf's Catholic Church. It has turned into a great tradition. It's nice to support our local Scouts and they do a great job with this event!  It's all you can eat, plus bread sticks, a drink and cookies for dessert. The little Scouts go around with raffle tickets and the older boys help serve. They did a great job and I hope they raised lots of money!

 Jorja was slurping up her spaghetti!  Too funny!

We dragged Colin along with us since Grandma Ginger went to Idaho to visit the Kelley Clan.

Josh and Colin ate three plates of spaghetti and like five breads, when the scout helping us asked if Josh wanted another plate and Josh declined saying he ate three whole plates, without missing a beat that little scout said, "that's nothing , I see guys come in and eat six plates." Ha Ha!  He put them in their place.  Josh really enjoyed the fact that we were drinking coffee in church! Hee hee. I did also, it was good coffee.

 After the spaghetti dinner we met up with my Daddy and Sherrie to visit and then they kept our kids over night while Josh and I went to the comedy club.   The girls were very excited to have a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's house. It has been a long while since they did just that. We played domminoes until having the leave about nine pm.  Jorja kicked out butt the first two rounds.  Josh wasn't feeling so well and ended up napping on the couch.

We met up with Brandy and Devin and they spoiled me with buying my ticket to the show.  We had a great time and lots of laughs at Wise Guys in West Valley.  The Sklar Brothers were the main act. They were super silly. Almost peed my pants laughing! It was a memorable evening. Thanks to my Hubby, Brandy and Dev for such a great evening!

Randy and Jason Sklar... too funny! Check our their new show on the History Channel. United Stats of America. Looks interesting.

These lovely roses were left by my sister-in-law. One for Mom and I on Mothers Day. Thanks Linz!

 On my Birthday I got the best present ever! I just woke up when I was ready... to no alarm or kids. Just when I was ready! I LOVE THAT!  Then...I noticed this lovely aroma drifting up from the kitchen. My mom had made me coffee and was well on her way to making french toast.  SPOILED I am!  We enjoyed a nice little breakfast together before heading to get the girls from my Dad's house.

Grandma Taylor and My Mommy!

 We spent Mothers Day Evening at my Grandma Taylor's House.  It was fun to sit down and have dinner with my cute Grandma. We then played games and visited with my Aunt Sherrie and Uncle  John when they came to visit.  It was a lovely mellow evening visiting with family. Thanks to everyone for making such a great day!

Three Generations

 I am so grateful for these Amazing Moms in my life. I have so many wonderful Mothers who have touched my life. I have a beautiful Step-Mom, Sherrie and thoughtful Mother-In-Law, Ginger... and countless other adopted Mothers who I love and adore! I am so thankful for all they have done for me! I love you all endlessly!  But... These two lovely Ladies have touch my soul and I wouldn't be here without them.  They are amazing examples in my life and am truly grateful for their love. They are amazing Moms!  I hope they had a wonderful Mothers Day and I hope they know how much I love them!

am.newuvision.us

Four Generations

 I talked to and got lots of Birthday wishes from so many people. Thank you all for thinking of me. I love you all!   It was a lovely day filled with lots of joy. Not a bad way to start off 30!

Mom's yard is starting to look amazing! Mom has been working hard to get the garden in and her hard work shows. This lovely lady puts on a good show!  I am so enjoying Spring!

 Olivia and Jorja painting outside just before Family dinner on May 20th. It was a perfect day to be outside!

Oil pastels By: Olivia

I had to share Olivia's latest art piece. This is her new creation with oil pastels. She is learning so much from her art teacher, Denise, and I am so grateful she has been able to attend these classes. Thanks a bunch Grandma Launi!

 On the 19th we went walking down Main Street to see the Chalk Art Festival. It was a lovely show and I recommend everyone go next year! Maybe I can even talk Olivia into entering to draw a picture. Hee hee!

Water color By: Barbra Gustaveson. This is one of my Favorites!

Water color By: Barbra Gustaveson.  This is the print I got. She loves flowers!

We also stopped into the Lamp Light Art Gallery to see and support on of my favorite local artists Miss. Barbra Gustaveson.  She was my Art teacher at Farmington Junior High... way back when.  It was her first two years as a teacher at Farmington and I was her first T.A..  I was so excited to finally get to come see one of her events! I have always had to work on the days of her shows.  They were also displaying her advanced classes art. There are some talented 9th graders out there! I didn't even think about it... but when I saw her I started crying. She touched my life in such a positive way and she inspires me so! I need to do art more... She makes me realize how much I need it in my life. Thank you Barbra for being such a wonderful teacher. We need more people like you!

Water color By: Barbra Gustaveson.  This one is absolutely lovely!

Lady Bug Adventures!

 For Easter the kids got bug growing kits from Josh and I.  I thought it would be something fun and educational for the kids. Turned out it was for us adults also. We did enjoy watching them change from larvae, to pupa and then to lady beetles.  We still need to send away for our butterfly's... but look forward to that adventure also.



 

Jorja watching our lady bugs... fresh hatched from their pupa state.

 Or lady beetles! We kept them for about a week before we let them go out by our rose bushes.

 It was a beautiful May day with all the flower starting to bloom in our yard.

 Saying goodbye to our lady beetles!  We had to coax them out of their cozy little home.

 FREEDOM!  We had a great time getting to know our lady bugs and look forward to raising some again one day.

Spring Cleaning

Hello...to whomever may be out there reading this... Hello!

 I have been working to organize out world a bit. We are bursting at the seams in our three rooms here at my wonderful Mommy's house. Olivia and Jorja desperately needed some extra dresser space and all of their treasures were getting out of control.  We pulled Olivia's dresser out of storage and my wonderful Daddy gave us another dresser that matched for Jorja. They now have their own dresser with five whole drawers and I couldn't be happier that they actually have room for all theirs clothes. I have been going through every toy bin, drawer, closets, nook and cranny in the toy room and girls room. I think I am almost done!  It looks and feels so much better already. Hopefully, we can keep it clean from here on out. I'm sure it will not last that long.  It does feel great to have tackled it though. Now, to take care of MY room!  Ha ha!

I have also been cleaning up my blog!  I have been working on making my blog into a book to keep for my girls. I have received my first two books and I LOVE IT! I am putting them together by year. So, I deleted all of 2008 and most of 2009 posts to help keep this blog running smooth. I had loads of information/pictures taking up way too  much space.  I am looking forward to blogging more and keeping up with crazy Nielsen adventures. I am so happy to be able to have these ramblings to save for my girls!  I am looking forward to working on 2010's posts and getting them organized!

Things have been busy, exciting, sick and daily grind around here.   We have been doing a bunch of family things and looking forward our Summer together.  Let's see if I can do some catching up.

Josh started summer semester at Weber. He is taking, an Environmental Geoscience class. Math,  Intro to  Visual Arts,  and  Map Reading & Land Navigation class. He will be up on campus Mondays and Wednesday for Map and Math, but the other two are online. He will be keeping busy this Summer I am sure! Everyone send him good energy for his Math class.  It will be his struggle this semester, one he must battle!

Olivia once again met her AR goal in reading and has done every term. She is very proud and excited to read whatever she wants from her on out.  She is the fourth persona in her class to meet their goal!  I was so proud of her when she told me today, because she was sick two days this week and missed school. Way to go Olivia!   It is Teacher appreciation this week and I would like to give a shout out to all the Teachers in our lives. We would be lost without all that you give and I will be eternally grateful for all that you have done and will do to brighten and enrich my children!  You do not get enough credit for all you do!  Mr. Bacall has been a great teacher and we will for sure miss him next year.  THANK YOU!

Went to check on the girls, Jorja wasn't in her bed. This is where I found her.

Jorja is being a butt head... she is spending a lot of time with her head in the corner.  She is not listening well and not doing what she is told well.  She seems to be either very happy and joyful... or a puddle you are dragging to time out.   She is very extreme lately.  She loves to cuddle, drag her blankets around and make tents everywhere we go.  The things that come out of her mouth are too funny, she is too smart for her own good most days. Hopefully she smartens up about following instructions though or it could be a very boring summer.

Work is blah for me. I am having a hard time with all the drama at Intermountain and with my boss. But, luckily I do have a job and amazing co-workers. I will be forever grateful for the amazing nurses I work with!  They have all touched my life and are true inspirations to me.  I have worked with a lot of wonderful people over the years and I am so lucky to have known them. You share a lot of yourself and make good friends when you work so close and for twelve hours at a time with people.   They keep me grounded and make the drama not to terrible.  Much love to all of you! You do not get credit for all the things you have to put up with, like seeing way too many naked bums, genitals, swearing, crying, pinching, and demanding patients.  It is easy to care for grateful, kind people... the others not so much.  Nurses are always stuck between upper management telling them to do more work, paper work and charting, Doctors being unreasonable and actually caring for people. The expectations are ever growing and you all roll with the punches with grace! Thank you to all the amazing and wonderful Nurses, CNA's and caregivers out there! I love you all!

I cannot stop dreaming of a tent trailer. I know we cannot afford one really, but I want one so bad I can hardly stand it.  After our great trip camping to Escalante, UT over spring break... my hips have not been the same.  My right hip started paining me while sleeping on the ground, I can't seem to loosen it up and keep having that pain.  My hips do not like sleeping on the ground anymore. I so want a tent trailer to keep things packed and ready to go. Yet, still feel like I am tenting it and apart of nature. Josh used to be very vocal about never owning one.  I have whined enough about it, he is starting to see the light. With the family, it just makes sense and will be so much easier.  One day... my dream will come true.

Our big news for the extended family is about my nephew Atticus, he had his cochlear implant surgery done on April 8th. Less than three weeks later they turned on his bilateral implants. We had a BBQ with the family the evening they turned on his implants and got together to celebrate the fact that my sweet little nephew can hear!  It was an amazing and humbling day. He has been through so much in the last year and to really know it was worth it was wonderful. There are no words to describe how amazing it was to watch him hear for the first time, to know he heard my voice for the first time.  I am so proud of my Brother and his little family. They have so much to learn and grow as a family and they are doing a great job!  Atticus is handling the transition SO well. It is so fun to watch him play with different toys because of the noise they make. I sat with him playing with rocks for over a half hour, shaking and pouring them... because of the noise.  Peek-a-boo is the best game ever now!  We are working hard to still learn sign and identify all the noises and things around him. ASL is going to be a big part of his world still, but it is truly a blessing of technology to have him hear. Much love to my little brother and his family! We love you! We are here to support you and grown along with you!

Atticus at Primary Children's Hospital after his bilateral cochlear implant surgery.

Atticus healing from his surgery.

A & J playing in Grandma L's fountain.

We have a fun weekend ahead of us and I look forward to telling you all about Mothers Day and our weekend next time.  Off to bed I go, again.   It is almost four am. I slept from about nine pm to midnight and have been up for the last four hours. Time to get some sleep before my girls wake up.  Hope to catch up our Escalante trip and Easter.
Till next time!