Olivia always knew she was a Witch!

 Olivia Turned TEN!  We celebrated with a Harry Potter Theme.  It was pretty awesome and Grandme Launi and I worked hard to make the Friend party a big hit.

Olivia in the Transfiguration Booth

Complete with Wand!

Grandma Launi was the Potions Teacher, she had the kids playing with all sorts of crazy things!

Treat broom bags to take home; complete with Chocolate frogs and Every Flavored Bean

The Three Broomsticks station

Owl cupcakes for dessert next to the snitch and items needed for potions

All the Girls after being in the transfiguration booth

All the treats!

We had the girls make their own pizza and while it cooked they had Potions Class.

The party was a big hit, even with the two or three feet of snow that fell during the party.  Thanks to all Olivia's friends for making it so special.  It was fun to have such good Hogwarts Students.  I am most proud of the invitations after all we did. They were so fun to have Olivia deliver them by OWL!

My Baby is FIVE!

UNLESS

 


We had a Lorax themed 5th Birthday for Jorja this year. She loved the movie and it was fun to put together all of Dr. Seuss crazy trees and creatures for her party.

 Jorja standing by one of my many Truffula Trees that I made.

 The Birthday girl was too funny pretending to be shy when everyone sang Happy Birthday to her.

 Olivia and Jorja surprised me by drawing these super cute pictures of all the characters from the movie/book. Apparently there is a short lesson in the extras on the movie. They were adorable, we kept them up for awhile in the toy room.

 We had lots of fruit and Truffula tree fruit pancakes for dinner!

Jorja's drawing of The Lorax

Olivia's drawings of all the characters!

 Jorja was spoiled rotten! We had a great time being together. Thank you to everyone being there to help celebrate and make it a special occasion for her. She was well loved that day!

 Josh's beard at one of it's longest stages... behind him the Lorax Stash I made with a little quote from the book and some truffula trees for Jorja to keep.

 Our Barbaloots, marshmallows and singing fish for snacks!

 Lorax cookies and Truffula tree cupcakes with Barbaloots hanging under the trees. These turned out supper cute! Thanks mom for piping all the stashes on the Lorax's. They were too fun!

 We made a bit bigger cake for Jorja to have her own special birthday girl cake.

 Our Lorax stash straws! We had lots of fun with these... for weeks even!

Lindsey helped us a lot to set up and as always was a great sport to show off her Lorax Stash!

Hello, It's AVON calling...

This Summer has been busy and wonderful so far. I am looking forward to posting about or adventures.  I am in need of sitting down and taking time to do just that... promise to not take too long.  In the middle of all our family adventures I started a personal one. I signed up to sale Avon.  Crazy stuff... like I already have two jobs. Three if you count being a mom, but I have been thinking about it for a long time. I love Avon products and I felt like it is something I could do for me more and take with us in the future for wherever we end up. I can work at it as little or as much as I want. Plus, I can be home for the most part.  So, I printed up new business cards with my Avon and Massage info on them.  I think they are super cute!   It will be a fun adventure I think!   So... if you don't have an Avon representative and would like a brochure I would love to get one to you. =)  Or you can order online at: www.youravon.com/megannielsen  
Thanks to everyone who is such a great support in my life. I love you all! 
Ok... off to the other job. McKay Dee here I come.
   I wish you all the best this 4th of July! Happy Independence Day! I should have some time this weekend to post. Will make it a priority to get some pictures up here. =)

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.