Cookie Monster

Our sweet baby Kolton has discovered that those things at the ends of his arms are his hands and that he can actually control them if he tries reeeeallllly hard. He has just begun to reach for things. The other night Kaley was enjoying a delicious sugar cookie when I caught him trying to get it for himself. It was so cute. Get the determined look in his eyes!

In a Jam!!

A couple of weeks ago, Robert and I decided to make peach-raspberry jam. We thought we should use up some of the tons of peaches in our freezer. We started at about 10 am and finished at 8 that night. We ended up with 85 jars!! Mostly pints. It will be interesting to see how long it lasts, especially since my children seem to make off with it every chance they get.

Robert's Birthday Trip

On Feb. 12, Robert turned 60! We decided to celebrate by taking a trip to somewhere we had not been before. He had always wanted to ride the Durango-Silverton train, so I gave him tickets for his birthday. We started out on Thurs., Feb. 10 in the morning and drove to the Four Corners Monument Navajo Nation State Park. It was freezing and the wind was blowing, but at least the sun was shining. We met the LDS Missionaries there quite by accident, and one of them just happened to be from Salt Lake City. He was so excited when we told him where we were from!

Here is a picture of Robert standing in 4 states at once. I'll bet NOBODY has a picture like this!

We drove on to Durango where we had reservations at the 120 year old Strater Hotel. It was so beautiful inside. 93 rooms, 10 floors, and one tiny elevator. But this hotel has been beautifully restored to its original decor. We loved staying there.

Friday morning we got up, had breakfast at the hotel and then walked a couple of blocks to the train station. While we were sitting in the station waiting to board, a class of about 30 noisy little first graders walked in. Fortunately, they had a car of their own. I daresay our car was much quieter. We rode the train about 15 miles up to Cascade Canyon where it was all snowy and cold. The top speed of this narrow guage rail train is about 15 mph and going uphill, I think even I could out-distance it. But this was such a fun ride. We had a car attendant that was very informative and entertaining and friendly. She was great. And, we got hot chocolate and pastries on the way.

Robert, inside the train car.

The canyon gets pretty narrow in places. This picture shows how close the train gets to the canyon wall.

Comin' around the mountain.

The scenery was sooooo beautiful! We could walk through the cars, into other cars. The one in front of ours was an open car. We would go out and get photos and then come back into our car where it was warm.

Look at that happy, handsome face!

Another shot of the close canyon wall. Our attendant told us that there are a couple of places where the train gets within 1 inch of the rocks. You kind of need to keep your hands inside the car.



I LOVE SILVERTON!

Oh my gosh, I fell in love with this tiny, quirky town! Can you see it neslted there at the base of the 14,000 foot mountains?? Silverton is home to about 1500 people in the summer time and about 500 in the winter. We spent Friday night at the Teller House Hotel. Another 100+ yr. old building. The people we met in Silverton were...... let's just say colorful. The 22 yr. old guy that served us our dinner was afraid of Mormons, that was kind of funny. I think he thought we might steal him away and force him into worship. He was reading a Glen Beck book, but I don't think he knew that Beck is a Mormon.

Ya, interesting folks, but look at these views!

Saturday, we drove to Mesa Verde National Park to see the ancient cliff dwellings of the Anasazi and Pueblo Indians.

Now, this was something Robert was pretty excited about, but I really didn't care if we saw them or not. But, it was his birthday, so I decided we would do whatever he wanted to do. This turned out to be one of the most awesome things I have ever seen! These dwellings are incredible. I didn't want to leave. Most of the dwellings were closed because it was winter, but we got some great pictures. And, we got to walk right to one of them with a guide.

After a yummy dinner at Lotsa Pasta, we spent Sat. night in Cortez and then on Sunday, made our way slowly home by way of Shiprock, AZ. It's just a big rock. Not really worthy of a picture, but here you go.

Anyway, it was a fantastic trip. We had so much fun! We would recommend this trip to everyone.

A Perfect '10'

Our tenth grandchild, Gabriella Lea Nelson made her appearance tonight at 10:48 pm. She weighs 7 lbs. 7 oz. and is 19 inches long. She is going to be called 'Ellie'. I think she looks like Abby, but her dad thinks she looks like Matt. And Kristl thinks she just has a look of her own. Anyway, she is beautiful! I cannot wait to hold her tomorrow. And I am just itching to go upstairs and wake up her brother and sister! But, I don't think I will, it is almost midnight and I would like to get some sleep tonight. More pictures to come.

Celebrating 36!!

Yesterday was our 36th wedding anniversary. We had a wonderful weekend celebrating! Saturday morning, we took off for Cane Beds. We rode the 4 wheeler from there to Mount Carmel, about 42 miles round trip. The weather was beautiful and the leaves looked like they were on fire.

We had such a fun ride!!

We even explored a haunted cave! Okay, it was just a water tunnel under the highway, but how interesting does that sound??

That night we had a delicious dinner at Wild Willie's Grill in Springdale. We spent the night at the Cliff Rose Lodge, thanks to a former classmate and friend of Robert's. Thanks Dale, your place is fabulous! We will tell everyone to go there.

Happy Halloween!

Is there anyone else out there that is as glad it's over, as I am? We took Logan to church yesterday and I thought we had mistakenly taken a baby kangaroo. He was everywhere! And he could not shut up for more than 3 or 4 seconds. Robert was about to take him home several times, but I kept thinking, "If we can just make it through Sacrament Meeting, then we can let the Primary deal with him." I did give them fair warning though. Anyway, you cannot beat these fun pictures.My friend Kristen rescued me and made these adorable costumes for my little grandsons. This is about the cutest elephant I have ever seen! And where would an elephant be without a..........

PEANUT!

This is our little Kolton. Kristen made up this pattern herself. Oh, and she had so much fun making these two costumes, she said that if anyone else would like, she would make them again. Hahaha! No way! Just kidding!

After our Trunk or Treat, we headed on over to Kelton and Amber's neighborhood for more candy.

Amber made both of her kids' costumes. This is Natalie and she is "Princess Peach" from Mario Kart. I wish I had gotten a better picture of her, she was sooooo cute!

Now, Drake, well it's obvious what he is, but this little boy marches to the beat of his own drum. Get the hat, lanyard and rubber fireman boots. He is such a corker!

And here is Dr. Kelton Hansen. Turn your head and cough?????

So, Happy Halloween everyone!!! We hope you all had as much fun as we did. And now, let's all start getting ready for Christmas. WooHoo!

NICU

Well this is not what we were expecting. Saturday morning, Kolton was put under bili lights for a high bilirubin. Very soon after, he was moved to the NICU because they discovered that he had an unknown infection. Kaley came home yesterday afternoon without her little son. Here are some pictures.