Wow! It has been 8 1/2 years since I posted in my blog. This guy was born in my last post and now look at him. He is a lefty only one in the family. He is currently in the 3rd grade and was baptized this past July. He is very athletic and plays many sports , like soccer, baseball, basketball, and he runs track as well. He is a smart kids and likes to tease, a little too much sometimes. He is a wonderful addition to our family.
This is Stockton. He was born just shy of 2 years after Coleman. We were so excited to have another little boy. That evened up the kids count, 3 boys and 3 girls.
This guy is such a sweetheart. He is so kind and so smart and so responsible he has been so fun to have in our family space space he also enjoys playing sports and doing things with his friends. He has many friends and every girl that he is friends with wants him to be her boyfriend. He is currently in first grade and has just recently started learning Spanish like all the rest the kids. They all do a Spanish immersion program in school.
I don’t know if Carter was living with us when I used to blog but when he started sixth grade he moved in with us and lived with us full-time. It was fun to have him around more and to be able to spend more time with his siblings. He always did great in school and had good grades this main he graduated from West Jordan high school. While in school he competed in debate and his senior year decided to compete in wrestling. This summer he earned his eagle.
In July 2019 Carter joined the Marines. He had a three month Boot Camp in California where he had his graduation on October 18, Jordan‘s birthday. He then has been sent to South Carolina where he is doing more training. And will soon be heading off to Japan in March. This has been something he has wanted to do for a long time and has really enjoyed doing this even though it has been really tough.
We were lucky enough to have Carter home during Halloween and for Christmas and with his Limited time with us his mom and her family have joined us in both those family parties it’s been nice for us to be able to get along so well and do things together as an extended bonus family. We also had a few BBQ’s together and have gone out to dinner a few times together.
I am sure it may be hard to tell who the girls are since they have changed a lot in 8+ years. This is Alexis and she is now in the 8th grade. The is a great child. She does great in school and is very self motivated which is so nice when I have so many kids things to keep track of. She is also involved in sports, tumbling, soccer, softball and track and recently trying volleyball this fall. It is a lot of fun to watch the kids compete and be part of a team. She is my wingman and I give help around the house and with the kids when I am not gone, the burden that falls in the oldest daughter. We can always count on her.
Taylor is now the middle child and lets everyone know it. She has a lot of spunk and sass. She is the protector of all her siblings, if you mess with one of them you mess with her. She is strong and stands her ground. If there is something she believes in she sticks with it. She tried cello for a little bit a year ago, she did for about 18 months and was pretty good, especially since she never practiced at home, but she decided she didn’t want to do it anymore which was fine with me because I didn’t want to pay for it anymore either. Her newest thing is Girl Scouts, she has been asking to join for a while and I finally let her this month, so we will see how that goes. Like all the other kids she plays her fair share of sports, soccer, basketball, volleyball, softball and track. She is very aggressive which really comes in handy, when playing with the boys, soccer. And playing on teams a year older than her, basketball. Her teachers say she really is picking up learning Spanish very well, but we are working on trying to help like math a little more these days.
Obviously these pictures are not posted in any particular order. It was just how the computer put them in and I couldn’t adjust that.
So after thinking we were done having kids and people already thinking our family was big with 6 kids we were blessed with our baby girl Reagan. When we told my grandma Helen Nielsen we were pregnant with Stockton she made the comment asking if we knew what caused it and if we knew there was a way to stop that. She couldn’t believe we were having 6 kids. So it was probably a good thing she had passed away before we found out we were having Reagan. Don’t get me wrong I totally love my grandma and wish she was still with us, but I didn’t want to be the one to cause her a heart attack when we told her we were having our 7th.
Reagan is so much fun. She is my little shadow and sidekick, only because she is still gone with me during the day. She starts kindergarten next year and I think that will tougher for me than her. She is so smart and witty and a lot of fun to be around. She kills it out in the soccer field and she can’t wait til she is old enough to play basketball. This last summer she tried T-ball and also loved that. She sounds like she will follow in her siblings footsteps in playing all sorts of sports.
This is Jordyn she is the same height if not taller than Alexis, and only in 6th grade. There have been a few times when her and Lex have been mistaken for twins. But they couldn’t be more different. Jordyn is know for giving the best hugs and she is very social. Sometimes she cares a little more about socializing than school, but we are working on that. She is always aware of the feelings of the people around her and kind to all those she meets. She also plays sports, basketball, volleyball, she has really excelled in shot put and she decided to try lacrosse a few years back and really liked it.
Rusty worked for Wasatch Electric for 17 years and about 2 and a half years ago went to work for an electrical engineering firm, BNA Consulting. After being there for almost 2 years he realized that a desk job was not what he wanted to do so he was offered another position with a distributor for electronic controls, Lyle Williams, and is living it. He gets to sell, design and setup and trouble shoot electronic systems and is loving it. It has a little variety of everything. Plus he still does do some work on the side too.
As for me, I have been babysitting out of my house for friends and family since Alexis was about 4 months old. It has been a wonderful job for me to be able to be with my kids and bring in some income. And about 4 years ago my brother Paul came to me and asked me if I wanted to help him draft some of his side jobs he had because he was getting more work than he could keep up with on his own. I was a little nervous because I hadn’t done that kind on work for 10 years but I was so excited to get back into it. And I am still living it. I get to work out of my home and the hours are supper flexible that I am able to keep up with my mom duties and my boss is so chill, as long as get my stuff done when he needs it all is good. This was possibly going to be my last year babysitting too, until I found out the little boy I watch, Max was going to have a little brother. At first his mom was going to quite, but she has decided to teach for one more year. So Reagan and max will go to kindergarten next year, but I will get to play with a new little baby during the day for at least one more year. Reagan and Max are like brother and sister so I think that will be weird for her to not see him, but at least we will still be in-touch a little longer this way.
