Friday! Yay!  Welcome!   Today was Claire's day off, so we decided to hit a Barre class together then we quickly rushed back home because our friend Morgan Jones Pearson, who is the host of the popular podcast All In, interviewed us for a special Mother's Day episode. I love this podcast because Morgan interviews people who share their feelings on what it means to be ALL IN the gospel of Jesus Christ. (Morgan recently interviewed coach Andy Reid, and it was fire.) Morgan asked us about the accident, especially Claire's perspective, and she was eloquent and clear with her ..read more

 Wednesdays are my favorite days because: A. I get to watch Lottie at horse lessons.  She is adorable, and I can see her confidence shining out  as she learns to control her horse.   I see it in her body language. It's really cool. I'm so proud of her.   Today, her instructor, Megan, asked her if she'd like to try her lesson using a Western saddle. I think Christian was more excited about her as a Western cowgirl,  but she said she preferred her English style. (I do, too, Lod!) B. Jane is at home making dinner while we're at horse lessons. As I ment ..read more

 This morning, as Jane and I pulled up from Barre,  Jane opened the door to get out, and Muppet,  our hen jumped right into her lap.   We had a good laugh.  Later, on my way home after picking up Lottie from school,  I was probably driving at 60 mph  when I almost hit a slow-moving turtle that was crossing the road.  It's turtle season, which means we see a lot of turtles wandering around  looking for food or places to lay eggs.  Unfortunately, we also come across a lot of turtles that have been hit by cars.  I stopped my car, back ..read more

 We didn't have school today because of a teacher work day. So, Gigs flew his drone around the house, including in Claire's room  to bug her while she had a little nap before her 12-hour shift at the hospital. She was thrilled. Later, Lottie and I sat on the couch and laughed at stuff, watched a few Mr. Beast videos on my phone, and then we finally got  ourselves up and drove to the store, where she  talked me into buying her ANOTHER Squishmallow stuffed animal thing. She's still so obsessed with those things. On the way home, she said to me, "Mom, I love you so much.&nb ..read more

While Claire was in Ghana, she had skirts and ties made for us.  Today, we all wore them to church and matched fantastically! Then we had an epic family whiffle ball match on the front lawn and I laughed so hard. I haven't laughed that hard in a long time ..read more

  Yesterday, in the evening, Angus ran away.  Angus occasionally makes a run for it  when the opportunity arises. (Who left the gate open???). I got on the motorcycle, yelled his name, and honked the horn, but to  no avail.  No Angus. This must have gone on for hours. At one point, Lottie came with me on the back of the motorcycle  to search for our delinquent dog. We came up on a fence line where I needed to turn around, and the wheel went right into a mound- possibly made by giant ants  hidden under the tall grass and I dumped the bike with Lottie undernea ..read more

Gigs went into the weekend sick. Good thing he has three super nice sisters and a really nice mom to take care of him! He actually said to me, "I'd rather go to school for 15 hours than feel this way" That's how you know it's bad ..read more

 It is with a heavy heart to report that our dear and beloved  Cody, the rooster, has been missing for several days.   This inevitably means Cody has passed on to the other side. I'll miss him running around chasing the hens,  bumping into things (he only had one eye),  and occasionally getting stuck inside the shed. Gigs came home from work late tonight and cooked him up three veggie dogs for dinner.   One day, when he's on his mission, I'll look at this photo and probably cry ..read more

Today, I spoke with my friend, Morgan, who is having her second daughter in a few months, and her girls will be 17 months apart. I can relate.  Claire and Jane are 16 months apart and have the sweetest sister relationship.   In February of 2003, in the middle of a chilly night,  I went into labor with Jane. Before heading to the hospital, I stood over  Claire's crib in tears, silently saying goodbye to her.  I whispered to Claire that I had to leave her to go to the hospital and when we'd see each other next, she would get to meet her new sister, Winnie  ..read more

Ollie Elder Nielson is doing awesome in Brazil! Only nine more months to go! (Who's counting?!) Baptisms: Eating (mostly pizza): Teaching: Friends: Companions: Cooking: He and another American missionary in his apartment, Elder Maffi, are cooking!  Each week, they pick something to make. Pretzels, peanut butter cookies, macaroni & cheese (with unknown cheese), cinnamon rolls (for conference!),  Speaking Elder Maffi, here they were one year ago and today: Now they both look a little more filled out and have  some sun on their faces ..read more