Tri-Stake Youth Talent Show

Tanner is constantly surprising us.  Half the time we can barely get him to even attend social events and the other half the time he's more than happy to be the star of the show.  I'm not sure I'll ever figure him out.  When our Stake announced that they were going to hold a Tri-Stake Youth Talent Night I thought I'd have to pull teeth to convince him to go, but instead he was signing up to put on a Chemistry Experiment for everyone there.  It ended up being the same night as Landon's rock-climbing birthday party so he went with friends from the Ward but he nailed his performance and pulled off a great show.  You'll have to get  the details of what the experiment entailed from his video, but he even created an electric stirrer using an old part from a computer that operated through magnetism.  His brain just never stops....

Landon's Buddies

 Landon's got a fun little group of friends that are super tight this year.  He chats with them often and they love to get online and play video games together when they get the chance.  They often work on homework over the phone and they've gotten together for birthday parties too.  Williams parents got them together for his birthday to do some rock climbing and Landon was SO excited he was counting down the days for weeks.  They were even nice enough to send some pictures.  They all came home tired, blistered, and having had SO MUCH FUN!

I had to give Landon a hard time about how unimpressive his photo was.....he made it a whopping foot off the ground!  Hahahahaha!

Back seat: Landon, William, Marshall.   Front seat: RJ (William's Big Bro) and Joe.

Marching Band Trip to Florida

Tanner went to bed with everything packed and ready to go, and the 2:30am wake up call came VERY early.  Dean was nice enough to get up and drive him to the school, but you know I HAD to get up to tell him goodbye.  Sending him to Florida for 5 days without us was tough on both of us.  Tanner hasn't done things like this much yet, and his anxiety and nerves over navigating the unknown were a bit high, which of course made my anxiety even higher.  Hahaha!  But I knew it would be good for him and that he'd end up having SO MUCH FUN.  He had prepped things down to his outfits for each day, and rocked his new glasses he had been saving just for the trip.  He even designed a bunch of Disney and Band shirts for kids to order.  Unfortunately they ended up showing up after they got home, but I was so proud of him for doing something so fun and funny. (They had his band director on them and had everyone rolling!) He also did a great job of adjusting when the disappointment of the delayed shipping could have sent him in a tailspin.  We all missed him like crazy, but he was pretty good about texting updates and keeping me in the know.  They marched through downtown Disney on one of the hottest days of the trip with record breaking highs for weather in Florida for February.  Haha!  Good thing it was first thing in the morning.  He loved all the parks and the food and the rides.  He came home with an awesome wand from Harry Potter World that his brothers are all jealous of.  And when he got home Braddock and Bridger made the cutest welcome home sign while Landon and I went to pick him up at the school.  They had to leave the hotel at 4:30am that morning, so once he got home he crashed HARD.  Lots of things are a bit harder for this kid, but I'm so dang proud of him for facing his insecurities and not letting those things hold him back.  I hope it was a week he'll never forget and that it also built his confidence in himself for the future.  Welcome Back Tan Man!  Florida looked good on you!

Dark and early! ;)

The christening of the new band uniforms.  Disneyworld seems like a great place for that!  They look sharp!

I didn't get many pictures with him in it, but this one turned out perfect!  It's so perfectly teenage Tanner.

Braddock rocked the computer clip art.  I was shocked at how adorable this turned out without a single bit of help from me!  Plus Braddock and Bridger felt so very grown up to be left home alone while I went to get Tanner.  When we got back they reported that Braddock did a great job, "keeping up the tent!"  When I questioned what that meant we figured out they were trying to say, "holding down the fort."  Hahahaha!

I think he would have slept clear till the next day if I didn't have to wake him up for piano lessons.

Valentines 2023

The Friday before Valentines I was lucky enough to help put on Bridger's Class Valentine's Party.  When you show up to a first grade classroom 8 months pregnant you get LOTS of unfiltered comments from kiddos.  It was too funny!  "Are you having a BABY Mrs. Nelson!?!"  Hahaha!  But the best comment was a little girl who came up to me as soon as I arrived and said, "Excuse me!  I have a crush on your son!"  I guess Bridger has some pretty forward little girlfriends in his class.  Hahahaha!  I was impressed by her candidness.  And when I told Bridger about it he wasn't phased in the slightest.  In fact he just listed all the other girls who have crushes on him too.  Hahaha!  We'll have to keep an eye on this kid!  We made Valentines boxes with his class and played a couple games too.  Topped the day off with snacks and a Valentine's exchange and it made for the perfect class party.  I LOVE getting to be a part of these moments in my kids lives....

Little Miss Crush is the Kelsey in the Pink. ;)

By actual Valentine's Day I had a pretty nasty head cold and we were frantically getting Tanner ready to leave for Florida at 3:30am that next morning so we kept things simple.  The boys had been begging for smiley face fruit snacks for a while so instead of just getting them on my grocery run I thought it would make a cute Valentine....

Dean knows the way to my heart and it wasn't flowers or chocolates but Chinese take-out for dinner.....

And we had to snap a quick photo before bed.  I wasn't crying, just sneezed six times and had been coughing all night.  Such a romantic stage of life we're living over here.  Hahaha!  Luckily Tanner was on the tail end of his cold because I was STRESSED about sending him off on the Band Trip sick and on very little sleep with such an early report time.

Mock Trial

This year Tanner joined the Mock Trial team at the high school.  He was a prosecution lawyer on a case about a man who ended up dying in a Tough Mudder Run.  They hold the competitions at the County Courthouse in actual court rooms, and the judges of each competition are made up of local lawyers who are the jury.  Some weeks they were the prosecuting team and Tanner would show up in a full suit ready to do his thing.  The other weeks the defending team was up and he just got to go watch and support his fellow teammates.  They poured many hours into preparing and were coached by a local lawyer who helped them know how things would go and how to approach it.  He got better as the season went on, but no doubt it was nerve wracking and we're proud of Tanner for doing something that was pretty scary and intimidating.  He truly is an awesome kid and continually surprises us.  

To top it all off the Mock Trial season, we were at a musical at a local high school that they had gone up against for Mock Trial weeks earlier.  A girl from that school's Mock Trial team stopped him in the hall and asked if he was on the Hopewell Mock Trial team.  He said yes, and she said, "you prosecuted me and you're really cute!"  Hahahaha!  He wants us all to stop talking about it, but he was definitely flattered. ;)

Chloe's Haircut

 

Just wanted to document a funny peek into regular life around here.  Luckily this only needs to happen a couple times a year, but it's a several hour job to shave this doggo.  Between my big belly and her lack of love for haircuts this was pretty comical.  But now we're set for another many months!

Tanner's 15!

To start his birthday off right, I got up bright and early to fix him breakfast before Seminary.  He's a rockstar to get up so early every morning with very little complaining to be ready for school and logged into his Seminary class by 5:50am.  He requested money from everyone to take with him on his Marching Band Trip to Florida, but I did snag him a few new sweaters and some shirts to wear at Disneyworld along with his beloved Ginger Ale.  

 

He video chatted with Grandma and Grandpa Hilton.

Tanner's birthday dinner request was to make his own fried chicken from scratch.  I made sure we had the ingredients he would need but he did most of the work himself.  And it turned out SO good!  We slapped them on buns for chicken sandwiches and despite my fears the mess wasn't too bad to clean up.

All I had to go off of for dessert was that he wanted something fruity.  So I whipped up a triple berry bar from strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries.  He's not big on ice cream, but for the rest of our benefit we ate it with vanilla ice cream as well.  Hard to believe there's a whopping 15 candles on that cake!  We sure love this unique, creative, hard working, funny kid.  He definitely keeps life fun.  Happy Birthday Tanner!

Hospital "Spa Days"

 

Thanks to my "geriatric" status as a 38 year old pregnant momma, I've been scheduled to spend every Wednesday at the hospital doing ultrasounds, non-stress tests, and then having a visit with my OB.  I tried convincing them that was overkill, but they're pretty insistent that we do it.  So I'm choosing to look at it as my "Spa Day."  A little OJ from the labor and delivery nurse and relaxing in a hospital bed is practically the same thing as a day at the spa right!?  Hahaha!  As long as he arrives safe and sound I'm willing to do whatever it takes.  And hopefully when I come waddling in for actual delivery I'll be on a first name basis with all the nurses after these weekly visits.

Until We Meet Again

The thought of these two reunited on their 78th Anniversary is one of the most beautiful things I can imagine.  If we had to let Grandma go, I can't think of a better day for it to have happened.   

And thanks to technology we got to watch the funeral via broadcast here in PA, and thanks to awesome family members we got some pretty special pictures of that day too.....

Grateful to be a part of this amazing group of people......all of Dean's Aunts and Uncles and of course his parents too. (missing Darleis and Don Ray)

Being laid to rest by her boys.

All their children (minus Don Ray who is with them in heaven).

Only a fraction of the generations of descendants.  What a legacy Grandma and Grandpa have left behind.

GRANDMA'S OBITUARY....

(A cute side note: They ended up using a picture I took of Grandma for her obituary.  She was holding a 1 or 2 year old Bridger in the original photo.  Sure love that sweet smile.)

Melba Madson Nelson

Melba Jane Madson Nelson was born 14 July 1924 in a stone block home in Payson, Utah to William Hyrum and Emma Elena Tanner Madson. She passed away 5 February 2023 in Santaquin, Utah, joining Max on their 78th wedding anniversary.  She had 1 sister and 5 brothers: Betty, Max, Elbert, Raydon, Halvor, and Frank.  She resided in Payson, Utah; Bakersfield, California, and Genola, Utah. She attended schools in Payson where she was active in orchestra, operettas, and served as secretary to the Senior class president. She trained at Fashion Beauty Shoppe under Gladys Wilson and completed Quish Beauty School.

Melba enjoyed making scrapbooks, was a  detailed record keeper, spent countless hours doing family history research, name extraction of Scandinavian records, and temple service. She produced beautiful handwork, delicious bread and meals, exquisite candy, and remembered birthdays and anniversaries of family, neighbors and friends.  She sang with friends and Max at dances, weddings, and funerals.

Melba loved the gospel of Jesus Christ, her family, everyone she met, and found numerous ways to serve in the Church and her community, including a mission with Max at Adam-Ondi-Ahman.

She and Max E Nelson were married  5 February 1945 in the Salt Lake Temple. Their steady, anchored discipleship deeply influenced their children: Don(Sharon), Curtis (Donna), Reid (Sandy), Garth (Wendy), Stuart (Kathryn), Karl (Kim), Denise (Todd), David (Taelure Irene), Jonathan (Lori), foster children, 43 grandchildren, and 115  great grandchildren, and 3 great great grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by all her siblings, her husband Max, oldest son Don, daughter-in-law Darleis, a grandson Joshua, a granddaughter-in-law Evelyn, great grandsons Trevor Eggett and Austin Wright, and great grandson-in-law Braxton Bassett.

Funeral Services will be held Monday, 13 February 2023 at the Genola Chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (50 North Main Street) at 11:00 a.m. Visitations will be held at the same location both Sunday February 12th at  6:00-8:00 p.m. and prior to the funeral 9:15-10:45 a.m.

The family expresses sincere thanks to the staff of iCare, Seasons of Santaquin, and all those who provided care and support for Mom and the family.