An Engineering Champ

Braddock went to the regional engineering fair at the Carnegie Science Center today. He built a double decker, motorized, spice machine customized to fit in my spice cabinet.  This kid worked his butt off, with the help of Dean’s guidance, to bring his project to fruition. They easily clocked over 100 hours building (and re-building when plexi glass broke!), coding, filling and labeling spice jars, and tweaking things till it all worked well.  He and I pounded out his poster (that's my area of expertise 😉).  Then at the fair someone messed up and put him in the middle of the science fair not the engineering fair.  They also made him remove all his spices and cover up the spices on his poster because they are made from living things!?  Not sure why that's a problem, but apparently it was against the rules, but we're not sure if that's the rules of the science fair (which he shouldn't have been in!) or the engineering fair.  Anyway, despite so many set backs this kid still killed it and came out with a second place win and a cash prize!  He’s one cool kid and we’re so proud of him for working so hard, persevering when things got tough, and making the best of things when it was a mess.  

Ridiculous rules that shouldn't have even applied to him since he wasn't competing in the science fair! Wish someone would have recognized the blunder and got him moved to the other floor. 

Nothing left but the empty spice bottles since they made him remove all spices. Ug!

Pretty impressive he could still take 2nd place in a category that had nothing to do with his project at all since they messed things up so bad. I think his judges realized how much work he put into this and what an impressive project it was and gave him the win anyway.

 

Landon's Biggest Fans

Volleyball season is in full swing for Landon. He came back 6 inches taller, much trimmer, and stronger than last year, and he’s excited to continue to get better and hone his skills. He’s got a great serve and scored a bunch of points for his team. They came out with a win on Monday and we’re looking forward to the rest of the season! 🏐 (Well Keaton may not be. He was not a fan of the noise and sitting still for five games. 🤣 He kept yelling, “good job boys!” And then said, “they aren’t talking’ to me!” 🤣)

Spoiled Rotten

Braddock is hilarious.  Bridger was hesitant to go to bed this week because he was worried he'd be missing out on whatever his brothers were doing, so Braddock played it up big and took this photo to show Bridger how awesome things are after he's in bed.  Later he set it as his contact photo in my phone, so this is what I see every time he texts or calls.  Hahahahaha!  I love this kid and his sense of humor.

20 Years

This week Dean and I celebrated 20 years of marriage! That feels like a long time, but truthfully it’s flown by. Looking back it’s been full of ups and downs, joys and sorrows, good and bad, but there’s no one I’d rather be doing life with. We snuck away a couple times yesterday to celebrate. Dean speaks my love language so we did some eating and shopping! 🤣 We had a yummy breakfast at Cafe Gianni and stopped at a thrift store on the way home. Then last night we went to my first ever hibachi at Ichiban that did not disappoint. Then we hit up Marshall’s (cause it was right next to the restaurant and I had a return), but of course that meant some shopping too! 🤣 Grabbed some Coldstone on the way home and reminisced about the amazing life we’ve built together. Life’s not easy, but it’s so so good. I love you Dean Nelson! Thanks for picking me! 🥰

 

St. Patty's 2026

No pinching was had around these parts today. Everyone made sure to sport their green. We woke up to green milk, chocolate gold coins, and Lucky Charms for breakfast. Now may the Luck ‘O’ the Irish be with all of you! ☘️

Bridger was cute and got in Keaton's letter practice before he left for school.

Mean Girls

Landon wrapped up his school’s performance of “Mean Girls” this weekend. These kids pour their blood, sweat, and tears into these shows and we’re so proud of him and his hard work. And this show wasn’t what he would pick, with some questionable content, and he navigated it with grace. He didn't try for any main parts, but still participated in a way he was comfortable.  He's such a great kid, and he was the best Mathlete ever!

An Unwanted Guest

Dean had a little more excitement at school this week than he was wanting.  Apparently this little guy was terrorizing the library, so when it ran into his office he took one for the team and trapped it in there until he could get a sticky trap to catch it.  Coworkers hated to see him killed, so they took him outside to release him.  Guaranteed he'll be back! 😂

These photos are giving Mouse and the Motorcycle vibes. 😂

 

Activity Days Pinewood Derby

At Church I get to put on twice monthly activities for the 7-11year old girls. For January and February we combined with the boys and worked on building Pinewood Derby cars and last night was our big race. These kids worked so hard, and were so fun and creative with their designs. It was great getting to do this with Bridger too. He was a bit disappointed at the speed of his car, but he got the award for “Most Realistic Looking Car” and his looked awesome, complete with a spoiler he made himself! 🏁

Church Bulletin Boards

Not quite sure how I became the bulletin board person for the Church, but I did all the Young Men's boards last year and felt like they should probably be updated this year with the new theme.  And while I was at it I did the Seminary boards for Dean, but when he asked me he didn't know he'd be released soon and put in the Stake Presidency, so I ended up finishing them after he was no longer the Seminary teacher, but I'm happy with how they turned out and it was worth the work.

The smaller YM's room for the Deacons got a smaller version of the main YM's room.

The main YM's room has two big boards so we covered them both....

One for the Old Testament Come Follow Me theme

One for the Youth Theme "Walk With Me" along with their calendar, lesson schedule, birthdays, and YM theme.  In theory they should add pictures of their activities, but it's been over a year and the only photos are the ones I put up there.  😂

And the Seminary room got a board covered in the Doctrinal Mastery Scriptures, required readings, and the student's birthdays.  But the real show stopper was the bookshelf with all the books of the Old Testament and the Pearl of Great Price.  That took me FOREVER and I may have questioned my sanity a few times, but once I had the vision I had to see it through.