Merry Christmas at the Nelson's

We had a great Christmas 2011. On Christmas Eve, Kyler and I rode with Uncle Grahamm to Sebeka. The house was bustling as we used most of the afternoon to prepare the following day's meal.

rolling lots of gnocchi...

 helping grandma with rice (hmmm.. not sure how to spell this) rehnrick.

 "mac cheese."

 Christmas dinner

 Hard working power couple..

 Eggplant parm, gnocchi, brigole, homemade bread, parm, salad.... yum!

 In our Christmas best!

 "help daddy."

Kyler had a great time being the center of attention w/ all his aunts and uncles! As you can see, the highlight was the piano...

Also very popular for Mr. Bubbs was a lifesize-to-him bear dressed as santa. He was glad to have a wrestling buddy that he could dominate (vs most other two year olds who are way bigger than him).

Chris had to head back to Minneapolis for work but Kyler and I went to Brainerd for the rest of the week. We had a great time with the Bolt side - no pics to show for it as I got kind of lazy and didn't unpack my car very well during that visit.

Thanks to everyone for the amazing gifts and invaluable company!

We are so blessed! Love love love all around!!

Thank you to those far away!!

We opened a couple gifts with just or little family of three tonight..

Chris has been working SO hard (and long) so his eyes were extremely blood shot but I'm a sucker for presents and really didn't want to wait until we return from Sebeka & Brainerd next Friday.

Thanks Leigh & Dave for sending your aloha from Hawaii!

And this is after all the gifts were opened...

Thank you, also, to the Serpa's!! This is an amazing present & I'm excited (and so is Kyler) to build a little town :-) Pardon my annoying voice.

You're also in our prayers for your father, Keith.

Merry Christmas everyone! Much love...

Artists

My men are so creative! Making Christmas presents... Kyler always need to "help."

Macy's 8th Floor

This Saturday Kyler and I had a great time with Tyson and Kayla (his mom). We all ventured downtown to see "A Day in the Life of an Elf" ~ The Macy's Eighth floor exhibit for 2011. Kyler loved it - he could have stared at each exhibit for hours. I found it very tough to get good pics...

After walking through the exhibit, we saw a great puppet show at "Moose Crossings" - a seasonal puppet theater also on the eighth floor. Kyler was very psyched about hanging with all the kids and galloping around while saying, "moose. tree. christmas tree." It was pretty amusing. He sat on the rug right up front and stared intently during the entire show.

His new favorite saying is, "down town, charlie brown." He loves the city life and all the activities it has to offer :-)

Tyson is such a great buddy! We had him over last week - quite honestly he can't come over enough!! Kyler and I both love playdates!

Kyler really likes having Baby Lucas around. He is 10 weeks now and Kyler likes to help feed him his milk, burp him, play peek-a-boo, and keep track of his where-abouts at all time. In this video you can't hear what he's saying, but he says, "hi Lucas." and then sings, "lucas. lucas. luuuucas.

Give Thanks

Happy Holidays! We had a great Thanksgiving with the Bolt side this year. Everyone gathered at Eric & Rena's house on what turned out to be a beautiful day. It's not often that you can be outside with kids all afternoon in late November. We had a bonfire, ate too much, went for a walk, ate more, wrestled on the floor (at least Chris & the kids did), and then played games after the kids went to bed.

After hearing a lot of yelling and commotion coming from down the hall, I go in to investigate....

"What are you guys up to?"

Kyler is so great at sharing - especially if it means he can get rid of his fruit and vegetables!

Carve that turkey!

 

Kyler and Evan's favorite activity: Running!!

On Friday, we went to Nisswa to see the "lighting of the city." There were reindeer (alpacas), santa (the kids kept their distance from that freaky dude), horse drawn carriages, live music, crafts, and a lot of festive Lakes area folk.  

Kyler and I returned home to Minneapolis Saturday evening. Sunday was spent covering the windows with plastic (woo hoo!), and decorating for Christmas. We got a beautiful tree and it looks amazing!

We are so thankful for all that we have. My heart goes out to all those who are suffering and struggling this time of year. Chris, Kyler and I feel so blessed to have our health, our families health, and to feel loved by so many. Happy Thanksgiving!

Trick or Treat!

Kyler was definitely a fan of trick-or-treating!

He thinks that the idea of going to someone's front door and mumbling a few words in exchange for CANDY is an a-m-a-z-i-n-g deal. He kept saying, "tank oo."

He wanted to eat all of his candy so luckily we only went about 2 blocks (9 houses).

 Twins mascot - TC Bear #00

October ~ our favorite month!

New car bed.. he's been doing GREAT! Only fell out in the middle of the night one time. He climbs in and out and loves bed time. What does the car say? "beep beep night night."

 Looks like he's ready for a poop in this one. We've been reading lots of book about potty time.

He woke up the other morning and I said, "good morning." He said, "no potty." So, I don't think he's ready! He may have been traumatized by a weird book I got from the library. It talked about "wee wees that boys have" and showed us that "our butt has a hole where poo comes out." Yikes

But I say, No problem! ~ as long as he's ready by age 3.

 We went to a party Saturday night. Kyler was the only little person there.. but Chris and I were dressed as American tourists visiting Italy and Kyler was our server, Giovanni. He had a baguette and bottle of "wine" (grape juice in a plastic bottle that I put a 'vino' label on). His moustache didn't last long but his eyebrows are still dark. Of course we didn't get a photo of all three of us..

As you can see, he loved the cupcakes. Tried to take a bite off the top and then put it back for another.

 Kyler loves to help with things! His favorite is to spread the butter.

Two Year Photo Shoot

Thanks, Em, for the great coffee & a successful photo shoot!!

Kyler just loves to roam around the inner city.. haha!