I guess I should up-date the blog sooner rather than later! The first two weeks of summer flew by. I signed the kids up for the first session of swimming and we spent M-Th of both weeks swimming--mostly in the rain! We signed them up for the first session last year too and it rained! There were a few rainless mornings. They actually enjoyed swimming in the rain because it made the water seem warmer--it was just Chad or I that didn't enjoy standing in the rain watching them in the hot tub. They are all great swimmers and enjoyed lessons. Especially Keiera! She is quite the fish. We rode the bus as much as possible and that helped make the days go faster!

This week Skyler is gone to his first Scout Camp. Chad went with for a few days. He will be back tomorrow so he can get work in for the week. I haven't worried because Chad is there! I'm sure Skyler would've been just fine without him too! Chad and I will go back up on Friday for the Parent's Night. He went to Aspen Ridge near Preston, Idaho.

I've been keeping myself busy with my new hobby of beading interchangeable watch bands! It is quite addicting and sometimes frustrating when you drop the cord and all the beads go everywhere! It's fun to create different designs.

Not much else is happening at the Nielson's house! We did celebrate Chad's Birthday, Father's Day, the longest day of the year, and the first day of summer this past Sunday! What a day for Chad!

I guess it's been a bit longer than I thought! I was trying to follow the example of my brother :) We are now officially done with soccer for the season--I think! Alex still has two games that could be made up, but it doesn't look like it's going to happen. She played a make-up game last Saturday and she scored her first goal ever, in fact she scored two!!! Now all of the kids have scored at least two goals this season. I even got a little in-door soccer in myself and may start playing outdoor once a week!

School is almost officially over as well--the middle two kids have about 40 minutes left! Keiera graduated from kindergarten on Tuesday!!!! WOW! I can't believe how old I am--I mean the kids are! I am so excited for next year--I'll get ALL day to accomplish something. Hopefully the summer doesn't get too boring for the kids. I've got them signed up for swim lessons starting next week--so much for sleeping in! (Those of us who had to get up by 6 a.m. will be able to sleep in though!) We will be riding the bus as much as possible and will have to catch it by 8:30 a.m.

Not much else is going on at our house!

Here we are into another week. Looking back at the calendar it looks like in addition to SOCCER, last week was full of scouts, dentist appointments, and eye dr. appointments. Luckily all of those appointments were for regular check-ups and much to Jaydon and Keiera's disappointment, they don't need glasses!!!! In fact the Dr. said that Keiera's eyes are perfect, which is rare for a 5 year old! She is just sure that they're not though. I'm sure she'll have the privilege of wearing glasses sooner than not.

Today Alex ran in her first Wellsville Mile. (All the Cache County 4th and 5th graders on the South of the Valley get to do this.) She did fantastic! She qualified for the 3rd heat which is the fastest group of girls and she ran it in 9:05. It was extremely hot this morning and she fought through it and ran her best.

Keiera and Jaydon both had soccer games tonight. Jaydon's team tied 1-1 and Keiera's won. Jaydon's team played on the smallest field yet this season and they struggled. They are used to more room and had a hard time not being on top of each other. Skyler is done for the season and Alex has a make-up game tomorrow--she will be missing and a regular scheduled game Thursday. She still possibly has 1-2 make-up games. Jaydon is now done and Keiera has a regular scheduled game Thursday and her last make-up game next Tuesday. I don't know what we'll do with soccer over and school! Oh--I know. We'll start right into swimming lessons!!!!!!

It seems that each week is the same for us--SOCCER, SOCCER, and more SOCCER!!!! Good thing we enjoy it for the most part. Keiera played last Wednesday and everything was going well until the downpour! We were wetter from that 10-15 minutes downpour than we were the previous Saturday in all of the rainy games! It came with a vengence! The poor little kids started crying and looking for parents and hence, the game ended about 15 minutes early. The games following that were just fine! The weather for the rest of the games that week was great.

We also had a pinewood derby last week. Jaydon worked hard on his car--with his dad's help--and the hard work paid off. He won first place! A few of us leaders also brought cars and mine also won :) It was a car I helped make a few years ago when we had a Ward pinewood derby. My car also beat Jaydon's!

Mother's Day was nice--after church that is! Chad and I had to speak! We learned at church that we weren't the first options, several people had said no! We tried to come up with an excuse, but none were to be found. This was Chad's third time speaking on Mother's Day.

I can't think of anything else that might be worth telling so I guess I'll end for another week.

Another week come and gone. Last week I was able to go to BYU's Women's Conference for the 8th year in a row! What a great husband I have. This year we had an even larger group go. We had 13 on Thursday and 16 on Friday! It was an amazing conference as always. I was going to try so hard to come home and be better from the things I learned. However, Saturday morning came with several grumpy kids. They had gone to a late night the night before and now didn't want to wake up for their early soccer games.

We finally made it to the first game, Jaydon's, just before it was to start. Alex stayed home, but Keiera was determined to come with me. It was POURING!!! I kept her pretty dry with the umbrella, but her feet were wet. We left Jaydon before half time in order to get Alex and Keiera to their games. Chad had to work, so I had to coach Keiera's team. Alex wasn't excited about playing in the rain, but I guess she didn't have to because the other team forfeited. I was surprised that 9/10 on Keiera's team showed up. They were all soaked by the end of the game, but had a great time playing hard. This was the first game I have seen of Keiera. All of the kids enjoy soccer! After her game I came home and changed clothes and warmed up for a bit before heading to Skyler's game. The other kids didn't come this time. Skyler wanted to play goalie and did a great job--he was freezing! The second half he played forward and did great. The other team weren't the best of sports and that was sad to see. All of the kids won their games for the day and I had a lot of WET clothes to wash. It was raining even harder and blowing hard during Skyler's game. Keiera looked like she had just gotten out of the shower after her game!

It has been a beautiful, rainy Spring weekend. I love all of the rain because I LOVE how GREEN everything is! ALL of the yards are on equal grounds for a few months :)

The kids each were able to play one of their soccer games last week. I still haven't been able to watch Keiera play because I have had to take someone else to their game! Skyler had two games last week and I missed both of them too! Alex and Skyler's teams both won their games. Jaydon's team played one player short and struggled. Keiera's team also lost this one. The games all were cancelled on Saturday due to the SNOW! I even shoveled the driveway for some exercise--it would've melted had I not. Chad was at work on Saturday, so it was a nice day to stay home. The kids were all able to go to the Primary activity instead.

Skyler didn't have a game on Saturday and was able to go on his first overnight Scout camp without his dad. He turned 12 on Sunday and they invited him to go on their camp. They were able to go fishing and on a 10 mile bike ride. Skyler loved it! I guess he kept getting too far ahead of everyone on the bike ride and they had to have him slow down. So what he lacks in size, he makes up in other areas! He is by far the shortest Deacon our ward has. I can't believe he is already twelve! The start of Young Men's has begun.

With the beautiful Spring weather last week each of the kids only played one of their two soccer games. Keiera was so upset that her first game was cancelled. It was only raining and they could still play! We had to convince her that she really didn't want to play in the VERY cold rain. It was nice not having all the games to run too, but now they'll have to try and reschedule a LOT of games. Chad had an EMS training early Saturday morning and so I got Skyler ready for his game at 9 a.m. Keiera thought she'd like to go, but after being there and getting our feet soaking wet just from walking across the VERY long grass, she was ready to go back home. I had forgotten chairs and water for Skyler anyway, so I took her home. Skyler played great--he wore out quickly, but he knew what he was doing. His team struggled, but only lost 2-4. Skyler scored on a penalty kick and had several other great shots. Alex's team was next--we just had to move fields. Chad had gone home and gotten her. She always surprises me when I watch her play with how aggressive she can be. Her team also lost there game. She did get one great shot on goal though! Next was Jaydon's game clear out in Wellsville. I took him there because Keiera's team started 15 minutes later in Hyrum. Jaydon's poor team got trounced! They lost 1-10+ and I seriously think the other team had 20! Jaydon finally made one goal after MANY attempts from him and another boy. He and this other boy would kick the ball from the half line to the goalie! Hopefully the teams will improve!!! Chad said Keiera played GREAT! She even scored 2 goals. Their team won! She got the ball away from a little boy both times and went around him to score! Wish I could have seen her. I will have to miss her game tonight as Jaydon plays at the same time again! She is even doing better listening at soccer practices--can't say much for some of the others though.

So we are full into soccer again. When the weather is nice, it is fun to be outside watching the games. I hear it is suppose to snow again this weekend though! With Chad working on Saturday, maybe it would be nice not to have to get three of the four kids to soccer games. Skyler doesn't have one on Saturday, which is great. He gets to go with the Scouts on an overnight camp and then a 10 mile bike ride on Saturday. I still can't believe he is going to be 12 in less than one week!

I'm sure there will be much more soccer to write about next week!!! :)