Happy Birthday MOM!

My sweet mom would be 48 today! She passed away almost three years ago which was one of the hardest and yet most beautiful things I have ever experienced!

When my mom was told she had cancer, she had the most positive attitude about it! She kept that attitude throughout her whole battle! Even when she was in excruciating pain, constant nausea and unable to do take care of herself let alone her young children, I never heard her complain! She was the one comforting her family and friends, when she probably needed the comfort the most.

It was an honor to take care of my mom and some of my most precious memories. I learned a lot about my mom's character and what a sweet person she was. I realized how much I had taken her for granted when she was healthy.

My mom's battle brought our family closer than ever. I have the upmost respect for my mom who suffered so much and yet maintained a smile daily and my amazing dad who has kept my family grounded and positive about the whole situation.

I miss my mother more than ever! It was the hardest thing to say goodbye and knowing that was the last time I was ever going to be able to talk to her. It was extremely difficult planning a wedding without her. And it will be very hard when kids start coming... all those things that your mom should be there for, I dont' get to experience that! But I know there is a reason why she had to leave us when she did and I am trying to be ok with that.

So here's to you mom.... Happy Birthday! I love you!

~Merry Christmas~

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other.

~Burton Hillis

Tagged

*What is your husbands full name? Tren John Hagman
*How long have you been married? A little over 10 months
*How long did you date? We were friends at first for about 5 months til we finally went on our first date, then we dated almost 2 years before we got hitched
*How old is he? 25.. soon to be 26 in less than a month
*Who eats more sweets? That would be ME... T doesn't have much of a sweet tooth
*Who said I love you first? Tren
*Who is taller? Tren... by almost a foot LOL
*What's his job? Sales
*What's your job? Registered Nurse
*Who can sing better? Believe it or not, but Tren has a great voice....
*Who is smarter? Gosh... that's a tough one... I will leave that up to you!
*Who's more patient? Uuuuhhhh.... neither :)
*Who does laundry? ME... occasionally T will help me fold
*Who pays the bills? We both do but Tren does most of the budgeting
*Who sleeps on the right side? Tren
*Who mows the lawn? We both do.. I love getting a good tan :)
*Who cooks dinner? Both of us... but Tren is hands down the better cook!
*Who drives? Always Tren... it's a control thing I think ;)
*Who is the first to admit they are wrong? We are both stubborn... It Depends I guess
*Who kissed who first? T kissed me... that was a good night :)
*Who asked who out first? T asked me out
*Who wears the pants? If you ask me, I wear the pants... if you ask him, he wears the pants LOL

So those of you who are tagged, copy the questions, and let us all learn a little bit more about you.
I tag: Sara, Jena, Lacey, Kirsten, Kim, Karly, and Jessica

Nelson's

We love going over to my dad's and spending time with my family! They are so fun and we are so quirky that we pretty much just laugh the whole time! Not a dull moment in the Nelson home!

We are all still shocked that Tren fits in so well with us! He has caught on to all of our inside jokes. He doesn't miss a beat!

Here is some of my siblings... My older sister Shaline, my little sister Brindyn, my little brother Sean and me.

We are finally getting around to putting the star on the tree. Growing up this always turned into a fight cuz all of us wanted to do the honors... and it happened again this year. All 3 of the younger kids took their turn putting the star on the tree. Here's a picture of Brindyn getting her turn!

Here is our youngest, Dannion! Doesn't he look so proud??

My friend showed me this video on youtube and we were laughing so hard. This kid is good at playing the ukulele and he is alright at carrying a tune... but not so great at singing clearly! Watch his facial expressions, they're my favorite!

I totally would put the video on my blog but I don't have a clue how to, so here's the link.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTCzJWrgFbE

Bowling

We went bowling for our brother-in-law Jon's birthday. It was super fun! I hadn't been bowling in years! I think the last time I went was in high school and my score showed it! I am pretty sure most of the kids bowled better than I did!

Tren did pretty good, I think he took second place... lost to the birthday boy! I tell ya, Jon doesn't mess around, he knows how to bowl!

Here's the birthday boy, Jon and his wife Meagan
All of Tren's girls! His sis Meagan, his mama Tory and Me

I love this picture! Tren and Meagan sharing a seat figuring out teams!
Look at that foot work! Tren looks like a professional!

Me and Tren.... don't ask what T is doing... this is the only picture I had of us

Road Trip!

If any of you know Tren, you know he LOVES the Arizona Cardinals! (And I have learned to love them-- not that I really had a choice) We took our annual trip to Arizona for another great game! We had so much fun! We killed the Minnesota Vikings 30-17! (The Vikings made a touch down in the last two minutes of the game... lucky boys!)

Road Trips are great and NFL games are even better, combine the two and you have a great vacation!

What's a road trip without frequent stops! We saw this Ute exit sign and we had to pull over!! Coincidentally both Tren and I were supporting our UTES in our U of U clothes!

~GO UTES~

Another stop we made was at the Hoover Dam!! I couldn't believe all the construction was still going on. Two plus years ago my family and I had taken a trip that took us through the dam and they were just beginning the new bridge... and although they have made a ton of progress... they still have a long ways to go!

Here's the construction on the bridge! You could see these tiny people dangling from the top... it made me sick to think about! I don't do heights!
And look how happy Tren looks to be out of the car! That's Lake Mead behind him!

You know you have crossed the boarder into Arizona when the gas stations are advertising the Cardinals and everyone is selling Cardinal Cups! We couldn't help but get a picture at the gas station and not buying a cup for a souvenir wasn't an option!
Tren was in HEAVEN!

This is what you call boredom... after sitting in the car for 9 hours listening to the same music over and over again, you are looking for things to keep you entertained!! So I took a million pictures! Look how creative I got LOL

Here's the Cardinal's Stadium coming up!! That was a relief to see! We finally made it... and just in time for our tour! :)

Cardinals Stadium

T and I getting ready to start our tour of the Cardinal's Stadium!!

It was pretty neat that the top opens up to let the sun light into the stadium for afternoon games. It was open for the tour (obviously, since we have the picture) but for the game they closed it.

The left picture is where they have the field slide out so that it can get direct sunlight. As you can see, it's used as a parking lot when the field is in the stadium. The Cardinals had the first stadium that had a moving field.

This is outside the stadium, it's Pat Tillman (#40). He played for the Cardinal's and was doing great with the team but after 9/11 happened he joined the marine's to fight for our country. He was killed in the line of duty. In my opinion, he's an amazing man to have had a promising career with football but was willing to give it all up to protect our freedom!

This is where all the big guys in media sit. Don't you think T looks like he belongs there!

Outside all the suite doors are pictures of players in the hall of fame. We couldn't resist getting a few pictures with them!

This is inside the one of the suites! I loved their decor design... very funky! Tren made himself right at home! Check out the bathroom... the picture doesn't do it justice!

Cardinals vs Vikings

Here we are super excited for the game to start

Here is Kurt Warner, our quarterback... we weren't sure if he was going to play this game because he hadn't played the last two games due to a concussion. Lucky for us, he played a great game!

This is my boy!! Larry Fitzgerald (#11) our wide receiver! He is amazing! I have loved him ever since I started watching the cardinal's! He's a very classy guy who doesn't talk crap. I love how humble he is not to mention a great player!

More Larry :)

Tren is all smiles, it was a great game! I just love my hubby!

The fans sitting around us were awesome!

Festival of Trees

I absolutely LOVE the festival of trees!! We try to go every year! This year T and I went and met up with his sister Meagan and her family. We had a really good time! Lots of cute trees, yummy treats and the cutest little dancers! I love watching the really young kids perform!

I fell in love with this tree! If anyone knows me, they know I LOVE sweets! This candy tree definitely made me crave my favorite treat.... cotton candy. So we went and got me some!

Grady wanted to get a closer look at the Grinch... so T took him closer then I couldn't get him to look at me for the picture!













You gotta love the fan trees! We have your classic Ute tree and I had to get a picture of the Jazz tree! (this picture is for you Megan!)


Another favorite tree of mine... Chocolate!!