lilly's puppy Graduation day!

Lilly graduated from her puppy kindergarten class tonight. Alec did such a great job with her. She is now starting to follow commands and able to do a few tricks. We still have a long way to go, but it was so much fun for us and Lilly loved the free play with all the other dogs!

Toby Keith Concert Rocked!

School Crossing Guard!

Joe's 7th birthday!

Joe

First day of school!!!

I can't believe the first day of school is already here!! The summer flew by!!! Alec is now in 6th grade and Joe just started 1st grade. All day school, what will I do with all my time :) (Below is also our adopted son (neighbor) Mitch who practically lives with us. I needed to get him in the pic too!)

Football 2008!

Another season has started. Alec is now back on the field after his broken arm in July. He is a little anxious about returning. John is now an assistant coach also. Check out the uniform!! John is at every practice, he might as well help out while he is there!!

Park City Canyon's Concert

We had the best day!! The bracketts, Garners, Hazletts, Delatorre's and us all headed up to Park City's Canyon resort for a free concert. We rode the tram to the top of the hill, brought blankets and a whole spread of food. Rolo made his famous Mojitos. The weather was beautiful and the band was great. The crowd was fun and everyone was drinking and having a great time. (We forgot that we were in Utah for awhile!! ) The concerts run all summer. We have found our Saturday night plans for the rest of summer!

First Broken Arm!!!

Alec's first broken bone! He fell playing football (3rd day of practice!) and broke his bone just above the wrist. Alec tends to get a little teary from time to time, so when he was tearing up at practice over his arm we just told him to take a deep breath and get back out there. He did and ran a couple of more drills until he came back and started crying again. We left practice and then found out it was broken. Didn't we feel like awful parents--But what a tough kid. He has a splint on now and will get his cast on Wednesday. He says he is going to miss playing football, but not doing all the sprints/running!!

Autism and The Puppy

I now understand so much more of what the school, teachers and therapists have been telling me over the years of his education. It was a light bulb moment. Alec was diagnosed with High Functioning Autism in 1st grade. There had always been things that were a little off, but he was my first child and I knew nothing different. School has always been a struggle. Homework almost next to impossible. But he is a bright and intelligent kid. For example, he couldn't sing the alphabet song, but could tell you what number corresponded to each letter. I am blogging this because we thought we were making progress at home. Alec was becoming more independent and responsible. I recently watched several news stories on dogs and kids with Autism. The kids really open up and respond more with the dogs. Alec's pediatrician even recommended it for therapy. Alec fell in love and has been doing his best for our new puppy. He wants to do everything, but now the struggles he has in school and life on an every day basis have been put into sharp focus. He loses track of his thoughts. He needs constant reassurance and guidance. Every night we have to review several times with him what he needs to do. Every morning he wakes up a blank slate, forgetting everything he learned the previous day. The frustration is on both sides. I now more completely understand his wonderful, compassionate and loving teachers. We have adapted at home. Limited stress and allowed Alec to just be. Not many challenges or responsibilities. I thought he was ready, now I am not so sure. This does not mean we are giving up--it just means we really need to work with Alec that much harder. The puppy is being a puppy and by doing that she just may help Alec and his parents work harder, understand more and produce a strong, well-adjusted adult. We may just need tons of extra prayers and more puppy enzyme spray!!

First Puppy!!

Please help us (and me!) in welcoming our newest edition to the Nicolaysen family--Lily Roxanne Nicolaysen (Had to keep our flower naming tradition alive!) This is my/our very first puppy. I had a dog as a teenager, but my dad did all the work!!! Alec is absolutely thrilled. He is the one who saw her and said that she was the one!!! She is a mixture of Lab/collie/beagle aka Mrs. Mutt. She is in Alec's room and he is the one getting up at night and letting her out. He is taking his responsibility very seriously. He has opened up so much more since her arrival. I don't think I have ever seen him more excited!! I am hoping the excitement lasts, my furniture also!!

Day Camping fun!!

We live in the desert, but you would never know it by taking a short 15 min car ride up the canyon. It was a hot day in the valley, so the family hopped into the minivan and head for the canyons--Millcreek Canyon to be exact. We packed lunches, drinks, firewood and backpacks full of fun games to play. Little did I know that all I really needed was matches, wood and marshmallows to make this crew happy. Alec is a proud Boy Scout and showed off his Scout camp skills by building and maintaining the fire pit. Joe was in charge of sticks and paper to keep the fire going. They worked together as a team, something that does not always happen at home!!! We had a great day "camping" and I got to sleep in my own bed that night!!

Fun day out!!

Tawni and I decided to plan a fun day out with our boys and brought along Karen's kids Nick and Chase also. They all get along so well and are so much fun to go and do stuff with. We went to the movies and then spent the afternoon at the Planetarium exploring the universe!!


Our walk on the Moon and then we explored mars!!

Easter 2008

Family Trip to Jackson Hole!!!

Can you say freezing? It was a chilly 17 degrees while shopping on Saturday!
The only stop in the middle of nowhere, Joe decided it is time to pee!! Sometimes it is so good to be a boy!

The longest fry! Found in Evanston, WY!

Our cabin for 2 nights. It had all the comforts of home!!!
Kelsey and I run into a moose while shopping the streets of Jackson! Kelsey drinking orange juice and Julie and I drinking Mimosa's served at a local clothing store. We were not in Utah anymore!
Breakfast at the Bunnery!
Mexico flashbacks when the balloon clown showed up at breakfast! This is Joe's favorite part of the trip!
Beautiful town square Jackson Hole.

The Mangy Moose store! Lots of dead animals on the walls and on display!!!
We braved the cold, bundled up and went to see the lighting of town square for Christmas.
Joe with his beloved balloon animals. Our cabin kitchen in the background.
Chris, Joe and Alec at the Sports bar watching the Football game. Utah lost and we lost all our money to the Game room next door!!



We stopped by to visit Charlie and Jessica at their place at Bear Lake. Charlie built this beautiful home from the ground up!


The famous cowboy bar. We only got as far at the outside with all the kids in tow!
This was definitely a great trip!!!

Thanksgiving 2007

Happy Thanksgiving to all! We had a great holiday this year. It will be one to remember. We had the tri-fecta of housing problems that as can happen all occur on the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. Wednesday night before I left for work, our garage door opener broke, our power went out and this morning I came home to a freezing house because our furnace quit working!! John drove all over town looking for space heaters and kept the fire lit to keep warm. Later we went for a great meal and a warm home at Papoo and Yiaya's house. It was of course beautiful. They had great cocktails, wine and food! The kids were well behaved, although Joe doesn't eat anything!! He would have loved if the Pilgrims diet included juice boxes, gogurts and fruit snacks!!

Toula and Justin!
Alec practiced his good table manners and loved every bit of the meal! He even tried the Spanikopita!

All the boys on Thanksgiving night! Alec and Joe ready for dinner. Joe is holding the beautiful name card leaf.

Cynthia and Toula getting all the wonderful food ready.

Justin taking it easy!

Sushi Party!!!

Halloween

Joe's scary face for his Kindergarten Halloween party!
Joe walking at his Halloween Parade!
All the kids ready to go trick or treating!!!
Even the grown-ups got into the spirit!!

The field Trip

The car's inspection and emissions was up and it was the last day of the month (Halloween). I dropped the car off and it was such a nice day Joe and I went for a walk. We ended up at a nursery that also had a great pumpkin patch. We stopped, looked around, had a sandwich and then walked back to our car. Joe turned to me and said that "we needed to take more field trips together. They are so much fun". It made me realize that sometimes the most fun can be had when least expected!!