Last Pictures of Our Boise Trip........

My Grandma picks Blue Berries every 4th of July in Oregon and then freezes a whole bunch to last throughout the winter. Ava went crazy over these big frozen blue Berries. They probably felt good on her gums. She got two molars while we were in Boise. We managed to go through an entire gallon of Blue Berries in 10 days. Grandma would even sneak them to her when I wasn't looking.
We put the sprayer on Mist and let her go to town. She was giggling like crazy as she was spraying herself in the face.
Cousin Johnny, Grandma, and Baby Mariah.
Me, Ava and my cousin Ben eating at the little kids table. Ava wanted to do anything Ben was doing. It was so cute watching him explain the game Candyland to her. Ben will be an awesome big brother to Mariah.

So it took me awhile to get my Boise Trip posted. I guess I just wanted to brag for a couple weeks.........or I had so much fun I just had to post a lot.............or my computer is sooooooo slow that I could only dedicate one upload a night (2 tonight Woohoo!). So I'm sure you are all looking forward to a few new posts to come: UW Football Game (GO BADGERS!!), The Zoo, and and some other fun things I can't think of right now. Trust me they'll be good!

A Hike in Boise

Pinch Daddy's Ear.
Dave and Sara
Wild Turkey's!

We went on a small hike in Mack's creek where my bio. father has a very cool little cabin. Ava loved being outside. Her favorite thing though were the wild turkey's. She probably thought they were giant chickens. It was nice to spend the day in the canyon and hear lots of great stories that Dave told. I hope Ava gets a love for the outdoors.

Taste like Chicken

Ava eating the bread for the chickens.
Silly chickens eating out of our hands.

While we were in Boise we chased and fed my Grandma's Bantee Chickens. Ava decided to eat the bread that she was supposed to throw to the chickens. She didn't want to share it with those silly chickens. She was cracking me up. She would hold it out for 2 seconds and then quickly pop it into her mouth.

Boise Idaho Sept 2007

4 generations!
Cousin Isaac and Ava, she's blowing him a kiss.
Sister Michele and Ava
Brother Mark and Ava...........Mark cut his hair after this trip (:

We took a family trip to Boise to see family. Some were in town for the Labor Day Weekend and some are lucky enough to live there permanently. We had an amazing time and it was good to see everyone. I'll name all the people I was able to see. Grandma, Grandpa, my Mom, Brother Mark, Sister Michele, Aunt Diane, Uncle Ernie, Cousin Isaac, Cousin Jacob, Uncle John, Aunt Christina, Cousin Andrew, Cousin Johnny, Cousin Ben, Cousin Baby Mariah (sooo cute), and my Father Dave Walker. We stayed at my Grandma's and she is a wonderful hostess. Ava and I were their 10 days and Matt was there for 5 days. We made pots, chased chickens, and ate the best peaches and pectarines (a peach nectarine cross.....) you can ever imagine. I have a lot more pictures to add from our trip but these are the first couple of days. More to come.

I've Been Tagged!

1. Who is your man? Matthew Paske
2. How long have you been together? Married 4 years. Together almost 8.
3. How long dated? Almost 4 yrs...engaged just over a year.
4. How old is your man? 32-Yes I am older by 6 months (:
5. Who eats more? We eat the same amount. Once in awhile Matt will eat more. Especially if I bake cookies or brownies.
6. Who said "I love you" first? I did on our second vacation to Mexico.
7. Who is taller? Matthew
8. Who sings better? Me, but Matt is pretty good in the shower.
9. Who is smarter? Hmmmmm......We both think were smart. Matt is a better speller and can do math in his head way faster.
10. Who's temper is worse? MATT for sure. Especially at the TV. Sports will get him riled up every time he watches.
11. Who does the laundry? We both do. Who folds laundry-neither.
12..Who does the dishes? If I cook then Matt cleans up and vice versa. If we do take out, he usually picks up while I bathe Ava.
13. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? My side is officially the right side, but Matt would tell you I sleep on both sides and the middle, and I even steal the covers!! How did he get so lucky?
14. Who pays the bills? We do
15. Who is better with the computer? We are both good..in different ways.
16. Who mows the lawn? Matthew95% Me 5%
17. Who cooks dinner? Potbelly's, Noodles, Glass Nickel Pizza....I cook one homemade meal a week. It was my New Years resolution.
18. Who drives when you are together? Usually him. I drive way too safe and defensive for his taste.
19. Who pays when you go out? He does. He would tell you because my money and credit cards just kinda float through my purse and I'm never exactly sure where things are. It's true.
20. Who is most stubborn? We are both pretty stubborn.
21. Who is the first to admit when they are wrong? It's weird, we are both never wrong.
22. Whose parents do you see the most? His, they live 10 minutes away, vs mine 2000 miles away.
23. Who kissed who first? He did.
24. Who asked who out? He did. We met at a football party and all the soda I was drinking made him curious.
25. Who proposed? He did.
26. Who is more sensitive? ME
27. Who has more friends? We both have a lot of friends. He has more in Wisconsin, I have more nationwide (:
28. Who has more siblings? Definitely me. I have 6 siblings...he has 1.
29. Who wears the pants in the family? Matt for sure. But If I really, really want my way he lets me wear the pants. He never makes a decision with out getting my input. And that's nice.

Lets see who would have read all the way through this list........I tag Melissa B and Lori C !! Have fun girls.

My Little Fairy Princess

I bought this when Ava was a baby and forgotten about it. I didn't know she was into dress up until she kept trying to put the wings on. So I helped her get her skirt and wings on, and gave her the wand. She was running all over waving her wand, singing, and swaying back and forth. I was cracking up. Of course as soon as I pulled the out the camera, the silliness stopped and she wanted the camera. I should have known she might like dress up because she does like to wear her party hat from her birthday and also her sunglasses at the grocery store. Everyone compliments her at the grocery store and calls her a movie star. In return she gives them a large movie star grin.

Oh My! Is it a Party.....

Ava found a box of "Party Favors". She was so thorough on getting every last item out of the box. Luckily she didn't try to open the wrappers.

Flower Power

Ava likes to help mommy water the flowers. Even though she mostly waters the ground and picks all of my blooming beauties, it is nice that she likes to be a part of of this daily ritual. I wonder if she'll like plants as much as I do when she gets older.........

Happy 4th Anniversy to Us!!

Matt planned a wonderful 4th Wedding Anniversary that we celebrated this weekend. We went to Sundara Spa in Wisconsin Dells. It was incredible........so relaxing. Erica and Corey watched Ava over night. It was our first time leaving her overnight, but of course she was in good hands. That night there was a big storm and we actually lost electricity for two hours at the hotel. And at the Radlunds the storm woke all the kids up and everyone slept in their bed-even Ava. We had a good time having a picnic in our room, couples massage, dinner at Fields, and Matt hanging out at the pool while I got my first facial ( I loved it!). How am I going to top this next year?

Family Picture at National Night Out

National Night Out

This event was at the park that is just 3 blocks from our house Ava's ponytail makes her 3 inches taller.
Mom and Ava. Ava is looking at the "Dog Dog".

We stopped by our city's "National Night Out". There were police cars, ambulances, fire truck, a police horse, police dogs, and a Black Hawk Helicopter. Ava thought the police dogs were there to play with her, and she also tried hot dogs for the first time! Overall a good time even if we didn't win any prizes.

Waunafest

We have all these crazy festivals that include a lot of carnies and some rickety rides. Waunafest is held in an adjacent town to ours called "Waunakee" (the only one in the world supposedly). Ava rode on the carousal for the first time. I thought she would squeal and get excited, but she was very serious and the up and down seemed to mesmerize her. She held on tight and wouldn't even let go to give Dad a little wave.

HOLD IT!!

Ava is a true shopper. She has several bags she carries around and sometimes puts her clothes in them. Teach them young, right? Pizza wire rack. If you ask Ava to make you a pizza she will run and grab this rack.
Decorative box that happens to have the perfect handle.

Hangers
Ava runs around looking for random things to carry. Sometimes she puts the items back where they belong and sometimes she puts things in crazy places. The remote control was missing for a couple of days and sure enough Ava had hidden it in the drawer under the oven. Maybe I should bake more often (:

Lazy day at the Cottage

Matt's parents have a cottage that is about 45 minutes away, and we try to spend most of our weekends there. Today we went to the cottage in the afternoon and had lunch on the pontoon boat, swam in the lake, played a crazy form of baseball with Grace and Durlin (with Matt convincing the kids to let him hit too), swung on the swing, and played in the sand (Ava's very first time). I thought she would try to eat it, but she didn't. Uncle Corey grilled us some fabulous burgers and we had the sweetest corn on the cob I've had all summer. I'm hoping for an Indian Summer this year so that we can have more dreamy weekends at the cottage.

Ava is walking all over the place these days and loves to carry things . Here she has a leaf and Daddy's baseball cap. She also likes to carry around anything that has a handle on it. She carries it like a little purse on her arm. She really is a crack-up.

Hiking with the Girls

Don't Lori and I look like we are about to start an expedition? We hiked up the East Rim Trail at Devil's Lake Sate Park on Thursday afternoon. The girls loved being outside in the fresh air. It was great weather and there was plenty of shade. Lori was such a trooper. She was a little scared of physically carrying Maya in the backpack for more than 5 minutes (we did a trial run at the house first just to make sure), but her super power strength kept her going for an hour and a half. She vowed that next year we are going to go even farther. We were both a little sore the next day, but it was definitely worth the aches.

The Nelson Crew.

1. Here are Kate, Paul, Ella, Grant, and Dallin (not in that order). Don't they look like a happy family? They are in front of the house the bought 2 yrs ago.

2. Ella is decked out in her new helmet, gloves, elbow and knee pads. She insisted that daddy put together her scooter while she put on all her gear so she could ride it that instant.

3. Paul gets a minute to cuddle with baby Dallin after T-ball.

POOL TIME!

My sister Lori and her daughter Maya came to visit me in Wisconsin last week while my husband went to Canada on a fishing trip. We decided to drive to St. Louis and visit our other sister Kate and her family. During our quick trip we went to the pool, attended Ella's fabulous water party (24 wild and crazy kid's), and Grant's T-ball game. Although this 6 hr road trip was a little bit crazy on the way there (okay really crazy), they slept the whole time on the way back. Lori got Dallin for the first time and I got to see how much he has grown. Don't you love their matching swimsuits?

4th of July

We went to the cottage for the 4th of July. We went to a parade in Pardeeville where Ava saw lots of "Dog Dogs". Durlin and Grace set up a little chair for Ava to sit in and she thought she was such a big girl. She wants to do everything the kids are doing.

The party keeps going.

So none of the 1 yr olds wanted to wear their party hats, but we managed to get a couple of pictures. I made Ava a little cake to destroy and I made a homemade chocolate fudge cake that is my Aunt Diane's recipe. It truly was incredible. I am going to use that amazing frosting for everything! Ava did like opening presents-especially the cards. We decorated the house in hot pink and light pink streamers, flowers, and paper lanterns.

Ava's 1st Birthday- "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!"

What a day! Ava was not feeling well. She had a fever and was not in the mood to party. The one other time she had chocolate cake she was singing and kicking her legs......not on her Birthday. She didn't feel like eating cake, when I gave her a taste she proceeded to gag. Poor thing.