Yosemite- May 2015

I had all these ideas of stories I was going to write about our trip to Yosemite, which did indeed happen many months ago back in May. We drove up after Christina's wedding, and traveled with Jonathan's parents. We stayed for a couple of days in their trailer, met up with Jonathan's Dad's biological dad, saw some beautiful trees, waterfalls, and got snowed in for a day...in May. I was going to write all these stories, and share them with you. But, I got distracted and busy and life kept going and it just wasn't happening. Then, I got a code for a free Shutterfly photo book, and I made a photo book instead. I figured instead of rewriting everything for a blog post, I'd just share the photo book! It's so much faster this way! So, here it is, Enjoy!

Click here to view this photo book larger

Turn your favorite photos into a photo book at Shutterfly.com.

Christina and Big Peter Get Married!

The Nelson side of the wedding party!

So, the biggest reason for heading to California was for the lovely wedding of Jonathan's sister Christina to her now husband Peter. (We frequently refer to him as Big Peter, and ours as Little Peter.) The wedding day was great. They were sealed together in the LDS Redlands Temple. The ceremony didn't take too long, and the photographer took lots of great shots. (All of the pictures in this post are taken from facebook.)

Peter and Christina...they are so happy!

Nelson Siblings- Christina loves loves loves the beard.

It was hot during picture taking, but they kept us in the shade, so it wasn't too bad. They were pretty quick about getting groups in and out and getting the needed pictures. Christina and Peter looked great and they were happy. The two youngest wedding guests- Peter and Charles- got a little bit crazy as the day went on, but they were pretty awesome...and adorable.

Christina with the little boys, Peter and Charles.

Christina! She is so gorgeous! 

Peter and his Mama.

Little Handsome Peter

After the temple ceremony and the pictures at the temple, we headed back to the Nelson home to finish setting up for the reception. Tables needed to be decorated and it was a bit windy...so we got creative and used a mix of double sided tape and safety pins to keep the smaller square to stay on the bigger table cloth. Luckily, the wind died down by party time, so it was never an issue during the reception. We also got to put up all of the candles around the place- they were all battery operated- no fire issues. I grabbed a couple of Big Peter's sisters and we got them placed in no time. Then, before we knew it, people started arriving and the party began.

The reception at the Nelson's home

Peter enjoying some Russian blini.

Christina and Peter had lots of foreign food- Middle Eastern and Russian dishes for their reception. Little Peter and I loved the blini- Russian crepes- I miss those and ate as many as I could. Jonathan got to be the MC for the night, and Peter did a great job playing with other kids and eating any food people would give him. He and Charles were constantly having a love hate relationship with each other. The dancing began and Big Peter and Christina were having their first dance, when the bouncy ball fight broke out. Charles has a ball, and Peter grabbed it when it was bouncing along...soooo...this happened.

Christina and Peter's first dance...and a small tussle between the small boys

The tackle

Yeah, they tackled each other in the middle of the first dance. Then, the parents swooped in and broke them up. He keeps me on my toes everyday. But at least they did it in style.

Jonathan, Peter and Robin at the wedding.

It was a great day, and we had lots of help getting things set up and taken down, which is always a welcome thing. We are so happy for Christina and Peter and are happy that we got to be in California to celebrate with them. They will have lots of adventures in their life together. We wish them the best, lots of happiness and lots of grand adventures!

California Vacation Life

In the end of April, we headed to California for Jonathan's sister's wedding. Although we were there for the wedding, we spent some time having fun with family and taking a break from the daily grind of life. Peter and I went out a week before Jonathan was able to come out, and we missed him, but had lots of fun. Here's a quick rundown of what we did.

Explore the yard!

Lizard Finder Extraordinaire 

Orange Boy

Take lots of naps! They always turned out more comfortable for Peter than for me. He's a wiggly little guy and thinks the entire bed belongs to him.

Initially I was sleeping in the space of the white pillow and his head was on the flowered pillow...this is why we don't nap together.

Pool time! Erica and I hung out poolside because the water was cool, the boys loved it, and then you couldn't get pulled into chopping veggies for the wedding reception!  The water took a bit to get used to, cold!, but Peter loved it. He could have played in that pool all day, everyday.

Poolside Peter

Grandpa came out and played with them for a bit. He threw them both in the water. The first time, I caught Peter before his face got wet, but the second time, I let his face go under. He was a little scared, and didn't want Grandpa throwing him again, but he was okay with it pretty quickly. I wish we had more regular access to a pool; I think we could get Peter to be a swimmer in no time.

Cousins- Charles and Peter wearing Grandpa's shoes- best of friends and worst enemies

Helping with Wedding Prep! We mostly chopped lots of veggies, skewered lots of meat, and folded blini. I mostly tried to keep Peter out of the way, but we did what we could to help. Peter liked to help in any way he could too!

Peter is the best sous chief! Helping Christina with blini batter.

Beach Day!! On one of the days before the wedding, Beccah and one of Big Peter's brothers had to be picked up from LA airport in the morning. So, Erica and I decided the best thing to do would be to go to the beach after picking them up! It was a grand idea. The weather was lovely, the little boys played well together, and traffic wasn't awesome, but it could have been worse. We met up at the beach with one of Erica's friends and her family. It was a fun beach group. We played in the sand, touched the water a little bit, and chased birds.

Peter loves the sand.

Feeling the sand between his toes

Selfie on the beach- Robin and Peter

Ready for some sand castle making

Blue skies and water

Cousins- Charles and Peter

Robin and Peter at Redondo Beach

We had a fun time in California. We loved spending time with family and getting to know Big Peter's family. Peter was happy that week, took good naps and had a few small adventures. He loves the beach, the pool, and we went to the park with Charles and Erica one day- which was also fun. We talked to Jonathan at night, and we sent him pictures, but it was great to have him back together with us to have more adventures all together!

Car Baby

At this point in our lives, we are well aware that Peter is an awesome traveler. He gets fidgety just like any kid, but overall he is awesome. The day we drove to California, we drove for an hour to Provo to meet up with the rest of the Nelson family, drove 30 minutes to Payson for the temple open house, then drove the rest of the way to California with only a couple of rest stops- one of which involved lunch and rock collecting! I think he cried a total of 30 minutes the entire day. This kid is great at car trips, plane trips, and having routine interrupted. 

Peter and I drove down with Jonathan's parents in the big van. Jonathan stayed in Utah for work, and flew to California at the end of the week. It was lovely being in the van with a small number of people, because whenever Peter fell asleep and I wasn't entertaining him, I took a nap on the back seat. Being able to stretch out during a long drive is a beautiful thing. My day looked a little bit like this:  

Nap #1, an hour or so after the temple open house

Eating chips and rolls

First toy- about 2.5 hours into the trip, amazing we made it that far without entertainment
Toy was a dollar store doctors kit that was destroyed in about 30 minutes.

Throughout the drive, I would text pictures to Jonathan. I asked Peter if he wanted to say anything to dad. He nodded and said, "Wow." Haha, silly boy. We had a cooler full of sandwiches, fruit, yogurt, and other foods. And I'd brought some fruit snacks and little crackers Peter likes. We also bought some new toys/activities from the dollar store to open and play with along the way. The most successful were stickers. A sheet of robot foam stickers kept him happy for a good 20 minutes- which is like an hour in toddler time.

Stickers through Vegas

We stopped in Baker, and Peter collected a cup full of rocks and we had lunch. Peter ran and ran and ate and ate. We got back in the van to do the last leg of the trip, and Peter was done. He was quite upset being back in the van and didn't want any treats or toys. Then, Grandpa turned on an audio book, and within 5 minutes, Peter was sleeping. He slept for a good part of the last leg, and eventually we made it to Riverside, and Peter could run free. He explored everything he could, thrilled to be released from his car seat. It was great to be out of the van. Peter is an excellent traveler, which I love, because it makes all of our trips go more smoothly. Good job Peter for traveling well. A+ and a gold star!

Now it was on to a week of wedding prep to help an any way we could for Christina and Big Peter's wedding!

Christmas Tree in California

During Thanksgiving Break, we went to a Christmas Tree farm to pick out a tree for the Nelson home in California. It was a little strange picking out a Christmas tree in short sleeve shirts. I get that people love the warm weather of California, but I really like my seasons. So, the weather was gorgeous, but it didn't feel Christmasy. But, that won't slow us down from finding a great tree. 

Big Peter and Little Peter check out trees

We got to the farm, got a saw and went on the hunt. We found lots of great trees, but for each tree there was someone who saw some sort of flaw: too tall, too short, this side it too bare, too many holes, it's crooked, and so on. But, there were so many great trees, it only took us about 6 minutes to find a tree we could all agree upon. Once we found our tree, Jonathan and Big Peter took to the saw to take it down so we could bring it home.

Peter's smile face

The chopped tree got put on a cart, and we wheeled it over to buy it. They supply the saw, carts and rope, but you are in charge of the labor. It was pretty fun to get the tree from a farm. It was nice to be out on such a great day.

Christina and Big Peter with the chosen tree

Peter and Jonathan at the tree farm

Robin at the tree farm

While we were waiting to buy the tree, we found some wooden signs with cut out heads to put your face in, so we took advantage of those and took some pictures. I don't think a snowman like that could ever survive there, but a little bit of paint can make him last all winter!

Elf boys Peter and Jonathan

Robin and Jonathan Nelson...er Clause with a little elf Peter

Back Row: OdaLisa, Jim, Robin
Front Row: Peter, Christina, Peter, Jonathan and Beccah
At the Christmas Tree Farm in Riverside CA

Jonathan trying up the tree

We got some popcorn they were giving away for free. Then, we tied the tree up and headed home.

Peter going home with free popcorn

Once home, it was time to set up the tree and get it decorated. We got the stand in place, put the tree in, screwed it in, and let go....and the tree began to tiiiiiip over. So, we took it out, and re-positioned it, only to have it fall over again. Again and again, we tried to keep it up and again and again it leaned over. Finally, Jonathan and Christina took it out, back outside, and re-cut the trunk of the tree. We realized that it wasn't flat, and we were hoping that was the problem. Turns out, we were right. Once we got it cut a bit better, it stayed up in the stand just like it should.

Peter, Christina and Peter trying to set the tree up

After the tree was set up, and staying up, all the Christmas decorations were pulled out of the garage attic and the house began to look like Christmas. Lights went up, stockings came out, and nativities and Santa's were everywhere. It looked great. We brought Christmas to the house, and it was happy.

Rappel Day in California

During our time in California over Thanksgiving break, we went rappelling with Jonathan's family on Mount Rubidoux. They've gone a number times and I went with them when Jonathan and I were dating. I was reminded that time that although I enjoy hiking and climbing up things, I do not enjoy going over the edge of something to rappel. There is a slight fear of heights and a fear that the rope will snap...and death. We went on a beautiful weather day, and hiked up. Peter was in the Ergo (baby carrier pack) on my back, and everyone took something up- ropes, shoes, helmets, gloves, etc. Once up, we stopped and ate lunch that we had packed. While we ate, Peter explored dirt. He explored it all over his hands, pants, face and hair...dirty, happy boy. 

Dirt in my hair

Dirt on my face

Once we got up the mountain, most of the family got to work securing the ropes for the rappelling and climbing. I just observed the rope securing because I also had the task of keeping the small boy safe. Peter did really good staying away from any edges and was quite content with being held anytime we did any walking around. He was also very happy to climb around the rocks that we were sitting by. So, he stayed totally safe the whole time. He got lots of snacks from me and his Grandma and was happy watching the others rappel and climb.

Peter and his Nai Nai

Everyone took turns going down and coming up. Jim (Jonathan's dad) was belayed people rappelling and then once down, they climbed up the other set of ropes they set up. Jonathan, Christina and Beccah did a competition of sorts to see who could get down the fastest. If memory serves me correct, Christina won that race with a rappel time of 8 seconds (I think). It was fun watching them race. Big Peter (Christina's boyfriend) got to experience rappelling for the first time, and he did much better than I did my first time with the Nelson family. He went twice and did pretty dang good. I didn't go down this time, but even without going up or down, I had a great time being there and letting Peter explore.

Jim as anchor, Jonathan rappelling down, Big Peter and Christina watching

Cracker Boy Peter

Peter wore himself out really good while we were up and fell asleep in my arms while we were still on the mountain. When it was time to leave, we put him back in the Ergo pack and he slept on Jonathan the whole hike down. That carrier is so fantastic for so many different times and places.

Jonathan with the Sleeping Peter, Gorgeous landscape

Jonathan carrying Peter back to the car

We got some great views on the hike and at the top of the mountain, lots of good exercise and some fun times. Even though I hate rappelling, I love going up the mountain and watching everyone else. When little Peter gets a big bigger, we'll have to teach him the ways of the ropes and he can use his mountain goat skills to climb anything.

Camping in California (August)

Our last California adventure for the summer was to go camping. This was all Jonathan and his Dad's idea. I didn't really want to go at first. During the previous month, we'd slept in so many different places and Peter constantly had to adjust, and I just didn't want to have to  sleep in a new place until we got back to our home in Utah. But, the boys really wanted to go, and I was out numbered, so off we went. It turns out to be lots of fun, so all was well by the end.

Jonathan's parents have an RV, and they had a couple of free nights at a certain RV park nearby, so that was the plan. We packed up everything we owned, as we were going to go straight to Utah from the RV camping days. We drove with Peter and everyone else drove up in the truck, pulling the RV. The trip was alright, until we got closer to the park. Peter was done driving and it was pouring rain! We got to the park before Jonathan's family, so we let Peter out of the car seat and sat watching the rain until the truck and RV arrived. We drove around the park until we found a good place. The rain had slowed to a very light drizzle, but it was a little cool, so I put some warm clothes on Peter while everyone else helped get things set up.

Peter, running and exploring 

That sweater...cutest boy ever!

After we got the RV level and in place, we unpacked some things and took a short walk to explore the area. There were two small pond, a couple of swimming pools, a small store, and a game room. It was a pretty cool place. The park wasn't too crowded, which was nice. We went home and it was spaghetti for dinner! It was a good dinner. Peter loved it and was shoveling it into his mouth as fast as he could. I took about 5 pictures and only one was clear because he wouldn't stop moving.

Spaghetti Face Number 2

After dinner, we put on a movie and everyone went to sleep. If I have one issue with this trip, it would be sleeping. There is one bedroom, a table and benches that turns into a bed and a pull out couch. Jonathan and I got the pull out couch and we made a little bed for Peter on the floor. Unfortunately, Peter was quite congested and a little sick, so sleeping was not his forte. Also, we had a blow-up mattress on top of the pull-out couch. I need to remember in the future, that a blow-up mattress is never a good choice. They always leak so half way through the night, you are sleeping on a partially deflated mattress and there is no way to get comfortable because you just sink into the pit. Now add a husband and small little boy, all sinking into the pit, and the boy is waking up screaming every hour and will only stop screaming if you take him outside and continually walk with him, then what you get is a night where no one is really sleeping and the mom and dad get really cranky. It was not super enjoyable.

Peter sleeping in the mattress pit.

Luckily, morning came, and Peter was more pleasant during the day. We ate breakfast and then went to the pond that had paddle boats and kayaks. We all went for a paddle boat ride. Peter was a fan for the first 5 minutes or so, but then decided that he hated wearing a life jacket. So, he went with Grandma to play at the park. Everyone else took turns on the kayak, paddle boats and the stand up paddle boards. Once they started trying the paddle boards, I knew it was inevitable that someone was going down, it was only a matter of time. The splash went to Jonathan's dad, Jim. It only takes a little wobble and if you flinch at all, you are in the water. He was soaked. Thankfully, his phone was on dry land before he went in. It was fun to watch everyone and play around.

At one point, Peter, Jonathan and I went for a walk around one of the bigger ponds so we could show Peter the ducks and geese. We happened upon a Chinese family who was fishing. There were a couple of middle-aged women (we guessed maybe sisters), and a young boy, and an older white man. The little boy had a dog, and when we started getting close, his mom/aunt/grandma, told him in Chinese to pull the dog back because it might scare little brother. Jonathan responded in Chinese that it was okay and that Peter wasn't scared. Then, one of the women exclaimed, "You speak Chinese! (long pause) Weird." Hahahaha! It was such a different reaction to what we were used to.

We made chili one night for dinner. It was really good, but at one point, Peter ran full speed ahead for the coals and hot pot. Gah, he makes me so nervous. Luckily, I am faster, so I caught him before he touched anything. It was nice to eat outside and see the mountains. I also decided that I like the type of camping that involves things other than just tents. We had a table, and the RV had an awning that covered us, and it was just a good combination of being outdoors, but still having the niceties. I'm fine with roughing it sometimes, but overall, this is better...but I know Jonathan would disagree. He'd camp every weekend if he could.

Grandpa and Peter making dinner

Getting dinner ready

After the night of horrible sleeping, we changed some things to try to sleep better on night two. We figured since Peter was happy every time he was outside the RV at night, maybe he could just sleep outside with Jonathan. So, Jonathan set up a tent for the night.

Getting things together

Jonathan and his little helper

Cozy in their new room

Turns out, sleeping Peter outside was genius. He still woke up, but not nearly as frequently, and he went back to sleep quicker. I slept inside the RV, but gave up the blowup mattress and just slept on the pull-out couch. It was much more comfortable that way. So, we both slept better that night, which was good, because the next morning, we left at 4:30am to start the drive home. Yes, it is awful early, but then Peter sleeps for the first 3-4 hours. So, it's early, but worth it.

Cutest camper ever

Peter with his Aunt Christina

Peter with his Aunt Beccah

The trip ended up being a lot of fun, excluding trying to sleep the first night. We had fun on the boats and walking around and being outside. It was good to spend so much time with family after having not seen family for a year. We are so lucky to be so close that we get to see them so often. Family is for keeps!