Birthday Man

I did take a vow to wait at LEAST 6 months between posts, but my children are coming after me. SO--Here it is: My version of Nels' 5oth Birthday Bash. (Insert Thunder & Trumpet Here.) The most wonderful thing of all was the book of "Birthday Wishes" that was compiled of Messages sent by dear friends and family. THANK YOU ALL. In this crazy world we live in, where all of us are running at maximum speed, It meant A LOT that you would take the time to send an e-mail, card or letter. It was the highlight of the celebration.

And--if I can believe the old codger--er--Nels--he did not uncover any of my plans beforehand. I am good :) It must be all those years of buying Holiday decorations AFTER the Holiday, bringing them out the NEXT year AND, when Nels asked about them I could say: OH, I've had these a LONG time. Well, that or chocolate stashing...

We had a lovely dinner. Thank you, once again, Michelle Huxtable. While Lizzie (adorable child #3) and I got everything ready, Sophie (adorable child # 7) Thomas (adorable child #8) & Mabel (adorable child #6) went with Nels (adorable husband, father, birthday boy) to see, Horton Hears a Who. This movie is dear to our hearts because Dave Gallagher (brilliant brother-in-law, married to Nels' adorable sister, Sage) is one of the animators that worked on the film.

And yet another one of my surprises showed up around 5 pm (which means they drove really fast.) Sascha (adorable child #5) snuck? (what's the past tense of sneak?) home from BYU Idaho to be with the Dad. Thank you, Ian (just adorable) for driving (really fast.) Jesse (adorable child #2) drove up from BYU Provo with Elisa (adorable girlfriend.) Micaela (adorable child #1) who is in Virginia with Phil (adorable son-in-law) Emma (adorable brilliant grandchild #1) and Vera (adorable beaming grandchild #2) called to wish her dad a Happy Birthday, and Elder Tobin James Draper (adorable child #4 missionary #2) sent an e-mail from Madagascar.

Nels successfully blew out all 5o candles on his Styrofoam cake. In the words of Inigo Montoya, "Let me esplain." Nels is not a cake person. He is a pie person. The kids believe this is because he is actually born on "pi" 3.1.4. No, seriously--check it out on Wikipedia if you doubt me. ANYWAY, we figured that 50 blazing candles in a chocolate silk pie would have spelled inedible, if not disaster, hence the Styrofoam idea concocted by Andrea (adorable brilliant wife.) Nels opened gifts, including an oil painting of 3 of our girls painted by one of our boys.

It was a wonderful evening--we hugged, we sang, we stuffed our faces, and then we left the kids at home to bond, and Nels and I spent the night in a nice hotel :)

Happy Birthday Nels. It is so nice to be married to my best friend.

Half a Century & Counting

With Beard ... Without Beard

Today is the Big Day. Happy Birthday Nels. So Far, so good. When Nels went downstairs this morning, he found a big poster on the inside of the front door created by Mabel & Sophie: 50 Things That are Great About Dad. They truly came up with some great things. My personal favorites: "Has a Gentle Face," "Can Juggle With 3 Balls (Oranges too!)" and the shameless plug: "Lets Us Keep Hamsters!" Oh. I also agree with the one about Swedish Pancakes. Thomas wanted to make his dad breakfast, but I thought there were more pressing things for him to do like: Get ready for school and: Go to School.



The Celebration Continues. Tonight, All of the kids & their significant other(s) within driving distance will be here for a lovely dinner (Well, in my mind it is a lovely dinner--and thanks to our dear neighbor, Michelle Huxtable, party thrower extraordinaire, I have some fabulous plans involving chicken, and the ingredients to carry them out. :) I also plan to force one of my children to take pictures of the whole thing, so you, dear reader, will see how it all plays out. Now, off I go to carry out more of my "Nefarious Little Plans." (I believe that is direct quote from Pirates of Penzance.) I don't however, have a "Felonious Little Band" to carry them out with--but I DO have Lizzie. Catch you Later.

TAG I'm It

This is what I get for letting my children know I have started blogging. I have now been exposed to the dreaded 'TAG' Virus.

What I was doing 10 years ago:
I was pregnant with the Thomas, and planning Nels' 40th birthday bash.

5 Things on my "To-Do" list:
1. Finally Finishing the Jeff Hein Artist Demonstration DVD I have been working on most of my life.
2. Finish the rest of the DVD's that have been put on hold while I finished the Jeff Hein DVD
3. Write Another blog entry before 2009
4. Send Mica a birthday Card--Good thing it's leap year.
5. Write a To Do List

3 bad habits I have: I'm having a hard time narrowing it down--I'll ask Nels :)
1. On line Yahtzee--I have been solitaire free for almost 2 years--and now this.
2. Ritter Sport Chocolate Hazelnut
Nels refuses to help me (anticipating the fall-out) So I am on my own: OK here's one:
3. Going into Scrapbook stores to look at stuff, and coming out with enough to start my own store. I think Scrapbook Paper is the new Fabric.

Day of choice?
Whichever day of the week it is when I wake up and say to myself, I am going to read design magazines, eat Ben & Jerry's New York Chocolate Chunk for lunch and order take-out from Pawit's Thai Restaurant for dinner which I will eat in my bed surrounded by Nels and the kids while we watch an entire season on DVD of the most recently discovered TV show that went off the air on the average of 3 years ago. Hey! That's 5 more bad habits.

Places I've lived: (in order)
Utah
California
Utah
Florida
Utah, Utah, Utah, Utah...
I've got to do something about this.

Favorite indulgence:
Did I see this coming after my answer about the day of the week? Not a chance. Therefore keeping the above in mind, my favorite indulgence (when all the Ben & Jerry's and Pra Ram is gone) is: reading family blogs.

Phobias/fears?
My biggest Phobias and fears are my Phobias and Fears :) I used to be afraid of Root beer and vacuums. (Nels will insist I am still afraid of vacuums.) But as far as Grandma's stairs go--(and I have Uncle Scott and Uncle Roger to thank for this--Abes, Alex and Jesse? Bush League.) You people just worried about what MIGHT be under the stairs--My generation had to worry about what WAS under the stairs (see: Uncle Scott Uncle Roger) and they really did grab your ankles.

Reason to smile:
My children and grandchildren--also a reason to laugh out loud.

Season of choice:
I love them all

Vegetable:
Red Bell Pepper

Oranges or Apples?
Clementines

# of brothers/sisters:
5 sisters, 4 brothers

Ok! It's your turn:
Who's left? Ok, sibs, nieces, nephews, strangers who are reading this blog:TAG YOU'RE IT. I guess you all have to start your own blogs so you can answer these questions. That or leave it as a comment. Kay Bye

Time flies when you're having fun. It's amazing to think that Nels will be turning 50 in March, and we have been married for almost 3o years. We have 8 wonderful kids, an amazing son in law and two perfect grandchildren (Yes, as all of you grandparents out there know, grandchildren are perfect.) Oh--and 9 hamsters. I guess it would be more accurate to say: THOMAS has 9 hamsters--but that is another story.
The plan is to give you a run down on the kids--but that would involve finding a current picture, and figuring out what to say--and my brain isn't capable of processing that much information today, so I plan to come at it gently :) On good days, I DO remember all of their names ;)