Nelsons Multiplied! Happy Thanksgiving

We have traveled to Tennessee to spend Thanksgiving with Kirk's side of the family - the entire Nelson clan to be exact.



You can see our Households represented here from left to right: Uncle Ross & Aunt Liz, Uncle Neil & Aunt Jess, Grandad, Us, Great-Grandpa & Great-Grandma, then Great-Uncle Larry & Great-Aunt Cheryl with Cousin Amanda.



The Girls having fun picking out quilts in Great Grandma's Sewing Room!



While Caleb cracks and shells pecans he gathered from Great-Grandpa's pecan trees for some delicious homemade pecan pie!


Kirk had fun riding the 4-wheeler around the farm. And yes, we all got rides!


Four Generations of "Ralph Nelsons" Kevin Ralph, Kirk Ralph, Oliver Ralph, and Caleb Ralph.



There were so many Nelsons for Thanksgiving Dinner we had to hold the event in the fellowship hall of Great-Grandma's church! So much great farm cooked food thanks to the culinary skills of Aunt Cheryl! Mmmmmm...

We certainly had a Happy Thanksgiving out on the old family farm. We hope you had one as well.

Party Like Your Five Years Old

Because that's what we did this weekend! Our party included colored rice, perler bead crafts and lots and lots of coloring.

To me turning 5 is a pretty big deal. Scary deal to mommy but a big deal to the girls. Still we went with the simple party. That's what happens when their birthday is all of 6 days after their brothers AND one week before Thanksgiving. Talking about small planning time and PRESSURE. I think I need to begin planning birthday party #6 right now.

My birthday girls.





Wondering what's so funny? Julianna is trying to show me how she can pick up Rachel. Julianna says she can pick up Rachel because she's so light but not Alyssa because Alyssa is bigger and if she falls over she could "squish me dead" - who thinks of these things?



All their bears were ready to party too. They made sure that each of their bears had party hats on too. So cute!



The biggest attraction of the night was the rainbow rice bucket Kirk and I made the night before. For instructions and photos check out my other blog Tightwads with Triplets

The girls "patiently" waiting to mix up all the rice.



It was a big hit with everyone. A little messy, sure, but so much fun (and honestly pretty easy to clean up).



All the "littles" eating pizza (or pretending to).



After dinner it was birthday cake time and thanks once again to my good friend, Kristy we had three awesome cakes.



I only had one 5 candle (sad right?) so we sung Happy Birthday to each girl one at a time. Seemed right though since they are individuals and not a unit.

Happy 5th Birthday to Julianna Mabel born 11/16/06 at 2:12 PM weighing 5 lbs 2 oz







Happy 5th Birthday to Rachel Gabrielle born 11/16/06 at 2:13 PM weighing 4 lbs 8 oz







Happy 5th Birthday to Alyssa Elaine born 11/16/06 at 2:16 PM weighing 4 lbs 12 oz







And what's a party without some presents?



Happy 5th Birthday to the girls who five years ago changed my life forever!

Way Back When-esday: My Girls Were Born

Five Years Ago Today my three princesses were born:

Date: November 16th, 2006
Triplets' Age: 1 day old (in this photo really just minutes old)


Happy 5th Birthday
Julianna, Rachel and Alyssa!!

We celebrate with friends this weekend so I'll post more pictures then. For now I'm just grateful to have my three beautiful girls in my life for the past five years!

Happy 8th Birthday Caleb!

Today Caleb turned 8 years old! It's hard to believe my only son is getting so "old". He's turning into a young man right before my eyes. I'm just telling myself that 8 is still young and he's still my sweet little boy for a while longer.

Of course his party was all about being a boy.

It's not often that my girls are outnumbered by boys!





Present time! What to get an 8 year old boy? Legos! He got quite a few and he's been putting them together ever since. He got a bunch of other cool gifts making it an awesome birthday :)







We went with a Spider Man theme, built a make-shift movie theater in the backyard to watch Cars 2 and had Spider Man Spaghetti Pies for dinner!





It was a whirlwind of boys, presents and Spider Man but overall I think it was a great birthday.

As hard as it is to watch my little man grow up I enjoy seeing what he loves to do and who he's turning into. I pray every day that He grows up to glorify God and to follow wherever the Lord leads.

I love you Caleb, Happy 8th Birthday!

Visit From Grandpa and Grandma

Besides lots of pumpkins fall means lots of birthdays for us: Caleb, Julianna, Rachel and Alyssa (yikes!) Fortunately it also means my parents come for a visit! For the second year in a row my parents have chosen fall as the time to visit. We had a few warmer days so they didn't freeze completely :)

And despite only having a few days we were able to do quite a few things together.

Last Monday Grandma and Grandpa met us at Chuck E. Cheese where we were meeting friends for dinner.

Looks like Grandpa was having lots of fun!







Grandma's enjoying herself too.



Wednesday we all took an evening out to National Harbor.





And what's a trip to National Harbor without a stop at the Peep Store?







Or a chance to "play" on the Awakening statue. I have no idea if this is what the artist intended but my kids sure do enjoy it!







Mom and Grandma looking on (and Kaitlyn taking a break):



Me and my Dad :)



Even though my parents live about 900 miles away from me they are an essential part of our lives. My kids love their grandparents and look forward to every minute they get to spend with them.







Out to dinner.



Walking around the harbor, on our way to Grandma and Grandpa's special surprise...



A birthday trip to Build-A-Bear! For their birthday gift, Grandma and Grandpa took all four of their November birthday grandkids to pick out their own bears. This was the first time the girls had ever had the chance to do anything like this and they were thrilled! (Kaitlyn didn't want to be left out so she used some allowance money to buy her own bear, er, owl)















Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for coming to visit us! We love you and can't wait to see you again soon!