Nelson Family Blog: Fall Family Time

Monday, October 2, 2017

Fall Family Time

Last weekend, my parents came to town to visit, since they hadn't seen the kids in a few weeks. John had a wedding to shoot, so he was gone most of the day Saturday. My parents and Ryan came to town Saturday afternoon, and we enjoyed a laid back day of hanging out, shopping, and going out to eat. The kids were pretty happy to see the grandparents, and were bouncing off the walls.

Last week, John was gone in Boston basically all week, so we had an interesting week back here. I took Monday off, went into work a little late on Tuesday, and then the kids went out to Grandma Barb and Grandpa Jim's house for a couple nights so I could actually get to work on time in the morning. The kids loved the change in their routine, and all the shuffling around, but they were pretty beat by the end of the week. I really appreciated the help though, and I think Jim and Barb enjoyed having the kids for a couple nights as well.

Friday night was beautiful, and the kids really wanted to paint pumpkins, so we set them up outside on the deck, and they pained their little hearts out. Barb planted some pumpkins this year in her garden, so she brought about 6 of them into town when she brought the kids back on Thursday, and Emma wanted to decorate them pretty much immediately. They did a really good job painting, and I really like that they were outside and in painting clothes!

On Saturday, we packed up and headed out to Minnesota. The plan was for John to shoot Kyle's Senior Photos on Sunday afternoon. However, the weather did not cooperate at all, and it was rainy and windy basically all weekend, so we rescheduled the photos again in 3 weeks.

We still had a good weekend. On Saturday, before it rained, both kids got to ride in the tractor and combine with Grandpa Jack and Uncle Ryan. The kids loved it!! Elliott especially loved it. He really enjoyed watching the beans being combined, and he loved talking Ryan's ear off for most of his ride. It was pretty cute. Emma also enjoyed it, but she got bored with it a little sooner than Elliott did.

Rachel and Elena were also out for the weekend, and it was really nice to see everyone. Elena is getting so big! It was nice to be able to play with and snuggle with her. It had been a while since we had seen her. The rest of the weekend was spent playing with the kids, watching the Vikings suck it up, and just taking it easy and visiting. We ate lunch at Mac's Smokehouse on Sunday, which was pretty darn good! Yum!

We got home around 6:30pm yesterday, and by the time we unpacked and fed kids, it wasn't long until it was time for everyone to call it a night and go to bed. What a weekend!

Today was a pretty somber day. I woke up this morning to hear that there was a mass shooting in Las Vegas Sunday night. Apparently, a 65 year old man opened fire on an outdoor music festival going on, and killed 58 people, and injured over 500 people. Basically, it was the worst mass shooting in U.S. History. It's a scary world we are living in. The man ended up committing suicide once the police were about to break into his hotel room. Prayers to all the victims and families during this tough time. I sure wish there wasn't so much hate in this world, I worry what kind of things my children will see someday. I want nothing more than to keep them safe and shield them from all the evil of this world.

Right now, Emma is at Gymnastics with John, and Elliott and I are watching some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I am enjoying some snuggles with Elliott, grateful to have this day, and hopefully many more with my family.