Natalie Turned 8!

Natalie is almost 9, but it's never too late to post pictures right?!

Natalie had a water park party right in our own back yard and it was a blast! We did a pinata, presents, then a whole lot of water.

There was a sprinkler under the trampoline, a slip 'n slide, and another sprinkler. Dessert was popsicles and ice cream bars.

Of course no party of Natalie's is complete without the pets!

Kai's Science Fair Project

So we forgot about the science fair 'till the last minute. I teased Kai that he would just have to turn in a cup of dirt.

Instead a quick google search gave us a fun, quick idea. Kai did awesome with it. He did all the typing and I helped input the data into the graphs.



Question:
Does the color of food affect whether or not we like the taste? Does it affect what people think
it tastes like?

Hypothesis:
I think that they will choose the color they like best to be their favorite. I also think that they will
taste the yogurt, and guess what it tastes like depending on what color the yogurt is. For
example, if it is yellow, they might think it is lemon flavor.

Procedure:
1: I will get some yogurt and split it evenly into four bowls.
2: I will dye one of them blue, one yellow, one red, and for the last bowl, I will leave it white.
3: I will give someone a bowl, and let them eat each color of the yogurt, then I will have them
tell me what they thought it tasted like and if they liked it.
4: I will do the same thing with the other three bowls.
5. I will ask them what their favorite color and flavor is, and their least favorite.
6. I will have ten people do the experiment.

Items used:
For this project we used:
White vanilla yogurt
Red, Yellow, and Blue food coloring

Results:







Conclusion:
My hypothesis was correct! I found that they think that their favorite flavor and color is usually
their favorite color. I noticed that half of the people who told their favorite flavor, chose blue.
Most people thought that the colored yogurt had to have a flavor because it was colored. Only
one person guessed correctly that all the colors were actually the same vanilla flavor.

Nicole Turned 5!

These are way late, especially considering she turns 6 in less than 2 months. 

She had a fun animal party with a few close friends.

She wanted a Petshop party, but then went with an Elsa cake (after I had bought animal decorations).

She also wanted a pinata, since Kai and Natalie had one at their birthday parties.

Halloween 2014

Kai was Captain America, Natalie a Bumblebee, and Nicole was a mermaid. Gus had a jockey on his back since we think of him as a small horse! The kids had a great time trunk or treating in Genola this year.

Natalie's Photography

Every year at school there is a "reflections" art contest. Kids can enter music compositions, drawings, dance, 3D art, and photography.

This year's theme was: The world would be a better place if...

Natalie decided her theme would be:

The world would be a better place if, people stopped cutting down trees.

She loves animals and knows that certain species are being threatened since they are losing their habitat. To show her theme in an artistic way she chose photography. She wanted pictures with lots of trees showing the beautiful fall colors. She took the all pictures herself and I was impressed with her natural talent for composition! I showed her a few editing techniques and then moved out of her way to let her edit them.  Here are her 2 favorites:

We have a budding photographer in the house!


Update:
Natalie won an award for her photograph and now it will go on to the next level of competition!

Nelson Family Reunion

We had a fun 3 day reunion with Jeremy's family in June, up at a cabin up by Park City. We have stayed there before, but it had been 5 years! 

It was so nice to disconnect and just enjoy each other's company. We had 2 four wheelers there which the kids were very excited to ride. We remembered that last time we were there, Kai called them feelers. "I want to go on a feeler ride!" he'd say.

While there we celebrated Ellie and Natalie's birthday since theirs are only a few days apart.

There were plenty of games to be played. Jamie and Jake were in charge of bingo. They even brought prizes! Kai and Nicole went for the candy, Natalie found a few treasures.

Best friends! Ellie groups all our kids together and just calls, "come here cousins!" 

More games! Julie and Tyler did a fun scavenger hunt for us all, too.

The girls loved having a bath in the jetted tub.

Dad's turn to drive the kiddos.

Of course we couldn't leave without a group picture. Jeremy went to great lengths helping me set it up.

All the siblings went for one last ride before we left. It is so beautiful up there!

Love you all!

Hare Krishna Temple Tour

Jeremy had a colleague visiting from India and we wanted to do something fun for him while he was here so he wouldn't have to sit in his hotel room. We went to the Hare Krishna Temple here in Spanish Fork for a tour and dinner. It is a really beautiful building complete with a working farm, garden, fish pond, and all sorts of animals. 

They rent out their llamas to backpackers and let us take two for a walk. Each kid got a chance to walk them up and down the stairs too. It was a fascinating experience.

Pinewood Derby

Last year Kai's car was a big disappointment, he got last in EVERY race! Luckily he was a good sport and wasn't too upset. We used the same car this year and tried to make it faster. Sadly, it only did slightly better, placing second to last or last. This time Kai was pretty sad since this was probably his last derby. Of course the cars that won were clearly designed and built by their dads. We actually let Kai do all of his. He did get a certificate for the most elaborate car though.

School Fundraiser Fun

At the beginning of the year the kids' school had their annual fundraiser. They all liked the bounce houses and slides the best. We were amazed that Jamal even conquered the huge one, it was the biggest one I've ever seen. I thought he'd be scared, but he didn't even flinch.