Mom, I just want to tell you something a wise man once told me...don't play with yellow snow, its not natural.

SOME PEOPLE'S DOGS

So I love the Christmas season. I love, love, love the lights!! So this year I added a super cute 48" LED lit snowman. He is sitting in my front yard cheerfully greeting all who pass by. Well tonight Macee took her little dog out to potty. She comes back in and tries to tell me with a straight face but eventually melted into hysterical laughter that one of the neighbor's dogs, Sid, a BIG lab had just PEED on my super cute 48" LED lit snowman. NOT FUNNY!!! I raced to the window to inspect. . to my dismay I see a large yellow stain on the back side of my super cute snowman! Well of all the nerve!! I should just call them up you say. That was my first thought but then Macee reminded me of some of our own sweet dog's mis-deeds. Umm. . eating the neighbors dog food, eating the other neighbor's cat food and dragging the dish out. Stealing various deer parts and bring them home. Trying to play softball with the co-ed teams this summer. . . just to name a few. So then I go out and inspect the crime scene. Not only had the back side been sprayed down with a fine yellow mist, so has the front!!! So. . now when I plug in the lights for all passersby to enjoy they will notice a slight yellowing around the bottom portion of my super cute 48" LED lit snowman. I think I will just say he is an antique and he is supposed to be yellow. Everyone should have a least one dog . . . just to keep you humle.

BIIIIIIGGG NEWS!!!!

Mr. and Mrs. Ron Nielson are sooo ecstatic to announce the engagement of their sweeter than sweet, cuter than cute, Marci Dawn Nielson!!! Marci got engaged to Brian Bothwell on Thursday, Nov. 12. We are thrilled!! Even though Brian has met the family he still wants to marry sweet Marci. Brave guy huh? I'm secretly hoping he can give R.T. some dating ideas :) This young man knows how to plan a date. And the engagement. . . . . don't even get me started! Well ok, since you asked. . . It all started with a trip to the store for lunchables then on to the baseball field. (They met there around July 24, 2004) They played a little softball and then drove to Bluff. After a brief stop at the Twin Rocks to buy a dream catcher kit (Marci had been wanting to make one) and a mystery gift (for Christmas) it was on to the goose necks! They spent a wonderful day hiking and having a photo contest which I might add, produced some very awesome pictures. Anyway, they had a great day with many opportunities for Brian to propose, which he didn't do. At the end of the day Brian commented on what a fun date it had been and it was time to head home. Marci, being very disappointed (she was hoping this would be the day) settled quietly in her seat for the ride home. After driving for a few miles Brian pulls over and gets out and starts coloring (sorry if I get the details wrong) anyway he tells her to get out and come look at something. He then asks her if she would like her mystery Christmas present today. She says yes thinking its turquoise because he bought it at Twin Rocks. So. . . He gets down on one knee and asks her to marry him as he opens up . . . you got it.....THE RING!! As luck would have it, some tourists stopped to take some pics and they took some of Marci and Brian right after they got engaged. AAAHH. Funny part of the whole thing is that Marci brought the ring down to Monticello and didn't know it!! Ha Ha!! Brian is good. He had Annie (Marci's BFF) pick up the ring and put it with some stuff (important stuff for Annie's brother Dallin) and ask Marci to deliver it to Annie's mom. Annie stressed to Marci several times the importance of this package going straight to Susanne the minute she pulled in to Monticello.

Well back to how happy we are. Marci always said would only marry a man with a plan. This man has a plan! He is applying to pharmacy school and will be finding out soon where he/they will be going. Mom and dad could not be more happy with this news!! Brian will make a great addition to our family. We love him already!! I'm pretty sure Easton was as thrilled as Marci :) The Nielson clan is growing fast!! We LOVE it. I would just like to end with this thought. . . . . BRING ON THE GRANDKIDS!!!!! (not too soon) well maybe. no not yet. but if it happens it ok :)

from thee brian bothwell...aka my smexxy lover face. jp

I know what you are thinking.... "Those two chipmunks, they didn't post on their day!!". However, the date may say "Friday 11/blahblahblah" but in reality it is still Thursday night Nov 19th in my book. so im posting.
So today was one of those days that light up my soul. Anniversary days. My lovely fiance (with a dash squiggle above the ..ummm....i) and I, got engaged 179 hours and 42 minutes ago which translates to one week. So offfcourse we had to celebrate! Now, celebrations, parties, get togethers, shin digs, hodowns, hootinaneez, hangouts, and anniversaries are a little more tricky when you are 635.4 miles away from the person you want to do these things with. So I had to think creatively.
My grandmother, Gma Eagar, stopped by to pick up my mother's sewing machine and while she was here we conversed and she mentioned the idea of sending Marci some flowers....via mental telopathy. Did my grandma just say that? chyeah. My grandma thinks about mental telopathy. How cool is that?! In hopes to show my xoxo juicy love for Marci, I flattered her today with a bouquet of flowers, assorted colors, and a little card. Also, knowing that the way to a girl's heart is through her stomach i sent her a gimungus (that means huge) cupcake with frosting and a cool looking wrapper. I felt she deserved more than that so i filled her room 3 feet high with candybars! Twix, Reeses' Cups, and Butterfingers galore. Within the swamp of candies were 3 gimungus (there's that word again, it means huge if you forgot) stuffed animals. Just some typical animals ya know... a Royal Dandy Pig, Smiling Manatee, and a Huge toothed Walrus. I wasn't sure if she was going to be too impressed with the animals so I went ahead and got her some more practical items. while my ipod is hotter than a hot potato in my car in az, her's sits in freezing cold car and doesn't feel like working in the morning. So, i got her a new ipod and replaced her disfunctional laptop chord. (Marci, i should have removed that Mcafee software that is buggin too, sorry). And I got her 3 tickets, 2 tickets with our names on it to travel to italy in january and another ticket, 1 way from SLC to PHX, leaving immediately. Cool huh! ....maybe not. Kinda sad that that is all I get to give my fiance on our 1 week anniversary is a bunch of mental telopathy gifts. Hoped you liked them though Marci :). anyways, I hope everyone's day was as good as our 1 week anniversary! ciao.
ps - i want to see braces pictures tomorrow.

My fallen angel, she did get a bruised knee though. lol

Woe is us...

Well fam,

So this is how our last week has gone down. Last wednesday Ali thought that it would be a great idea to do a bit of a work out while she walked across campus all day long. So with a smug grin she begins to load into her backpack every shred of paper that she could get in it. As her school day begins to draw to a close she had a bounce in her step from the workout she got. While on the phone with her mom she had a brain fart at the wrong moment. It was at that precise moment when she had decended the first stair that it happend...she caught the toe of her shoe on the step, vaulting her into the clutches of gravity. Usually she would have a quick recover, and walk as though nothing had happend. But, due to her desire for a workout she had a loaded backpack that weighed about half her weight. So as she tried to recover in mid fall, the backpack acted as an accelerant and drove her down to the ground. Yelling "OH CRAP" as the ground closed in. She got her hands up in time to stop a full fledged faceplant. As she landed, her backpack slid over her head hiding her face. She thought she was alone and halfway through breathing a sigh of relief she looked up to see a pair of feet walking toward her. Kathy the whole while never missing a beat just kept on a talkin. The sight was something that could have won $10,000 in AFV as she came to a rest in the stink bug position. Clambering to her feet trying to repress her blushes she told the guy walking toward her that she was fine as she hobbled off because of a bruised knee.
Then you have me, a smooth talkin, smooth walkin gracefull guy. I carry that same grace on the basketball court. But to my demise, a defender schemed a devilish plan to bring me down. At the begining of a game I got the ball about five feet behing the three-point line and pulled up in his face. As I watched the ball sink into the warm loving folds of the net this defender put his plan into action. Quickly sliding his foot underneath mine I came down on his foot. As the rest of my body came to the ground it caused my foot to roll off and send me hobbling down the court.
But to top it all off, today we each had another experience that is blog worthy. After work I cooked an individual lasagna for my self for brunch. I sat it on the floor while I tied up some lose ends on my computer. I got done with my computer and reclined in our chair. Ali came and laid next to me as we watch a show before she had to get ready. Ali, unbenonce to me, developed an odd foot fetish. So as she climbed out of the chair backwards she "accidently" dropped her right foot into my lasagna sauce that was left over. Then, while both of us are all but rolling in laughter she puts her foot up on my on my leg and !demands! that I clean off her toes, insisting that it is all my fault. Needless to say I cleaned her toes off with a napkin and all was well.
Then I noticed as I went through my day that my right eye kept feeling irritated. I thought that I had something in my eye, but it never came out, and never moved. So when I got home I checked out my eye in the mirror and was not surprised not to see anything. As I blinked I felt it again, so I pulled my upper eyelid out and folded it back a little bit to see if there was something on the inside of it I saw a small white bump that has grown off my eye lid. Do I know what it is? No. The only thing that I do know is that it has grown on the tip of my eyelid making it a huge annoyance everytime I blink. So mom, any advice on how to get rid of this thing?
That is it for our activities in the last week. Look forward to hearing from you guys and hearing your stories. Love you all.
Matt & Ali

So the big news with us is that we are not just serious about looking for homes, we're really "serious," which is a big deal to me because I thought this day would never come on account of my nervous Nelly, aka Brannon. Now that it is finally "his" idea to buy a house, I'm sure it is going to happen in the next two months. In fact, we are going house hunting this Saturday with Brannon's aunt who happens to be an agent, so I'm hoping that we have good luck and find something that we can't live without and that's affordable of course. After hours of browsing the hundreds of listings in our area and arguing over what's ugly, what's cute, what's too small, too old, and many "There's no way I'm living in that house!" we've come up with a list of about 20 homes to go and see. Blessed be the end of our apartment dwelling days!

Other news is that Taj is again waking up at least two or three times a night with blood curdling screams, which always springs either me or Brannon into action. Poor Brannon always hits his shins on the cedar chest and has to hobble down the hall to rescue his little man. No amount of rocking or baby talk will put this kid back to sleep for the entire night. Usually I take the first shift, then Brannon, and then Brannon again because I can't get my eyes to open. We hope and pray that this is just a phase that will pass very soon because I don't know how much longer we can be this sleep deprived.

Finally, I got a job working with Brannon. We have yet to find out if that is a good idea or not. This is the one place that I don't boss him around because I don't know what I'm doing and he gets to boss me as does everyone else in the office, but that's cool with me, I don't have authority issues. My responsibilities include filing mountains of paperwork, answering phones, picking up the mail (I even have my own key!), and tracking the distribution and sales of proprane (which is a lot harder than I thought it would be!). Even though I just do small tasks, I love having this job and Taj loves going to daycare so far. It's just three days a week for four hours, so it's not bad at all. Taj didn't even notice when I left him and he didn't give a rat's behind when I came back to get him. He didn't even miss me! So I think this is going to be good for both of us. Anywho, Taj is taking a nap right now and I'm going to capitalize on this time and try to make up for lost sleep!

This picture is so flattering for both of us, really, I do think that we could be models for Hogle Zoo:)

DAD!! Holding on to the back of my shirt so I can't run away when were running doesn't count as beating me in a race!!! Even as out of shape as I am I think I can still take you old man. But anyways I have NOTHING going on in my life right now so this is going to be short. I must say though that just because there are two english majors and a stubborn middle sister in this family, if anyone trys to correct my writing there will be a smack down. You are not Ms. Barton! Dont try to be! Weelllllllll I have 11 more dollars on an itunes card (thanks chelle) calling my name. See ya fam!!!!!

Catch a wave and you're sitting on top of the world!

Why is exercising so difficult. I broke out this old 1980 picture of me to help motivate me to stay focused on getting back in shape. Dang the ladies loved me when I looked like this. I know this picture is going to open a lot of old wounds and broken hearts. I just hope the world hasn't caught on to this great blog site yet or I might have done a dumb thing putting up my old photo. Anyway, now I am one woman man!! Your mom is one lucky girl don't you say!! Went to the doc today and all is good. Blood pressure is low and blood sugar is perfect. To celebrate I went out and ran Macee in the ground in a little 2 mile speed workout. In all fairness she hasn't been running much the past two weeks since state x/c. I kind of took it slow to psyche her out a little then at the end I put it all out there!! Kind of took her back. Well enough about me. I want everyone to know what been on my mind!! That is how much fun it's going to be to get everyone together at Thanksgiving. Should be a blast!! I thought we would get our bellies full and just sit around and enjoy some great conversation. I thought we might sit around and try to discuss who wrecked Dad's car(s) the worst. That should take one full day! Well this will do for Mom and Dad's post!! I don't want anyone missing their turn and I especially want to hear from Ali and Brannon. Don't think you're getting out of this! When you said I do for better or WORSE, you agreed to post on the family blog!!! Love you all and hope all is great!!!!! remember to say your prayers!

Clarification

uhm...as a first hand witness to this "hunting experience" i feel the need to clarify a few things. Fact: This 2 point comes hopping along when we hear a shot come from the right upper hand side of us. Since were ones to compete we all go hauling over to get our chance to shoot at the dang thing. With my lack of good tennis shoes i slipped and tripped my way over to the tree only to my dismay to see my dad and terrick shooting in front of me. helloooo, first rule of hunters safety. NEVER shoot with someone in front of you. So I in fact never got to shoot my gun because my father was firing 15 rounds at a buck 50 yards away unsuccessfully. To think this man taught me how to shoot. If I had been shooting, i assure you all my father would be eating fabulous jerky right now. that is all. thanks though dad.

I hate Dogs, the Yankees, and Missed Opportunites!!

Easty had a great night at the cross-country award night. He cleaned up the JR. High MVP. All those miles and determination were definitely worth it today. Mom and I are so proud of him.

I hate dogs! I know it will come as a surprise to all you who have memories of me cuddling with our family dane but it's true. I hate shed hair; I hate deer body parts in our back yard; and I hate teeth marks in the back of our house. Someday they will win me over but it's not now!

Something greater is troubling my life right now. It's difficult to share but I have learned that by sharing your feelings, you find the ways to adapt and overcome those challenges in your life. So I am going to open up like Jaws and let the feelings spew like steamy, hot blood from a butchered sheep's throat. Here goes: I should be eating jerky right now and I have none. After spending good money on three deer tags and inch by inch pushing my body to the top of the tallest peak on Blue Mountain, I have el-zelch to show for it. Nothing to marinate and dry. Nothing to take to work and share with the boys. Nothing to send to the kids and see if they like dad's jerky this year. It's awful. Not that we shouldn't have a freezer full of young, tender venison. If only Marci could shoot quicker and Matt straighter, then, these feelings of failure and despairwould never have come. You think you bring kids up to be quick, straight shooters but only in a moment of truth at the top of a mountain only a few feet below heaven do you find out your children lack skills. Well as any true Redsox fan says, "There's always next year!"

Speaking of the Redsox. Can you believe the Damn Yankees won it all this year. Just in case anyone wonders why I hate the Yankess, let me explain. In sports, unlike life, we expect and even demand that the playing field be level. It is expected that all will have at least a similar equal chance at the highest level of success. Baseball has always struggled with this and the Yankees have always benefited from the advantage of the privileged while the less advantaged has always had an uphill climb to the top. Take the Cleveland Indians this year. Just two years ago they had both pitching stars of this year's world series on their team. They had both CC Sabatihia and Cliff Lee, but they couldn't afford to keep them. Consequently, they were forced trade them and sign less expensive players. Last year the Yankees were the only team that could afford to go after the three best free agents. Therefore, they get CC, Burnett, and Texeria all in one year and in essence buy their 27th world series. So if you like the yankess, there is a little bully in you somewhere. You definitely are not the person who pulls for the underdog. You have no problem with someone winning even when it's not fair. Well enough. It's not going to matter because next year the Redsox will win regardless. They will climb that up hill journey and find themselves at the top of that mountain. And when the opportunity is there, they won't blow it (like a couple of kids I know who can't shoot straight.) They will win it all. Maybe that's just the positive person in me coming out. You all know I can't hide that.

Love you all

Dad

Hola, mi nombre es Marci y estoy muy fluido en español.

Hola familia,
This week has been exciting thusss far. Work all weekend will surely turn this exciting to drab very soon. The highlights from my week have been with dear Annie. On Tuesday night I was sitting at home debating on whether I should do homework or not when all the sudden the most joyous thought popped into my head. I had a fabulous coupon for a free hot chocolate at someeee cafe place in provo. So, I called up Annie and we were off. We found the place next to my old house-da branbury. To our surprise and delight, it was ALL in spanish. Beautiful right. So here we were, two of the most albino girls in the world in this mexican cafe. So we order our hot chocolate which contains-hot chocolate, a scoop of ice cream, marshmallows, whipped cream, caramel and chocolate syrup. HELLLOO- fact. We whitey's just don't make hot chocolate like those latino's. delicioso. So, after we down our cup of joy not joe we head outside only to our surprise to find a mexican grocery store. uhm. yes please. Off we went. As soon as we stepped in the store we knew we were in for a treat. It was like walking in mexico. We wander for a good thirty minutes taking in all the foods, and all the smells (and let me tell you what-there were A LOT of smells). We are about to finish as we walk into the produce aisle, and there she be. The BIGGEST avocado of all time. So of course, could we resist? No. So we purchased the big bertha. In case you were wondering-No, our cashier did not speak english. After our purchase we head back to my house to be domestic like and make guacamole. To our dismay, apparently you have to have more than just an avocado. Blegh..who cares. We squished the avacado with our hands and then added five pounds of salt. Good??? H. No. Sick to the nast. So our guacamole was an epic failure-our night? An epic success.
fin.

ps. why yes, i did edit the photo. so what im obsessed. loveee you guys.

Well, this is our first official post. Ali is currently placing a bag of frozen corn on her head because she doesn't feel well, and I am sitting here in a stink from two hours of full court basketball. Ali had a presentation in class today and it went well, while she did that I was trying to learn everything that I need to know for an Accounting test that is comming up on friday. I'm pretty spent right now though, so I'm going to get some food then get to bed. Love you all and we will try to stay on top of our game with writing.
Love,
Matt & Ali

This is my mom, Martha. I like to call her Martha Jane but her name is really Martha Ann. So my mom looks senile in this picture. She really isn't. Yet. I'm watching her closely for signs though. It runs in the fam. Her grandma and her mom both had it so I'm pretty much planning on her getting it and then me. Just something to look forward to. P.S. She hadn't been drinking either. She doesn't do that. :)

This is my #1 Grandson. Taj Brannon Morse. He is the absolute JOY of my life!! I'm so excited to have a blog!! Thanks Marci!! I love reading and looking at other people's blogs so I hope others will like our family blog. Michelle and Marci took Taj up the mountain a few weeks ago to take a few pics. This is my fav. He absolutely LOVES leaves! He laughed himself out of breath over these leaves. He liked the crunching sound they make. We should all find such happiness from things like leaves. Well, this is my "test post" I hope it's ok Marci :) I will be back soon. I will probably blog so much that I will be asked to stop and take a breath. Love you.

I got your back Marci, Ali and I will try to update weekly, but we will see how it goes. I feel bad for Macee though, she is the only one without a friend in the picture. lol

FanDamily

Dear Family,
Here is our blog. Needs work I know. We shall continue to work on that later. Since we are all soooo busy and have a hard time keeping up with one another I figured this would be a good way to share a bit about what we are all doing. I hope we can keep this updated and fun so my efforts have not been in vain. That picture at the top took a long time okay.
I love you all.
Love Marci
the blogging freak