Wrong Roads

Last time my family was all together, my dad shared this video with us.

As we were watching it, I leaned over to Jonathan and told him that is exactly what we have been experiencing throughout our marriage. We have started down many different paths and each one felt right, but most of them reached a dead end. I am grateful to know that we are currently on the right path. As we start figuring out where to go next, I know God will guide us even if there are a few more dead ends for us to go down. I know we will get to where we need to be.

Also, this weekend will be the General sessions of General Conference. (I feel like I am saying general a lot...) Anyway, join us by clicking here!

Month of Gratitude

It's November, which is the month I (try to) post something I'm grateful for everyday. I didn't make if very far last year, but this is a new year!

I am grateful that this post is coming from California. My dad was made the bishop of his ward (or congregation) today. I am grateful that I have a father that teaches by example. I don't remember him sitting us down to teach us very often, but I remember him always doing something (usually with the Scouts). He accepted every calling that was extended to him and did them to the best of his abilities. In just the last few years, he was taught how to do them better and he did everything he could to follow that counsel. He taught me that it is better to be humble and do things the right way today rather than focus on how things were done in the past. I know that he's going to be doing a lot more learning as a bishop and I can't wait to see what else he teaches me.

My Father

My dad loves being a teacher because he can spend most of the summer camping. He's never happier than when his is out in the woods. A scripture that perfectly describes my dad is 1 Nephi 3:15. "And my father dwelt in a tent." 

This is from his third time climbing half-dome.

Thanks to my father, I also love the outdoors. I don't get to camp very often, but I enjoy being in nature whenever I can. I love the memories I have of being at Rucker Lake. We would canoe, hike, fish (unsuccessfully), and shoot guns. Back when we lived in Citrus Heights, I was able to go on a couple of bigger hikes with the Young Women during Girls Camp. Being a leader gave me a new perspective. I understand better why my dad loves sharing the outdoors with anyone and everyone.

This is from Girls Camp in 2011.

I gave my dad a small painting for Father's Day. One of my favorite memories of camping was going down to the lake to lay down on the dock and look at all of the stars.

I am so grateful that my dad shared his love of the outdoors with me and gave me so many wonderful memories.

The Adventures of California Patt and Oregon Nelson

My dad had a mild (but could have been so much worse) medical emergency at the end of April. I wasn't handling it very well, so I decided to do something similar to what we've been doing for our niece's and nephew's birthdays. My dad is Mr. Mountain Man. Back in the 90's, he had the nickname Mountain Man Bill. There was another man who had the same nickname, but no one liked him and his friends convinced my dad to choose another nickname. He followed the example of Indiana Jones and chose Kentucky Pat.

For those who don't know my dad, he served his mission in Kentucky.
For those who do know my dad, you can't forget he served his mission in Kentucky.
As I was trying to think of what we should do, I remembered all of this and it was obvious that we needed to go with an Indiana Jones theme. I am California Patt  since that is the only state I've really spent much time in. (I like spelling Patt with two ts and my dad sticks with one t.) Jonathan served his mission in both Washington state and Oregon and he chose to be Oregon Nelson. With our names picked out, we were ready to start shooting!

We took the pictures on the trail to the Y. Luckily, we didn't have to do too much hiking to find the perfect spots to get the pictures we wanted. Since this story was longer than the ones we've done previously, we broke it up into multiple videos.

Since there are so many switch backs on the trail, I thought it would be funny to have the boulder launch off the side of the mountain. To make it even funnier, we took pictures of it rolling around places in Provo that my parents remember from when they lived there.

I enjoyed making these because it enabled me to focus on making my dad laugh rather than worry about how he was doing. Honestly, he's doing great and he feels like nothing happened, but it still shook me up.

A Happy Father's Day

Our second day in Idaho, was a very special day. It was Father's Day and the day Clara was blessed. In our Church, we bless our children. It is very simple and very beautiful. (Read more about how we bless babies here.) It was such a wonderful sight to see my three brothers, father, grandfather, and husband (along with Annie's brother and father) all gather to bless our sweet little girl. I can't recall what Chris said, but I certainly remember how I felt. The deepest and perfect love was radiating out of my heart. I know that Clara has been part of our family for much longer than the 5 months she's spent on this earth. And now that she is here, 

she is stuck with us forever.

Of course, I didn't take any pictures of Clara in her sweet dress, but after Church we did take a new family picture with all 17 people! Hannah, Jonathan's sister, conveniently lives in Rexburg and takes amazing pictures! We picked her up after Church and brought her to the farm.

I love the look on my dad's face. You can tell that he got exactly what he wanted for Father's Day; time with all of his kids and grandkids. It's crazy to think that this family started 33 years ago with just these two kids.

Sorry about that detour, back to the pictures (it was seriously windy that's why our hair was everywhere)!

These 4 boys are so funny together!

Yes, it is tough getting 7 children to look at the camera with smiling faces!

See, it's hard work.

Even when they have their two trucks.

Dropping them, doesn't help.

Sorry Clara!

Wayne kept telling Jonathan that he needed to take his bride out on
the pond in the row boat. This is proof he did it.

After pictures were done, Jonathan and I needed to take Hannah back to Rexburg while everyone else enjoyed the 40 pound turkey for lunch. Thank goodness that turkey was so big. so there was still plenty when we got back. We ate our lunch as Kyle was waking up from a nap and all he wanted to eat was jam. I'm not kidding.

Chris feeding Kyle his jam.

Seth was refusing to take a nap, so in a desperate attempt to get him to sleep, we asked him if he wanted to take a nap with Jonathan and me and he nodded yes. Well, that certainly shocked us! It seemed like he was still warming up to us at this point. He laid down with us and was quiet until he eventually fell asleep. After awhile I woke up and saw how cute Jonathan and Seth looked together. I headed downstairs and spent time with the family. After awhile, Denise, Annie's mom, checked in on them and Seth was wide awake, silently laying on the bed next to snoring Jonathan. (Jonathan is a very, very heavy sleeper.) He's lucky she showed up, or else he could have been there for a very long time.

Jonathan sleeping on the job.

We spent the evening chatting in the parlor as the children played together.

I just love these two little girls! 

We ended up outside to play another game of kickball. It was really windy and chilly, but lots of fun. During our game, Mike was able to kick a ball over the back fence. (Yeah, it was very impressive!)

One of Garrett's favorite things to do is to come up from behind and hug/choke people. 

He ended up getting Grandma this time.

After the game was over, Jonathan and I sat on the porch to watch the sunset. It was so lovely and relaxing. I had visions of us doing the same at our own home after we put the children down for the night.

It was such a wonderful day to celebrate Clara and all of the fathers in our family. My brothers are such great fathers. Andy is always making up cute little songs with his babies, Chris is always making Seth and Clara laugh, and Mike is always watching out for Garrett's safety. Jonathan is a wonderful uncle. He is adorable playing with the baby girls and goofing around with the boys. Our children are so blessed that they will have him as a father. This was a memorable Father's Day for our family.

A Long Day of Playing!

After the crazy drive, we pulled into Idaho Falls around 7 in the morning. 

Chris and Annie's cute little house.

We were greeted by Seth, Annie, Chris, and sweet baby Clara. I'm not sure who was the most excited for us to be there: Seth, Chris, or Mom! (Chris had been awake for hours and was pacing back and forth and my mom heard every step he took.) We spent a little bit of time there until we headed up to the farm, our home for the weekend.

This is the view from our room.

Jonathan and I were so tired from driving, that we took a long nap. I woke up a few times but couldn't do it until I had a dream that I was outside with the family. I knew it was time to get up and start playing!


While we were napping, both Ryan and Tyler each caught a fish! This was their first time fishing and they did a great job!

Ry's fish in his face, Ty & Chris with his fish, Seth & his Uncle Wes sitting while fishing, and Kyle & Andy fishing.

Here are a couple of videos of Tyler catching his fish.

My favorite part of this one is how he wipes his hand on his shirt after giving Chris a high-five. 

I love Ty running into the fishing line at the end of this one.

Side Story: For Father's Day, Chris refinished Grandpa Patterson's old canoe that we grew up with. It is GORGEOUS!!! Anyways, Chris and Dad decided that they needed to flip it over in the pond.

The water looks nice, but it was FREEZING!

Ryan and Tyler thought that they would swim too, but it was too cold for them. Dad tried to help Ty into the water, while Ryan took off in the canoe.

Ryan decided that he wanted to take the row boat for a spin, and Dad and Ty took over the canoe. As they got closer to the row boat, Ty wanted to jump ship to join Ryan. Dad was holding the row boat for Ty, but they were still drifting. Tyler yelled, "STOP MOVING!!!", but there's little you can do on the water. Eventually, Ty made it safely on to the row boat, but Ry was tired of rowing. Lucky for him, his grandpa is nice enough to tow him around.

After swimming, we played kickball in front of the house. This was Ryan's first time ever playing kickball and he's in 2nd grade! We all had a blast! Ry did great, Ty said he hated it so he didn't play too much with us, Kyle would kick the ball and then watch it roll, and Seth ended up stealing second base (the basketball) and practiced kicking it around the infield.

The chair was first base and the basketball was 2nd.

After we were all tired from playing kickball, Farmer Wayne (Annie's dad) saddled up old Pat and gave us rides around the pond.

Wayne insisted that the "newly weds" take a ride on the horse together. (I secretly loved being called the newly weds!) I started joking that Pat is our honeymoon stallion. Of course, since I was on the horse I didn't take any pictures, but it was a fun ride together!

Seth and baby Lyla

We also spent some time relaxing in the shade before heading back into town to have a family barbecue celebrating the reason we all went to Idaho for, baby Clara!

Seth and Kyle happily played on the teeter-totter together.

Ty loves his babies!! Seth was perfectly content sitting in the doorway to the house. He also drank half of the punch.

Lots of good food and talking!

Garrett and his parents made it in time to do more playing!

Jonathan thought it was nap time, but we still had more to do!

We headed back to the farm and Dad took Mike and Garrett out on the canoe.

Once they were done canoeing, Jonathan & Mike did some fishing. It took some time, but each of them caught a fish!

Mike caught a golden trout!

A beautiful sunset to end the day!

Jonathan and Lyla girl!

We had such a fun day! The whole family was finally reunited. It was so wonderful to have everyone together and (mostly) getting along. This was just the beginning to all of our fun. There is still so much more to share!

A Father's Day Project

Idaho was GREAT! I'm still getting all of the pictures organized, but I will soon be sharing all that we did.

Since Jonathan and I knew we were going to be in Idaho for Father's Day, we decided to take care of his dad a week early. For awhile now, Dad has been trying to organize all of the bikes in the backyard. Thanks to pinterest, I found a few different plans for bike racks. I showed them to Jonathan and we decided on the best looking one.

Jonathan was busy fixing Dad's computer, so I took over building the bike rack.

Yeah, we were those people...

It looked like I was covered in dandruff!

All the cutting was done.

Assembling the frame took a lot longer than I anticipated, but it got done! During the final steps, I needed Jonathan's muscles to get the pipes to fit.

The final product!

It fits perfectly in the backyard and the bikes are now organized!

We MUST Be Related

These are two nightstands. The one on the left is mine and the one to the right is my dad's. We both have multiple books because we can't just read one at a time. Where's the fun in that? I hope that one day, I'll have a child who has a matching nightstand too.