Those "Crazy Nielsens" came down for another visit to Disneyland while our season passes are still good. We, of course, had a great time and took a million pictures. It was fun because Kelsie actually enjoyed it this time. She would get so excited when we would get close to a ride and could see it flying or doing whatever it did. Since I am blogging incompetent, I had to do this trip in 2 posts because it kept letting me only do 4 pictures at a time. I am sure that I could probably figure out how to fix it, but do I really want to? I don't think so!

We started out with our trusty map. Have I mentioned that Tyson pulls out his Disneyland and California Adventure maps on a regular basis and will talk the ear off of anybody who will listen to him. He loves to talk about which rides we went on, which ones he doesn't like and which ones he will go on next time.

Kelsie had a great time at Goofy's house. She went down the slide over and over. Each time, the static got stronger and stronger. By the time she got to the bottom of the slide each time, her hair would all be standing on end.

This was just a cute picture of all the kids at Winnie the Pooh. Tyson informs everyone that the Winnie the Pooh ride is fun, not scary, because it is all just pretend. What a brave boy!

R is for Rigby. What luck that California has one in it! We really liked it over there. All the rides are outside, so Ty doesn't get as spooked. We found a new favorite ride this time. It is a little rollercoaster with lots of sharp turns and a few drops. I wasn't sure what Ty would think, but he loved it and we ended up gong on it 4 or 5 times.

Disneyland Part 2

Good Ol' Uncle Dave made sure that the boys had cotton candy to enjoy. Tyson enjoyed it a little too much. He thought it was the greatest thing ever. He didn't even mind all the cleaning up each time he had some.

Don't worry, our timid Tyson was out in full force. He plugged his ears on every single ride (including the Carousel). He didn't like how loud everything was. This was waiting in line for the Jungle Cruise.

As always, we partied 'til we dropped...literally.

Ty gained a reputaion for being able to sleep anywhere. This picture is in front of Tony Romas. We stopped there one night to get some take out on our way back to the hotel. While we were looking at the menu, Tyson took a little nap out on the sidewalk. He was out cold!

A Real Shiner

Tyson got in his first fight this week. Just kidding! We were at the playground one day and he ran into another little boy. Unfortunately, it was the head of the other little boy that he ran into. I have never seen an eye puff up that quickly. (Tyson gets mad if I say it is his eye...it's his CHEEK!)

I told him that whenever anybody asks him about it, he should say, "You should see the other guy!" but he won't do it. I think he's going to have this mark for a while.

Little Bunnies

Easter this year was lots of fun with the Bishops here. We had a great Easter Egg Hunt Saturday night. I think the Easter Bunny told me he hid over 100 eggs in the back yard. He was right on the money with Sweedish Fish, colored marshmallows, pistachios, and even angel food cake. What an accommodating bunny!

Kelsie, of course, was more interested in getting the eggs open then in finding more of them. She liked to put eggs in Mathew's basket and then take them back again. She was not interested in finding any bubbles; whenever she found one, she would put it back where she got it and keep on moving!

Tyson was a star Easter-egg-finder! We had to keep emptying his basket because it would get too full.

Getting a picture of all of the kids was next to impossible...this was the best we could do. What cuties, huh? It was a great day!

The Bishop's Visit

My sister, Staci, her husband, Jake, and their kids came to visit this last week. We had a great time. It was really fun to have them. As you can see from the pictures, we had a little bit of a wind problem, but the weather was great other than that. We took them to some of our favorite spots and kept them busy, busy, busy. We had no problem putting the kids to bed each night because they were exhausted!


"Oso Flaco"

"The Bishops at Monana de Oro"

"Sara & Stan enjoying the view...and wind!"

"Rachel with her trademark smile"

"Dallan and the girls throwing rocks"

Thanks for coming guys! We had a blast!

Starting Out Young

Kelsie loves shoes! She has been trying out her first pair of flip flops lately. They make it a little harder to walk, but that doesn't stop her. Each time she trips over them or one falls off, she comes running over to me to have it put back on. With the blonde hair, she is looking more and more like a true "California Girl."

Kelsie's New Hobby

Since it was such a beautiful day today (Yes that is a little jab for all you cold weather dwellers...I got a little sweaty just sitting at the park), we spent the whole day enjoying ourselves outside. Anyway, Kelsie decided that she likes skate boarding. Wouldn't you know it? Notice she already has the low-riding down to a tee with the oversized onesie!



She got some good rides in...if only that grass didn't slow her down. Maybe next week she'll graduate to some patio riding.

She had a little down time between sweet rides, but made sure she was still looking good!

Here's a snap shot of her number one fan. (Ty felt left out and wanted his picture taken too!) What cute kids I have!

These are the days that I love being the Mom. I get to play outside all day, soak in the sun and laugh at the funny things Tyson and Kelsie do. What more could I ask for?

Reason For Concern?!

Tyson prides himself on the fact that he gets to get himself dressed every day. He can't do anything too terrible because what doesn't match a pair of jeans or tan pants? (That is the best part about boy clothes!) The only input I have in the process is to tell him whether it is hot or cold weather so he can decide between shorts and pants. I have to bite my tongue every once in a while, but for the most part, he does a great job. This is how he presented himself for the day last week. He thought he was pretty funny so we had to take a picture. What a cute little man!

Super Something

Tyson has decided that his favorite toy (of the roomful he has) is KELSIE! There is nothing better than controling another human being, right?! He likes to tell her what to do, chase her around, body slam her, pick her up and put her where he wants her and best of all, dress her up like his favorite super heros!



She makes a great construction worker and fireman, but this has to be my favorite so far. You have to admit she makes a pretty cute Super Baby!

A Rigby Christmas

I just thought I would post some pictures of our Christmas adventures. I love Christmas! We had a great time this year in Ojai!

A friend of mine came over and we went to town making chocolates. We determined that you can dip pretty much anything in chocolate and it becomes a great treat! This is a peak at some of the finished products:



This is Kelsie's new favorite look. She is constantly making an "O" face whenever she gets excited. There was some serious excitement Christmas morning!



Our cutie patootie with Grandma. She really was an angel all morning.:



Tyson, the Tool Man, Rigby! There's just something about a boy and his tools!


This year was the first year that Ty really got into the whole Santa thing. I loved it. He was practically in tears when the doughnut store was closed...what would we leave out for Santa? He couldn't wait to go to sleep Christmas Eve so that Santa could come. He woke up Christmas morning singing, "It's morning. It's morning." We were amazed, though, with all that excitement, he waited very patiently for everyone to get ready to see what Santa had brought and was on his best behavior the entire day. I'm sad it is all over, but relieved that the rush of the preparations are finally over! Hope you all had a Merry Christmas!

The Perfect Christmas Card...Attempted

What a nice Christmas Card picture, right? Yeah right! Here's the story of how it came to be...

We had a TERRIBLE time getting a good picture for our Christmas card this year. Don't think I procrastinated and I deserve this...I didn't. Our first attempt was over Thanksgiving weekend. We went to the beach in Ventura to get a "Rub it in Your Face, We're at the Beach and You're in Snow" picture. I guess I was punished for my cruel intentions. This is the best we got...the sun was not cooperating:

So...we tried again a couple of days later. We figured, we're already dressed up for church, let's just snap a cute picture outside. Yeah right?! Tyson was in a foul mood and wouldn't smile no matter what we threatend. Go figure?! Here's our best shot from that episode:

Okay... so fast forward a couple of weeks. Yes, we are getting close to Christmas, we need a picture. One more attempt at the beach picture. Little did we know we were going to have some of the coldest weather I have experienced since moving to California. That didn't stop us though. We all bundled up and headed to Pismo. We tried several locations, ending on the Pier since we could at least get the wind blowing our hair out of our faces there. As much as the birds were cooperating, we couldn't get something worth sending out to everyone we know. This is as close as we got:

The next morning was Sunday so we tried the before-church-picture again. We couldn't get anybody to take the picture for us though, so we attempted the timed picture. It would have worked too, but I didn't get the camera high enough so the angle makes us look like giants. No dice!

I decide I will give it one more try and that is it. We only had a week before Christmas by this time. We had a ward Christmas party Saturday night, so we got all dolled up once again (notice I didn't make the effort to choose new outfits each time) and recruited a friend from the ward to snap a few pictures by the Christmas tree. I'm not saying it's is the perfect picture (Kelsie has the cutest smile that we couldn't get her to share with us in any of the pictures that night), but as you can see, it is the best choice. It didn't really matter what the pictures looked like after the 5th attempt...I was using them no matter what. So, I hope you all appreciate the effort that went into the cards you received in the mail...even though they may have been a little late! If there are no pictures in next year's cards, you now know why!

A Better Way to Waste Your Time

For those of you who spend WAY too much time on the computer (I know you do it...don't try to deny it!), I have some good news for you. Now, you can help a good cause with all those mindless searches you do on the internet! Feel a little better about all that time you are wasting. I read about this in Oprah's magazine (No, I do not subscribe...Mama Rigby always has them lying around the house, and I need something to help pass the time while ESPN reigns supreme!)

Anyway, it is called Good Search. Basically, you choose what organization you want to support, enter it in one time, then each time you search from this website, your organization earns money. What could be better? You can add churches, schools or whatever non-profit you want. A lot of them are already set up in their system, but you can add new ones too. Just add it to your favorites and use it instead of Google. It is powered by Yahoo! so you get the same search results. Happy Searching!

Just a story...

We were riding in the car today and I thought it would be good to practice opposites. I would say a word and then Tyson would tell me what the opposite of that word was. When we got to "In" he got really excited and said, "That one's a restaurant...In-N-Out." What a clever little boy. I thought it was pretty funny so I thought I would share. Sometimes that boy has a one track mind!

Wobbly Steps

Just like her big brother, Kelsie started taking her first steps right around her first birthday. I tried over and over again to get a good clip of her walking and this is the best I could do. Sorry its a little dark. She's cute whether she is walking or not! (I apologize for Tyson's crying in the background.)

Birthday Cakes

I know you have all been waiting for this. My friend, Becky, just sent me pictures of the cakes she did for Ty and Kelsie's birthdays. Aren't they cute? She does a great job. Thanks Becky!