Great Grandma

Post written by Jeff

Ruth Silver Neilson - April 1, 1918 - July 9, 2011

Thank you for sharing such a special bond with us Great Grandma! We will always remember the fun times, the love you gave us and countless other great memories. Merci Mémé! We love you and we will miss you!

Love, Sam and Anaïs



Grandma, thank you for teaching me at a young age the importance of hard work. I loved working on the apartments with you and Grandpa for many, many years! Thank you for the fishing trips, the melted cheese sandwiches and your famous snowball cookies and banana bread. I will always have great memories and appreciate everything you taught me. We had a wonderful conversation yesterday! I will always appreciate the love, acceptance and understanding you showed Alex, Sam, Anaïs and I. I will always love you and will miss you greatly! You had a special bond with Sam and Anaïs and they love you so much. They will miss you! They always knew you loved them, you were proud of them and they loved the visits to Great Grandma's.
I wish I could fully express my appreciation and how happy I am that we were able to talk yesterday. Although I would have loved many more talks, I will always appreciate and remember the ones we had! Thank you for everything! I love you and will miss you!
-Jeff



Great Grandma,
We love you! Thank you for everything!
Love,
Jeff, Alex, Sam and Anaïs

Just them...

just some recent pictures of my two favorite girls. We have been keeping busy since school ended. Sam is skating more than ever and Anaïs is just happy being with me everywhere I go. Anaïs on a nature walk in front of the rink while Sam is skating:

One of her favorite resting spots in the house lately:

Attempt at taking pictures of both of them one sunny morning...

Oh and of course the achon flexibility...LOL

Skatefest competition.

Last Saturday, on June 18th, Sam had her second figure skating competition in West Valley, UT. It was such a good experience for her, definitely harder competition than her last one. She took second place in her category (basic 6) and we are very proud of her. Here she is with a friend before the competition Warm up time:

Here she is with her coach about to get on the ice for her routine, she was nervous!

Watching the rest of the competition with her friends:

The podium:

Her next competition isn't until September, She will compete at a much higher level which she is very excited about! She LOVES skating, I swear these days it is the only thing that matters to her! lol

We are proud of you Sam!

Our last couple days!

These last few days have been pretty busy. We just had the girls' birthdays and with the school year coming to an end Sam has had plenty going on.
The weather is finally better, not great but better. The girls have been enjoying playing outside on the patio. Anaïs has a water table that she just loves. They also both love blowing bubbles!

Sam has been very busy with her skating. She finally got her Park City Figure Skating Club jacket, which was a very big deal for her! She tells me "now I have to practice well because I'm a REAL figure skater"...LOL

Her skating group was also featured in Skating magazine... she thought that was pretty cool!

Then on Tuesday, Sam had a "swap meet" at her school. It was a cool concept: each kid had to bring gently used items they wanted to sell and also $2.00 in coins and they could just buy each other's stuff, learning about the value of money.

Notice Anaïs in the middle of the action...lol

Yesterday, all first graders had an end of year picnic at the park, which was really fun for them. Here is Sam's class:

The school year is officially over! Can't believe we have been in Park City for an entire school year...time flies!

Summer, here we come! :)

Three!

Anaïs turned 3 today! I can't believe it! It seems like she has always been in our lives and yet it seems like her birth was just yesterday!
This is what you looked like on your third birthday: We wanted to have a mellow celebration, just the four of us at home...I think it was just perfect.
We went to Whole Foods this morning and she picked out her little pastry, a lemon tart...just because it was yellow, her favorite color. :)

She got a Minnie Mouse doll that sings and a little pony toy. I think she was pretty happy with her presents.

This kid is OBSESSED with Minnie Mouse!

We hope you had a good birthday Anaïs! You have brought so much happiness to our lives and have opened doors to a wonderful, beautiful world.

You have made me such a better person, mother and wife...how can you have taught me so much in just three short years?

I can only hope to teach you half of what you have taught me, my beautiful Anaïs. I love you so much and I am SO incredibly proud to be your mom.

Happy third birthday sweet girl!

I have a 7 year old!

Yes...Sam turned 7 last Friday, how is that even possible???
My first born...she will always have that special place in my heart, my first baby!
She had been wanting this skating bag for over a year and she was SO excited to see that it was her birthday present from Jeff and I.

On Friday night, we ordered a pizza and had cake, just the four of us at the house.

Then on Saturday she had her birthday party. Of course she wanted a party at the rink and skate with her friends and cousins.

The party was low key, just how we wanted it. I think everybody had a good time.

She is such a great kid!

I am so lucky to be your mom Sam and I love every moment we get to spend together, I would not be anywhere else than with you everyday! You make my life so full and bright and I am so proud of you!