Seven Peaks

As anyone in my family can tell you, I am not a water park kind of girl. I'm not into swimming, slides that make my stomach go up in to my throat, or anything that involves getting my hair wet. I know it sounds silly but unless you have ethnic hair that you straighten on a regular basis, you won't get it.

My sister Moni and I almost drowned as children on a trip to Cancun. The undertow sucked us so far deep into the ocean that even the lifeguard that spotted us and swam to our rescue needed rescuing himself. I remember quite vividly looking up at the sun through the crashing waves and thinking that was the last image I would ever see. Just as I was about to give up, my Dad pulled me up for air and carried me on his back to dry ground. My mom rescued Moni by the hair and I remember watching in terror as they pumped her chest in the sand waiting for her to come to. Needless to say, I haven't been a big fan of recreational water activies for quite some time. I'm usually the one that volunteers to hang out with the babies at the kiddy pool.

This year I ventured out of my comfort zone and went on some rides and even got my hair wet. It was a blast. I wasn't brave enough to ride Boomerang or anything like that but going out in water above my waist was kind of a big deal for me.

Thanks sistas for dragging me along and not putting up with my lame excuses. Next year I'll have to join you guys on the orange slide. Well, maybe.

Hotel Nielson

I wish I were better at taking pictures of all the exciting things that go around this place. These only give a tiny glimpse of the beautiful people I've been surrounded by this last month. A few weeks ago we had the pleasure of having Julia & Melia (to the right and left of my boys) stay with us for a few days. Since then we've had two of my sisters, five more nieces and nephews, my cousin Cindy, from Virginia and my cousin Michael, from Texas, all stay with us at the same time! These visitors overlapped with Brett's sister and her cute crew from Georgia and it's been non- stop comfy chaos sun up to sun down.

We took this picture on the 4th of July just after seeing WALL-E. Our eye's weren't quite dilated, hence the squinty eyes.


As soon as the Georgia cousins came, the kids exchanged cell phone numbers so that they could text each other to their hearts content. What a great way to keep in touch when they're gone :(

Two peas in a pod. Gabrielle stayed with us for 4 days and endured tennis matches, quartet rehearsals, and my South Beach oatmeal zucchini meatloaf with cauliflower mash potatoes. Way to go Gabby!

If you were driving by my house you might have caught a glimpse of Batman, Power Rangers and princesses flying down the street on scooters, bikes and wiggle cars. The only thing missing here is a picture of my sister Marisa, chasing after them in her pajamas with Breaking Dawn in hand yelling at them to get out of the street. Good thing there wasn't a lot of traffic that morning. Besides the messes little people tend to leave behind, having 10 kids hang out here wasn't so bad. The kids all got along remarkably well!

While the kids played and destroyed the place Marisa, Analisa, Cristina and I read. Oh course the fourth and final book of the Twilight series would come out right in the middle of company! We made time anyway and loved talking about all the exciting things we'd read. Hang in there Cristina, your Edward is out there somewhere.

Hotel Nielson also held a Musical Theater Camp that ended with a fabulous performance of 10 little girls dancing and singing to High School Musical songs.

Cute cousins Cristiana, Abby, Serina and Ariana all love hanging out with Katherine.

Sarah and her cousin Spencer, who is 4 days older than her, spent a week down in Provo at EFY. Stories of their adventure require a whole separate post. Needless to say, they had a complete blast. We just about convinced Spencer to stay but figured his parents might not like that to much. Sarah said she didn't want friends using her just to get to him anyway.


I was blessed with not just one, or two, or three, but four fabulous sisters. Marisa, Moni, Crystal and Cristina. Four gorgeous women I can't imagine life without. With 18 kids between us our get togethers can get wild and loud. Seven Peaks pictures coming soon. The only people missing from our summer of fun were Mom and Dad, and oh, Antonio. In the above picture taken today, we left the kids, except for Sophia (Michi) and went to Sushi and Mama Mia. It was great singing along to all the old ABBA songs mom used to sing with us.

Life has been crazy. My fatigue and sleep deprivation are starting to catch up with me. I wouldn't have had it any other way though, family and friends are always welcome at the Nielson Inn.