drama queen

On second thought, make that Lady of the Theater.

At the end of last term and as part of her theater grade, Sarah was "forced" to audition for Shakespeare Competition which her school takes place in every year. Belonging to an Arts school she felt pretty confident that the parts would go to the seasoned, thespians of the group. Not the opera loving, musical theater type of gals. To her utter dismay, she landed a role that would take her places completely OUT of her comfort zone. She would be playing Queen Elizabeth in Richard III soon after her husband and sons had been murdered. Rehearsals were held every morning in September beginning at 6:30am. Getting into this character was not her ideal way of starting the day! She fought against completely giving in to the process til just a few weeks leading up to the big day. The director called her bluff in front of the entire company which forced her to dig deep and discover ways to conquer the whole miserable experience. She spent hours in the basement, shouting out lines, mastering the iambic pentameter of the scene and lowering her voice to the right tone to fit the mood of her character.

Brett drove down to Cedar City to support the team and watch our baby girl in action. I held the down the fort on Sunnydale and got word through text on how she was holding up.

This was her a few hours before competition


This was her during rehearsal








The team took 1st place in their division. A great accomplishment for a work well done. But not one she'd want to repeat anytime soon!

chick magnet

I observed dozens of squealing girls chasing him around the playground today. And I must say, I did not like it. One. Little. Bit.

bitter sweet victory

If you get the Deseret News, you might turn to the sports section and see this!

Skyline's Analisa Nielson competes in the first doubles finals at Liberty Park, helping the Eagles claim the 5A team title.

I mean seriously. Couldn't she just she just quit tennis and get a few endorsements from say Nike or Wilson? Tough stuff, girlfriend!!

I am a fan of any sport that let's a gal get away with hair-bows, pearls and yes, even...

Gold Spanks

She and her partner, Syd, fought their way to a third set in the finals! As can be seen from their cried out puffy eyes, they came just a little short that day, and took 2nd, but boy were we PROUD!

Due to some amazing wins earlier that day on their part, Skyline took State which was a huge accomplishment in and of itself. Congrats on a stellar season Lady Eagles!
You AMAZE ME Analisa... just the way you are!

a true story

Once upon a time there was a little girl that loved tennis. At first, she admits, it was all about the outfits. But soon it became more than just the newest pleated skirt and more about how hard and fast she could wack the ball over the net. She spent tireless hours perfecting her strokes, moving her way slowly up the rankings when a silly fall down some stairs landed her with two fractures on her left wrist. "Who needs a backhand anyway," she thought. "I'll just work on my forehand and footwork and continue improving my game as best as I can." And so she did. Three to four hour work outs became her norm that summer. A dumb sweaty old cast wasn't going to slow her down. No sir-ee-Bob. The cast finally came off and life as she knew it was sparkly and new again. Til one day, the little girl who loved tennis, while in a third set tie break match, heard a pop on her right wrist which forced her yet again to the inside of an all too familiar Instacare. Severe tendinitis was the new diagnosis. "No more tennis til it all heals up. Could be weeks, could be months", she was told. With the start of High School tennis a couple weeks away her dream of playing Varsity seemed impossible. Driving to and from physical therapy with her love being put on indefinite hold she leaned over to put her broken little hand on her mother's hand and said, "Thank you. Thank you for driving me to and from all these visits and caring so much for me. I don't know what I'd do without you." At that moment, the girl who loved tennis and her mother just cried and cried. And her mother knew that even more than a love for tennis the girl had developed a grateful heart.

Her coach saved her spot on Varsity until she was well enough to hold a racquet again. Last week she and her doubles partner who went undefeated the entire season, won Region.

Tomorrow and Saturday... STATE!!

Homecoming

Yesterday's post may or may not have had something to do with one of the following individuals... but anyway.

The traditional banging on the door by secret suitors in hopes of winning over a date caught us all by surprise again. You think we'd be used to this by now. But when it involves giant fish shaped balloons and Rottweilers that could pass for grizzly bears it catches you off guard a little. My camera was no where to be found this year but the girls had a ball being asked and replying to this years Homecoming dance.

Here is Analisa, aka my brunette Taylor Swift...

she went with her good friend Travis.

Sarah's dance was a 20's theme. She went with her friend and co-worker James, who graduated last year never having gone to a single dance. I think he cleaned up rather nicely. They had a great time. Sarah was even voted Homecoming Queen which made the evening extra special!

Sarah and her bud Landon, Salt Lake School for Performing Arts King and Queen.

The victory dance...

my mantra

Because let's face it, don't we all have days when we'd just love to wring someone's neck???

Meet some Mormons

The church has a website found at Mormon.org that features mini videos of members from all walks of life sharing a little bit about themselves and what their faith means to them. Scroll to the right over the little boxes with the faces. Click on one you like and press play. It is fabulous. There were some that stood out to me that I wanted to share with a few of my favorite people. Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Mom (click on Chris): I want to find you a guy like Chris. Or Robert. Aren't they awesome?

Dad Nielson (click on Jeff): A kindred spirit. Member of Sinners Motorcycle Club. Love it.

Moni (click on Rose): She reminded me of you. You may not be an artist but you create magic with what you do so well at CTMH.

Crystal (click on Valentin): Doesn't he remind you of some boys from our old stomping ground? Like Edmundo and Uvalado. I just want to give him a hug.

Lindsay (type in Josh M in the search): He is a skateboarder who reminded me of Uncle Funky. What do you think?

Sarah (click on Alex to see her favorite) He is speaking to the kids in our stake next Sunday. Can't wait to hear him sing. It will rock at church. Oh yeah!

Me (click on Casandra and Daisy. They are two of my favorites) I love, love, love Casandra's art. I have already been in touch with her and can't wait to meet her someday soon. I also love the simpleness and directness of Daisy's story. I looked up her blog and saw that she recently married in the temple! She looks so happy which makes me happy too!

To all my fellow mommy bloggers: Click on Jenny only if you have a box of tissues handy. Oh my! What or where would we be without the gospel as our anchor?

I am a daughter, a sister, a wife, and a mother. My name Claudia Zarate Nielson. And I am a Mormon.

date night

Ever since we met, my sweetie and I have always gone on a weekly date. At times it has been as fancy as dinner at Francks and a Broadway show or as simple as holding hands, walking around the neighborhood. It's kept our marriage fresh and energized and I wouldn't trade that time with just him for anything.

A few weeks ago we got our groove on and jammed out with this guy. It was awesome. Even though we payed a pretty penny for some great seats, I stood with Brett's arms wrapped around my waist as we swayed to the beat of the music the whole night. As my girls would say, it was romantical. Oh yes, the heart of life is ever so good!

Look we even made it on the jumbotron... NOT... cool effect though!

joseph

If you were to ask any acquaintance of his, "Do you know Joseph Nielson?" Their immediate response would be, "Ah yes! I love that kid!" His love for life and others is truly contagious. There really is nothing that gets him down for very long. Sometimes I think I learn more from him and his beautiful spirit than I could possibly teach him.

For his NINTH birthday we decided to invite some his buddies to see our local baseball team, The Bees, in action. After a little dinner, cake and ice-cream we headed downtown.

We camped out on the lawn and took in the scene.

After about 20 minutes in, the boys turned our relaxing spectator sport into a full on wrestling match!

After the game they let us camp it right out on the field where we enjoyed fireworks that shot right over our heads. The boys loved it! It was the perfect ending to a great day for my sweetie, Joseph.

Sammy boy at 6

My sweet boy Samuel celebrated his LONG AWAITED birthday with a few friends and cousins at Seven Peaks. He learned to swim this summer and has thus deemed himself ruler of all things water.

A tradition Brett brought into the marriage is the present game, "Heavy, Heavy Hangover." The person giving the gift dangles the gift over the birthday recipients head and repeats the rhyme, "Heavy, heavy hangover thy poor head what do you wish this person with a bump on the head?" They then give a little thump with the gift and are given a wish in return. In Samuel's case the party goers were wished super speed, super strength and special ninja powers.

I just love this age. He has new found independence but is definitely not too old to give his mom a smooch in public when necessary.

Probably the highlight of his birthday was spending time with this little dolly, Analea. More on her visit soon.