A mother's treasure is her daughter

Rylee brought this picture home from school the other day so I taped it to my computer desk because I loved it so much. Last night she got home from the schools book fair that she went to with a friend and brought home two Babysitters Club books for me. She said, "Mom I know these were your favorite books from when you were little so I got some more for you to read, so here Mom you can read them right now". I laughed and explained to her that I saved my Babysitters Club books for her because when I was little I would lay in bed at night and ponder what my Mother was like when she was little and I was curious if we had anything in common. I used to wish my Mom had kept her clothes and favorite things to share with me. So growing up I always tried really hard to save stuff for my daughter but I was the only one who thought it was a good idea and things got thrown a way a lot of the time.

Where does your Mom work?

Dear Mrs. Jones,

I wish to clarify that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an exotic
dancer. I work at Lowe's and I told my daughter how hectic it was
last week before the blizzard hit.  I told her we sold out every single
shovel we had, and then I found one more in the back room, and that
several people were fighting over who would get it.  Her picture doesn't show me dancing around a pole.

It's supposed to depict me selling the last snow shovel we had at Lowe's.
From now on I will remember to check her homework more thoroughly before she turns it in. 

Sincerely, Mrs.  Smith

ILY Dad

(Originally written on 9/13/07 but I haven't given it to my Dad yet, I wanted to edit it and I was working on a slide show to go with it then I forgot about it until today)
My Mom asked that I write a letter to my Dad to congratulate him on his retirement. I would like to make a little memory book to go along with it. I am a lot like my Dad in some ways.

We both like to drive fast
We both can be a little extreme/crazy
We both are usually the life of the party
We are both short and stocky
We are both very generous
We like to sing and dance
We both love music
We both like to take pictures

I guess the main thing I want to express in the letter is gratitude for:

• Keeping a stable job to support your wife and five kids.
• Buying a home for us to live in (Stability)
• Driving a Volkswagon van so your large family could all fit, I am sure you would have preferred a Camaro
  
• Allowing my Mother to stay home to raise us
• Taking us on summer vacations
• Spending time with us (dump trips)
• Being humble enough to say sorry to Mom and doing whatever it takes to keep your marriage together
• Making sure we got to taste McDonalds while in our youth
• Exposing us to great music during road trips (def lepard, Madonna, Bruce Springstein, Dire straights, Bon Jovi)
  
• Teaching me how to drive, and let me sit on your lap driving down the Alcan, you are the one who took me to get my license
  
• Stopping to let me pee so many times during our road trips.. my Dad would RACE to see how fast he could make it to Anchorage or Utah.. depending on the destination.
• Keeping my vehicle running at all times, he is a very talented mechanic
• Taking me to get my ears pierced
• Baptizing me & blessing me
• Helping me move.. many time
• LOTS and LOTS of love and attention to my dear children (babysitting too.. have you ever changed diapers?)
  

A lot of the great qualities my Father has I never would have recognized if I didn't go through the hard times with my own relationship. We all have a choice in life. We can stop and think about how our choices will reflect our family or simply be selfish and do whatever WE want right then. My father chose to make things work, maybe not all the time I know he has his wild/rebellious side (like me), but he eventually stopped whatever he was doing to make sure he didn't lose us. My parents marriage, like most marriages I know, have had their ups and downs. Now that I am older I realize they came very close a few times and considered divorce (the dreaded ugly D word). Thank you Dad for being a good example and showing that when it comes down to it,

FAMILY is 1st

Go Jazz Go!

Luke Wilson and Kalen Compehos were getting a little lovin from the
UTAH JAZZ DANCERS
on Tuesday night at the Energy Solutions Arena! Kalen apparently prefers blond's because he said he got to stand by the HOT one!

Tuesday night was a blast.. Kalen and I went with my brother Nathan and his oldest son Luke to watch the Jazz play the Minnesota Timber wolves. Even though we had to sit way up high it was well worth it. The energy and excitement at the game is something you just have to experience in your lifetime.

New Year.. new me?

I got the kids back on the Dance Crew! They were so excited to go and see their old dance teachers. Kalen is now is a separate class than Rylee and he has a male teacher who specializes in break dance moves. When Kalens class got out he proudly announced he had won the hand stand contest. I got to watch Rylee through the glass windows and she learned the first half of their routine in ONE class, I could tell she has made progress with her dance skills.. that girl can really shake what her mama gave her!

Rylee broke out with the Chicken Pox on Friday night with only a few. I kept thinking a ton more would show up the next day just like when Kalen got them a couple weeks ago but she still only has about 20 total. When I was in 4th grade I got them two weeks after my brother Nathan and only remember counting 16 on my body so I guess she is having a similar experience.

On Tuesday night I was taking a nice hot bath and trying to finish reading the 3rd Twilight book that I started last summer and then got out of the tub to lay on my bed to read when there was a knock on the door. I told Kalen to answer the door and if it was for me to tell them I was busy. I could hear him from my upstairs bedroom and he told them I was busy but was fumbling with his words and finally just said, well actually she just got out of the bath but let me go talk to her. Then he shuts the door on them :) I heard that the men at the door were asking him if he wanted to join the Jr. Jazz basketball team. He ran upstairs and asked me if he could play and I told him yes and to tell the men that I would be down in a minute. The two men were from the local LDS church and wanted to invite Kalen on their team. I went down and invited them in and explained, they said sorry for just showing up. They only stayed for a few minutes but gave me the paperwork and said they would pick up Kalen for practice the next day. We also get to go to a UTah Jazz game on Tuesday.. they are playing the Minnesota Timber wolves. Should be exciting.. I can't wait to see what Kalen thinks of a Live NBA game! I will post some pictures of us at the game.

Babysitter Box

Sarah Goold was a really great babysitter. She had this ugly green container that contained all the treasures that would entertain us for hours. Everytime she was hired to tend the Wilson kids she would tug along the avocado green rubbermaid type container and give us stickers and let us color and play games. That is just a quick memory I had to jot down. On one occasion she brought along Briana her younger sister so that we could play. Briana had to go #2 and flooded our toilet. Sarah told her she couldn't come with her anymore!!!

The Valdez Dump

My father, Niven Gale Wilson whom I was named after.. Nicole Gail Wilson.. used to be a big junk collector. When he first arrived in Valdez, Alaska around the year 1973 the Alyeska Pipeline was being constructed and he worked for the City of Valdez as a "Garbage Man". He told me that it was the funnest job he ever had. All day long he would drive around rummaging through peoples trash and take it home to the trailer park and stash it in a pile to "fix" someday.

Fast forward ten years to the 80's and the hobby of his continues.. now he has five kids to tag along and though he is no longer the towns garbage man he still loves the dump.

Miles France was a close family friend for as long as I can remember. He met the love of his life through a personal ad in the Anchorage Daily News and invited her to Valdez to meet up. He brought her over the 316 Lowe Street to introduce her to the Wilson Family. I was in third grade, 8 years old and eager to meet pretty much ANYONE! When I met Nancy she commented on what a pretty blouse I was wearing. I replied, "Thanks, my Dad got it at the dump". Nancy was strictly a Nordstrom shopper fresh from the big city of Anchorage and it blew her away. After leaving our house Nancy asked Miles all kinds of questions about why I would wear a shirt from the dump.. were we some poor, welfare family who needed help. Miles got to explain my Dads passion to her about the dump.

I can remember exactly what the shirt looked like, it was navy blue almost black with ditsy rosebud floral print in lt. pink and lt. blue, ruffles all over the chest, puffy sleeves and button down the front. I thought it was cool to find stuff there too! One time a local Valdez family suffered a terrible fire that took left their home unlivable. BOY did I score at the dump! I found all kinds of smoke damaged make up and was in heaven! I am pretty sure my Mom threw it all away after finding out what I had brought home (at least I hope she did). I still remember the smell of the fire damaged goods. Oh and then another time the Olkjers house caught on fire and Mary Kay the wife of the home couldn't keep a single thing that was in the house because she hated the smell. SO guess who got the bedroom furniture? MEEEEEE!! I was THRILLEd.. I cleaned it up and put a fresh coat of paint on it. My childhood house had just been recarpeted a smokey blue color so I painted the furniture white with lt. blue trim. Nicest stuff I ever owned.. and yes I still remember the smoke damage smell of that too. I am off to dig through my pictures so I can post some visuals.