Silent Auction Fundraiser

On Saturday, August 16, 2008, Stephanie Nielson was in a plane crash with her husband, Christian Nielson, and his flight instructor, Doug Kinnear, near St. Johns, Arizona. Doug Kinnear passed away soon after arriving at the Maricopa County Hospital.

Christian & Stephanie remain in critical condition at Maricopa Burn Center where they are expected to be in a chemical induced coma for several months. The Nielson’s hospital bills are expected to be in the millions. Christian has sustained burns on over 30% of his body. His wife Stephanie’s body was burned over 80%.

For the past four years, Stephanie has welcomed us into her charming abode through the NieNie Dialogues. Far from being a product of creative editing, the Nielson’s don’t just shine through the selective lens of a blog. They are ingenuous examples of family devotion, eternal romance, and Christ centered faith.

Knowing the financial burden at hand, Demi-Dos is eager to join the club of rallying friends and family. We will be donating a portion of all of our proceeds from the 2008 Swiss Days to Nie and her family. We are also going to be holding a silent auction on labor day. We will post the auction items Sunday evening on demi-dos.com and will open up the blog for comments/bids at midnight on Sunday. Please be generous in your bids. And thanks for your help!

If you would like to make a monetary donation you may do so at Any Wells Fargo Bank under “Stephanie Nielson Fund or at any Bank of America under the "Christian and Stephanie Nielson Rehab Fund."

For more information and updates on the Nielsons or for other ways to donate, check out: www.nieniedialogues.com or www.cjanerun.com

where have i been?

For those of you that don't know...I have been at my business site... demi-dos.com. I hope to post some fun stuff soon. Until then, check out what I have been up to at demi-dos.com

Easter Pics...Belated

happy easter!
nora would only make this weird "cheese" face when i got the camera out... oh well. she's still a cutie.


sophie posed nicely...she "looks" so sweet. would you had ever guessed that she is the one that dumped out a whole bottle of baby powder in the floor on saturday?

the 3 amigos or the 3 stooges?
the kids were "cheesing" for me on the front porch. they were all 3 wired after only having had 5 jelly beans before church. i think the Easta Bunnie will be coming on sat. next year.

ladd was looking very handsome in his argyle sweater and seersucker shorts. i love this kid...so cute and such a sweetheart.

not quite sure what ladd is doing here but, nora sure looks cute...and sophie too.

looks like the Easter Bunnie didn't get the laundry in the washer before church....good thing we all had new outfits! "Thanks, Easta Bunnie". It was a lovely day. Hope you all had a good one too!

newlywed update

so i decided that i would try and post this week since i haven't in about 2 months or something. i just never feel like i have much to say...and i'm busy doing other stuff. so, now there's the dilemma...what the heck do i write about?

i guess i could write about Easter and how cute all the kiddos looked at church on sunday or i could tell the story about how ladd comes to me every few days with a new product that we need to order off the t.v. or even give an update on the newlyweds...maybe i will get to post on all 3 of these things. i think i'll go with the update today since it is probably the littlest amount of typing and i have a TON to do today.

so in february i went to missouri to visit my family...it is always exciting since i don't get to see them often. the trip started out crazy because they had been having ice storms for a few days and some flights had been cancelled. my flight was not cancelled but was over booked and i was traveling with nora on my lap. the flight is a 3 hour flight and i was ready to get off at an hour into the flight! i was renting a car since the drive is another 2 1/2 hrs. to my home town. however it took nearly 4 hours to get there since the roads were covered in black ice. i saw nearly 50 cars off the roads during my travels that evening. luckily i made it there safely in my bright blue crysler PT cruiser (dumbest car ever) but was exhausted. i knew that my sister and i were going to be going to see my parents at my grandma's house the next morning so i went to bed soon after arriving at her house.

i had heard that things were going well with the newlyweds and both my mom and dad sounded happy every time i had talked to them on the phone. i was feeling a little nervous about seeing them though. i don't know if it was fear of thinking it was a mistake that they had gotten remarried or what, but i was both nervous and excited to see the 2 of them together.

when we got to my grandma's house that next morning my dad greeted us on the porch with about a dozen chickens. nora was thrilled! my mom was standing just inside the door and seemed very happy to see us and very relaxed. i was pleased. they both seemed so happy. we kissed and hugged and made it to the living room and sat down. i made a few newlywed comments and they laughed. my mom pulled out some pictures that they had had taken at

wal-mart. they were nice. i noticed her ring in the pictures and checked out both of their rings as we talked. (my mom had only ever had a simple band and my dad lost his in the river, year's ago). so, the rings were a sign that this was all very real. we sat and visited for a while and then my sister and her husband took off with my dad to checkout a four wheeler that he had recently purchased. this left me alone with my mom for a while... i asked her how things were going and she said good, NOW. of course i questioned the "NOW" and she told me that they had argued and she was ready to leave. she thought that she had made a mistake. she said my dad said that they should talk and this made her even more angry. i was confused. she said to him "it's been 43 years and NOW you want to talk?!" he said "yes. i think we should talk". she decided that they probably should this time and they did. she said "things have never been better". we stayed and visited the rest of the afternoon. i watch them interact with each other and they seem genuinely happy. we had a great visit there that day. nora and i even took the new four wheeler out for a drive.

it just goes to show you that people can change, never give up and communication is key. the things you learn from your parents...hum. i pray that i don't make the same mistakes that they have and/or that when i do make them that i am not so proud that it takes 43 years to make things right.

i talked to my mom a few days after i got home and she said that they had been out riding the four wheeler and were covered in mud. she said that it was the most fun she had had in years. she said "we are really enjoying each other".

i love my parents i am so grateful for all that they have taught me. i am so proud of them and the example that they have been for me. it hasn't been easy but, i would guess that it has been worth it!

what have you learned from your parents? anything?

birthday girl

Sophie turned 4 on Wednesday!


We went to Kangaroo Zoo to jump around with some friends!
All of the kids enjoyed themselves.


Nora was right behind Sophie all day long.

Nora and I braved this slide together. She would have gone alone had I let her.

K and sophie racing to the end of the obsticle course!

B was surprised to see me...

Amy kept the kids laughing as they tried to stay on top of this crazy thing!

Sophie and A held on tight!

Sophie is just one of the boys!

Best friends, Ladd and D-man, just hanging out!

what goes on while you're sleeping

Occasionally, I will sleep in and just let the kids watch t.v. while I sleep.... 30 minutes max!



Sophie is usaully the one that gets bored watching t.v. and finds something else entertaining to do...



Apparently this day she found my camera and decided to capture the party digitally!

They wrapped the baby's up tight and put them to bed before they started to party!

Ladd was in charge of the tiniest baby.

Yo! gabba gabba is the way to party!

Did you see Spongebob at the party?

I had no idea that she had taken these pictures....I just saw them today as I flipped through Sophie's b-day pictures from Wed. What a stinker!

lia sophia pics

last week i took these pictures of some of my lia sophiajewelry for my husband's company, easypartyinvites.com. after a little contrast level boost and some cropping from luckyredhen...they turned out nice! (this is obviously before she worked her magic)

detroit weekend

over the weekend jase and i went to detroit with his brother, nick and his wife, miriam. we went to a lia sophia rally so that i could learn how to "raise the roof" on my business and also to promote jase's business...easypartyinvites.com. we had an amazing response and came back home super excited about it.



so, on fri. we spent the day talking to 700+ lia sophia advisors and some spouses. at about an hour into the day charity mentzer (my zone manager) came in to check us out and she was floored by what the boys had done. she sent her husband up to our booth and jase talked to him about what the company does (prints and mails lia sophia invitations-all automated). he was floored as well and asked jase if he would come and speak to all of the spouses at their meeting that night! so he did and what he said was..."my wife is totally unorganized and a procrastinator and i am the complete opposite. i am a minimalist. so, to keep her from having me write out party invitations, i came up with the idea to make it all automated."



i don't mind that he thinks these things...they are true. and one of these days my unorganizational skills will pay off with a housekeeper and a big house! and then i won't have needed to have been organized! right?

where to begin?

ok. where should i begin? i am taking the plunge. my first post and i'm not quite sure what to say...hum. oh.i know....
my parents just got married! yep. they have been divorced from each other for 15 years and they just got remarried. back in the summer sometime i got a call from my dad letting me know that he had had a change of heart and that he knew it was time to forgive my mom for all that she had done. (it is a long list so we won't go there) he was having some health problems and she had come to be with him while he went through the worst. during this time they talked alot and decided that they still loved each other and that they were going to get remarried. weird. but, cool! i love them both and want them to each be happy together, or not.
so, the plans were to get married in Dec. on or around their original wedding anniversary but then plans changed to accommodate out of state children and a few other things. the plan was to wait until spring when all 7 kids and all 16 grand kids could be there to witness the blessed event. well, on Dec. 30th (the anniversary) i get a phone call from my mom. i asked about my grandma that was in the hospital with a possible broken hip and internal bleeding. the report was good. grandma was stable after 2 blood transfusions. i was relieved. i had no idea that the next thing to come out of her mouth was going to be " i have some news...your dad and i got married today."
LONG PAUSE................
"WHAT!?"
"are you upset?"
"a little. shocked i guess....where? why? i thought we were all going to be there."
apparently no body knew. only the bishop and 2 witnesses were there. ugh! i couldn't believe it. i shouldn't have been surprised. my mom is notorious for this kind of stuff.
"so, i guess i better go we are gonna go start our honeymoon in about 15 minutes" she says.
"where are you going...?"
"just to grandma's house."
my dad lives with my feeble old grandma...she is in the hospital..... and they are gonna go do it at her house!
gross. "you are not 16 years old anymore... you are 60! ugh! bye."
my last comment didn't seem to phase her.
so, now they are married and i hope they live happily ever after.
i called her a few days later and apologized for my behavior but, she didn't seem to have been bothered by the way i reacted. the reception is on hold until june so that my brother and his family can come.