Nelson's

Family Lagoon Trip

2009-07-12T19:46:00.010-06:00

Another summer has rolled around once again so it was time for our annual family Lagoon Day! (we didn't have one last year!) As soon as we got to the park and met up with Parker, Heather, and Caleb all Caleb could say over and over again was "We're at the BIG park!" It was so dang cute! He was so excited to go on the rides! He looked pretty darn cute too in his little hat and plaid shorts...I just love that kid to pieces!

Just startin out our day at Lagoon!

Caleb and Lucas' first ride TOGETHER! Pretty sure Lucas cried the entire time and Caleb was like "this is weird...!"
I was so excited to get my turn to take Caleb on a ride! He loved this one in fact he went on it a couple times I think...not sure...

Caleb also wanted to ride the helicotor so bad so as soon as we got off the dinosour he ran over to it!

Caleb and Lucas steering the whatever you want to call it ride. I think it was some kind of a boat or something I'm not sure... Lucas actually liked this one!

Parker, Heather, Caleb, and I riding the kiddie boat thing...they have some pretty cool ones these days!

I will ALWAYS be a kid at heart!

Caleb on the swings!

Lucas L-O-V-E-D us for sharing our dippin dots with him! that was until his mom said "he hasn't eaten lunch yet!" ha ha

Bear Lake

2009-07-12T19:35:00.008-06:00

On our way to Bear Lake we couldn't resist stopping along side the road and taking some pics because it was so green and beautiful!

Mike and Raquel! Isn't her little belly so gosh dang cute!? She is about 7 months along!

Ya gotta mark the occasion in the sand!

Oh how I love him!
Alex and Mike being chickens and not getting in the FREEZING water!

Us girls were the only ones who ever really got in the water. Alex got in for like 2 minutes and was out of there and Raquel and I sat our there and talked for quite a while. Of course we were farther out then what the picture shows....a little bit...ha ha

Mike & Raquel once again. They are so stinkin' cute together!

Logan Cruise In!

2009-07-05T22:19:00.006-06:00

What is the Logan Car Show and Cruise In without your friends!? Alex and I went early in the morning on the 4th to find us a good spot to watch the cruise in. We just backed the truck up into a car stall at Smiths and it was one of the best seats in the house!
Mike & Raquel...you'd think we were all connected at the hip becaue we are ALWAYS together! They are our best friends in the whole world! AND COUSINS AT THAT!

The "gang": Alex and I, Linda, Will, Mike & Raquel, & Dennis...all of Alex's cousins except for his brother Will.

Mike & Will

Chee!

Fireworks!

2009-07-05T22:13:00.004-06:00

Waiting for the fireworks to start at Romney Stadium. We didn't go inside the stadium, we just parked the truck in the parking lot and it was a perfect view!

The fireworks were GREAT! To be honest, it was one of the best firework shows I'd seen in awhile...

Mike & Raquel sat in the bed of our truck with us and it was a really good time!PRETTY!

Camping at Silver Lake

2009-06-29T13:10:00.013-06:00

On Saturday afternoon we packed up all our camping gear, picked up Alex's two cousins Eric & Dennis who also live in Logan, drove to Pleasant Grove to pick up Alex's buddy and his wife and dog and headed up to Silver Lake which is up American Fork canyon. All in all in was a 2 1/2 hour drive up there but it was worth it. We only camped for the one night, but spend the whole 2 days fishing, riding the quad's, shooting the guns, and just hangin out. It was actually alot of fun. Here are some pictures. As you can tell, it wa GORGEOUS up there! The sun was so bright and after only one full day, we came home

F-R-I-E-D-!-!-!

Alex and his cousin Eric standing next to Silver Lake

Alex and I standing my Silver Lake at dusk....it was so peaceful!

The view was amazing!

Taking a break from riding the quad and giving Boomer a snack!

Alex through Boomer and his friend's dog Dawkins into the Lake and they loved it but got out pretty quick cuz it was freezing!

Boomer and mommy standing by Tibble Lake on our way down from our campsite on the way home. It was just as beautiful!

I LOVE BOOMER!

Our own little family standing my Tibble Lake...it was a fun weekend!

OK so I HAD to post these two pictures because they are just way too funny not to share them! Just like all of us, Boomer was POOPED from the sun and exhausted from playing with Dawkins the whole trip that the minute we got going on the freeway on our way home he was OUT like a light! He looked sooooo uncomfortable but he was so asleep it was ridiculous! I had to take a picture! He was way dirty just like all of us too so I apologize for him looking lke a slob dog!

Stampin' Up Party!

2009-06-02T19:23:00.009-06:00

This blog is a personal invitation for all those family and friends who live nearby namely: Aunt Peggy, Kara, Paige, Aunt Lynn, Emily, Shannon, Jessica, Monica, Aunt Jo, Ashley, Mom, Katelyn, etc etc etc. I know I've missed plenty of people but ANYONE is invited and bring a friend!

I went to one of these parties that a co-worker was the hostess for and FELL IN LOVE with making cute cards! They are so cheap, so cute, so personalized versus buying a card from the store, and you have a blast making them! I am hosting my own Stampin' Up! party and here are the details:

Stampin' Up! Party

Date: June 19th (Friday)

Time: 6:30 PM

Address: 1585 N 400 E #523 North Logan, UT 84341

RSVP: 435-225-4330 (me) by Monday June 15th

*It is a 10 cards for $10 party. The exact cards below are the ones we will be making. Two of each one and then the baby cards are just one of each (1 boy and 1 girl) for a total of ten ADORABLE cards!

RSVP to me as soon as you know if you can make it or not so I can make seating and table arrangements. I need to know how many people you will be bringing and how many sets of 10 you want so we can make enough kits for everyone. Also, June is the last month for some really cute stamp sets before the new catalog comes out in July and they are discontinued so bring your checkbooks for some great deals! Even if you can't make it to my party but want to place an order with Stampin' Up! or want a 10 card kit to do at home yourself just let me know. I have a list showing which stamp sets are being discontinued if you are interested in any of those. If you want to look online at the catalog you can and write down the item #'s you want and you can still place the order with me.

Father's day is just two days after the party!
You can make this card into anything you want because there will be lots of different stamp sayings like "Get Well Soon" "Happy Birthday" "Thinking of you" etc.
The little felt button in the middle of the flower is so cute!

I love the colors of this one and it's so cute!

Baby Boy Care

Baby Girl Card

Labor Day Weekend Camping

2009-05-24T09:19:00.008-06:00

Shooting the 12 Guage shotgun! It's really kind of a rush for me because it kicks so hard!

Hangin out by the fire eating the usual sunflower seeds

Playing UNO with Raquel

Boomer loved going on four wheeler rides!

A mouth full of seeds and a cheesy smile from me!

Boomer LOVED his first camping trip! He always stayed close to camp, played all day long, and when it came time to go to sleep he went to sleep! The ONLY issue we had was he didnt know what fire was (I was worried about this to begin with) and he walked right through it to start of the trip. Thank goodness he wasn't hurt cuz the fire was tiny but it still scared the crap out of me. He learned though and we never had another problem.

Chillin by the fire and enjoying my time away!

This is the camping gang we went with! Alex and I, Boomer, Mike and Raquel, Mike's little brother Isaac, and Raquel's little brother Austin. We only stayed for one night up on Raquel's family land in Mendon but it was alot of fun. We also took the four wheelers up so we had a riot. It was my first camping experience without my parents so I had to plan the food schedule and all that goos stuff but it turned out great!

Garrett's Graduation!

2009-05-24T09:04:00.015-06:00

Garrett is officially graduated! YAH! When they called his name the crowd and all the graduates went wild, stood up, and clapped so loud! Garrett is just a lovable kid! I think it was more of the fact that no one was sure he would be able to make it that far when he was diagnosed with his cancer. Thank goodness he did!
Marching in....
Pre-graduation

Katelyn and G Baby

B Gaby and I

Caleb and Uncle G Baby

Parker, Caleb, and G Baby

All the siblings with G Baby (except Heather, Robyn & John)

The proud parents with their newest graduate! Fifth one from Burley High School!

Alex and I with G Baby

Katelyn and I waiting for all the pictures to be done!

A New Toy!

2009-05-17T17:01:00.004-06:00

What's life without a bit of excitement right? We have debated for a few weeks now about buying some kind of fun toy that we can first of all afford, secondly BOTH enjoy, and thirdly use alot. What a better choice than a four wheeler! It's a 2005 Honda TRX450R. It is way nice and so much fun! We just got it on Saturday the 16th and rode it for the first time on some hills today (Sunday the 17th). It is so much fun. It was either that or a bullet bike and so for OBVIOUS reasons I talked Alex into the four wheeler.

Alex thought he was cool drivin it through a tiny puddle but the picture actually turned out pretty cool!

If anyone wants to go ridin' let us know! We aren't very experienced ourselves yet other than the times we've gone with Alex's cousin who are WAY experienced riders, but I still think it would be alot of fun!

Mother's Day Dinner

2009-05-13T19:26:00.009-06:00

Alex's cousin who has a house out in Tremonton invited all the family over to her house on Mother's Day for a family dinner and family home evening. It was really alot of fun. Not everyone in Alex's family on his mom's side who was at this party is LDS or active LDS so the fact that we had a family home evening together was really neat. Alex's cousin Mike (Return Missionary) gave the lesson and bore his testimony and it really touched me. The food was great too: carne esada, beans, rice, pico de gallo, homemade salsas, etc. I love it when the Mexican side of the family throws parties cuz the food is fabulous and the people are even better! I LOVE OUR FAMILIA!!! The picture above is of Alex and his cousin's little girl Lilly. She is so stinkin' cute and just loves Alex to pieces!

This is Alex's cousin Linda. She got bored at the party and wanted to play a good game of solitaire I guess!

This is Mike and Raquel. Mike is Alex's cousin just a few months younger than him and he was just married in November. They are 6 months pregnant with their first son! We hang out with these 2 at least 2 nights out of the week if not more. We even sleep over at their house when we throw all nighter movie marathons! It's great! WE LOVE THEM!

Of course this is us...

Mike and Lilly again

Nene and Obed just chillaxin on the couch. Nene is just a close family friend and Obed is Alex's uncle. (Mike's dad)

Mom and Dad Nelson and then Alex's Aunt Claudia in the back!

Will (Alex's brother), Alex, and his Aunt Leite (Mike's mom)

Boomer

2009-05-13T19:17:00.007-06:00

We have been loving this beautiful Spring weather recently. We have been taking Boomer to the park every weekend to let him stretch his legs and get some fresh air. We feel bad that we work all the time and he has to stay at home in the bedroom by himself. He gets soooo excited to see us every day when we come home for lunch or come home from a full day of work. In fact, sometimes he gets TOO excited and piddles! Its kind of funny! I love that little boy!!! Anyway...
Here are a few pictures from this last weekend at the park. We don't have any pictures showing this, but he is the worlds best dog at fetch I swear. We never taught him this formally, he just loves to run and get things and then drop then perfectly in mommy's hand so I can throw it again. I got him a cute doggie tennis ball that he runs after and let me tell ya.....I don't think that thing will ever get old to Boomer!
He's so stinkin cute! We haven't really noticed him growing anymore but then again we see him EVERY day so maybe you have noticed he's gotten bigger. He's a strong healthy little boy!

I LOVE MY BABY BOOMER!

I LOVE MY MOM AND GARRETT!!!

2009-05-10T12:54:00.003-06:00

Since today is Mother's Day AND Garrett's birthday, I want to do a shout out to both of them! Let's start with mom:

Top 10 reasons I love her:

1. She is the best gift giver ever! She always gets you something you need/want!

2. She is a great cook!

3. She has a testimony of the gospel and shares it often

4. She raised 5 AMAZING children who still love and respect her after all these years

5. She is all of our #1 Fan. She was always the one cheering for us in the stands at the top of her lungs during our sporting events and the one yelling at the refs! (takes after grandma Moore!)

6. She is the sweetest grandma. My future children are so lucky to have the love of a grandma that is endless and so compassionate

7. She is the most generous person I know. She would rather you get seconds at dinner time than her have anything!

8. She has the coolest laugh. It's very contagious!

9. She has a beautiful smile! I look forward to seeing my mom cuz she will give me a big grin when she hugs me!

10. SHE LOVES ME! "There is not a greater feeling than to love and be loved in return"

I love you mom! You are the best mom anyone could ever ask for! I know sometimes we have our moments with each other but you still put up with me and love me anyways! I am so lucky to have been raised by such a wonderful, beautiful, amazing, and strong woman like you! You are such a great example to me. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH!!!

Next is Garrett. He turns 18 today! For some reason, I always and forever will just see him as my little 10 year old brother. I know he's not but....Let me tell you, even before all this cancer crap hit him all of a sudden I knew Garrett was special. He was always so chill and relaxed, always happy, down to earth, easy go lucky, and had the "come what may" attitude. I always wondered how a 17 year old could love life so much and have everything turn out the way he wanted all the time! I started analyzing his characteristics sub conciously and came to this conclusion as to why everything with him was the way it was: It's because he chooses the right ALL the time, he follows the rules, he has never ruined my parents trust that I know of, and he has a testimony of the church that radiates off of him 24/7! Then it hit....cancer....How could something so horrible be a part of Garrett's life when everything else was so perfect??? Then I remembered what I've been trying to tell myself alot lately to help me deal with all my infertility stuff: "Heavenly Father would never deal us cards we couldn't play. He would never give us trials in our life that we weren't strong enough to handle" and it HIT ME LIKE A TON OF BRICKS! Of anyone in our family, I think Garrett is the one strong enough to get through this and he will! He is my bright and shining star. He is my hero. He has taught me so many life lessons these past couple weeks since he was diagnosed that I will NEVER forget. He is such an amazing example to me of fighting till the end and giving life everything you got. He is honestly the srongest person I know! I will never forget his attitude through all of this. He will come out of it, he will pull through, he will survive, and he will always and forever be my hero because of it! I love you Garrett! Happy 18th birthday!

Family Support

2009-04-27T19:02:00.000-06:00

We freakin rock! Livestrong FOREVER!

I LOST 10 POUNDS ON THE CHEMO DIET!

2009-04-27T19:00:00.004-06:00

YES these are REALLY Garrett's pants! He lost all that weight in just the first 10 days of Chemo!

Baldies!

2009-04-27T18:53:00.007-06:00

BEFORE!

HALF WAY!

CHECK IT OUT!

PARKER DID IT TO TO SHOW HIS SUPPORT!

THE FINISHED PRODUCT!
LOOK AT THOSE WHITE HEADS!

Garrett Made It To Senior Prom!

2009-04-18T23:08:00.012-06:00

Garrett was feeling well enough to go to Prom with his BEAUTIFUL date Paetyn!

The "famous" Prom picture!

Eating dinner with their group before the dance

Like Father like Son

Garrett and Parker

Of course, my favorite picture of Garrett and I!
Mother Son dance at Promenade

Garrett and Paetyn being recognized at Promenade! They looked so great!

Taking a break from all the dancin' and sportin' a cute smile for the camera! Isn't he so handsome?

Livestrong!

2009-04-15T22:10:00.004-06:00

I came across these pics from a gal's facebook page that is Garrett's age at school. For those of you that don't know, Burley and Minico are ARCH rivals. BUT in the face of adversity, this time being Garrett's cancer, they have come together. Just typing this brings tears to my eyes! Notice the homemade arm bands that BOTH teams are wearing. They are yellow like the Lance Armstrong Livestrong bands and they say G-5 for Garrett! What an amazing thing! I love how Carli added the color affect on the second one. It makes it look so much more meaningful that it ALREADY is! Thanks Carli!

WOW!

More pics of G-Baby in the hospital

2009-04-14T21:07:00.010-06:00

Here are a few more pics from the hospital. Garrett will be release on Thursday morning if everything goes well! YAH!

Sportin' one of the new Beanies his girlfriend Peyton got him and doing what he does best: X Box!
Lucas and Garrett getting in their bonding time
Four of G-Baby's favorite girls and one of his favorite nephews!
Garrett and his girlfriend Peyton. Isn't she just a doll? She bought him a HUGE coloring book and crayons so when she came to the hospital in SLC to visit, they sat and colored for awhile and had a great time! What a sweetheart!

Snugglin with my little bro!

Garrett and his best friend and team mate Sam Harris

Garrett receiving his does of Chemo Therapy for the day. The chemicals they put inside his body to kill the cancer is so toxic that if it gets on his skin it will burn him so the nurse administering it to him has to be all decked out with gloves and apron so she doesn't spill on herself or Garrett's arm. Crazy...

Mama Lyons and Garrett just trying to stay positive!

Fresh Strawberry Pie

2009-04-14T21:05:00.002-06:00

I've been wanting to make a fresh strawberry pie since I started seeing strawberries on sale! They are like $1 a carton now and I LOVE IT! Strawberries are one of my favorite fruits along with rasberries but FRESH strawberry pie is even better! Looks pretty good huh?

G-Baby Pics

2009-04-13T21:07:00.005-06:00

I apologzie for posting some of these pictures that were already posted on gbabybattleback.blogspot.com but I couldn't resist putting them on my personal Blog as well! The first picture is what Robyn (with the help of Katelyn and I) filled out for the nurses to get to know G-Baby better! Of course we were sarcastic through the entire thing pretty much, but hey....we had to get Garrett while he was down! :)

These beautiful flowers were delivered to the hopsital (I beleive) from the Cassia County School District. They are still in full bloom and have made the hospital room smell so nice this entire time! You walk in the door and the smell of them overtakes your sense of smell!

As you can imagine, G-Baby gets ALOT of sleep while he can. He's been sleeping relatively good at night with all the pain meds and all that. During the day he'll break for a nap between visitors, meals, etc. Especially right now, he's starting to get EXTRA sleepyt because the chemo is breaking down his immune system which tires him out. Poor kid....those hopsital beds aren't comfy let me tell you! Each of us sisters have been taking turns snuggling with him in there and it never lasts long because the bed sucks!

This is one of my favorite pics of Garrett and I this week (there were PLENTY of them!) I love laying with him in the bed and either watch him play X Box, watch a movie, or just talk. He's such a good sport! He's been so respectful to all the doctors, nurses, and CNA's. They all just love him to pieces. They said they love getting assigned to his room because he's young enough to actually talk back and NOT on his last breath! Most of the patients on the cancer floor are like wayyyyyy old and grouchy! You know Garrett: smiley, happy, go-lucky, outgoing kid!

Blog

2009-04-09T19:38:00.003-06:00

We have created a Blog for Garrett called "G Baby Battle Back". Whenever we get updates we will post it on here. PLEASE feel free to leave us comments, post stories about Garrett, ask questions, ect. We would love to hear from all of you! Thanks again for all your love and support through this horrible time in all our lives. Garrett loves all of you and says thank you from the bottom of his heart! THANKS GUYS!

gbabybattleback.blogspot.com

Update

2009-04-08T21:43:00.002-06:00

The main doctor (oncologist) came in a few minutes ago and gave us this update: he doesn't need to have surgery to remove the tumor until after chemo which will be in 3 to 4 months because they are extremely worried about the blood clots! He actually starts the chemo on Friday and that will be for 5 days straight and then be released from the hospital here in SLC on either Tuesday or Wednesday. He will finally get to be in his own bed and let me tell ya: HE IS STOKED ABOUT THAT! The doctors said he hasn't seen anything like this case in 10 years but there is still a 95% survival rate especially since he is young, active, and healthy so we are all thinking positive! The only bad part is chemo REALLY sucks. He will lose all his hair within 3 weeks (if he doesn't just shave it off first) and be extremyl sick for the next couple months before his full and complete recovery. There is a 25% chance the cancer will come back in the next couple years but Chemo will be effective then as well so YAH FOR TECHNOLOGY! If Lance Armstrong can overcome this EXACT kind of cancer and still race in the Tour de France, so can Garrett! Thank you so much for all the thoughts and prayers for Garrett and our family! They are all so greatly appreciated!

I hate cancer!...

2009-04-07T20:46:00.002-06:00

Just a quick update. As you can imagine, being diagnosed with cancer at age 17 is a huge pill to TRY and swallow! Garrett is doing so well and has high spirits considering the situation. He had so much going for him: he was a star baseball player, senior graduating in 6 weeks, complete and udder ladies man, a wonderful member of the church, and friends with everyone! All that was turned upside down when he went into a regular doctors appointment to check for a cracked rib (he was having pain in that area) to being diagnosed with cancer that has infested his whole body except his limbs. We are going to get through this, but we need everyone's thoughts and prayers for him and for our family. Thank you so much to those of you already who have called, the many prayers that have been offered up in his behalf, the treats, food, and concern. Without friends and family by our side, this would be ALOT harder than it already is. I will post an update just as soon as I hear what the scoop is because right now doctors have no idea. All they know is he will start chemo therapy this week and that will last a good couple months. They can't do surgery to take out the tumors because he ALSO developed blood clots in his heart and lungs and it's just too risky. They put in a stint into his heart today to stop the blood clot from making his way into his heart completely. Please pray for him!

Love,
Jayne

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEX!

2009-04-02T18:49:00.004-06:00

It's not until tomorrow, Friday April 3rd, but before I forgot I wanted to post a little something for him. He is a whopping 23 years old! What an O-L-D man! Ha ha I love you babe! I am so grateful for you in my life!

Snowboarding in March!

2009-03-17T08:45:00.005-06:00

Heather was singing at church on Sunday and Robyn John & Lucas were home from Vegas for a family wedding so Alex and I made the trip back home to Burley again. Robyn and John had just purchased some "sick" snowboarding gear on sale in Vegas and wanted to test it out so we hit the slopes. It's almost spring and we're out snowboarding! It was nice because this time Heather could come with us unlike last time over Christmas that she couldn't. Garrett was missing this time around and he seriously makes it even funner because you see him do these hilarious stunts! We missed you bud! As you can tell in the picture, I went the second half of the day with just a sweatshirt and no coat! That's how nice it was! I'm paying for it now though because this morning I broke out with 2 lips full of sun blisters because I didn't put sunscreen on my lips....HORRIBLE enough to not be able to go to work. I'm babying them like there's no tomorrow and I can see the progress, but still. I hate having this stupid Herpes Simplex virus. It makes my lips so dang sensative to bacteria and sunlight that I can almost expect at least a small cold sore everytime I'm out in the sun. It's ugly. I work at the front desk and it's bad enough I would definitely get stares! My top lip is the worst: 3X the size it should be with a ton of oozing blisters and bright pink swollen color. I can't even eat anything except out of a straw. I won't post any pictures because let's be honest...that's why I didn't go to work today! I'm more self conscious than anything I think but ya...life goes on! I'm just looking at the bright side: this same thing happened about a year and a half ago and it was 5X worse! At least it's not THAT bad! Anyway...sorry for the graphic detail. . .

Katelyn brought home a kid she met at ISU. His name was Jake and he was super cool and nice. It was only his second time snowboarding (he's normally a skiier) and he did great. It was mainly Alex and I and Jake & Katelyn because we kept being seperated from the rest of the group after lunch time.

An Early Birthday!

2009-03-08T22:33:00.007-06:00

Since my 21st birthday falls on Monday and I work, we went home the weekend prior to celebrate my birthday with Alex and my families. We also went home because Parker and Heather were speaking in sacrament meeting. It was a double wammy! We went up to Albion to the new steakhouse up there called "Craig's". Alex's dad, grandpa, brother, and nephew came from his family and my entire family except Katelyn, Robyn, John, and Lucas for obvious reasons. Alex's mom would have been there but she stayed in Mexico and is coming back tomorrow. Dinner was really good and it was a great way to combine both families and have a good time together for my birthday. On Sunday my mom made me a birthday cake and we ate it before we had to head back to Logan on Sunday night. I have to just brag a little bit now and tell you how AWESOME of a gift giver my husband is! I've been asking for MONTHS for a nice electric skillet for cooking breakfast items OR a nice non-stick FLAT pan for the same thing. HE GOT ME BOTH! He also picked out a super cute home decor sign that says "Live, Laugh, Love". The cherry on top was a gift certificate to get my nails done, a pedicure, and to cut AND color my hair! He is the bestest I swear! I got a $20 bill in the mail from Grandpa Lyons (THANKS G-PA!) and a really soft Burley Bobcats blanket from my parents. It was by far one of the best birthdays ever and the best part is, in my opinion since I'm on a scrapbooking BINGE, is that I got a few pictures! Since I've been married I haven't gotten any pictures from my last 2 birthdays until now! YAH FOR THE MEMORIES AND YAH FOR THE CHANCE TO DOCUMENT IT! Thanks everyone for making my big 2-1 the very best ever! I LOVE YOU!

On our way to Idaho to celebrate all of this, Alex caught Boomer and I both dead asleep! I thought it was a cute pic so I had to share!

One More Day...TILL I'M 21!

2009-03-08T14:56:00.003-06:00

One more day till I'm officially a COMPLETE ADULT! 21 BABY! When I say "complete" adult this is what I mean: When you turn 18, you are an adult, but not really. Kind of just half way. Once you hit that big two-one you can gamble (which I don't except for an occasional scratch crossword puzzle where I ALWAYS win my money back at least-$3), you can purchase alcohol (WHICH I DON'T), yada yada yada. See what I'm saying? You are not completely an adult till you hit twenty-one. And I'm at that stage tomorrow! YAH! ha ha

A Walk In The Park

2009-02-28T19:55:00.004-07:00

As you can see, Boomer isn't a tiny little puppy anymore. He's growing up so fast. Not only is he physically growing, but his energy level is ridiculous at times. I know it's because he is confined to our apartment all the time, most of the time ALONE while we are at work. He deserves to get out and go for walks like we do so today, Saturday, while I didn't have to work we decided to go to Willow Park here in Logan and let Boomer release some of that stored up energy. He tried out his new leash and did pretty dang good. He ran/walked/danced/jumped through the park and loved every second of it! He was having the time of his life! It was also SUCH a BEAUTIFUL day, we took a few pics.

Keepin' Boomer warm!

Utah State vs. Hawaii 2.26.09

2009-02-28T19:34:00.002-07:00

We LOVE going to as many Utah State basketball games as possible. The Spectrum is always so loud and crazy and every seat in the house has a great view! We went on Thursday night to our 3rd one of the season (not too many) against Hawaii. Aggies won by 20 points! The best part was this: We normally pay for general admission which is $17/person if we can't find any scalpers...this time, right outside the door, there were three 10 yr old kids yelling "We have tickets for sale! The best seats!" so we asked them how much and they said "how much will you give us?" (ha ha) Alex said he'd give them a $10 bill for 2 and they were stoked! So we only paid $10 for two tickets and sat 5 rows from the floor directly behind the Hawaii bench. It was awesome! Also, I've always wanted to get a Utah State Aggies t-shirt to wear to all the games and just never bought one. Well at the Spectrum they have a small bookstore so I decided to step in for a minute, expecting to pay $20 at least for a stinkin' t-shirt but walked out with 2 for $10 just like our tickets! We spent a GRAND TOTAL of $20 and got ALOT for our money I think! What a fun night!

He's Home!

2009-02-26T17:30:00.002-07:00

So I'm only 3 days late, but better late then never right? My husband is finally home! He wasn't gone for just 10-11 days either! It ended up being exactly 13 days almost to the hour! HOLY MOLY! I sure missed him but he had a great time in Torreon, Mexico for his uncle's wedding. He had a lot of down time to spend with his family down there and sell quite a few things to make some $$$. There are certain items we can buy for CHEAP here and turn around and sell them in Mexico for like double or triple! For example: Alex went to the DI and bought a used bike in "good" condition for $20. Sold it in Mexico with NO PROBLEM for $90. Not a bad turn around huh? He also went to the pawn shop and bought an Xbox for $39 and sold it for $100. While he was down there he learned that the new iphones are HOT! We can buy them here for say $250 and sell them down there for around $600-$800! Needless to say, we are planning a trip to Mexico, this time I'd be going of course, as soon as tax season is over and my job allows it and come back with a good chunk of change! I am so glad to have him home. I realized in those 2 weeks that I take him for granted in so many different ways and how much I appreciate his help around the house. I love him so dearly.

Girls Weekend!

2009-02-21T20:29:00.012-07:00

This is a REALLY late post, and my sister-in-law Heather already posted it on hers today, but I wanted all my friends to see it too! Mom, Heather, and Katelyn headed to Logan two Saturdays ago to have a girls day out! It was an ALL day thing! They left Burley, ID at about 6:30 AM, picked Katelyn up in Pocatello on the way, and finally made it to my house at about 9:30 AM. We immediately went to breakfast at the BEST restaurant in Logan: Angie's (It's where the locals eat). It's like 10X better than Ihop. It's good home cookin! Mom and Heather got some delcious looking strawberry belgian waffles, Katelyn got biscuits and gravy, and I got the Denver Omlet! SO YUMMY! We headed straight to the mall and spent a good 2 or 3 hours there! Katelyn and I each got a sweatshirt (I want the one she got!). Heather got a pair of jeans and lots of cute jewelry. Mom just bought a bunch of stuff for Garrett (spoiled brat...ha ha) We all bought some body spray and lotion at Bath & Body Works. I also bought 2 cute work shirts and some cute jewlery myself.

As you can see in one of the pictures, Katelyn had one heck of a time trying on "cute outfits"! We basically dared her to try on those hideous, but surprisingly cute, pajamas and we couldn't help but get a picture of that moment! It was such fun day! Oh and before I forget, we stopped and got pretzal bites at Pretzelmaker before heading out! To say the least we were pooped after being at the mall for so long. It was fun, don't get me wrong, but very exhausting so we headed back to my pad and relaxed for an hour or so.We decided to catch the 3:30 showing of "Bride Wars". It was so cute. There were some parts we were laughing hysterically! Directly from the movie we went to Olive Garden for an early dinner since we skipped lunch cuz of a late breakfast (confusing...). It was sooooooooooooooo delicious! We all had leftovers of course! Straight from dinner we went bowling. That was also a blast! Everyone thought mom was going to win the game until on my last frame (I was the last bowler also so it was a true "last ups") I bowled a turkey and ended up winning by like 22 points! It was awesome! Regardless of who won, it was so fun and a great way to end the day full of fun memories. Alot of these pictures were taken when Heather was in the restroom. We took her camera and took ALL KINDS of funny pics and so she thought it would be funny to post them all over the internet as pay back! Ha Ha! Thanks Mom, Heather, and Kate for such a fun day. It will be hard to forget such a wonderful day! I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Boomer's 1st HAIRCUT!

2009-02-16T14:53:00.002-07:00

Boomer got his very first grooming last Wednesday when he was 12 weeks old! His hair was gettin so stinkin' long and starting to shed that I had to just make the dang appt and get it done! I hardly recognized him when I picked him up but he looks much much better and he doesn't have anything to shed anymore! YAH! He looks alot more like a cocker spaniel puppy now since his ears have grown out and the hair on them is still long and curly compared to the rest of his body. My baby looks so handsome!

Garrett's dance

2009-02-16T14:51:00.002-07:00

Garrett went to his girl ask guy dance on Valentine's Day evening with his crush: Peyton Condie! She is absolutely gorgeous, no wonder Garrett likes her so much! I was the only one home to take pictures when she came to pick him up, and well....there wasn't a camera in the house! I just took one with my phone so sorry it's kinda blurry! His shirt said "Big Hunk" and hers said "Cutie Pie". All the guys in the group had the same shirts and same with the girls. How was that banana chapstick Garrett???

Valentine's Day

2009-02-16T14:43:00.003-07:00

So...since Alex was in Mexico for Valentine's Day I got to spend it with my 2 1/2 yr old nephew Caleb. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN! We were connected at the hip all day long pretty much but when his mom and dad left to go celebrate themselves, it only got better! I had been telling Caleb that I was going to take him on a date. I said it enough times that he finally caught on and kept saying "we goin on a date?" It was so funny. Since the kid is only 2 1/2, I thought long and hard what we could do that would be fun for both of us and I decided on dinner and an ice cream cone! We headed to DQ to get some french fries and chicken strips and of course the ice cream for dessert. He was soooooo excited to be out and about with Aunt Jayne. He said the most hilarious thing EVER! I put him in the high chair thing and went to get our food when our number was called. When I sat the tray down on the table, at the top of his lungs Caleb said "THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!!" Everyone stopped eating a just stared/laughed at him and kept telling me how cute he was! That made my whole night! We got him his ice cream cone for when we got home and as you can tell by the picture, he thoroughly enjoyed it! Ha Ha! I loved every second I was with him because he was so dang pleasant and happy and fun. I LOVE YOU CALEB! Thanks for spending Valentine's Day with me when my hubby was gone! It was perfect!
As you can tell, I mohawked his hair and just at Dairy Queen alone he got 3 compliments on how cute he looked! WHAT A STUD MUFFIN!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-14T13:09:00.002-07:00

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE! Without being cheesy, I want to take a second and tell my husband just how much I love him! Right now he is in Mexico at his Uncle's wedding and won't see him for another week, which is hard, but I can still reflect on how much I love him even though he's not here. He's my best friend in the whole world. We've probably had more up and DOWNS than ALOT of married couples but we've always gotten through it because we love each other that much. Through all my trials, mainly the recent ones, he's stuck by my side and been nothing but supportive and loving of me. He holds me when I feel sick, he rubs my lower back when it aches, he snuggles with me to keep me warm, and comforts me when I need to just cry. I love you baby with all my heart and can't wait to be sealed in the temple for time and all eternity so I can be with you FOREVER! I can't wait to start a family of our own. I can't see myself traveling the road of life with anyone but you! I am so lucky to have you and I realize now that you've been gone for 4 days how much I take some of the things you do for granted and I am going to try alot harder to notice all the wonderful things you do for me. HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! I LOVE YOU!

The Results...

2009-02-12T20:36:00.003-07:00

So here are the results of those 8 or 9 blood tests I had taken at the doctor last week. All the infections came back negative (YAH!) but I have WAYYYY LOW cholesterol, WAY TOO LOW Vitamin D, and the hormone called prolactin is skyrocketed which is why they think I haven't been able to get pregnant, AND she wants me to gain 5-10 lbs cuz supposedly I am underweight for my height. Let me explain to you what Dr. Thompson explained to me:

She said our bodies are VERY smart and if someone is underweight and lacking the essential vitamins and minerals it needs to support itself, it will REFUSE to make a baby because it can barely support the body it has! Strange... I am on a very STRONG prescription of Vitamin D and was told to eat TONS of fatty, unhealthy foods for the next 3 months and see if I gain the 5-10 lbs and get my cholesterol and vitamin D up.

The other thing was my hormone level of prolactin was a little high. Prolactin is the hormone that is released from your pituitary gland in your brain when you are nursing or pregnant. Since I'm not either of those things they were worried. She said she was going to put me on a medication to try and bring it down, BUT if it really isn't high and I take the meds it can be bad so they did another blood test yesterday morning to double check themselves. Dr. Thompson called me today and it more than DOUBLED! So not only was it high before but 6 days later it had DOUBLED! They said it is one of 2 things: I am pregnant or I have a tumor on my pituitary gland! They used my same blood from the sample I gave them yesterday and it came back negative, which means: TUMOR! A tumor on the gland stops the signal from your reproductive system from reaching the pituitary gland telling it it's NOT pregnant and to stop producing prolactin. It's like a road block basically. In other words, every month your reproductive system tells your brain whether or not it is pregnant. If the signal can never be relayed cuz of the tumor your body thinks it's pregnant and produces ALOT of prolactin even though it's not! To make it even worse, it stops the egg that is released every month from implanting in the uterus because it thinks you're already pregnant! Dr. Thompson said I could have had a fertilized egg every month but it was just washed out because my body thought it was already pregnant. They don't know how big or bad this thing is but I go in for another blood test in 3 weeks and then schedule a CT scan to check for it. If it's small they can treat it with medication and if it's big enough they will have to surgically go in and remove it. GREAT! JUST WHAT I WANTED! GRRRRRRR!!!

It was a bitter sweet day. Bitter because of the new about the tumor and sweet because I finally KNOW what the problem is. I just want to get this baby fixed so I can MAKE A BABY! Any kind of progress at this point is good so I can't really ask for more than that right now! Let me get my health in order first and then we'll work on a baby again! Thanks for all the support everyone has given us through our struggling efforts to start a family. We love you!

Gone for a good 11 days... :(

2009-02-10T21:27:00.002-07:00

As probably MOST of you know, Alex has alot of family in Mexico since his mom is from there. Anyway...his uncle is FINALLY getting married (he's almost 40!) so the WHOLE family and I mean W-H-O-L-E family packed up their cars and headed out this afternoon for the 30 hour journey to Torreon, Mexico to be apart of it. Everyone except me that is...I started my new job as a secretary at Cook, Martin, Poulson CPA firm 5 week ago and as part of the job I can have ZERO days off from the day I started until April 15th. Ya, how bad does that suck that the wedding fell in those 3 months?!?! So with that being said, I am home ALL alone for the next 11 or so days/nights with no one to talk to except my baby Boomer and, well, that's it I suppose. Luckily it's already Tuesday night and I will be going home to my parents in Burley, ID Friday night right after work for the entire weekend. Can I just tell you how bad I DISPUISE being alone? It's my worst fear to be alone, die alone, be scared alone, or ANYTHING ALONE! This is going to be a real test. Alex and I haven't been apart for longer than 3 days since we got married 2 yrs and 4 months ago! I know you all probably think I'm such a whiny little baby but hey, I can't help it ok? So...if anyone wants to chat, text, or talk you know my number!

"I Would Die For That"

2009-02-08T14:03:00.002-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqfGqOx2iDQ

Click on the link above and I guarantee you will cry if you've ever been in my situation: inability to have children...

This totally puts my feelings into words. It is a gorgeous song and music video that I think everyone should watch JUST to understand how it really feels....ENJOY!

Doctor....

2009-02-05T22:37:00.002-07:00

I have had a little bit of mixed emotions today... First of all I had my first doctor's appt here in Logan. It was for my yearly exam and to get some fertility advice. I always am nervous seeing a new doctor, especially after my IDIOT doctor in Hawaii. I hate re-explaining my health history and all that junk. That's one emotion: nervous. The next emotion I felt was "relief" when my doctor walked in the door. The whole appt I felt like I was her priority and she was fighting on my team. She answered all my questions, which lifted a HUGE weight off my shoulders, and she even honored my requests for different types of tests. By the end of the appt (90 minutes later) I had 8 or 9 blood tests taken, a pap smear, breast exam, and a Q & A session. TOTALLY worth the co-pay! I LOVE HER! Thirdly, anger....I'm not gonna get into that one cuz I don't think anyone wants to know that much information about my "female health". To sum it up though, my doctor in Hawaii was an IDIOT! I can't even tell you.....GGGRRRRRRRR! I am so glad I stepped into Dr. Thompson's office today because she steered me in the right direction for starting a family when the WHOLE ENTIRE TIME we were in Hawaii my stupid IDIOT for a doctor was steering me into the middle of no where with no answers, no results, and no ANYTHING! What a waste of my time, money, and insurance. Why do people become doctors when they don't want to help anyone...I just don't get it! Anyway...we're now on the right track so stay tuned the next couple months for some good news (hopefully!)

Once Again...Boomer! This time AWAKE!

2009-01-26T19:12:00.003-07:00

I realized after looking back at all my Blogs since we got Boomer, that I don't have a single picture of him really "AWAKE". He's always sleeping so I decided to post a couple of him wide awake because this is the REAL Boomer! Always getting into trouble...Ha Ha!

what a stinker....

2009-01-26T19:04:00.001-07:00

Heather, I'm here to inform you that Caleb isn't the only "child" who gets into trouble with the toilet paper roll! Ha Ha! I came home from work and not 2 minutes later I found Boomer doing this! What a lil' stinker!

FINALLY FINISHED!

2009-01-26T18:57:00.002-07:00

After about 4 months of reading, I have FINALLY finished the entire Twilight series! YAH FOR ME! They were all so great and I can't wait for the other 3 movies to come out!

Baby Hopes...

2009-01-24T20:28:00.004-07:00

I hope none of you reading this thinks I'm pathetic, but as this is really my only form of "journaling" I felt the need to write about this:

I just got a text from Alex's cousin Michael, who just got married the first part of November, saying that him and his new wife are expecting a baby! I AM IN TEARS! I love them to pieces, I mean they are family, but I have this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. A feeling of the most intense jealousy I have ever felt in my entire life. Why do I feel like this? I feel horrible that I FEEL SO HORRIBLE! Words can't quite explain. I should feel nothing but HAPPY for them and it's really hard for me to do that right now....Why me? Why can't I have kids? They've been married for barely 2 months and didn't WANT kids for a "couple years" and they fall pregnant like it's nothing! I've been married for almost 2 1/2 years and have had nothing but heartache trying for a little one. I've had no problem attending cousins and friends baby showers, baby blessings, etc., but for some reason this one really hit me hard. I think it's cuz we're so close to them and I feel like I SHOULD get the first baby ya know? How immature does that sound!?!?! I try to keep telling myself that Heavenly Father has a reason for all things and that there is a divine reason I am not a mother right now. I only wish I knew what that reason is. I'm having a very difficult time having the strength, peace, and faith to keep trying and to keep trying to understand the reasoning behind it.

Enough with my rambling. Writing things down, especially my feelings, helps me to move on and get it all out so I'm not dwelling on it for days and days and days even though I have a feeling I will be still in this case.

BABY DUST TO ME! :)...........................:(

The Newest Tile Project

2009-01-24T13:13:00.004-07:00

Alex got a side job (YAH!) with an old family friend named Bob here in Smithfield. It was about 500 sq. ft. just in floors, which is what you see in the pictures, and 3 full showers (ceiling to floor). As you can see, the floors weren't just a simple pattern to lay down. They were a pin wheel pattern which took alot of extra time, but doesn't it look great! Also, notice the medalion in the entry way. VERY IMPRESSIVE ALEX! He's been working on it now for 2 full weeks but he only has one shower left and he's done! I'll post more pics when everything is 100% complete! Thank goodness for this job because it's enough money (not taxed of course since it's a side job) to pay all our bills for 2 months!

Baby Boomer

2009-01-24T13:01:00.007-07:00

I apologize in advance for the MANY more posts on here that will do exclusively with Boomer. HE IS MY BABY! I will do the same when I actually have our own child. In the meantime, Boomer is my baby so ya better get used to seeing lots of pics! ha ha ;) We always find him sleeping in the most awkward positions so of course we grab the camera. He's only going to be a puppy once! He also loves to snuggle with us on the couch when we're watching TV and eventually go to sleep. He's such a cuddle bug!

City League Basketball

2009-01-24T12:50:00.002-07:00

Alex couldn't be happier to start playing basketball again! If you didn't already know, basketball used to be Alex's life growing up. He ate, breathed, and slept basketball to be quite honest. To say the least, marriage wasn't the best thing for his "basketball" life because along with marriage comes bills and a high maintenance wife...ha ha j/k! He just hasn't had a lot of time the past 2 1/2 years to get together with old buddies and play a game of hoops. When we moved to Logan, one of the things he was REALLY looking forward to was playing Logan city league and now he is doing exactly that. They have only played 2 games so far and they are 1-1. I love going and supporting my husband in something that he loves so dearly. If anyone wants to come to a game he plays every Wednesday night at the Logan Rec Center (Logan High School).

So Happy...

2009-01-23T13:35:00.003-07:00

I don't know exactly why, but today I have felt so much happiness for no reason at all. I work at an accounting firm and it's tax season so it's DEFINITELY not work, ha ha. I guess just a thought about how my life is going makes me want to just SMILE! I am married to the man of my dreams, I have the cutest little 9 week old baby boy (Boomer, my cocker spaniel puppy) who loves me unconditionally, I am finally close to both our families, we are doing great financially, I live in the United States of America, and I have the church in my life. Just to name a few of course. Sometimes it's nice to take a second of our busy lives and ponder on the blessings we enjoy each and every day.

Just thought I would write a little something! Hope everyone reading this is just as happy as I am!

My Sleepy Boys

2009-01-11T19:47:00.001-07:00

Boomer loves taking naps on the bed. We always find him sleeping in the most awkward positions in a corner, under the bed, or ON the bed. I couldn't help my snap a picture of both Alex and Boomer taking a nap together...awwww precious!

Sledding in Juniper

2009-01-05T11:46:00.004-07:00

Out in Juniper where Alex is from, there are a BUNCH of awesome sledding hills on their farm property. The only thing that sucks is it was 4 degrees and we didn't have snowmobiles to take us back up the hill. We had to walk up and it sucked! That's why we only lasted a few runs! ha ha

Peyton walking up the hill to go tubing down it again!

Me walking up the hill with the tube around my head! It was steep and it took FOREVER! Peyton was just getting ready to go down again.

Better late then never-CHRISTMAS!

2009-01-05T10:53:00.008-07:00

I feel bad I didn't get any pictures from "opening" presents on Christmas morning or Alex's Christmas present-SHOTGUN! He's wanted one forever so I finally gave in. I'll just tell you what we both got from our parents and siblings:

Alex: "The Last Lecture" Book

Power Inverter

"Unsinkable Bathroom Reader" Book

Jayne: -Home Decor sign that says "Bless This House"

-Mad Gab (game)

-gravy mixer

-Christmas Book

Both of us: -Credit Card Monopoly

-Sorry

-Mancala

(All three are games. I told my mom that all I wanted for Christmas were a bunch of fun games. She got all the games I named. She is sooooo good!)

-$100 bill and wedding album from Alex's parents

(Wedding album so I will FINALLY put one together!)

Alex with Caleb and Lucas!

We put Grandma's glasses on Caleb and as you can tell he was totally playing it off! He loved the attention!

Caleb is completely opposite of Lucas when it comes to dogs. Only because Lucas has lived with one since the day he was born and Caleb hasn't. He was VERY unsure of the puppy at first and then he started petting him more and more and saying "he's a nice puppy!" It was so cute!

Robyn and John got Lucas this cute four wheeler for Christmas. He loved hugging Boomer just like he does his own dog Tibo, EXCEPT Tibo is an overweight chocolate lab! He has such a great love for animals, especially dogs.

Since Boomer was MY Christmas present from Alex, I had to put a gift bow on his cute little head for Christmas morning!

Mom and Boomer cuddling on Christmas day. He just LOVES to be close to your face, neck, and chest area. It looks kind of awkward but he was OUT like a light!

This is my nephew Lucas. He belongs to my sister Robyn. They live in Vegas so we don't get to see them but like twice a year maybe more if we're lucky. He is 16 months old. He looked so dang cute in his lil' beanie that I had to take a picture.

I swear WE didn't put them in there! Caleb started it all the day before by pulling Boomer's doggy bed and toys out of his cage and climbing right it and didn't want to get out! He thought it was the coolest thing that he could actually fit! This picture was taken the next day when we had Boomer upstairs so we could watch him. We all took our eyes off Caleb and Lucas for 2 minutes and came to find BOTH of them in Boomer's cage AGAIN! They locked the door and everything and if anyone tried opening it to get them out they would both cry. Boys will be boys I suppose...

SNOWBOARDING AGAIN THE NEXT DAY!

2009-01-05T10:32:00.006-07:00

(Robyn, John, Garrett, Parker, Katelyn, me, and Alex)

Alex didn't get enogh boarding time in the FIRST day he learned so we went again the next day! This time with all the siblings, except Heather and we missed her! I can honestly say I've never had so much fun with all my siblings than going snowboarding with them. We got up to the resort at 11:00 AM and didn't leave until 7:30 I believe. We took 2 long breaks though to let our legs relax a bit and drink some hot cocoa, but other than that we were non-stop go go go all day long! We never seperated. All 7 of us were snowboarding together down the mountain and stopping to go off jumps and watch Garrett almost kill himself a few times. Ha ha. I actually went off my first jump and I have it on video to prove it! It's on Katelyn's camera though so when I get it from her I will post it because I am VERY proud even though I didn't land it. I almost did, but I shifted my weight to the back of my board and it slipped out from underneath me. Who cares! NOT BAD FOR THE FIRST TIME EY'! We had alot of fun to say the least. We're now thinking of making it a new family Christmas tradition to go snowboaring.

Garrett (red coat), Katelyn (white/brown coat), and Parker (brown coat)

Alex's first time snowboarding!

2008-12-29T16:15:00.008-07:00

Since Alex has never been snowboarding and we bought our entire snowboarding packages right before Christmas, it was time to hit the slopes! My parents live in Burley and the Pomerelle Ski Resort is about a 30-45 minute drive from their house so it was perfect since were already home for Christmas. I hadn't been snowboarding in 3 years and Alex had NEVER been so I thought it would be fun to teach my hubby how to do it! (and refresh my OWN memory!) It was the most beautiful day! It never got to freezing (32 degrees) and there was absolutely no wind except for at the top of the big lift. The parking lot was only 1/2 full which really surprised us so we NEVER had to wait in line for the lift. We only went for 5 hours and got a good 10-12 runs in. Alex did amazingly well too! The first run was a little bit scary, his second run was ALOT better but alot of falling down, and by the 3rd run he could make it all the way down without falling! I WAS SO PROUD OF HIM! We decided that snowboarding is now one of our most favorite "dates" because not only is it plain fun, but it's also a good way to spend time together and still be really active. Here are a few pics from our trip!

Sledding on Christmas Eve

2008-12-24T20:33:00.006-07:00

As soon as dad came home from work on Christmas Eve, he hooked the sled to the back of his pickup and took us "sledding" on the country roads to the church and back home. It was Garrett, Katelyn, Alex, and I. It was so much fun!

BOOMER IS FINALLY HERE!

2008-12-23T16:27:00.010-07:00

My Christmas present has finally arrived to his new "home" as of yeseterday at about 2:00 PM! Boomer was born on November 18, 2008 and was given to me, his new mommy, today! He is such a wonderful new addition to our family! He hardly ever wimpers, just cuddles right up to your chest and falls asleep. He technically is too young to leave his mama but they were making sure their new owners had them in time for Christmas. I could not be happier! I finally feel semi-complete! He will do just fine until the REAL baby comes! ha ha He was one of 5 puppies in the litter: 1 girl and 4 boys. Three of them were buff colored like him and the other 2 were parti-colored. These pictures were taken almost immediately after walking into the apt and taking a bath, so he was still a little scared and unsure of his environment, but isn't he just adorable!? He is AKC registered so when he turns 2 we can stud him out and make some money OR get a pick from the litter....Alex? :)

Need a tile setter?

2008-12-18T12:20:00.005-07:00

Alex has spent the last couple days and will continue for about another 5 days doing his Aunt Claudia's house in tile! He's doing the entire kitchen floor, down the hallway, into the bathroom, the bathroom shower, down the strairs, through the basement hallway, and into the downstairs bathroom. Boy does he have his work cut out for him! He loves it though. He spends about 12 hours a day working straight through lunch and doesn't stop until the area he is working on is completely finished, even if that means working until 1:00 AM. He is doing this for a couple reasons: 1. He misses setting tile because he's done it for over 4 years! 2. Since both us us haven't worked in 2 1/2 months it's a GREAT way to bring in some cash especially during the Holidays (he has to spend some $$$ for my puppy!) 3. Did I mention $$$? We officially hate being unemployed but with the economy the way it is there's just not much out there. Which brings up my next point: IF ANYONE NEEDS TILE OR HARDWOOD DONE IN YOUR HOUSE, ALEX IS YOUR MAN! He can do showers (awesome by the way), kitchen backsplashes, travertine, porcelain tile, ceramic tile, marble, granite, granite countertops, hardwood floors, ect. Because he's doing it as a "side job" he can get you a better deal than you can from a tile business. You buy all the materials and he just charges for the labor. He is willing to travel pretty much anywhere within reason if it's a big enough job, but big or small he WANTS and is WILLING to do it for you! He's been setting tile and hardwood for 4 years and he is a PERFECTIONIST! He does great work and I'm not just saying so! I can't wait to buy a house and have him do all our own CUSTOM flooring and showers. It will be gorgeous! If YOU don't personally need him but hear of a friend, neighbor, or co-worker who wants to redo their house but doesn't want to pay the price, keep Alex in mind! Thanks a bunch for those of you who have! We really appreciate it! LOVE YOU LOTS!

A Puppy!!!

2008-12-17T13:45:00.003-07:00

So...since our little angels in Heaven are being stubborn and don't want to come anytime soon, I think I've finally convinced Alex to get me a PUPPY! I could not be MORE excited than I am now. I've ALWAYS wanted a puppy, but Alex has kept telling me "When we buy a house you can have a puppy!" I don't wanna wait any longer. This is how I think of it...my fertility medicine! Something to keep my thoughts away from "Why can't I have kids right now?". Something that loves me and gets excited to see me when I come home from a long day at work. Something to snuggle with when Alex isn't home. That's why I want a puppy and always have wanted a puppy! This is a picture of the one I'm getting. It's a male pure breed, registered and papered cocker spaniel. They are rated #1 family dog because of their calmness, friendliness, demeaner, and size. I grew up with a springer spaniel which comes from the same family, but is double the size. The second I saw him online I KNEW I had to have him so drove out to the owner's home and again, the second I saw him I KNEW I had to have him! He is one of 5 puppies in the litter. Pure buff colored and has the sweetest little personality. He's only 4 1/2 weeks right now so I can't have him quite yet but they are willing to give them to their owners on Christmas Eve even though they will only be 5 1/2 weeks. I AM STOKED! I will post more pictures when he actually becomes a "Nelson"! ha ha Merry Christmas! (Thanks Alex...I LOVE YOU! I couldn't have asked for a better Christmas present!)

Winter Wonderland!

2008-12-11T18:30:00.014-07:00

Since it snowed 2 days ago, Logan canyon looks so gorgeous. We decided after a LONG 2 days of non-stop trying to find jobs, interviews, applications, and disappointment, that we would take the scenic drive into the canyon and take some pics. I think they turned out pretty good and VERY cute! I love winter time for taking pictures!

Peyton Turns 5! Happy Birthday!

2008-11-30T17:41:00.015-07:00

Peyton is Alex's brother's son, our nephew! His birthday isn't technically until December 5th but since he's going to be with his mom at the time, we had a birthday party for him at our house before Will took him back to his mom's house in Salt Lake. Everything about it was awesome except it was just the 4 of us. Grandma and Grandpa Nelson were in Juniper, all the cousins Peyton likes to play with were out of town, and the aunts and uncles were working. This was our only chance though to make Peyton's birthday special so we MADE it work and it was wonderful! Peyton got spoiled rotten as you can see from the pictures. And it wasn't by us! Will loves Peyton so much and he wanted him to have the best birthday ever and he did! Peyton picked out his cake at the Walmart bakery which was a marble Elmo cake and it was delicious! The plates, napkins, and party favors were his favorite, Transformers! The picture at the very end shows everything set up before we dug into the cake! I had to take the picture of Peyton pointing to the "Happy Birthday" sign because he wanted a sign like that soooo bad! The gift we got him was the HUGE bag of giant Legos that he wanted so incredibly bad! When he goes to his cousins house to play they all have them and he is entertained for hours with them and is always sad that he has to leave and go home where he doesn't have giant Legos. Not anymore bud! We love you Peyton and can't wait for ANOTHER 5 years with you!

Ready To Hit The Slopes!

2008-11-30T17:31:00.004-07:00

We can't live in Utah and NOT go snowboarding! Ha ha well we've lived in Utah pretty much our whole marriage except for 6 months in Hawaii and we have never been together! Alex has NEVER been in his life and I used to go ALL THE TIME when I was in Jr. High and High School but haven't at all since then. It's cheaper to just buy your own stuff then to rent it everytime you go especially if you plan on going quite often, which we do, so we went out on Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving) and both bought ourselves brand new snowboard packages at Sports Authority. They were $400 packages for like half the price so we handed over the cash and we're ready to hit the slopes! Last winter we bought all our gloves, goggles, boots, coats, and snow pants so now all we need are beanies!

American Family Insurance

2008-11-28T20:43:00.005-07:00

As alot of you know, I am working for American Family Insurance again just like I was for a year before Hawaii. I am obviously working for a different agent here in Logan since I used to work for Stephanie Tanner in Pleasant Grove before, but it's still the same amazing company and state, BUT this new agent, Josh Barnett, is licensed in Utah AND Idaho! What this means is my window of opportunity to sell LOTS of insurance policies has opened up COMPLETELY! Here's my sales pitch: There is absolutely NO OBLIGATION to sign up from a quote! All it takes is a few pieces of information from you and a couple minutes of my time to run a quote. I am personally licensed to sell auto, home, business, and contractor's insurance. I am working strictly off of commissions so PLEASE call me! I have found that some people I cannot save money because of whatever reason, yet others $10-$65 month! I'm not talking state miniumums here either folks! I'm talking about selling you an insurance policy that will actually take care of you not IF you need it but WHEN you need it! I believe in this company or else I wouldn't be working for them! They have been around for about 82 years and are a Fortune 500 Company! I would LOVE to save people in my group of family and friends money. Not only that but make sure everyone has GREAT coverage. If you hear of anyone who is shopping around for any kind of insurance that I mentioned earlier, give them my number: 435-225-4330. If YOU yourself aren't shopping around, at least let me give you a quote. You may just be surprised to hear you're paying too much! Thanks for all your support. I'll be waiting for your MANY calls! ;)

Our New "Home" in Logan, UT

2008-11-19T17:43:00.011-07:00

We are officially Utah residents! We signed the lease on our new apartment on November 17th and we can HONESTLY say we love it here so far! We are only a block away from Walmart, kiddie corner from the Cache Valley Mall, way close to every restaurant you can imagine, down the street from Ross and Kmart, etc. Most importantly, we are CLOSER to our families which is the real and ONLY reason we moved to Logan. A huge majority of his aunts & uncles and cousins all live here and our immediate families are only 1-2 hrs away instead of 3 hrs when we lived in Orem and not an OCEAN away when we lived in Hawaii. It's just so good to be back. Here are some pictures of our brand new apt and our brand new furniture since we sold almost everything we had when we moved across the ocean! We bought brand new matching sofas which are so beautiful. They are half leather half microfiber...just what we wanted! Besides that they look great, we got a steal of a deal from the outlet furniture store we bought them from. YAH! Alex bought a 42" Vizio 1080 LCD TV which is his baby...men...???

Michael and Roquel's wedding 11.8.2008

2008-11-19T17:35:00.007-07:00

I know it's been almost 2 weeks since the wedding, but with moving and trying to find jobs it's been really tough to update my Blog as often as I'd like. Michael Corral is Alex's first cousin. His mom and Alex's mom are sisters and they are just 2 months apart. Michael and Roquel are so perfect for each other. They are so madly in love with each other and we just want them to know that we wish them happiness and love for a lifetime! We love you guys! Here are a few pictures from their wedding day at the Logan, UT temple.

Playin with the kitties. . .

2008-11-05T16:11:00.006-07:00

Maya, my parent's cat, had her second litter of kittens 3 1/2 weeks ago and they have started to walk EVERYWHERE! There are 4 of them: 3 dark and one white just like Maya. They all have pretty blue eyes like their mama too. Maya moved them from the box to under mom and dad's bed last week. Caleb just loves to see them...not HOLD them, just see them and let them crawl on him.

My New Car!

2008-11-05T11:35:00.006-07:00

So...it's nothing fancy, BUT it's cute and gets EXCELLENT gas mileage! In fact, on the way home from Ogden where we bought it, it got 40.1 mpg! It is a 2006 Ford Focus, 20K miles, 5 Speed, Maroon, tinted windows coming soon, CLEAN title, and a steal of a deal! I LOVE IT!

Making a Cake with Caleb

2008-11-03T16:07:00.006-07:00

Can I just say how much I L-O-V-E my nephews! Between Lucas and Caleb I don't know which one makes me laugh more! Parker, Heather, and Caleb came home to Burley for the week for job interviews so Alex and I have had a lot of time to spend with Caleb. Since we last saw him in August 2 1/2 months ago, his vocabulary has increased by like 200% no lie! He says the funniest things and sometimes with the funniest attitude (which isn't always good, but cute). Mom asked me to make a cake for Sunday dessert and I figured hey, why not have Caleb help me? It would be great bonding time! Sure enough Caleb happily accepted, drug a chair over to stand on, and said "You Help Me?!" He helped me crack the eggs, measure the oil and water, and stir it all up with a spoon and then with the electric mixer. He kept looking up at me and saying "You Help Me?!" I couldn't stop smiling! I love that kid!

New Hair Color

2008-11-02T16:07:00.003-07:00

So I needed a change....I've had the same hair color since before I moved to Hawaii 7 months ago! I am now a dark DARK brown almost black and I love it! What do you think?

Garrett's last High School football game

2008-11-02T15:55:00.006-07:00

I am so glad we were able to make it to Garrett's last football game of his High School career. Garrett is my little brother, #1, baby of the family, and it's his senior year. He is no lie the star of the football team. He makes almost EVERY tackle, and the radio announcers can't stop talkin about his skill! He has the biggest heart of anyone on the football team and he deserves some serious compliments! Aunt Jo and Uncle Ted drove all the way from Willard, Utah so watch him also. It was so fun even though Burley lost 49-13.

A day with Lukie Tookie

2008-11-02T15:30:00.009-07:00

After our week long trip in Puerto Penasco, Mexico, it was finally time to make our way back "home" to Idaho. We got to thinking that it would be faster and BETTER to go through Las Vegas so we did. Of course we couldn't just drive THROUGH Las Vegas without stopping for a visit with Robyn, John, Lucas, and Tibo! We got to their house Sunday night at about 11:00 PM. Fortunately they were still awake because they had just gotten home from their softball game a few minutes before. Robyn asked that since we were gonna be in town until Tuesday morning if we wouldn't mind babysitting Lucas instead of taking him to the day care all day Monday. Are you kidding me!?! We NEVER get to see that kid so we gratefully accepted! WHAT A DAY! Alex and I learned how to prioritize our time...enough said. Our day consisted of playing ALL morning long, putting Lukie down for his 2 1/2 hr nap, feeding him mac and cheese for lunch, giving him a bath, dressing him, playing some more, hittin up the mall, wrestling with Tibo, taking another nap, and playing some more! He is such a handful now that he's walking but it was so fun to see his personality shine through! He loves his Uncle Alex and Aunt Jayne! His favorite thing to do was pull up my shirt so he could see my belly button and then tickle me! It was the cutest thing ever!!! We love you Lucas and can't wait to see you again next time!

Puerto Penasco, Mexico

2008-11-02T14:59:00.012-07:00

Our time in Maui came to an end...but not the fun! We flew from Maui to San Diego where we picked up our truck that we shipped back. Fron San Diego we drove to Phoenix, AZ where we met our family and friends who were taking us to Mexico! They had to drive through Phoenix anyway so it worked out perfectly! We left our truck with Alex's good friend Kyle who lives in Mesa, AZ right outside of Phoenix. The drive to our beach house in Puerto Penasco, Mexico was about 3 1/2 hours. Not bad at all! We had such a splendid time! It wasn't as beautiful as the beach in Maui but it was nicer for the single fact that we could actually ENJOY it without worrying about work or whatever. We were there for a whole week with Alex's distant cousins and family friends who he used to work with in Utah County. The whole week was pretty much just leisurely hanging out at the beach, snorkeling, swimming, and enjoying each other's comany. My favorite thing to do was lay out in the beach chair for hours at a time in the heat of the sun and read my "Twilight" series book. I officially read the entire 2nd book during the week! YAH! We went into town a few different days and went shopping at the flee markets. It was alot of fun. When we went snorkeling we saw TONS of small and big sting rays! Who would have thought there we so many! Alex's cousin Brian tried catching one and it stung him on the thumb. Regardless, he caught a few and let the little kids take turns touching his belly where it's harmless and safe. We saw GIANT hermit crabs walking on the ocean floor also that were pretty cool. All in all, it was a great way to relax and be with the people we love. Enjoy the pictures!

Twilight Series

2008-10-13T18:36:00.003-06:00

I have really gotten into reading the past couple months. It all started with a LONG plane right to Salt Lake City when we came home to visit in August. I had to have something to keep me from getting bored out of my mind and figured a good book should do the trick! I ended up getting "Nights in Rodanthe" by Nicholas Sparks and can I just tell you how AWESOME it is! When the movie came out last month, I made Alex take me to see it on opening night and the movie was so wonderful! A must see in my opinion ;) Nicholas Sparks is also the author of "A Walk To Remember" and "Message In A Bottle". So....he just came out a little bit ago with his latest book called "The Lucky One" and it was even better! I read the whole thing cover to cover in 2 days between work and chores. Yes it's only 226 pages but that's quite an accomplishment for me with how busy I've been with work lately. Now I'm REALLY on a reading frenzy so I decided to listen to like 80% of female book readers and most importantly my sister-in-law Heather and bought myself the first book in the Twilight series by Stephanie Meyer called "Twilight". So far I have only read the first 10 pages but it seems interesting enough. I have to be honest, I am soooo not into fantasy stuff like vampires but I'm willing to give it a shot. I think I may just be surprised. I am normally into books about love, mystery, or sports so we'll just have to wait and see! Thanks Heather for the advice on the book and if I really enjoy it and read the other 3 books in the series, consider this a thanks in advance!

2 YEARS!!!

2008-10-10T12:14:00.004-06:00

October 10, 2006 Alex and I have officially been married for 2 years today, October 10th. I can't believe how fast time has flown by. Seems like just yesterday we were living in our first apartment...Wow! I figured this was a great opportunity for me to just express my love and thankfulness for Alex in my life. He is a great person inside and out. He cares alot about me, my feelings, and our future together. I love him with all my heart. Although ALL marriages have their differences, I can honestly say he's my better half without doubt. Thank you Alex for being my prince charming and putting up with my girly ways, even when it drives you nuts! I cannot wait to spend the remainder of my days with you and hopefully bring beautiful children into the world (SOONER THAN LATER!!!) You will be an outstanding father. Love you hunnie! Can't wait for the years ahead of us! Honeymoon Cruise- GuatemalaFamily Pictures- August 2008

Mom & Dad came to paradise for a visit!

2008-09-18T22:08:00.012-06:00

Mom and dad came to Hawaii as part of the celebration of their 30th wedding anniversary which was July 27th. They came for a total of 9 days and it was jam packed with activities, shopping, eating, and beaing beach bums. The main things we did together while they were here were Pearl Harbor and Polynesian Cultural Center in Oahu. During the week they went on a snorkeling cruise and parasailing by themselves. There were lots of pictures taken so I'm going to post just some of the best ones.

This first picture is us hiking to one of the waterfalls on the Road to Hana. Refer to one of my previous posts to understand exactly what that is. Alex and I did it by ourselves not too long ago for the first time. This was our second time with mom and dad.

Next is a picture of us feeding the peacocks on our picnic, also on the road to Hana. They were freakin me out and getting a LITTLE too close! We had this picnic in the arbetorium (not sure if I spelled that right). It's a gated 10 acre "park" persay of nothing but plants, trees, and wild birds like the peacocks. It was sooo gorgeous! Everything was labeled so you knew exactly what kind of plant/flower it was. Very cool and only $10/person!

The very last stop on the Road to Hana was the Seven Sacred Pools. It is an ancient myth that if you swam in all seven pools, you would be healed or something so hence the name. Pretty sure this was the highlight of dad's trip! It's not ocen water although the seven pools flows into the ocean, so it wasn't salty or anything. After swimming around for awhile dad and I got brave and climned the rocks about 20-30 feet high and jumped off! First time I had ever been cliff jumping so it was pretty awesome so do it with my daddy!

As you can imagine, the beach was one of the top priorities for this vacation ;) We went snorkeling together for 3 days straight when Alex and I got off work at 3:30 PM. It was perfect because everyone had pretty much left the beach and it wasn't too hot. Because of that ALOT of fish we visible. We go to see sting rays swimming about 100 yards away. We also got to see the usual schools of bright colored fish, a puffer fish eating another fish, beautiful coral, sea urchins the size of soccer balls, and....SHARKS! ha ha just kidding!

We had to show mom and dad what eating in Maui is "really" like so we ate out every night pretty much at a different restaurant. The night we got back from our Road to Hana trip we took them to Cheeseburger in Paradise. It has the best burgers! The thing that made the night for my dad was the live entertainment! In fact, since we got their right at closing and we were their very last table, the entertainer stayed later just for us and sang nothing but James Taylor songs for my dad! That guy got a pretty good tip to say the least. It was so funny because my dad was SOOO into the music that when the waitress came to ask him what he wanted to eat, we had to tap him on the shoulder and say "snap out of it dad we need to order!" It was so yummy. A few other places we ate we BJ's Pizza, Bubba Gumps, and Cool Cats. BJ's was my dad's second favorite place because there was live entertainment there too. This time instead of James Taylor music, it was a really cool guy from our ward actually playing the ukaleili (don't know if I spelled that right either). He even sang 2 Primary songs it was so awesome! I ended up buying his CD he had for sale.

The last 2 days of mom and dad's vacation was spent on the island of Oahu where Honolulu is. They couldn't spend all that money coming to Hawaii and not stop at Pearl Harbor or the Polynesian Cultural Center. To say the least, Pearl Harbor was a very neat experience. To see oil still leaking out at a rate of 2 quarts a day for the past 67 years really put the whole thing in perspective. Reading the wall of names of those killed on the USS Arizona alone was really really sad. If anyone goes to Hawaii, it is a must see.

At the Polynesian Cultural Center, we walked all around an outdoor 42 acre musuem type deal and learned all about the 5 Polynesian cultures: Tahiti, New Zealand, Tonga, Somoa, and Hawaii. Each village had their own show, all of which were very fun to watch. There was a canoe pageant where all the 5 cultures did a dance on a flat top canoe while it moved throught the stream. It was very entertaining. We went to an award winning luau where we got leis, entertained, tropical smoothies, and all you can eat pig, rice, salad, fish, etc. The lady that hosted the luau asked for all those on their honeymoon or celebrating their anniversaries to come up on stage. Of course mom and dad went up and they got to dance to a Hawaiian wedding song. It was so cute.

Before we went to the airport we walked around Waikiki Beach and did some last minute shopping. We were all so exhausted we didn't end up swimming at all, just lounging around.

After a long 9 days and action packed hours, it was a bitter sweet goodbye. Mom and dad were exhausted and we were ready to get back to "real life". Thanks mom and dad for the visit! Alex and I can't wait to move back home and see you on a regular basis! WE LOVE YOU!

Family Pictures

2008-09-11T19:11:00.005-06:00

So we totally took these family pictures while we were in Idaho for a week, but I barely got the CD with all of them when my parents flew into Hawaii to visit us this week. My apologies! They turned out super good. Before these ones, the last family pics we took was when I was in 7th grade right before Parker's mission! Now I'm 20 and going on 2 yrs of marriage. Man does time fly! The first one is the whole family with all 3 in-laws and the two grandsons. Lucas belongs to Robyn & John and he just turned 1 on August 23. Caleb is the son of Parker & Heather and he just turned 2 on July 25. Then of course we have my sweet Alex. The second picture is just Alex and I and I think it turned out pretty dang good! :) Last but not least, the "original Lyons Crew". Next time we take another family picture, there could be a few more "additions" and possible another in-law or two. (Hopefully we don't go that long again!)

Week in Idaho

2008-08-23T16:25:00.009-06:00

I know this blog is over a week late so I apologize, but better late than never right?

We did so many different fun things with family and friends while we were in town for a week. Our first day/night was spent in Utah County and Logan visiting Alex's side of the family and my old boss. We went to the last night of the Logan fair and took Alex's nephew Peyton on the rides. It was alot of fun. He's growing up sooooo fast! We stayed our second day in Juniper, ID with Alex's parents and got as much rest as possible! It was nice to have a day off! We went into Burley on Tuesday to spend time with my family and I mean EVERYONE in my family! Parker, Heather, and Caleb came in on Wednesday, Robyn, John, & Lucas came in on Tuesday, and of course the parents, Katelyn, and Garrett are always there! It was so fun playing with my nephews because they are growing up so stinkin fast and we don't get to see them that much anymore. It was so good to see everyone although it had only been 4 months since we moved. Balancing friends and family was tough because we didn't want to leave anyone out, but I think we managed pretty good. It was also the Cassia County fair that week so we got to enjoy the rodeo with the fam. great fair food, and mingling with lots of old friends. On Thursday morning, all three of us married kids and spouses headed to Twin Falls for the temple open house and lunch at Johnny Carino's afterwards. The temple is so beautiful! It was good bonding time for all of us. We also hit up the mall so Parker could spend some of his birthday money and of course give all of us a chance to spend $$$ as well! Parker's 27th birthday was on Friday so that's when the fam went to the rodeo. On Saturday, our last day, I went to a baby shower for one of my best friends, Casey. I actually was one of the planners and that was alot of fun. Saturday afternoon we said our goodbyes to my family and headed to Juniper to see Alex's family for the last time. We shot the guns, had a campfire, and roasted hot dogs for dinner. It was really a fun trip all in all. We definitely wore ourselves out though!

When we finally got on the plane to come home, it was a bitter sweet feeling. We were excited to go back to paradise and soak up some more sun, BUT sad that our week with our families went by way too fast. Thanks to everyone who made time to stop and say hello!

Road to Hana

2008-07-28T00:43:00.007-06:00

So the road to Hana is pretty much the most beautiful drive on earth! It is actually ranked in the top 10 best drives in the world! The best way to explain it is to use excerpts from a book we took along for better explanations of the sites...

"There are few words that can describe the cliffs cloaked in green and the lush valleys bursting with waterfalls more beautiful that you've ever seen."

"When it comes to driving to Hana Town, it's the journey, not the destination, that is the main attraction."

"Without any stops, it can take up to three hours to make the 52 mile journey to Hana Town."

"The Hana Highway winds along 52 miles of undeveloped coastline passing over 50 one-lane bridges and over 600 turns- and that's just to Hana Town."

To say the least, Alex and I both have never seen earth in a more beautiful light than we did on our trip to Hana. The MANY waterfalls, majestic pristine pools of water for swimming, mesmorizing waves hitting the gorgeous coastline, or the delicious fruit stands on the side of the road all made us fall in love with Maui. Here are a few pictures we would like to share with you. I will try my best to let you know the names of the waterfalls and stuff. And by the way, EVERYONE should do this if ever you make it to Maui. Definitely a MUST SEE MUST DO!

The first picture at the top is one of the "Twin Falls" It was a half a mile hike up to it. Obviously it's just one of the twins you can see.

The second picture is me standing next to a beautiful waterfall that I can't remember the name of...I probably couldn't spell it anyways!

The next picture is what the one way bridges looked like....All 52 of them! SCARY!

On the next picture you can see how beautiful the ocean is, but also Black Sand Beach in the distance. The sand is literally pitch black!

Seriously...pictures do not do any of these amazing sites justice because they are just too dang gorgeous! We couldn't get enough of it!

Absolutely amazing right? You just gotta see it for yourself! We have over 100 pictures we took so when we come home in 2 weeks you can take a peak at a few more.

Maserati

2008-07-20T17:13:00.004-06:00

We had to stop and take a picture of the $120,000 Maserati!

All about Alex!

2008-07-20T16:47:00.004-06:00

1. What is his name? Alexander James Nelson
2. Who eats more? Alex by far! When I can't finish my plate he'll finish it off plus munch on a bag of chips!
3. Who said I love you first? he did and of course I said it back cuz I'd been wanting to say it for awhile before as well
4. Who is taller? Alex by like 1 1/2 inches. I'm 6' 0" and he's 6' 1 1/2"
5. Who is smarter? I think I am more book smart and street smart and Alex is smarter with hands on stuff like cars and building stuff.
6. Who is more sensitive? Alex is definitely a sensative guy belive it or not especially when it comes to his family. I, however, am sensative to EVERYTHING!
7. Who does the laundry? we both do
8. Who pays the bills? I do ALL of that stuff cuz I'm good with numbers but Alex makes more $$$ than me so he kinda "pays" them.
9. Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? When we moved here to Hawaii I switched to the right but before that it was always Alex on the right
10. Who cooks more? me ALWAYS. When Alex cooks it's McDonalds
11. What meals do you cook together? when we grill hamburgers or steak Alex does that part
12. Who is more stubborn? we both are REALLY stubborn people. I wouldn't say one of us is more stubborn than the other.
13. Who is the first to admit they are wrong? totally me
14. Who has more siblings? me. I have 2 brothers and 2 sisters and he just has a brother
15. Who wears the pants in the relationship? we take turns
16. What do you like to do together? going to the beach, going for scenic drives, we love going to movies at the theater, renting movies and watching them at home, etc.
17. Who eats more sweets? I totally do! Alex sometimes gets mad at me that I eat so many!
18. Guilty pleasures? Alex-basketball...Jayne-sweets
19. How did you meet? a mutual friends introduced us and we were best buds from then on out!
20. Who proposed? it was actually a mutual thing
21. His best physical feature? his lips (lucious) and his calves
22. His greatest quality? his humor. He can come up with some of the funniest things to say that makes me laugh for hours. He always knows how to make me laugh!
23. Tag? everyday it's kind of ridiculous!

Fourth of July in Hawaii

2008-07-05T02:24:00.003-06:00

We just got back from the fabulous show of fireworks over the ocean. There were thousands of people lined up on Front Street to watch. Along with all the tourists there were people singing and playing ukalaeili's, lots of alcohol, and FOOD! Definitely a Fourth of July we will never forget or have again probably...Hope everyone else's holiday was great! We are soooo lucky to live in this free country where we can worhsip how we want, walk down the street whenever we want, and be with our loved ones when and how we want. What a blessing it is....

Weekend in Oahu

2008-06-30T15:16:00.008-06:00

I figured since we have lived here in Maui for 3 months now and just started out blog last week, I better back track and post a few pictures of things we've been up to since we moved here. Hope you enjoy!

We went to this really cool miniature golf place called "Glow Golf". It is a miniature golf course inside a building that is pitch black except for the actual course, your golf ball, a little ring around the hole, your golf club, and pictures on the wall as you can see. It was so awesome because it's different than regular golf and alot harder because they put bumps in front of the holes or inclines that you can't see because of the darkness. I ended up beating Alex by 3 strokes when the night was over. What a surprise... ;)

We took the ferry to Oahu to visit Honolulu. It takes about 3 hours each way. We were only there for 24 hours which included our sleep time so we couldn't really do much. We basically it up the HUGE mall, Honolulu Zoo, and Waikiki Beach Street. The zoo was really really cool. It was the first time Alex has ever been to a zoo that he can remember. He says he maybe went when was very very young but he's not sure. Waikiki Beach Street is kind of like the Las Vegas strip except no casinos and right lights. In the pictures you see the human statue I paid to get a picture with and Alex next to Elmo. The funniest thing we saw that night that we didn't get a picture of was a bunch of kids breakdancing on the sidewalk for cash. There was this kid who was 5 yrs old doing back flips and breakdancing like I have never seen before! He was makin bank cuz everryone was stopping ad paying him personally for a job well done. It was hilarious! We really want to go back before we leave and hit up Pearl Harbor and the Polynesian Cultural Center.

2008-06-30T15:10:00.002-06:00

We came across these cool bushes when we went on our Sunday stroll through "Maui".

our Sunday afternoon...

2008-06-29T17:24:00.005-06:00

Today was such a beautiful day. Well I guess EVERYDAY is nice here in paradise. ha ha. When church got out at noon we decided to have a picnic! We went home to make some sandwiches and grab some other goodies and then headed to the beach where there are public picnic tables. Not even 5 minutes later we noticed a whole bunch of little heads popping out of the water all over the place and realized they were sea turtles! We got to watching them and they started doing flips and entertaining us pretty good. Man oh man was it cool. We watched for quite a awhile and they weren't stopping. I'd say there were about 20 of them. Here a few pictures of them.

A TOAD!!!

2008-06-24T17:09:00.004-06:00

So I just had to share this with everyone...Alex and I were on our way into the apartment after a wonderful dinner out on the town. Everything was awesome and peachy until I came around the corner before approaching the front door and almost stepped on this:

Come to find out it was a toxic bula toad. They have glands behind their eyes that spray poison in its predators or when they feel threatened from behind. They have caused a few deaths in animals and small children here in Hawaii. If Alex would have known that he probably wouldn't have started poking him with a stick....from behind! Pretty gross don't you think? I'm not gonna lie, I didn't sleep at all that night!

Finally a Blog!

2008-06-24T15:42:00.002-06:00

Ok so we decided since Parker & Heather and Robyn & John have these blogs and no Myspace, it would be easier to share pics and updates if we got one too so here it is! I have never had one of these so bear with me at first here while I get used to it. Keep checking back as I think I will post lots of pictures since we are here in paradise for only a short while longer. We love you guys!

~Jayne~