Christmas 2011

Sam and I traveled home to AZ to celebrate Christmas. This year was the Nielsen's "on" year for the holiday and we had a lot fun celebrating all week long.

Christmas Eve the whole family got together for some good food and a night of games. Vanessa and Curtis put together an amazing Christmas version of "Minute To Win It" that got the competitive juices flowing :) Vess did a great job documenting the challenges so I will just recommend you check out her post here. (Thanks Vanessa!)

Of course the girls posed for a little photo (don't mind me and my Snow White skin. I've been realllly tempted to hit the tanning beds, but I've resisted. That's just what happens when you live in Utah. Blah.).

The little ones put on a very entertaining nativity show while Tracy read of Christ's birth from the scriptures.

 And later that evening we found little Oliver ready to be cooked up for a late night Christmas Eve treat. I love this photo.

Christmas Day we woke up early, opened gifts from under the tree then headed to church. I convinced Sam to let me snap a few pre-church photos, and I'm happy I did...

 I really enjoyed having Christmas on a Sunday this year. The Christmas program that was put on in the Nielsen's ward was wonderful and I think it really helped everyone remember the true reason for the season. 

The rest of the afternoon included the traditional Nielsen aebleskiver brunch, family gifts and playing. We finished the day off with the Cunninghams and Kennedys coming over for more food and fun.

I think every family with a missionary out in the field looks forward to Christmas with extra anticipation because of the beloved phone call missionaries get to place to their families on Christmas day. Luckily, there isn't a limit on phone calls or how often I can talk to my parents while they are on their mission. I usually still talk/skype with them about once a week. Christmas Day, Sam and I were able to Skype with my parents for a little and although it is different than having them physically near us, I was very grateful for it. My little brother was lucky enough to be able to spend the holiday down in Argentina with my parents. It worked out great because my siblings and I were able to haul off gifts to them without having to pay for shipping or worrying if the packages would ever even get to them (a package I sent in September is yet to show for my parents...). My parents were so happy to have Taylor with them. Here are my favorite missionaries Christmas day:

My mom has said that the sacrifice of serving wouldn't be worth it if the church wasn't true, but it is, so everything is worth it. I am so grateful for both of my parent's example of service and dedication to the Lord. We made it through one Christmas apart, now only two more to go before they return :)

Start-Up To My Catch-Up

Ok, I've completely failed at blogging lately. My mother asks when I'm going to update my blog just about every time I talk to her and the other week Sam said, "Are you ever going to blog again?" Well, I've made it a goal to get caught up this weekend. Get ready for the long haul of pictures and updates (this is mainly for you, Mom....)

Thanksgiving. The Nielsens came up to Utah for Thanksgiving and we had a wonderful weekend together. Our beloved G hosted the Thanksgiving meal; the food was delicious! (Thank you to everyone who cooked and baked!). Sam invited his friend Jay to celebrate the holiday with us so he was in attendance as well.

On Black Friday Sam and Jack hit the mountains for some snowboarding while Tracy, Sallee, Maddie, Lindsay and I all visited Park City for a little shopping, Main Street strolling and a yummy lunch. That night we visited Temple Square to see the Christmas lights.

We loved having family in town and although it was a short break, we both were so happy to not have to think about work and school for a few days! I love Thanksgiving for multiple reasons, one being that it leads right into the most wonderful time of the year... Christmas! Next post :)

life through instagram

hi. we're still alive. just two busy bees trying to get everything done, and unfortunately i've let blogging fall of my list of things to do. sam is now in finals mode (bless his heart, i know i DO NOT miss those evil tests, and mine were nothing close to what he has to do...). my job has gone through a lot of transitions, 99% of which i'm not that happy with, but, oh well. i've failed at documenting life as i used to. i try to blame it on sam's lack of enthusiasm when the camera comes out, but i really don't have an excuse besides i stopped carrying my camera everywhere and i've become addicted to instagram! so, here's my catch up...

i had a birthday, i'm now 24 which is kinda freaky since it's only a year away from 25 and 25 is only 5 years away from 30. crazy.

my sister came to town. we shopped and ate and then ate and shopped. it was great!

sam's family came to town for thanksgiving. i actually pulled the real camera out that day and snapped a few photos, so those will be the next post :)

my friends threw a great baby shower for our dear whitney who is due to have her little girl, Brooklyn Nicole, february 7th! the shower was so much fun, the sad part is whitney and her husband, scotty, are moving to california TOMORROW. i just got back from saying our goodbyes and am a little depressed :( sam and i will surely miss those two!

i pulled out the christmas decor and we bought a tree!!! last year our tree's name was henry, this year her name is henrietta. she's a babe. christmas music has been playing non-stop on my pandora since november 25th.

my friend, amanda, and i got together and made christmas wreaths (i asked her to teach me to be crafty!) i'm a little proud of the final product.

in other news, we finally got callings in our ward...we're nursery leaders! we love our new little friends, they are so fun and awesome. utah is freezing, but without any signs of snow. now we're on the countdown to be with family in az for christmas (and have a break from school and work)!

sister

Today is my sister's bday. This evening I will be picking her up from the airport and we are going to have some sister fun all weekend long. I'm excited, really excited (unlike my emotion in one of my fave pics below). 

Happy Birthday Jen!!!

fall festivities

This time of the year is full of fun over at the Nielsen home. Between Halloween, Sam's bday, my bday, Thanksgiving and Christmas... there is always something to celebrate or get geared up for. The past two weeks we've had fun celebrating Halloween and Sam's birthday.

A few weekends ago we met up with Amanda and her husband, Eric, for a yummy dinner and then pumpkin carving. Of course our staple pumpkin chocolate chip cookies accompanied our pumpkin carving time since that is only natural. Amanda and I opted to paint instead of carve...

The line up of the finished products...

Of course, Sam was a clever one with what he thought to carve. Sad I won't get to cheer on my Suns this year. I thought his pumpkin looked pretty good lit up! 

Last Friday my work celebrated Halloween just as big as they usually do. It is pretty much mandatory to come in costume and at the end of the day everyone's kids come in for some trick-or-treating through the office. I was a toddler. I loved my friend Whitney's version of Edward Scissorhands. (I promise I don't usually do myspace pics but I snapped one before heading out to show my little niece in California I was serious when I said I was going to dress like a baby!)

If you care at all and want to be entertained by viewing my office and coworkers on OrangeSoda's favorite holiday, you can view here.

Saturday night we went with some friends out to the Cheesecake Factory to celebrate Sam's birthday! (I love that man and I love celebrating him). Cheesecake never disappoints so it was enjoyable as predicted. We then finished the night off making caramel apples at our place.

Sunday was Sammy's actual bday. We had the privilege to attend G's wonderful Halloween party. The annual party is always full of food, costumes, bingo, a pinata and great prizes!!! It was so fun to see all of the cousins, especially their little ones dressed up in costume.

And, the party was finished off with Sammy blowing out some candles on a birthday cake! My favorite 24 year old.

The fall season has been great. This week the weather is taking a turn for the worst, and I am never ready for that. I experienced the cold first hand this morning as I sat on my doorstep frantically calling for a ride to work. I had locked the door to our place (from the inside) stepped outside and shut the door only to discover I hadn't grabbed my keys. Reallll coool. Sammy was already on campus and had a quiz first thing in the morning. My dear friend Sara went out of her way to pick me up on her way to work. While I waited, shivering, my neighbors opened up their door to take out some trash and saw me, they graciously invited me in so I wouldn't freeze. :) I am grateful for nice people.

birthday boy

Yes, it's my boy's birthday today. I've been trying for the past month to get Sam excited for his bday. I don't think it's really worked but on Friday he started referring to this weekend as his "birthday weekend", so that's an improvement!

In trying to brainstorm what to write in this post, I just kept thinking of little things that I love about Sam. So, since my man is the big 2-4 today, you get to read 24 things I love about him (original, I know...)

1. He makes me laugh every day
2. He is a good cook
3. He studies hard in school
4. He is smart
5. He often sends me a text at a random time in the day that just says "I love you"
6. He kisses me before leaving each morning
7. He brings the ipad into the bathroom where we're getting ready every Friday morning and either plays Rebecca Black's "Friday" or Katie Perry's "Last Friday Night" and dances
8. He willingly does service for others
9. He honors his priesthood
10. He takes me on dates every weekend
11. He watched Kim Kardashian's wedding with me
12. He goes to the doctor with me every time I have to have my blood drawn and holds my hand and talks to me while it's happening to distract me (I've only passed out on him during this once)
13. He looks good :)
14. He lets me cuddle with him (I'm 10x more a cuddler than he is)
15. He takes care of our cars (I hate dealing with car stuff)
16. He gives me good back rubs
17. He lets me vent to him about work stuff when I need to
18. He is athletic
19. He springs out of bed in the morning (I'm groggy when I wake up. Sam can literally open his eyes, jump out of bed and start singing)
20. He teaches me and quizzes me about football (pretty sure this is out of love)
21. He never complains
22. He is kind to everyone
23. He makes me want to be a better person
24. He is my best friend

I love you Sambo, Happy Birthday!!!!

hi.

I haven't updated the blog in awhile, but I suppose there hasn't been much to update on. Sam is super studios in school, I just work everyday and on the weekends we get to actually hang out together. :)

Last Sunday we decided to drive the Alpine Loop and take advantage of the beautiful fall scenery before it turns to winter (as that always seems to happen WAY to fast here). The colorful leaves were beautiful and I loved every minute of ooo-ing and aww-ing as we made our way through the mountain. Sam didn't want to stop and get out of the car (I'm still trying to get him to appreciate pictures) so my phone pics from the moving vehicle will have to do...

For your viewing pleasure:

Had to get some of the Aspen trees for my mom:

happy fall friday.