Happy New Year - - 2008!!!!

Happy New Year to all of my friends and family that read our blog!

I want to know that Bryce and I weren't the only weirdos that stayed home by ourselves on New Years Eve. We ordered buffalo wings, watched the fireworks of Downtown Omaha from our balcony, and counted down to midnight with Dick Clark/Ryan Seacrest!:) It was quite uneventful to say the least!

I "borrowed" this idea from Chelsea's blog but I thought it was a cute idea.

I wanted to recap some of the highlights of mine and Bryce's 2007!

1. I gave my 2 weeks notice at a horrible job and walked out 2 days later. The decision turned out to be a smart one because shortly after I got a job at Advanced Surgery Center which is a dream job for most nurses. No nights, no weekends, no holidays, independent nursing, great fellow employees, great doctors and it literally takes me less than 5 minutes to go from my car to the front door of the building!:) Also, 2 weeks after I started the job the surgery center shut down for heating repairs for 2 weeks and every employee got a paid vacation. I spent my paid 2 weeks in Utah visiting my family!

2. Bryce snapped a tendon in his left ring finger while playing flag football one Thursday evening at 11:00 PM and we spent our night in the emergency room just racking up the medical bills!! Three days later he was put on an operating table under anesthesia at Nebraska Medical Center to repair his "flexor digitorum tendon avulsion". The best thing about all of this is that he had to wear the lamest cast/contraption you've ever seen! We got quite a few laughs out of it! After paying the bills for the surgery I gave Bryce some advice 1) You're getting too old for flag football 2) You should think about playing a non-contact sports such as golf and 3) If you ever play flag football again and get hurt

don't even bother coming home:)

3. We moved from our comfortable, socially accepted town of LaVista, Nebraska, and crossed the Missouri river to a town known by people who live in Nebraska as "Council Tucky"- - real name Council Bluffs, Iowa. If you stop at a fast food restaurant or gas station on the west side of C.B. (aka Council Tucky) the employee behind the counter will most likely be missing their front teeth, chewing tobacco, and show up on the nightly news after being busted for having a "meth" lab in their basement!:) The one good thing about this situation is that I can go to the store in my pj's and be over-dressed. Yep, this is where Bryce and I call home and I can only talk this way about C.B. because I live there.:) And in case you're wondering why we made the decision to cross the river it was because of convenience and financial reasons.:)

4. I hate to admit that one of the highlights of mine and Bryce's year was when the RedSox won the world series! We sat, glued to the television for 11 games. First the ACLS championship and immediatly following... the world series! Bryce lives and breaths the RedSox year round; meanwhile, quizing me on the names of the players as we drive to and from different places (usually on date night). I, on the other hand, enjoy the actual RedSox games we've been to, knowing that they're having a good season...or not, dressing up in my RedSox sweatshirt, and .... watching the World Series.

5. Another, hard to admit, highlight of our year was purchasing our XBox 360. Bryce and I argued about it for a few weeks until I finally gave in ...... because Bryce said that it would be a fun hobby that we could share. Oh the things men come up with to get a new toy!:)

So, now I am officially a Halo nerd! Bryce and I play it all the time and I love it! I even went out and bought a pink controller so Bryce wouldn't be tempted to use "my controller". It's really cute!:)

Well, Bryce and I had a pretty good year in 2007, as you have just read.:)

We hope for an even better 2008!

Here are a few of my hopes/goals for the coming year:

1)Bryce graduates from Creighton :)

2)Bryce gets a good job in Utah and we get to move "home"!!!

3)Bryce passes the Barr Exam

4) We get pregnant!!! or vacation in Europe (whichever comes first) :)

and.........

5) we buy a new car to replace the smoking Mazdarati that barely gets Bryce back and forth from Creighton :)

****I wish you all a wonderful 2008!!****

Christmas again....and again!

Bryce and I were able to celebrate a few Christmas's this year. We celebrated with Bryce's family Christmas Eve, my immediate family on Christmas day and with my grandparents a few days after Christmas! We did Christmas with my family a little different this year in that we let the kids open up all their gifts on Christmas morning and enjoyed the gifts with them and then later on in the afternoon we opened up our gifts. It seemed to work out a lot better!

My family is not one for chaos so we switched things up!:)

The kids loved all of their new toys and WOW did they get spoiled! They are such fun kids!

I know I'm a little biast (sp?) but isn't she just the cutest thing ever?!!


I swear this picture wasn't staged!:)

If you know Bryce and I then you know that we (originally Bryce) love the Red Sox! We have turned my parents into Red Sox fans so we like to shower them with Red Sox gear! We're always good for a Red Sox gift! And.....

Bryce says that if you are a "true" Red Sox fan then you should like the Dropkick Murphys. They are the band who sings the song "Shipping up to Boston" which is played at most, if not all, Red Sox games. :) Jonathan Pappelbon, an amazing closing pitcher for the Red Sox, danced the Irish Jig to this song after they won the world series! Just a little history for ya.:)

Bryce and I got some great gifts this year! Thank you, thank you! I love.... my subscription to US Weekly, my Stampin' Up stuff, Pampered Chef stuff, MAC makeup, Carrie Underwood CD, "Kathy" purse, money! and everything else not mentioned. I will not lie--- I love gifts!!:) We are also thankful that our family is concious of getting us small gifts that we can fit in our suitcase to lug back to Omaha!

We ended our Christmas day celebration with an updated family picture. We thought it was pretty good considering how hard it is to get a 3 year old and an 18 month old to actually look at the camera.:)

Four days later we took a road trip to Blanding to celebrate Christmas with my grandparents.

I thought I'd start out with a picture of the littlest tiger....I mean biggest, furiest cat you've ever seen!!!

This is my mom's cat Ali. She is also the meanest cat you've ever met! She basically only lets my mom and I pet her. She hisses at almost anyone else if they get too close! I'm just glad she seems to remeber me even though I only go home twice a year.

It was a long trip to Blanding from Tooele but we were very thankful to be able to spend time with my grandparents! I can't even begin to express the love I have for them!! We are a pretty close family, which I am so grateful for. Above are my dad's parents and below are my mom's parents. They are all such wonderful people! They would do anything for their grandchildren!

Bryce and I got a money tree which was such a cute idea! We bought a new camera for Christmas before we left Omaha and are thankful that it will now be payed for!:) Thanks again everyone! Christmas was wonderful!

We miss you all already!!!!!

A Wonderful Christmas Eve!

Bryce and I spent Christmas Eve with the Shields family this year! We had a wonderful time and love spending time with all of them!
Bryce's mom worked so hard all day in the kitchen! She is a wonderful cook and loves to make sure that we gain lots of weight during the holidays.:)

Bryce's brother Scott and his beautiful family flew home from Michigan to spend Christmas in Utah! It was the first time I met my new niece Molly!

Bryce's sister Karmen was nice enough to host our Christmas Eve dinner and party in her new, huge, beautiful house!

On Christmas Eve Bryce's family cooks a delicious Italian dinner.....

We play games......

And exchange gifts! Karmen's family had Bryce and I this year! They gave me the Willow Tree Nativity which I was extremely excited about! I have been wanting one for a few years! Thanks Bartons!

Molly is so adorable! I just love this picture! We have an immediate bond because Molly was born on my birthday! It was fun to get to know her a little bit.

What a cutie!! Just waiting for Santa to get here!:) Merry Christmas Eve!

Christmas Lights at Temple Square!

On Sunday Dec.23rd my family, Bryce and I ventured out in the cold to enjoy the beautiful Christmas lights at Temple Square.
My parents had never been there before so it was a wonderful to experience it with them. The spirit of the Christmas season was indescribable! I can't think of any greater place to be reminded of the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ than the Salt Lake Temple surrounded by millions of beautiful Christmas lights.

This is my beautiful niece Tenli who had to be "contained" in the stroller but seemed to enjoy the lights and never complained about the cold.:)

My cute little nephew Jett really bonded with his Uncle Bryce and loved to pretend that he was being thrown in the snow!! He has so much energy and is so fun to be around!

Jett was so excited to see the Christis statue that he saw through the window. We walked up through the visitor center and he was yelling "look, look...it's Jesus". It was so crowded! There were a ton of people there all looking in "awe" at the beautiful statue of Jesus.

Bryce and I are grateful we could experience Christmas at Temple Square with my family!
It was a wonderful night!

The Nielsons-- December 2007

Lunch Reunion!!

While Bryce and I were in Utah we were able to meet up for lunch with a few of my roomates from college. We met at Macaroni Grill in Salt Lake and caught up on each other's lives.
Mindy and Garrett live in Vernal, Utah, where they both work. Garrett owns his own landscaping company and Mindy is an office manager for an oil company. They're basically rich!(inside joke) They are a great couple and keep everyone laughing! I hadn't seen Mindy for almost 3 years! It was great to see them!

Chelsea, Max and little baby Jack live in LaVerkin, Utah. Chelsea is an x-ray tech and Max manages a golf coarse in Hurricane. This was my first time meeting little Jack and he is absolutely adorable!! He has an amazing head of hair!:) Chelsea and I have been able to see each other a few times over the past year and seem to keep in touch pretty well. It was great to see them as well!

I miss these girls like crazy! They are amazing friends! We have a lot of great memories from our college experience at SUU. I am so grateful for their friendship. Sarah was unable to meet with us but I think that we should make this an annual occurance so maybe next year. Love you girls!!