To Mexico and back

What a GREAT Christmas this year! We were absolutely spoiled, and our families have once again proven how awesome they both are. How in heaven's name did we get so lucky?

First thing's first: documenting our awesome vacation with the Nelsons to.... MEXICO!! Actually the exact same cruise Jaren and I took for our honeymood, ha! But we did not mind! It was the perfect break from work and a looonng semester. 

Like every great vacation, it began with a road trip. 

We left Provo, UT bright and early to Long Beach, CA. We stayed the night in Long Beach, attended sacrament meeting that sunday morning, then we were off to the port! Our passports were cleared and we were about to board the CARNIVAL SPLENDOR!

Notice the boots - it was chilly! Also notice the ice cream... 

Some things (like warmth) are worth sacrificing. 

Our time was mostly spent shuffling cards, eating ice cream, and riding elevators. 

One of my favorite parts of the cruise is, of course, the shows! The dancers are great, and sometimes I wish I could be up on stage! But... then I look at their outfits, and decide to pass. 

It was so fun to go to the ship's theatre every night after dinner for some fun, broadway-esque entertainment.  

We also got to go back to Lover's Beach! Jeffy took his shirt off the moment we stepped on the sand hahaha We got to see the Arches of Cabo and the "Magic Cave" at Lover's Beach... where two go in and three come out. hahaha. 

When we got back to port on the mainland, we stayed in Vegas for a night! We ended our trip in Sin City by staying in a great hotel ;) and visiting the strip. Christmas is my favorite time of year, and as much as I loved the cruise and the warm weather, Christmas just isn't Christmas without all the snow, glitter, and glam. We got our fix here at the Bellagio! The decor was incredible! And of course the water shows were amazing as well. 

Thanks for the fun, Nelson clan! We love you!!!

#readyforchristmasvacation

It's finals week. Mister Nelson is taking the hardest courses known to man. I'm only taking one, but it's plenty. Sometimes you need a break. It's pretty cool when your work Christmas party falls on...

tada! 12-12-12!

You get to eat snow crab, steak and shrimp, see the festival of lights, and then just hang out with colleagues you call friends. For free. We drove through the festival of lights listening to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer on the radio.Why is christmas music the best? My co-workers and our spouses giggled all evening long. Then our boss ordered us to take the morning off tomorrow! Our faithful advising assistants will think we're so funny when all 6 of us call in sick saying we have the "sniffles."
Jaren was the man of the hour! Anyway, one thing is for sure; we are downright tired of this cold wind and homework. It's time for a vaca. I think we'll go on a cruise next week. I caught my husband singing in the shower.. Something about being with his bonita wife and familia in Mexico! Can't wait!

Miracle Max

Remember the big yard sale this summer?
 All proceeds went to my old roommate/best friend/neighbor and her husband to help adopt a baby!

After just 2 short months from when they were approved, they have been blessed with a little miracle:

Meet Maxwell Jonathan Daniels!

Max came into the world on October 27th, but Tina and Jon didn't meet him until two weeks later. It is one of the most incredible stories I've heard, and like many other praying for Tina and Jon, I cried my eyes out with tears of happiness!

His birth-mom is a wife and mother of 2 kids, ages 7 and 9. She has been very sick with Lupus, and had her tubes tied after her last baby was born seven years ago. She was on several medications to help her disease and began to gain weight; The doctors told her it was normal. She came to the hospital one day in pain, and when asked to describe it, she replied, "If I didn't know any better, I'd say I was having a baby!" Max was born two hours later at a whopping 7.5 lbs at 39 weeks, full term. Max's birth parents decided to give him up for adoption and he was left at the hospital. It breaks my heart to think of that little newborn all alone in a hospital with no parents! I can't even imagine all the hugs and kisses he missed out on in his first precious two weeks of life. 

After Tina and Jon were told that they had been picked for this miracle baby, they knew it felt right. They drove clear to Oklahoma City to see their sweet new son. The doctors had Max on a strict regimen because he had to be weened off of his birth-mom's medications. Other than that, Max was a perfectly healthy, little baby boy. He wasn't allowed to come home just yet, but he finally had someone to cuddle him, sing to him, and unconditionally love him. Max finally came home last week, and we went over to help prepare for his arrival.

Did you know that the chances of conceiving a baby after a women gets her tubes tied is less than 1%? This baby is definitely here for a higher purpose! I truly believe he was sent here just for Tina and Jon. Heavenly Father knows and hears our prayers and saved Max just for them. He is getting some of the best possible parents, and is one lucky little baby. I'm still absolutely amazed that he is all theirs. He truly is a little miracle!

thanks 2 the giving

I love the holidays! Because holidays = family time. Thanksgiving was a blasty in Idaho. We were there from Tuesday to Sunday night! Heaven. We'll let the pictures tell about all the fun we had.

We'd only seen Remmy TWICE since she was born! So, of course, we rushed to the Burg to spend some much needed bonding time with this little princess. Jaren will make such a great dad someday! I kept passing the babe over to him - maybe it made him baby hungry... or maybe just the opposite..

Then, crafty Mamma Aponte had the great idea of writing letters to Santa!

Easty asked me, "How do you spell 'big, red, pirate ship?'"while he was writing his list. hahah. I have to tell you something funny this guy said. We all decided to eat some pocables (popcicles), and Jaren and I split one. Easton saw this and said, "Hey why are you guys sharing a pocable? Oh, is it cuz you guys are in love?" haha. yup. 

Even Jare-bear got in on the fun. I married a 5 year old! he's cute. 

Finally... Turkey Day was here! The food was soo yummy and my dad's sister's family, G&G Puphal, and our neighbor, Frank, came too. We played games and laughed and held the cute kiddos. And someone came home to surprise us!!! Alli was going to have to spend her first holiday away at CSI, but came home right before we started eating. I may have bawled. 

Friday morning we set off to go watch Alli play ball.

Livvie-girl walked around this cold 'swimmin pool' and sang songs. Happy girl!

We came home from Twin on Saturday night, and got up early to go hear G&G Burtenshaw speak at their ward. Grandma was doing so great when the power suddenly went out! She didn't even flinch and just kept reading her talk. It was great listening to their stories - even if the microphone AND heat were off! I have such great examples to look up to. 

After sacrament meeting, church was cancelled! Since it was dark at home and we couldn't make lunch, we all took naps :) Then we decided just to go to Jill's house and eat! She had power. We played and said our goodbyes then headed back south to Provo. 

Home sweet home! Jaren's mom is letting us borrow her tree this year. We love it!

Ahh tis the season! I love love love my family. I'm so grateful for each and every one of them. There is never a dull moment when we are together! I'm also so blessed to have the best in-laws a girl could ask for. Last but not least, I'm so grateful for my sweet husband, Jaren. Life is just so dang good! Now.. bring on Christmas! Woot! 

Holy Pants

Sometimes, Sunday school isn't as boring as it seems. Especially when those SEAMS seem to come un-seamed…

Have you ever experienced that horrible moment when you bend down, your slacks aren't really that slack-y, and suddenly your worst fear becomes a reality when you hear the most horrible sound:  A loud, long riiipppp right up to your back belt loop? Okay, it wasn't that bad - or so he claims.

Brother Nelson was magnifying his calling as second counselor in the Sunday school presidency by bending down to plug in the microphone when it happened. Horrified after hearing the damage, he slowly twisted around while still squatting to face his audience, worried someone had caught an eye-full. He continued to test the microphone - no sound. His face was hot, and the sweat was beginning to pour. Knowing he had to test the next microphone jack, he shuffled to the other side of the room. He slid behind the chalkboard and nonchalantly reached back to assess the 7 inch newly-formed hole in his pants. Realizing the microphone wasn't even on (fortunately for him - you know how those church mics pick up sound...), he causally pulled off his suit coat, drew it over the drafty spot, and made a run for the door.

Not 5 minutes later, his dad, who wondered where he'd gone in such a hurry, received a picture message while in that same Sunday school class that read, "Epic fail. Brb. ”  Head between his ankles in front of our full-body mirror, my husband decided to document the aftermath and then spread the joy.

Luckily, Jaren kept our house keys with him that day - he usually puts them in my primary bag. Can you imagine how much better the story would have been if he was forced to come to the front of the primary room and walk past 30 tell-all little children with a 7 inch gap in the bum of his church pants!?

When I was about 10 years old, I had an extremely comfortable pair of black stretchy pants that went with everything. They had huge holes in the knees and were my absolute FAV and I just couldn't bring myself to throw them away. My dad would say, "those pants are so hole-y, you could wear them to church!" You better believe I thought about it a time or two..

Jaren's pants were definitely hole-y. The best part about his story is hearing it straight from the horse's mouth. Jaren can be pretty dang hilarious, and he had his mother and I practically rolling with laughter. He's such a good sport! Thanks for making me laugh out loud every single day. Life would be so boring without you!!

And a special thanks to the BYU seamstress who said "All the way up the CROTCH!?" while fixing them. That was the icing on the cake. :)

************************UPDATE! as of November 19****************************

A little advice from the mister: Don't go and split your pants in Sunday school - because they might ask you to be the main act; only a short week later. I LAUGHED SO HARD. Jaren was sworn in as the new Sunday School President yesterday. Welp, here we go :)

dogs.

Jaren loves them. And I mean.. LOVES. them. 

I'm more of a cat person :)They used to call me the kitten whisperer back in the day. 

Dogs don't have litter boxes.. and there's no way I'm picking up warm poop with just a plastic bag between the doo-doo and my hand. While growing up, we had a dog once - no, twice. And each time we had to take it back to its owner. The first was a hyper Dalmatian who did his business on every single stair in the house. It's one of my earliest memories - scrubbing the carpet as a toddler. The second... was a cute mutt named Macie who was a LOT of work, and we decided she'd be happier in another home. 

We NEVER took back our cats. I was a pro at taking care of them. I lived for raising those little rascals (my cat got pregnant twice a year) then I'd cry soo hard after someone came to take them away.

The neighbors have a cute dog that Jaren's family was trying to warm me up to. I gotta admit - he's pretty cute! But Oscar and Tanner... are Jaren's other, OTHER half. I didn't think there was room in his heart for me after seeing these three together. But they are definitely growing on me! I never knew how much a family could love a dog before I met the Nelsons - fork feeding and all. 

Here's a few friendly games of "hide-the-bone-in-his-collar-and-laugh": (the cute laugh coming mostly from Jeni :)

Then this past weekend... I was eating some delish pumpkin dessert which is one of my favorite things. Oscar and I have something in common. He gave me these eyes, and I just couldn't resist... I handed over my bowl complete with a large dollop of whipped cream. I'm pretty sure we'll be friends for life now. 

Someday, I KNOW I'm going to be co-owner of one of these things. 

If ya can't beat 'em - join 'em, right?

Until then, we'll let Jaren's dad, Jeff, pick up the warm, greasy, pumpkin pie poop :)