Under Construction

As you can probably tell, we're undergoing some major revisions here at Nelsens with an 'E.' We hope you'll enjoy the new format! Kara would like everyone to know that while John was updating the site he neglected to save the old info, resulting in the loss of all the old widgets, gadgets, etc. We've tried to frantically remember everything we had, but our memories aren't that good. If you used to be featured on our page and aren't, don't be offended, the deletion was not done on purpose. Please just comment and let us know and you'll be right back where you belong.

Howdy Y'All

After 3 years of living in Texas we finally made it down to the Texas State Fair! It was everything we were expecting and hoping it would be, and more.

Big Tex welcomes us to the fair

We made it down shortly after opening, so it wasn't too hot or too crowded, which was very nice. We started things off by taking the boys to the animal pavilion. Just as we were expecting, the boys were terrified of anything bigger than the little chicks. Grant was so terrified of the llamas that he literally wet his pants (which ran out onto Dad's shirt)!

Grant's few months of life flash before his eyes

Of course, a big part of going to the fair is the fried food. Here's a small sample of some of the things we found:

Believe it or not, the fried butter was the biggest attraction! We didn't try that one, but I can tell you that you haven't lived till you've sampled the divine goodness that is the fried snickers!!! Our favorite though was what was called "Pork Chips." It was fried thin shaved pig. Sooooo tastey!



We capped the day off by letting Andrew ride some of the cheap little carnival rides, which he loved. 

Giddyup little dawggy

I don't know if we'll go back (it was insanely pricey) but all in all we had a great time at the Texas State Fair!

It's here....

Fall is finally here. It was a long, hot, busy, and brutal summer but it's over and we're coming down the 2009 home stretch! As is tradition, Kara and the playgroup went down to the pumpkin patch last week. It has been a cold and rainy Fall so far (uncharacteristic for TX in our experience, but very welcomed!) so it was very muddy and wet, but the boys thoroughly enjoyed it. Here's a few pics from the trip:

October has got to be one of my favorite months. Halloween is one of my favorite holidays! We're planning a great party at work (HR is the best place for work parties!) and Kara and I are working on some classic costumes for this year (stay tuned for pics). Just yesterday we visited the local costume shop looking for some of the last missing pieces. :)

I love this costume! The best part is the kid's face!

Not only is it the kick-off to the entire Holiday Season, but we also get colder weather (I'm very much cold-blooded so Yey!), and the baseball playoffs. Being a Cubs you wouldn't think I'd get very excited to see everyone else but the Cubbies play in Oct. but I love baseball and it's all good (except the Yanks). I'm hoping for a Dodgers/Yankees match-up and to see Joe Torre wipe the floore with the Yankees.

And if that wasn't enough, it's my brother's b-day (go Chad) Really, is there anything bad about October? If there is, I can't think of it!

5 Years

Five years ago today John and I were married in the San Diego LDS temple. It was a beautiful day. Has it really already been five years? Has it only been five years? Crazy. I love John and I love our little family. He's patient with me and works so hard for us, and is an absolutely wonderful father. Happy anniversary!

Here are some pictures of us through the years:

Awww, wedding picture.

Honeymoon in the Bahamas (why won't Blogger let me un-bold this?).

Taken in Cape Cod the month before our first anniversary (I've learned that the only time there are pictures of us together is when we're traveling and we have someone to take pictures).

Thanksgiving time in Salt Lake, a few months after our second anniversary.

Mont-Saint-Michel in France, the month before our third anniversary.

Halloween a few months after our fourth anniversary. My parents were visiting, so that's the only reason there's a picture of us together. :)

At a Red Sox-Rangers game last month. It was a fun date, and we had awesome seats...but the Sox lost.

Through the Eyes of Andrew

Andrew got his very own camera last Christmas. It ran out of batteries a few months back and was buried among all his other toys till this past week. We went over to target to get some batteries and transferred the pics onto the computer. Among the literally 100s of pics we've put together our favorites. Enjoy life from Andrew's perspective!

Andrew's Life 1.0

Andrew's Life 2.0

One Fish Two Fish...

The boys starting swimming lessons this month! Andrew loves the water, and has never been afraid to jump in. We're accordingly anxious to have him learn to swim on his own as soon as he can! Grant has never really liked the water, so we were interested to see how he'd do. Take a look at both our little fish.

The Orca shall be mine

Kick, kick, kick!

Bubbles!

Dumb Bell

Going Solo

Air Grant

I'm still alive...

I've been gone awhile, though my lovely hubby has been blogging in my place (thank goodness, or else we'd be one of those woefully neglected blogs--ahem, Maren!). Anyway, I've been rather busy of late. For those of you that don't know (which I think is most of you) I have a job. Woo! Or something. I--like John--work for the city of Denton. Unlike John, however, I don't work in the cool HR department ;). I work in the aquatics department, as "lead cashier", meaning I'm in charge of all the cashiers within the aquatics department (in other words, about 20 people, though that number has been decreasing lately...that's a whole other story though). In December I went in and interviewed for a cashier position, thinking it would be nice to work once or twice a week. But at the end of the interview I was offered the lead cashier position, and I accepted it. It's a very interesting job, and I've certainly learned a lot. During the off season I work just a few hours a week, but during the summer it's a 40 hour a week job. And it's exhausting. So my blogging has suffered. And when I actually answer my phone, my family makes comments like "Oh, it's a miracle! You answered your phone!" or "So you're not ignoring my calls anymore." Very funny. I'm appreciative of this experience, but I'm definitely looking forward to summer being over.

In more exciting recent news, I've now made two cakes that people have paid me for. It's so fun! And it's made me realize that I very much need a bigger kitchen. I could also spend a great deal of money on kitchen/baking supplies. When I made one of the cakes the other day, I went to get out my whisk attachment for my KitchenAid and I couldn't find it. Anywhere. I got very upset and searched the apartment, but was never able to find it. I was kind of frightened by how emotional I got about a KitchenAid attachment. But I LOVE my KitchenAid and use it frequently! I had to use a hand mixer to make my cake! Not cool. And it will cost me $20 to replace it. But I did discover that I can buy more bowls, so that's pretty exciting. Anyway...I know some of you out there understand the KitchenAid obsession.

So here are the cakes I did. The first one was for John's coworker's son's 1st birthday. The bottom layer was cookies and cream with vanilla buttercream, and the top layer (for the birthday boy to destroy) was white cake with vanilla buttercream. The second cake (for John's coworker) was chocolate fudge cake with chocolate fudge buttercream. My kind of cake.

Clearly photography is not my forte. Maybe one day I'll get a chance to work on that...

Speaking of things that are not my forte...frosting and piping with buttercream. I really need to work on that, but I've been having too much fun with fondant.