NEW...

Kris and I have inherited a few "new" things lately:

1. A new brother in law!

My younger sister Kristen got married on May 1 to Brent Ludwig in the Nauvoo, IL temple. The wedding day was wonderful and they are SO happy together! (Brent's parents were Kris's mission presidents so they have known each other a long time and are very excited to be brothers now!) We also got to visit a few church sites during the weekend which was really neat.

2. ANOTHER new brother in law!

My older sister Annie got married on May 29 to Ian Finlay in the Salt Lake City, UT Temple. I couldn't ask for a better guy for her. He is awesome, and treats her really well. They are so cute together!

3. Last, and not quite as exciting. . . we got a new (used) car! We are grateful to have 2 cars now so we can both get to work, meetings and do errands when we need to. It's a Saab we got for a good deal, and we like it!

That's pretty much the update. We are enjoying life and feel very blessed in many ways.

Family Pics

Our Little Family

Lincoln Beach, Oregon (during Christmas)

The Nielson Family

Christmas 2009

DANIEL

Daniel Nielson

Daniel Nielson was born Wednesday, November 11 at 7:59 am. He was 4 lb 15 oz and was 18 inches long! He passed away peacefully Thursday, November 12 at 7:45 pm. Because of some complications and abnormalities he had, we had been told previously that he would probably not live for very long. We felt so BLESSED that he was with us for 36 hours! We enjoyed lots of good snuggle time with him, and Kris was able to give him a name and a blessing.

It was a beautiful and spiritual experience.

We were able to have a viewing and grave side service here in Rexburg with some family members this weekend. We feel so grateful for the knowledge that we can be together forever as a family and that the Lord has a plan for Daniel. We know he is in a better place with a lot of work to do! We have felt very comforted and strengthened by all the prayers in our behalf. Here are some pictures of Daniel:

Mama's Boy

Daniel's First Bath (Dad and Grandma)

Daniel's First Meal

"So Daniel was taken up out of the [lions] den... because he believed in his God."

-Daniel 6:23

SUMMER ADVENTURES

We had our first snow fall this past week and I quickly realized that Winter is already coming! I'm not quite ready for the cold, but ready or not, here it comes! I also realized it's definitely time for an update on the blog too. Here are some of the highlights from our Summer:

WICKED!

We did a girl's trip to Seattle to see the broadway musical Wicked! It was awesome-I loved it! I highly recommend it. Kris's Mom Jill, his sister Marion, and two sister in laws-Heidi and Kendra and I all went together. We had a yummy dinner with Kris's Dad and our nieces Hannah and Melli before the Musical. Heidi, Melli, Kendra and I had a long 12 hour car ride to Seattle and back to Rexburg (which was a little uncomfortable being 7 1/2 months pregnant), but we had a lot of fun being together.

Kendra, me, Heidi, Mom Jill, Marion

BOSTON!

We spent the weekend of the 4th of July with my Sister Jennie and her husband and daughter in Boston. It was really fun to spend time with them and enjoy beautiful Boston! We were able to watch fireworks along the Charles River while listening to the "Boston Pops", we walked through down town, spent part of a day at Wangersheek beach, and enjoyed barbecuing, bike riding, walking, and lots of talking and catching up. We also rode on a duck boat (where the book "Make Way for Ducklings" takes place).

Kris and our brother in law Scott, eating our special 4th of July dessert

Our cute niece Kate

JACKSON HOLE

We took a Saturday and drove to Jackson Hole with Kris's Brother and his family. The boys went mountain biking while the girls wandered the town. Then we all met up for the Alpine Slide and dinner. We drove back through Yellowstone...not realizing it was a LOT longer route. But we did get to stop and see Old Faithful errupt so it was worth it.

Us, Lily, Kendra, Joel

HELICOPTER RIDE!

Kris and I took our first Helicopter ride! It was awesome. They were offering helicopter rides at one of the home shows Kris was working at and we couldn't resist :)

UTAH

We had an Anderson Family Reunion with my Dad's side of the family. It was fun to see the relatives and catch up. We then spent a few days with just the immediate family at a cabin and at a lake nearby. Unfortunately, I didn't get very many pictures except these two but it was great to spend time with the family.

GIRL'S CAMP!

I was called to be the ward girl's camp director this year. It was a lot of work and a great learning experience for me. We had so much fun! I love these girls!

First Year Hike

The YW and most of the YW leaders

IT'S A ...

BOY!!!!!!

We had my 20 week ultrasound yesterday, and the first thing the nurse said when she turned on the machine was, "Well, it's a boy!". She could tell right away:).

We are really excited!

It will be the first GrandSON on both sides of the family...so my only brother Nathan is especially excited, and thinks we should name him Nathan Jr. :)

EXCITING NEWS...

I'm pregnant...and 14 weeks along!  We are so excited to have a baby :).  Due date is December 9th and we find out in about 4 weeks if it's a boy or girl.  Any predictions?  

Ultrasound pictures at 11 weeks.

LAS VEGAS

For Memorial Day weekend we visited our friends in Las Vegas. We stayed for a couple days and packed in as much as we could! It was fun to see Las Vegas and hang out with our friends.

We went to the strip one night-definitely not too pleasant to walk through those streets-so much filth and pornography. But we did enjoy seeing some of the cool things around there. We went to the Shark Aquarium at Mandalay bay, and then saw the water/light show outside of the Bellagio that night. (Really cool to watch)

We ate at a delicious buffet, visited the Temple, Drove up into Kelly Canyon, and took a tour of

Hoover Dam (which was really interesting to learn about). We also ate at In-N-Out Burger which was a first for me! I'm a fan.

Amanda was a trooper-she is 6 months pregnant and the sun was hot!