Yes...The Nielsen's are still alive! No....We didn't fall of the planet. We were just all over it. Let me rewind to Feb for a bit since that's where I left off. Geesh...its been a while hasn't it! I keep saying that I will be better and then I don't, so I'm making no more promises:)
In the middle of Feb we decided to go visit my sister Heather in Idaho, travel on up to Portland to see Jared and then up to Mellisa and Ben's in Seattle. Lorens boss wanted him to take some time off before he started his new job and so he got some paid vacation so we took complete advantage of it. You know me....I am ALWAYS up for a raod trip. I will never pass one down. Anyways, come to find out, Loren needed to work in Ca for a week after the trip so I decided to just tag along and we drove down to So Cal from Portland. We stayed in Turlock for abit with Ryan's family on our way down. Once we got to Ca, we stayed in a nice hotel with a pool in Rancho Cucamonga and the kids and I partied while Loren worked.
Here are some Portland Highlights
An incredible dinner at Jakes. The oldest seafood restaurant in Portland. All I can say is WOW! I even tried oysters for the first time. 
A trip to Voodoo Donuts! Of all the times I have been to Portland, I have never been able to go there. It was on the top of my list this time and I made it a serious priority. The magic is in the hole!
Lots of play time with Jack and Maggie...Jared and Joe's dogs
Highlights from Seattle
Walking Pikes Place with Grandma, Grandpa, Melissa, Ben and baby Cameron.
Visiting the troll under the bridge. Who knew this even existed?
A ferry ride over to Banbridge Island
A visit to the "Boat Locks"
Highlights from Turlock
Visiting Ryan's Family and eating some bomb digity Mexican Food. 
Solving the four year hammer toe mystery! No wonder Rowan has one. Uncle Ryan has one too!
Feeding the ducks and nasty carp at Donelly Park...my childhood park.
Taking my family to see my childhood home on Fullerton Dr.
Visiting my elementary school Crowell
Eating WAY too many calories form my favorite Bakery Old Tyme Pastries and introducing my kids to the chocolate mice I loved so much as a kid
Visiting Amber (aka Rosie)one of my best friends that I grew up with and meeting her beautiful baby girl for the first time
Watching Rowan play with his new friends. Man this kid makes friends wherever he goes. He cried when we had to say goodbye to Alex
We got home On Sunday and then packed ourselves up for the big move that Thursday. Everything went smooth as pie and we are here living in a small apartment while we sell our house. Did I mention it was small? Yeah...REALLY small. I cant wait to get some more space.
Saying Goodbye to Grammy and Granpy. This was especially hard because they were moving to Guatemala City to serve a mission for our church for two years
Goodbye dinner with my family at Tepanyakis
Saying good bye to some of my wonderful friends
Saying good bye to the kids friends and preschool buddies
Lorens parents came to visit us in California for a while and so did Ryan and his family. It was nice to have the company and it definitely helped us transition. It was nice to be around family.
Loren is liking his job however he is working over 80 hours a week. Last Sunday was his first day off since the move. He is up at 4:00 am and home at 7:00 pm. It sucks, but I appreciate his hard work.
While Loren has been working his tail off, the kids and I have been vacationing. We have hit Sea World, the beach, Disneyland(we bought season passes), lots of park time, hanging at the pool and so on. Its been a ton of fun. The only thing that would make it better would be if Loren could come too. I don't feel like we are living a normal life...it still feels like a vacation.
Rowan and Lia started gymnastics and loved every minute of it. 
We do story time on Tuesdays at the library with some new friends, and Rowan plays soccer on Mon and Wed. The kids are going to start swimming lessons in May so that should be fun also. Cant wait! I love doing fun summer activities with the kids:) They are happy and Rowan has only mentioned Utah a few times. Occasionally he askes to go home to see his cousins and his Grandparents.
I have been extremely busy working since I got here. Ive been working just about every weekend. I met a nice girl Amanda in my ward that has been helping me out with the kids so that has been nice. They like her alot and so do I. We are going to be doing some fun things together this summer! I recently bought a beach cruiser with a bike trailer for the kids and plan on cruising around town on it. I have wanted one for EVER and am excited to get it all put together.
We LOVE our ward and have found that people here are extra friendly. I have already made friends and feel very comfortable here. People just talk to you and I have met so many people just being out and about. Its a different world here but I really like it. The weather ROCKS too!
We are hoping to come home this Month for Memorial Day weekend if it works out. It would be nice to see everyone and to check on the house. Things are good here and we are happy. Change can be good! Sorry for the SUPER lost post but Im catchin up on two months here! Man this was rough!
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4 comments:
Loved the Turlock photos. I haven't been back since I was 17. Ahhh the memories.
Sounds like you are having lots of fun with the kids. Good luck with everything!
It looks like you had such a great time! I totally want to go to Voodoo Donughts! I am way jealous. Looks like we need to plan a girls weekend to hang out with Jared in Portland soon.
Thanks for getting us caught up. I was really starting to wonder how you guys were doing. It looks like you have been mega busy, which I'm sure helps with the adjustment. When you are settled into a more permanent place I would love to come and visit. If not all three of us, just Xander and I will come. I want him to know his cousins, and he is getting old enough to actually do things, so I think him, Lia and Rowan could actually play nicely together. Keep us posted. Miss you!
Take care,
Angie
Finally.....thanks for the update! WOW! You are busy! It made me tired just reading! But it is comforting to know you are in a good ward and things are going well. We miss you and can't wait until Memorial Day!
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