Oh the Places You'll GO!

May 23 - June 4, 2011

We made it to Las Vegas! It was quite the ordeal. We spent 150 miles on the back of a tow truck with our little trailer being towed behind. Life is all about the adventure though, and an adventure it was! We have been here two weeks thus far and everything seems to be working out alright.

After being in Vegas for three days, I took Alyssa on her first plane ride (at 5 weeks old) to Salt Lake City to meet Uncle Jacob. Jacob returned from the Atlanta, Georgia North Spanish speaking mission. It was fun to see him get off the plane and to be together as the Nelsen family after two years!

Alyssa likes hanging out with Porter. He sings her songs and she just loves it!

Erik was going to drive down on Friday and we were going to be around for the weekend but because of our car troubles, we decided it would be better for me to fly back to Las Vegas. Jacob still has yet to meet Erik. He probably thinks Erik is a figment of everyone's imagination.

Over Memorial Day weekend we decided to get out of the house and go hiking. There are lots of mountains around Las Vegas, but they are kind of far away and mostly hot. It hasn't been unbearable hot yet, though, so we took our chances. We went to the Valley of Fire which is a red rock formation in a valley about an hour northeast of Las Vegas. It was pretty warm, but still fun. Erik thought Alyssa fit perfectly in some of the formations. He also tried to fit in a rock formation or two.

Our church doesn't start until 1:30 PM which gives us ample time in the morning. We went to the Las Vegas Temple to see what we could see. It is beautiful. It is the first temple Alyssa has been to while in the flesh.

On Memorial Day we visited Lauren Woodward (my freshman and sophomore and half junior roommate). Her family had a cookout (Klint [LLNL mentor] taught me the difference between a bbq and cookout). The meat was great and the beans were delicious! We are grateful that they had us over.

Last Friday we took another hiking day trip to Lake Mead. We walked a long a nice stroller-friendly paved trail for about an hour or so and then drove down to the lake.

Alyssa experienced her first lake adventure. She even went toe dipping.

When we aren't on adventures (which is most of the time) we are just relaxing at home. Here are some fun pictures of Alyssa. She's growing up everyday. She even likes to stand up! She's started sleeping on her stomach. It actually has been quite the miracle. We no longer have to fight her for 3 hours before she will fall asleep. Now she just falls asleep on her own. For those of you concerned about SIDS, we know...we've done our research. But...if women have been putting there babies on their stomachs for years, then why can't I? The only adverse affect is the little rug burns on her knees. She moves them so much and so fast when she is on her stomach that they are inevitable!