Weekend Fun With Dad and Tyson

Last weekend my Dad and Tyson got to come into town for a visit. I picked them up from the airport after work on Thursday.

Just before my Dad came into town, Kent got to take the Young Men in our ward cross country skiing. He had a great time with the boys!

While Dad and Tyson were here, we went to the BYU game to see Jimmer and the Cougars! Tyson got to get a pic with Cosmo the Cougar. It was a great game!

And of course, my Dad had to check out my brother Ki's new bike...I think he approved.

And so did Tyson...

We also got to go hike Bridal Veil Falls, which was frozen over. It was breathtaking up there!

We even found a couple make-shift "ice caves" between the frozen falls and the rocks. They were so cool!

Peek-a-boo Dad!

Tyson in one of the caves!

We also got to have yet another day of snowboarding/skiing with my Dad, Tyson, and Ki. As you can see, it was a beautiful day at Sundance!

Since Kent wasn't able to join us for the Bridal Veil Falls hike, we decided to go back a few days ago. Things have melted a bit, but it was amazing nonetheless!

Photo-op

There were some awesome ice pickers climbing the entire waterfall! It was amazing!

So here is an update on us done mostly with pictures! But of all of the fun things we have been up to lately, we have some news that is even more exciting than all of these pictures: WE ARE APPROVED FOR ADOPTION!!!! We are SOOOO excited to begin the next step in this process! You can visit our profile at www.ItsAboutLove.org; our Profile ID# is 25438298, or you can search our names! We will be sure to keep you up to date on our amazing adventure! I plan to be better at updating our blog more regularly--call it a late started New Year's resolution! Love to you all!

Nixons Join Forces With Dicksons...Happy Birthday, Kayla!

For my 24th birthday weekend, Kent and I took a trip to Rexburg, Idaho to visit my sister Katelyn and her husband Steve! When we walked into their cute apartment, they had balloons and a birthday cake for me! In honor of our plans to go snowboarding later in the weekend, she made me a snowboarding cake! It was AMAZING! She took little GI Joe guys and frosted them into boarders...so cool!!! Thank you Katelyn!!!

Haha, I just have to say that Kent and Steve look like brothers here!

What can I say, we have a lot of fun together.

On Saturday the four of us headed up to Targhee for an awesome day of boarding!

It may be hard to see, but in the middle of this picture, just above the smaller trees, Steve is flying. He found a sweet jump at the end of the day and decided to give it a shot. He cleared the trees and landed about three feet from where I was taking the picture! It was insane!

It was such a beautiful day up there and the powder was great!

We had fun looking for fun jumps and found this awesome run that was like a roller coaster on a snowboard! Steve took pictures of me, Kent, and Katelyn taking a shot at it.

Go Kent!

We had such a great weekend with the Dicksons. Being 24 got off to a great start for me!

It's Time For The Circus!!!

So four years ago, when Kent and I were dating, we were eating at a restaurant and I saw a poster for a Circus. I'd never been to a Circus before, and so I said something to the effect of, "Oh, that looks like fun!" Anyway, it was really just a comment in passing, but Kent took notice, and the next thing I knew, we were picking up four of our nieces and nephews and taking them to that Circus! Kent surprised me and didn't tell us where we were going until we got there, and we had a blast! Well, in January, the Circus returned! So we decided to recreate that date four years ago, plus an extra niece and nephew and my cousin Joey and his date! So we took six kids to the Circus and had so much fun!

Yes, this bear is riding a rocking horse!

Kent and Kristian Kent having fun watching all of the cool acts!

The kids LOVED cousin Joey and Uncle Kent...they were so fun with them!

We couldn't quite convince Kristian to take a picture with us, he was having too much fun watching the elephants and mini ponies! These kids are growing up SO fast!

This clown was hilarious! You can tell by the look Reed is giving him, haha.

Look at these elephants! They were amazing! They did things I didn't know elephants could do!

Yes, those are guys riding motorcycles inside that ball! At one point there were four bikes in there riding around! Insane!!!!

So, we had a wonderfully good time with our nieces and nephews! Hopefully this tradition will be something we can repeat in years to come!

Playing Catch Up...Merry Christmas!

So I am sorry to say I have fallen severely behind on my blog at a time when there is so much going on in our lives! So consider this the beginning of lots of catching up!

So a wonderful highlight of a few months ago is that our beautiful niece Cecilia (aka Cece) was baptized! She is such a sweetheart and we are so proud of her! Her older sister Rachel sang at her baptism and it was not only beautiful, but also so precious, heartfelt, and it brought the Spirit into the room so strongly! We love living so close to six of our nieces and nephews! (we SURE do miss the other nine though!)

Merry Christmas! We went and visited Temple Square right before Christmas. It doesn't matter how many times I've been there, I love this tradition every year we get the chance to do it!

We Love the Lights!!!!

We were home for Christmas...to my parents' home that is! We had such an awesome time with my family! We went skiing/snowboarding, played lots of games, went exploring out in the woods in our "backyard," and just had so much fun! But we missed having Katelyn and Steven there with us!

And of course, we had the traditional Dad riding a motorcycle into the living room after we opened presents! Only this time, it was a new bike that WAS one of the presents! I love that bike!

I love Lyska and Tyson, my youngest sister and brother. You guys are so much fun!

My wonderful parents..."Will you accept this rose?" haha, Dad found a rose in the car that had been for someone else, but he decided to go with it and gave it to Mom--it was cute!

Sailboating with family and friends! My cousin Joey and my Uncle Joe took a bunch of us sailboating while we were home. It was wet and rainy and cold, and we had a blast! (growing up in Washington teaches you to live in the moment regardless of what the weather is doing)

We stopped in Olympia for lunch and got to play in the water fountain for a few minutes! Loved it!

The group (left to right)--My brother Ki and his date, our dear friends Krista and TJ, Kent and me, Joey's date Tiffany and my cousins Joey and Tessa. Thank you Uncle Joe (he took the pic)

We had a wonderful Holiday season! Kent and I got to take part in our Stake Choir and Orchestra. We performed before going to Washington for Christmas. We sang in the Provo Tabernacle about a week before it burned down. We are grateful we had one last opportunity to be a part of something in that historic building, and we are sad for its loss. When Kent was on his mission in Provo, he got to direct the Utah Provo Mission Christmas Fireside with all of the missionaries and community members in the Tabernacle. He has many fond memories of that place!

Before going to Washington, I had an interview with Intermountain Healthcare at Primary Children's Outpatient Clinic in Riverton as a Medical Assistant and I got the job. I started at the beginning of January and am really enjoying it there.

We celebrated the New Year by driving home on New Year's Eve. We had all kinds of excitement that lengthened the drive--there was a train wreck along I-80 that caused them to close a 75 mile stretch of the freeway and gave us quite the detour on icy, curvy roads. The funny part is that we were able to get back on the freeway in time to actually see the train wreck! It was pretty crazy, with cars accordioned up just like on a movie! Unfortunately we didn't get the camera out in time. So with all of the delays, we hit the new year literally as we were pulling into Provo. We even got to see a couple firework shows from the freeway! It was unique, but so fun!

We are so grateful for wonderful family and friends that make up what matters most in our lives. We are grateful for the Gospel, which is what makes up the meaning of our lives. We have been blessed with so much and have had so many wonderful opportunities. We are grateful for each new day and the adventure it brings!

Dec 2009 Oct 2010

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It's the Beginning of a New Nixon Adventure!

I can't believe how negligent I have been on my posting since we moved to Utah. It's been on my mind, but each day that passes only makes the idea of "catching up" more overwhelming. In fact, I have something big, something HUGE that I have been so excited to announce, that I don't even know HOW to announce it! So, here it goes I guess:Many of you know that Kent and I have been struggling with infertility for the past 3+ years now (yes, we started trying 3 short months after we got married). It has been such an emotionally trying roller coaster, each day adding a new unexpected twist, dive, or turn. We have seen a wonderful infertility specialist, tried the fertility drugs, and even Artificial Insemination (IUI), all to no avail. While each of us tests healthy and "completely capable of conceiving," it's just not happening for us, yet. It has been the hardest thing I have ever had to deal with physically, emotionally, and spiritually. But I am grateful to a loving Heavenly Father for helping me through even my darkest hours. Though it continues to be difficult, both of us are growing in ways we never could have imagined.
Several months ago, we had a very personal, very spiritual experience that led us to the decision we have recently made to adopt. That's right, we have officially begun the adoption process through LDS Family Services and we couldn't be more excited! We met our caseworker last week, paid the deposit, and turned in a good chunk of our paperwork. We have attended half of the required training, and are expecting to be approved by December! We are so excited that it is hard to put into words. I will be writing a lot about our adventures, lessons learned, etc. as we continue this process. We are praying for our little Miracle to find us soon. I am excited to talk to you about our experience, so don't hesitate to talk to me! Thank you to our loving family and friends for their support; while we are brand new with this whole experience, we have already learned so much and are looking forward to this wonderful beginning to a new Nixon adventure!