Happy (very) belated birthdays Alaina & Ryan!!

I never got around to sending anything for Laney and Ryan's b-days (or Christmas for that matter- haha, Tristan and Matt I promise you'll get your gifts some day!), but here's some cute pics of them you can look at!




they really love each other


this is a few years old of Laney.

this is actually a really funny story... Ryan kept trying to attack the cat

classico.

Vero Beach

As you probably know, Dad loves the three of us more than any of the rest of you, and therefore, he took Scott, Andrew, and myself down to Florida last weekend for an awesome trip. We got to visit Holman Stadium, and the entire Dodgers spring training complex. We got up close and personal with many of the star players; Dad even got to work one on one with Brad Penny to help perfect his curve ball. We stayed in Melbourne, Cocoa Beach, and Satellite Beach. Along with seeing the Dodgers play, we also got to visit the beach, watch an Astros-Nats game, eat fried frog legs, and see an alligator! We really had a good time, thanks again Dad!! We owe you big time.

up close with the Boys in Blue

sorry Shellie, I tried to deter them...


Dad's new pet pelican

supporting the cause

well, since no one else in my immediate family seems to have caught on to blogging, i guess i'll continue to carry the weight of our nielson family blog by publishing most of the posts. some people had asked about blogs of extended family members, i don't know how to permanently put a link on the side bar, but here they are if you're interested:


http://brianandcalliehill.blogspot.com/
http://sethillama.blogspot.com/ (cousin Seth's-- one of my personal favs)
http://brohill.blogspot.com/ (Brad & Lupe)
http://adamandkarentracy.blogspot.com/ (cousin Karen & her husband)
http://lafamiliahill.blogspot.com/ (cousin Scott & his family)
http://scottandsasha.blogspot.com/
http://daveanddana.blogspot.com/
http://danielandrobin.blogspot.com/ (okay they're not family, but Robin (formerly Salas) just had her baby, if you wanna see some photos of the little guy)

Most of the David and Brad Hills are represented here. Not sure if Uncle Al & Aunt Kate, or Aunt Dianne are into the blogging thing, but let me know if they have pages! I don't want to leave anyone out due to ignorance. maybe seeing how good some of our family blogs are, you'll be inspired to post something! in the mean time, i put some old random photos up, beware some of them are a few years old! some of the grandkids look a lot younger in these, and some of the uncles (not mentioning any names- Andrew) look a few lbs lighter. haha. love, b





i absolutely love this pic of Christian at Lake Tahoe, this is from a couple summers ago, i went to visit them when i was living in Elko

Kathleen, Aunt Dianne, and me just this past Thanksgiving '07


Classic shot of Grant at the Imperial Beach Reunion, i believe July of '05


cute shot of Scott and Monte at a Dodgers Game, summer '05

the seldom seen Danny, Thanksgiving '06

B @ work

hey fam, i thought i'd post a bunch of photos from ski patrol up so you could all see and know what i do all day. i love my job!

this first shot was taken on a super pretty day a couple weeks ago. there was a crazy inversion going on (when the valleys are really gross and overcast and the mountains are above it all, so it's gorgeous and sunny)

this is a bomb that we use in avalanche control work. it's a 2- pound hand charge. (it doesn't have any cap or fuse attached to it in this photo, it's not yet assembled)

this is one of my favorite dogs. they are super fun to work with and we do drills all the time to keep their searching skills sharp


i broke a ski last week and i was super bummed. hopefully i can get it replaced for free or cheap. i was going too fast in a bumpy, deep section and took a pretty bad tumble. i'm glad it was my ski and not my leg!




this is when AirMed (one of the emergency care helicopters in Utah) came to do some training. if an injury is severe enough, we will actually call AirMed or Life Flight to land on the resort and fly the patient to a trauma center hospital

another pretty day




all 3 of our avalanche rescue dogs: Mick, Oakley, & Chloe


this vid shows me igniting a 4-lbs air blast. it was my first time doing a double (we usually only do 2-pounders) and also my first time throwing the tomahawk. usually they are not attached to sticks like this.

this video shows the results of the bomb i threw; a pretty decent sized avalanche, you can't see much with the picture quality but it ran probably a good 1/2 mile down the chute

Turns out Orange County is more dangerous than Guatemala...

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Andrew by a cathedral in Antigua













Dad was relieved that i came home...

















...although he didn't know what to think of Jose, my new boyfriend!












look Mom, i even went to church (in a tank top and a tie-dye skirt!)







passing the travel bible onto Danny-- can you believe 3 Nielsons in Guatemala in less than a month? what are the chances?!






Volcan Pacaya, unfortunately this is the only pic we have from the hike :(


@ Tikal, the famous Mayan ruins



cliff jumping in Lake Atitlan, in case you can't identify me without the head, this is a picture of B; Andrew cut my head off

the Scott Nielson crew at the Mesa, AZ temple


us at the BYU game


Skyler's soccer game-- he scored 2 goals!!
(should have been three...)




Christian's cross country meet. he can run 5 miles without stopping (and he has an ipod to show for it :)


my gregarious nephew with his rockin' mom (kim- OUR mom described your look as "a deer caught in the headlights")

my many domestic travels

Emilie made an awesome sign for the game!

Monte and i adventured all over the ASU campus, we even took climbed to the "A" on the hill above Sun Devil Stadium!















Dad, Jacob, and Andrew @ the BYU game


hi family. i've been all over the place since my lifeguarding job ended about a month ago. i went to arizona to visit scott and shellie (and to see the dodgers vs. d-backs) and to joshua tree national park. i also went to new york/boston/philadelphia/DC for about a week and a half. a bunch of the fam was in vegas two weekends ago to watch my alma mater beat UNLV in football. after vegas, i went to death valley national park and mammoth on my way up to visit the greenmen for a few days. they were kind enough to take me in on only a few hours notice (thanks again kim!). after carson city, i drove over to berkeley, where one of my best friends from high school, analisa, now attends college. i was going to extend the trip a bit but the california wildfires kind of forced me to rearrange my driving plans (what with all the road closures). anyways, there's an abbreviated version of my itinerary, and here are some fun photos! love you all, b

Spivey & B go to Havasupai

Hey everyone, Andrew and I went to Havasupai last week for a few days. You backpack in (about 10 miles), downhill. Then on your way out it's 10 miles uphill so it's a bit of a struggle, especially for my extremely out of shape brother. Regardless, it was super fun and I'm glad I finally got to go see the falls I've heard so much about from Dad, Matt, Danny, and Andrew.

Hoover Dam, on the drive there

Andrew showing how "extreme" he is
The main falls, Havasu



Mooney falls, it's much more narrow and tall

Kristina's Pics

Hey everyone, sorry I haven't blogged in a while. I have not had internet at home, so it makes it rather difficult. I thought I'd show you some pictures of what I've been up to. Zoob bought a new car- a Subaru Forester- from an online auto auction in Seattle. I had a free Delta voucher, so we both flew out there for the weekend and drove it back to Utah. We stayed with one of his mission companions in Seattle and with my old Forest Service roommate in Portland. We had a blast, I've only been to the Pacific Northwest one other time- when we got that beach house with Uncle Al & family in Cannon Beach. It was great to see both cities- Seattle was fantastic! Happy pre-birthday to Mom and Christian! Love you guys- B






This is from Dad's latest visit to Utah. Notice the Snowbird/Alta shirt being worn by a man who has not skied in 2 years.
The Space Needle





This is from August- it was my first time mountain biking at Sundance after the "accident." The bearded man is my boyfriend.










Shout out to Papa Nielson: Redondo Beach, WA







Zoob & I at the flagship REI store in Seattle, it's HUGE! Bigger than any department store I've ever been in.