Chris & Jen

Life Lately...

2012-01-20T17:05:00.000-07:00

Sooooo much has gone on over the last couple of months I don't even know where to start! Well... for starters, Christmas was awesome and we had so much fun that we didn't take any pictures!!! The good news is that we got a new camera for Christmas so we can now take hundreds of pictures! So the latest and greatest in the life of Chris and Jen, WE MOVED! It is temporary, but we are currently living in Jackson, Wyoming for the next 3 months! Chris got the opportunity to manage an H&R Block office up here so we put life on hold and headed up here for our next great adventure! So far it has been really good, we actually get to work together which is tons of fun. I work at the front desk answering phones while Chris is preparing tax returns. I just got here this week so we haven't really been able to explore and see what there is to do up here, but we love this little town and are excited. The bad news is that we were over a half hour late to work yesterday because of two fresh feet of snow! We are probably the only people up here who don't have a 4-wheel drive car or snow tires. I was very sad to have to put our lives back home on hold, I love my jobs and miss my family but it will be good for us to be on our own for a while.

Chris digging out our car with our window scrapper

In the midst of this big change, we have been struggling with some health scares. We don't know everything yet but the doctors think that Chris has a hole in his heart. It has been very scary going through all these different tests and things but we had to put all that on hold as well to come up here so we don't have any definite answers yet. Not only has Chris been having some scares, but one morning right before Christmas I actually had a seizure out of the blue. We ended up spending my mom's birthday in the ER, all of my test results came back completely normal, but I literally scared Chris to death. Although everything seems to be alright, I am not allowed to drive for the next 3 months which is the worst part! Through all this, we have learned to be very grateful and rely on the Lord. We know that everything happens for a reason and I know the Lord is only trying to teach us and help us grow. We are so excited to get away for the next couple months and spend some time alone without the stresses of life. That being said, we have plenty of room and would love to have visitors! It is such a beautiful town up here and there is actually SNOW!

Chris hooked up to all these heart monitors, running on a treadmill

Me in the ER (I was completely out of it obviously!)

2011-09-11T21:46:00.000-06:00

I am way behind on my posting, but here is our trip to Seattle, Washington August 15th-20th. My mother-in-law's Aunt and Uncle live up in Seattle on Lake Sammamish and we had the opportunity to go and visit them for a week. When we first got to Seattle, we headed over to the ferry which took us to the San Juan Islands. From there, we had the opportunity to spend a couple days on the island of Waldron which is clear up near the Canadian border. From San Juan island, Aunt Joyce and Uncle Gary picked us up in their boat and drove us to Waldron island. This island is only 4.6 square miles and only has about 100 full-time residents. The roads are all dirt and the only public building is a school. Although it sounds very boring, it was actually a gorgeous place and we had a lot of fun! We spent a lot of time at the beach, hiking, and driving motorcycles.

One of the days on the island we decided to head over to Roche Harbor on San Juan Island. We got to go in some million dollar yachts which were absolutely amazing! On the boat ride over we attempted whale watching, but had no luck:(.

We spent one day in Seattle which was a blast. We got to see all the touristy spots, the aquarium, the space needle, Pike's market, and Chris' favorites the Seahawks and Mariners stadiums.

The last day we spent at their lake house on Lake Sammamish. We went tubing on the lake and had a nice BBQ for lunch.

3 Years

2011-07-19T12:21:00.000-06:00

Time sure does fly when you are having fun! Three years ago today we were married for time and all eternity in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. I am so lucky to be married to such an amazing man and I am so grateful for all the little things he does for me each and every day. For our anniversary Chris planned a whole weekend getaway to Park City. Not only did he plan it but he packed and got everything ready so I didn't have to do a thing! We did so many fun activities and had a nice relaxing weekend, just the two of us! Here is a brief summary of what we did: Toured Olympic Park, walked main street, shopped, layed by the pool, mountain biked, rode the lifts, off roading in the jeep, & just hung out! Here are some pics:

Chris at the top of the Olympic bobsled track

Me at the top of the Olympic ski jumping track

Looking over Park City

Us with Canyons in the background

At Westgate Resort

Jeeping from Midway down through American Fork Canyon

Summer Fun!

2011-07-17T20:53:00.000-06:00

I know I am so behind, but here is what we have been up to this summer: As always, we went to Lake Powell with the Lohner side and had a blast! I love my in-laws and we always have so much fun together, I am so lucky to have such awesome in-laws! It was super windy all week so we ended up doing a lot of hikes. Here are some pics:

For the 4th, we went to Stadium of Fire on the 3rd. It was David Archuleta and Brad Paisley! During the day on the actual 4th we went hiking with our friends Sean and Ariel to the top of Squaw Peak and then had multiple family BBQ's!

My First 1/2 Marathon!

2011-06-13T14:47:00.000-06:00

So after Amber had Kaiden, she wanted to find some fun way to get back in shape so, we decided to try a half marathon. Amber, Spencer, and I signed up for the Utah Valley Half Marathon back in April. Although I didn't end up having too much time to train, it ended up being awesome! It was easier than I thought it would be and I loved the atmosphere! I finished 13.1 miles in 1 hour 41 minutes and 29 seconds, at an average pace of 7 minutes and 45 seconds a mile. I was the 138th person to cross the finish line and took 5th in my age division and actually won a plaque! The worst part about the whole experience was having to get up at 3:30 so we could ride a bus up to the starting line. We started just north of the Sundance turn off up Provo Canyon and ended at the Provo Tabernacle. They had porta-potties, water, Powerade and fruit every two miles and at the finish line. It was tons of fun and I hope to eventually be able to do a full marathon.....but we will see ha!

Chris looked down for a second and missed me running by....at least he got my backside ha!

The three of us at the finish line

Life After School

2011-05-17T13:43:00.000-06:00

So I thought that I would have so much time once I graduated but that hasn't happened yet!!! I have been really busy with soccer lately, I play on a bunch of teams, as well as coaching which takes up a lot of time. Well, after graduation, Chris really wanted to get away for a couple days so we headed down to Vegas with our friends Sean and Ariel. We stayed at the JW Marriott which was way nice and we pretty much just layed out by the pool and relaxed. Unfortunately, I fried my stomach and was in pain the last part of our trip! We had a lot of fun, but didn't really take any pictures. Here is a picture of the pool though:

This last Sunday my family went down to Gunnison to visit my Great Grandma Nielsen. She is such an amazing lady!!! At 95 years old she is completely with it, she lives by herself and is able to pretty much do everything without help. It has been a long time since I have been down there to visit her so the whole family decided to go down and have dinner with her. While we were there we decided to go and see my Great Grandpa's old farm. When he was alive, he made his living as a farmer. Although the farm is no longer in the family, my Grandpa and Dad know the owner and he let us walk around and see the old house and shed. It was really neat to see some of my family history and hear the stories that my dad and grandpa remembered about growing up and spending time farming. While Dad and Grandpa visited with the owner, us girls had some fun doing a photo shoot.

Chris loved the tractor

It was very windy!!!

The outhouse is still there!!!

GRADUATION

2011-05-06T13:26:00.000-06:00

Finally my school years are over! I graduated on Friday, April 29th from UVU with my Bachelors degree in Behavioral Science. I am so happy to finally be done. I had tons of support from family and friends at my graduation ceremony and at the after party. Thanks everyone for coming and sitting through boring graduation! After the ceremony, it was freezing cold so we only took a couple pictures. After that, we headed over to my moms for a some food. Tons of people showed up and it was fun to be able to visit for a while.

Me receiving my diploma!

My supportive husband

The whole gang! (Thanks everyone for coming:))

Me, Shayli, and Kandace at my moms afterwards

Happy Birthday Babe!

2011-04-12T21:05:00.001-06:00

My husband turned 25 on April 7th! I love him so much and am so grateful to have him in my life. For Chris' birthday I ditched school and we spent the whole day together! We went to lunch with Grandma and Grandpa Lohner at Olive Garden which was so yummy! After lunch, we went to the mall and bought Chris some new clothes. After shopping we went to see the Source Code. Finally, we headed home to relax for a while. That night we played futsal until about 1 in the morning at UFA! It was such a fun day, but the real party was on Friday night! Chris' best friend Sean's wife, Ariel's birthday is the 12th so Sean and I decided to throw a surprise party for them! It worked out really well! We had Chris and Ariel thinking that we were going somewhere up the canyon or something for dinner and we blindfolded them and took them to my parents. They had no idea where they were and they were completely surprised! They had no idea about the party and we had a really good turn out. There was tons of food and everyone had a good time.

The Fab 4 and our husbands, SO CUTE!!!

Part of the Birthday banner I made

Us girls

The Birthday boy and girl blowing out the candles!

BUSY!!!

2011-03-25T12:44:00.000-06:00

Life has been so busy lately! I know I am so bad at blogging but I really haven't had the time. I am in my last semester of school and I can't wait to be done. I graduate on April 29th, so just one more month! The bad thing is that this has been one of my busiest semesters. Not only is school super busy, but I am coaching two teams which has been so crazy trying to juggle practices and be to everything for both teams. I absolutely love coaching though! In February, we went down to a tournament with my 17's in St. George and we had a blast. Unfortunately it was awful weather and really muddy, but we still had fun and they took 2nd. My grandparents just bought a house down there so we got to spend some time with them. The homeshow was also going on at the same time so we went and saw tons of amazing homes which made me want to buy our own! Last weekend was our spring break and we had another tournament down in Vegas. Again, it wasn't the best weather but it was still way fun getting away! In between all the soccer, we did a lot of shopping. I didn't get to spend any of my birthday money yet because we have been so busy so we literally went everywhere, the outlets, the forum shops, and the fashion show mall! Even though Vegas is so dirty, we still love being on the strip because of all the lights and crazy people! On Sunday morning, we were done playing so instead of heading back home, we went to St. George and stayed with one of Chris's friend at his parent's home down there. We spent a couple hours in Zion's which is beautiful. We did get out and go on a little walk and saw some desert sheep which was cool. We got home Monday morning and are back to normal life. Chris is still working at Chili's which he loves, and will graduate in December. YAY!!! We are super excited for the changes that are to come in the near future.

Winter Fun

2011-01-16T20:22:00.000-07:00

Chris and I went snowshoeing this weekend with our friends Dave and Jen. We went up AF canyon by Tibblefork and hiked around for a couple hours. It was a beautiful day, the sun was shining and there was no smog up there! It was so peaceful and just fun to enjoy the mountains. Here are some pics!

New Years!

2011-01-06T23:51:00.000-07:00

For New Years this year we spent a week in Dallas, Texas for a wedding. Chris' cousin Ashlie got married on December 28th in the Dallas Temple. They are the same age and were close friends all growing up so we were very excited that we got to be there. Two of Chris' uncles live there as well as my aunt so we got to spend lots of time with family. It was a very busy week but we had tons of fun! On Monday, the 27th, we flew in to the Dallas airport and had to change in the bathroom into our nice clothes in order to make it on time to the wedding dinner. We had an amazing dinner at Maggianos and afterword headed back to Uncle Mike's for an after party for the bride and groom to be. The next day they had the ceremony at noon at the Dallas Temple and after pictures we headed to the Galleria mall which is huge! They have an ice skating rink and three stories of shops, I was in heaven!!! We made it back to Uncle Matt's just in time to leave for the reception. We were at the reception for almost five hours but we had a blast! The food was great, there was a dance floor, and lots of good company. The rest of the week we spent going to the gym, hanging out with Matt's four crazy boys, and visiting my aunt Collette in Allen. Our New Year's Eve was actually pretty lame. We went to Uncle Mike's and had take out, played games, and just hung out. We were all pretty pooped by the time midnight rolled around but we shot off some fireworks and did some sparklers and that was about it.

Chris and I at the wedding dinner

Chris and I at the reception


Chris and his cousin Ashlie

Aimee, Chris, me, and Grandpa at the Galleria

Aunt Collette, Cassandra, Ali, Scarlett, and me at their home in Allen, Texas

Chris with his cousin Brooks

'tis the season

2010-12-05T16:11:00.000-07:00

Christmas time is one of my favorite times of the year! After a flood in our little basement apartment, we finally got everything put back together and got our skinny little tree decorated. We are so excited to spend time with family and remember our Savior.

Thanksgiving

2010-11-30T00:03:00.000-07:00

This year for thanksgiving my mom took us to California. We stayed in the Marriott at Newport Beach and it was so amazing! The weather was amazing and it was absolutely beautiful there. We spent Thanksgiving day at Disneyland. On Friday we slept in and got to relax a little. We then drove around and looked at all the amazing yachts and then spent some time walking around the beach. Saturday we got to do a session at the Newport temple. It is a gorgeous temple. We also did some shopping, played tennis, hot tubed, and just relaxed. It was so warm, it was hard to come home to the snowy weather.

Us at Disneyland, The Happiest Place on Earth!

They had all the Christmas decorations at Disneyland and it was absolutely amazing how much they spend on decorating! If you haven't been around Christmas, you definitely need to go see it

This is the view from the pool with the ocean in the background

The Beach, the water was FREEZING!

The Newport Pier

The gorgeous temple

Chris, me, Amber and Spencer after doing a session at the temple

2010-10-03T21:37:00.003-06:00

I can't believe it is already October! I have been so busy that I haven't even had two seconds to blog. But.....I am now officially an aunt! My cute little nephew Kaiden Nielsen Johnson was born on September 13th. He was 7 lbs and 11 oz and 19 1/2 inches. He definitely has some Nielsen in him, his feet and hands are sooo big! He is healthy and happy and just such a cute baby. Here is a picture of him next to my cousin Allison's baby Scarlett who is two and a half weeks older than him. He is way bigger than her but they are both so cute!

This is me and Kaiden, he was getting hungry!

We got to go up and see the Lion King last weekend with my parents and sister. It was so amazing! All the costumes and music was so good! We really enjoyed it even though we aren't huge on theater.

July 2010

2010-07-31T17:57:00.004-06:00

This past month has been crazy busy, it just flew by!!! We had so much family here so tons of cousins and family gatherings. For the 4th of July we were able to go to the Stadium of Fire with my family and see Carrie Underwood. It was so good and she is just so amazing and talented!

The week of the 12th the Lohner's always go to Bear Lake and my family was going to Lake Powell so we decided to split and go to both. We went to Bear Lake on Monday and did just about everything we could until we had to leave on Wednesday morning. We went skiing, went golfing, played tennis, went for a bike ride and of course had the famous raspberry shakes! On Wednesday I had soccer practice at 2:30 and then right after that we headed to Powell with Melissa and my cousin Nate. It was a Carter family reunion and none of them have ever been there so they had a blast down there!

The next weekend we celebrated our anniversary on friday, even though it was really on Monday. We went up to Park City for the day and just enjoyed the fresh mountain air! We went shopping, strolled main street and rode a lift up the mountain and back. It is so pretty up there! Then on Saturday the 24th, we went to the Bees game with Amber and Spencer, Sean and Ariel, and Katie and my cousin Nate. They did an awesome firework show after the game.

The last event of the month was Amy Jill's wedding! The last of the fab four is finally married! After dating since the 8th grade, her missionary is finally home and they tied the knot at a beautiful ceremony in the Salt Lake Temple on July 30th, 2010. The dinner was the night before at the Sleepy Ridge golf course and then the reception was the night of at the Sun River Gardens.

2010-06-20T11:51:00.004-06:00

This last weekend we had so much fun! Friday we played tennis and then had a fire in Shay's backyard with the fab four and all our boys. On Saturday we woke up early to go to the lake and skied all morning. We rushed home and then went hiking up to Stewart Falls with the Lohner's and Sean and Ariel came as well. It was a pretty hike and when we got up there, we went exploring. We were pretty much rock climbing with no ropes and it was so scary! We climbed almost to the top of the water fall. After our hike, we drove around and saw all the pretty cabins up at Sundance and then we went back home to get ready for the Strawberry Days Rodeo. We got all dressed up and had so much fun watching all the cowboys! Here are a few pictures from the weekend!

Cruise 2010

2010-06-10T23:22:00.006-06:00

We had the opportunity to go on a cruise with our good friends Sean and Ariel Stephan. We went to the islands of St. Thomas, St. Maarten, and Cococay (a private island owned by the cruiseline). We went with Royal Caribbean on the Freedom of the Seas and we absolutely loved every minute of our trip! It was so nice to get away and actually get some sun.

This is us on the ship leaving Port Canaveral, Florida

COCOCAY: We had to be tendered over to the island because it is so small. This is a picture of our ship from the island. It was a beautiful day and we spent most of our time here relaxing on the beach.

ST. THOMAS: On St. Thomas we went Kayaking up a river to an island where we snorkeled and went hiking. It was a beautiful day with overcast so it wasn't too hot.

ST. MAARTEN: On St. Maarten we rented ATV's and drove around the whole island. It was so fun, we went to tons of beaches and got to see first hand how the people live. By the end of the day it started pouring rain and we couldn't help but laugh because we were the only people driving ATV's out in the rain!

THE SHIP: The sea days were so fun because the ship itself was sooo amazing! There was always something to do. We relaxed up on deck and enjoyed the sun, we tried the flowrider which is way harder than it looks, we went miniature golfing, and of course ate ALOT!

The ice skating show.

These are our amazing waiters in the dining room! We really got to know them and they treated us like gold. The dinners were so fun.

We loved going to shows at nights. Our cruise director was hilarious and the entertainers were very talented.

THE AIRPORT: Here is us sitting with our luggage on our way home. We sat at the Orlando airport for 5 hours! Good thing there were plenty of shops to keep us busy!

Life Lately!

2010-05-11T21:37:00.002-06:00

We have been so busy lately! We finally finished up school and finals only to have Chris right back to class. He is taking two classes over the summer so hopefully we will both be able to graduate together in the Spring of 2011. While he is doing school in the mornings, I am now working full time at the dental office. I have been very blessed to have this job, it is a great environment and I have a pretty cool boss :)! Chris is still working at Chili's which has been a great job as well, even though the hours are awful! We hardly see each other Monday through Thursday because I am asleep before he gets home and leave before he gets up and by the time I get home, he is gone! I guess that is just how it goes once you get married. We are keeping very busy in hopes that somewhere in the near future we won't have to work so hard.

Dental Assisting School!!!

2010-04-16T11:13:00.001-06:00

I work at my father-in-laws dental office and over the summer he is doing a Dental Assisting School. It is a great opportunity to get some hands on experience in a real office. Dental Assisting is a great job and they get paid very well. The school is just over the summer in the evenings so spread the word ASAP and lets get people signed up!! Check out the website at http://utahdentalassistingschool.com/

2010-03-31T22:36:00.002-06:00

My amazing husband asked me out this last weekend on a romantic date! He decorated the bathroom while I was asleep with roses and chocolate kisses and left a note asking me on a fancy date the following evening. He didn’t give me any details other than I was to wear a fancy dress and be ready by 6.

We went and picked up our friends Blaine and Kristen and then the boys blindfolded us girls and then we drove around forever. They took us to the Lohner’s house where they had slaved away all day on ACTUALLY COOKING a nice dinner for us and decorating the dining room with flowers and candles. We had the best dinner- made by our adorable husbands- and they even served us!!!

Dinner turned out great and it was so much fun to get dressed up and all ready for something nice. I am so lucky to have such a thoughtful husband who takes care of my every need. We have so much fun together and are truly in love!

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2010-03-25T14:43:00.006-06:00

Finally we got some sun! For our spring break we went to Disneyland with our friends Shayli and Kenyon. We had a blast! We went to California Adventure on Thursday the 18th and we loved the rollercoaster! The next day we did Disneyland and our favorites were Space Mountain and Indiana Jones. By the end of the day the rides kept breaking down and we ended up having to walk off the Thundermountain railroad after being stuck in a tunnel for 20 minutes. The atmosphere is still magical, even though the rides aren't quiet as thrilling as I remember haha. On Saturday we went and walked around the Huntington beach and then drove to Vegas for the evening. I love California, it was so beautiful and the homes were amazing! I would live there in a heartbeat- if there was no traffic!!! Overall it was a great trip and it was good to have a break from school while hanging out with some friends.

Here are some pictures of the trip

2010-02-07T22:40:00.006-07:00

Yesterday Chris and I went Snowmobiling with our friends Sean and Ariel. We went up by Strawberry Reservoir and it was so pretty! It was a beautiful day and we had so much fun. Sean's family are avid snowmobilers and he is all about jumps and tricks. It is cool to watch him try new things. This is only my second time going and I love it. It is so different from four-wheeling. We get going 80 mph on those things and you literally feel like you are floating. It started snowing and getting foggy towards the end but other than that the weather was great! Here are a few pictures of our adventure!

Sean jumping

Me and Ariel

The four of us

2010-01-19T19:26:00.005-07:00

So Vegas was a blast this weekend! It was the first time my little U-16 team has played together before and they did awesome! We ended up losing in the semi-final game but I was so impressed with how well they played together and stepped up to the challenge. I absolutely love coaching and want to continue doing it for a long time.

Chris was able to come with me down there and we spent all afternoon together Saturday and all day Sunday together. Chris' aunt and uncle live down there and we got to spend some time with them which was fun. The best part was just hanging out in our hotel room and watching 24!!! We are on season 3 and once we get started on a season, we literally can't stop! It is addicting.

2010-01-08T23:51:00.004-07:00

Chris and I have been so blessed this year! We had an amazing Christmas and were able to spend so much time with tons of family. We enjoyed every second of it. We also got spoiled for Christmas. For the New Year we went down to Phoenix to visit some friends and enjoy the sun! We had a blast and randomly bumped in to President Uchtdorf while we were there at the Scotsdale mall. It was so cool to be able to shake his hand and see him out of a suit and tie. His wife was so cute and was so happy to have him spend some time with her shopping. I am starting to coach a U-16 soccer team this spring and am so excited! We are going down to Vegas next weekend for a tournament and I can't wait to get going on the season.

2009-12-15T21:26:00.004-07:00

I love Christmas time! There is finally some snow on the ground which makes it feel more like Christmas. Chris and I have been getting in the Christmas spirit lately. We made an adorable gingerbread house, we decorated our small little Christmas tree and we went up to temple square to see the lights. It is so nice to finally get a break from school and work and really spend time with family and friends. We are so grateful for all of our blessings and for the opportunity to focus on our Savior's birth.

2009-11-20T13:38:00.003-07:00

We went to Lake Powell over Fall Break with both the Nielsen's and the Lohner's. It was such a blast to be on the new houseboat. It was still way warm suprisingly. On the way home, dad hit an antelope pulling the boat. It was crazy! The thing exploded into a ball of fur. We just about had a three car pile-up. We finally made it home safely at two in the morning!

2009-09-15T21:22:00.007-06:00

We finally moved back from Houston! We moved down there at the end of April for summer sales and we had so much fun and met tons of new friends. While Chris went out and knocked doors all day, I stayed home and hung out with girls by the pool, went shopping and toured the town. I did work a little while I was doing this all, I was the office girl. When they made a sale they would call me and I would send a tech. Easiest job in the world! All I had to do was have my phone with me and I could do whatever I wanted. While we were there, one of the wives did a photo shoot of me and Chris. Above are some of my favorite pics.

2009-09-15T21:09:00.003-06:00

I finally got a blog! So much has happened in the last couple months. Chris and I celebrated our first anniversary on July 19th. He took me to dinner at my favorite restaurant, The Cheesecake Factory. He took me shopping and bought me a pair of shorts and sunglasses and then we finished out the night at a hotel in downtown Houston. We had a blast!