Brilliant Brand Awareness

Kudos to the marketing geniuses at Starbucks, McDonalds, and Nickelodeon. Jasper at the ripe old age of 20 months can locate any and all Starbucks and proceed to scream "nana loaf" at the top of his lungs until I give in a buy him some banana loaf and of course a latte for me (from which he demands a sip). Jasper also can identify "Don-alds" even though he has been there less times than I can count on one hand, and of course will only wear one singular pair of running shoes every single day (despite the fact he has loads of lovely boots and cute shoes to choose from) and those are his "Go Diego Go" sneakers....sigh.

A few random shots from this weekend....a new tricycle from Mimi and Papa!

Vegas baby....

We are the king and queen of the "self-portrait!"

In the course of one week I had not only my first overnight trip away from Jasper, but my first actual "get-on-a-plane-and-fly-away-for-2-days-and-nights" trip without Jasper. I decided to take the opportunity this year to meet Aaron in Vegas at the end of his work trip for CES. I think the hardest part of the trip was the anticipation of leaving Jasper and actually getting out the door, but once I was safely cruising at 30000 feet I started to relax and get into the vacation spirit. Night one - we hit the buffet and cruised the strip - inhaled tons of second hand smoke from the casinos - drank some drinks and called it an early night (but one with 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep!). Friday called for some daylight cruising of the strip, a blissful hour of shopping in Sephora, a 100$ jackpot for me at slots, a quick trip to the Outlet Mall and a lovely long dinner topped off with drinks and the Blue Man Group....Much love and thanks to Grandma Day who took such amazing care of her grandson, he is so lucky to have you! xo

Momma's night out

I am so fortunate to have so many great friends in my life. Some of these friends I have had since high-school (and grade school!) and are still very special, very important parts of my life. So what a treat that 4 of my girlfriends from high school and I descended upon Bear Mountain Resort in Victoria for 24 hours of drinking, laughing, spa-ing and eating, and here's the best part - all without our kids! (insert major thank you to all the grandmas for looking after said kids!!)
On a bittersweet note - its the last time I will see my pal Janet for awhile as she is off to Sydney Australia in 2 weeks to begin an exciting new chapter in her life...good luck Jano - I will miss you!

"Wi" wish you a Happy 2008!

We rang in 2008 this year with some good friends at Casa Nielsen. We managed to get the kids down at the decent hour of 10pm after a whole lotta surf and turf and the most heavenly homemade tiramisu (thank you Nathan!). Surprisingly all of us made it not only to midnight, but well past to the wee hours of 2:30am - I think the intensity of the Wi tennis competition helped all of us push through the fatigue...congrats to Ron who holds the title of Wi Tennis Champ for 2008!
Happy 2008 to all of our friends and family - we wish you nothing but happiness, health, and many new and exciting adventures!

Christmas Numero Dos - Nielsen Style

After much merriment on the 23rd we were ready to hit the road to join the rest of the Nielsen/Miller clan up at the cabin. Aaron was particularly motivated to get there as Olde Mor promised a Danish smorg upon his arrival - pickled herring and beets for everyone (gulp!).

Jasper managed to figure out how to climb out of his playpen and onto our bed in all of about 10 seconds, so that made for an interesting few nights and more than one late night poke on the nose for me by my little one looking to play at 4am!

Christmas is always magical up at the cabin - the fire burning in the stove, the snow covered surroundings, dancing (and singing) around the Xmas tree, and of course always the holiday food and drink! Best of all, showers and changing out of your pajamas is not required - even by supper!

Santa arrived early Xmas morning and left a mound of treats for the entire fam. It took the better part of the day to open everything, and even then there were gifts left! Guess we were all very very good this year.

Christmas Numero Uno - Day Style

This year, we hosted the Day Family Xmas at Casa Nielsen on Dec 23rd. Was nice to finally have an excuse to decorate the house and deck the halls and all that festive stuff. The day started out with a trek up Mt Seymour (in the new Volvo - now christened "Curtis") for family tobagoning, only to discover that the perfectly peaceful day down at our house was actually a windstorm up on top of Seymour! So, the Days braved the wind (even Paigey!) and had some good rips down the hill, the Nielsens camped out in the Volvo, out of the wind (this was Jaspers decision after many tears, not mine!).

Later, we ate many an appie and drank many a drink and we were spoiled as always by our family. Best of all was the time spent together as an extended family and seeing Jasper really connect with his cousins.

Sprinkles, sprinkles everywhere!

On sunday we had our first annual casa nielsen kids xmas and cookie decorating party. I think I will be cleaning up sprinkles, frosting, and cookie crumbs well into 2008 but it was well worth it as a good time was had by all (above and below the age of 3).

My New Baby.....

Well after a week of some paperwork and a few trips across the border, here she is (although imagine her in black)..my stealth momma wagon! Mmmmmm....love the momma wagon!

Xmas Fete-ing

On Saturday night Jasper met Triana Aleman and I think it was love at first sight. Lets hope this is all they do on a bed for many many years to come!

Team Nielsen had a busy weekend helping celebrate young Sonje Vanderkuips first birthday (yum cupcakes!) and fete-ing in Ladner at the Days on Sunday.

We may have also bought a "new" car in the US of A on Monday...pics to be posted as soon as we clear the border later this week!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Aaron spent the ENTIRE weekend hanging my energy efficient LED lights - who knew trying to save the environment would cause such a problem for him? We also had our first BIG snowfall - so lovely and Christmasy but a right old &$*$$*# to drive in (even with 4WD). Tonight we put up the (fake) Christmas tree (again, for the environment) and decked the halls, it realy is beginning to look alot like Christmas at Casa Nielsen. Now, to begin the shopping...argh.

Tour de Rock

We just got back from a whirlwind trip to the Island. Stopped in Nanaimo on Thursday night to visit Great Grandpa Nielsen and see his new house, and then down to Victoria to see Grandma and Grandpa Day. Ate much apple crisp (thanks Mom!) and had a great time at the museum and the park and at Matthias' birthday party!

Jasper also had his first haircut today! Went ok for the first 3 minutues thanks to a Dora video and a spinny wheel to play with, but unfortunately he gave out before the back was done, although I hear asymmetrical cuts are all the rage right now.....

Jasper the Magic Dragon

Jasper went trick or treating yesterday for the very first time and did very well. It only took him one house to figure out how to reach into the candy bowl and grab a candy, and then another, and then another, and then another......no wonder he scored 15 treats in only 5 houses!

Fall Fun

Jasper decided to "help" Dada the other day rake all the leaves in the backyard....

A Mu-mu and the Boo Boo

Hoorah - Mimi's Mexico pics arrived today! I finally discovered the beauty of the crazy tie-dyed beach mu-mu whilst on this vacation - so light and comfy, and lots of room for cerveza bloat!

Me and my mu-mu and the boo boo at the beach

Viva le Mexico!

The Nielsens in Bucerias!

Team Nielsen, very hot and sweaty in PV

Uno mas cerveza, por favor!

What is it with me and cameras.....????
Our camera battery died on the first day, during the first hour so there aren't many pics to share right now (waiting for Mimi's shots).

View from the apartment....

Jasper's entire MX diet - milk and puffs.....

Three things I learned on this trip:
1. I really, really love guacamole
2. I really, really hate humidity
3. I actually like beer, as long as its served on a beach and with mucho limon

For the second time in 2007 Team Nielsen (plus Mimi and Papa C) travelled down south to the warm climes of Mexico. Final destination was Bucerias - a little town about 20K north of Puerto Vallarta and a most excellent location for a vacation...not a lot of tourists, authentic Mexican village living, a beautiful 2br apartment owned by family friends, really friendly locals (esp. when I spoke to them in butchered espanol), and an amazing stretch of beach with bathtub warm water. Bliss!

Congrats x 3 and a birthday

Congratulations to Ron and Monica for getting hitched on Saturday - it was a beautiful day despite the rainy weather!

Congrats to the Days for taking posession of their new house!

Congrats to the Vanderkuips for taking posession of their new house - and only 5 mins away from us! Hoorah!

Happy birthday to Auntie Alison!