Our Blog

Charlotte Joanne Nelson

2011-07-19T12:31:00.000-07:00

Charlotte Joanne Nelson was born on 1.11.11 at 3:18 pm without a heartbeat. She weighed 5 lbs 14 oz and was 20 inches long. She was beautiful.

I am writing this post because I know a lot of people want to know what happened, but don't know how to ask or if they should. We appreciate everyone being considerate of our feelings, but we're okay talking about it. And we definitely don't want anyone to feel weird around us or withhold important information from us because they think it might make us sad.

My last day of work was 1.7.11 and I moved to Provo on 1.8.11. On Sunday 1.9.11 Matt and I were at church in our new ward, and little Charlotte was kicking like crazy during Sunday School. And that was the last time that I remember feeling her move. I went to bed Sunday night thinking it was weird that she wasn't moving, but thought she was tired from all the moving and stress I'd been going through and figured she was sleeping. However, Monday morning when I woke up and she still wasn't moving I knew something was wrong. Matt and I went over to UVRMC and went to the emergency room. Apparently the ER doesn't deal with people that are more than 12 weeks pregnant, and I was 36 weeks, so we were sent up to labor & delivery. The admitting process took forever. At least it felt like it took forever. A baby's life was hanging in the balance, and they were worried about getting Matt's work information and my cell phone number. When we were finally admitted, we were taken to a room and they asked me to put on one of those awesome hospital gowns. Again I felt like time was being wasted. Why couldn't they just get an ultrasound machine and check to see if she was moving? After I finally got changed and ready the nurse came in and used a stethoscope thing to find a heartbeat. She searched all over my stomach and couldn't hear anything. So she went to get an ultrasound machine to find the heartbeat. I was terrified. I knew something was wrong and was just praying that I was wrong and panicking for no reason. Our nurse came in with the ultrasound machine and started looking for Chuck's heartbeat. When we saw her on the monitor she wasn't moving and there was no movement in the area where you should be able to see the heartbeat. You could tell she felt bad and didn't want to be the one to tell us that our baby had died, but she didn't need to tell us. We could see that there was no movement. That little ultrasound monitor that once brought us so much joy, was now the thing that brought us the most pain and sadness we've ever experienced.

The delivery was difficult and forceps had to be used, but we made it through. They let us keep Charlotte with us overnight and spend some time with her before the guy from the mortuary came. Our families came and got to hold her and see what a beautiful baby she was. We will always miss and love our baby girl and look forward to the day we get to see her again. And we are so grateful for the time we got to spend with her. Even if it was just a few short hours with her lifeless body, it was so special and sacred for us to be together as a family.

Thank you again for all your love and prayers that you have sent our way over the past few months. It has made all the difference in the world.

Baby Coming!!

2010-09-29T09:26:00.000-07:00

We're really excited about our new little addition that will be joining us in February. Hopefully by the time she comes out she's a little cuter than this.
At least she's smiling and seems to be pretty content with where she's at. Let's hope she stays that way for a while :)

Matt with straight hair?!?!?!

2009-02-17T07:02:00.000-08:00

So some of you, I'm sure, have spent evenings wondering, "what would Matt Nelson look like with straight hair?" Well wait no longer my friends. Because we finally did it. We straightened his hair. Now try to put all of your ideas of how Matt normally looks aside and let me know what you truly think of the new do. Enjoy! I know I did!

Almost my Birthday

2009-01-28T08:53:00.000-08:00

So, usually when Matt asks me what I want for my birthday, I say something like....."Oh I don't really need anything" or "I don't know". But I have come to realize that with a husband, or anyone else for that matter, you won't get what you want unless you tell them. So Matt this is for you.....now you will know.

1 I want new clothes, and not just one sweater, I want a whole new wardrobe. And I know we can't afford for me to get a new wardrobe, but I still want it.

2 I want to go on a surprise vacation. It doesn't have to be somewhere too fancy like Italy or New Zealand, but I wouldn't mind a cruise or a trip to Hawaii or Disneyland (we do have season passes...remember?). That's not asking too much is it?

3 I want a new couch! And not just any couch, I want the couch at Z-Gallerie that is like sitting on a giant teddy bear. Cause I love it!!

4 I want to be pampered in a spa (massage, pedicure, manicure and maybe another massage). It just sounds so relaxing.

5 I want to get our tv/internet fixed so I can add more things to my blog and people won't think I am a slacker.

6 I want a Wii Fit...oh wait, I already got that.

7 I want to see some friends that we haven't seen in a while (ex: Frisby's, Lifferth's, Stucki's, Whitaker's, Mildenstein's) There are more of you too that I want to see, I am just helping Matt come up with a few ideas.

8 I want Rock Band. Then people will want to come and play games with us. Also cause it's really fun and I want to play it.

9 I want laser hair removal. For everything. Cause I think I might hate shaving more than I hate Kiera Knightley on Pirates 2.

10 I want to eat sushi more. Cause it turns out I really like it.

I think after reading all the things I want, you might realize why I say things like...."Oh I don't really need anything" or "I don't know". Cause I know most of it, is just not feasible right now. But maybe a couple things are? Yes? I guess I will just have to wait and see. The anticipation is killing me!!

4 Year Anniversary

2008-11-13T16:26:00.000-08:00

Well....today is mine and Matt's four year anniversary! I can't believe it either. We always tell people that we didn't even think we would make it this long. Always in a kidding manner, but really in this day and age 4 years can be quite an accomplishment. I just wanted to take the opportunity to say how much I appreciate my husband. He is so amazing! Here are just a few things that I love about Matt and being married to him.
1. I love Matt for loving me
2. I love being married and always having someone to turn to.
3. I love Matt for being such a good friend to everyone he meets. (I wish I was more like him in this aspect)
4. I love Matt for always being able to help me laugh off the things that really don't matter, but for some reason hurt my feelings. (I'm such an emotional wreck sometimes)
5. I love Matt for trying so hard in school, because he wants to get a good job to support me and our future family. (No I am not announcing anything.....so stop asking)
6. I love Matt for making dinner on the nights that I am just so exhausted from work. I don't have to ask him to do it, he just does.
7. I love having someone that knows all the inside jokes and laughs along with me, even when no one else is.
8. I love Matt for telling me that I am beautiful when I am feeling at my very worst.
9. I love Matt for liking, or at least pretending to like, my cooking......when I do it.
10. I love Matt for everything that he is and everything that we are together.
Thanks honey for four awesome years!!! Can't wait to see what happens next!!

Capital G

2008-11-08T14:51:00.000-08:00

No I am not referring to the Nine Inch Nails song (although it is a good one), I am referring to our new little kitty. His name is Capital G. Everyone asks for the story behind it so here it is. My sister Bree found some abandoned kittens at her work. She found them when they were about a week old and so she found herself taking care of five newborn kittens. One weekend we were all at a wedding and Bree brought the kittens. We didn't want to get too attached to the kittens so we were just calling them by what color their fur was. Unfortunately, there were to gray kittens. So Bree came up with the genius idea of calling one gray and one gray with a capital G. The whole "don't want to get too attached" thing didn't really work (obviously) and I ended up taking one of the gray kitties. Matt and I thought Capital G was actually kind of a cool name.....so we stuck with it! Now G is a part of our family and we just love him to death! He is so stinking cute. We have actually had him for about three months now and he is getting so big. So here are some pictures of G through the ages. Enjoy!!

Matterhorn.....Take Two!!!

2008-06-21T13:34:00.000-07:00

Well we attempted to visit the Matterhorn earlier this week and it just didn't work out. We went to Zermatt, where the Matterhorn is located, and it was so cold and foggy that we couldn't see anything. I mean nothing, not even a hint of the mountain was visible. So now that we are into our free days Matt and I decided to give it one more shot. And it was so worth it!! It was a gorgeous day, not a cloud in the sky! We spent more time on the train getting there, than we actually spent in Zermatt, but it was worth it to me. It seems like if you are going to be in Switzerland then you should see the Matterhorn while you are there. Others may not agree with me, but I don't care. I thought it was an incredible sight to see!

This was the first attempt to see the Matterhorn. Not a whole lot to write home about.

This was attempt number two! Obviously a much better day! So glad I got to see it!

Yvoire!!

2008-06-10T14:30:00.000-07:00

So today we went to France!! It was just across Lake Geneva, so it wasn't too far, but now I can say I went to France. So that's cool. Yvoire was a cute little town with lots of shops and naked old ladies laying out of the dock trying to get a tan. Matt and I were really thrown off when we saw this old lady just roll down the top part of her one piece swimsuit to tan her upper half. It was like a train wreck, we just couldn't look away!! Yikes!! We spent quite a bit of time in Yvoire, but before that we were in a little town called Nyon. That is still in Switzerland. There we got a kebab. Which isn't meat on a skewer if that is what you are thinking. It is this awesome sandwich with mystery meat (I find it better not to ask what I am eating over here, it just makes it easier) and lettuce and tomato and carrots and chili sauce and other things and it is amazing!! The chili sauce a was a little spicy for me so I had Matt go and fill our camelback with water at the fountain nearby. Unfortunately, Matt can be a little bit of a klutz and he spilled water on this lady that was sitting near the fountain eating her lunch. She was not impressed with Matt and said a few choice words to him. Lucky for us, we didn't understand a word she said! Good times!

Cowbells

2008-06-08T10:18:00.000-07:00

So today was our first free day since we arrived in Switzerland. It was kind of weird not having a set schedule. Usually we are constantly looking at the clock to make sure we aren't late to something. Most the time we don't even know what we are late to, but we know we are late. So it really threw us off this morning to wake up and not have anywhere to be. So we were pretty lazy the first part of the day. I read a lot in my book and we just kind of hung around until about noon or so. By then we were all getting a little antsy to get outside, so Matt and I and our roomies Jackson and Eliza decided that we would go for a walk to Aigle. Which is about a 30 minute train ride from Leysin where we are staying. We walked for about an hour and realized that Aigle was really far away. So we went back up a little ways and took the train down. No need to walk anymore than we have to. Since that is all we do every other day. During our walk we passed this herd of cows. You know at first you think it is kind of cute and fun to see all the cows with their cowbells on, well you are wrong. It is like a really obnoxious off-key wind chime that never stops. You keep expecting it stop and it doesn't. At first I didn't really even notice the cowbells, but once I did that is all I could hear. Surprisingly I got a little annoyed with the cowbells and was glad to reach the train station and block out the noise. Once we reached Aigle we took a little walk around town and went to this medieval neighborhood, where all the building are very old. And of course there is a castle there. So we went to the castle and had a look around. There are so many castles that some of them have been turned into museums and tourist attractions. So the castle we went to was a wine museum and we could buy glasses of wine for six francs and keep the glass. It was really tempting to do this and then we remembered, oh yeah we don't drink wine. So we didn't do that. But the museum was actually kind of interesting. We saw some really huge wine casks!! They could probably fit my whole living room inside of one of them. My living room isn't that big. It was a fun little castle and it was cool to see the vineyards up close. They sure do put a lot of work into the vineyards. It didn't look like fun to me, but maybe they enjoy it! Overall it was a good day! Nice to relax a little.

Euro 2008

2008-06-07T13:09:00.000-07:00

Well we went to Sion today. It was really cool, but we were there for a long time. A little too long in my opinion. Today is the first day of the Euro 2008 Cup. People over here are nuts over soccer and are so excited for the tournament. There were people dressed in all sorts of crazy gear, and traveled for a while just to get to a place that you could watch the game on a big screen. Not even to be at the actual game. I love it!
While we were in Sion today we went to this really old Basilica (church) where we had the opportunity to have a private organ concert on the oldest playable organ in the world. It was really neat to be able to listen to the old style of organ. I liked to sit and imagine what kinds of events it had played for over the years that it has been around.
While we were in downtown Sion they were having a sidewalk celebration. There were street performers and vendors all over the place. It was really fun to just people watch and observe the culture over here. It is really hard not knowing the language. We don't understand what people are saying and they don't understand us. I don't know why that is surprising to me, but I guess I kind of expected more people to know English. Ignorant American, I know. Despite the fact that we can't talk to anyone, other than the people in our group, we are loving it here. It is gorgeous and we can't wait to see more of this awesome country!!

We are finally here!!

2008-06-02T12:12:00.000-07:00

Switzerland!! What a beautiful country! So we left Salt Lake on Sunday morning at about 7:15. And we arrived in Zurich on Monday morning at about 8:30. We traveled all through the night. It was a long trip and I am already not looking forward to the return trip home! When we got into Zurich we still ended up having to take a 3 hour bus ride from Zurich to Leysin, which is where we are staying. As soon as we got to Leysin we checked into our hotel and had some lunch, then we had to get down to business. We went to the ATM and got some Swiss Francs, so colorful! and the we went and activated our rail passes. Doesn't sound too hard, except for that the train station is at the top of a very steep hill. It totally rocked my world! After that we continued hiking up the mountain to this lookout over Lake Geneva. It was really beautiful, but we were all so tired that we had a hard time really taking it all in. After the jet-lag wears off, hopefully soon, we should be able to really enjoy all the wonderful things around us. Here are a few pics of our first day here. Enjoy!!

Bree Got Married!!!

2008-04-11T19:18:00.000-07:00

So my little sister Bree got married almost a month ago now!! She was the most beautiful bride I have ever seen!! I know I am biased, but she really is gorgeous! Anyway she married a guy named Jonny, who we all love! He is a great guy and fits in with our family really well. They got married in the Timp temple in the same room that Matt and I, my brother Trent and his wife Amy and my brother Wes and his wife Rena all got married in! It was really neat! I have never seen my sister so happy! The day was great!! All of our family was there to support Bree and Jonny. The reception was rockin'. They had this awesome band play. They actually played at mine and Matt's wedding, and since then had broken up. But when Bree asked them to get back together, they were thrilled! So they reunited for the wedding and I am so glad they did, cause it made the reception great!! They even let Bree sing with the band and let my dad play the cowbell. He did awesome!! The night ended with them driving off in their beautifully decorated car on their way to the Caribbean for an amazing cruise! Congratulations Bree and Jonny! We love you guys and are so happy for you!!

Disneyland 2007

2008-04-11T07:26:00.000-07:00

In October last year Matt's dad took the whole family to Disneyland!!! This is our second year in a row going and I love it every time! We were there for a total of six days. We were at Disneyland for five and we went to Seaworld for one. I had never been to Seaworld before and I thought it was really neat. I loved the dolphin show the most! It is amazing what they can train those animals to do. I also really liked the Shamu show, but thought they were trying a little too hard to make it inspirational. I didn't go to Seaworld to be inspired, I went to be entertained. But despite them shoving goodness down our throats, it was a good day at Seaworld. Our time spent in Disneyland was so much fun. We hung out a good deal with Matt's brother Mark and his wife Lana and their little guy Gabe. Who is adorable. We went to some of the shows and rode all the rides. We even waited in line for an hour and a half to ride the Nemo submarines. Which if you have kids I guess it is worth it. But when we went, everything was going great and Gabe was loving all the colors, and then the "balloons" came. Which if you have seen Finding Nemo you know what that means (and if you haven't you are really missing out, it's hilarious). They scared Gabe to death and he spent the rest of the ride crying his eyes out. So would I wait in line for that again? Nope! At least not for an hour and a half. Maybe.......ten minutes. One of my favorite rides there is The Tower of Terror. It is so fun!!! I love that feeling of weightlessness. We rode that a few times. I would have gone on it more, but the lines were surprisingly long. The best part of that ride though was convincing our niece Staci to ride it with us. She is seven, but could pass for four or five. She is just tiny! So we convinced her to go with us, and she was absolutely terrified. You would never get her to admit that though. She would tell you she wasn't scared at all. But I will let the picture tell you the truth. There are a lot more stories I could share, like getting stuck on the last hill on Splash Mountain or forcing Matt to ride It's A Small World, but I don't want to turn this into a novel, so I will stop now. But we loved going and can't wait to go back!!! Thanks again Kent!! We had a blast!

Seattle '07

2008-04-06T21:31:00.000-07:00

Matt and I went to Seattle in July 2007 to visit our friends Darren and Keisha. We fell in love with the place. It is so pretty there. I love that everything is green.
We spent the first night in Spokane actually and stayed with one of my very best friends in the world Jacob Andrew Rennaker (the first). That kid cracks me up!! He always has something clever to say. It was really good to see him and his family. They are all so great!! After sleeping for a couple of hours and grabbing some lunch with Jacob we hit the road again and drove the rest of the way to Seattle. Luckily we had the sixth Harry Potter on CD so we listened to that our whole drive. Great book!!! We made it to the Knight residence safe and sound and just relaxed for a little while. Then we went and met up with our good friend from high school Carrie. She is so cute! Darren and Keisha took us around Seattle the next day. We went to the Locks and watched the boats come in and out. And then we went and saw the troll under the bridge. It was the most bizarre thing I had ever seen. It was a sculpture of a huge troll that was made under a bridge. Really neat, but really weird at the same time. While we were in Seattle we also went to the EMP (Experience the Music Project). Awesome!! Then we went to the 7-11 that was transformed into a Kwik-E-Mart for the Simpsons movie. Matt was so excited!! He got a pink donut and I got a Squishee. Both items were fabulous. We also went to Pike Street Market and The Pacific Science Center. After a couple of days in the city we went with Darren and Keisha to Darren's parents cabin. It was amazing. It was a little too cold for me to go out on the Lake everyday, but just being able to be there was awesome! It was nice and secluded. And so peaceful and relaxing. We had such a great time. Matt and I have talked about Seattle and we both want to go back again soon!!

Hawaii 2007

2008-04-06T12:40:00.001-07:00

Well Bree and I went to Hawaii in April of '07. We had so much fun!! We stayed on Oahu cause it was the cheapest, even though we both would have loved to gone back to Kauai. It is fabulous there. We stayed on Waikiki beach and just relaxed. We did a couple of different excursions. We went para-sailing and whale watching. We went to the Polynesian Cultural Center. And everything was amazing. But I think one of our favorite things to do there was get shaved ice from Keneke's. It was fantastic!! I used to tell everyone they should go to Matsumoto's, but we went there again in April and I have to say I wasn't too impressed. Keneke's blew it out of the water!!! So good! It is on the north-east side of the island if you are ever in the area, I highly recommend it.
We also spent a ton on gas because we liked the north side of the island so much better than the south side. But when you get airfare, hotel and rental car for only $700 for a week you stay pretty much wherever they tell you. Check out expedia.com for awesome deals!!
In fact there was one day that we were at the North Shores just hanging out on the beach and saw the fabulous Terry O'Quinn a.k.a. John Locke from Lost. He was just hanging out on the beach. We didn't want to bug him though, so we just kept our distance. Now I wish we had talked to him, cause that would be a much cooler story. Oh well, live and learn. Next time I see him, I will definitely talk to him.
This trip was so much fun. I had a great time with my gorgeous sister. I sure do love Hawaii. It is so beautiful!! Can't wait to get back there. Hopefully sooner rather than later!!

I'll try it

2008-04-06T08:33:00.000-07:00

Well I have been checking out some of our friends blogs and decided I would have a go at it. Matt has one for "us", but it is really his blog to show people his art projects in school. (Which are really good so you should check them out at whithew.blogspot.com) But since he has been working on his blog for a few months I felt kind of weird just adding my own thoughts to it, so I decided to make my own. Which is good since I don't like to share anyway. And since I really have no idea what I am doing, it can be a fun adventure for all of us to see how I handle the pressure of blogging. I have taken some fun trips and things in the past year or so, so I am going to add things from those trips, but then I will keep things current.....maybe. I guess only time will tell.