Links to our other sites: ShaneSellsHomes.com MHVillages.com	Welcome to WooHoo Central! This page was last updated on Wednesday, October 11, 2006 4:33 PM
	Welcome to the home of Nielson Family West. Shane - AKA Dad Denice - AKA Mom Amber - AKA Popper Jenna - AKA Gollum, AKA Cuddlebug Cameron - AKA Cam, AKA Little Man Spices - AKA Spice, PsychoCat Tinkerbell (full name Tinkerbell's Amber Mystic Mountain) - AKA Tink

Here is our 2005 Road Trip Page

Here is what's news:

We take the family out for pictures for Jenna's 4th birthday, and Cameron's arrival. Click here for the photos. Cameron sleeps good, but likes to eat. Maybe this guy will be a linebacker (or a right wing?). He's also a night owl, so Dad tries to stay up late with him to give Mom a break.

Mom and Dad get up early to head to the hospital, We need to check in by 6:00. We arrive on time, but shift change is soon. Denice is finally hooked up to the medication that will induce labor at 7:30 AM. And now, the waiting begins. Contractions begin to increase, and we are moving along. By 12:00, Denice thinks we are close (though I don't agree). Finally, at around 6:00, we are moving along.

With about 3 big push contractions, Cameron is born. Dad is scared, cause he's purple, but the medical staff say he looks great. Weighing 7 lbs and 15 ozs and measuring 20", Cameron is a big boy by our standards. He is great, Mom is great, and the family is a bit bigger.

For pictures, click here.

Almost a full week late, and Denice can't take it anymore. The baby is very active, and the contractions are constant, but nothing is happening. Denice has her Dr's appointment, and they schedule her for an induction procedure tomorrow. Looks like Jenna will get a baby brother as her birthda present.

Cameron's due date comes and goes without much activity. Denice has some light contractions, but nothing significant. She swears this baby is never coming

We haven't posted much recently, but I guess its time to update the website. As many of you know, Denice is pregnant with our 3rd (and last) child. This child was a bit of a surprise. Today, we had the ultrasound appointment. It was very good news. All of the reviews showed that the baby appears healthy in every way. No problems with the heart, spinal cord or brain. This was very good to hear. Then, the technician, said something that caught dad by surprise. He asked her to clarify, and she repeated this word. Looking at the ultrasound, dad wasn't so sure. Dad asked the technician to specify how sure she was, and she said "99.9%". Then, she shifted the picture around, and dad saw it. The technician said, "You are having a boy!". Needless to say, dad is VERY excited, mom is confused "What do I do with a boy?" is heard a lot these days, having grown up in a house with all sisters. Baby pics and names will be coming soon.

Time to head home. No major sights to see, nothing to do, but push on through to home. Mom wants to stop at Starbucks (of course) and as a result, we lose 30 minutes while looking for one, and waiting for our coffee. Still, we make it home by 2:00 PM. Unload the van, see Grandma and Tink. A table full of mail, and 18 phone messages... they can wait. Wind down, eat and sleep!

Trip totals: 5 States (Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah and Nevada). 4 National Parks (Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Mesa Verde and Dinosaur). 3,300 miles driven. 10 tanks of gas. Uncounted Starbucks stops. Several hundered beers sampled. 8 different hotels.

Packing and driving. We visit Nicole's shop again (Jenna was sleeping last time we came). Then we go to Grandma Robin's bar so she can give Jenna her Dancing Dora (I hate the thing already). The, the drive to Winnemuca. Staying at the hotel here for the night. Dinner and a movie, then the rest of the way home tomorrow.

We go to dinner at the Red Lion. The theater is across the street, and its showing Corpse Bride and Wallace and Gromit. We see W&G. The kids love it, so do Mom and Dad.

Last full day in Utah. We visit Nicole's shop, Doggone Purrfect. Lots of pets to see, including a strange looking dog the girls love, a French Bulldog.

Then, we drive to visit Grandma Beth, who lives outside Ogden. She lives on a golf course (I wanted to play, but time wouldn't allow). Lunch with Great-Grandma Beth, and Grandma Robin, at a great steak house (they raise their own cattle and bison).

Back to Murray for dinner at the Grover house again. This time Shane cooks Stroganoff (Tubby Noodles to Jenna). We say our good-bye's and head to the hotel.

Today, we'll be spending the day with Shane's side of the family. "Aunt Bonnie", Shane's youngest aunt, lives just outside Salt Lake. We go to dinner at her hours (burritos again). The kids have fun. The dads play foosball.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNA!!!

Today is Jenna's 3rd birthday. We'll start by having breakfast at one of my favorite restaurants, The Belgian Waffle and Omlette House.

Breakfast was great. Jenna mixed her chocolate pancake with a ton of syrup, let the sugar high begin.

We went to Fashion Place Mall where the girls all got a stuffed cat at Build-A-Bear Workshop. More shopping, then off to Nicole & Philip's. Shane was nice enough to cook dinner, burritos and tacos.

Today we are driving to our Utah hotel, and our 2nd to last stop. We drive from Vernal, Utah back to Dinosaur National Park. We visit a few sites, including the quarry, which has a giant wall with dinosaur bones in relief. It is quite impressive. Then, we drive around the park and look at a few more interesting items, like some cave art, and some rock carvings. We also see nature in action, sort of. Split Mountain is an area where you can see obvious signs of earth movement. The striations in the rock show it was formed flat, then was pushed upward over time. As that was done, a river continued to flow in the area, and cut the small mountain in two.

Then, we drive to Midvale, where Shane spent a few years "growing-up". Jenna is feeling sick, so we visit the Dr. She has a rash, but no fever and no sore throat. So, what does she have? Strep of course (thanks to her mother's bad immune system). She goes on anti-biotics and we aren't able to visit family today. The Dr's office is very near to my old house, so Amber and I go for a walk. I show her the Dolly Madison store, and introduce her to a delicacy I used to enjoy as a child, ZINGERS! We then walk down the street to the house where I lived from 6th grade to 9th grade. She gets to see the driveway I used to shovel (all winter long, so we could play basketball). She gets to see the house where we played snow football, and baseball, and the house where we played wrestling on the trampoline. Ah, memories. We also drive by what would have been my high school, Hillcrest, and where I went to middle school, Midvale.

Back to the hotel for football. I buy some beer for the event (4% IPA? I must be in Utah). The girls stay up WAY too late, but we finally get to bed and get ready for the big day tomorrow.

Leaving Denver. On the way out, we meet John (MJ's) family for breakfast at Eggs & I. Good stuff. Big driving day. We have to go from Denver to Vernal, Utah. Some beautiful scenery on our way. Taking pictures from a moving mini-van isn't easy, so hopefully a few of these come out. Tomorrow we will be going to Dinosaur National Park.

We check into the hotel, and we have wireless! Fantasy Football, I'm kicking total butt. Jeff... losing to John (MJ). Amber's team is doing okay against the Eagles, but has a few players to go, so maybe she can pull this off.

Final day of GABF. Awards ceremony, Hoptown doesn't win (ripoff), but one of my favorite beers does. Russian River's Pliny the Elder. John (MJ to us WoW'ers) goes with me. We have a great steak lunch. The girls go to Kristina's sister's house for the day.

GABF Day 2: Tasting a lot of good beer. Denice and the kids hang around and go shopping. Denice does some laundry.

Prior to beer, walking trip to Pepsi Center. Some great Av's gear. Got a few things (autographed pic of Roy!!!).

Up early (Shane is being a pest about getting to Denver ASAP). We head straight to Denver. 75 MPH freeways sure help!

As most parents know, on long drives, kids can do some pretty strange things. Jenna decided to be particularly strange, and invented a new occupation: the "poopy astronaut". Here is a picture of her in her "uniform".

We arrive in Denver around lunch-time. Our hotel is very nice, but they could have done a bit more planning for parking.

GABF starts at 5:30. Shane will be there, on time! More updates after Shane wakes (sobers?) up.

Beer fest was great. Lots of good stuff to try, even more crappy stuff. Learning about Barleywines, tried a few Cru (not sure what that is, but I'm going to learn). Had some excellent bourbon barrel aged beers.

Driving again. This time to make a few stops. We first head to Four Corners National Monument. Interesting place. Not much to see, but a great photo op. Then we drive into Colorado and stop at Mesa Verde. Denice visited the cliff houses here as a child and wanted to go back. Amber did lots of reading on the Anasazi. What an interesting place. Long drive up, but worth it. Some great historical stuff, including being able to walk into some of the cliff dwellings that were over 1000 years old. Lots of pictures. We'll publish a web photo album soon (Friday maybe).

More driving. Wish we had left earlier. We are driving on US550, a winding freeway, in the dark. The rain and fog don't help. Jenna gets car sick just as we leave the windiest part of the trip. We stay in Montrose (not the rock band, a small town in Colorado). We went this far to make sure we have a short drive tomorrow, Shane wants to make sure he is on time to GABF!

Spent most of the day exploring Lake Powell. Unfortunately, due to low water levels, we couldn't get to everything we wanted to see. But the girls got to see some beautiful scenery. The girls also "fished" which is fishing without really trying hard to catch anything. Too bad though, Powell has some nice sized fish.

Day 3:

More driving? Yes! This time, to beautiful Lake Powell (or towel lake if you speak Jenna). If you've never been there, you are missing out on some beautiful scenery. The 2nd largest lake in America, with many small legs. When the lake is full, you can go near Rainbow Bridge, see cliff dwellings, and get in some wonderful fishing and water skiing.

We checked into our hotel, here is the view from our room:

Day 2:

More driving, from Needles to Grand Canyon. On our way, we stop over for lunch and coffee, and meet some old friends, Sharlene and Elijah! They were headed back to the Phoenix area from Las Vegas. We met in a small town called Williams. Coffee at a cute shop, Java Cycle. Lunch at a Mexican Pub (the name escapes me, and its probably a good thing. It was the worst service I've EVER had).

Here is a pic of the kids at lunch.

Then, its a short trip to Grand Canyon (which has now been renamed "Rocky Canyon" by Jenna). WOW! What a sight! The kids were also impressed. We took a few photos (will post later) and went to see the IMAX movie Grand Canyon. If you have ever been on "Soaring Over California" at California Adventure, this is what part of the movie was like. It was amazing.

Day 3 update, hopefully, later today. Not sure if our hotel at Lake Powell has internet, but I hope so.

The Nielson Family begins our tour of the southwestern United States. Our itinerary includes stops at Grand Canyon, Lake Powell, Great American Beer Festival (GABF) in Denver, Dinosaur National Park and Utah.

Our trip began later than planned, due to stops at Starbucks and for gas ($3.00/gallon!!!). Heading out at 5:15 (AM), we make our way south with our first stop, a layover in Needles, CA. With a few stops for meals, and a chance for Jenna to run around (check out our pic), we make it into needles by 3:00 PM. The girls go for a swim, and we eat some dinner.

Check back often, we will update as frequently as we can (depending on the availability of internet access). We look forward to seeing folks as we go.

Christmas is here, again. We will be having Denice's family over for X-mas eve dinner (25 people in our house, yikes). Dad is cooking prime rib and mashed potatoes. We're also having ham, clam chowder and other various dishes. We are glad so many people will be sharing the holiday with us. Christmas will be the usual, presents, games, etc. With the added bonus of FOOTBALL this year (woohoo indeed).

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE NIELSON'S

Halloween is here, our first official Halloween in our new house. A lot of children come for candy, some excellent costumes, including Jenna in her Ladybug. Amber was a spy. Mom was a sunflower and Dad was, well, his usual, evil wizard type. Pictures are available here.

Here is a movie of Jenna being "scary" and chasing Amber around the yard.

For some older updates, click here to visit our news archive.