Christmas with the Nielsons

Christmas break this year was packed with adventures! BYU blessed Dustan (and therefore me by association) with THREE WEEKS OF CHRISTMAS BREAK. It was amazing. And since Dustan had his only two finals early during finals week, we actually got nearly four weeks of break. If you ever talk to us at all or follow us on social media, you already know that we flew to Florida and went on a cruise through the Western Caribbean (blog post up!) and spent a few days exploring what Orlando had to offer--which of course meant Disney World and Universal Studios (blog up!). We were able to still have a bit of fun in Washington before and after our trip.

We arrived in Kirkland on a Tuesday evening after an uneventful (thankfully) drive. We had left around 5:00 am so that we could make it to my little brother Michael's band concert. He is in 6th grade playing the tuba! It was awesome, and the flute players need to learn how to tune their instruments ;)

That week was just spent relaxing. Most everyone was still working and in school, so we got our extra sleep, did some Christmas shopping, and ate too much food. We played a lot of games and didn't watch nearly as many movies as we normally do. We also loved spending time at my grandparents house--we love having them live so close in Seattle area!

One game we played a lot was Super Battle Pets. Sounds ridiculous? Well, it's awesome. It is a card game that my brother Samuel designed and created completely on his own: the rules, the pictures on the cards, the rulebook, etc. It make look/sound silly and childish, but it really is an awesome game for all ages. Yes, I am shamelessly trying to sell it to you :) HERE is the link if you are interested in buying it (his website with more instructions is HERE)! We seriously played it dozens of times over break and plan on playing it way more. We've played it with a few friends and they also loved it.

Christmas day was going to be spent on the Norwegian Cruise Line's Jade cruise ship. As a result, many of our Nielson family Christmas traditions were put off in lieu of this adventure. We didn't put up and decorate a tree and we weren't attending the Nielson family Christmas Eve party, and we were doing minimal presents. Obviously we didn't bring our presents with us on the cruise, so we celebrated the material part of Christmas beforehand. The morning before we flew to Florida for our adventures, we opened presents! Our presents were stacked nicely on a table in the living room. We had fun spending that morning together and playing with some of our games. After opening presents, we ate baked french toast--like we do every year.

That afternoon, we began packing and flew to Tampa! We were on an 8 day cruise through the Western Caribbean. Afterward, we traveled to Orlando and spent one day at Universal Studios and three days at Disney World. We flew back to Seattle two weeks after leaving.

After the trip, Dustan and I just had just under a week before we needed to get back to Utah for his classes. We did much of the same--eating, sleeping, and playing games. We did spend one afternoon in downtown Seattle, playing games and eating even more good food :) We walked around Pike Place, ate macaroni and cheese from Beecher's and pastries from Piroshky Piroshky Bakery, and took many pictures.

On the way out of downtown, we stopped by Kerry Park and Nielsen's Pastries. Kerry Park has a beautiful skyline view of Seattle with Mount Rainier in the background. Nielsen's Pastries has been frequented by the Nielson family for years. We love their "potatoes" especially, a custard filled pastry with a marzipan topping.

Finally, it was time to head back to Utah :( We loved all the adventures we had in Washington (and Florida and the Caribbean haha) over Christmas break! Next up on the blog: OUR CRUISE! Thanks for reading!

Fall Fun!

There is so much to do in Utah Valley in the fall! Unfortunately, Dustan is also in full swing with his mechanical engineering master's program and keeps busy. We always find the time to get out and have some fun :)

One of the first things we did when we reached Utah was go camping at our favorite spot in the Nebo Loop up Pole Canyon. (We have gone camping here every fall since we have been married, we wrote about it a little more here.) Our absolute favorite spot was actually taken, but after driving up the road just a few more minutes we found a spot almost just as good and way easier to drive to--just slightly less beautiful. We went with our good friends Ashlee and Adam, once again. Highlights of the camping trip: it only rained for about 30 minutes, roasted brats and starburst, seeing mama deer and her babies, playing lots of games of horseshoe, and shooting clay pigeons with our shotgun.

We hiked Mount Timp a few weeks after school started, but that feat deserved it's own blog post! I preferred the camping, personally ;)

I had a couple days off in October while all the Utah schools went on Fall Break. So I hung out with Dustan! On Thursday I accompanied him to his lab and tried out their sweet virtual reality system (an HTC Vive)--it totally blew my mind. On Friday, we drove up near Brighton Ski Resort and did a couple short hikes/walks. We were hoping the hikes would still have a few fall colors on the trees, but alas, it was mostly dead up there, haha. Willow Lake would be absolutely gorgeous with the fall colors, so we hope to go up again next year before it's this late.

Willow Lake

Silver Lake

One of the main staples of fun during the fall semester in Provo is the sporting events. As usual, we purchased BYU All Sports Passes (I almost cried because I couldn't get a student priced pass anymore). We made it to most of the football and basketball games this semester, and a couple women's soccer games. We loved being able to go to the games, cheer on our school, and hang out with friends that we otherwise don't get to spend too much time with.

BYU Football vs. Southern Utah

BYU Football vs. Southern Utah

For Thanksgiving, Dustan and I were blessed to be able to take off an entire week to go hang out with our Kraus family! We really packed in the fun that week--enough to make up for our boringness the rest of the semester ;) That trip was blogged about here, though.

Recently, Costco held a BYU alumni event. The first ten people at the alumni event would receive a free one year Costco membership. So naturally, we sat in 20 degree weather for two hours before Costco opened and we won a free membership!

And that was about our last exciting thing before we head off to Christmas break in Washington!!

A Kraus Family Thanksgiving

Our first Thanksgiving together was just a few months after we were married. We went to Colorado to spend just a few short days with the Kraus family. After two years (switching off with my Nielson family), we went back! That first Thanksgiving together back in 2014 was before we started a blog, so I'll post just a few picture highlights from back then :)

Hiked to the top of Castle Rock in Castle Rock, CO

The farthest our Honda Civic has ever gone on one tank of gas...

16 mile bike ride as soon as we arrived, typical Kraus fam ;)

Took some early Christmas photos in downtown Castle Rock :)

And fast forward to now, we went back to Denver for Thanksgiving with the Krauses again in 2016! This time, I convinced Dustan to skip a couple days of school, so we left the Friday before Thanksgiving and were there for over a week until the following Sunday! It was wonderful.

We arrived just barely 15 minutes after Bryson and Taylor, who are now living in El Paso, Texas while Bryson is in medical school. Sadly, this means we got the small guest bedroom. Only half the family was there the first couple days while Jen, Bryan, and Erin were in Arizona for a cross country race.

Our first day there on Saturday, we did the typical Kraus activities. We went mountain biking, went to Levi's piano recital, played games, and watched a movie. The mountain biking trails still had some snow on them, so it was a very muddy ride--only minimal injuries though!

Awful picture for everyone, haha

Sunday was spent going to 1:00 pm church (the worst), eating, playing games, and watching movies. At around midnight, we left to go to the airport to pick up the rest of the family. It was time to party!

Monday was our first day with the whole family--unfortunately, the kids still had school. We pulled out the youngest, Levi, around lunchtime and did some more mountain biking. (It was supposed to snow on Tuesday, so we wanted to go before the trails were ruined wet again.) We did a 5 mile loop from the house, and I was able to make it to the last 10 yards of the trail before crashing! After a short break for lunch, we drove to a nearby bmx style biking course with jumps and banked turns and rode around there until the high school kids got home and joined us for some indian ball.

Tuesday and Wednesday were spent doing some shopping in downtown Castle Rock, and the usual games and movies that the Kraus family loves so much. It had snowed Monday night so the usual mountain biking, outdoor sports, etc. were out for Tuesday. The snow made for perfect hot tubbing on Tuesday night though!

But on Wednesday enough snow had melted, so we again went to a park to play some games, such as football and ultimate frisbee. Afterward, we visited the Red Rocks Amphitheater, which is an outdoor concert area within the Red Rocks Park. It was pretty neat. Bryson and Taylor serenaded us on their guitar and fiddle.

Thanksgiving Day arrived! We spent the morning cooking up all the best dishes: turkey, candied pecan sweet potatoes, raspberry pretzel jello, mashed potatoes, carrot timble, and of course MORE PIE. Everyone in the family weighed themselves before the meal and again afterward to see how much weight they had gained. We sat down for an absolutely delicious meal around 3 pm (the Krauses like to eat early) before weighing ourselves again. Dustan gained 4 pounds and I gained 2.8 pounds, haha. We spent the rest of the day fat and happy, watching movies, playing games, and eating pie.

Most of Friday was spent at the Epic Sky Trek Challenge in Castle Rock. If the workers are to be believed, this is the largest ropes course in the world! It has over 110 different challenges and obstacles. Aside from losing feeling in my hands and scraping off the skin on a few fingers, it was a blast! There were different levels of courses, rated similar to biking or skiing, with green, blue, and black courses. Everyone tried a few each. That evening we played more games and watched the 5k episode of The Office in preparation for Saturday morning.

Saturday was our last full day :( That morning, we participated in the Stake 5k Turkey Trot. Honestly, I don't think anyone in the family was looking forward to it (except maybe Bryant and Erin, since they just finished their cross country season), but we all participated! Dustan and I had been doing no training for this whatsoever, and we definitely aren't runners. A 5k was much farther than anything we had just run in a while (since we've been married). Dustan had the goal to never walk and my goal was to actually finish the race without walking a majority of it, haha. Dustan did great, completing the race in 24:51 minutes, which is an 8 minute mile pace. Thankfully, Jen and Paul ran with me and kept me going, or I don't know if I would have finished! I completed my first 5k in 34:29 minutes, which is about an 11:06 minute mile pace. We both met our goals!

Just before sunset on Saturday, we got all dressed up and took some family pictures. It was absolutely freezing, especially once the sun went down. But they turned out great! Only a few tears were shed, which is apparently a new record for the Krauses during family pictures ;) The rest of the day was spend vegging out, watching movies, and playing games.

On Sunday, we went to church, ate some lunch, packed the car, and we were off! We were really so blessed to have been able to spend a whole week in Denver with family. They were so good to Dustan and I--feeding us, housing us, taking us on adventures, and serving us. We are very thankful for them, and to have them living so close that we can travel there for a short week!

Whole30

Over the past year or so, I have been feeling really dissatisfied about our health, especially my own. First and foremost, our eating habits were horrendous. We began limiting our eating out budget at the beginning of 2016, which was beneficial. But we were eating large desserts (like ice cream with a side of popcorn and soda) many times a week. We did not have a good balance of fruits and veggies compared to carbs. My portion sizes were much larger than they needed to be. In addition to this, we were not very consistent in exercising--Dustan did more through all the sports teams he participates on and through biking to school and work. Neither of us were at our healthiest, and I had gained more weight than I would like to admit since our wedding.

When I first began realizing that something needed to change, some friends tried out Whole30. After some research and discussions with Dustan, I decided that this was something that I wanted to try--not as a permanent lifestyle change, but just to help jumpstart new, more healthy habits.

For those of you that don't know what Whole30 is, the website can tell you all! But basically, it is a diet that has you abstain from added sugars, grains, alcohol, legumes, and dairy for 30 days. Does that sound crazy? Because yes, it was crazy. And one other caveat--no weighing yourself for the duration!

We started the Whole30 near the end of September and continued through mid-October. And yes, we finished! And yes, it was REALLY HARD. I obsessed with meal planning those 30 days. If I didn't plan, there was nothing really substantial that we could just eat on the fly. Try making a quick and mildly good tasting meal using basically only protein, vegetables, or fruits.

But anyway. Here is just a brief summary on how Dustan and I felt throughout the 30 days. The first week for me was actually easier than the rest of the time, probably just because of the novelty of the program. Our fridge was stocked and I was trying out some new recipes and we were eating good sized portions. The second week was similar to the first, though I had a few more cravings--and not my usual chocolate cravings, but for any regular foods. That second week, I was also shocked at how quickly our groceries ran out. The third week, we really started getting sick of the foods we were eating. There just wasn't a ton of variety. But by then, we were already halfway through, so we were committed! The last week was actually the hardest, I think. On the Whole30 website, they provide and timeline that they think people follow during the diet. That last week they described how people would panic about what they would eat once they finished the diet. We did not have that problem! The cravings were the worst during that last week. I thought about food constantly, and all the things I wanted to eat once we finished.

But even with many negatives that we seemed to feel during the diet, I really do have some positives to list. (I didn't notice many of the positives until once we started eating normally again though, haha.) So, here are some thoughts, realizations, and impacts from each of us!

Ellen:

• Fell asleep faster and didn't wake up as much
• Lost 11 pounds
• Clearer skin
• Pants are looser
• At first, had a hard time getting satisfied/full
• Felt satisfied on less food by the end
• Same amount of energy
• After finishing the diet, would feel sick after eating others foods
• This diet is expensive!

In general, I thought that Whole30 is a great way for people (like me) to realize how unhealthily we are eating and what impact that can have. I don't want to live on protein, vegetables, and fruit. I think there is good in others foods, and that I need to treat myself sometimes. I am hoping to incorporate more Whole30 recipes into our regular meals.

Dustan:

• Never felt really satisfied/full after a meal
• Lost 11 pounds
• Hungry much quicker
• Could see his abs better ;)
• Same amount of energy

After finishing, Dustan wanted to note that limiting sugars is really important, which is one of the rules of Whole30. But Dustan doesn't agree that grains should be limited (they are the bottom of the food pyramid!), but there are healthier grain choices. He is also willing to try and be more healthy, especially after finishing this experience.

We have set some new goals for ourselves on how often we will be exercising, eating treats, etc. Hopefully, we can get our health back on track with less extreme action!

Mount Timpanogos

Dustan and I finally succeeded in hiking Mount Timpanogos! We had planned to hike it a couple times previous for sunrise, but each time we woke up at midnight to go start the hike, we decided it wasn't worth the effort and loss of sleep. But finally, after being married for two years, we made the trek!

Mount Timp is the second highest summit in the Wasatch Mountain Range at 11,749 feet after Mount Nebo (which we hiked last fall, written about here). Starting from the Aspen Grove trailhead, the hike to Mount Timp's peak is 8.3 miles one way.

I first hiked Mount Timp a few weeks into my freshman year at BYU with my awesome roommates and fellow ward members. It was a blast and completely exhausting. Somehow, Dustan never did the hike like so many freshman do.

Picture from my first time hiking Mount Timp

We invited our good married friends Ashlee and Adam. Ashlee had also hiked to the peak of Mount Timp for sunrise. And though her husband Adam had attempted to hike Mount Timp before, he had never made it clear to the peak. So it was time to get those husbands of ours up the mountain!

We started out hike just after 1 am from the Aspen Grove trailhead. Dustan was able to sleep a couple hours, while I had been unable to fall asleep at all. We anticipated that the hike would take about 5 and a half hours, getting us to the peak just in time for sunrise at about 7:15 am.

The first half of the hike was rather uneventful. The full moon was quite bright, but it was still dark enough to prevent us from seeing the stellar views from the trail (I was the only one that wore a headlamp, too afraid I would twist my ankle on a rogue rock). After a few hours of hiking though, the elevation gain began to add to the frigidness of the air. We were surprised and curious when we began to smell fire smoke on the air. Soon enough, we came upon a little shack where a few boy scouts had built a fire. It was great to get inside and warm up for a bit.

Until we had reached that shack, the hike had been rather uneventful. Just long. Then it began to get difficult. The next part of the trail was through a boulder field, filled with rocks of all sorts of shapes and sizes. The darkness from it being around 5 am and a thick layer of frost added with the already ankle turning boulder field quickly became a real pain. After slowly making our way through and losing the trail completely a few times, we hiked up a drastically steep hill that then met up with the other trail that leads up the mountain, the Timpooneke Trail. It was really neat to see the line of headlamps coming up the mountain from the view just above the steep path. Dustan of course stopped to take a picture while we continued on just a few minutes from there to the Timp Saddle.

The first time I hiked Mount Timp, I watched the sunrise from the Saddle before making my way to the peak. As it was last time, this spot was packed with people gazing at the panoramic views of Utah Valley. By the time we made it the Saddle, the sky was significantly lighter. We quickly began the zig zag path up the the summit.

And this is where Ashlee and I began to crash. We still aren't sure if we were experiencing altitude sickness, exhaustion because we had colds, or just awful because we hadn't drank enough water on the hike up. But we felt seriously sick--dizzy, nauseous, no energy, blacking out, the whole deal. We sent the boys up ahead of us so that they could make it up for sunrise for sure, while we began slowly making our way up and taking lots of breaks.

By some miracle we were able to make it up and sit with our husbands just minutes before the sun peaked over the mountains in the distance. It was beautiful :) Annnd absolutely freezing. With such high elevation and exposure to the wind, we think the weather was in the low 20s that morning (according to google).

We took some pictures, signed the book in the shack on the peak, then headed back down to the Saddle to take a small break.

The way back down was slow going. The hike back down those 8.3 miles, now in the light, seemed to last so much longer. At least we had many great views of mountain goats, the Valley, and waterfalls to distract us.

After reaching the bottom, we went straight to Five Guys for some well deserved burgers and fries :) Now that we have done Mount Timpanogos together, we plan on never hiking it again! Which is just fine with us. And it was a good thing that we hiked it that weekend--just a week later, this is what Mount Timp looked like!