Visiting the Cralls

While we were in California we got a chance to go to L.A. and see our old friend Chris Crall and his wife Lorainne. They showed us around town and we had a great time with them.

They took us down to Venice Beach and we saw the most crazy people. Lance's favorite was the guy walking around in his leopard print speedo. This gold man was pretty neat, once you put money in his box then he would start dancing.

Called to Serve

As most of you know we have two of our family members serving a LDS mission. Taylor was called to the Riverside, CA mission and Preston was called to serve in the Brasilia, Brazil mission. It has been so much fun to read their letters and learn how the work is going in other parts of the world. Both of them have matured so much and it is such a blessing to have them serving the Lord and the people of California and Brazil. I thought it would be fun to share a few pictures of Taylor in California and of Preston in Brazil. It was such a neat experience to take Taylor to the MTC and it reminded me of my first day there. I can't believe I have been home for over 2 years now! Time flies by! Lucky for us, maybe not so lucky for Taylor we are moving into his mission! That's right Redlands is part of the Riverside mission, in fact the mission temple is the Redlands temple. We actually got to see him while we were there for Lance's interview. Taylor and his companion had an investigator being baptized so we were invited to witness that experience. Unfortunately we hadn't figured out California traffic. Even on a Saturday night at 6 it takes an hour and 15 minutes to go 20 miles. We got there a little late, but just in time to hear Taylor give a talk. He did a great job and the spirit was so strong. I'm so proud of him. It was so fun to see him and meet all the people he has been telling us about in his mission. I still can't believe we are moving to his mission. Anyway I love missionaries and their devotion to serving others, and I love hearing about the experiences Preston and Taylor are having. If you want to email or mail either of them I know they would appreciate it. I'll be posting their mailing addresses soon.

We Are Moving to California!!!!!

Before the interviews

After the interviews
So 2 weeks ago Lance and I ventured off to Redlands, CA for an interview Lance had with a company called Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI). We were both very excited to get away for a weekend and think of possible employment for after graduation (something we thought may never come). We got in Thursday evening with enough time to drive around, get settled into the hotel, get an introduction to El Pollo Loco, and watch the Office. Lance left Friday morning around 8:15 to meet the HR guy to start his day of interviews. Lance had no idea what he had gotten himself into. He had 13 interviews at about 45 minutes each, no breaks in between either. It was pretty intense, so when he came home around 7 that night he was beat. Lucky for me he was too tired to decide on a restraunt and just wanted to go to the closest place, so we got Thai food (which I had been craving all day because I had seen a lot of Thai restraunts around town). The next day we got to see some friends and family and were able to relax. About five days later ESRI called Lance with an offer. We couldn't believe it! It is so weird because even though we both said we would move anywhere we always thought we'd back in Virginia or near there. I think my mom was thinking the same thing too. We accepted the offer and are very excited to move to Redlands, CA. It would have been nice to move to VA to be close to family, but we are ready for an adventure in sunny CA. It is a beautiful city and can't wait for everyone to come visit us there.

EXTRA EXTRA

Well here it is folks the very first picture of the baby. Not the best looking little kid, it looks like he got squashed a little during child birth. I think he has Natalie's eyes though. Anyways I am sure they will post more pictures later, but just remember you saw it here first.

IT'S A BOY

My sister Heather delivered a baby boy (Ethan Scott Nelson) at 10:23 am Sunday morning. He weighed in at 8 lbs 1 oz. and was 21 inches long. We are so happy to finally get him out of the bat cave.