To My Dad:

Happy Fathers Day!

You're the best!

Back To Work

This is where I will be spending all of my time over the next *few months starting Sunday:

Delta, UT

and Cedar City, UT

Why?! That's right. You guessed it. I got a job! Good bye SLC. You've been good to me.

I will be working 6 days a week for 9 hours a day. It'll be tough but I'm really excited to get back to work and start digging! Wish me luck!

*this is a relative term and has to do with the weather... snow

I LOVE LA, WE LOVE IT!

Congrats to the Lakers for their 15th NBA Championship!

And Congrats to the Finals MVP, Kobe!

Here's to #16! Boston better watch out!

3-1

Thanks to these guys

We are now up 3-1!

Thanks for an amazingly intense game! Here's to number 15!

GO LAKERS!

NYT Article

p.s. It was good to see Kobe smile again : )

Movie Review

Yesterday my mom and I went to see Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian. 

Honestly, I was very surprised... in a good way. Hank Azaria was hilarious and completely stole the show.

If you take the kids there is a chance you will be laughing more then they will. There is plenty of adult humor (not in a bad way) with most of it referring to people and events in history that young children may not know about (e.g. Napoleons height).

I recommend the movie to anyone who has a great sense of humor and liked the first movie.

p.s. In case your wondering...

Yes, the Lakers did loose last night.

And no, I'm not worried.

Get Your Game Face On!

All the greats have their game faces:

Jordans tongue 

Magics smile

Kobes scowel

No one can say he doesn't want this. 

2-0 Baby! Game 3 is tomorrow!

I Know, I Know

I know that I've posted 11 times... now 12 in the past few days and I understand that you don't want to READ any of it (that's mostly for me because this is my "journal") so that's why I posted a TON of pictures! 

There are 9 post from my Europe trip, 1 post about the Lakers, a post about my Disneyland trip, and now this one...

Thanks for reading! Enjoy the pictures!

Disneyland 2fer Trip 2009

Due to Disneyland having their 2fer deal (61 bucks to get into Disneyland one day and then California Adventure the next day) I decided that a trip to southern California was in order. 

Thursday, May 28

The day after I got back from Rome I flew to Long Beach with a few friends (Lisa, Richard, Brooke, and Allison) from Utah.

We met my not so little brother, Luke, at Ryan and Missy's apartment (they were in Mexico).

From there we headed to In-n-Out for a little late night, pre-Disneyland snack.

Lisa, Luke, Richard, and I spent the night at Ryan and Missy's (thanks again) while Brooke and Allison stayed at a hotel by Disneyland.

Friday, May 29

We spent all day at Disneyland!

We had a problem when we got on Space Mountain: Due to Luke's height, he had a hard time fitting in his seat. 

As a result we had to be evacuated and put on another "space ship".

No, worries! We were still able to go on the ride and have a great time!

Later that night we were joined by Lisa's friend, Brandon. And the adventure continued...

I was extremely jet lagged (understandable right?!) so after 13 hours at Disneyland I decided to call it a night.

Luke and I left and headed for Ryan and Missy's where we were greeted by 3 baby raccoons and their precious mother.

After a few moments of panic, we finally got into the apartment and hit the hay.

Saturday, May 30

We spent all day in California Adventure!

"Neilson Pride"

Our favorite ride, by far, was Toy Story!

After 3 huge trips (Moab, Europe, and Disneyland) I am officially tired! No regrets though!

From The City Of Lights To The Eternal City: Part IX

Monday, May 25 {Capri}

Pure Beauty

Katey and I said goodbye to Emily and then we headed to the train station.

Took a train to Naples.

From the train station we took a bus to the port where we got on a ferry that took us to Capri.

On the ferry, we took naps and I got a sunburn/tan... so it's all ok.

Katey woke me up right as we were getting into port.

And I'm glad she did because Capri is gorgeous!!

I couldn’t believe it! I am totally loyal to Kawai but I think Capri is more beautiful then the Hawaiian island!

We paid and took a boat tour around the island.

The island is all limestone that is covered with so much green.

The boat ride took us into a few grottos and under a huge arch.

When we got back to port we took another boat that took us to the Blue Grotto.

From there we had to get on rowboats and they took us into the Grotto.

The entrance was so small that we had to lay down in the rowboat so we wouldn’t hit our heads.

True to its name, the inside of the grotto was dark and the water was really blue.

The boat took us back to port were we bought our ticket back to Naples and got out 17th gelato!

Instead of taking the ferry back (which was slow), we took a fast ship back (it took 45 minutes as opposed to 1.25 hours).

On our way back to the train station we got lost. Naples is a little scary but we were fine and eventually found the train station.

We took a train back to Rome where we retired early.

 

Tuesday, May 26 {Rome, Tivoli}

Today was our last day in Rome!

We checked out of the hostel and left our bags there.

We started the day off by attempting to go to the Bouguese Museum (has Berninis sculptures in it) but you had to have reservations.

I was really sad because I really wanted to see Berninis masterpieces (see below).

We left that area and went over to the train station and got on a train headed for Tivoli.

From the train we saw a really pretty waterfall and the scenery was gorgeous!

We walked around Tivoli and went into one of the vilas to see the fountains.

The water is all from fresh water springs so don't worry!

When we got back to Rome we went to St Peters Square to watch the sun set.

To end our trip we ate the best gelato ever (#20)! It was a really rich chocolate with nuts and it was delicious!

Katey and I went to the Panthenon and sat on the steps and discussed how successful the trip was.

We watched a mime for a while (he was hilarious) and then went to pick up our bags from the Yellow Hostel.

From there we went to our new hostel.

It was a little shady... but nothing to worry about.

We got in after midnight, took showers, and went to bed.

 

Wednesday. May 27 {Home}

Con te partirò

Got up really early and left the hostel.

Took a train to the airport.

Katey was supposed to fly from Rome to JFK but she took my flight instead and we both went to Atlanta.

Here we got Starbucks and then went our separate ways.

I flew from Atlanta to SLC where Uncle Reed picked me up (thanks again!).

I called my mom and she gave me play-by-play action of the last 5 minutes of the Laker game (they won!).

Thanks Katey and Emily for backpacking with me! It was a great experience and I love you both tons!