September 26

September 26 is a day that I will never forget!!!

I was in my little apartment in Winters, California getting ready for District Meeting when Hermana Weed answered the phone and then handed it to me, I said hello and realized that it was my mother on the other end! I knew right then that something was wrong, she informed me that Jared had been in an accident the night before and that her and my dad were at the airport trying to get a flight out to Salt Lake. They said they would call me that night to let me know more details, since they didn't know much themselves at that time. I said alittle prayer for my bro and headed off to district meeting not thinking much about it. I of course at this time did not realize the severity of the accident nor the trauma that Jared endured. I was able to stay in contact with my parents for the next few weeks, with little 10 minuet updates each night, I was grateful for my little chats with my parents each night, but even then I was not informed of the severity of this all. I was a little bit sheltered by all of this while I was on my mission-looking back I am grateful I was. I remember coming home from my mission and being in the kitchen/family room when Jared and Amy came in, I can still picture that first moment I had with him...being a little bit nervous, not knowing how to react, and having everyone watching me. I remember grabbing his hand and saying "hello" to him. It was all so natural (just like it has always been with us, and always been since then).
I am so very grateful for Jared Paul, him and I have always been so close. Playing as little kids, helping him pick out outfits for his dates, cleaning his car shop, him taking me shopping, daily phone calls my first year of college, his big hugs, always making me laugh, and the way he would pop my toes when I was asleep...just to make me mad, and of course the last time I saw him (before his accident) in the Provo Temple parking lot yelling out my name, then giving me a hug, then handing me a Cafe Rio Salad and his cell phone to call Blake...well I was at the MTC at this time and I got my name called over the loud speaker in the cafeteria of the MTC while I was eating dinner to go to the office, he had gotten me in big trouble!
Jared has always loved to have FUN, no matter what the expense just as long as everyone was having a good time. I love my little brother so much and I am grateful that we have him here with us, he is a very tough boy and I know that he has a very special purpose while still on this earth, and I know my family has been given a special opportunity to have Jared as a part of our lives.
Now this date has come around again, and it gives me an opportunity to think back to that day that Jared was almost taken from us, and to think back to how amazing Jared was and is now today, and to thank my Heavenly Father for letting Jared stay with us and change our lives forever.

Quirky things about Carissa

I was in a workshop yesterday for work and I got alittle bored so I started thinking about a blog that I had just read and it talked about a few interesting and quirky things about that person that many other people may not know about them. I started thinking about things about me that many people may not know, I started writing a few of the things down and I decided to post them on my blog (mainly to share with my mom and husband to see really how well they really know me).
-I am absolutely horrible with directions, I cannot follow maps and I never know where my north, south, east, and west are. To me north is always right in front of me, so no matter which direction I am standing north is always straight ahead.

-I have to always have my volume on an even number when I am in my car, I don't know why that is just how it has always been. On purpose my husband will put his volume on an odd number when we are in his vehicle or at home.

-I love sprinkles. If I ever see anything covered in sprinkles I want it. I know they don't really taste like anything and they are mostly to attract little kids but they also attract me. My favorite is a donut with chocolate frosting and nice covering of colorful sprinkles.

-I have a fear of being in a bad car accident. I am always a very paranoid passenger, especially in traffic or bad weather.

-I make lists for everything! I have lists at work, lists on my refrigerator, temporary lists everywhere and then a permanent list that I carry in my purse. I also love to cross things off my list! I will write something down on my list that I had just done so that I can have the satisfaction of crossing it off.
My husband hates list, he wants nothing to do with them. So, I have a secret list for him that I make and then I will cross things off of it when he does things.

-I learned on my mission that I have a very real and extreme phobia of mice and rats. Like I was in a room that had mice in it while teaching on my mission and started sweating, and my heart was pounding and I could not put my feet on the floor and I was seriously having a panic attack. I had to leave and go home to lay down on my bed to calm down.
I just keep thinking these dirty nasty mice are going to run up my pant leg and bite me. I just read yesterday that like 100 people die a year from some disease that mice and rats carry and I do not want to be one of those statistics!

-I don't know why but I never put a new toilet paper roll in the toilet paper holder. Whenever I have a new roll I will just leave it on the counter, or the floor, or anywhere else but the holder. I never realized this but my husband had to point it out for me because he is the one who always does it. Now that I am aware of this, I am trying to do better.

-I cannot stand to see anyone get a shot. I don't mind getting a shot myself, but I cannot watch anyone else get a shot. Even when it is animated on TV and someone gets a shot it makes me a little woozy and nauseous. I will defiantly need my mother when I have children of my own that will need shots at the doctors.

-I have to have fingernail clippers with me everywhere I go. I have a pair at home, in my car, in my purse, and in my desk at work. I cannot stand to have any kind of hangnail or little piece of skin that needs clipped, I have to take care of it immediately or I cannot concentrate on anything.

- And last quirky and strange thing about me is that I am a very "scardy cat girl" I am always worried about bad guys being in my home. Whenever Shawn and I get home from a trip I always have him check out the whole house (like under the beds, and in the closets before I can come in and unpack). I also always pull my shower curtain back to make sure no one is in their before I go into the bathroom, I also have Shawn check under our Love Sac...you know those Bad Guys can be creative hiders.

Well that is about it, and I am sure some of my roommates already knew most of that strange stuff about me too.

Pictures & Update of Elder Nelson

While in Oregon, I uploaded some pictures of my cute little missionary brother, Elder Brocky Nelson. I did not have any pictures of him, since he always sends them home to my mom, so I thought I would blog alittle bit about him. He has 1 transfer left and will be home in November...I cant wait! Brock is serving in the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Mission and loves it. He has had fun serving in some big ghetto cities, 1 big college town and also in some tiny little Amish towns. He has loved being a missionary and always emails home the most amazing and inspiring emails. He loves his family, he loves the Lord, and loves the missionary work. Brock will be home in November and we are all so anxious to have him home, he will be coming to school here in Provo at BYU starting in January. It will be so fun to have him close.

weekend in Logan

Shawn and I decided to head up to Logan to celebrate Blake's 27th Birthday. We left Friday evening after work and arrived in Logan just in time to watch a movie and go to bed. On Saturday morning Shawn, Savannah, Blake and I went hiking up to the Wind Caves in the Logan Canyon. It was a perfect day to hike and we had some beautiful views, and I realized that I need to spend a bit more time hiking. We then spent the rest of our day hanging with Jared and Amy and watching BYU beat the Washington Huskies. Later that night we met up with Savannah and Blake again at the Logan Demolition Derby. That was so fun and crazy, I didn't know what to expect when we got there, but it was so crazy that a ring of beat up old vehicles would just slam into each other until there was only 1 left running. That night we had a yummy ice cream cake from Cold Stone and sang Happy Birthday to Blake. Sunday we went to church, ate a delicious halibut dinner made by Savannah, and then we headed over to Jared and Amy's house for homemade peach cobbler and vanilla ice cream (Blake's favorite) and again celebrated Blake's birthday (but this time with Jared and Amy too). After that we headed home, but first we stopped by the Logan Temple for a picture. Shawn and I got home in time to listen to Elder Hollands Fireside then we had some friends over and my adorable little college cousins, Brandalyn and Kara Rose over to make some tiny little carmel apples. We had such a fun weekend hanging out with Blake and Savannah, and Jared and Amy, we are happy to live close to my siblings (especially with Brock living here in January) but wish they all lived even closer.
Demolition Derby Blake with his birthday cake and a kiss from his wifey
Hanging with Jared Sunday afternoon, he was so happy.
Group shot for my mom...Blake, Savannah, Amy, Jared, Shawn and I
Shawn next to the Logan Temple, such a beautiful Temple
Shawn, and I with Blake and Savannah (alittle break from our hike)

We made it to the Top!
Shawn and I resting after our hike in the Wind Caves

Blake and Savannah...so cute together And Shawn doing a little rock climbing.
We had such a great time!

Fun days in Oregon

Shawn and I pulled into our home at around 2:30 am on a very rainy Monday morning. We had just had another amazing trip to Oregon, but we were happy to be home. Blake, Savannah, Jared, Amy, Shawn, and I all came back home for a few days to celebrate Blake and Savannah's Oregon Wedding Reception. We were also joined by all of our aunts, uncles, cousins, and all of the Woodley cousins too. We had such a fun time and the weather was perfect. We brought along, Melissa Weed, one of my mission companions and favorite friends in the world. I have added some random pictures of our fun trip home. We love going home, and will not be back until Christmas, so sad. But we love every oppurtunity we have to spend time with our family.
Here is Shawn wakeboarding, his first time boarding was in July when we went out for the Fourth of July, he went out again this trip and is doing so good and loves it! Here is Melissa Weed and I on the boat.

And here is Shawn right after he got out of the water. We drove out to the beach to spend a day with our grandparents and to take Melissa out to the beautiful Oregon Coast. It was such a clear and warm day. Even though it does not show it in this picture, Shawn really did have a good time.
Weed and me on the beach
Here is a picture of Savannah, right before the reception. The night was nice, it was fun to see lots of our family and freinds and Savannah looked beautiful.

Here is a cousin picture, my Grandma Nelson wanted to get a picture of almost all of the Nelson cousins that were together for the wedding. We were missing a few but it was so fun to have everyone together. It is crazy to see that our oldest cousin, Kjerstin is in her 30's and the youngest is baby Charlie, and he is just 2 months old.
While we were in Oregon, my youngest brother, Kyle had his first varsity footabll game. He got to start both ways and did awsome even though he was nervous to have all of us there to watch his first game.
And we stopped by the Beautiful Portland Temple on our way out and on to Utah, we are so blessed to have such an amazing Temple so close by!

Again our Oregon trip was perfect and full of lots of fun memories. We always want to thank mom and dad and Kyle for taking such good care of us when we come visit. We cant wait to see you all soon....(hopefully for October Conference)

Shawn's first day back to school

Here is a picture of my handsom man on his first day back to school. He is all ready to go. Tonight I am making him a special "first day of school dinner" he thinks it is kind of corney, but I love to celebrate everything, and today is a very speical day since it is the first day of another school year-and we will only have 7 more of these to go before he is done with school!

Tubing down the Provo River

Shawn and I went tubing down the Provo River with Shawn;s MTC companion, Mike Johnson and his wife. It was a perfect day, very warm and sunny and we were so excited to go. Tubing down the river was one of the things we wanted to mark off our "Fun Things To Do List" We got into the water and it was freezing cold and the current was very strong where we entered the water. Since the water was so freezing I was still trying to adjust to the water and being alittle bit slow and everyone else was way ahead of me. Well, I was on my way down when we came to a bridge in the water, the current took me to the left side of the bridge and made me hit one of the pilings that went into the water. I got flipped off of my tube and sucked under the water, the water was so powerful in that spot that it took me a few tries but I was finally able to make it to the surface to grab onto my tube. While being taken under water I lost my shoes and my hat (my favorite hat too) and I scraped and bruised my legs really bad (now I have 4 big bruises on my legs and my whole left leg is all one huge gash from my knee to my ankle). This was a very scary experience for me especially since I was by myself and everyone was way ahead of me. Shawn realized I was not behind him and he stopped and waited for me. But by that time I was freezing, wet, bloody, and a little scared to continue on. But Shawn promised to stay by me the rest of the way down the river and even let me hold onto his tube most of the way. By the time we reached the end of the river I was having fun and was happy to go and even happier to mark this off our list of fun things to do. Mike and his wife Kesha Johnson.

Braydens Blessing

Sorry but I have been slacking on the blogging lately. We had lots going on recently, but things will be slowing down now that Shawn is back to school and the summer is coming to an end. Here are some pictures taken a few weeks ago in Ogden as most of the Platt family was able to get together for baby Braydens Blessing. We met everyone at the church, Brandon did a great job on the blessing and it was so fun that Joseph (who just got his mission call to Knoxville, Tennessee) also got to stand in for the blessing. Then after church we all met up at a fun park and had some yummy food and lots of time to talk and watch all the kids play.
Here is a great group shot of almost all the Platts (sorry no Ben and Becky, Cael, or Brecon....but we do miss them alot). And here is a picture of Shawn holding cute little baby Baryden (I hope I am spelling his name right) . He is the newest addition to the Platt family and such a good little happy baby.
And here is a cute picture of Grandpa and Grandma Platt.
we love getting together with all of the family for special events like this, its always great to see everyone and especially all those cute little nieces and nephews. Shawn and I love to see them!