1st Day of School 2010

Yes, this post is way overdue, but I decided its better late than never...

Both Blake and Ashlyn started the new school year on Monday, August 30th. Blake started the 1st grade and is in Mrs. Hardy's class, and Ashlyn started preschool at Little Chicks Preschool, her teacher is Mrs. Long. Blake is enjoying 1st grade so far. He seems to like his teacher and is making new friends. (He is being forced to make new friends cause both of his best friends have either moved or are about to move. Thanks alot Dallin in Seth!! ;) ) Ashlyn loves school. She has two friends in her class and is making many more. So here goes to a new school year...

Mini Vacation

This year we never got around to planning a big summer vacation, so we thought we needed to do some kind of trip with the kids. So we packed up the car and drove down to Utah. We dropped off Damon at my parents house and stayed in a hotel in Sandy.

When we first got there, we decided to go to the South Towne Mall, which was right across the street from our hotel. Yay! We shopped around a little bit then we let the kids ride on the Merry Go Round that is in the food court...

Here are the cool kids waiting to get on the ride.
Blake on his dragon
Ashlyn on her kitty.

The next day we woke up to head to the "main attraction" of our vacation,
Seven Peaks Water Park in Orem.

Here is a picture of the main structure.
There were also some other big slides that weren't connected to this main one, but I didn't get a picture of them.


Here is Ashlyn hanging out at the wave pool. She enjoyed swimming but once the waves got started they were a little to rough for her, so she had to get out.
The kids and I pose for a quick picture.
And of course one with Dad.
Here is Ashlyn showing off her mad modeling skills!

This was Ashlyn's favorite part of the park. Though she was too scared to go down that teeny slide. She is such a chicken!




Blake absolutely LOVED the water park. He wasn't afraid to do any of the slides. There was one in particular that was really steep, that I'm not even sure I would have done, but he did it and wasn't a bit scared.
(He actually wan't even big enough to ride it, but Terry snuck him on it a few times!)
I wasn't able to get any pictures of him on it though!





That night after the water park, we took the kids to eat dinner at The Mayan. It is this fun Mexican restaurant that does a show while you are eating. They have these cliff divers that dive and do tricks into this pool of water. It is fun to watch though the food isn't anything to write about!

This snake statue is right outside of The Mayan, so the kids had to get a picture inside of its mouth.

Here the kids got to take a picture with one of the guys who are in the show.

(Ashlyn was a little afraid of this guy. But can you blame her? Look at that creepy looking smile!)

Here the kids and I are waiting for another show to start.

Same with Terry.

Of course, the best part about staying in a hotel is the swimming pool right! The kids got to swim both nights we stayed and enjoyed every minute of it.

Miss Ashlyn Jade

Here I kept trying to get an action shot of Blake jumping in, but my camera has too much of a delay, so this is the best I could get!

So that ended our Mini Vacation. We were glad we were able to make this memory with our two big kids. We already have our resort booked for Disney Land next year, so we have that to look forward to. So watch out California, the Olsons are coming!

Blake's T-ball

Blake played t-ball again this year. He was on the "Firecrackers".

Blake wanted to pose for me up on the fence.
Here he is at bat.
They had to move the tee and bases onto the grass for this game because the dirt was so muddy that the kids kept slipping.

Here he is after making it to first base.

I was able to get these "on the field" shots cause I was actually the fill in coach at this game. Sorry to the coach, but she was a terrible coach! She was never at any of the games and didn't teach the kids anything. I have decided that I am going to coach his team next year. If you want something done a certain way than you have to do it yourself, and she definately didn't coach the way I would have wanted Blake coached. Oh well, we have next year!

Summer Fun...

Here is more of the fun that we have been up to this summer...

The kids made several trips to the park this summer.

They love the park with the "big hill". They spend most of the time running down this hill.
Blake loves any kind of monkey bars/rings!

Ashlyn loves to slide!

Damon just hangs out watching his big brother and sister and looks forward to the day that he can join them!

We also had plenty of time playing in the water. Their friends came over tons of times for water parties and they got to do the same at their friends house.

First fishing trip of the summer...

I have been a HUGE blog slacker this summer. I really need to post everything that we have been up to this summer. So I have just decided to do one post at a time, and even though most of these things have happened months ago, I will be able to rest a little easier knowing that I am finally getting some of these things written down. So here goes...

To start off the summer, we took the kids on a fishing trip. We packed up and drove up to the Heise area (I think!) Not only was this our first fishing trip of the summer, it was also Damon's very first fishing trip ever! GO DAMON!

Here, Damon thinks he's "big stuff" holding onto the pole with Dad.

Here he is admiring the quality of his reel.

We really loved this spot! The fishing wasn't any good, but the view and the sound of the river flowing was the best!

All of that fishing sure wore Damon out!

I wanted to get a shot of the kids with the scenery in the background, but the pictures honestly do not do it justice. It really was beautiful here!

The kids always think they need to pose. Such goofballs!

And more posing!!

We had a great time out here. We fished, the kids rode their bikes, and we also played a little baseball. Once we get another camping trailer, we will definately be making this spot a regular camp spot. It was such a relaxing place, I didn't want to leave.

Happy Birthday Terry!

Terry turned a year older! Yes, that's right, he is now 34. Poor old man... he's gonna need a cane soon. Just kidding honey. We celebrated his birthday on Wednesday by going out to dinner at Garcia's and then coming back home to open presents and have cake with his parents.

Here he is posing with his "stash"
He got a hunting game for the Wii, a Dallas Cowboys nerf football, a dart board, and some clothes.
He doesn't seem too happy about how many candles are on that cake!!






Damon's favorite present was the bow!

Happy 34th Birthday Terry!

34

reasons why I love you (in no particular order)...

1. You are a good Dad

2. A good husband

3. You like to watch scary movies

4. You take me to more chick flicks than you do action movies

5. You have cute dimples when you smile

6. You rub the kids legs in the middle of the night when they have a leg ache

7. You give really good massages

8. You watch Bachelorette and Desperate Housewives with me (though sometimes I wonder if you are watching it for me or if you actually enjoy watching it!)

9. You like to play games

10. You play "Wrestle Mania" with the kids

11. You've never been afraid to change a poopy diaper (of your own kids)

12. You have cute little creases on the sides of your eyes

13. You dance like a chicken

14. You are a hard worker

15. You tell me I'm sexy even when I know I look ugly

16. You danced with Ashlyn in her ballet recital

17. You kill spiders for me

18. You take Blake golfing with you

19. You change out the garbage bag in Damon's diaper pail. (if anyone has ever had to do this job, you know why I love Terry for doing this!!)

20. You vacuum for me

21. You are sweet to your parents

22. You encourage me to go out with my friends

23. You work so hard to make our house look nice

24. You are understanding when you come home and dinner isn't cooked

25. You tell me the house looks clean even when I know I've been a slacker all day

26. You come home from work when I am feeling sick

27. You are funny even when you aren't trying to be

28. You act like a dork just to make me laugh

29. You dance just to make me laugh

30. You would just DIE if anyone ever cut Ashlyn's hair

31. You favorite thing to do is spend time with your family

32. You think of fun little "adventures" to take the kids on

33. You are sexy

34. You make me smile

Love You!

4th of July, 2010

We had a really fun and busy 4th of July this year. We started the festivities on Friday night. We invited some of our neighbors over last minute (I think I actually woke some of them up... oops!) to roast marshmellows in our outside fireplace and make smores. Afterwards we lighted off some of our fireworks.

The kids are anxiously awaiting the fireworks to begin. I love this picture on the right where I caught Max jumping in the air for joy.

Here I wanted a picture of the girls but Ashton couldn't resist getting in on the action. What a ladies' man!!

Saturday started off early. Terry and Blake woke up and drove down to Rigby to meet his brother Robb and his boys (who were visiting from Utah) for a game of golf. While the boys had fun, Ashlyn and I had some fun of our own at the mall (with Damon in tow of course), where Ashlyn scored big time. We found her all kinds of 4th of July accessories 75% off which matched her outfit perfectly. Lets just say I have never seen a prettier "American Girl" in my life!

Here is Ashlyn with all of the gear we scored. She got pom poms, flip flops, a necklace, and bracelet all for under 8 bucks. Doesn't she look cute!

Once the boys got home we decided to light off the rest of our fireworks that didn't get used the night before.

The boys thought they looked pretty cool!








That night were Idaho Falls' big fireworks. So we packed up, picked up some food on our way out, and parked in our regular spot and ate dinner. While waiting for the show to start, we walked over to a sidewalk where everyone was walking to get closer to the fireworks, and played with some snap and pops. Blake and Ashlyn thought it was pretty funny to set up "booby traps" for the people walking. When they saw a group approaching they would run out and put a whole bunch of snap and pops on the ground then move and wait to see if anyone stepped on them. There were some pretty good sports who could tell what the kids were up to who would purposely step on them then jump up and scream, just so the kids would get a kick out of it. It was alot of fun.

Below are the kids with their snap and pops...

Where I come from, you sweat to death while waiting for the fireworks. But I live in Idaho now... here is how Damon looked for the fireworks...

Nice and warm.

Speaking of Damon, he LOVED the fireworks. When they first started he just kicked and kicked his feet while laughing. It was so cute. I'm glad they didn't scare him.

Terry with the kids. We just set up chairs in the back of Terry's truck and watched the show from there. Perfect seats!

I couldn't resist getting in a picture with the gorgeous Miss Ashlyn.

Then on Sunday (actually the 4th), we went over to Terry's mom and dad's house for a yummy b.b.q. It was really good but I didn't get any pictures while we were there.

Last but not least, on Monday Terry, Blake and I went with Robb's family (minus Bentley) up to Heise for another round of golf. It was alot of fun. I actually played pretty good. (No I won't be joining the LPGA, but I played good for me!) After golf, Terry's parents brought the rest of the kids up and joined us all for pizza. (I LOVE Heise's pizza!)

Blake had sooo much fun playing with Taylor and Donovan. He was really sad they had to leave. If you look at the picture with the sign, it reads... "Please, no children playing on the practice green." So of course the boys thought it would be pretty funny to take a picture by the sign.

And here I thought, oh good, we can get a family picture. Afterwards I realized we already put Damon in the car. Poor guy, I forgot to get him for the picture. Maybe next time.

Well that concluded our exciting 4th of July.

Hope you had good one!