OLSEN FAMILY

Halloween 09

2009-11-02T08:55:00.000-08:00

WE had a fun Halloween. WE had our ward party on Friday, which was pretty fun, spook alley, carnival games, food and trunk or treating. Saturday, We at pumpkin pancakes for breakfast, visited Lombardi Ranch in the afternoon, watched "Where The Wild Things Are", ate some pizza and then headed to The Liddiards for some trick or treating. Jake worked with Colin at one of the neighbor's Haunted House. WE have Way to much candy and sent a few bags of leftovers to work with Gary. (I kept the twix bars!)

Update:

2009-10-22T15:43:00.000-07:00

It's been awhile and I am going to try and be better. We have had a good start to the fall. The weather is great. Baseball is in full swing with pratices and games each week. Jake moved up to Bronco league this year and we are glad that Fall ball is more of a learning experience to get him ready for Spring Ball. He plays for the Diamondbacks and they aren't the greatest team, but he is learning alot. We have been to Disneyland, of course, a few times. Jessica and I went alone one day because the guys were gone. Jake and Gary went camping in the Sequoia's where they hiked 14 miles, saw 2 bears and cut their trip short one night due to freezing temps. We didn't go anywhere for Fall Break for the first time in a few years, but went to The Long Beach Aquarium, Chuck E cheese and Disneyland. The week after fall break, Jake went with the 5th and 6th graders at school to Camp High Trails, where they had a great time and learned fun things about animals, nature and science. I read The Wednesday Sisters and Tangerine for my two book clubs and they were both good reads. I've also read Phantom Tollbooth, Three Cups of Tea, and Comfort Food. I'm also working on my trip scrapbook and I'm about 1/2 way done (thanks to my weekly get togethers with Jaimee). I've been to the allergist now to get some relief for my breathing a persistant cough and hopefully we are finding a long term solution. And last, but not least, my children have had a case of the swine flu. Symptons: HIGH fever, Fatigue, cough and aches. They have been out of school this whole week and hope to return next week. (Jake is fever free finally today..Jess hoping for tomorrow?) We are doing good and hope that this updates everyone who might be curious, but at least gets my "journaling" up to date.

Our trip

2009-08-26T17:56:00.000-07:00

So there really is no way to just blog about a 7 week trip. Gary kept our travel journal...which I will then use to scrapbook our adventure. But, I thought I would go ahead and post some more pics of our favorite areas. You can also see pics of the kids in front of the state signs on F/B. Some of our faves were Carlsbad Caverns in NM, Niagara Falls, NYC, Crater Lake, OR, Memphis, TN, Buildings and Monuments in DC, Portland, Maine, Charleston, SC, The Biltmore Estate, Wildlife along the way, including bald eagles, a bear cub (right on the side of the road in Shenendoah), foxes, deer, moose, elk, dolphins, osprey...and more. We did some great scenic drives through Zions, Smokey Mtns, West Virginia, Santa Fe Forest, Gulf Coast and Great River Rd in Illinois and Missouri. We are planning on putting together a slideshow pps...so when we can narrow down the 4000+ pics to more reasonable number, we'll have a party! And even now, I'm trying to upload pics and it's not letting me...UGH

Back 2 School

2009-08-23T13:33:00.000-07:00

After missing the first day and being extremely tired, we sent the kids to school. Jake was excited that his friend, Daniel, is in the same class again this year. He has a teacher from Bridgeport, so that was also nice to hear. Hopefully he'll have a good year this year. Jessica was a little upset at first, but after seeing about 6 friends from her K class, it helped her get more excited. I don't know her teacher, but she has been with Emblem for a while and from what I hear, she is good.

We made it home!

2009-08-23T13:28:00.000-07:00

After 48 states and Canada, 13500 plus miles, and 7 weeks of travel, we made it home late Wed. night. 1 day after school started. I know that I was not good at all in updating my blog, but I'm going to organize a photo album and post it on facebook. Really- there are 4000 plus pics, so if you want to come over and help, you are welcome. I could not handle the internet connections at the hotels, they were too slow and really I was just too tired to do too much. We had a great time and I can't wait to do my scrapbook, which is really what I love to do anyway.
We are also going to try to put together a slideshow...so maybe we'll just have to throw a party! Anyway, we are looking forward to catching up with everyone now that we are back! We are also thankful to our friend in our new ward, who came out ASAP to spray away all the black widows that moved into the garage while were were away!

Pics

2009-07-27T17:24:00.000-07:00

pics from The BIltmore, The Smokey Mtns, Kentucky Horse Farm, and The Homestead Resort.

more pics

2009-07-27T17:14:00.001-07:00

From Savannah, Hilton Head, Air Craft Carrier in Charleston, Middleton Plantation and Downtown Charleston.

24 states down, 24 to go...

2009-07-27T16:44:00.000-07:00

HEre is the post. I will try and post pics after this...wish me luck.So after Louisiana, we drove along the gulf coast thru Mississippi and Alabama. We visited a battleship in Mobile. We continued along the coast to spend the night in Pensacola. After spending a nice morning on the beach, we drove to Atlanta. We were able to go up to Stone Mountain that night. It was nice, they do a fun laser light show that we were able to see before heading to the hotel that night. THe next morning, we walked around the Centennial Olympic Park and toured World of Coke- where we tried many different flavors of soda- Gary's fave was pine nut candy and mine (other than the Mr. Pibb) would have to be Barqs red creme. After getting our fill of coke, we headed to Savannah. SO- I'm sure that we will offend some, but I was not at all impressed with this city. I am also upset that in order to get into Paula Deen's restaurant, you have to show up and line up to put your name on a list of reservations...you cannot call to hold reservations. You are welcome to sit on the sidewalk and continue pestering the people to see if they have a table, but pretty much they have a terrible system to seat people. Gary did happen to coax them into some peach cobbler to go, since one of the hardest things to find in Georgia-Nicknamed: The peach state is Peach desserts! After Georgia, we visited Hilton Head to take in a beach/golf day and then spent the night in Charleston. Charleston was pretty cool. We didn't have enough time to really explore, but we loved the city with its historical homes and churches lining the streets. After Charleston, we went to North Carolina- Asheville to visit The Biltmore Estate, which was awesome. We drove through the Smokey Mtns' the next morning and after nearly freezing to death on the first hike of the day the kids and I were finished with getting out of the car. (I think that it was only 50, but the wind was pushing us over....it was miserable) Anyway, we moved along to Kentucky for the night. On the way, we found the roadside tourist trap city of the US--can't remember its name, but gokart tracks, arcades, mini golf, ripleys, wonderworks,as seen on tv stores lined the main street of this town. The ONE thing we stopped for was the ZORBING track. Gary and Jake tried it and it's all Jake talks about now (which is pretty annoying since it wasn't on the itinerary, certaining there is something that we PLANNED that impressed him too?) Anyway we made it to Kentucky and took in a showing of Harry Potter, since I needed to see it- it was pretty good. The next am, we went to the Kentucky Horse Farm and checked it out. Jessie rode a pony and I think that was her highlight for the day. We then drove through WEst Virginia and ended up at The HOmestead Resort in Hot Springs, VA. Beautiful. We stayed there for 2 nights and loved the relaxing/no driving for a day. The kids and I did a nice hike where we saw waterfalls and thankfully no snakes (which normally are a extremely common sight on this hike), Gary did a round at the famous Cascades Course and I took in a spa treatment. The HOmestead is a famous resort that Thomas Jefferson frequented. After a little rest, we drove to Our Nations Capital.

Arkansas, Memphis and New Orleans

2009-07-21T17:29:00.000-07:00

We drove the Crowley Ridge scenic byway in Arkansas- it was beautiful, we took a small hike through the park to a suspension bridge. Then we moved on to Memphis, TN. We did Mud Island (Mostly I know if from Tom Cruise's movie- The Firm), but it was very nice. It had some great exhibits from the south/Mississippi River, including a scale model "fountain" that you walked up and down and waded in if you wanted to of the entire Mississippi River. We went to Rendevous for some BBQ. The next am we headed to where else, but Graceland! Wow, talk about your floor to ceiling, wait and ceiling, carpet. Definitely not my taste in decorating, but fun to see the house, the cars and the airplanes as well as many of the outfits and awards that Elvis received. (One of my mom's dreams come true!) Then we had to part ways with my parents- they went back to Oklahoma and we went down south where we drove over the Lake Ponchatrain Bridge (over 20 miles long) and into New Orleans. We walked along the riverwalk, ate great french food, walked through the French quarter (stayed clear of Bourbon st...we had the kids w/ us), walked through a cemetary, ate Beignets at Cafe Du Monde, walked through Jackson Square and ate Pralines. I took the kids swimming for a little bit, while Gary actually had to work!

The Midwest

2009-07-21T17:08:00.001-07:00

Next we headed for some church sites. My parents joined us for the next few days. We started at The Crown center in Kansas, where there was a Lego exhibit and a Crayola store. Then we headed to Liberty Jail and Independence. These are humbling sites and remind us of the persecution of the early church. We then headed to Omaha for the night before we went to Nauvoo the next morning. We loved going to Nauvoo and seeing some of the homes and businesses of the saints. The blacksmith, the brickyard, the tinsmith, the wagon makers, the print shop, the gun shop and the bakery. We were there on a Sunday, so there was no pageant. Unfortunately, we took too long enjoying Nauvoo that we didn't get to any other church sites.
We went to Hannibal, MO the next day to see where Mark Twain was inspired to write his classics, Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer. Then went down to St. Louis, where we took a Riverboat ride on the Mississippi and tour the Gateway Arch. Then we walked around and took in some of the baseball festivities of the Homerun Derby/All Stars Game.

Texas and Oklahoma

2009-07-10T19:43:00.000-07:00

We drove all day from NM to Dallas TX. It was just a really long day of driving and we didn't have time to do much. We went to dinner and were joined by a friend of Gary's, Chris Dumler. Had some good tex mex! Then, we went to bed for the night. We swam in the morning and then headed to Oklahoma for the evening. We made it to mom and dads around 530p- had some Mazzio's pizza, then went downtown to see the Price Tower and the Phillips Museum. Then, ended the night with dessert at Jareds. Good to be home for the night.

More New Mexico

2009-07-08T21:26:00.001-07:00

When I get to my mom's, I will try and upload more pics...or at least I will put together a photo album for facebook. We drove South thru New Mexico today. We made a quick stop at Roswell and found out that aliens do exist! They live in Roswell. It's quite the tourist trap, but after about 1/2 hour, we were finished. We headed further south to Carlsbad, NM, where we spent the rest of the day at Carlsbad Caverns National Park. This park is truly amazing...the cave is huge. You descend over 800 feet through the mouth of the cave and see all kinds of beautiful formations- stalictites (from the ceiling) and stalicmites (from the ground), etc. Then we finshed up the evening with the nightly Bat Flight out of the cave. It was incredible to watch the bats spiral out of the cave for more than 20 minutes and fly off to eat for the night. The ranger said the estimated number during this time of year is between 200,000 to 500,000 bats on any given night! Awesome.

Arizona, Colorado and New Mexico

2009-07-07T22:28:00.000-07:00

My blog posts aren't working and I am very tired...so here are a few pics...

Four Corners Monument, Mesa Verde National Park-cliff dwellings and Jemez Scenic Route, ending in Santa Fe for the night.

Nevada and Utah

2009-07-05T22:01:00.000-07:00

After waking up and swimming for a little bit at The Ritz, we headed to Hoover Dam. It is an incredible dam. It's huge! We did the "dam" tour and were able to go in the tunnels to see the generators that send power to Arizona, Nevada and parts of Southern California. It was really amazing. We walked across the dam and took in some great views. We then headed to Vegas area to hang with my sis and her family for dinner and fireworks. We thought that the fireworks would be great, but we ended up away from the strip only to spend 3 hrs time in/out of parking for about a 10-15 min show...I guess we are really spoiled with Disneyland's fireworks.

We then headed to Utah for a night in St. George.

After a quick nights sleep, we headed to Zion's National Park. I have never been there and was amazed at how beautiful and breathtaking the views are. We hiked the Riverside walk, but weren't really prepared to do the Narrows, so we didn't. Then we took the hike to the Emerald pools. The girls only did the lower and the boys did the entire loop. After a short stop at the gift shop for a little souvenir, we headed to Page, Arizona for the night. (Our trip to the 48 state rule is that we either do something, eat and spend the night in the state for it to count) Page, Arizona Dinner and Hotel with a little swimming will be about it for our Arizona portion (We will hit 4 corners tomorrow). We are planning a Grand Cyn trip in the fall, so we didn't go that far south.

Anyway- that makes 3 states- 45 to go. I'll post more pics later or on facebook- the internet connection here is toooooo sloooooww.

Our Adventure Begins..first state, NEVADA

2009-07-03T22:34:00.000-07:00

So we decided to get a day's head start and Friday afternoon on our 7 week adventure all over the United States. We made it safely to our first stop- Lake Las Vegas, Nevada where I booked us a nice room (probably one of the nicest of the trip) at the Ritz Carlton. Too bad we won't be here tomorrow night, they have the "best" fireworks show in Vegas. Oh well. The kids did great in the car...and with traffic it took us about 5 hours. (Only one stop for a quick dinner in Henderson). I will try and keep this updated, but it depends on time of arrival and internet connections on the trip. We are excited to see my sis and her family tomorrow night for a quick dinner on our way out of town. This hotel is gorgeous and is located right on the manmade lake. They had a fun live band playing in the courtyard area---entertaining us with some fun music---GNR, Tears for Fears and No Doubt... I will add pics as well as we go, but you'll have to stayed tuned for those later.

Oklahoma

2009-07-02T19:34:00.000-07:00

Where did June go- well- I spent 2 weeks in Oklahoma at mom and dad's or AKA, camp Grandma and Grandpa's. My sister and her 3 kids were there, My bro, Alan was there for a few days with his 2 kids and My little bro, Uncle Jeff, took the time off to play with the kids. We swam, jumped on the trampoline, caught bugs/fireflies/frogs, went to Woolaroc, rode horses, fed llamas, rode on the VACMOBILE-the Vaclaw's OU bus, did science experiments, including volcanoe eruptions, the infamous mentos and diet coke geyser and lava lamps, played wii, 3d chalk art, sand art, watched movies, painted tshirts, shopped, pedicures, made cards, had a pirate/princess party- complete with costumes and pinata, Tulsa zoo, went to the science museum in OKC and of course Incredible Pizza and helped mom throw a wedding reception at her house the last night I was there (we transformed the house from disaster to fantastic!) I'm sure that I left some things out.

It's always a fun time when we go and we are exhausted by the time we get home. The kids came home with tons of goodies as well as some special "beanie babies" that grandma passed on to the kids. They are very special to them.

Disneyland

2009-05-27T11:07:00.000-07:00

So I know that everyone thinks I'm crazy that I go to Disneyland all the time. But we really have alot of fun. We went 2 times in May. Once for Mother's Day and once for Gary's birthday. (SO far, we have been for everyone's birthday...we'll be going in June for mine). For Gary's b'day, we went down and stayed in a hotel Monday night, so we could get there early and get back on Tuesday for Jake's baseball party. Mother's day was fairly crowded, but we had a good time. Monday night (memorial day) was fairly crowded at Adventure park, so we hit a few rides and grabbed dinner at Tortilla Jo's, then headed to the hotel, where we had an awesome view of the fireworks! (not the best hotel, but good night's sleep and clean) Tuesday am was great. We hit quite a few rides with small waits 5 minutes. Indiana was 20 minutes by the time we got there, but the highlight- Jessica was TALL enough! A first for her (might be her last for awhile, she didn't like it). We also decided to go on the Mark Twain boat, which I haven't done since I was a little kid...We were asked to come up to the captain's quarters and drive the boat- so the kids drove the boat! They had a great time. We hit all the Mountain rides (Splash, Space, Thunder, Matterhorn) and finished up the day with a nice lunch at Carnation Cafe and a little shopping (Gary had his $70 fun card from Disney for his b'day) and headed back home.

Gary's Century

2009-05-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

So Gary has been training for a few months and finally did it! He rode his bike 100 miles. In training, he would ride to the beach (did you know that we are a bike ride from the beach?) We would drive to the beach and pick him up, usually near Ventura. For the century ride, he rode up to Ventura and down Pac Coast to Santa Monica. So we went to Santa Monica. Sorry no pics of him..I'm sure you wanted to see him in his spandex bike shorts!...here are some from the beach.

Grandpa

2009-05-27T10:53:00.000-07:00

It seems that I can't get around to updating my blog as much as I would like, so I am going to try and give you highlights for now. At the beginning of May, Jessica went to Utah for my grandpa's funeral. Funerals are always sad, but I am happy that my grandparents have been reunited in Heaven and will have their health. My grandparents always put family and the gospel first and taught us so much. They have 5 children, 19 grand children and somewhere around 53 great- grand children...I lost count. We love you.

No training wheels

2009-04-28T14:06:00.001-07:00

I think we've taken the training wheels off about 10 times, but she finally did it! Thanks to the neighbor for running after her so I could take the vid.

Pinewood Derby

2009-04-28T14:02:00.000-07:00

Jake placed 4th out of 32 kids...He had a great time and was in the running most of the night.

Huntington Library/Easter

2009-04-22T16:46:00.000-07:00

So for Easter, we headed to Huntington Library to see the flowers. The roses were beautiful, they were all in bloom. We decided upon leaving to become members so we can go back again a few times this summer and in the fall.

Spring Break and Fun

2009-04-22T16:35:00.000-07:00

My sis and her fam and my mom and dad came out to spend spring break. Since the plan was to do the beach and the weather wasn't as cooperative (or at least that's what we thought), we headed to Disneyland of course. It was beautiful. A little crowded, but we had a great time. Grandpa was the designated "fastpass runner" and grandma was the babysitter, so we got things done pretty quickly. We spent Sun at Cal. Adventure, Mon at Disney, Tues at the Zoo, Wed at Sky City and Thursday at Santa Monica Beach. We had a great time.

Jessica turns 6!

2009-03-26T11:10:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that my "baby" is 6. It's been a great year for her. She loves kindergarten. She has learned so much, reading, writing and numbers. She is truly a joy and blessing in our family. She had a great birthday week. She had grandma and grandpa from OK here for a few days, where we watched baseball, played, shopped, went to the Beach and of course Disneyland. Then her grandma from Tehachapi came up one afternoon and took her power shopping...that girl can do alot of damage in little time! She got some great dresses, a swimsuit and some cover ups for our upcoming beach trip this summer and a few other cute outfits. On Sat, she celebrated with a few friends with a Littlest Pet Shop party- we played games, read stories, did crafts and had a fun time.

Big Month for Jake

2009-02-26T10:38:00.001-08:00

Jake, born in 1999, turned 10 this month. I can hardly believe it. It's been a great month for him so far. He went to Mammoth w/ Gary to snowboard, Spent his actual birthday at Disneyland with us, earned his Bear in cubscouts, along with quite a few beltloops, pins and arrowpoints, and played his first baseball game for Hart baseball, where he got on base 2 out of 3 times at bat and scored a run! He is such a great kid. He is so helpful and always wanting to please everyone. I am so thankful and proud that I can be his mom!

S'mores

2009-02-02T09:52:00.001-08:00

Our backyard is FINALLY done. So to celebrate, we lit a fire in the fireplace and had s'mores. The Liddiard's were here for the fun. We had a great time visiting, watching the superbowl and playing. I'm not sure the kids were really into eating them as much as watching the marshmallows catch fire, but we had a good time.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-07T18:21:00.001-08:00

We had a wonderful 2 wks. First Gary's sis, Karen and her family, including 5 boys crashed at our house one night. Then throughout the week we got together... Rockband, Pool, Legos, Magic Mtn, Hollywood Walk of Fame, Hollywood Sign, Griffith Park...all kept us pretty busy. We went to Tehachapi for Christmas day to visit them at Gary's parents. We had a great time. It snowed, so the kids had a great time building a snowman and having a snowball fight with cousins. The power went out over our really nice Christmas Dinner. It was fine, we visited by candelight for a few hours then decided to take off back home, where there was power and heat and a bed to sleep in! My family came for New Years!!! We spent time with cousins for a few days at home and then...We spent 5 days, yes I said 5, at Disneyland! We had a great time. It was crowded, but it was fun to spend time with my parents, my sis and family and my bro and 2 of his kids. Other than some sort of fluke food poisoning or something with Gary and Jess, we had a really good time. Jessie loved our hotel room. She had her own "Tinker Bell" room.

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-21T16:45:00.000-08:00

I wanted to post the words to one of the my favorite Christmas Carols growing up. It reminds us why we celebrate Christmas.

C is for the Christ child born upon this day

H is for Herald Angels in the night

R is for our Redeemer

I is for Israel

S is for the Star the shone so bright

T is for Three Wisemen, they who traveled far

M is for the manger where He lay

A is for all He stands for

S means shepherds came.

And that's why there's a CHRISTMAS Day!

I'm thankful at this time for the Savior and his sacrifice. I'm thankful for our family and friends and I'm thankful for all the great blessings we have received this year in our family.

Merry Christmas to everyone and Happy New Year!

Jessie's new smile!

2008-12-21T16:40:00.000-08:00

I took Jessica to the dentist on Tuesday. YEAH no cavities! which is a miracle with all the work we had done last year. That night, her tooth was loose and bleeding. She was crying and complaining and really worried about it. I calmed her down and sent her to bed, hoping it wouldn't fall out during the night. The next morning, it was really loose and bleeding again, so I took a kleenex and pulled it out-UGH. She is pretty proud and the tooth fairy feeling bad about all the drama left her $2.00!

2008-11-23T21:27:00.000-08:00

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California Firestorm

2008-11-16T08:43:00.001-08:00

They really come up with the best names for these fires when they call them a storm. The wind was so strong, up to 70 mph when the fires broke out. This is a view from the Sylmar/Sayer fire from my backyard. My camera doesn't do it justice. Later that night, the flames were huge, but my camera won't take night pics. 500 mobile homes along with 6 single family homes were completely destroyed, many homes and structures were damamged. The say this firestorm is one of the worst in California history since 1961. Even though the fire was still about 5 miles away...As always, I panic a little and pack my bag. I would hate to pray for safety and then not be somewhat prepared to leave in a moment's notice if needed.

Vegas

2008-11-14T11:06:00.000-08:00

While I was in Utah, Gary let me know that his dad was sick and I wasn't sure if I would still be headed to Vegas, but Gary's mom reassured us that all would be well and that I should go ahead and meet Gary in Vegas. We had a great time. I got there Sat AM from Utah and spent the day with my sis and her family. Gary got there that night. We stayed at the Bellagio, we had a view of the fountains from our room. We had a fun time between classes. We shopped, we saw "KA" at the MGM- very good and ate at some great restaurants. It's nice when the tab is being picked up. It was nice to get away for a few days and relax.

Utah

2008-11-14T10:49:00.001-08:00

The nice thing about funerals is getting together with family. All the years growing up, we would get together at grandma and grandpa's for a few weeks during the summer. There were 19 grandkids. I was one of the oldest. I remember "babysitting" the younger ones so that the adults could go out to dinner and to the temple at least one time. There are 49 great grandchildren (all but 6 were at the funeral) It was one of the rare times that actually ALL of my siblings were together with my parents. I really enjoyed catching up with my cousins that I hadn't seen in awhile. Grandma is certainly in a better place and we will all miss her. We love you grandma and grandpa.

Happy Halloween

2008-11-01T17:17:00.000-07:00

We had a great Halloween. We carved the pumpkins that we got at Lombardi Ranch Pumpkin Patch here in Santa Clarita. For that night, we headed to The Liddiard's house for dinner and trick or treating. The girls had a great time. They were so tired, but wanted to keep going, so we wore them out and had to carry them home. The boys kept going and going and going. Jess had a sleep over with the girls, the boys came over here. I think they went to bed around midnight or so and then both ended up in our room on the floor.

Jake has my eyes...

2008-10-21T16:39:00.000-07:00

Jake has the most gorgeous blue eyes...he takes after me. Anyway, the biggest problem with blue eyes is that you will most likely be nearsighted. So after complaining of not being able to see the board in class and a quick eye exam with my eye DR, Jake will begin wearing glasses. (He wishes that he could get lasik, but I told him he was way too young and that glasses were the only way to fix his eyes for now.) I guess when he turns 16 he can look forward to dates, driving and contact lenses!

Hawaii Vacation

2008-10-09T15:57:00.000-07:00

We just got back from our annual “it’s fall break” Olsen family trip. We went to Hawaii for a week. Gary’s parents joined us. We spent 5 nights on Lanai and 3 nights on Oahu. Lanai is a small island that you can see from Maui. It is beautiful. We stayed at The Four Seasons Manele Bay. It was beautiful. Our room was ocean view. We swam, snorkeled, had massages, Gary golfed at two of the most best golf courses in the world, 4WD tour of the island, kids caught lizards and did tons of crafts at the kids club, clay shooting, archery, mini golf , small hikes and ate at great restaurants. The town is very small and laid back. The shops closed for lunch or whenever they felt like it and most everything was closed by 7. The other resort on the island is The Lodge at Koele. It is like a hunting lodge near the mountains. It has awesome views of the island and is surrounded by pine trees. Most of the island used to be pineapple plantations run by Dole, but they no longer grow them on the island.
We stayed at the Turtle Bay Resort on Oahu. It is situated on a point at the North Shore- gorgeous views of the ocean, which we had from our room as well. We spent a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center, which is great to get all the culture, dancing, etc all in one place. I think it’s incredible the opportunity the polynesian people have to attend BYU and get a college education in return for working at the PCC. We hiked up to Waimea Falls. We spent an afternoon at Pearl Harbor, Battleship Missouri and the Submarine USS Bowfin. We shopped in North Shore town and stopped for Dole Whip at the Pineapple plantation. We had a great time.

Finally!!!

2008-10-06T14:18:00.000-07:00

I promised pics of the house to everyone and I've been so busy, I haven't had time to post, so here you go! Come and visit anytime! (I couldn't take a pic of my closet because it was too big! j/k) Anyway, we are so happy. Even while we are on vacation, Jessica said she missed her "Roxy" room and bathroom. Now back to unpacking and hanging pics.

Starly?

2008-09-18T18:41:00.000-07:00

SO both my kids love stuffed animals...and have plenty of them. BUT, both of them have their one favorite that goes everywhere with them. Jake has had Pluto since he was almost 4 and it has been on every vacation, etc. Jessica finally latched onto 1 last January. Then with the move, and unpacking tons of boxes I had told Jessica that Starly was lost FOREVER!

UNTIL today- Jessica found her under the couch!!!

Conversations with a 5 yr old

2008-09-01T10:21:00.000-07:00

At Dinner
5 yr old- Mommy, where does food come from?
Mommy-We buy it from the store.
5 yr old- Where does the store get it?
Mommy-The store gets food from farms and factories that process it.
5 yr old- We should just make our own bread so we don’t have to go to the store.
Mommy-We would still have to go to the store to get the ingredients to make the bread.
5 yr old- No, we could just get them online.

At a restaurant:
Daddy- after we buy the house, we don’t get to go out to eat all the time.
5yr old- Why not?
Daddy- Because we won’t have the money to go out all the time because we have to pay for the house.
5 yr old- Then you will have to go to the bank.

On the way to grandma's house:
5 yr old- Mommy, You know your mommy and daddy and daddy’s mommy and daddy?
Mommy- Yes.
5 yr old- Did you know they are all like the same age?

Rock Band

2008-08-29T16:50:00.000-07:00

Gary got Rock Band this summer for PS3 and even though it takes up the whole front room of our apartment, I don't mind too much. It's pretty fun. I was the drummer for this song! Jake plays guitar and bass. Gary is getting to be quite the expert on the guitar. Jessie just sings the best she can so she isn't left out. I think I don't mind because it's one of the few "video games" I can actually play.

The countdown...8 days

2008-08-27T17:57:00.000-07:00

We sign our papers 1 week from tomorrow on the new house! yeah! We had our walkthrough today and it's the first time I've seen the inside for a few weeks. The last time I saw it only the wood floors were in and they were covered, the rest of the house was still cement. I can't believe it's done. The walkthrough was tedious, it took about 2 1/2 hours (thanks Dionne for taking jess to school), the guy was very good at pointing out things that I didn't even catch...He even baked us a pie in our oven as a "housewarming" gift.
So sign papers 9/4, keys 9/5, move in 9/6!

School starts

2008-08-15T16:45:00.000-07:00

Well we survived the first week (3days) of school. I think I finally have drop off and pick up figured out... It was very confusing the 1st day because most of the roads were closed for construction..I don't even think the teachers knew what was going on. Jessica has found some new friends and loves her kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Greenfield. She is very excited and has already received her 1st homework packet. Jake is adjusting and has made some friends as well. He is in a 4/5 split, which can be intimidating, but he's been in a split before and will do fine. His teacher is Ms. Klahs. It is hard waiting until noon to take Jessica---she is so excited to go in the am when I take Jake..that for the next 3 hrs, all I hear is it time to go yet????? It's not so bad commuting across town to school either- it takes less than 10 minutes. BUT, it will be very nice to be less than 5 min. when we move. I'm trying to get motivated to actually walk to school in the am with Jake and Jess.

Happy Anniversary

2008-08-12T14:32:00.000-07:00

14 years! WOW, I can’t believe it’s been 14 years since Gary and I got married. It seems like yesterday he walked in for his first day at work at Officemax in Orem, and I was immediately attracted. I know it was our Heavenly Father’s plan for us to meet. I should not have been working at Officemax. I had graduated and had started my new job in SLC, but I wanted the extra money. Gary was headed somewhere else and decided to stop at Officemax and fill out an application for a job. I’m not sure we would have met otherwise. Anyway, Gary is my best friend and is always there for me no matter what and I am thankful for all that he has done for me. I am thankful for my two children that make our family more complete. I am thankful for the gospel so that I know our family will be together always and forever.

End of Summer

2008-08-11T10:06:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that there are only 2 days left before the kids go back to school. Last night Gary asked me what I'm going to do now that the kids are gone all afternoon. I told him that I would read and take a nap every day. I might have to practice the drums for Rock Band though because Gary is getting really good and I haven't progressed at all. Really, I'm not quite sure what I'm going to do for now, but once we move into our house (Sept.5/6), I'll probably spend every afternoon for a month or two unpacking boxes!!!

Since I've been reading quite a bit lately, maybe I should get a job at Barnes and Noble, so I can save on the cost of books... BTW, Breaking Dawn was good. A little darker than the others, but great.

It has been a great summer though...Spending time with family and friends, traveling, Disney, swimming, beach, shopping and just hanging out. The kids are excited about going to school, but a little nervous about a going to a new school, but I'm sure they will make new friends quickly.

BUZZ lightyear

2008-07-21T12:51:00.000-07:00

Gary and I have a friendly competition with Buzz Lightyear and while I have a high score of 310,000....he is always way better.... Here is a picture of his last "high score". He was 3rd place for the day at Disneyland with a score of 1,058,800. Initials-GDO

It's been a while...

2008-07-21T12:38:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a while...alot has happened since my last post. We moved to our apartment...2 days later we took a 10 day trip to Oklahoma and Missouri with my family...1 day later, we took an 8 day trip to Park City, Utah with Gary's family...and 3 days later we took a 3 day trip to Disneyland with Gary's family. We have had a lot of fun. Here is the updated pic of our house which should be done at the end of August or first part of Sept. We had alot of fun spending time with both families. Sightseeing, golfing, fishing, pool, horseback riding, wagon rides, card and dice games, visiting, alpine slides/coasters, movies....Jake and Jessica really love playing with their cousins and are always sad to say goodbye.

Brittany's Quincenerra

2008-06-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

Brittany has been Jake and Jessica's babysitter for the past 3 1/2 years (maybe even more).In South American culture, it is customary to have a huge party that is basically the same as a wedding (except no groom) for your daughter when she turns 15. Brittany Johnson's mom is from Guatamala. Jake and Jessica were part of the Royal Court escorting the princess "quincenerra". It was very nice. They had to walk in and bow and curtsey, stand in a line with roses, do a candle light ceremony and the "waltz" dance.

House Update

2008-06-02T19:18:00.000-07:00

Here is the latest pic of our house. It looks like they are getting ready to drywall and put in the windows this week. We found an apartment that we will be living in this summer. We have to be out of here by June 23 (escrow closing). Our apt is ready June 18. I leave for Oklahoma on the 25th and Gary leaves for SFO on the 24th. I guess we could have waited on the apt...but it will be nice to have a place to put some of our stuff. The storage movers will be here on the 20th to move most of our stuff to storage until Sept when the house should be finished. Until then, we are down to beds, suitcases and a few toys for the kids. We don't want to have to move too much stuff to the 2nd floor apt.

Newport Beach

2008-06-02T19:00:00.000-07:00

We spent Memorial weekend in Newport Beach. We stayed at the Island Hotel near Fashion Island, shopped at South Coast and Fashion Island, frequented the local Sprinkles (it was Gary's birthday), spent a little time on beach (it was cold that weekend) and ate some great food. We tried a restaurant- Oysters, which was pretty good. We also did Cheesecake and PF Changs, which I know are chains, but not located in Valencia, so we like to go when we can. We did a small harbor tour where we saw sea lions and celebrity homes in the Newport and along Balboa Island. The kids had fun swimming. It was really nice and relaxing. (Of course it helped that our house had sold the day before we left.)

Jake at the beach

2008-06-02T18:44:00.000-07:00

I really think I should put him on a diving team or something....

2008-05-27T12:27:00.000-07:00

SOLD!!!
WE sold our house on Friday! YEAH!

Go Dodgers!

2008-05-16T21:20:00.000-07:00

Yes, the only time you will EVER catch me eating a hot dog would be a famous Dodger Dog. We had a great time at the game. Dodgers scored 7 runs before we left after the 5th inning against the Giants. Jessica kept cheering Go Chargers!!! she gets confused between baseball and football.

Progress

2008-05-16T21:15:00.001-07:00

Here are the latest pics of our house "lot". I did go by this week and saw them framing, so it will be fun to see it this weekend.

My schedule for the past few weeks

2008-05-16T21:03:00.000-07:00

Clean, take the kids to school, clean, pick up the Jess, clean, leave the house for a showing, pick up Jake, clean, leave the house because of a showing, clean, go to bed. Did I mention that all I do is clean?! In between, pta meetings (last one was this week), some work (thank goodness for some $), book club (my escape), swimming (to beat the heat), Dentist Surgery for Jess (no fun, but she did well), cubscouts (No comment), Dodger Game (family night fun), car trouble (yes- car trouble with my new car), advance screening of Prince Caspian (really good movie and fun screening), scrapbooking with my cousin (just so I feel productive and get out of the house).

New House

2008-04-24T10:19:00.000-07:00

Well we did it, we bought a new house. It will be ready in Sept., so it gives a little bit of time to sell this one. I'm so excited. It's in Rivervillage in Valencia. It's 3500 sq ft. on a 10000sq ft lot. It's at the end of the cul de sac. It's beautiful. You can go to lennar.com and see pics. It's the heirloom plan 2 home. We aren't sure what ward/stake we'll be in. The kids won't be able to go to Bridgeport, I tried to pull some strings...and may still resort to begging...But- they will go to Emblem, which is a great school and was just re-awarded their Distinguished School Award. (BP just got theirs---and received a perfect score) I still have to resign as the VP of the PTA next year and not sure if I'm bummed or relieved? I love being involved at the school, and I'm sure that any school is happy to have parent volunteers.
Jake's a little nervous, but excited for his new room. Jessica is excited...she's nervous about starting Kindergarten anyway. (she wants me to be her teacher and can't understand why I can't be her teacher at school, when I'm can be a teacher at church.)Also, since she's been right along my side for 3 years on the PTA at Bridgeport it will be an interesting move because she knows the staff, the Principal, the custodians, the teachers, everyone at BP and they know her...

I always hated going to the dentist...

2008-04-14T18:36:00.000-07:00

I was traumatized by every visit and every small cavity...very sensitive teeth. So it only seems fitting that one of my kids "HATES" going to the dentist and that I should have to deal with all the drama...Long story short, 1 year, 4 tries and 3 dentists later, I have no choice but to do the IV sedation thing for her 11 cavities, 2 root canals and 2 crowns. UGH...I can't wait until braces.
(BTW, she started out with only about 5 or 6 small cavities)

Remember when they were so cute!

2008-04-12T22:13:00.001-07:00

I just ran across these pics--weren't they SO cute. The first pic is 2005- Jess, Bella, Quinn, Maddie. The 2nd is 2006-Kayley, Maddie, Jess, Bella.

Flowers!

2008-04-08T10:26:00.000-07:00

I took the kids to Descanso Gardens this weekend. I have never been there but it was really beautiful. The tulips and lilacs were in bloom. Jessica found poison oak again, but avoided another rash from it. (I realize that poison oak is native to California, but why on earth they would intentionally plant it in the garden is beyond me....it's labeled, with a planter fence around it, but right at the edge of the trail.) It was a nice day !

Cool Jake

2008-04-01T20:10:00.000-07:00

I just love this pic of Jake, so I decided to add it to my blog.

Jessie's new bike

2008-04-01T19:59:00.001-07:00

Jessica is 5 now- I can't believe it. She got a new bike for her birthday and I finally got around to taking a picture of her riding it today.

I love that New Car Smell!

2008-04-01T19:41:00.000-07:00

Here it is Judy- although now you've already seen it. For everyone else that doesn't know, my lease on my Acura is up this month and I'm pretty much out of miles, so Gary and I went car shopping this weekend, after we pawned the kids off on Derek Ballard. We've been researching for awhile and I've had my eye on the BMW X5 ever since they announced the 3rd row... and since a BMW has always been kindof a dream for me. However, on the way to the BMW dealership, we stopped by the Mercedes lot and happened upon the perfect dark blue/tan interior GL450 and fell in love. Here is my new car!

Golf and Grandpa

2008-03-28T13:39:00.000-07:00

Gary’s dream is to play all the top golf courses in North America. So last weekend, Gary and I headed off to North Carolina for a golf trip. We stayed at2 beautiful resorts while we were there- The Umstead Resort and The Pinehurst Resort. Pinehurst has been around since 1895. We had a great time. Gary played 3 rounds of golf-including top rated course No.2- which I walked with him (it’s about 3 miles and takes about 4 ½ hours because of the golfing). I played 1 round of golf- It was pretty fun, but I am so bad. The lessons I took last summer were great, but I haven’t practiced. We had some very nice dinners at the resorts—Gary also treated me to Ruth’s Chris. Obviously we hit the spa as well---RELAXING!!!
In case you weren’t paying attention, Gary and I headed off---not the kids. Grandpa took care of the kids for me. They had a great time. I’m sure my dad is exhausted…just getting the kids out of bed in the am is work. He had to do it at least 3 times- 2 for school and 1 for 9am church, pus all the activities: cupcakes to school for Jessica’s birthday celebration, School, Disneyland, Zoo, Jessica’s birthday, Maddie’s birthday party, Horton Hears a Who movie, and Easter Sunday just to name a few!

Hidden Mickeys

2008-03-10T13:17:00.001-07:00

We took advantage of a day off last week and headed for an overnight Disney trip with Gary. We spent the night at the Californian. It is such a nice hotel, the kids love the bunkbeds. and so convenient. Our room looked over the private entrance into Disney’s California Park. Within a few hours of arriving, we had done Soarin’, Screamin’, The Carousel, The Tortilla and Bread Factories, Alice, Teacup, Space Mtn, Buzz Lightyear, Thunder Mtn and Nemo. It really is so nice to go when it’s not that crowded. For you Buzz competitors, Gary holds the high score in our family- around 550,000.
My new hobby at Disneyland is looking for Hidden Mickey’s. I actually bought the guide book to help spot them. It’s fun finding them and the kids like looking for them too. We even found a hidden tinker bell.
The "logo" for the Californian hotel includes a hidden Mickey. There are 3 on Pirates! So next time you go to Disneyland, see if you can find them.

I'm sure I forgot something?

2008-03-09T12:43:00.001-07:00

What a week! early dismissals, minimum days, no school days, overnight trip to Disneyland with family, parent teacher conferences, PTA, work, park days, school projects, birthday parties, homework....and to top it off Daylight Savings Ended (which I actually remembered). But I did forget a few things.
Rushing around in the morning to get ready for 9a church,because I slept in even though I changed the clocks, Jessica and I finally got in the car to go to church to save a seat for Gary and Jake. Anyway as soon as I set down, I had FORGOTTEN that Jessica was to give the scripture. No big deal, but we needed to practice, so we went to the primary room and practiced. At 9a, we returned to find Gary sitting in our row, but not Jake. I asked "Where's Jake?" and Gary shrugged. I then asked "Did you bring him?" He said "Are you kidding me?...and rushed out of the chapel to get Jake who we had FORGOTTEN to bring to church...I FORGOT my son!!!! I think I in the prize this week for "worst mom." Actually, when Jake realized that both of us had left he was a little surprised, somewhat sad, and than excited that he didn't have to go to church. He also blames Gary so I felt a little better about being a bad mom. It was actually pretty funny!

Olsen Update

2008-02-28T18:54:00.000-08:00

The big news of the week is that Jake got a haircut. Dionne and I were sitting at her house and decided that it was time. Jake had a deal with his dad that he didn’t have to cut his hair unless he got an "S" on his report card. Well since that hasn’t happened yet, I had to step in. With Dionne’s help we finally got him into the chair. It’s still long, but it looks SO much better. I’ll attach a picture later, when he's more cooperative. By the way, the last time he got his haircut was last Feb. right before his baptism.
Jessica, in case you didn’t know has changed her name to Vanessa.. and is officially enrolled for kindergarten. Hopefully, she’ll get in, since Bridgeport is on a lottery system and the total enrollees as of today showed that over 45 kids will not get in. Thank goodness for sibling priority and the fact that I know people.
I keep looking for a new home to move to, but unfortunately the housing market and mortgage rates are not cooperating, so we'll probably just end up staying here.

Snakes, Lizards, Frogs and More!!!

2008-02-16T11:21:00.000-08:00

Jake had his Reptile Birthday party this last Friday. He had a great time! His favorite part was when the huge albino burmese python was wrapped around his body! Did I mention that I am terrified of snakes!!! Even when Jake's friend Lake had the snake wrapped around his foot and called for help, I couldn't help him because it meant I would have to touch the snake. Nick came to the rescue and helped him get un-constricted from the snake. (Lizard boy was at the head of the snake protecting the others from the mouth!) The frog peed all over Jake, but that was the only present left for any of the boys. They saw and held or touched a frilled lizard, some frogs, an african bull frog, the python, a brazilian rainbow snake?, a tarantula and a black faced monitor....(I may have left out a few) The boys had a great time!

Nature Center

2008-02-10T16:52:00.000-08:00

Jake is working on a 3rd grade project where we have to visit Santa Clarita historical sights. Well with Gary in Park City this weekend, I decided to take the kids to Placerita Nature Center. We had a pretty good time. WE took the Nature walk first...It was a small walk with lots of history. We identified many of the local wild plants and touched and smelled...Jessie got her first touch of Poison Oak, which was being explained at the time, but Jessie didn't hear the part-don't touch. Luckily, we had lots of antibacterial spray and lotions (so no one better make fun of me ever again). The main reason we were there was for the Oak of the Golden Dream Tree...where Gold was discovered in California. Anyway, early that morning there was a car that had gone of the road and crashed near the tree, so it was closed off. However, since there were a few students there for reports, they allowed us to go and see the tree. The car was already out of the embankment, but there were parts and glass all over. The kid did survive. After a short picnic, we stayed for the Animal presentation and got up close an personal with a snake, oppossom, owl, some bird that is related to the falcon and a tarantula...MY FAVES!!! I guess I was just trying to get used to these to get ready for Jake's birthday party- more to come on that this weekend! Have a good week everyone.

It's Always fun When Grandma Comes!

2008-02-06T15:41:00.001-08:00

WE had a fun, quick trip with Grandma. She came in Saturday afternoon and we got to visit for a few days. We pretty much shopped because I was trying to get stuff ready for Jake's birthday party in a few weeks. We spent Sunday watching the Superbowl and laying around since both Jake and Jess were sick. Monday night, we met Uncle Eddie, Jamie, Mike, Troy and Tiffany at Applebees. Tuesday, we did the Bridgport Fundraiser at Claimjumper and Aunt Jolene came over for a short visit. It was nice just to visit.

BookFair Roadtrip

2008-02-06T15:39:00.001-08:00

What a fun week last week was. I spent all week at the school helping some of the fellow PTA board members with our annual bookfair. Apparently the "new" book that all the kids want in school is Diary of a Wimpy Kid 1 and 2....because we sold about 60 of each book. It was a great success and I look forward to helping out next year.

Garth Brooks Returns in Concert--Special Eyewitness: Michelle

2008-01-26T18:26:00.000-08:00

About 2p on Friday, Jan 25, Gary calls me and says there's an extra tkt to the Garth Brooks concert for that night floating around the office and if I want it, it's mine.!!! So I go to the concert with one of his co-workers and have a GREAT Time!!! It was awesome..he sang all the good old songs-Friends in Low Places, Rodeo, The Dance, Unanswered Prayers...pretty much all of his ultimate hits, Trisha came to sing their duet and then sang Walk Away Joe, Huey Lewis came to sing Workin for a Living and another of his songs...during the encore, Garth did a tribute to all the singer/songwriters that influenced him thru the years- George Strait (Amarillo By Morning), George Jones, Cat Stevens, Jim Croce and a few others. He sang his heart out for 2 1/2 hours. I didn't go to the live performance, just the concert after which didn't start until 10p...but it was worth it.

Starting A Blog

2008-01-22T16:15:00.000-08:00

Well, my 2008 goal is to keep up with all my friends and relatives by creating a blog. So as I learn how, you will have to be patient with me. It's been a fun year so far. We spent the first week with mom, dad, Kandee, Ethan and Tessa at Disneyland for a few days. We spent a day with cousins at Sky City Bounce. The next week, The kids and I met Courtney and kids at Disneyland and then spent that night at their new house. More friends came down on Friday and it was like the old "park days".