Remember that?

Don downloaded all his videos from his iphone on to my computer over the weekend and I’ve had a lot of fun perusing through past moments. One that I came across happened about a month ago when the girls and I decided to drop in on the YW/YM BYU bowling activity that Don was attending. We hadn’t seen Don all day and rather than interrupt the youth’s activity with our reunion we went upstairs to hang out with Don for a few minutes. While there we watched a BYU dance class…jamming… 

I could tell the music was starting to work its way into the girls when Bizzie suddenly vogues, Autumn tried moon walking, and Liberty’s little bum started twitching…so, knowing another Olsen jammin’ session was about to occur, out came the iphone! I can’t remember the last time I could bust out the moves in front of strangers with no inhibitions whatsoever…

Curve Ball Number 2…

Yesterday was a surreal day…much like our shock when we found out we were pregnant after announcing to the world that we were content and complete with our 3 girls… Heavenly Father threw us another curve ball when we looked at the very obvious anatomy of our little boy in the ultrasound! Don and I had enough awareness to high-five each other behind the back of the Ultrasound-ist (is that even a word?) at the accomplishment of a seemingly impossible feat for us, and then we remained in quiet awe as a very real little boy spirit was introduced to us. He’s healthy and active, proving it with his constant movement and kicking, he waved to us and proudly displayed he was indeed a boy many times…or maybe the doctor, sensing our shock, felt the need to remind us frequently…

The next surreal experience occurred when we started using words in our home we have never used before to tell the girls about who would be joining them soon - “brother” “son” “boy” “he”.

We are pretty confident about the family name we have picked out for him and are already referring to him as Elias and Eli. The girls constantly talk to him and he seems to be MUCH on their minds! Anyway, that’s our news – we’re excited, shocked, and eager to meet our new addition in August…

Best Days…

I love the blog I found this picture on…

I wanted to get this “Best Day” posted before it drifted too far from my memory. With the crocus and daffodils blooming it seems surreal that not so long ago we were doing this snow trip! But just a few weeks ago I had my best friend by my side and our girls surrounding us, squinting into an icy blue sky…

After hearing a lot of good things about this Utah man’s ice sculptures we decided a trip up to Midway and Heber Valley was a great destination for President’s Day. We got up early to be in Midway by 10am when it opened, signed an agreement not to touch or break anything (a little nerve wreaking with a 23 month old), and walked into an icy fairyland…the girls kept calling them Diamond Castles and loved imagining living in them.

This was the only picture of Don. I could tell he was in heaven by the 49 pictures he took of various ice formations. He is a wonderful photographer! Here are a few of my favorites…

Well after successfully not breaking anything, and avoiding the crowds that came just minutes after we left, we drifted over to “The Barn” which had a large assortment of reasonably priced home decor AND a bathroom! An owl (Bizzie), a horse (Guess), a rabbit figurine (Liberty), an Uncle Sam Iron piggy bank just like the one I grew up with (Rachel), and a slightly lighter wallet later (Guess), we left for the Homestead Crater. I had been here once and thought it was REALLY cool but things are always cooler when you see it through your kids eyes (they didn’t say much which is always a sign of high brain activity… and possibly fear of a volcano coming back too life…)

The water was so warm, it was a little scary letting the girls get close to the edge of the dock because explorers have never been able to find the bottom (probably due to the high temperature as you go further down). Families were swimming around, and a scuba diving class was taking place behind us – all with 2 feet of snow outside!

Sorry for all the videos…some of our trips we forget to take still pictures, this last video of the Crater is kind of neat in how it shows how they burrowed into the side of the Crater to get to the water and the primitive dressing rooms they have set up for the swimmers…

“Oh, lover of frogs…” Grandma, this is for you…

We were famished and headed to our favorite burger joint in Heber Valley – Dairy Keen, it is a fun place for kids who love trains, and parents who want to eat while their kids are distracted by the trains…

And as a parting farewell to the valley we stopped and watched skiers topple over in Solider Hollow and took a picture of the wonderful old engines they have in the Heber Creeper Train Yard. It was a beautiful, bright, best day…

Another Typical Olsen Adventure

I LOVE our adventures! Don likes to try to find the most direct way from Point  A to Point B but 8 out of 10 times it proves to be the opposite. This usually finds me bringing up the end because I want to video the attempts, which slows me down more because I’m laughing so hard I’m worried I’ll pee my pants! So far we’ve always made it back to the car, albeit a bit more muddy or wet than when we started…

This was another perfect example of that. We had Don home with us on a sunny day so we packed into the car and went up Diamond Fork Canyon to explore. When we found a good spot we got out and donned out trusty rubber boots (they have been SUCH a good investment!) and headed in a general upward direction. Off to our left was a perfectly good trail, but Don veered to our right and years of experience has taught me that if I give him free reign in direction decisions 1) he’s happier and 2) I will most likely be “laughing so hard I’m worried I’ll pee my pants!” – it’s a good compromise:)  Shortly after that veer to the right the videos began:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Taking a Break”

(Liberty would use Don’s hair as a safety grip, he had a pretty nifty hair style going by the time Liberty was feeling safe enough to let go!)

“Our Wet Reward! Again, love the rubber boots – snow one minute, waders the next…”

“All the Pretty Ladies”

“…And Molly…”

Well, after taking the long way about, on the way back to the car we found a very simple trail going from Point A to Point B … but where’s the fun in that?! The last adventure occurred 5 feet from the car – Don and I had taken great care in keeping Liberty safe and dry but, following in her Daddy’s footsteps, she felt that the most direct way from Point A to Point B was through the knee deep puddle rather than around…hmmm…