Happenings

I have not been in the blogging mood this week, but I have a few things I wanted to share so while I am still not really in a bloggy (is that a word) mood, here I go.

Jacob

Last Friday, Jacob was able to test for his purple belt in Tae-Kwon-DO. I, unfortunately, was out of town and was not able to be there. Kevin said he did a GREAT job and in the end he did receive his new belt. Like I said, I was not there hence, no pictures. Well, I take that back, Kevin ATTEMPTED to take some pictures, but you can't see what's going on in any of them. So I have no pic to post but Jacob is very excited!! He now has 4 belt levels left, the fourth one being black belt.

Okay, so Kevin was able to get one good shot. This is my cousin Rey's daughter, Savannah, with Jacob.


KAYLA

Mark this date in history. Monday, April 20, 2009. Kayla Amaya Olson was finally brave enough to let Kevin take the training wheels off of her bike and guess what? She did it! Right off the bat. Kevin held her for like 2 seconds, literally, and she was off!! The first thing she said this morning was, "Can I go outside and ride my bike?" Guess where she is at right now?

KELSIE

We have found more and more, that Miss Kelsie definitely has the Olson gene in her. See exhibit A below. Lorrie, how many pictures do you have of Kevin falling asleep in the most random places? Even some with a cookie in his hands, I believe. This picture was taken as I came out of my bedroom and Kelsie was waiting for me to get ready so we could go to good old Wal-Mart. The trip to Wal-Mart did not happen that afternoon.

ASHLEY

Ashley? you say. Well, Ashley has always been more of a daughter than a sister to me. Last Friday, I accompanied her to Pullman which is why I missed Jacob's TKD testing. She was accepted to WSU in the fall and is very excited. They were holding cheer tryouts last weekend, and this was something that she really went back and forth about. She has cheered since she was 12 years old on a competitive team and is very good!! She just wasn't sure if this was something she could do in college. She knew the competition would be fierce, and she was right. It was quite an adventure.

We stayed in Clarkston, WA because that weekend also happened to be Mom's weekend and all of the hotels in Pullman and Moscow were booked. We, Lisa, Ashley and I, headed out for Pullman from Clarkston at about 8:45 am with our GPS in tow. THANK GOODNESS!! If it wasn't for Jane, that is what we named her, we would never have made it. Tryouts started at 10:30. We arrived "on campus" at about 10:00. We parked bear Beasley Coliseum and then we thought, "Now what?" We knew what building she was suppose to be in, but know idea where it was. None of us had ever been to the campus before and we didn't know what to do. Luckily was ran into a girl who also was looking for the building, but she had a map. We followed her lead and after literally hiking across the entire campus we arrived at the right location at approximately 10:25!! It was a closed tryout so Lisa and I could not stay, but we walked in with Ashley as she checked in and took a look around. Our jaws dropped. There were 36 girls there. They were all equally amazing and beautiful!! I was instantly intimidated for Ashley. I looked at her and smiled and wished her luck, she wouldn't let me hug her in front of everyone, and Lisa and I turned around and walked out.

We were both VERY worried for her. We made our way back to our car and Jane told us how to get to Moscow to do some shopping. The tryout was to last until 8:00 pm. We got to see her at noon when we took her some lunch and when we asked her how things were going she just said "Good". You have to understand how nervous and sick to my stomach I was. "Good" didn't cut it for me. We left again and had to just wait the entire day, but Lisa and I had a really good time just waiting. At about 2:00 I got a text message, "Made the first cut." Fewww!! What did that mean? That meant that out of 36 girls, only 18 were left. She got past the tumbling and jumping part. Now it was on to stunting, dance and cheer. There was also and interview. After about and hour or so. I got another text, "Can't stick any of my stunts. Not doing well. I am the worst one here. Don't think I am gonna make it." How do you respond to that? I called her right a way. She only had a few minutes on a water break. I asked her what was wrong she said she had no idea, she just couldn't hit any of her stunts and all of the other girls were right on. She also said that there were 9 returning girls. So basically if there are 12 on the team and 9 of them are returning, there are only 3 spots left and 6 girls are going home. Odds aren't looking so good. I just told her to go out there and do what we all knew she could do. She's been to Nationals TWICE. She can handle this. Kevin also had given her a blessing before we left and he blessed her with the ability to do all of the things that she has worked so hard to learn. I just KNEW she had it in her. We talked for a while and I tried to just be as encouraging and positive as I could be even though I was dying inside. Lisa and I strategized about what to say and what to do and what not to do if she was cut. This would be a VERY long car ride home. We had it all planned out. At about 4:00 it was time for the actual stunting tryout, before it was all practice and warm up. I got a text at 4:30 - "Hit everything perfectly." Lisa and I screamed. We were so excited! By this time we had left Moscow and were now just walking around campus just waiting for some news. Now she had to wait for all of the other girls to go their turn. Two of the girls fell. By this time Lisa and I had wandered into the building where tryouts were being held and just walked around and sat in a few classrooms. Just waiting. 6:15 text - "It's really close. They are making 4 of us do the dance and cheer again." Uuuugghh! Who knew that cheer tryouts would be such and intense emotional roller coaster!! We could hear the music going, we could here them chanting. We made our way into the hallway next to the gym and waited and waited and waited. At about 7:15 we saw the coach come out of the gym. She walks past us. About 10 minutes later she walks back past us again, this time she has a stack of folders/packets in her arms. This was it! I just knew that those packets were for the girls who were on the team. She walks into the gym and again we wait, watching the door, listening very hard. We see and hear nothing, no screams, no cries, nothing. About five minutes later, a girl comes out crying. One. Then two more walk out very upset. Two and Three. My palms are sweating. Another one walks out. Four. Her mother says, "This is not going to be a fun trip home, is it." We stare down the hallway at the gym door very impatiently. Two more storm out while sobbing into their cell phones. Five and Six. Lisa and I stare at each other. Where's Ashley? What happened? What's going on? Did she make it? No. She must be really upset. She doesn't want to see us yet. Then finally after about another five or ten minutes more girls walk out and in the middle of them is Ashley walking towards us. She is walking slowly with her head down arms crossed at her chest. The hallway is dark so I can't see her face. She starts walking a little faster, I see something in her hands - the packet. We make eye contact. She finally reaches me, "So, did you make it?", I say very impatiently. She nods her head, YES!!!! I am blown away. Speechless. I burst into instant tears. I can't even stand up straight. I can;t even tell you how I felt at that moment. I was proud, full of joy, overwhelmed, jealous, excited, tired, you name it!! I hugged her and cried for what seemed like a very long time. She did it!! We made our way back to the car. She sent out ONE text. Her phone IMMEDIATELY starts BLOWING up with text messages from her friends. I am still in shock. This little girl has accomplished almost everything I have ever wanted to do myself, but never had the opportunity to do. I love her so much, I don't think she will ever really know how much. So now, Ashley is officially a WSU Cougar. We are all excited for her. Way to go Ashley!!

This is Ashley on February 9 when she opened her Acceptance Letter to WSU.

SPRING BREAK

This past Spring Break our family took the best vacation ever. You know it was a good one when your kids are already asking when we get to go back. We went to Silver Mountain in Kellogg, ID. It was PERFECT! We stayed at the Morning Star Lodge, it's kinda like a condo, for the whole week. We had our own kitchen and even a washer and dryer. The bathroom was huge. We had a one bedroom suite with a queen sleeper in the living room area. The kids loved sleeping together on "the couch". If you have never been there or heard of this place, you seriously need to check this place out. It's not very expensive, and there is a Wal-Mart right down the road. The first night we got there we went to Wal-Mart and bought all of the basic groceries we would need for the week. And then on Tuesday the fun began.

Here are the three of them in their cool sleeper sofa bed.

Do I need to say anything?

This was the view from our balcony to the indoor water park. Yes, it snowed and snowed and snowed!! The boys were very happy!! You will see why.

This is us on Tuesday morning on our way to the water park. In our swim gear, in the snow. Nice!

I had to get one good group picture before they all ran off in different directions!

This water park truly ROCKS!! There is something for everyone here. A toddler area, three water slides, one of them being a family raft ride. A Flo-rider surf/boogie board area, hot springs, hot tubs, water basketball, lazy river. It was awesome!!

This is Jacob playing with Kelsie in the toddler area. Kelsie was a little overwhelmed by it all and was very timid about going in the water. The older kids were so good about playing with her and making her feel comfortable.

Kayla on the toddler slide. Do you love her goggles?

This is how Kelsie spent most of her time - Watching all of us on the Flo-Rider.

This is how Kelsie spent the other half of her time.

This is what the boys did on Wednesday and Thursday morning. They were running a special - Buy an adult lift ticket and youth were FREE if you were staying at the lodge. The adult ticket was only $10!! SCORE!

My boys!!




Jacob had a great time, he was very sore the next day.

Kelsie's "job" while at the water park was making sure that all of the tubes on the lazy river stayed neat and organized. It was hilarious watching her try to line them up and keep them straight while people kept taking them and dropping more off!!

They played and played . . .

. . . and played some more!!

Isn't he tricky!!??

Jacob and I on the lazy river.

They had a hot tub on the roof of our building. Kevin and the kids thought it would be SO COOL to sit in a hot tub, on the roof, while it was snowing!!

That water was REALLY HOT compared to the temperature outside!!


Relaxin' after a LONG day.

Everyone is exhausted . . .

. . . except for Kelsie.

It was a GREAT week and a very memorable vacation. It was so convenient to be able to go back up to our own space to have lunch and dinner. We made our own pizzas one night and spaghetti another night. We had ice cream and a Wii Tournament that, of course, Jacob won. Our kids have asked if we can go there this summer or for Christmas. We are definitely going to go there again.

Enjoy some video of us on the Flo-Rider. Of course every time someone had a "good run" we never had the camera going. Of all of us, I think Kayla was the best one and of course I only have her one bad run on video.

Look out MoTab

Pay no attention to the unfolded laundry on the couch, watch the ADORABLE 2 year old singing her new favorite song after she plays shy. ENJOY!

Catch Up

Spring break was GREAT and I have a lot to post about, but I thought I would take it one step at a time and start slowly.

Before we left on vacation, Jacob had his District Pinewood Derby Race. It was so funny to watch him before the race. He was so nervous. He knew there would be so many boys there with really great cars. He said he just wanted to have fun, I was just hoping he would win at least one race. Luckily, he did. He won two and lost two and had a lot of fun. He didn't place in the top three, but in his own words, "I had a great experience Mom!" Here are a few pics of the evening. Thank you to Grandpa and Grandma Olson for making the trip down to watch!!

Can you see how nervous he is? It was so cute!!!

Three generations of Olson Pinewood Derby "Champions".

I LOVE this picture!!

SPRING

Could it be?

Is it really here?

I am looking out my window. The sun is shining. The wind is not blowing. My windows are all thrown open. I hear birds chirping and I see the first signs of plants and flowers sprouting. Did we make it through the winter?

Aaaahhhh. Spring. Yes. We made it. It's really here!

Scentsy Spring Open House

Just a friendly reminder:)

SCENTSY SPRING OPEN HOUSE

SATURDAY, MARCH 21, 2009 FROM 1:00 TO 4:00

AMY'S HOUSE

Feel free to drop by anytime. Bring a friend! Enter a drawing for a FREE warmer of your choice! Ever wonder what TWILIGHT smells like? Come and find out!

Can't make it? No problem! Call me any time!

What's goin' on with us

I haven't had time to post in a long time, so it feels to me. I started to wonder, "What have we been doing?" So I thought I'd do a little recap of what each of us has been up to.

KELSIE

Kelsie is so great. I think she was sent to our family to remind us to stop an laugh and be silly once in a while. She makes these funny expressions with her face when she talks, it's so cute! She is so animated! She loves to dance on her toes. After Sacrament on Sunday Amy M. was playing the organ as we were exiting the chapel and Kelsie was doing her ballet dancing. It was so cute. She is also my little "watch dog". When the older kids are at school she will sometimes sit and look out the front window and report everything she sees. The color of the cars driving by, people walking by and my favorite, "Mommy PS is here PS here. It's you Scentsys! Open it Open it!!" She LOVES to help me sort out my orders.

KAYLA

Kayla amazes me. She is doing so well in her Dual Language class. I was so afraid that I was not making a good choice in putting her in something other than a regular Kindergarten class, but all her success has defiantly let me know that I made the right choice. This girl can read in English and Spanish. It blows me away. She can spell in both languages, too. Sometimes I try an be sneaky and have a conversation in Spanish with Kevin (I will speak in Spanish and he understands what I say, but usually responds to me in English) and Kayla will translate word for word to Jacob what I said. She thinks it's so funny. She is also still doing gymnastics and is doing very well at that. She is hoping that I will let her join the TOPS team that they offer, but we will have to see if we can fit that in our already crammed schedule. She tried out for it and made the team but I was not ready for her to be so committed to something at such a young age so we opted out until maybe Fall, we will see. She also starts T-Ball in two weeks and is looking forward to that. She has also been taking singing classes with Miss Brook and LOVES it! She always reminds me when it's time to go and is looking forward to her Spring Recital. She has been practicing very hard for this.

JACOB

This boy is busy! He is always up and going on his own in the morning. Gets dressed, has breakfast, makes his bed, brushes his teeth, all on his own without being told. He is so great to have around. He is doing very well in school and is consumed by playing four-square at recess. He "practices" at home all the time. He is too competitive for his own good. He always thinks he has to win. He does Tae-Kwon-Do three times a week and will be testing for his purple belt in April. He really enjoys TKD. There are nine belt levels and he is on his fourth belt right now and testing for his fifth belt next month. He loves doing Scouts and as is looking forward to the District Pinewood Derby at the end of the month. Basketball season just finished up and he had so much fun doing that. He loves to watch Gonzaga play on TV with his dad, it's so funny to hear their conversations. Tomorrow night he has baseball tryouts. He is so excited for this. He is happy about the fact that now the kids get to pitch the ball, no more coaches or machines. Once baseball season starts, I might as well just park an RV at the field and just live there through the season. He LOVES to tell jokes. Usually he is the only one laughing then we start laughing because he is cracking himself up.

KEVIN

My amazing husband. he works so hard all day long and comes home and keeps working. He has almost finished our projects in Jacob's room. I can't wait to post those pictures. He built a cool shelf around the top of his room and is making some awesome bookshelves for Jacob's "library". The girls told him that their room is next, stand in line girls. Mom still has a few other projects for our handy man! He enjoyed coaching Jacob through basketball season and is all geared up for baseball. They have spent a few night at the batting cages getting ready. Kevin NEVER misses a Thursday night episode of The Office. This is what he waits all day for. Right now he is debating on weather he should go to Portland on Thursday to go watch the Zags play in game one of the NCAA Tournament with some friends from work. We had such a great time in Spokane when we went and watched them play in February. Kevin loves to play Saturday Morning Football with some of the men from our ward. It reminds him how young he is NOT anymore. In fact tomorrow is Kevin's 32 birthday!

(This is a picture of him jumping up and down and waving his white towel and chanting to the "ZombieNation" song at the Zags game in February)

AMY

I spend my day crossing off a list I prepare in the morning. Mostly driving kids from this activity to that. The daily chores of a stay-at-home mom, which I am so thankful to be. I love my Activity Days calling every other Wednesday. These girls are so fun. I get to teach RS once a month and I love that. I have learned so much since having this calling. I have also been keeping myself busy with me Scentsy business. I went to a mini-convention this past weekend in Boise with some other consultants and had so much fun. I love doing the parties for different people and sorting the orders when PS arrives. I love delivering the product. I feel like Santa Claus and people are always happy to see me. My Scentsy has created quite the mess in my front room. I knew this would happen. I keep asking my handy husband when he is going to build me a bigger house with my own office. His answer is aways, "Soon." Patience is a virtue, right? Until then, don't be surprised if my front room is less than tidy when you come over. I have also spent LOTS of time helping my sister, Ashley, apply to colleges and fill out scholarship apps. She has decided to go to WSU in the fall and is going out for the cheer squad in April. I will be making the trip to Pullman with her for moral support and also because I am a cheerleading nerd! We haev been attending all of her SHS dance competitions and they are going to compete at State Dance at the end of March in yakima.

So that is us. This is what we have been doing lately.

SPRING BREAK COUNTDOWN

Never been there? Check it out: silvermt.com

OLSON LOVELIES

KAYLA AMAYA & KELSIE MARIA

A New Space

I have been watching way too much HGTV, if that's possible. On Saturday afternoon, I decided it would be a GREAT idea to redecorate and reorganize Jacob's bedroom. His room never got finished when we first moved in and it was WAY out of control with toys and clutter. I can't believe what a pack-rat he is. He keeps EVERYTHING!! Anyway, so I thought it's raining outside, we are all home, this will be a cinch. We can get it all done in one day, no problem right? They get things done in a day or two all the time on HGTV and they are doing huge rooms or an entire basement, this will be easy. I forgot the fact that they take a small army with them to do all of thses amazing room make-overs.

We start by pulling EVERYTHING out of his room. I had his bed in the hallway, toys and books ALL over the living room and kitchen. It's just way too much. We all agreed that nothing would go back into the room unless we all agreed on it and I have the final say!! After everything was out of the room, I ran to Lowe's for some paint while the boys starting making some shelves that I requested.

Jacob is my little All Star. He has sports themed bedding so we kept with that theme and I bought some RED and NAVY BLUE paint. I had no idea how difficult it would be to evenly cover a wall with RED paint. The top portion of his room is red with an awesome white chair rail in the center that was custom made by my amazing husband, and navy blue on the bottom. I started painting while the boys finished up the shelves. Ever heard the term, "Time flies when you are having fun"? This is what happened to us. It was like 10PM and I had neglected things like dinner and bedtime, and the house was total chaos. The worst part is that the next day was Sunday. I HATE going into Sunday with a disaster of a house. How can the spirit possibly enter into this home with all of this clutter and chaos. Jacob slept on the couch and Kevin and I kept painting until 1AM.

After church the next day, we sent the kids to my moms house and off to work we went. We got the shelves installed and furniture back in the room. These shelves are amazing. Kevin just amazes me with his carpentry skills every time. I just gave him an idea of what I wanted and he took the idea and totally made it better. It's not even done yet and it looks so AWESOME!! When Jacob got back home, he was totally floored by his new room. He loves it and he told us how much he appreciated all of the hard work that we did. BONUS!! That made it all worth while. I still have a kitchen full of toys and books and shoes that I am going to sort out and slowly move things back into his room. I don't have any pictures yet but I will post some of the finished room soon. I don't know who likes the room more, Kevin or Jacob. It's definitely a boys room.

Good thing it's raining today, I have no reason now not to finish this "easy little one-day project" now. Or so I think:)