The Olsen Family

2010-02-01T11:42:00.003-07:00

It's been WAY too long since I blogged anything.... we all know WHY!.... and it's initials are f.b.

On New Years day we decided to go on a "hike" up the San Tan mountains (hill). The kids were SO excited about it and could not wait to go! We packed lunches and water & drove to a trail near the San Tan mountains. It was so fun being out in nature with the family. W

e even had good talks about things that are hard to do... we can DO hard things! When we got to the top of our little hill, we ate lunch. The kids emptied their bags and to our surprise we found 3 harmonicas and a guitar along with some other little toys... so, we had a mountain-top family band! It was cool looking out over the town of Queen Creek.

Then, on the way back to the suburban, we decided to look for a "treasure chest" (geocaching box) that was nearby. This one was called Blinging Billie, so we HAD to! The GPS took us off the trail and the girls split up from the boys when we had to cross under barbed wire! Finally the boys found the treasure and we made it back to the suburban just at sunset. It was beautiful, fun & a great way to start out the new year!!

We Made it Through Summer!!

2009-07-28T15:19:00.004-07:00

...well almost. And I am so grateful for those who made this possible. A

special thanks to:

The Swimming Pool

The Apache Junction Library

and....

PlayDoh

I don't think we could have made it without you!

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-19T00:33:00.002-07:00

Ryan was still at girls camp that morning, but I trekked down to the park at 7:30am with my 4 kids for a patriotic picnic breakfast and parade. We had decorated a bike, a scooter, and a stroller for the parade. The kids loved it! But on the way home, they decided they had had enough... The boys went on ahead so I couldn't see them - scary... Billie was crying uncontrollably in my arms and Maren decided she couldn't walk anymore because she was too hot. (I realized that if we were pioneers, she would have been left behind for the wolves) I seriously felt desperate & SWORE that Ryan would never leave me for girls camp or any other encampment EVER AGAIN!! I found myself saying, "HAPPY FREAKIN' FOURTH OF JULY!!!" Finally I got home, fed the baby, comforted the 2-yr old, and got everyone a drink and a potty break!!! Next we had a dip in the pool to cool off. Later that night, Ryan finally came home!! The Dodges, Canovas, and Fullers came over and we had a BBQ, water fun for kids, and a little guitar hero for the adults. My kids were not the least bit impressed with the fireworks that night. (Come on! They're FIREWORKS for crying out loud! BIG COLORFUL EXPLOSIONS in the SKY!) Do my kids have thrill issues or what??

Here are some cute pics of the kids that day, courtesy of Nicole Dodge (her camera is awesome!)

A Monster-ific Day at the Museum

2009-07-11T00:10:00.012-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa Allred treated me and my kids to a day at the Arizona Museum for Youth. They had a special Monster Exhibit!!! Hello! Boys.... Monsters..... they Looooved it!! Kade and Mack wore these scary monster hands & scared Maren. But Maren liked wearing the gross costumes while putting on their own Monster Movie! Billie looked cool in the black light room... we were all glowing. We drew pictures of monsters, played with monster puppets and monster costumes, read monster books and enjoyed the several displays of monster art throughout the exhibit. It was pretty cool. (One of the funniest things that happened was when we were walking through the art room & Kade picked up a marker and drew on a white board a monster with one eye and six arms and crazy hair.... then without a word wrote M-O-M on the bottom!) What a little turkey! That's Kade's quiet sense of humor! In the Kid Room (I don't remember the cool name that had for it, but it's a play room for kids age 0-4) is where Maren had the most fun. She is a little mom and felt right at "home" in the just-her-size kitchen/home area. She put on her little apron and started collecting and preparing food for many friends. She could have stayed there for hours! I wish I had more pictures. She's so cute! Thanks Mom and Dad for the good time and the memories!!!

Tan Kids & First Baths

2009-07-02T23:33:00.005-07:00

At 11 weeks old, Billie is too big for a baby bath. I found it much easier to stick her in with the big kids... and they all thought it was much more fun! I have ALWAYS loved the way babies look wrapped up in a towel right after a bath. I tried to capture that in these pics. :)

My kids are little Mexicans! Thanks to all the swimming they've been doing.

I was bathing Mack tonight and was shocked at his tan line! I had to take a picture to show him how different the color of his back was to the color of his bum! (This is the edited version) He thought that was funny.

Billie's Blessing Day

2009-06-12T23:37:00.007-07:00

Sunday June 7, 2009

Billie was beautiful! The blessing was beautiful! She was surrounded by a dozen worthy priesthood-holding men who love her.... and more loved ones who could not be seen. There was a lot of love in that room.

*pinch me! I have the most wonderful life!!*

*My 2 beautiful daughters*

*Billie giving a high five to everyone :) with my brother Sam*

*My mom, Billie, and my brother Zack*

*I love this picture because it shows generations of strong, wonderful women in my life: Ryan's grandma, Phillis Peterson, my grandma Billie Allred (shown in picture frame), my mother, and my baby... the newest addition to a strong chain of women in my family.*

Rock Stars in the Making

2009-06-01T21:06:00.009-07:00

Sorry.... you have to tilt your head to watch this...

Last week Kristen, Nate, Todd & Lara came over to BBQ... and to JAM on GUITAR HERO WORLD TOUR!!!!

WE SOOOOO TOTALLY ROCK!!!

(Yeah right)

I love how the kids got into it too : ) Go Maren!

Graduation Day!

2009-05-29T15:43:00.012-07:00

Here's my 2 handsome little graduates on their special day!!!

Kade graduated from Kindergarten at Benjamin Franklin Charter School and Mack graduated Pre-School from Mrs. Castro's Preschool class down the street...

They both worked hard this year and have improved tremendously! I'm so proud of them both.

...... You know I love you Mrs. Castro, but I couldn't help but notice the differences in their graduation ceremonies.

Which is why I present to you...

What KADE learned in KINDERGARTEN

& what MACK learned in PRESCHOOL ...

Too Cute!! : ) It's funny, but don't get the wrong idea... Mack did learn alot more than that, of course. His teacher is so talented and creative. Anyone who can handle 8 preschoolers under one roof already has my respect, but she is so great with the kids and teaches them very important basics in a fun way!

Congratulations Graduates!!!!

Billie Grace Olsen

2009-05-13T11:47:00.001-07:00

Welcome to the world Billie Grace!

2009-05-06T12:47:00.008-07:00

April 17, 2009

9:50pm

9 lbs 5 oz

One trip to Florence was all it took to get our 4th child on the way...

No, we don't normally drive to Florence on a Friday afternoon, but this was a special occasion. Mack needed to register for Kindergarten and we did not have an original birth certificate for the poor boy! We decided to drive to the Florence recording office instead of the one in Phoenix to get that taken care of. The GPS said we would arrive there exactly 9 minutes before they closed, so it seemed it would work out perfectly. It was the day after my due date, and I was sure this baby would NEVER come, so we made it a family fun trip. About half way there I felt something like a kick but not in the place where the baby's feet had been... where her head was. I just thought that was strange and didn't think anything else about it. While Ryan got the birth certificate the rest of us waited in the suburban. I started to text some friends and family, joking about being in Florence (so random!). I even teased my doula, Tracie, about finding a birthing center out here and wanting to check them out. (She didn't think that was very funny). Then we drove to BJ's to try these famous green chili cheese crisps - very good btw. And finally we stopped at the dollar store on the way home(Kade's only reason for coming with us) :) This is when I finally get out of the suburban and realize that the "kick" I felt was my water breaking. I immediately started having strong contractions. My kids are in dollar-store heaven, but I had to get out of there! Ryan quickly buys them each something while I walk through the parking lot to Burger King to use the restroom, contracting all the way. I smelt amniotic fluid & knew it was for real! Now I had to call my dear friend/doula, Tracie and apologize for the joking and beg her to believe me that I was actually in labor! : ) J/K she knew I was serious. She told me to count my contractions in the next 20 minutes and she would call me back then. As we sped home, we counted 7 strong contractions in the next 20 minutes. They were short and close together. Tracie went to our house, gathered our suitcases that were mostly all packed and hopped in the suburban as soon as we got there! (Bless her heart) Because as soon as we arrived at Banner Gateway, my contractions became much harder and longer. Grandpa and Grandma Olsen met us in the parking lot and took over watching Kade, Mack and Maren. (What a relief) Less that 2 hours later, our beautiful baby girl was placed in my arms! She was absolutely perfect! It was my first birth without an epidural or being induced. And that made the reward so much greater! I swore I'd never do it again, but I've already changed my mind. : )

That's the beauty of child-birth!

We named her after my Grandma Allred... Billie. The older kids absolutely adore her and I think Billie is glad to be here. We are enjoying her so much!

Mack's 4th Birhday Party

2008-09-26T11:51:00.003-07:00

Here we are a month later... but oh well. My baby Mack turned 4 on August 26th, and he's never looking back! He's maturing in many ways. He's doing fantastic in Pre-School... socially and other wise. He loves rock and roll music, drawing, writing, and playing the Wii. Mack had a fun "splish-splash" birthday party last month. We borrowed a huge water slide from the Jensens, got out our own slip-n-slide, had a water balloon toss, and stuck the fin on the sharks! Mack had a great time with all his friends. Thanks to all!

Tagged!... "What You Always Wanted To Know About Ryan And Me"

2008-08-14T13:34:00.005-07:00

I just got tagged by my sister Becky. I guess I just answer these questions about my husband and Iso you can find out even more annoying stuff about me...

HOW DID WE MEET?: His sister, Lainie, thought we would make a good match so she set us up on a blind date.

WHERE DID YOU GO ON YOUR FIRST DATE?: Matta's (... sniff...sniff.. tear drop.)

HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN TOGETHER?: dated/engaged for 6 months, been married for 8 years in Sept.

WHO SAID 'I LOVE YOU' FIRST?: Ryan, in Portugese I think.

WHO IS TALLER?: Hello! have you seen my husband? Ryan is 6'1'' and I'm 5'2"

WHO SINGS BETTER?: We both sing pretty good. Ryan probably would say he sings better :)

WHO IS SMARTER?: I lose brain cells every baby I have so....

WHO DOES THE LAUNDRY?: Ha Ha Ha...

WHO DOES THE DISHES?: It's about 80/20 with us. I usually do it.

WHO SLEEPS ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE BED?: Right or wrong... we sleep wherever our children aren't. : )

WHO PAYS THE BILLS?: Ryan - I'm really bad at that. When we were first married, I wanted to do it, but eventually I got fired.

WHO MOWS THE LAWN?: Ryan. He's tried to show me how, but there's no way I would do that willingly.

WHO COOKS DINNER?: Ryan is great at cooking, it's just I usually do it. Experience has shown that we don't work well together in the kitchen. We are both pretty stubborn.

WHO DRIVES WHEN YOU ARE TOGETHER?: Ryan : ( I like driving, but I don't like passenger-side drivers.

WHO IS MORE STUBBORN?: Like I said, we both are.

WHO KISSED WHO FIRST?t: Ryan STOLE our first kiss! How rude!

WHO IS MORE SENSITIVE?: I don't know.

WHO PROPOSED?: Ryan. (After I told him exactly what ring I wanted and picked a wedding date.) He serenaded me outside my window late at night with his guitar and song he wrote for me. ahhhhh... The funny part was a police helicopter spot lighted him afterwords as he was getting into his car. (I guess he looked suspicious... maybe that was a sign?...) : )

WHO HAS MORE SIBLINGS?: He's the 5th of 6 and I'm the 3rd of 7 - Hence our personalities: a Social Butterfly (Ryan) and a Mother Hen(me).

WHO WEARS THE PANTS?: I get things started and I have the final word! "Oh, Hi, Ryan... I was just, uh... blogging. yeah, I'll get off the computer now. "

Now I tag Nikki, Brittni, and Tami

Thank you Cards

2008-08-13T01:09:00.002-07:00

...I'm proud to say I made these myself!

I still need to pick them up from Wal-Mart

Photo Center, but I couldn't wait to post them!

I hope every princess who came to Maren's party

felt beautiful!

Maren's Princess Party

2008-08-13T00:45:00.007-07:00

Here are some of the pictures from the Princess Party...

like I promised.

This is what we did:

Read Princess and the Pea & The Frog Prince while

the princesses sat on royal pillows

Played "Find the Pea" where they sat on all the royal

pillows trying to find the "pea" (a golf ball) like real

princesses.

Took pictures of each princess on the "throne" next

to the frog prince! (Really cute!)

Painted each princess finger nails (pink, of course)

Played "stick the tiara on the Princess"

Had delicious cake... made by my friend, Amy Strong!

Opened presents!

It was over before I knew it, and the girls just played

with Maren's new presents until it was time to go.

Ahhh, so much planning and preparing for just 75

minutes of party.... what can you do?

I think I've convinced myself that it was worth it! :)

THANK YOU to all who helped me with this party...

AMY STRONG for the wonderful cake

KIM SKINNER for the awesome invitations

MOM ALLRED for the princess pillows

AUNT CHRISTINE for the accessories/decorations

KRISTEN BRINSON for the drawing of the princess

WE MISSED these princesses who couldn't come:

MACKENZIE

CAMI

KAITLYN

SYDNEY

PRESLEY

I'm learning! Here is my second project with photoshop...

2008-08-07T22:15:00.004-07:00

Kade's first day of Kindergarten was Aug.6th. He surprised me at how confident he was. He only wanted me to drop him off at the sidewalk. See how he is RUNNING from the car! : ) I think his favorite party is that he gets to play on the playground until school starts.

At his school, Benjamin Franklin Charter School, they have a flag ceremony and recite the pledge of allegiance outside with the whole school before class begins. (That's pretty cool.) Kade is so independant and obedient. He figures out where he's supposed to be and does what he's supposed to do.

Great job, Kade! I love you!!

My First DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING PAGE!!!

2008-08-03T10:30:00.006-07:00

I couldn't have done it without my computer savvy/hunk of a husband! I was just wishing for the time, energy and smarts to create something cute with all these free downloads. Ryan stayed up late with me after the kids were asleep and showed me step-by-step how to work photoshop!
He also helped me spruce up my blog. Doesn't it look great?!
THANK YOU SWEETIE!
I LOVE YOU- but you've created a monster! : )

Mom Looks Different!

2008-07-30T08:32:00.006-07:00

Here's the new me! Yesterday I dyed my hair dark. I really like it, and I have to say that my little brother is my inspiration. He was a toe-head when he was little and now sports the darkest hair in the family. My kids were so surprised when I came home. Kade said to Mack, "Mack, you HAVE to see this... Mom Looks Totally Different!" They never said they actually liked it, but that's ok.

Tiny Visitors

2008-07-30T08:11:00.006-07:00

Due to the rain a few weeks ago, our retention area was filled with tiny visitors... toads! These are the offspring of those who occupied the retention area. And they are living in our front yard! I don't know how many tiny toads we have, but my kids sure love chasing them. I've never seen toads so small! I got a good picture of one while it was jumping. I was surprised to see the boys pick them up with their bare hands.... I know, they're boys, but still! They are fun now, but we seriously can not have 100 full grown toads living in our yard! What do we do!

Princess Party Invitation

2008-07-30T08:06:00.004-07:00

My good friend Kim Skinner made these awesome birthday party invitations.
Stay tuned for pictures from the Princess Party!

Maren turns 2

2008-07-29T06:24:00.012-07:00

My beautiful baby girl turned 2 on July 14th!
Here is a video of that morning...

Grandpa and Grandma came by with presents.
I love how excited she got about each one...

Michael & Brittany's Wedding

2008-07-08T11:59:00.004-07:00

Ahhh! What a cute couple!

My little brother was sealed to his beautiful bride for time & all eternity on June 21,2008 in the Mount Timpanogos temple! It was probably the most beautiful sealing ceremony, next to mine of course: ), that I've ever attended! I'm so grateful to my parents who made it possible for my family and me to attend. I'm thrilled that I got to see my baby brother/missionary too! I'm still getting choked up thinking about it now. Mike and Brittany: You are blessed to have each other and I'm so excited for you as you begin an exciting journey! I love you!

Kade's surgery

2008-05-14T23:10:00.003-07:00

Friday, April 25th, Kade had surgery on both his feet. His tendons were getting tighter and making it impossible for Kade to walk properly.

We absolutely love and trust his doctor, Dr. Richard Shindell, but we had a few surprises so far:

1. having both feet done instead of just one.

2. the surgery took 2 hours instead of 15 minutes.

3. Kade stayed overnight with alot of pain.

4. Kade has to stay completely off his feet needing a wheelchair.

Needless to say, our little world has slowed down a little bit. Since I have to carry Kade to the toilet everytime he needs to go, and he's on Hydrocodone for the pain, we are both tired and emotional. We are so grateful to those who have helped us out during this crazy time. Who have made us dinners and have showed their love and concern.

Kade is such a trouper! He definately knows how to roll with the punches. If it weren't for his great attitude most of the time, I would have lost it! He's cool with his wheelchair. He's not afraid to tell anyone about his feet and why he's wearing casts. Plus, he still does whatever he wants! He crawls wherever he wants to, he plays with whatever he wants, he still cons his siblings into doing whatever he wants. The only thing is it just takes him a little longer to build his cool forts, and Mack has a little bit of advantage when they fight 'cause Kade can't catch him!

This experience is building his character, and strengthening our faith as well as patience. We know we are still so blessed, especially after seeing other kids who have much

more serious conditions. He has so many little friends who love him. We love having him in our family so much. He's such a sensitive little guy. Sometimes, he'll have tears in his eyes, and say, "Mom, I'm crying because I love you!"

Can't say much more than that. Love you all!

2008-04-17T23:17:00.001-07:00

Crazy Ladies who like to Run

2008-04-15T22:26:00.004-07:00

This is a video of the Relay race I was in on February 29th through March 1st. I had a ton of fun. I realized I liked to run. I have a lot of really good friends out here who like to run too. We have fun together.

Ryan put this slideshow together and one of my friends' husband wrote the song.

Hope you like it!!

Ragnar Relay

2008-04-12T17:34:00.002-07:00

A Few of Their Favorite Things...

2008-04-11T18:40:00.002-07:00

My children LOVE when Mommy...

1. pulls their clean clothes out of the dryer... (superhero time!)

2. teaches piano... (time to watch a show)

3. moves the couch, fridge, or oven... (finally reunited with that 'favorite' toy!)

4. isn't looking... (they can eat cupcake sprinkles out of the can)

These are just a few of their favorite things.

Little Mommy

2008-04-07T15:08:00.004-07:00

I caught Maren being so cute with her dolly today. She was feeding her and kissing her - it was adorable. She's got the motherly touch already!

Because of all the potty...

2008-04-04T23:40:00.002-07:00

For the past 2 weeks Mack has been potty-training...again. He has filled up his "potty chart" and was deserving a reward. Ryan was finally able to take him to Target and get him a surprise. When I was prepping Mack for his outing with Dad he said, with eyes as wide as his grin... "Yeah, because of all the potty!"

What a funny little guy!

Oh, and out of all the items those 2 boys found throughout the store... which were ranging from a kite, to a DVD, to PJs... Mack was as happy as a pig in mud when he came home with a simple push-pop sucker!

My wallet loves how innocent my children are.

CONGRATULATIONS MACK!!!

April Fools!

2008-04-04T00:48:00.001-07:00

April Fool's Day is a day I always remember.

Growing up I was entertained by my dad's unique ways to trick his kids - I remember alot of them so now I love to 'zing' people on this special day... especially my family.

Here are a few of the pranks I played on April Fools Day...

Replaced today's newspaper with yesterday's and put it back outside.

Hid all of Ryan's work shirts.

Hid his truck key.

I got him pretty good. He never saw it comin'! Trust me that wasn't even my best work, but it sure was fun.

Rachel eating snails on our cruise

2008-03-23T10:37:00.000-07:00

Ryan & Rachel

2008-03-23T10:29:00.000-07:00

Mack, Maren & Kade

2008-03-23T10:27:00.000-07:00

Maren at the Easter Egg Hunt

2008-03-23T10:18:00.000-07:00

I bit the Bullet...

2008-03-23T10:16:00.001-07:00

For months I've been raggin' on these "silly" girls

in the ward who all have a Blog! -no offense Kristen-

I thought it was so ridiculous and pointless.

And now here I am, creating my own Blog. (sigh)

Just so you know, this will be strictly for private viewing

and is my way of keeping in touch with my wonderful family.

My kids are too cute to keep to myself.

I MUST SHARE THEIR CUTENESS WITH THE WORLD!

- or at least their immediate family.