December 2015

Christmas Card Photos

Okay, I love Christmas, who doesn't? And I love all things that lead up to Christmas.  But let's face it, it is such a busy month because of all of that fun stuff that sometimes we just need some quiet moments to focus on our Savior.  Did I get those quiet moments, well they were not handed to me on a platter but I managed to find many opportunities to focus on the true meaning of Christmas with my boys which was a very sweet experience.  And of course all that fun stuff was.... well, FUN! 

The boys loved their nativity and the story of the baby Jesus.

Disneyland at Christmas Time

We have really had a magical year at Disney this year.  Going at least once or twice a month and loving every minute of it.  It is so sad to say that our passes are about to expire but we ended with a bang and had an epic Disney adventure this month.  We brought Ani and Tess and spent ALL DAY there, leaving after 10:00 pm.  It was the perfect day at Disney.  We rode our favorites like Star Tours, Buzz Lightyear, Nightmare Before Christmas, Small World, Pirates and The Disney Railroad.  And we even tried some new things as well like Nemo Submarine (which I hated) and new treats like the Macaroons on main street which were the size of my head and delicious.  I have so many fun memories with my sister and the boys at Disney, finding our favorite treats and riding our favorites.  It was a great time to catch up with her and for the boys to spend some quality time with Mi Ani.  We will really miss doing that.  I guess we will have to take zoo trips in 2016 to satisfy our theme park cravings.

Its a Small World

and....an It's a Small World selfie.

Front row at the parade.

James was big into Nutcrackers this year.

James the Brave Events

I had A Lot of James the Brave events scheduled through the holidays which was a blessing and very fun.  This year has been amazing for me as far as getting out of my comfort zone and trying something new.  James the Brave has pushed me into new territory and at times it has been very intimidating but always very rewarding.  I'm so grateful for all I have learned!

Christmas Events

We had a ward Christmas party that was above and beyond this year.  So many people worked so hard to make it special for adults and children and they truly succeeded.  The nativity presentation was moving and captured even my little boy's attention, which is not always easy.  The boys left knowing that Christmas is about Jesus which is so important.  But Santa was there too and I got a great pic of the boys on his lap...no tears from anyone this year!

Foster asked Santa for a Shooter and James asked for a Robot Boxing Game.

Ward Christmas Party

Viewing the temple lights with these two.  I love that I captured this moment!

We went to Santa's Village per tradition and sadly this is a tradition that will no longer be as it was the last year the Huish's will be holding the event.  I hope that my boys, even though they are small, will have some memory of this holiday favorite.  A true act of service by the Huish's that made Christmas a little more special for every child that visited. 

One of my favorite things we did this holiday was visit my Uncle Jimmy and bring him his birthday and Christmas presents.  The boys love going to see him and watching the planes as they fly past his windows.  They sit there with binoculars and yell when the planes go by.  It reminds me of a little girl that spent many evening with her Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Norma watching the planes with the same set of binoculars.  I wish so badly my Aunt Norma could know my sweet boys but then again, I'm sure she does.
After our visit with Uncle jimmy, we headed to the Zoo for Jungle Bells.  It was so fun to ride the train with the Christmas lights and to spend time with the boys.  Their anticipation for Christmas was at a level 10 which makes everything more fun.  It's an evening I'll treasure forever.

CHRISTMAS

Well it was wonderful.  Everything.  The boys loved what they found under the tree on Christmas Day and spent the entire day playing with their toys.  We had a lovely time Christmas Eve and Christmas day with the family as always.  One of my favorite memories this year happened right after the boys found what Santa had left them.  James loved what Santa brought him and Foster loved what Santa had brought James too.  So much so, that he really had no interest in his own pile of goodies.  He grabbed one of James' toys and with tears in his eyes said "I really want this."  I was in the kitchen but I heard it perfectly.  James said, "Foster you can have that."  then Foster replied, "I love you James."  I then peered in from the kitchen to see them giving one another a hug.  Talk about the best Christmas present a mother could ever ask for, children who love each other. 

Sunday before Christmas

Christmas Eve at mom and dad's.

Santa brought toys for the grandkids!

Foster opening his nutcracker present.

Christmas jammies and slippers.

Santa's Been Here!

The calm before the storm.

The boys loved their loot!

Santa Barbara

We spent the week after Christmas in Santa Barbara with the Olsons.  Peter and Jamie were there and we had such a fabulous week. We spent our week doing some of our favorites; shopping downtown, eating at Los Agaves, the Santa Barbara Zoo, going to a movie (Star Wars in fact).  And we did some new things as well like riding the Cabrillo Carousel, brunch at the Biltmore and breakfast in Solvang with Meridith.  Like all fun vacations do, the time passed much too fast and both my boys are missing Grandma Olson and Pop-pop.  Towards the end of the trip, James was eager to get home to all of the toys Santa brought him and the moment he was home he said "I wish we could go back to Grandma Olson's house".

Star Wars, Episode VII

Grandma Olson let the boys play in the packing peanuts, which they called mushrooms.  The mess was worth the fun!

Got to meet Meridith's sweet baby Willa.

Brunch and croquet at the Biltmore.

Riding the train at the Zoo...it's official we love trains!

Coming home from Santa Barbara and putting away the Christmas decorations made me very melancholy.  We've had such an amazing four months celebrating all of the holidays and to see them behind me now makes me miss them already.  We are excited for 2016 and all of the adventures it will bring to Us Olsons!

November 2015

We switched things up this year and headed to Arizona for Turkey Day.  It was the first time we've been in the car with the kids for over four hours intentionally but here is the good news, we are now proud owners of our very own minivan so the drive to Arizona was a piece of cake. Next to moving into a home, moving into a minivan was a moment I have looked forward to for awhile now and it was everything I'd hoped it would be...but more on that later.  I'm going to try really hard for this blog post to be about more than just our minivan...fingers crossed.

Thanksgiving

We had such a wonderful Thanksgiving this year, spending time with both Scott's and my family in Arizona. We arrived in Mesa on Tuesday, just in time for me to sign some copies of James the Brave for Barnes and Noble Mesa.  It was a good excuse to have Paige and her sweet little ones and Stan, Monika, Ian and Isabelle to come and hang out for an hour.  I had such a great time seeing everyone and catching up with Paige.  Later that evening we met up with the Tao's for dinner and reunited with them the next day for some fun at the park and a visit to the Gilbert Temple.  I always love watching my kids play with their cousins which doesn't happen often enough!

Gilbert Temple

The next day we headed up to Payson with Stan and Monika and the kids.  It is so beautiful up there, Scott and I always feel so happy in the mountains, a trait I believe our boys inherited.  The cabin was full of all of my favorite people and the boys had constant entertainers in Isabelle and Ian.  James would have been content staying there forever.  While we were there we hiked, rode four-wheelers, cooked, watched movies, ate and ate and ate, played games, sat by the outside fire, roasted smores, saw a movie and oh yeah, celebrated Thanksgiving.  It was a great time to decompress and enjoy the family.

Foster and George, good buddies.

Zip Line

Archery

Annual Football Game, featuring Stanton's armpits.

Every serious hiker needs a walking stick.

We saw a Bald Eagle at the park, of course this was a big deal to me.

The Minivan
Okay, let's get to it.  So after much market research I found a great deal, we went down to the dealership and we bought the sucker.  That's pretty much it.  We love our van, which feels more like a spaceship and according to James, spaceships are our thing.

Overall, the month of November left me feeling incredibly thankful, which is it's job really.  It's all about counting blessings and showing gratitude.  How can you not be happy in November when blessings seem more abundant than ever.


Honorable Mentions:

1.  We celebrated Dia De Los Muertos with my family on November 1st and it was so much fun.  The Olsons made a grand entrance with Mariachi music and shakers.  All the boys had mustaches and sombreros and I was equipped with a unibrow and a flower crown.  Best November 1st I've ever had.

2.  The boys and I did the Give with Thanks Tree.  The idea is to preform an act of service each day and with each act of service you can put a leaf on the tree.  I love the idea and I think it will work even better next year when the boys are a bit older and can understand the concept a bit more.

October 2015

Us Olsons are very big on traditions.  We love to create new traditions for our family that our boys can look forward to all year long.  Many of our traditions take place in October which means that October is one of our favorite months of the year.  At the top of our favorite traditions is making a trip to Big Bear every fall.  The boys talk about it all year and so does mom!  The boys and I took a trip to the pumpkin patch with James' preschool.  I had a Barnes and Noble reading in Los Angeles and we celebrated Halloween.  It's a good thing October has 31 days because we needed every single one of them for all the fun we had.

Big Bear

It is not a lie when I say that I planned an hour by hour itinerary for our Big Bear trip at least one month in advance.  And planning the trip might have been the happiest hour of my life.  We hit up our favorite eateries like Get the Burger, Saucy Mama's, Big Bear Manor Cafe and of course the Sweet Shop.  And we visited some of our favorite spots like The Big Bear Zoo, Main Street, 5 mile walk along the lake and for the first time ever, we golfed at Cosmic Golf!  As much as I loved doing all these things, some of my favorite moments were spent cooking and baking at the cabin next to a fire and a movie.  Just being with the family in the peace and quiet of the mountains is always a nice escape from our scheduled lives.

Pumpkin Patch

We had been talking about the pumpkin patch for about two weeks prior to going and wouldn't you know it...Foster threw a tantrum the entire time.  But that's life right?  And even though the afternoon was a bit more stressful than I wanted it to be, when I look back at the pictures all I remember is having a wonderful time with my boys.  This explains why people say their kids never threw tantrums...you forget the tantrums!!!  I do love that out of all the pumpkins to choose, Foster chose the smallest one he could find.  Beauty is in the eye of the beholder!!!

Barnes and Noble Reading

I had such an amazing opportunity to read and sign copies of James the Brave at Barnes and Noble Santa Monica. We sold out of all of the copies in the store and it was a wonderful weekend. I went up early with Ani, Tess and Joe and we stayed right in Santa Monica. We had a yummy dinner the night before the reading and then we were joined by Meridith at the signing. It felt so nice to be surrounded by so many people I love for such a special event. 

Halloween

It is no joke how much I love celebrating Halloween with my boys. We visited the Halloween shop at least three times just for fun, the boys carried skeletons around with them the entire month and we were watching Halloween movies in September! We love it! This year the boys were Iron Man and The Hulk. I can no longer choose their costumes for them, they have very serious opinions of their own now. We had a wonderful night at trunk or treat with carnival games and dinner. We decked out our trunk as usual and the kids went home with plastic pumpkins full of candy. 

The night of Halloween, I made chili and had the family over for dinner and trick or treating. It was a magical night for the boys as it always is! 

Honorable mentions:

1. It was farmer day at James' school and he was so excited.

2. Took the boys to see Hotel Transylvania which was a blast. 

3. Our boys bring us so much happiness. Scott and I feel so lucky to be their parents. They are everything.