Our Christmas Recap

To start off, we hope everyone had a GREAT Christmas. And we wish you all a Happy New Year. We really love this time of the year at our house, it is sad to see it come and go, but we are looking forward to a fresh new year. We started our Christmas celebrating on Christmas Eve at Shane's mom and dad's house with all the Olsen cousins. We had dinner, made gingerbread houses, played games, read a book, and exchanged gifts. Santa even sent one of his elfs to deliver PJ's for the kids!

Christmas morning was spent at our own home. We invited Grandpa & Grandma Oberg & Justin over to join us. It was great fun. The only part not so fun was trying to wake Bricker up on Christmas morning. Needless to say, he didn't care at all that Santa had left him presents. All he wanted to do was sleep! We got it on camera, but I can't figure out how to get it on here. I will keep trying to figure it out, cause it is funny to watch! We did eventually get him up, but he was a grump until he saw what Santa left him and Madelyn. Christmas day ended up bringing more surprises as a huge snow storm came in later that afternoon. Grandma & Grandpa & Justin ended up having a sleep over with us cause the road back to Tremonton was shut down. We had such great fun and we are so thankful for all our family and friends!

And this is my dorky hubby, but you can't help but love him! The kids gave him this hat for Christmas, the flaps fold down over his ears. I actually took Bricker shopping and let him pick out what he wanted to give his Daddy and this is what we came home with. Turns out Shane loves the hat and he has only taken it off to sleep!

Let It Snow!

We got snow! This was taken Saturday morning. We had some fun playing in it and even went for a wagon ride in it. It was extra fun because we had family visiting from California and they were not used to the snow. We were able to show them just how FUN the snow can be!

The Impossible Happens

Well my little brother Andy got married this last weekend. What had once seemed impossible happened! And we couldn't be happier for him! He found a great girl, we love her. It was a busy weekend for us. We had family staying with us at our house for the wedding, but we enjoyed every minute of it. My Aunt from California was able to come up and stay and my mom from Boise. They had asked Madelyn to be a flower girl and Bricker to carry the rings. He only dropped them 3 times! Opps! Anyways it was a great weekend. CONGRATS Andy & Sammy!

Big Kid Do's

Well my baby's are growing up. It's SAD! I took Bricker for his first hair cut (not by mom or dad) this last Saturday. I had been telling Shane it needed cut for awhile, but he likes Brickers hair longer. Well I decided one day it was looking pretty awful so I at least tried to trim around the ears and keep the top long for Shane. Well Shane came home and saw it and made fun of my cutting job! How Rude!! I guess I'm only good when it comes to cutting it all short. So we had to make a trip to town to get it fixed. But if you ask me, it doesn't look too much different from when I cut it short. Now about our other little one. Well she is finally getting some hair to do something with after almost 2 years! And best of all, she likes to get her hair done, so she sits still the whole time! I let her entertain herself with her toothbrush while I do it. It's so much fun!

Christmas Count Down

We love this time of the year at our house. It is a great time to remember our savior and help those in need. This year Bricker is really excited about Christmas, so today we made a Christmas countdown for him out of paper. He can take a ring off everyday until Christmas. It is so much fun to see the kids get excited about Christmas. I hope we can all slow down this month and just remember the things most important in life and ENJOY it.

Horses, Horses, Horses

For those of you who know Shane, you know his LOVE for horses. It seems lately every spare minute of time he has is spent with the horses. His recent kick has been hooking up a team of horses to a wagon. Our family has been on several rides lately. The kids love it, and it works great around nap time, cause it puts the kids to sleep! Plus, we've pretty much got a zoo going on in Young Ward, there are lots of crazy animals to take a ride and see. It's GREAT! So if anyone wants a ride, come on over. He also brought the horses into our house the other day. Who knows what the neighbors where thinking, but OH WELL! We let the kids ride them around on the road anyways. It was great fun!

Play Time

I've found myself getting a little tired lately with picking up toys day after day. I thought having a playroom would help, all it has done is keep the toys in one room, that is always a mess! The kids help, but how much can a 3 and 1 year old really help? Well they've taught me a lesson... PLAY: to make a BIG mess with TOYS! I guess not everything has to be perfect and in its own place all the time. Lets have some fun.

A New Place, A New Ward

Well Shane & I are having an awfully hard time leaving our old ward. We have been to our new ward only twice. Our first Sunday in our house we went back to our old ward one final time we told ourselfs. Well they asked Shane to talk in sacrament, and also asked if we could do a little fireside to the youth on our experiences while Shane was gone. They hate to see us leave too. It is tempting to stay there, since we are only less than a mile out of ward boundary! (We didn't move far) Well yesterday Shane gave his talk and did awesome. No one would have guessed he prepared his talk that morning! What a stinker, I wish I could be that way. This coming Sunday is when we have our fireside. I've had like 4 weeks to prepare what I will say, but I am still at a loss for words! I'm sure things will come together fine, but I can't wait until it is over. Our new ward wasn't that bad. It just got split the week before we moved in, so everyone thinks everyone is new. No one really knows anyone. So it will take some adjusting and making new friends to make it feel like our ward.

Happy Halloween

Make a Smilebox greeting

The kids & I had a little fun trying on their Halloween costumes and playing some dressup today.

Our New Home At Last!

Well it has now been 2 weeks since we moved into our new house. We have been busy, with unpacking and getting settled and Shane hunting. The house was vacant all summer before we bought it, thus the dead lawn. I hope it comes back next year! Shane has had no luck with hunting thus far this year. He did take a brake from all the hunting and helped move in the rest of our things from our storage unit. So that was nice. I can't explain how wonderful it is to have our own home again! I am loving it, and so are the kids. They were excited to have their own playroom at this house, and so was I! No more picking toys up all over the house, they now are banded to one room! Shane seems to like the house too, he has already started building storage in the garage and finding places for all of his things. He bought a fire pit for our back yard this week, cause he thought we needed one. I think our neighbors have already figured out we are pretty red-neck! But that is okay. I have also managed to get 2 walls painted already. So things are moving along well for us. We are still enjoying having Shane home. I am not looking forward to him going back to work, we have been having so much fun with him!

Home Sweet Home

It seems like we have been very blessed lately. We got Shane home safe, we got our car sold, and we were able to buy a house, which is officially ours as of today! We are so excited. Now if I can just get Shane to move us in before he leaves to do all his hunting. I am afraid we might not be fully moved in until after the hunting season. But that is okay, we are just glad to have him home. He has 5 weeks of work off to spend with family, and of course to do his hunting. He gave me some pictures to post from Iraq that I thought might be interesting for some of you to see.



This is Shane when he first arrived.







Shane working, he does sheet metal repair work on the F-16's






This is a mosque located on base. Ballad Air Base used to be Saddam Hussein's main air base, before the US took over it. Shane says it was pretty weird to think he had been walking in buildings that Saddam Hussein had been in.







Ballad at dusk.








Lots of pretty bugs Shane had to deal with.

Welcome Home Shane!!

Well at last Shane is home safe and sound! We are so happy to have him home. He got home Sunday Morning. For those of you who didn't know, Shane has been gone on a tour to Iraq for the past 5 months. The kids are loving having their daddy home. Shane already has some big hunting trips planned, so it looks like I will be alone again until after hunting season!! He is planning on taking Bricker with him. Both of the kids won't let Shane out of their sight, and of course Shane is loving it!

Cheese For Daddy!

How hard can it be to get two toddlers to smile for a picture for DADDY? Very hard! I won't mention how many tries it took. We send Shane pictures & videos regularly so he can see how BIG the kids are getting. He is going to have so much fun with them when he gets home! We are going to surprise the kids and not tell them where we are going when we go to pick up Daddy.

Finally Time To Join The Blogging!!

Well I've had numerous people ask me if we have a blog, and I hated saying no... So here I am trying to figure this all out. It looks kinda fun, so I think I will enjoy it. For those of you who don't know us well, We are the Olsen's. We have two kids, one boy and one girl, who we love to death. Shane my husband is in the Air Force Reserve and is currently serving a tour in Iraq right now., but we should be expecting him home the first part of October!! We are so excited. He has been gone since May. It has been a long eventful summer for the kids and I. We are currently living with my lovely in-laws. I should mention all the things I have managed to do while my hubby has been gone. I have sold our home in North Logan, placed a bid on a new home, bought a new car, trying to sell a car (if any one wants a 2000 VW Passat give me a call!), and numerous other things. This has all been with Shane's approval of course! I should mention the events that have occurred this summer without our daddy, we missed him on his birthday, Bricker's birthday, my birthday, Father's Day, and Mother's Day. Anyways to say the least, I have had a busy summer. The kids and I took a trip to California to visit some family shortly after Shane left, and following it we had tons of camping trips, and a couple trips up to Boise to visit Grandma Susie. We have to keep ourselves busy to help the time go by faster. I must thank all our family and friends for all of their help and support while Shane has been gone. You guys will never know how much it has helped me. Well I will try my best to keep this updated. I'll let ya all know when Shane gets home! I'll post some pictures of all the fun things the kids and I have done this summer.









The Kids got their faces painted at the Farmer's Market in California. They thought it was pretty neat!










The Kids & I @ the beach in California, along with Bricker in front of our airplane. He thought thought the airplane ride was awesome the ride home. The flight there was a different story.





Bricker on his B-Day with his cousins, he got his own gas powered 4-wheeler from Mom & Dad!
Well We can't forget Madelyn! She has been the one to keep me busy all summer. She's sprung into a toddler before my very eyes!