Santa

While most kids are afraid of Santa, ours can't wait until it's their turn! Last night we went to a family Christmas party which Santa was making an appearance. He calls each person including adults to sit on his lap and asks what we each want for Christmas. Well Madelyn kept asking, "Is it my turn?" When he finally called her name it was just like the Price is Right! Everyone move outta her way, she was running through everyone trying to get to Santa as fast as she could! It was so funny. And when he asked her want she wanted for Christmas, she said, "Everything!"
Isn't Christmas just the greatest time of year? We want to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and the BEST New Year!

2 1/2 Weeks

Here is an update on our new family... Tate is growing fast! I forgot how quickly they change at this age. We took him to his 2 week check up this week and he weighed 9 1/2 lbs! BIG BOY! Already grown out of his newborn clothes & diapers.This is Madelyn with her Papa Oberg. He was holding her and she feel asleep on his shoulder, it was cute. Madelyn has been a GREAT big sister. She grabs the wipes & diapers every time we change Tate. Every morning she gets up and has to find Tate and check on him. Bricker wanted me to take this picture. He came to me and asked if he looked like a cowboy. It was pretty funny. Bricker has been adjusting to the new baby well also. He loves to hold his new brother, but hasn't been able to for a few days cause he caught strep throat! Poor guy has been pretty sick, his fever got up to 104! Today is his first day I let him go back to school. So I'm glad his is back to his normal self!
Shane & I are finally catching up on our sleep as Tate has got himself into a schedule now. He sleeps awesome at night and eats well.

Tate Mel Olsen

Shane's Story:
At 4:07 A.M. on November 28th Rachelle gave birth to an 8 lb 15 oz baby boy 2 and a half weeks early... and I was camping... missing the birth. I will tell all the guys right now, "Your Welcome" for making you look good. At 4:07 I was just getting the news from my dad that Rachelle was at the hospital, an hour and a half later I finally arrived at the hospital. Beat that!
Rachelle's Story:
Shane is lucky I am a forgiving person! I told him not to go camping, but he went anyways. My mom was visiting for Thanksgiving and I asked her to stay with me that night since Shane was gone, so thankfully I wasn't alone!! And sure enough contractions started up friday night about 11pm. All I could think was, "you've got to be kidding me, Shane is gone!". So I left my mom home with the sleeping kids and drove myself to the hospital while contractions were only 5 minutes apart. Got there, saw the doctor and she told me we would do a c-section within the hour. And that's when I lost it and cried. Everything happened so fast! So I hurried and called shane's parents who live only a couple minutes away to see if they could stay with the kids so my mom could come up and be with me. Shane's dad left immediately to fetch Shane up in the mountains. My mom was brave enough to come into the c-section with me so I wasn't alone. I am so thankful she was willing to do that. And a few minutes later Tate was born. Shane arrived an hour later, luckily he was still able to help bath Tate. Tate was in the NICU for about 12 hours, before they let us have him in our room. Nothing too serious though, but it was hard not to see and hold the little guy right away. Needless to say it was an emotional rollercoaster of a day for me! We are all well and at home now. They let me and Tate go home the next day, usually c-sections have to stay for 2 days. It was nice to just get back to my own house! Thanks to everyone who has been helping us out with everything! Bricker and Madelyn love their new brother!This is how Tate looked the first time I got to see him. It was so sad!

Halloween! Late, but better than never!

I know this is late, but I have to post these pictures for my mom. She made the kids' costumes and didn't get to see them all dressed up on halloween. Bricker the T-Rex. Madelyn as Dorthy from Wizard of Oz, or Princess Dorthy as she called herself.

Hunting Season!

Well it's that lovely time of the year when I rarely get to spend time with my husband. With all the hunts one after another, I am ready for it to be done. Only one more week of deer hunt! If only he could get his on opening day then spend the rest of his time off at home with the kids and I. It just doesn't work out that way though. Needless to say, Shane is having a blast. And I guess that's all that matters right? What else is new with us? So far we have managed to avoid getting any sickness at our house. But I'm sure we are due anytime! It seems to be going around and hitting everyone. So hopefully we can steer clear of it or only catch a mild case! I've got less than 6 weeks of being pregnant left and my energy is already running low, so I'm not sure I'm up to dealing with a sick family!

Craft Fair

I will be at the Legacy House Craft Fair in Logan this coming Saturday the 17th, as a vendor selling vinyl lettering. I've received lots of orders this month so far, with all the upcoming holidays! So for any of you interested in some great ideas for the holidays, or have a project for your house, come stop by the craft fair! There should be lots of other vendors, door prizes, plus refreshments. So take a girls day out, bring a friend, and spread the word!

Life these days

Well I haven't been very good at keeping this blog updated lately. So here is an update on what we've been up to. School is going good for Shane, his first set of classes are almost done! We've also joined the farming business by buying two calfs this fall. Shane has been having a blast with this. We should have done it along time ago! Now if we can just get them through the winter. Bricker is still loving preschool, he has already learned how to write his own name by himself. I was very impressed! Madelyn and I have been having fun at home. She has become good friends with one of our neighbors and asks first thing every morning if she can go play with "her friend". As for baby #3, things are still going well. Finally into the last trimester! YEAH! Still no sickness, but starting to hit the uncomfortable stage of things. Doc says I still measure big, so we will see what happens. As long as we don't have another 9 pounder!

Back to School

We are getting smarter at our house, we have officially started school again. Bricker is on his 3rd week of preschool and loving it. I get a little lonely at home without him, but it is fun to have the one on one time with Madelyn. And Shane has started his Master's Degree. I asked him for a 1 year break before he started the program, and man time flew! So here we go again forking out lots of money for school, but I know in the long run it will be a good thing for our family.

New Pictures of Kids

We decided we needed some new pictures of the kids together cause our old ones are so outdated. So Shane took it on himself to take some pictures of them, and he did a pretty good job. These are some of my favorites... And lets not forget Skeeter, he is always with the kids, so Shane thought he needed to throw him in a few pictures.And this last one was our biggest purchase of the summer, and will be our last big purchase for awhile! Shane just had to have it, so I told him he better be happy with it cause no more toys for a long time!

It's a boy... Something to be proud of!

Well we had our ultrasound yesterday and found out we are having a BOY! We are SUPER excited. Both Bricker & Madelyn came with us to see their new baby in moms belly. They found it pretty interesting, but when it was all over and we were walking out of the ultrasound room, Bricker asked where his new baby was. He thought we were going there to pick up his new baby and bring him home! We all had to laugh even the ultrasound tech. Here's a picture for you all. There is no doubt he's a boy! The doctor said he is one proud boy! I even measured for one week ahead of what we thought! One less week sounds great to me, but the doc said we will have to wait and see how I keep measuring before we change my due date :(

Summer Fun

We have been keeping busy this summer. Last weekend we took a camping trip over to Bear Lake. It was great, but it sure was hot! The kids had a blast this year, they played in the sand and water all day. We were even lucky enough to come home with no sunburns!! We also took a trip to the Dinosaur Park in Ogden this week, which will probably be Bricker's favorite thing we did all summer. He is the Dinosaur man, loves them. He would only take his picture next to the "happy ones", as he called them. On the way home he asked if we could get all the pictures done, so he could show his dad that night. So we stopped at good old Walmart, developed the pictures, and stayed up until 11pm until dad got home. Thanks Grandma Oberg for a great day, the kids loved it!
The best thing for mom about summer fun is at the end of the day I usually have worn out kids! This is how I found Madelyn in her room.

Happy Birthday Bricker!

Bricker just celebrated birthday #4! We can't believe it! Kids just grow up too fast. I wish I had some picture to post of him growing up, but we just got a new computer and all of our pictures are still on the old computer. This is him with his new bike and cowboy boots. Yep, we finally gave him a bike. We've been teased how we taught him to drive a 4-wheeler before riding bike. Happy Birthday Bricker, we love you!

Updates

It's been so long since I've posted. I'm usually pretty good about updating the blog, but lately it seems we have been so busy. We recently celebrated Shane's birthday on Father's Day weekend. I can't believe how old we are getting! It is weird! We are the proud Aunt & Uncle of another nephew, from my brother Andrew and his wife Sammy,(Finally a boy! We've been getting lots of girls in the family lately!). We also recently took a trip up to Jackson Hole with the Olsen family. Bricker with two of his cousin's Allie & Brooke at the Bar J Ranch. It was a fun trip, besides the fact that Bricker ended up with a little bit of the flu bug starting on the drive up there. He threw up in the middle of dinner during the Bar J Wranglers show. That part wasn't so much fun! This is the next BIG thing that has happened in our lifes, Grandma Betty getting MARRIED! For those of you who know Grandma Betty, know this is a big surprise. She's been a widow for about 24 years, and this is the first man she has ever dated! But we are so happy for them both. Grandma Betty's such a wonderful lady and only deserves the best! And finally, all is going well with the pregnancy. Luckily, I don't get sick, just mostly tired alot! We will find out what we are having the end of the month! I don't have any feelings of what it might be, but Shane thinks it's another girl. Either way we will be happy. We will let you all know when we find out.

Memorial Day Camping

This was our Hallmark card photo of the weekend. Bricker, Madelyn, Kaysen, and Taylee watching the cows be branded against the fence line. Pretty dang cute! We went out west camping for Memorial day weekend, with lots of friends and family. Shane & I have decided this year is the perfect year for camping with the kids, so we are going to take advantage of it. They do great outside, sleep well in the trailer, no diapers, love the 4-wheelers, and we don't have a baby this year. So we probably won't be home much on the weekends all summer! This was the highlight of Shane's weekend. Branding cows. He made the comment afterward that this was the best trip ever! Well needless to say, this was not the highlight for me. 4 hours standing in the sun with no shade, and kids getting tired and hungry. Nope, not the highlight for me! I have to admit though, it was pretty neat to watch, if you've never experienced it. Shane is quite the dutch oven cooker. We always eat better while we are camping than we do at home. This might have been the highlight for me :)
And last but not least, you've got to end it all with bloody nose from the "little sister". This happened after we got home from camping. Madelyn pushed Bricker right off of the bar stool, when he least expected. Luckily Shane was there to catch him by the leg before he total fell, didn't think he hit his head, but blood was splatered all over the floor in just a few seconds.
This was only two minutes after the above picture. I guess we can tease him now that his little sister knocked him out! I don't think he will ever underestimate the power of his sister again!

The MIGHTY Turkey Hunter

Shane's been hunting turkeys these last couple of weeks. He has been having a blast, seeing lots of turkeys, but coming home empty handed. Even fell asleep while waiting for some to come around and woke up surrounded by them. He has all the stories, but can tell them much better than me. So after listening to all of his stories about all these turkeys out there I got wondering why he hadn't brought one home yet. Was his aim getting bad? Well after watching his turkey hunt videos, it all made sense. The poor guy got so excited everytime he would spot one, he was shaking so bad he couldn't aim!! Well this last weekend he DID in dead finally get one. He was so proud of himself. He was singing to himself all day, "I am the MIGHTY turkey hunter!" Here is his video to watch, you can tell in his voice how happy he is.

Shaking with Excitement!

This is what happened to Bricker when we told him he was going to have another baby in his family, he was actually shaking with excitement. It was so darn cute! And yep we are expecting baby #3 in December! So hopefully this will satisfy everyone who has been asking and wondering when we would have another. We are so excited for a new little one!

There's a Monster downstairs!

Sometimes in this crazy busy world we just need to slow down and take a look around at what we have. My kids remind me of this all the time. Most recently, last night (or early this morning), this happened. It had been a long night of Madelyn waking up for no reason, neighbor dogs barking, and very little sleep. Shane leaves for work at 5 am, and is sometimes not as quiet as he could be as he gets ready to leave. This morning I heard cupboards in the kitchen slamming, dishes thrown in the sink, then the front door slam as he left, and finally Madelyn crying again for "mommy". All I could think of as I walked to Madelyn's room again, was how bad I just wanted to sleep! She had made it out of her bed before I even got to her and was scared to death of something. I was frustrated, but took a minute to listen to what she was scared of. Then I had to laugh! Her words to me at 5 am, "Mommy there's a MONSTER downstairs!" It hit me, she must have heard all the noise Shane had been causing just before he left. I explained to her it was just Daddy getting ready for work. She insisted on talking to him, so we called Shane and he thought it was pretty funny too. So we had a good old family laugh this morning at 5 am!!

Happy Easter??

This was our "Happy Easter", but you can't tell by the picture. Madelyn was mad after getting ready for church, she just didn't want to put her pretty easter dress on, even though she looked so cute in it. We made it through Easter without Shane, although it just wasn't the same. Holidays are hard without him, not only holidays but our 5th ANNIVERSARY! Yep, he missed it, but I survived. I can finally say he comes home tomorrow night!! Then he is home for 6 weeks, before he has to leave again.

One Week Down

The down side of being in a military family is having them leave. Shane had to leave for 2 1/2 weeks. Being home alone is my least favorite thing, I have to try to keep myself busy, and the kids are good at doing that! So the kids and I took a trip up to Boise to visit my mom this weekend. It is amazing how well they travel, cause it is a 8 hour round trip from our house. My mom had got tickets for us to take a train ride up in the mountains, they had an easter egg hunt for the kids half way up. The kids loved it, Bricker especially!

The NEWEST Member of Our Family

This is the newest member of our family, Skeeter. A DOG! Shane wanted to go for "a drive" yesterday after church, and this is what we came home with. He wanted to surprise the kids and I. I figured it out pretty quick though when he threw the dog kennel in the back of the yukon, but I still didn't say anything and let him surprise us. The kids and I have been asking for a dog since we got into our house, so this was a nice surprise. He's not quite a year old yet, but he has been trained very well. Loves the kids, and didn't make a peep the whole way driving home yesterday. We were impressed. However the previous owners babied him, and he hasn't ever slept outside at night when it's cold. So... Skeeter slept in our room last night! Never planned on having a house dog, but Shane & I couldn't turn down his cute face last night.



I've had a few requests for pictures of Madelyn's new look that Bricker gave her. So here she is with the shortest bangs ever! They stick straight up in the mornings! Not much has changed after one week :( The piggy tails are an everyday thing to hide the short hair sticking out on the sides. At least we've still got enough little hairs to do that much!

Green

Yep, that's GREEN milk. Bricker had this crazy idea, that on St. Patrick's day, you wake up and your milk is green??? I have absolutely no idea where he got that from. So this morning I got up and decided to try it for fun, and play with his big imagination. So not only did we have green milk, we also had green pancakes. (Green pancakes are a normal thing at our house, we have them at least once a week) So after I had it all ready, I went to wake Bricker up and tell him we had green milk. He flew out of bed and to the kitchen to see it. It was pretty funny, he thought it was cool. Needless to say, he refused to drink it! I can't blame him though, cause I couldn't get myself to try it either. The only one who seemed not to care was Madelyn.

Speaking of Madelyn, I was recently told that the difference between a good hair cut and a bad hair cut is 2 weeks. And I am REALLY hoping this is true, cause Bricker took the scissors to her hair! I almost cried! For those of you who know Madelyn, you know she has very little hair, and what little hair she has is finally starting to grow. I took her to get a hair cut last week to help even the length out. We ended up having to take a good inch off of the back to even it with the sides. I was sad to cut it off, but it looked so much better. The "bob" cut on her was cute, until Sunday! Bricker took a chunk out of each side and gave her the shortest bangs ever! So much for trying to even out her hair, now we have to start all over!

Airplanes

We love airplanes at our house,(next to horses, I have to put that in for Shane cause horses are his first love!) For those of you who don't know what Shane does for work, he repairs airplanes. He mostly repairs the sheetmetal work on the outside of the plane. Thus, our kids love airplanes/helicopters, we've got just as many toy airplanes in our house as we do toy cars. So what greater thing to do then take a family trip to the Hill Airforce Base Museum. We had been wanting to take the kids there for awhile, and we finally did last week, since the weather had warmed up a little. We all had a great time, and it was nice to see what Shane does while working. At home we just get to hear about it, but to actually get to see it was pretty neat! So thanks Shane for all your hard work for our family, we love you!

Growing So Fast

Seems like these days my kids are growing and changing like crazy. We just signed Bricker up for preschool this week, he won't start until the fall though. I'm kinda glad, cause I think I'm going to miss having the little guy around all day! He says the funniest things lately. And our other little one, well she is a little mommy. She has just started getting into playing with her dolls, and the other day I found her in her room rocking "her baby", and singing rock a by baby to it. So cute! I tried to catch it on camera, but as soon as she realized I was watching her, she stopped and hid! You might have to stop the music so you can hear her sing. It isn't very loud.

Picture Day

I took Madelyn in to get her pictures updated, and she surprised me by how well she did. Our previous picture experiences haven't turned out well with her. So hopefully she has grown out of it. I wanted to share how these turned out cause I thought they were so cute!

Madelyn's 2!

Our little girl turned 2 last week! I can't believe how fast the kids grow up. It is sad, and it is fun to see them change and grow up. I put together some of our favorite pictures of Madelyn over these last couple of years and made a slide for her to watch. She loves it. So here is to our little Madelyn, Happy Birthday!

Sharing!!

Well we've had a nasty cold going around our house. It all started with Bricker waking up with it the night we got home from our cruise. We had to make an emergency run to the hospital at midnight. The poor guy could hardly breath. They gave him a breathing treatment and we had to stay for a couple hours to monitor him, then sent us home. Everyone is well now. But it went from Bricker to Shane, to Madelyn, and now me! And of course now it has spread to some of our extended family. Well the other night I was coughing and Bricker said "You are sick like I was mom." I said, "Yep, you gave it to dad, and dad gave it to Madelyn, and now Madelyn gave it to me." Bricker replied, "Ya, cause I shared it with you. That is good to share huh mom." Well I'm glad I can say that I have taught my kids how to share!!

Mexico Getaway

Our vacation was wonderful. The weather was GREAT, and I don't mean to brag for those of you stuck home in the freezing cold, but it was wonderful! We went on a cruise with a few of our friends down to Mexico. We left a little early for our cruise and spent some time in Vegas. The kids did fine and so did I. I was amazed at how well I did, it ended up being alot easier than I thought leaving them for 8 days. For any of you who have not been on a cruise, I highly recommend one. We had a blast and are already saving money for our next one. Our ship stopped in Cabo & Ensenada. The guys had a blast playing in the waves in Cabo, they were massive waves! Shane ended up leaving Cabo with a big rasberry on his hip from being thrown down into the sand by a wave. And pockets full of sand, which is now everywhere in our luggage!

On the cruise ship they had lots of activites to keep you entertained, one day they had a hairy chest contest, and one of our friends entered it. So for those of you who know Jason Whittier, I have to post this cause it is FUNNY! They had each guy dance down the stairs and show everyone what they could do.

The video is a little shaky, sorry. I was laughing so hard I could hardly hold my hands still! Needless to say, he didn't win, but we all thought he should have.

This was our formal night. The food was great on the ship. We came home weighing more than when we left. That was the not so fun part of the vacation. It was such a great trip. We are glad to be home though, and it was GREAT to see the kids again! We got home at one in the morning so it was torture for Shane & I to wait until the morning to see them.

Vacation Time

Well Shane & I are about to take a vacation and leave the kids behind for a whole week! I am pretty nervous about leaving them. It just hit me today how much I am going to miss them! I hope I can handle it. I'm sure the kids will do fine, it is me I am worried about. We've never left them with anyone for more than a couple of days. It will be hard to go from spending everyday all day with them, to not having them around at all. I hope I can do it!