I Love to See the Temple

On Thursday we had the opportunity to go tour the new Oquirrh Mountain Temple during the open house. We didn't ever end up making it to the Draper Temple open house, so I was determined to go see this one. Weston was so excited to get to go to the temple. He kept saying "I've never been to the temple before." While I was helping him get dressed in his church clothes before we left I told him that the temple is a special place. I asked him if he knew why. He answered "because the Holy Spirit is there." I was so impressed. That's exactly right. I also told him it was the Lord's house. Weston then said, "Well, the church is Jesus' house." We'll work out the details of it all when he's a little older. :)

We went and picked up Ian at work, ate lunch in the car on the way to the temple, and got there with a few minutes to spare before our "reservation." We got to park nice and close to the entrance. They had giant air conditioned tents set up for watching the video about why we have temples. Weston was very attentive. Davin, not so much. Then we did the tour. It was a "silent" tour. Instead of a tour guide there were signs in each room saying what that room was for. We ended up leaving the stroller and carrying Davin for most of it. The inside was really gorgeous. I especially loved the angular chandeliers. The celestial room was amazing too.

Weston's favorite part was the "pool" and the sealing room "where Mommy and Daddy got married." While we were sitting in the sealing room I asked Weston if he was going to marry his wife there. He said "maybe." I told him that I hoped he would. Hopefully he will understand what it means to be sealed for time and all eternity in the temple as he grows up, and will have a strong desire for those blessings.

Our little family in front of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.
After the tour, we had the requisite cookies and water in the reception area. Weston was a big fan of the cookies. He thought that was pretty cool. They also had a player piano (that plays on it's own) playing Primary songs. Weston was impressed by that as well. I am so glad that we were able to go and feel the spirit of the temple as a family. What a special experience.

Summer Has Arrived!

Now that we are home from all our trips the summer weather has arrived and we are making the most of it. I am still at the point where I am enjoying the sunshine and the heat. I'm sure by September I will be ready for some cooler temperatures, but for now, bring on the sun!

Today I made my first attempt at taking the boys to the big rec center pool by myself. I was so nervous about it, but it went great. We all had a good time and no one drowned. Whew! Up until now we have been enjoying our blow up kiddie pool out on the lawn, but I think that going to the big pool will be more of an option now. I get wetter that way though. Hmm.

We have also been grilling a lot. We love to grill hamburgers, chicken, and pork chops. Weston always goes outside to help. And by help, I mean he uses the spray bottle to water the plants and plays with sidewalk chalk while daddy grills. I love grilling season for several reasons:
1. I don't have to do it.
2. It doesn't heat up my house to make dinner.
3. It gets Weston out of my hair at the oh so difficult dinner hour.
4. Weston will actually eat almost every thing we do on the grill. That kid loves pork chops!
5. It's delicious!
We are finally playing on our newly seeded back lawn! It's still about half weeds, half grass, but it works and it's green. I enjoy that part of the yard because it's very shady most of the day and since it's not concrete I don't worry so much about Davin falling off his little climbing toy. Davin LOVES to play outside and is just starting to figure out this little slide by himself.
This last Sunday we went to dinner at our friends, the Miller's, house. Another friend from my home ward was visiting, so we had a blast chatting and eating yummy raspberry pretzel jello salad. The Miller's have 4 boys, so my kids enjoy all the new toys and friends.
Here's Davin and Benson sharing so nicely. It didn't last. By the end of the evening Benson kept stealing Dav's binki. It was kind of funny and kind of sad. Weston stayed occupied the entire evening playing with Lincoln, watching a movie, and eating the candy lei that Auntie Lynn made for all the kids.
Last night I had Young Women's in the evening, so the kids were already in bed when I got home, but Weston's light was on because he is good about having "quiet time" before going to sleep if he's not tired. I went in to tuck him in and turn off his light and this is what I saw.
What a sweet, good kid Weston is. I am so lucky to be his mom. I know that I will never be able to just leave Davin with his light on in his room and be able to trust that he will read in bed until he gets tired then turn off the light and go to sleep. Weston, on the other hand, does that fairly often. Weston also loves books. We get 6 or 7 books at a time from the library and read them non-stop for a week. I hope that he continues to love reading as he grows up. Weston is so much like me in that he enjoys his sleep. The other night Weston was up 3 times in the middle of the night. I was so annoyed (not to mention tired) when Davin woke up at 6:45am the next morning. I finally went in and woke Weston up at 9am. He was all lethargic and when I told him it was time for a bath he said "I don't want to do anything. Just sleep and sleep and sleep." A boy after my own heart. I love my cute boys and I am having so much fun with all our summer adventures!

All the Rest

After all the excitement of our first couple days in Oregon we really needed a nice, quiet Sunday. Luckily that is just what we got. We got up and went to church, but only stayed for Sacrament Meeting. The kids were more than ready for naps by then, so we headed home and everyone napped for a few hours. Aly and Ryan came home from part 1 of their honeymoon in downtown Portland that afternoon. They stopped at the house to get more of Aly's stuff and pick up her computer. They decided that they wanted to open presents that night instead of waiting until Tuesday, so after dinner we went over to their apartment and got to watch them open presents. The kids did pretty well, but ended up getting to bed a little later than I would have liked. Oh well.

On Monday afternoon we all drove out to the trout farm. I wasn't sure what to expect since I have never been to a trout farm, but it was more pond/pool like than like a lake. There were tons of fish. Weston only had to wait about a minute before he got his first bite. Unfortunately the fish broke his line when he was reeling him in. He tried again and was so excited to catch his first fish.
It was just too much fun to catch a fish, so he caught 4! We really all had a great time helping Weston and watching him get so excited about catching fish. I was so impressed that he didn't seem squeamish about holding them up by the gills either.
The first 3 fish Weston caught were all about average size, maybe 11 or 12 inches long, but the final fish was a beast. It was 17 inches!

After our fishing expedition it was time for Ian to pack up and head home so he could get back to work. We were sad to send him off, but it was nice to be able to spend a couple extra days with Grandma and Papa.

We had originally planned to go to the beach one day, but after Sunday the weather cooled way down and the beach was supposed to be rainy and only in the 50's, so we decided not to do the big beach trip. Instead Grandma and Papa took us all mini golfing at Bullwinkle's family fun center. It was a really fun day. Weston was much better at golfing this time around. I wish I had taken a video of him because his putting looked more like playing shuffleboard, but it worked. (**Please excuse the weird hue of these pictures. They are from my phone which apparently was set for incandescent lighting)
The day's outing at Bullwinkle's was significantly less fun for Davin who had to stay in his stroller while we golfed and we kept taking away "his" ball. There were many tears, but at this moment with "his" club and ball clutched tight, he was a happy camper.

Me and Weston being Rocky and Bullwinkle. :)
When we were finished mini golfing we went inside to the arcade games. Grandma and Papa got some tokens and we helped Weston play a few games. We earned just enough tickets to get Weston a little army plane and Davin a plastic heart bracelet. Finally, Papa and Weston and I raced on the go karts. It was really fun. I smoked the competition, but eventually had to slow down so I could wave to Weston. This part of the outing was also highly tragic for Davin. He was clinging to the fence screaming because I'm sure he thought I was abandoning him. Poor kid. We finished off our afternoon with some cold treats and tator tots from Sonic.

The kids were pretty worn out, but after some napping in the car they bounced back quickly. Good thing too because when we got home, Aunt Aly and Uncle Ryan were at the house washing their car and requested some help getting their apartment put together. I'm pretty sure we ended up being helpful overall, but with both kids and 5 adults working in a small 2 bedroom apartment it was interesting. The kids (but mostly me) watched Beauty and the Beast, we ate dinner and I helped out a little bit too. It ended up being a little bit of a late night for the kidlets.

Wednesday was nice and quiet. Weston helped Grandma make raspberry freezer jam in the morning while Davin napped. He really enjoyed smashing the berries.
After helping make jam, Weston headed outside to help Papa set up a new canopy for over his old bug. Weston LOVED helping his grandpa out and building a giant tent fort was also very exciting. Denny and I snuck out while the boys were working outside to go to lunch and do a little random shopping. We came home with fabric to make me a tablecloth and to make 3 grandkid aprons.

After we finished dinner, Uncle Eli called to say he was in the area and wanted to drop by to pick up some radio thing. Eli works for AMR driving an ambulance, so it was pretty exciting. We went and hung out in the front yard while we waited for his to get there.

See how close Davin is to walking?!? I am getting impatient with him.
Uncle Eli was very nice to show Weston the ambulance and they even turned on the flashing lights as they pulled into the driveway. I think Weston was a little unsure about sitting in the back of the ambulance though. As Eli drove away he said goodbye to Weston over the loudspeaker. Very fun. Thanks for humoring us Eli!
As soon as Uncle Eli left we went to Borders to get a couple good Scrabble dictionaries. We had been playing lots of Bananagrams (if you've never played it's SO much fun!) and really needed a good dictionary. While there I found so many fun things on sale and ended up getting a jump on some Christmas shopping. I do a Christmas book advent, so I have been looking for good Christmas books to add to my collection and there were a bunch in the clearance box! $4 apiece! I also got Weston this really great floor puzzle of the United States. I will save it for Christmas. My favorite thing though was a really cute early reader book all about Star Wars. Weston is somewhat obsessed with Star Wars and has already seen the whole original trilogy and some of the new movies too. He will love the Star Wars book when he gets it for Christmas. Weston wanted to go get ice cream somewhere that had a playplace, so we went to this McDonalds, but it was definitely a weird/bad experience. I don't know what the deal was, but there were so many scary, bizarre people there! We ended up hustling out of there as quick as we could.

Thursday we headed home. I was pretty frazzled trying to gather and pack that morning because Davin was being so fussy. I finally just went and put him in his bed without his blanket or anything and he conked out, so I let him sleep for half an hour before getting him up to go to the airport. I think the catnap helped though. The boys were SO good for me on the plane. I borrowed the Bowles' portable DVD player and it saved me. As soon as we got up in the air I turned on a movie and Davin just curled up with me and watched until he fell asleep, then about 20 minutes before we landed Weston fell asleep too. They both slept all the way to the gate. I had to shake Weston awake so we could get off the plane. It has been nice to finally be home for a little while and enjoy our lazy summer days. Today I am feeling like I am finally kind of caught up with the house. Laundry is done, the house is clean, and we are expecting a couple 100 degree days this weekend. Hello summer!

Independence Day

We've never spent 4th of July with Ian's family since we have been married. It was so much fun to take part in their traditions. The day was pretty relaxed since we were all exhausted from the day before's wedding fun. I got up with the kids, but then went back to bed for another hour and a half when Ian got up and I didn't really get showered and going until 11ish. Ian helped take all the wedding presents over to Aly and Ryan's apartment. He and Eli were excited to drive their dad's bug on that errand.
There were still quite a few people in town from the wedding, so Weston got to spend a little more time with his great grandparents. Grandpa Squire does lots of fun tricks with his handkerchief. Here's Weston wearing the ears.
Weston also loved holding his new cousin, Ivy. He is pretty good with babies. He "waited in line" at the wedding reception to hold her and then got another turn on 4th of July.
That afternoon Jim grilled a ton of salmon. The whole spread was delicious. After the bbq we headed out to Cascade Locks, a little town on the Colombia River. Their fireworks show was really good. It was fun to play there beforehand too. The park is a long strip along the river and absolutely beautiful. Here's Davin with Aunt Teri and Uncle Mike checking out the river.
Right at the entrance to the park there is a little hamburger stand that serves these giant (and I mean HUGE) ice cream cones. Once we staked out our spot a bunch of us walked back up to the entrance for a legendary cone. I got mine in a waffle cone so it wouldn't drip as much. We got Weston a kids cone and he still didn't finish it. The medium cone was probably 7 or 8 inches high of ice cream. Here's Weston and I working on our ice cream back at our spot.
Davin was just starting to get really tired when the fireworks started, but he was riveted and just snuggled up with me for the whole show. Weston told me that his favorite part was the noises, so no fear there. It was another late night, but well worth it. Happy Birthday America!

Getting There

We are back! The series of trips has come to an end and we are home for the next little while. It feels nice to sleep in our own beds and get settled back into our summer routine: morning errands, Davin nap, lunch, play in the pool, afternoon movie (during which Weston usually falls asleep), dinner. We shake things up occasionally, but that's the general summer plan.

Anyway, I am going to have to do a couple different posts from our Oregon trip. I'll start with getting there and Aly and Ryan's wedding.

We flew to OR last Thursday evening. It's quite the processional to get us to the airport since we don't have enough room in our car for an extra person. We have to have 2 volunteer/coerced friends follow us to the airport in their car and then have one of them drive our car back home after we unload at the airport. The flight went well. It was delayed about 20 minutes, but not too terrible. We made some airport friends and that helped keep the boys happy. They are such little hams. Davin is such a wiggle worm and I was worried about keeping him happy on the flight, but once we turned on Toy Story 2 on the laptop he was good to go.

This was before we could turn on the laptop. Davin also was interested in raising and lowering the shade.
Snuggled up watching the movie.
Best 3 year old traveler of all time. Seriously. This kid is such an easy traveler. He asked me about the airport rules several times before we left and he stayed in his seat with his seat belt on. He even fell asleep in the middle of the movie.
We didn't get to Jim and Denny's house until about 8ish pm and then we ate some Subway and visited with the family that was already there. By the time we got the kids to bed it was 9:30 (10:30 Utah time). The little dears woke up at 5:30am, so it was a looong day for them. Ian and I left for the temple early for the sealing. Luckily Aunt Teri and Uncle Mike watched the kids, got them all dressed and ready to go, and drove them to the temple to meet us when we got out. Here we are just before heading out to the temple. Ian wasn't wearing his tux yet.
Weston fell asleep in the car on the way to the temple, so he wasn't very smiley. He was excited to see Papa though.
The officially married Mr. and Mrs. Wecker! They were just so cute and happy. It was really a special experience to be in the temple with them and all of Ian's family.
After the happy couple came out of the temple and we all grabbed our flowers and snapped a couple pics, the whole crew went down to the reflection pool for more photos. It was a really hot day, especially for Oregon. Here's Weston walking on the temple grounds with Grandma Denny. This is probably the happiest picture we have of him. He refused to smile for most of the professional pictures. Although to be fair, it was hot and we were trying to smile in the really bright sunshine. The boys looked pretty adorable in their little yellow ties that Grandma made for them.
Aly and Ryan with all of their nieces and nephews. Aly is holding the boys' newest cousin, baby Ivy. She was the most cooperative one in this photo. I love Davin's weird face here.
Aly had the cutest shoes ever! They were white converse with blue trim and embroidered in blue on the side they said Mrs. Wecker. Super cute. Eli is helping her re-tie them during a photo break.
After taking all the pics we caravanned to the restaurant where the luncheon was and all got a much needed break from the sun and a good meal. Between the luncheon and the reception we had a couple hours. Unfortunately Davin slept the whole way home and didn't want a nap when we got there, so he was less than pleasant (to put it nicely) at the reception.

I don't have any pics from the reception yet because I didn't even bring my camera, but when I gather some from the family members who had their cameras I will post them. The reception turned out beautiful. They had various sizes of white lanterns hung for light, pretty glass bowls with flowers floating in them for centerpieces, and a really fun photo corner for the guests. They served salads, fruit, chocolate dipped strawberries, and double mint brownies. I would for sure say it was a success! Davin was very ready to go to bed, so I took the boys home a little early and put them to bed. It was a long, busy day, but I was so glad that we were able to be there for Aly and Ryan's wedding.

Up Next: 4th of July and another fishing trip!

Olson Family Reunion

This last weekend we went to the 2009 Olson Family Reunion. We have a reunion every 3 years with all of my dad's side of the family. It is always at a different place and always a blast. This year we were lucky because the reunion was at the Rockin R Ranch and was only a 3 1/2 hour drive from us. We loved having the reunion here. There was tons to do, the food and activities were all included in the price, and we got to spend 3 awesome days with our awesome family.

Top 10 Things We LOVED About Family Reunion
(in no particular order)
1. Road Trippin'
The boys were really good for our drives even though they didn't nap nearly as much as I was hoping. We caravaned down with my mom and Mel, so it was fun to stop at the DQ with them in Scipio. The Magnadoodle was a lifesaver, and Ian and I enjoyed some time to talk while we drove through wide open spaces.
2. Cousin Time & Campfire
It's always a blast for me to get together with my cousins, and now there is a new generation of cousins that get to play together. Weston misses his cousins most of the time, so getting to run around with them for 3 whole days was heaven. I loved that he had playmates to entertain him.
The first night we were all there we had a big campfire. Weston was so exhausted, but made it through most of the singing. He loved the 3 Chartreuse Buzzards song. He also requested I Am A Child of God. It's his favorite song that he knows all the words to. I could hardly sing because I kept tearing up. There's something special about being with all the family and knowing we get to be together forever.
3. Horses
The Ranch coordinated trail rides every day for anyone in our group who wanted to go. Ian and I went the first day we were there. The kids got to have horse rides every day too. Weston was a big fan of riding the horses.
4. Archery
The Ranch also has a large archery field. Weston really wanted to try it out and they let him! He actually did pretty well too. He even got an arrow or two into the hay beneath the targets.
5. Stairs
Ok, so the stairs weren't my favorite thing, but they for sure topped Davin's list, so I thought I would include them in our family's top 10. He constantly was going for the stairs. Unfortunately he isn't skilled at getting back down, so my entire family were constantly having to watch him or pull him down and try to distract him.
6. The Playground
The kids, especially Weston, had so much fun on the playground. It was perfect. I am so grateful that the Ranch had it. After spending the majority of his time on it, I decided Weston really really needs a swing set with a slide. One of these days . . .
7. Fishing at Otter Creek Reservoir
My parents got all the big grandkids their very own fishing poles and nets so they could all go fishing. It was quite the excursion. No fish were caught, but I considered the trip a success. Davin loved filling the bags on the side of stroller with rocks, and Weston had fun reeling in his empty hook and retrieving more marshmallows for bait. Weston and Lizzie were fascinated with the worms and wanted to hold them. We even allowed them to bring them back to the ranch. We had a little incident on our way back though. Davin got the marshmallow bait bag open and chowed down on them! The bag says "not for human consumption" but he didn't seem to have any side effects. Whew!
8. Hiking
Ian and Auntie Jules took Weston on the hike Saturday morning. I stayed behind with Dav. He was quite the trooper, but I'm not sure he would have made it without his trusty poking stick.
9. Canoeing & Tubing
Yes, I am cheating and combining these two because they are both water activities. Ian took Weston canoeing in the little pond at the Ranch. He thought it was great. I got eaten by mosquitoes taking the pictures. Ian and I left the kids behind and went tubing down the river with my parents, Joy and Jim, and my cousins Jeff & Kim. It was so much fun. So quiet. The weather was perfect, and we all just laughed and had fun. I wore my arm muscles out from paddling to avoid rocks, logs, and bushes, but it was totally worth it.
10. Poker
I realize this doesn't sound like the most wholesome family reunion activity, but it was a ton of fun. We didn't gamble anything, just played for fun. I had never played, so it was cool to learn. The cousins stayed up way too late eating snacks and playing Texas Hold'em and cracking each other up. We almost got kicked out the second night because we were being too loud. That night wasn't as fun because we had to be so quiet. Thanks cousin Mike for teaching us amateurs! The last hand of the last night determined our 2009 Olson Family Reunion Poker Champion. And the winner was . . . Ian! Congrats babe! :)
Needless to say we had a grand ole time. We also had a good time at the rodeo, which I didn't mention because I have no pictures of it, but it was cool (if you want to see pics from the rodeo check out my sister's blog HERE). After the actual rodeo Weston got to ride a sheep. Pretty fun. We got home Sunday afternoon and have had a few days of relaxation and sleeping in our own beds, but tomorrow afternoon we jet off to Oregon for Aly and Ryan's wedding, so no rest for us just yet.

Quick addition: If you are family or are interested, Davin had his 15 month check up last week. I was SO hoping he was going to have pulled back up onto the charts in his weight, but alas, he was still under. He is still growing though. My little peanut weighs only 19lbs. 9oz and is 29 1/2 inches tall (10th%). His head is holding strong in the 45th percentile. We did discover he had an ear infection, so I was grateful that we had that appointment right before we left for family reunion and were able to have him on antibiotics while we were there instead of feeling miserable. I still have my fingers crossed that by his next appointment (2 years) he will be back up on the charts and walking. :)

A Peek into Vérité - Repost (Originally Posted Aug 08)

I am re-posting this since we have been talking so much about this video as of late.

As you may have noticed from Shan's posts this week, I've been working super late all week. Well my big project is done (or so I think). Its a video for Kennecott Copper. They will use it in their educational programs for schools and such. I led the project, which has been in the works since March. There were 4 of us on the production side concepting / storyboarding / animating and editing. We had a lot of fun working on it, despite the hurried time-line in the end.


So if you've ever asked yourself, what does Ian do on a Daily Basis: this is not the answer.... normally we don't get to do stuff that is this cool. We hope this will score us some more jobs like it.

http://creative.verite.com/oretomore