Zion-Day 2

Saturday morning we started the day with some delicious Swedish pancakes, which I learned how to make. Mom made most of them though. While we slowly ate breakfast Grandma B pulled some fun Toy Story coloring pages and new crayons out of her special bag for all the kiddos. They all were very into coloring, especially Weston and Mimi. We ended up with a whole wall of Toy Story pages all colored in.
The view off Mom and Dad's patio and out our smaller room's windows. Gorgeous!
Once we all were showered and dressed we headed into the town of Springdale for some shopping and lunch. We browsed the boutiques and gift shops. Weston picked out a toy lizard as his souvenir, which was perfect because we saw lizards darting around everywhere. Davin got a toy turtle. I meant to get myself a magnet, but never did. Whoops.

We had to take pictures with our favorite golden ram. Yes, we are dorks.
We all went out to lunch together at Oscar's Cafe. It was really good food, but we ended up having to sit outside on the patio because we were such a big group, which got a little warm towards the end of the meal. Ian and I shared the Verde Pork Flautas. Mmm. After lunch we walked over to the candy shop and all picked out a treat. Also yum.
By the time our shopping adventures were over the babies were ready for naps, so we went back to the hotel and put them down, then hung out at Mom and Dad's room. Some of us played Wii. Archery was the game of the trip. Grandma B's special bag produced a fun foam sticker craft for the bigger kids to do while we all watched the massive thunder storm that blew through. I kind of enjoyed hanging out and watching the storm through the big glass patio doors. Like I said, my kind of camping.
Mel and I were in charge of dinner that night and we had brought all the fixings for taco salad. It was an easy meal to bring that served everyone and tasted good. Dad made homemade vanilla bean ice cream for dessert. It's the best. The storm finally cleared up and we went swimming again before bed. Once the kids were in bed the adults had a cream soda tasting. I have determined that I don't really like cream soda. Hardly any of them tasted good to me. I would love to try it again though with root beers. And when I'm not pregnant.

Zion Family Reunion!

This past weekend was our Olson Family reunion. This is the first time we have done a trip with all of my siblings and it was SO fun! We stayed at the fabulous Cliff Rose Lodge. It was the perfect place for us. Mom and Dad, Jules, and Brad and Mel stayed in a 2 bedroom family suite that had two separate bedrooms and bathrooms. It also had a little living room area, a (almost) full kitchen and a huge dining table. They had a private balcony too. Joy and Jim and our little family had our own regular rooms, but they were nice too. It was perfect having that one space for us all to gather in. And I loved being all together for our meals.

On Friday morning we drove down to Zion. We got there just after 2pm and checked in. We immediately got in the pool and swam with cousins. We actually did a lot of swimming, but alas there are no pictures of that since we were all in the water. That evening we had a campfire and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. It was the Olson girls version of camping and it was perfect. Ian played Trac Ball, Davin gathered pinecones with Mimi, Grandma B brought bubble wands, and my kids tried cooking their own dinner over the fire for the first time. It was hot, but in the shade it felt nice. The kids were all so tired that they were in bed by 7:30 that night. While the rest of us stayed up and played Just Dance on the Wii. It was hilarious. I sure love my family!
I know I'm keeping you in suspense about the details of our 20 week ultrasound, but I really wanted to just tell all of our family in person since we are seeing them all this week, so here's a sneak peek of our healthy baby. Details to come later this week. :)

Haircut!

My hair has been getting ridiculously long. For me anyway. I'm just not a long hair person. It doesn't work for me. Anyway, the last time I got my hair cut was when I was in CA in March. It was time, but finding the time (and money) kept getting in my way. Finally I decided to just ask my neighbor to cut it for me. She agreed and so I took the kids with me to her house this afternoon and she cut my hair and we chatted while the kids played happily in the back room. It was great. She wouldn't even let me pay her. I'll have to take her kids and give her an afternoon off one of these days instead. It feels so good to have my hair nice and short again!
PS-Tomorrow morning is our 20 week ultrasound. I'll keep you posted!

Ian's Birthday Weekend

We had a full weekend, but we had a lot of fun too. Friday night Ian ended up having to work late, but luckily he didn't have to work the rest of his birthday weekend. Saturday morning we drove to Provo to attend our sister in law, Emilee's dad's funeral. Ian's brother, Eli, gave the eulogy. It was a very nice service. I was supposed to help out with my niece, Ivy, but we were running a little late and when we got there she was already snuggled up with another friend and didn't want to come see me, but I tried. We took a few pictures with Uncle Eli afterwards.
While we were in Provo we hit up our favorite burger joint, Burger Supreme. The kids just don't appreciate a good cheeseburger yet, so they shared a corndog. We also stopped by Krispy Kreme on our way to the freeway for a donut. Mmm. Unfortunately Davin took his nap in the car on the way home, so he was done for the afternoon. The kids came home and watched a movie while Ian got some more work on the moulding in the den done. That evening we dropped off the boys at our friend's house and headed out on our date. We went and saw Inception first. It was a really great movie. You should definitely go see it. It's kind of intense, but there is almost no swearing or anything, and it's such a fun movie to try to figure out in your head.

After the movie we were starving, so we headed to Taste of Punjab for some Indian food. It was delicious. I heart naan. We had a nice time out and we even beat the kids home! They had gone to a BBQ with the Wilson's. They were so tired when they got home but they had a good time.

Sunday was Ian's actual birthday. He had to go to meetings all morning, but by the time he got home we were up and dressed (sort of), so we let him open his presents. He was excited about getting Trac Ball! Weston made Dad a birthday sign. I outlined the letters and he did the rest. I was impressed. He is getting better at coloring every day.
Weston added the BYU signs later for the party. He did them all by himself.
We all left church right after the sacrament so we could visit with Eli and Emilee for a few minutes before taking them to the airport. They are coming back in a week, so hopefully we will see them again soon.

I made Ian chicken parmesan for dinner. After we cleaned up dinner we had some friends over for ice cream cake. I hadn't made an ice cream cake roll in years and I think the last time I did make it my mom helped me. It turned out pretty good. The cake sort of fell apart, but that's why you freeze it and frost it with whipped cream. It tasted delicious. I think Ian had a good birthday.

Have I mentioned that it's hot? Really hot. During Ian's little party it was 87 degrees in our house. Ugh. I would have opened the windows, but it was still 96 outside. When it gets that hot our house just doesn't cool down. I am hoping that we will have time to move our furniture back into the den and put in the window a/c unit before we leave on our trip this weekend. Yesterday we went to the pool. It felt SO good. Today we are going to a splash park. Weston is getting tan and Davin is getting blond. If the house were cooler I would have no complaints about summer. :)

Shiny and New

Sometimes I just like new stuff. Every once in awhile I get this overwhelming urge to just buy something new. A new shampoo, a new shirt, new flip flops, earrings, a kitchen appliance, etc. I hope you don't think I'm materialistic, but it seriously just gives me a (short term, of course) feeling of well being to have something new. I haven't been buying a lot of new things for myself lately. Money has been tight because of our den project. However, I'm happy to report that getting new carpet in the den (that Ian and I didn't have to install) fulfilled the same purpose.
I love it! It even smells new. And I just want to walk around barefoot on it. It was installed yesterday morning. I picked Ian up from work a little early and we came home and started working on the crown moulding. It's all up. Not looking completely finished yet (nail holes and seams), but still looking great! I am just so excited that we are so close to having the new and improved den back.

In other shiny and new news. My hubby is turning 29 on Sunday! A shiny, new year for him. The last year of his 20's. I personally think that his 20's have been the best decade ever. He met me, we got married, had two cute boys. He graduated from BYU, got his grown up job (which he is great at and this week got another good raise). We bought a house, have learned and grown in said house, and are currently awaiting the birth of another baby. In all seriousness though I love Ian so much. He is a wonderful husband and father and I hope that I can give him a good birthday weekend. Happy (almost) Birthday babe! We will be busy, so I'll tell you all about it next week.

PS-What do you think of the new blog background? I think it's fun and summery. Weston said, "but Mom, you hate dandelions in real life." :) It's true.

A Few Things . . .

*Spaghetti with browned butter and mizithra is a quick, easy, fancy looking meal that Weston will eat. It's a miracle. During his third helping tonight he told me "Now I just want to eat this every night!"

*Weston is an expert block builder. I have mentioned his block building expertise before, but his latest masterpiece took him all day and almost all the blocks. He was very proud. Ian just laughed because apparently he used to build towers just like Weston. You'll notice that it is completely symmetrical. Even the colors coordinate on each side. Funny kid.
*The tile is done in the entry (with the exception of the sealant) and Thursday is carpet install day! Here's the progression of getting the tile finished.
*It has been hot. Luckily my house hasn't gotten hotter than about 82 degrees, but it still feels warm. Today we cooled off at the splash park in Herriman with my cousin and her kiddos. We had so much fun!
*I cannot wait until tomorrow night when I finally get to see Eclipse! I have been waiting to see it with my friend Tara. Our schedules have just not been matching up for the last couple weeks though, so this is the first time we could both go. Our husbands have chosen to come with us. We were going to just do it girls night style, but they wanted to join us, so hooray for a double date!

Dinosaur Birthday Party!

No, Ian is not having a dinosaur themed birthday party. Although Davin would think that was super cool if he did. The Museum of Ancient Life at Thanksgiving Point has been around for 10 years and they are celebrating this week with a birthday party! Lots of the dinosaur skeletons are wearing party hats and in the lobby they have birthday activities, like face painting and games, and crafts.
We invited another family in our ward to go with us on Tuesday to the birthday celebration. The kids all had a great time. Weston loved doing origami. He made a dinosaur head that chomps. Face painting was a big hit. Even Davin sat still to get a dinosaur painted on his face. And, of course all the dinosaur skeletons and sand play areas were a blast. If you live in the area I highly recommend you take your kids to the dinosaur birthday party before it ends this week!