Poor Cole!

During the middle of the night on Monday, Cole woke me up with this horrible cough. The bells went off in my head, the doctor confirmed what I already knew.....croup. Yuck! Poor kid, it's the middle of summer and he has the croup. Anywho, one co-pay and one steroid shot later, we bought a warm air vaporizer and he was good to go. Until the next day. He started with this really heavy, wet cough. Definitley not croup anymore. Bronchitis. One co-pay, one prescription for zithromax, one nebulizer (yep I'm the proud new owner of a nebulizer. I'm speechless.), one prescription for oral albuterol to be nebulized (?) and we were good to go. I almost just signed over my paycheck. Crap. I can't believe the poor little guy has bronchitis. Although, he has been a pretty good sport so far, he is starting to get a little disgruntled with his breathing treatments. He freaks out pretty good when he sees me setting it up. Poor kid. Poor mom. Whew!

In other news, we had family pics with the Williams-Van Orman clan last night. Surprisingly they were short and sweet. No major melt-downs, no one fell in the river, no one actually smiled at the weird lady with the feathery duck. Isn't it funny how we'll do anything to make kids smile for a picture. For the picture of just the grandkids, all of the grown-ups were jumping up and down, yelling, whistling, and making funny faces. It was quite the site to behold. Then, off to Cold Stone for ice cream, thanks Grandma Linda. The kids love getting flavors like, mint ice cream mixed with gummy bears. GAG! But, again it was fun for the kids to be with their cousins. They love it. They are going to be so sad when they leave. They all get along really well. Except Claire and Louis. Louis just loves that little girl to pieces, tries to hug and kiss and carry her around. She will have nothing to do with him. She has had it up to her eyebrows with boys. All she has are brothers. So, it kind of makes Louis sad, but he keeps on trying!!!

Fun things coming up...picnic up the canyon tonight with all of the cousins, yep, there's one. Ross, Russ and Devin have one cousin. Isn't that funny. I think I have 300+ cousins. But it should be fun. Then some of us are going to Stadium of Fire on Friday. It should be a good time. I love tween music and screaming tweens. Yippee skippy! Anywho, summer has been fun so far, I think I am becoming a summer person, I love the sun and the warm weather. Good times! Now, we'll have to talk to Russ and Traci about visiting more than once a decade!

10 reasons I love my kids

10 reasons why I love Louis:

1- He's super funny

2- His dimple filled smile will knock your socks off

3- He's my cuddle bug

4- He's definitley a mama's boy

5- He's tough as nails, but hugs me all the time

6- Louis is super adventureous. He will climb, hike, fight, or do anything that you do not want
him to

7- He's a couch potato

8- He's a fantastic big brother, he loves Cole more than anything

9- Louis is incredibly smart, he has an amazing memory. It especially shows when I promised him something a long time ago and now it's time to pay up!

10- He's my sweet thumb-sucking 6 1/2 year old boy!

10 reasons I love Cole:

1- Shut up, he's the cutest baby ever

2- His thighs. If we could all only look that good with that much cottage cheese!

3- The smell of him first thing in the morning!

4- The fact that he can walk and toddle around now (This is also one of my least favorite things about him)

5- Because he has learned this cheesy smile with squinty eyes and all of his teeth showing!

6- He's mellow and chill

7- I love Cole because he is my last baby and I am enjoying every moment, like I wish I had with Kennedy and Louis

8- Because he loves me no matter what, He hasn't learned to say mean things yet.

9- The way he lays his head on my shoulder and pats my back, the way I do to him.

10- I'm crying now and can't think of any more reasons, he's perfect. (Like I said, he can't talk yet)

10 reasons I love Kennedy:





1-She is my singing, dancing, crazy girl


2-That she still wants to be tucked in at night


3-She is crazy smart


4- She is very responsible and depandable


5- She changes a mean diaper!


6- She is my only daughter, and mother daughter time rocks!


7- That she still wants to hold my hand


8- She is a good big sister


9- She has a fabulous sense of style (Even though I buy all of her clothes and dress her, I'm just saying, some things are genetic!)


10- She still wants my opinion on things (even if she doesn't use it!)

.So, basically I'm the luckiest mom in the world. What did I ever do to be so blessed?

It's Official, He's Famous

In Monday's OUR TOWN section of the Daily Herald, they did a front page, full page spread on my daddy-o. He's an amazing gardner, and he gets people that drive by and stop to ask him about his yard all the time. It's really amazing and he puts a lot of time, money and love into it. Way to go dad!

MARIO RUIZ/Daily Herald
Mike Olsen of Orem takes a break from cultivating the ground around his flowerbeds at his home Wednesday, June 18, 2008. Master Gardener Olsen has been gardening for more than 20 years.
3 images total in slideshow, click an image to begin.
Monday, 23 June 2008
Learning to be a master gardener


Mario Ruiz - DAILY HERALD
You would think by walking around Mike Olsen's Orem home that an entire team of professional landscapers and gardeners is responsible for the design and maintenance of his home garden, but Olsen alone is responsible for the well maintained, colorful design. Olsen spends nearly 15 hours a week after work and on Saturdays cultivating, pruning, planting, mowing, edging, designing, moving, tilling, feeding, fertilizing and loving his garden.

Fifty-six-year-old Olsen has been gardening for 20 years, but first fell in love with it as a boy when he would prune the trees, mow the lawn and maintain the garden at his grandfather's cherry orchard in Orem.
Olsen says he enjoyed working on his grandfather's orchard and reminisces of those days when he works on his own garden.
"I'm just anxious to get out and putt around the yard," he said.
Olsen's hard work pays off. Stepping into the garden you're immediately surrounded by neatly kept trees and bushes as the path below you gently suggests a route through colorful flower beds.
"To me it's the most relaxing thing in the world," Olsen said.
So what's his secret? Olsen is a master gardener through the USU extension program and says he's willing to share his thoughts and expertise with anyone who asks. He suggests just a few important things:
• Maintenance -- It's going to take time, he warns.
"It has become consuming to me to figure out how to maintain it."
Olsen says it is very important to make sure you regularly till and cultivate the ground around flowers and plants.
• Prune your shrubs -- It's important to neatly prune your trees and shrubs, he says. Olsen makes sure dead leaves and branches are pruned off.
• Manage color -- Olsen suggests home gardeners research what color shrubs and flowers will be at any given point in the year, and then plant according to what color palette suits you.
"Everything blooms. You might as well take advantage of it," he said.
These are just a few of Olsen's suggestions, and he recommends homeowners learn more about what trees and flowers to plant.
"I think green thumbs are more earned than blessed," he says.
If you want to look at Olsen's garden, go to 1186 N. 1100 East in Orem.

We'll Have Fun, Fun, Fun....

All of the Williams grandkids (except Julia) in Bear Lake.

Louis and Cade became best friends on our vacation. Everywhere we went, Louis and Cade were together and having a blast.Cole, just being cute, getting his toes wet in Bear Lake. COLD!
Kennedy had a ball riding the wave runners. She was on them the whole day, it didn't matter who was driving. She was game.

We just got back from our weeklong vacation in Bear Lake. We had so much fun. We got to do everything that we wanted and so much more. We really could have just gone to the Comfort Inn in Payson, because all the kids wanted to do was swim in the pool!When we were just chillin' in the condo, Louis decided to learn how to do this, whatever it is. About .5 secpnds after Ross snapped this picture, he lost his balance and hit his lip. Good times.
Cole, just having fun while the big kids were swimming in the pool. By the way, Cole decided to learn how to walk while we were there. He is offically a toddler!
Ross, Tyler and Kennedy making a tower!
Ross was putting the kids on his shoulders and then launching them into the air. They thought it was so cool. This is a good picture, if I do say so myself!
Kennedy and I went horseback riding. Something that she has wanted to do for a very long time. It was expensive, and I couldn't walk, or sit for about a week, but she had the time of her life riding "Shoshone". Don't you worry, they put Kennedy on this big, old gentle horse that was about as big as a house. Me, I was on a pony. It was a little top heavy, and not cute, I think they did it to be funny. The guy who set us up, I'm pretty sure I heard him laughing as we trotted off. Poor horse, I think I just about did her in. She won't be the same after our ride.

Thanks Grandma Linda, for sporting for the condos. Without that, we wouldn't have been able to go. We had a fabulous time. Really. Even though she may need a while to recover, we had a blast.

Vacation

Right now I am sitting in a condo overlooking Bear Lake. It is the most beautiful blue lake, it is terribly cold in the water, but it has been beautiful. We have been swimming every day, eating strawberry shakes, taking naps and going on walks. It really has been one of the most fun vacations I have ever been on. Thanks to Grandma Linda who has a time-share. The condos are clean, nice and big. I just can't explain how much fun we are having. The kids are having a ball. I will post pictures later. Right now, I am going to have dinner that someone else is making, and after probbably....another raspberry shake. It's a good life!

End of School Awards and Our Trip to Zion's

Friday was Kennedy's last day of school. They just had a half day that started off with an awards assembly. She got awards for perfect attendance (-1), honor roll, 3rd place in Reflections and best "Out of her seat girl". This is her with their pricipal, Mr. Crippin. He's a great guy, and Kennedy loves to be recognized and in the spotlight. Sounds like the perfect day for her :)!
This is Cole and Ross at the beginning of our hike in Zion's park this weekend. We hiked the Emerald Pools hike. Ross was a good sport to carry Cole, and Cole was a good sport to be carried the whole time. He didn't make a peep the whole time. The big kids were good too, until the very end and we went the wrong direction and had to hike an extra mile or so. But we all survived and had a great time. It was really fun to spend time with my family and for the kids to play with most of their cousins.
This is us at the middle pool on the hike. It was a pretty good hike, most of it was pretty easy, there were a few steep parts, but it was worth it. It was georgeous. Even though I can't walk to day!
Kennedy at the middle pool.
Louis wading in the water of the upper pool. Right before he nearly drowned. Thank you kind stranger who saved my little boys life!

After a weekend away, it is always good to get home and get back into real life, but we had a fabulous time and we really enjoyed spending time with family. Thanks to all who contributed to a good time!

Kindergarden graduation

Sorry, I never know if it is with a "t" or "d". So, I'm probbably spelling it wrong. Oh well.

Yeah!! He finally did it. He's done with kindergarden. It's funny though, with Kennedy I wasn't sad at all. She had a really rough kindergarden year. She was ready to move on to 1st grade and finally learn something. But with Lou, he has had the best year. He has learned so much and grown-up a lot!!!! It makes me a little misty-eyed that big Lou is moving on to the 1st grade. Although a wonderful teacher awaits him there as well:).

This is Louis' wonderful teacher, Mrs. Phillips. I can't even explain how wonderful she is. She truly loves Louis and only wanted the best things for him. She has helped him a lot. We will miss her a lot.
Dang, he's cute!!.

Kindergarden Zoo Day and KK Baseball

On Monday, I got to go with Lou's kindergarden class to the zoo. Oh my, there were a lot of schools there. I assumed that since everyone else down here was out of school, it would not be quite so crowded. NOT! Every school in SLC school district was there. Oh well, we had fun and Louis really liked just being with mommy.
We saw all the animals and got to ride the train. All the highlights. We had to get the obvious picture, too!
KK has played a few games now. She is actually a pretty good little player. She is one of only two girls on her team that can throw from 3rd to 1st. She made some really good plays.
She has so much fun. She looks so cute.
You gotta love pink softball gloves!

It is so much fun for me to watch the kids play sports. They are so cute and talented. It is funny to watch them interact with the other kids and see how they fit in. They're pretty good kids, if I do say so myself!

Baseball and boats....aah summer!

This is Louis' first t-ball game. He had so much fun! He is one of the oldest and biggest kids on the team, that always makes it fun!

Of course, this is much more fun than just sitting there waiting for everyone else to hit!

Kennedy had her first game as well. Unfortunately they were on the same night. Next game I will get some pictures of her. She loves it and she looks really cute in her purple uniform!

On Friday night, Mike and Deb took their new boat out for her Maiden Voyage. We were lucky enough to get to ride along. The kids had so much fun!This is a rare picture of me. Don't look too close, just look how cute Cole is!

Cole is such a good kid, as long as the boat was bumping up and down or the wind was blowing in his face he was a happy camper!

The kids really haven't been on a boat before, so this was a really fun experience for them. Louis just kept giggling every once in a while, just because he was having so much fun! I can't wait to go again. Boating is one of my favorite things in the world. You just feel so free and the wind and the water, it's a beautiful thing!