Our Thanksgiving FEAST

This year we were lucky enough to get to enjoy Thanksgiving with my whole family. I MEAN WHOLE FAMILY!!! Every brother, sister, niece, nephew, parent and my dad's parents and his aunt. Phew!!! It was a crowd, it reminded me of Thanksgiving of old in the Olsen house (my grandma)!! We're a big bunch, but I love it when we all get together. It doesn't happen often, so it's fun!!! :)


Cole in his assigned seat

The "big kids" table. Oh, to be at the big kids table. Such a fun place to be.

The adults spot. Really. It was a sight to behold. It was fabulous food and fun company and if you walked away from this feast hungry....it was SO your fault!!

I mean, really...who needs all of these pies?? UM, US!!!!!

Yup. It's official.

So, in case you were wondering... I have officially captured the title "Mother of the Year". I always knew I was a good mom, but this just sealed the deal.

About a month ago, Kennedy was playing on the monkey bars at school and she slipped off and fell back on her arm, straight. She was really upset about it and crying that it hurt. Now, if you know Kennedy, she cried over a hang nail. So....I'm sure you know where this is going. "Kennedy, you're fine. Let's ice it and give you some ibuprofen. You'll be fine!" It wasn't swollen and it didn't hurt to the touch, just hurt when she moved it a certain way. So, being the medical professional that I am, considered it a sprain or just a jammed elbow. Done. Case closed. Look how smart I am.


Yep. Stupid thing was broken. She walked around for TWO WEEKS!!!! with a broken elbow. Now, now, come on. I'm sure I'm not the only one. Don't think horrible things about me. I have already thought all of them already.

Don't you worry....the next time one of my kids sniffles, I'm going to the ER to get blood work, x rays and possibly a cat scan. Just so ya' know!!

Wrestling...always wrestling

Louis has started his second wrestling season. He absolutely loves it!!!! Without a doubt, this is his thing.

It couldn't make daddy more proud, frustrated, happy and excited. Ross was a state champion wrestler when we were in High School. He was really good, so he was excited to get the opportunity to assistant-coach this little team. We have the cutest boys on our team. It is so much fun to watch them learn the new skills and watch them grown and become better wrestlers.

Now, I know wrestling isn't for everyone coughmerileecough. So...bear with me. There will be pictures of little boys in wrestling singlets. If you are not okay with this....move on.

We are so proud of Louis. He is learning a lot about self discipline and being part of a team. Good job, dude. You rock!


(stupid pictures are in reverse order and my blog won't let me rearrange them..sorry...so last is first I guess)



Louis finishing his match. He won 16-2.


Getting a little coaching from dad.

Kickin' some trash.

Getting some tips from coach right before our duel starts.

Stretching out his neck and apparently he's a fan of rock music!!! SLAYER!!

Here's a video of one of the one minute rounds in his winning match.

Just complaining again!!!!!

I am not sure why, but when signs are misspelled or they use improper english...it DrIVeS ME nUTs!!!!

Especially when it is advertising for a business or on the front of a store. Seriously.

McDonald's (in Payson):

Try A Angus burger today.

I despise when people use the word "seen" instead of saw or in some other random way. I don't know why this drives me so crazy, it's not like I am an english major or anything!! I also notice it quite frequently in the blogging world. Yikes! I know that I am a freak about misspelling (sorry Jamie!!!) even though I do it sometimes!! I guess it's just one of my funny quirks.

I can also not stand when words are used improperly. Like " We went too the store" or "Their not coming to the play".

Sorry. I really am not this big of a hag, I just had to voice my frustration.

And, as the saying goes in my household:

We live IN Santaquin, we are not FROM Santaquin.

(Sorry peeps who are from Santaquin, I know I am generalizing, but you know who I'm talking about!!!!)

Things I Learned While In Salt Lake

People don't know how to drive.

If you go to the Energy Solutions Arena at 2:30 you can get a parking spot right in front of the building. Yep. I did it!

Stiletto boots look hot with the right jeans.....but suck to walk in!!

It's cold.

Peppermint Hot cocoa is yummy!

You can roller blade down the escalator at the Gateway and come away fairly unscathed.

The higher your seats are at the ESA the better the people watching is.

Applebee's Oriental Chicken Salad makes me cry a little bit.

Kennedy is awesome!

The higher you get in the ESA the bigger the hair is!

Don't mess with mom's who want to videotape their daughters dancing. They will claw your eyes out and knock you down the stairs.

My brother in law is the luckiest sucker. EVER. He got 5th row seats, by chance....we couldn't even tell who was playing on the floor, that's how high we were....

People from Vernal like their hair SpIkeY!!!

I told my daughter to hurry up and get her fish net tights on. Words I never thought I would utter. Oh well. Somebody's gotta look good in 'em!!!

I could be a professional "people watcher". I get it from my dad.

My zipper kept falling down on my jeans, I constantly looked like I just came out of the bathroom. Talk about hOt!!!

That is all. I'm sure there's more. I just forgot!!!

Kennedy's Big Day

Kennedy and I spend the day in Salt Lake yesterday. She had practice for her "Jazz halftime" performance from 2:30 until 4. We had a break from 4-6:30 so we had some time to chill.

We had such a great time just being with "the girls". It is so much fun having one on one time with the kids. They love it! I forget sometimes, I get so busy with Cole and work and life that I forget how much fun it was as a kid to have that special one on one time with the parents. When there was no one to interrupt your attention-getting!!!!!

Here are a few highlights from our afternoon and evening!!


Practicing on the big floor. It was quite an intimidating site to walk onto that floor and realize all of those seats are going to be full of people watching you!!!!

Her scary starting pose for "Thriller"

After practice, we headed over to Gateway to shop. We stopped at Starbucks and got peppermint hot cocoa. She felt so grown up and special!!

Dinner at Applebees!

All gussied up and ready to go on stage...

SHE'S ON!!!! It was such a proud moment to watch her smile and dance and perform!!! She's such a cute girl!

Look who joined us for dinner and the game! Thanks grandma and grandpa for joining us, it made Kennedy feel really special that you came all that way and paid all that money just to see her!!!! :)

This is just a nice shot of my nostrils!!!!! We had a fun night and it is so much fun to watch your kids become better at their talents and to show the world how great you know they are :) I'm so lucky, I have such great kids!

Oh yea.....that's the Energy Solutions Arena from my parking spot. Yep. That's right. RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET!!!! Yea baby!






Here's the performance!!! Enjoy.

KK's dance

Sorry....I know you all want to hear Adam Sandler's song....but go to the bottom and pause it for a minute so you can hear the music in the videos!!!

Yesterday Kennedy's dance group gave us a little sneak peek at some of the dances they've been working on....sorry the videos don't do it justice, they're so cute!!! Good job KK!!

Did You Know?

Did you know that I love Christmas music?

Did you know that I am VERY PICKY about said music?

I can not listen to just anyone sing Christmas music. I can't bring myself to listen to Boys II Men Christmas or *NSYNC does Christmas. Just can't do it. Maybe it's a boy band thing, maybe not...still. can't do it!

Did you know that it is not Christmas at my house if Kenny G "Miracles" isn't playing somewhere, some time? (I highly recommend it!)

Did you know that I have replaced that CD like 3 times? It's getting harder to find.

Did you know that the instant I hear the first note of the first song on that album-Christmas can begin?

By the way, I also love SheDaisey Christmas, too. My little sister recommended it to me. I am not a big pop star turned Christmas music star fan, but this one works.

I love putting up my Christmas tree listening to Christmas music.

Did you know I have a fake Christmas tree? I really love real ones, but my grandparents gave this one to me and it is beautiful and I can't bring myself to rid of it, just yet!!

I burn an evergreen candle all season so it smells like a real one.

Did you know that I love Christmas....the feeling, the smells, the tastes, the family, the parties, the service, the giving, the excitement??

I know I'm jumping the gun, I'm just getting warmed up!!!

I also love Brenda Lee's version of "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree". Not only because it's a great song, but also because it is from Home Alone. That movie is a great memory to me of when I was an adult child living at home. It is a time we all went to the movie theater together. Dad, boys, me, mom , sis. All of us at home. I am not sure why it is such a great memory for me, I just remember looking down the row of all of us sitting there in the theater laughing and taking a mental picture as a very happy moment in my life!

Have a happy holiday season with your family!! I'm thankful for all of you, all of my friends, family and blog stalkers....thank you for being a part of my life. I love the seasoning that you all bring to my life. I life a blessed life....(How's that for ending a Christmas post with a Thanksgiving feel??) :)

Oh my holy longest halloween post ever!!!!!

I figured I'd wait and get it all over in one long smelly post. So....here ya' go....

My mom had a Halloween party for all of the grand kids.

Pretty darn cute if you ask me!!

So...what was I, you ask?

That's right. I was the swine flu. I think I'm pretty funny!!

Next stop...school party. Each class in the kids school had different themes for their dress up party for Halloween. For Kennedy's she had to read a biography on someone they wanted to learn more about and then find 10 interesting facts about that person. They also dressed up as that person for their party.

She did hers on Princess Diana. She is now officially obsessed.

That is how you make shoulder length brown hair look like Princess Diana's signature 'do.

Well, almost.

Just FYI. Princess Diana was totally into the "leggings under a dress with flats" look.





In Louis' class they had to dress up like a historical figure and learn a little bit about them and present it to the class.

He chose a pirate. How convenient.

Kennedy with her favorite teacher's little "hulk".

Louis with his teacher "Jackie O"

Kennedy, doing her princess Diana presentation to her class.

Louis workin' it in the parade.

"Elbow, elbow, wrist, wrist. Touch the pearls, blow a kiss."

Weirdos.

It was a good one.

Why We Don't Live In A Mansion....

Louis: Why would ANYONE ever live in a mansion?

Me: I don't know. I think it might be fun.

Louis: Didn't anyone tell them that the bad guys always go for the people in the mansions. To rob them and steal their money and all of their gold.

Me: Uh. You really think they have gold in their house?

Louis: Yep. In a treasure box in the basement.

So to all of you mansion dwellers. WATCH OUT!! HIDE YOUR GOLD.

Shut UP!!!

Sorry for the harshness!! I am just feeling like I need to tell myself that.

I seem to do these posts every once in a while, so I'm just gonna do it again.

Seriously. Shut up. Quit complaining.

I feel like all I do is complain and whine and stress about my life.

I am the luckiest girl in the world.

I have a wonderful family.

My husband loves me and would do absolutely anything for me.

He works hard to provide for our family.

I am spoiled rotten.

My children are the best.

Kennedy is the best helper in the world.

Louis is the most obedient child....

Cole is just cute and ALMOST potty trained!!

They get good grades, they do so well in school.

For the most part they do what they are supposed to do.

We live in a nice house.

I have the perfect job.

We can pay our bills.

I don't know what I am complaining for.

I have also been worrying about my kids a lot lately.

I think I get all caught up in what they don't do, the things they do that bug me. Why they don't follow rules EXACTLY. Why they argue, why they complain....

Then, I stop for a minute. I think back to when I was a kid....I did all of those things and many more that my kids don't do.

I would sit in my room and hear my mom call my name over and over and over and just act like I couldn't hear her. THAT IS MY WORST PET PEEVE. Sorry mom.

I totally snuck candy, told little lies to get out of stuff, didn't always do what I was supposed to do. I was even known to graffiti things every now and then, too. I SAID I WAS SORRY, OKAY!!

So, I guess what I am saying is.....I spend all of this time thinking that I am an awful parent and that my kids are going to grow up to be drug dealers and murderers because of these tiny things....I need to just chill out and let them be kids and let them make mistakes and learn, just like I did.

I didn't turn out so bad.

Well.....there was that one thing....

That really didn't make much sense, it is just the things that I am thinking about and worrying about right now. Bear with me!! :)