Olson Fam Fest 2011

Well summer is almost over. For the Olson family, this usually means a manly man fest for the men. Only true men are able to go on this little excursion. They do a lot of manly things. They hike mountains, eat junk, get sunburned, cook frozen food for dinner, burn plate-marks into tables in their cabin, and I'm sure all of the bodily function talk and act are there as well. This year they all came to Durango, CO for their vacay. They went on the Alpine Loop here in Colorado and hiked a bunch of mountains, saw some beautiful scenery (which I will post later), and stayed in a cabin together.

BUT, who could make this all possible for them, but their loving caring and supportive wives?? That's right, I'm tooting my own horn here, because there's no one else to toot it. They were gone 2 nights and 3 days this year hiking and having fun. The women (there are 4 of us) stayed at my humble abode in Durango with our 14 children all together. What's that? Did I say 14? Yes I did!!! It was a whole lot of fun, and although we had our moments of wanting to cry along with the kids, we really did have a good time together. O how I love this family of mine. I have so much fun with them. So here are some pics of what we did during the 3 days when the men were away... :)

This pic is hilarious I think. Yes, the pink bum on the left is my daughter. Haha. Her and Kayden are twin cousins. They are only 5 days apart in age.

Atley chilllin on the couch with Kayden, Grace and Conner.

The first day we went to Rotary Park here in town and had a picnic and walked along the beautiful Animas River walk. Here's Grace, Atley and Kayden enjoying the sunshine ready to eat their picnic lunches.

We walked over a bridge and looked at the river. Kaylee and Grayson were soooo wonderful to help with the smaller kids. Atley loved them!, and they took such good care of her.

Here's studly little Leroy wading in the river. Wait, did I say wading? I meant going for a swim! This kid didn't hesitate to dip his bum in the water in the first few minutes we were there, then went full throttle and got his whole body wet.

Here's Leroy's pretty mommy watching (and laughing) as Leroy gets himself soaked. Kayden sat like that on the grass the whole time while the other kids waded. I don't think he likes getting his clothes wet. He's such a funny kid.

Atley throwing rocks into the water. She loves making big splashes!

small, Bigger, BIGGEST. Harlan, Conner and Grayson playing the wii.

Uncle Kent holding little Milly. Isn't this a sweet picture? We love it when we can see Uncle Kent. He tells the most interesting and animated stories, and has a very fun sense of humor.

Stayven with his little twin cousin Milly. They are exactly 7 days apart, both born the end of June. Stayven is the younger one, but you'd never be able to tell. Milly's so petite. It's funny to compare their hand sizes. Stayven is a total boy already.

Do they look like they're related?

And here it is!!! Finally night-time, when all the kids are in bed!!! (well, except my little Atley) She would come out from the sleepover room, look at me with her big blue eyes, smile and say "I love you mommy. I just want a hug." Now how can you get mad at that? So all the ladies did their toenails and ate some junk. It was really quite nice.

Kaylee and Atley on day 2, when we went swimming at the Rec center. The kids had a blast.

An action shot: Kaylee catching Atley as she slides down Slide Frog. Blessed Slide Frog.

Diana and her little daughter Riley playing with a little geyser. Riley loved it!!! She would shake with excitement and try to eat the water.

Grace the model.

Movie time at the end of a very long day. So we set pillows in the ottoman. The kiddos loved every minute of it! It look comfy doesn't it? I wish I could fit my big ole bottom in there!

Atley and Kayden, the infamous Frenemies. They were friends one minute, and the next they were barking at each other with every ounce of grouchiness each little body could muster. It appears they have decided to be friends in this moment. This is the last day when the guys were home. Some of us went river rafting (me, Diana, Dallin, Darrin, Ali, Grayson, Kaylee, Maddy and Uncle Kent). Most of us rode in the raft, while Kaylee, Maddy and Uncle Kent tried their hand in kayaking. SCARY! But the did great. Especially the girls!!! The rest went to a train museum. I guess Atley loved it!

That was that! Thanks Olson fam for a grand ole time! Love you all!

Jensen Fam Reunion 2011

We were so lucky this year. The whole Jensen fam came to Durango for our reunion. Mom, Dad, Jess, Jen and their cute kiddos came a couple of days early to stay at our house. We had a blast with them. We don't get to see them very often since they live in Michigan, and we lived in California. Now that we're a bit closer to Utah though, we will hopefully be able to see them a lot more. We have so much fun with them, and I just love when we do get to visit. I was amazed at how quickly our kiddos became best friends. It's so neat when family gets together. There's just a different feeling.Here's Atley with her cousins Lily and Cayson. They had fun all night, running around the driveway outside with their bare feet being all crazy. It was hilarious.
We also got to go swimming at the Rec center with Jess and Jen while wonderful Grandma J watched Stayven back at the abode. Thanks mom. We had so much fun splashing and playing in the water.

Jen and lovely Lily. I love this picture. It's so cute. Lily's always smiling when she's with her mom. ;)

Here's "slide blue". That's what Atley calls it. She says everything backwards. She will always say the object first, then the color. So anyway, it stuck. It is now officially Slide Blue in our family. Here's Andy taking his daughter down her favorite slide. They did this frequently while I was pregnant and couldn't do much. They went swimming almost every wkend together. I think it's so fun. He's such a great daddy and loves to do things with his daughter.

Handsome men, Jess and Cayson having fun.

Haha, I love Jen's expression in this picture. Look close. O! Haha. We had so much fun with you guys. Thanks so much for coming to our house early to see us. It made us feel so loved.

Ats and her proud mommy. Isn't my little girl beautiful? Ignore the pic of me... no makeup. Yikes. Haha.

Here's an updated picture of my sweet little boy. He's still such a sweet-tempered baby boy. He's such a good cuddler, and I simply adore him.

On Saturday, when everyone was here, we went up to Silverton CO to look around. It was a fun time. Here's Merissa cheesin it up at an ice cream joint. She makes me laugh. I was sad I didn't get a pic of the whole clan. We all went into Smedley's Ice Cream parlor to get out of the hot sun, and have ourselves a sweet treat. Andy got vanilla, Atley chocolate (of course), and I got my favorite... mint chocolate chip.

Isn't Dev a suave lookin' young man? He's such a great help with the kids. He's so good with them, and they all adore him. He always makes special time for each one of them.

All the grandkids in Silverton. Isn't this fun? I can't believe our family is growing so quickly...
It's so much fun though. I remember how much fun I had with my cousins when I was little, so I'm overjoyed to see these guys together having such a great time.

Ats, Cays and Lilster on a bench in front of Smedley's.

Merissa met this handsome man on the street in Silverton. She's kinda weird for wanting to give him a smooch, but whatever... How was it Meriss?

Posing with Merissa's new-found bff.

Atley and Grandpa after an exhausting but totally fun day. Isn't this picture sweet? I love it. Thanks Fam for such a great week! I love all of you so much, and feel so blessed and lucky to have such a wonderful, close family.

Gini's Birthday!

K, so I feel like a really cool person. I didn't post my husband's birthday, or my daughter's. But here I am, posting my own. Wow. Mother and wife of the year award. Honestly though, I was sick and prego with Andy's, and with Atley's I was recovering from childbirth. So consider these pictures as a collective birthday party, as the other pics from the other b-days were fairly similar... My birthday was July 20th, and I turned 27 this year. O my, I'm in my late twenties...

I felt soooo lucky this year on my b-day. My sister was able to come down and spend almost an entire week with us. She met little Stayven, and helped me around the house a ton. We had a blast together. She also frosted my cake and made a really nice birthday dinner for me. Homemade lasagna, garlic bread and salad. I love you Meriss! You're so great with Atley too, she adores you!
Family pic. Andy tries so hard every year to make me feel so special on my birthday, and he does a very good job. He made the cake (that merissa frosted), and got me some very thoughtful gifts. Love you Andy!

Atley and her auntie Merissa frosting my cake and putting on the candles. She always wants to do whatever auntie Merissa is doing. She follows her everywhere. And it's always "I want Mawissa." In fact, weeks before Merissa was coming down, every day, every meal, it was "Mawissa's comin'." She would tell us that over and over again. And we would have to remind her that it wasn't for a few more days...

Atley doing what she does best, hovering around chocolate. I know in this pic it looks like she's helping with candles, but really she sneaking in tastes of chocolate frosting with her fingers... Mischevious little chocolate lover. Haha.

STAYVEN ANDREW OLSON

Ok, before pictures, we've gotta record the important stuff. It's definitely been an interesting/wonderful/difficult last few weeks. Stayven Andrew Olson was born on June 29, 2011 after a 6 1/2 hour labor. He has truly brought so much joy into our little family. He's such a sweet-tempered baby, and Atley loves her little brother so much.

I went into the Durango Mercy Hospital at 7 a.m. on June 29th to be induced into labor. Andy was with me the entire time, and helped me through every contraction... until the LOVELY epidural came. :) I could just kiss the man who helped develop those wonderful drugs. Anyway, labor went a lot more swiftly than I thought it would. This pregnancy had been soooo difficult in almost every way (throwing up daily the whole time, dehydration, restless legs, insomnia, and itching all over). So I was pleasantly surprised when they announced I was at a 9 dilation only 6 hrs after starting induction. Delivery went pretty smoothly and quick. And there was our beautiful baby boy! He weighed 7 lbs 13 oz, was 20 inches long and came at 2:45 p.m. When I looked at his beautiful face, I immediately fell in love. Everything I had gone through during pregnancy with him was now very worth it. He brings me so much joy when I look into his tiny face.
My wonderful parents were here to stay with Atley at our house, which was SUCH a blessing. So we didn't have to worry about a thing with her. We knew she was in good hands. When they first came to visit and saw Stayven, Andy held Atley above him so she could see his face. She exclaimed, "It's a baby brother!" And then she wanted to hold him right away. She sat beside me on the hospital bed, and held little Stayv. She kept giggling, and saying "Mommy, his hat tickle my face." She kissed him on the head. Truly a mother's greatest joy.
Recovery has been tough with this little guy as well. The day before I was induced, I had been throwing up all day and was completely dehydrated. So I had to go get fluids via IV in the hospital. So I had nothing to eat that entire day. The next day was induction and I didn't eat most of that day either until evening. So for the next couple of days I was completely dizzy and nearly passing out every time I would stand up. My energy was literally drained. Andy seriously had to pretty much carry me to the restroom. When the day came to go home (about 48 hours after the birth), I had been complaining of left calf pain. The doctor did an ultrasound and diagnosed me with a DVT (a blood clot in the leg), which can be really scary. I just started bawling, as it seems like this pregnancy has been one hurdle after another. They decided to discharge me anyway that day, and just treat me from home if I promised I would do the regimen religiously. So I started on my lovenox injections, twice daily, in my stomach and also taking my coumadin pills daily (these are blood-thinners), and getting my blood checked twice a week. I am now off of the lovenox, which is a nice break for my bruised belly, but have to be on the coumadin a minimum of 3 months, possibly 6. So... no crazy stunts this summer I guess. :P

So thanks to all for patiently awaiting pictures! It's been a difficult/busy, but totally wonderful time. We are in love with our new boy, and are sooo happy he's in our family! Enjoy the pictures! :)

Pictures in Durango

Easter morning, Atley finding her basket. She was VERY excited about the chocolate and candy. She dug right in. I don't even want to think about how much sugar she ate that day.

Easter Atley in her Easter get-up ready for church.



Andy's birthday! The big 29! Vickie, Ted and Dallin were here for it too. I'm sooo sad we didn't get a picture with them! We had a blast though. Atley helped mommy make daddy's birthday cake. She helped with the cake, and then later with the decorating. She's a great helper in the kitchen.

This is a canyon up by Silverton, CO. Isn't it gorgeous? We went up there one day for a Saturday, and had lunch and looked at the train and such. Atley loved the train, and the scenery on the way was breathtaking.

This pictures kind of dark, but here I am at 32 and a half weeks pregnant with my little boy. And here's Atley, not pregnant of course, but thinking she has a little baby in her tummy too. ;)

Atley dressed in her lovely Sunday attire, playing outside our house on the front driveway.

Family pic. Sorry Andy's head.

This is our new home. We absolutely love it!

We live in the mountains, really we do. So this is a trail by our house on the way to get our mail. Atley loves the trails. She loves to kick pinecones, find rocks and look for animals. We've been able to see squirrels, chipmunks, lizards and elk so far. :)

This is the view on the way out of our neighborhood, like 1 and a half blocks from our house.