Anne won the winner prediction contest. Andrew came in second. Will take more photos next year, I promise. But a good start to a tradition.
This Thursday the 20th. 7:30 session. Kenn will that work with you coming back from Eugene? I know a good place where you could have a pitstop in Salem. See you all on Thursday night.
Peter
This is one is just for Melia... more to come :)
She has grown into such a little girl. She is so smart and LOVES coloring and art stuff. She really loves to dance and sing. Aunt Marnie, Melia, and I went to see Tangled about two weeks ago and she absolutely loved it! We saw it in 3-D and she kept trying to touch the lanterns that were floating and she has a awesome memory because she remembers such little details about the movie that Marnie and I didn't really remember.
Yesterday Melia informed me of what she would like to be when she grows up. She would like to be a "Rocker outer" and she wants to "sing and dance on a big stage in front of a crowd". I love the "Rocker outer" name, but now she calls it a "Rock star" now. HAHA I have no idea where she would get the idea of being a Rock star except that she absolutely loves to dance and learn songs. And no she has never seen Hannah Montana.
Melia decided she wants to grow out her hair so that it can be long, but she informs me everyday that she does not want it as long as Rapunzel. She then shows me where she would like it to grow to (the middle of her back).
She is really into this book called "The Kissing Hand" that Grandma Barb and Papa gave to McKenzie for Christmas. It is a sweet story and basically it is about when you kiss the palm of the person you love before they go somewhere or when you will be apart so that you remember that the person loves you. She now does it at school everyday with me. I have to kiss her hand and she has to kiss mine and then she walks away saying "Mommy loves me, mommy loves me". I absolutely love these moments.
She is getting really interested in reading so we are going to start getting her some of the Stage 1 reading books just to get her started. May take a while and I definitely am NOT forcing it on her at all. :)
She is amazing at coloring and is very strict about making sure she stays in the lines. This is a picture she colored today all by herself. No help at all!
Next blog... McKenzie :)
I am not usually up at this time of night, but I just returned from the late show of Tron. I went by myself on military night. It was OK. I can't really recommend it. (I can recommend True Grit however) I am glad I told Brooke to just get some sleep...she would have hated it.
This quarter is going well so far. I was able to convince my advisers to let me take one less class this quarter. So I am now able to spend more time developing software for my thesis. I am now on schedule for leaving here in July. I will still have a few classes which I will take distance learning from Kansas. I will start school at Fort Leavenworth at the end of July and officially graduate from here in September. It looks like graduation will synchronize well with the races at Laguna Seca, so I will be back to walk....and watch fast cars. This new schedule change allows me to get on a Summer transition for assignments. All you that have served know that there are more assignments available during that time because that is when people like to transition. Right now my number one request is to go back to Europe after KS. It looks like there will be several spots available, maybe even where we lived before. If we do go, more people will need to take advantage of the situation this time. You can't beat Europe tour guides that have 2 cars, a local house, and pay U.S. gas prices in Europe.
Back to the present...The rest of the family must be out of this house by the end of May. So, they will go to Washington and do the summer play thing until July and then we will link up in Kansas.
I think Brooke has done a great job updating about the kids. They are doing terrific things, and a father couldn't be more proud.
Anyway, that is my effort to blog. Miss you guys.
Mike
I guess I'll blog to move down that picture. Mom & Dad have been gone all week in Eugene, OR for Dad's work. While they were gone, I have mostly been spending my time working and hanging out with Kim who has been home from work all week with a sick McKenzie. On Monday, DnA, BnB and Kim and the girls came over (Treven was working) to watch the BCS Championship game. It was a good game to watch even though the outcome wasn't what most people in this neck of the woods wanted.
Nothing much has changed for me work-wise. Still looking, still applying, still waiting and still working part-time on online projects for the company in San Diego. Continually working on staying positive.
Mom and Dad came back tonight and they have already taken back the family room.
The Allen children joined us in our tradition of torturing children with a full cup of eggnog and a piece of toast before going to see what Santa brought. We all lined up, youngest to oldest. Santa had such a good time bringing boy toys to our house.
So considering I am still meaning to send out our Christmas card, obviously my mind has been so busy with other things that my blogging got put aside for a while.
December was a crazy month for us at the Olsen house:
- Camie began crawling and moving around over the holidays which has created a panic of having to keep all small things off the ground and preparing for blocking off stairs (which is a first for us).
- Peter sand in his first concerts with the Portland Mormon Choir. It was fantastic and he had a blast. He is looking forward to the next concert in April.
- We spent the week prior to Christmas and Christmas day in Vancouver. We had tons of fun celebrating and being able to be around family.
- Around 2 or 3 weeks before Christmas we found out we would have to make a trip to San Diego to attend Peter's brother's wedding. So 2 days after Christmas we got in our suburban and drove the 17 hour drive (with a stop at Peter's parents to break it up) down to Oceanside where we stay at a beachside house with all of Peter's family. We played in the sand and enjoyed the relaxing time with the family.
- While in Southern California, Peter and I celebrated our 7th anniversary by attending the San Diego temple. It was such a wonderful spiritual experience that I think it has become our favorite anniversary thus far.
- We also were able to take the kids to Disneyland and California Adventures. We had a blast playing and learning how the boys reacted to different rides. Andrew had issues with any drops or dark parts...quite funny to watch when we went on Thunder Mountain Railroad.
- We bought the boys a bunk bed over the holidays and they are loving it. I am so glad that we finally did it and it looks so good!
We are so glad to be back and finally able to get back on with life. This month we are preparing for Beck's 3rd birthday and for the beginning of my training for the Newport Marathon. It will be a fun month and we cannot wait to see what this year brings for us.
-Anne
(pictures to come later)
Even though we’ve been busy with the holidays we can’t forget to say Happy Birthday to our favorite boy!! Hayden turned 8 years old on Dec. 23rd and is loving it! This past year has been a lot of fun for him. I’m not sure where to start with Hayden because there is so much to say about him! He’s such a fun, energetic, smart, funny and intense boy. He loves to read and is currently devouring the Percy Jackson series. He enjoys reading science books and watching Planet Earth, which has turned into a bad thing because he’s now “too smart” to go in the ocean where there are dangerous creatures lurking... we go to the beach a lot and he just digs in the sand or reads a book. Hopefully eventually we’ll get him back in the water!
He’s got great friends in the neighborhood and they love legos, computer games, climbing trees, making clubs, riding bikes and everything else boys do. He's playing basketball right now and looks forward to soccer season starting up. Hayden hates to do homework and will complain for hours before doing 5 minutes of work but he likes school and enjoys learning. He writes fantastic stories at school, with great detail and drama. To his excitement he just recently got to “s.a.g.”, his made up name for skipping a grade. After Christmas he went to third grade instead of second grade. So far he really likes it and hasn’t missed a beat. Hopefully it will continue to be a positive thing for him.
One of my favorite things about Hayden is his sense of humor. He’s always loved jokes and I took great pride in making a comment that was rewarded with “good one mom!” His current thing is to mimic a drum and say something like “ba da chee” in response to a witty comment. It’s awesome and I live for it. He still enjoys challenging me as the authority figure but more and more we will battle it out and in the end he’ll say “yeah, you’re right mom.” It's giving me hope that we will survive the teenage years. I wish I had the video camera rolling all the time. The other day he couldn’t find his ipod and I suggested he check the pocket of the pants he put in the dirty clothes. A minute later I was caught off guard by a huge thank you hug. Love it.
Hayden will tell you that he thinks his sisters are annoying but I know the truth. He plays with them all the time and they have so much fun together. 
Every morning before school he tries to coax one of them to get under the blanket and snuggle with him to stay warm on the couch. He loves long hugs before bed time but usually treats me to a head butt when I try to hug him at the school. He finally lost one of his top teeth... actually Tom yanked it out. Now we’re working on the other one. Here is the last picture of Hayden with his top baby teeth. 
For his birthday party this year we did a movie party. Very easy. In true “Tom” style it couldn’t just be a regular movie, it had to be huge, like a real theater. 
It turned out really well. We did the party early in the month before his best friend left town. Then closer to his birthday we enjoyed going bowling together as a family. On his birthday he took a friend and we went to the zoo and the science museum there. Here they are feeding the elephant at the zoo...so dressed up!
Later that night we went to a lights display at a botanical garden, it was awesome. All around he had a fabulous birthday!!! Hayden just seems to get better every year. I can't wait to see what this year brings!!!
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