Christmas 2010

We had such a great Christmas this year. Conner was so excited for Santa to come and Ryder was joining along with all the fun. We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas with just our little family, which was really nice this year. I didn't know what we would do at first but I think we will soon have our own family traditions to do each year.

The kids went to bed great and Conner didn't even beg for more stories. And we told Conner that he couldn't get out of bed until 7. We started to he him check his alarm clock at 6, but he stayed in bed until almost 7 and we had to wake Ryder up. Grandma and Grandpa Olsen came over for the fun.A couple hours after breakfast, Mark asked me why it was so quiet in our house. I guess the toys were a hit. The boys all played really well with everything for a long time.

Olsen Christmas Party

We had our Christmas party with my family last Sunday. The kids were all excited to act out the nativity. Conner was Joseph, Ryder was a sheep and Paxton was just fine playing with his toy.

Our Nativity
The boys with Grandpa and GrandmaThe girls with Grandpa and Grandma

Citizen of the Month

Conner was awarded the Citizen of the Month award for his class in December. We are so proud of you Conner!

Thank You Woody!

Here is my recent conversation with Paxton. Yes, I said Paxton! We were watching Toy Story and he was finishing up his lunch. He turned to me and very clearly said, "Woody." So I said, "Did you just say Woody?" And he said, "Ya!"

That was it, and I haven't gotten him to say it again. But it is progress. I was so excited and even cried a little bit. So Thank You Woody!

Snow Day!!!

I cannot believe it but school was actually canceled today because of all the snow. I think we had close to 14 inches. It was crazy and absolutely beautiful. Conner could not wait to get outside and build a snowman. We had to fix it a few times because Paxton liked to push the top off of it and then Bo was trying to find something inside of it and would dig the whole thing away. But we finally finished it. And not more than 5 minutes later, Paxton pushed the top off again. Good thing I took a picture first so we can show Mark. The boys had lots of fun playing in the snow while I was shoveling. And they got to play a lot because it took almost 2 hours to shovel our driveway and I didn't even do the sidewalks.

United Angels Christmas

We had lots of fun at the United Angels Christmas party this year. And the boys were really excited to see Santa. I absolutely love this group of people and all the friendships we have made with them.

Birthdays!

Conner and I celebrated our birthdays last week. I can't believe how fast time flies. It feels like this whole year didn't even happen.

Mark ended up working late on my birthday, so the boys and I celebrated with cupcakes.Conner birthday was the same day as the Monfredi party. So we woke up early and had a birthday breakfast party with the grandparents. He was really excited and had lots of fun.


Some Conner stats:

54 1/2 inches tall >97%
52 lbs 60-70%

He is doing great in school and really likes math and is working really hard on his spelling and reading. He still loves Star Wars, and I think always will. He loves desserts and thinks that he needs one after every meal. He is a great big brother and is trying really hard to be a good example to the little boys. He likes to do tricks with Bo, as long as Bo isn't too hyper.

So Far...

This December has been quite busy already. Here is what we have been up to so far:

We put our tree up right after Thanksgiving and with all the help from the boys it looks quite interesting. I thought about getting all new decorations this year, but I think I will wait a few more years and then maybe they will not be destroyed.

Conner thought this was the best way to put decorations on the top.

Mark had to work late one night so I decided to try and decorate our gingerbread house without him. Usually things like this don't go very well without both of us there to help but the boys did great. Paxton had lots of fun and what a great fine motor skill project this was!

Conner was very excited to show Mark the gingerbread house when he got home from work.

We had the Monfredi Christmas party on Conner's birthday. It is always lots of fun and there is LOTS of food. I always eat way too much! We had cake and ice cream for Conner's birthday too.

Happy Birthday Babe!

Mark turned 31 in November. Conner absolutely couldn't wait to open presents so we did it during breakfast. We celebrated by going to the new Harry Potter movie. It was great! I love you babe! And am so glad to have such a wonderful husband and father to our boys.

All I want for Christmas is...

my 4 front teeth!

Our latest check up with the dentist revealed that Conner had an extra tooth that was causing all of his permanent teeth to twist and turn, not fall out and come in funny. So Conner had to have oral surgery and have 4 teeth taken out, (1 extra tooth and 3 baby teeth).

Conner did great with the surgery and was only out for about an hour. And was back to normal within a couple hours.

Meet Bo

Well Mark finally convinced me that this would be a good thing for our family. Paxton absolutely loves dogs and we are hoping that this will be good for him. At the end of October we got a cute little Boxer puppy. He is lots of fun and also a lot of work. But I am glad that we got him and that the boys have fun with him. Conner loves to do tricks with him and Paxton still tries to pick him up even though Bo is as big as he is now. And Ryder LOVES to make him bark and drive him crazy. For the most part he is a really good little puppy and we love him already!

Halloween 2010!

I think that I probably could have skipped Halloween this year and been just fine, even though I absolutely love the holiday we have just been really busy. Needless to say, I forgot to take pictures of the kids dressed up. Conner was a ninja, Paxton was a vampire and Ryder was the little devil that he always is! Here are the few pictures I got of us carving/painting pumpkins.

Goblin Valley

We drove out to Goblin Valley on Friday. I can't remember ever going there before. It was a lot of fun and the kids had a blast running around all over the place with the cousins.

Week In Castle Dale

We had fun with all the family while we were in Castle Dale for Mark's Grandpa's funeral. It has been a while since we have been down there with everyone. We drove out to the Rochester Panel one afternoon. It is a short hike up to a big panel of petroglyphs. Somehow we forgot Paxton's shoes, so we ended up carrying him the whole time.

Grandpa Mike

Mark's grandpa past away on October 12, 2010. He was such a great man. I know that Mark will have a lot of great memories of his grandpa and so do I over the time that I knew him.Mark's Family

Back: Jaime, Zac, Anjalina, Mike, Paxton, Mark, Ryder, Maren, Misty, Jason, Stephanie
Front: Rhett, Burke, Ashley, Brook, Andrea, Enoch, Katherine, Conner, Abbie, Kara, Carson