Merry Christmas from the Olson family!

What a year 2007 has been! In moving from NorCal to SoCal, our family experienced lots of change this year. These times of transition brought many challenges but it was a year FULL of experiencing God’s patient guidance and faithful provision. We have been greatly blessed by all that the Lord has done and for that we are very thankful!

Year In Review
Although most of you are already familiar with what we are doing now, here’s a quick recap of the year. In order for me (Derek) to begin taking classes in the Master of Divinity program at Talbot School of Theology (part of Biola University in La Mirada, CA), we moved from Santa Cruz to SoCal in January. Amy’s sister and her family graciously allowed us to live with them for a few months during the transition, the first of many blessings that God provided for us via the support of family and friends. We were able to move in to our own place, a comfy 2-bedroom townhouse-style apartment in Cypress, on June 1st.

Derek
On July 1st, I began serving as the Pastor to Young Adults at Granada Heights Friends Church (also in La Mirada). In addition to being a student and serving at church part-time, I have also been working part-time in an administrative role in the Talbot Dean’s office. That temporary position, which was supposed to last from February through May, will actually continue providing needed income through January or possibly even February. Seminary classes have been challenging and very rewarding. I just finished his first semester of learning Greek and really enjoyed it.

Amy
As if being a full-time, stay-home mommy isn’t a big-enough job, Amy stays extra busy with all the things she is involved in… MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) at church, a women’s Bible study, and a leadership role (planning events for moms and kids) for the Talbot Wives Fellowship group that she participates in. Plus, she's a great partner in ministry to the young adults at church! For the second year in a row, she sold all her hand-made items at some holiday season boutiques and did very well. Check out her purses and other hand-made items at sewonandsewforth.blogspot.com Also, you can read about her recent boutiques here, here and here. The whole family is enjoying living closer to Amy’s side of the family.

Kaylin
Kaylin turned four in October! She enjoys going to her classes at church throughout the week while mommy goes to MOPS, Bible study, etc. Since we are fortunate to be part of a great church family/community, including some other young families like us, Kaylin is making many new friends. She loves keeping busy doing various crafts and “homeschool pre-school” activities at home with mom. She is a really great big sister, always helping mommy and entertaining Trevor. They sleep in the same room so it’s pretty classic to listen to them “talk” and laugh together before going to sleep at night! =)



Trevor
T.J. is 20 months old and is beginning to say lots of words. He is a very active, energetic and rough-and-tumble boy! He is still obsessed with basketball and now with watching Barney (much to my dismay =).

For more about Kaylin and TJ, just bookmark our blog and check back regularly! Let's face it... this blog is mostly about our kids! =)



"Nicknames" of Jesus
We visited Community Covenant Church in Scotts Valley yesterday and Pastor Mike FitzGerald's sermon text was the story of Christ's birth in the Gospel according to Matthew, which includes this verse:

"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us." - Matthew 1:23

In explaining that verse, Pastor Mike described the name Immanuel as a "theological nickname" because it describes the incredible significance of God sending his Son Jesus to live among us. What an amazing thing that we have a God who is not distant and uncaring, but rather so loving and caring that Jesus came to be our "God with us."

The name he was given on Earth, Jesus, means "God saves." That name is a simple but great description of His mission, to provide for us a means to access life with God both now and forever!

Below are some more "nicknames" that the prophet Isaiah used to describe the coming Messiah... they give us more insight to the character of Jesus:

For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. - Isaiah 9:6

As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, our Savior, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

With love,
The Olsons - Derek, Amy, Kaylin & Trevor



LINK: View the rest of our blog at olsonweb.blogspot.com

NOTE: All these pictures were taken by Sam Carrigan, a photographer & friend from church... we love all the great pics we got!

Classic Boy!

TJ is all about trucks... especially firetrucks and trash trucks!

I'm not usually here during the morning when the trash truck comes, but I was this morning. Amy has told me about the routine before, but now I got to see it firsthand. As soon as Trevor hears it coming down the street, he starts yelling "Tra Tru." So we hustle out there so that he can watch the truck pick up our trash. The picture above shows them waving... this morning they got a friendly wave back. Good times!

Starbucks & Lights, A Christmas Tradition!

Now a bona fide family tradition, we went on our annual Christmas time drive that includes picking up a beverage treat from Starbucks and driving around to check out the beautiful Christmas lights. Here's last year's blog entry. This year my mom was here to join us!

More of Grandma's Visit

Kaylin got to do many crafts and projects with Grandma, including this gingerbread house



Grandma reading to Trevor



Christmas - Round 1

Thanks for visiting mom/grandma! We love you!

Grandma Darlene's Visit

My mom came to visit for a few days. It was great to see her and the kids loved playing with Grandma! Here are some pictures from the park...

Kaylin wanted to push Grandma on the swing!

TJ jumping down to Grandma

What a cute little guy!

Photography by Kaylin

"Daddy & Mommy by the Christmas Tree"
photo taken by Kaylin Olson

GHFC Staff & Elders

The GHFC Staff & Elder Christmas Party!
With all the staff, elders and spouses, it was a big group and a great evening of fun and food!

Olson Elves

Click Here!

Elf fun... starring the Olson family!

Three Down, Plus One!

Yesterday some friends (from church) and I participated in a PTA fundraiser boutique at Minnie Gant Elementary in Long Beach (where three of my nephews go to school). There were six of us selling together, and we had a lot of fun again. I'm so thankful for these lovely ladies! Thanks to my sisters, my Aunt Judy, and Miss Pam for coming out to show their support. :) I had a great day of sales. Yahoo!! I've signed up for one more boutique next Friday...probably my last for this season. But ya never know.....I may find another one. ;)


Mishawn, Teri, and Shayleen...apparently having WAY to much fun! :)


Just a sample of the fun stuff we were selling.....

Thanksgiving Entertainment!

The four girl cousins on Thanksgiving!

Here's a video of the Thanksgiving Entertainment... unfortunately it is really dark but you'll get the idea. =) And if you listen at the end, you get to hear TJ talking a little bit.

Give Thanks to the Lord!

Check out this verse about Daniel's commitment to humbly come before God in prayer...

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. (Daniel 6:10)

Daniel made a point a connecting with God regularly throughout each day. I don't know about you but I often struggle prioritize my prayer life. Specifically, it is difficult to commit to praying (and being thankful) as often as Daniel did. However, we now find ourselves on the eve of a holiday that reminds us and gives us the opportunity to be thankful, remembering that all we have is from the Lord! Let's not take this Thanksgiving season too lightly.

My desire for the next few days is that I will take some time to consider all that God has done and to recognize His on-going faithfulness to me and my family. Then, instead of getting distracted by all the amazing food (which I am definitely thankful for =), my prayer is that I will be thankful to Him and remember to tell Him so!

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever. (Psalm 118:1)

What about you...

• What are you thankful for?
• How has God blessed you this past year?
• What are you doing for Thanksgiving?
• Do you have a favorite Thanksgiving tradition?
• What's your favorite Thanksgiving food?

Have a great Thanksgiving!

None the wiser...

Amy had all 3 of her wisdom teeth removed yesterday. The first couple of hours after surgery were a bit rough but once the bleeding stopped and the pain meds kicked in, she's been doing pretty well. =) Here's a pic from this morning... you can see the "chipmunk effect."

Two down...one to go!

These are pics yesterday- my second boutique of the season out at the Dove Canyon Country Club. This boutique was part of a ladies' club holiday luncheon. Unfortunately, the women there weren't really there to shop but rather to socialize and eat. So, most of the vendors didn't sell very well (including me!). In fact, we talked to several who sadly didn't sell ANYTHING. :( Oh well! Live and learn: never sell at a luncheon/boutique...means that the people are mostly there for the luncheon and not to shop. You'll never know if you don't try, right? :)

My next boutique is coming up in two weeks at my nephews' school, Gant Elementary, in Long Beach. I'll be doing that boutique with some of my friends from church (who I did the first boutique with). Should be a fun time!

Speaking of sales, if you're needing to find some fun gifts for the holidays, check out my purse blog- sewonandsewforth.blogspot.com You just might find that something special for that special someone. :)


My mom was a BIG help, and we had such a nice day together. Thanks Mom!! You're the best!! :)

NOTE: Big shout out to my big sweetie for being such a HUGE help to me during this crazy boutique season. Thanks for putting up with the mess, Ols! You'll have the table back soon. :)

Weekend Boutique

Here are some pics from my first boutique of the season (two more to go!). I did this with some gals from our church and their friends. In addition to purses, I also did magnet sets, knit scarves, and some kids' knit hats (not pictured here, but see earlier post by Derek). If you live close by and you missed it this year, you definitely have to come to the next one. Everything was so nice and cute! I wanted to buy (or trade) everything!!! This was a lot of work, but also a lot of fun. Now I have 10 days until my next one. Whew!!!


Magnets and tins

Happy Halloween!!

Our little chef and Tinkerbell


This week has been a ton of fun. We had a MOPS Harvest Party on Tuesday and the kids even got to dress up for their classes at Bible study yesterday. By now, we're pretty worn out! However, I (Amy) do have my first boutique this weekend and set up starts this morning, so I better pep up!! ( I'm selling a few different types of items this year, but if you'd like to see just some of the purses I'm selling this year, go to sewonandsewforth.blogspot.com).

Here are some fun pics from last night. We went to Biola to trick or treat at a dorm there. The school puts on a community outreach event. The dorm, Alpha Chi, was completely decked out as "Candyland." They had a bounce house, tons of games in the lobby, tons of food, dressed up students in GREAT costumes, and of course, TONS of candy (Trevor ate 2 lollipops in about 1 hour!). Before the event, I organized the first ever Talbot Family Costume Party and Parade. We had about 50 people (Talbot couples and families) show up to eat pizza together and parade over to the dorm for the festivities. Definitely a tradition we'll keep up every year!






My new friend, Christine, who just moved here for the UK to start Talbot with her hubby this semester. These are some silly cookies I made. People either LOVED them or couldn't stomach the thought of eating anything that even looked like a bloody eyeball. Kill joys! :)


Lining up for the Talbot family parade over to the dorm!

A Great Weekend Retreat!

Amy and I just returned from a great weekend retreat! Talbot hosts a marriage retreat each semester for a very reasonable price... so we took advantage. We are very thankful for Amy's parents, who stayed with our kids for the weekend to make our getaway possible. The weekend included two nights in a nice hotel (the Ayres Hotel in Costa Mesa) and some great seminars on conflict resolution taught by a Biola professor and his wife. However, the best parts of the weekend were the opportunities I had to just hang out with my best friend Amy! We enjoyed being able to chill together, go out together, have fun together and really talk with one another!

Here we are eating breakfast in the beautiful courtyard

Boutique Season is Coming!

Amy will be selling her magnets, purses, scarves and more at three boutiques this fall! Here's some info about one boutique where she and some friends will have all kinds of "crafty" stuff for sale. Check it out for all your Christmas shopping needs!

Click on the picture to view it full-size

Light of the World Boutique - November 2nd from 3-9pm & November 3rd from 11am to 4pm.
Location - 14862 Starbuck, Whittier, CA

Pumpkin' Patchin' at Riley Farms in Oak Glen

We drove out to Oak Glen (near Yucaipa, CA) today to get out of the city and do something fun with some new friends. Too bad we never found our friends! =) There were multiple places called Riley farms and we didn't have any cell coverage... too bad... but we still had a good time as a family!

"Bost Family Traditions," a family bluegrass band and our lunchtime entertainment. We had a fun day!

Handmade By Amy!

I'm posting these to show off one of my amazing wife's many talents... knitting cute holiday season hats for the kiddos! Just email her if you'd like to purchase one. =)

Germs!

2,561,580How Many Germs Live On Your Keyboard?

Kaylin Turned 4 Today!

Today was Kaylin's 4th birthday! We celebrated with a friends and family at Chuck E. Cheese's! Here are some pictures...