A few minutes ago, Amy fed Trevor his first bites of "solid" food. Eating from a spoon for the first time, he attempted to eat a bowl of watery rice cereal. If you look closely at the photo, you'll notice that at least half of the cereal ended up on his bib! But he sure seemed interested in trying to eat it!
My Olson grandparents, who currently live in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, are in California staying with my parents for a few days. So we spent Sunday afternoon through Monday afternoon up in Pittsburg visiting with my parents, grandparents and Jaron's family.
It was great to see my grandparents and we were glad that they could meet Trevor and interact with the 3-year old "version" of Kaylin! My grandpa is a retired pastor... so I was particularly blessed to hear more stories from their 50-plus years of ministry together.
I hung up signs all over town and Amy posted this ad online:
MULTI-FAMILY GARAGE SALE THIS SATURDAY, 10/14
Don't miss out! ***LOTS of great stuff, including baby equipment, kids stuff, books, maternity clothes, house decor, picture frames, purses, board games, videos and way too much more to list!! Come check it out for yourself!***
After the party and after Kaylin's nap time, she opened her presents from Mommy and Daddy. She got some educational / interactive / electronic books that will help teach Kaylin her numbers, letters, shapes, etc. Then, she unwrapped a helmet before walking outside to discover a scooter! So we went for a "ride" down the street to get the mail. She's gonna need some more practice because she did more walking/pushing it down the street than riding! =)
Today is Kaylin's 3rd birthday! Since she loves wearing flip-flops, her mommy threw a flip-flop themed birthday party.
LEFT: The birthday girl with the cool flip-flop shaped balloon!
(NOTE: You can click on any picture to view full-size version)
Kaylin kicked off her birthday by opening some presents from Grammy and Grampa while she was still in her PJs... her birthday party and presents from mommy and daddy will be later today!
With Kaylin's 3rd birthday coming on Monday we headed to San Jose to celebrate with Jenni, Jaron, Avery, Grams and Papa...
Trevor John is 5 months old today. Yep, another month gone by already...we can hardly believe it! He is so much fun, such a smily boy! He LOVES his big sister, Kaylin. She makes him giggle all the time by playing peek-a-boo, tickling him, giving him kisses, etc. Today I've been asking him, "Where's sissy?" or "Where's Kaylin?" and alot of times he looks over at her! Not sure if this is a coincidence or intentional, but either way it's cute! Trevor is now sleeping in his crib in his own room...still not a super sleeper, but he's definitely improving with age. His current favorite activities are blowing raspberries, playing in his exersaucer (fun to watch him using his hands!), listening to sissy read books, and nursing (of course!! :). This past month he started being able to roll over from his tummy to back. He's truly a CUTE boy!!!
Amy and I were excited about an opportunity to go "out on the town" last night for dinner and a show! A couple that we know from church generously treated us to dinner and then shared their theater season tickets with us to see Sweet Charity starring Molly Ringwald at the San Jose Center for the Performing Arts. It was very cool to take in the show from the 2nd row! Amy said, "It was so cool to be close enough to see when the actors were out of breath and where their 'hidden' microphones were."
I am so excited, so I just HAD to show off my latest creation. :) My wonderful friend Robyn is teaching me how to sew and I am LOVING it!!! I first learned on a diaper bag we made for my sister Dee Dee (not shown here...I shipped it Friday and she won't get it until tomorrow. I want her to get to see it in person first :). I just started sewing this (my first solo project...although I did have to consult Robyn a few times) bag yesterday morning, and I finished it today. Fun, huh? The inside fabric is a little hard to see in the photo...it's a fun red with little white polka dots. Robyn just ordered a new sewing maching (a b-day gift from her parents), so I think I might buy her old one. It's the one I'm learning on. In recent years I've really been wanting to learn to sew...mainly for practical reasons....like being able to hem my own pants, etc... But now I'm getting into all of the fun stuff I could make...like purses!!! Ya know, a girl never can have enough. :)
I (Derek) use a very cool Google feature called Google Alerts to keep track of news that's of interest to me. You can input search terms and Google will send you an email whenever those terms appear in an online newspaper, etc. However, that's the point of this entry... I mention Google Alerts because that's how an article about UOP Men's Basketball coach Bob Thomason came to my attention. Coach T has been the Head Coach at Pacific for 18 seasons... so that of course includes my year's working in the basketball program. Anyway, I was excited to read this article and then I thought I'd share it... you can read it here: "Finding Solace" - lodinews.com Go Tigers!
The kids and I (Derek) have been sick quite a bit during the last week... so there has not been much new stuff on OlsonWeb. But we're back... =)
Following up on my previous post, here's the obituary that ran in today's News-Sun:
Jon Rouch
Dr. Jon Henry Rouch, 81, of Sebring, died Saturday, Sept. 9, 2006. Born in Indianapolis, he moved to Florida in 1998. He served as a medical missionary surgeon in the Central African Republic. He served in the United States Navy during World War II. He was a member of Baptist Mid Missions and Faith Missionary Baptist Church. Survivors include his wife, Marion Jean; daughters, Deborah Dorsey and Darlene Ohrdorf of Colorado and Andrea Frederick of Alaska; son, Greg of Colorado; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Visitation will be from 10-11 a.m. Thursday at Faith Missionary Baptist Church in Sebring. A funeral service will follow at 11 a.m. at the church. A luncheon will be served at the church after the service. Interment will be in Florida National Cemetery in Bushnell. Memorial contributions may be made to Gideons International. Arrangements are being handled by Morris Funeral Chapel, Sebring.
Derek writing: Earlier tonight the Lord called my grandpa home. Jon Rouch, my mom's dad who lives in Sebring, Florida, was 81 and his health had been deteriorating more quickly in recent months so it was not entirely unexpected. Grampa's pastor and the pastor's wife were with him when he passed and although he had been in significant pain over the last day or two, they reported that he went in peace.
From the Word of God - John 14:1-6
"Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going."
Thomas said to him, "Lord, we don't know where you are going, so how can we know the way?" Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
The words of an old hymn:
"When We All Get To Heaven"
Sing the wondrous love of Jesus;
Sing his mercy and his grace.
In the mansions bright and blessed
He'll prepare for us a place.
[Refrain:]
When we all get to heaven,
What a day of rejoicing that will be!
When we all see Jesus,
We'll sing and shout the victory!
Onward to the prize before us!
Soon his beauty we'll behold;
Soon the pearly gates will open;
We shall tread the streets of gold.
[Refrain]
Here's a video of Trevor smiling and laughing while his Big Sis makes funny noises and plays peek-a-boo with him... check it out!
To celebrate Kaylin's 3rd birthday (a bit early), we went to Disneyland yesterday! We also got to see some of the other theme park, California Adventure. We were very blessed with an opportunity to get in to both parks free through a friend's connection with a Disney employee. (Thanks very much to those people who helped get us in!)
The Olsons at Disneyland! Kaylin enjoyed the day even though this picture of her doesn't seem to indicate that. =)
Disneyland is celebrating it's 50th anniversary.
Kaylin enjoyed a couple of rides but was not sure what to think of a couple others. However, her favorite part of the day was getting to meet two Disney characters! One of the characters she met was Ariel the mermaid whose likeness is on Kaylin's new purse. She was very excited, saying to Mommy while in line, "How lucky that Ariel is here AND on my purse!"
When it came time for the parade, Kaylin was excited to see some of those Disney princesses again! She enjoyed the first few minutes, especially when a couple of Disney characters made eye contact, waved and blew kissed RIGHT at Kaylin! However, as the parade progressed, sightings of the wolf from Pinochio and the Ariel's enemy, the sea witch named Ursula, were not so fun for Kaylin. She asked me to put her down so she could stand behind Amy and I, peering around our legs. Amy suggested to Kaylin that she cover her eyes... but Kaylin's actions indicated "I don't want to watch... but maybe I do."
What I failed to explain to explain in my last post was that we are currently in SoCal for a nearly week-long trip to visit family and get some vacation/family time. We drove down last Friday and we are staying with Amy's sister Lisa and her family... thanks Scott family!
Saturday - We attended a wedding... scroll down and read the previous post.
Sunday - We went to church at West Cypress Church where Amy's former youth pastor, Steve Baeder, is the lead pastor. Then, we had a family birthday party to celebrate several recent or upcoming birthdays. It was a fun evening and a great photo opportunity since all TEN Massey grandchildren were present! One birthday being celebrated was the upcoming 3rd birthday of Kaylin Grace Olson! She received many nice gifts including dress-up clothes from Grammy & Grampa.
Kaylin all dressed up!
Today we had the privilege of attending Peter & Paola's wedding! It was a good time... Some typical Peter "Chupesmyth" Gothold humor and enthusiasm during the ceremony and a reception at a spectacular ocean-front home in Rancho Palos Verdes. For those that don't know, Peter is my best friend Chris' younger brother. Plus, I was blessed to get to know Peter when he served at Frontier Ranch in the summer of '05. We're excited for this great couple as they begin the adventure of marriage! While hanging out at the wedding and reception we got to visit with several people. Chris served as Best Man so we got to hang out with he and Kirsten (see picture). Anna "Trapt" Swanson, Heather "Samsonite" Hjelmvervik, and Matt "Grey Poupon" Brady were also there.
Kirsten, Chris, Derek & Amy (L-R)
Trevor will be 4 months old in a week. He's holding his head up really well these days and he's quite the drooler (see pic). He's also quite the giggler, especially when Mommy tickles him on the tummy. What a big boy!
Speaking of Big Boy and in case you've somehow missed it, here's a favorite commercial of ours.
To celebrate the end of summer, we decided to get away from our house and get some good family time!
We traveled just "over the hill" to San Jose where we first stopped for a brief visit with Jaron, Jenni and Avery. Avery seemed to really enjoy watching Kaylin's every move in order to do the same things as her older cousin...
My mom called a couple days ago 'cuz she wondered if the huge sigh that she heard all the way in Colorado was me. I told her that it definitely was me! There were two reasons for my sigh though...
Sigh #1 - A "that's a bummer" sigh because the summer camp season is my favorite part of the camp ministry calendar.
Sigh #2 - Yes, a sigh of relief... because the summer camp season is also the most grueling part of my year.
I had a great staff and it was a great summer! And most importantly, God worked in amazing ways in the lives of both staff and campers... as He always does!
I (Derek) was getting Kaylin ready for bed tonight and I took the rubber band out of her hair and noticed that it was a bit more out of control than normal. So I couldn't help but contine to pull it out with my fingers. Then, Kaylin started shaking her head while looking at herself in the mirror and was amused at her hair flowing all about! Then, I took things a bit further by getting out a comb to complete the "fro" process and voila... the picture above! Hope you enjoy it as much as she and I did!
We're excited to have Mindy, Jason, Clara and Laura here to visit for a few days! Last night we went to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk... our third trip this summer! The girls had fun going on a few rides (see pictures below). Then later, it was the the dads' turn for some fun... they climbed aboard "Double Shot," Santa Cruz's tallest structure!
Summer is winding down at Frontier Ranch... the last week of camp ends on August 19th. So the 2006 Frontier Ranch staff took some time this past Saturday night to celebrate their summer of ministry together. In the midst of camp, it's an excuse to get dressed up, have a nice dinner together, take lots of pictures and reflect on what God's been doing. Also, each staff member is given a personalized staff award that highlights their funny attributes and spiritual giftedness.
Kaylin has continued her efforts to win the "Big Sister of the Year" award lately by helping to entertain T.J. by "reading" to him. She shows him the pictures in her books and does a lot of "reading" (talking) while doing so. Although this picture doesn't totally capture it, T.J. watching and listening to his big sis.
