T.J.'s 1st Birthday Party

The party started with a fantastic, kid-friendly lunch of hot dogs, salads, chips, etc. Trevor is sporting his "Happy Birthday" bib made by Miss Robyn!

Cousin Rachel was among MANY family and friends who came to celebrate with Trevor!


Trevor got the first crack at the pinata. The 14 kids in attendance each got a chance... they went in order youngest to oldest.


Despite knowing what was inside the pinata, Kaylin could only muster a gentle tap...


After Garrett took the final swing.... Candy!


Trevor's FIRST sugar experience! Thanks Miss Lynelle! =)


Then, out came the cakes! First, Trevor's very own mini-version and first experience with cake...


...then cake & ice cream for everyone else!


Opening presents... THANKS everyone!


Testing out one of his presents!

My First Cake!

What?! Trevor is a ONE Year-Old!

Happy Birthday to our little boy!

T.J. is ONE Today! We'll be celebrating with a few friends and family tomorrow... check back soon for more pics.

Here's our little man standing up! He recently began standing for a few seconds at a time. And in other exciting baby news, he woke up this morning with his 5th tooth!


What a Bubba!


A couple days ago, he tried milk for the first time. First, he chugged...


...then, he wasn't so sure about it!

For old times sake, check out this post from one year ago!

Fun with cousins!

Amy, Lisa and DeeDee took the kids to the LA Zoo


Who's that short, blonde gorilla?


Fierce lion or overgrown kitty?

Jenna, Garrett, Danny, Dylan, Josh, T.J., Kaylin (L-R)

Easter Weekend in Pictures!

What's wrong with this picture of Kaylin finding an Easter egg? According to her dad... that this egg hunt occurred before 7:00 am! =)


Kaylin really like the bunny-shaped "egg"


Here's the kids with their Easter baskets of sweet goodness!


Oh, how nice... a new family pic. Hmmm... I think I'll put this over on the right. Funny how all our profile pictures see to be taken on some major holiday.


Cousins Luke & T.J. This past Saturday we just celebrated Luke's 1st birthday with lots of his friends and family! Trevor's birthday is coming up soon!


Kaylin, Clara and Jenna!


Trevor and Great Grammy! Amy and the kids have made several special visits to see Great Grammy since we moved here... it's great to live so close!

Jesus is Risen!

“For Christ's love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.” - 2 Corinthians 5:14-15

“For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!” - Romans 5:10

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead" - 1 Peter 1:3


Happy Easter to all our friends and family! We wish you all a blessed day celebrating Jesus' resurrection! He is Alive!

Love,
The Olsons - Derek, Amy, Kaylin and T.J.

Good Friday

Today we remember Jesus' sacrifice for us on the cross. God's words through the prophet Isaiah in chapter 53, verses 5-6:

"But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was upon him,
and by his wounds we are healed.

We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to his own way;
and the LORD has laid on him
the iniquity of us all."

Jesus took the heavy burden of the sins of the world upon himself and paid the ultimate price, the price of death and the penalty that we deserve, so that we could be reconciled to God!

The REST of the Story....

Okay, so what Derek failed to mentioned in the previous post on our GREAT (which it was) weekend is how it ended...not good! We left San Jose Sunday afternoon and all was well. The first several hours of the trip went just fine...I think at one point I even commented to Derek, "Wow, the kids have done REALLY well this trip, haven't they?" And there I sat, all smug and proud over my well-behaved, beautiful, healthy children. And then it happened....just after dinner as we were just headed up over the Grapevine on I-5, Trevor puked all over himself...I mean, COVERED. Yep, it was a couple of firsts...his first time puking and our first time having a kid puke in the car. Not good, not good.

So, picture this....NOWHERE to pull over, no place to stop for over 5 miles! I felt so sorry for him, having to sit in what seemed to be a half gallon of puke (no joke!). And once we did stop, we discovered we had only FIVE wipes in the car AND the restrooms only had air dryers. GREAT!!!( I'd like to send out a special shout out to that nice elderly couple at the rest stop who gave us a bunch of wipes and a beach towell to help us out...gotta love grandparents!) So, just after Derek had to ask a truck driver for a screwdriver in order to take Trevor's car seat apart, Kaylin started complaining that she felt like she was going to throw up. Of course, we didn't really believe her at first because that would just be too strange for them to both start puking right at the same time...on the Grapevine, with only FIVES wipes in the car. I mean, that kind of craziness doesn't really happen to parents, does it? Oh...it does!

So, to make a LONG story just a little shorter (Derek LOVES my long stories :), Kaylin continued puking and conducting other "business" for the next few days and even today (four days later, for anyone keeping track) is still not better. I was struck with it yesterday (in a milder form than the kids), Dylan and Dee Dee both got even slighter touches, and Danny (our 15 month old nephew) has puked 11 times in the past 4 1/2 hours. By now, Derek and Steve are the only ones in our house who haven't gotten it. Ahh, the joys of communal living!!

Just to give you an idea of the chaos caused by "the plague" in our house, here's what I looked down to find just a little bit ago. I can't really say for how long I've been wearing two different shoes on my feet, but it is indicative of life in the Nations-Olson household right now. We're hoping for a better week next week!!

Nice to be in NorCal...

This past weekend we took a roady to visit Grams & Papa. We arrived on Friday afternoon and left on Sunday. Aunt Jenni and cousin Avery (I must be a parent... I'm describing everyone by how they relate to my kids) came up and hung out with us on Saturday. Then, on our way back home, we stopped by Jaron and Jenni's to see Jaron & Liberty. Plus, we were excited that Chris & Kirsten were able to swing by on short notice. It was great to see everyone and we had a fun weekend! We do want to say that we really MISS our Santa Cruz area friends and wish we would have had time to see all you too!

Grams was taking lots of pictures but for some reason I didn't really get any while we were at their house. Once Grams sends me some of those pics, maybe I'll post them. Anyway, if I had pictures to post, there would be amazing shots of:
- Me beating my Pops at a game of horse
- Me beating my lovely wife at a game of horse
- Kaylin working on her ball-handling skills
- Kaylin and cousin Avery in the kiddy pool... it was a beautiful day!
- Everyone eating the "Fajita Fiesta" that mom served for my birthday.... YUMMY!

Then, we did get a couple pics at J & J's house:

In case you didn't know, my bro and family are taking care of Liberty for us while we're in transition... so we exercised our visitation rights!


Kaylin even took the opportunity to brush her!


Uncle J took Kaylin...

and Trevor for rides with Avery in the Burley. What a great Uncle!

32 Reasons Why We Love Derek....

Today is Derek's 32nd Birthday! I decided this was a good opportunity to sit down, in his honor, and think about just some (of the many!) reasons why we love him. Just as a special thing for his birthday, if you love him too, would you do me a favor and either leave him a comment on this post or email him separately and tell him one (or more) things you love about him.

Here they are...in no particular order: (note: Kaylin's reasons are in quotes)

1. He loves Jesus.
2. He love me.
3. He's the best dad EVER to Kaylin and Trevor.
4. He has more integrity than anyone else I know.
5. He's passionate about God's word.
6. He's VERY unselfish.
7. He's always the first to apologize.
8. He wears a funny mouth guard to bed.
9. He talks in his sleep and it's HILLARIOUS!
10. He loves my cooking.
11. He loves my family.
12. He never calls me "Tuff girl" (or at least, rarely :)
13. He's trustworthy.
14. He does not gossip about others.
15. "He reads me books" (Kaylin)
16. "He plays with me"
17. "He sings to me at bedtime...The Goodnight Prayer and Papayas"
18. "He tickles me"
19. "He sings me Walking on the Heavenly Road"
20. He's "The Duke"
21. He's good at yard work.
23. He's sensitive to God's promptings.
24. He's calm in stressful times.
25. He sometimes sings in falsetto...and it's hillarious. :)
26. He can read me by just looking at me.
27. He NEVER goes to bed angry at me.
28. He won't let me either.
29. He looks cute in warm-ups.
30. He's in touch with his feelings.
31. He never freaks out over a messy house.
32. He knows my love languages and can "speak" them. :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEREK!!!!

Change is in the Air....

Since Trevor was born the relationship between our kids has been nothin' but love. Literally! Kaylin LOVES him to pieces, and he's quite fond of her as well. I've been telling people lately that I just knew this would soon be coming to an end...and...well...it has. The honeymoon has ended, and the fighting has begun!!! As I suspected, along with Trevor getting on the move has come Kaylin's frustration with her brother. He's now getting a hold of her stuff, and she doesn't care much for that. :) By far, her least favorite of his hobbies is taking fists full of her hair and pulling it...HARD! It seems the more she freaks out, the more he does it. Such a little brother!!! I'm sure, just the beginning of several years of sister and brother drama. :)

On the Move!

Trevor John is now 10 1/2 months old and a CUTIE PIE! He's now officially on the move, although not always crawling on his hands and knees...he goes back and forth between his knees and scooting around on his tummy. But he can definitely get from points A to B...and fast! A few of his other "new things" are being able to sign for "more" of something (he's done this a bit earlier than Kaylin did....I think because we live with 15 month-old cousin Danny who models it for him :), pulling up to standing (while holding onto something), and going back and forth between laying down, sitting up, and crawling. He's an active little guy!

A few other fun facts about Trevor.....he LOVES dogs!!! He calls them "duu duu" and gets mad when they go out of sight. He's usually really easy going about food and will eat just about everything (until this week...he's had a fever for about 4 days now and a bit more picky about what we're feeding him. teething???). Trevor LOVES his Mommy!! He's super attached to me (way more than Kaylin ever was...she's always been a bit more of a Daddy's girl) which is kinda fun and kinda frustrating at times. He definitely loves his Daddy too and gets excited when Derek comes home at the end of the day. And no one ever entertains him nearly as well as sissy Kaylin. But when push comes to shove, it's Mommy who always comes out a little ahead. :)

While parents are away...

We went to a couples event last night put on by the Talbot Wives Fellowship that Amy is part of. It was a Hawaiian luau theme complete with Hawaiian food and limbo and hula hoop contests! We enjoyed a nice evening together and meeting some new people. Meanwhile, Aunt DeeDee and Uncle Steve watched our kids for us. It seems that Kaylin had a very fun evening...

First, she got her toes and fingers painted by Aunt DeeDee! Kaylin is obsessed with make-up and nail polish. Dad is thinkin' "OH GREAT!"


Then, just to see what it would look like, Aunt DeeDee straightened her hair! As they got started, Kaylin said "I wonder what color it's going to be." =)


Kaylin enjoyed being able to actually brush through her hair! In fact, she was brushing it so roughly that Aunt DeeDee worried she was going to damage her hair. She would also tilt her head to the side and say "Look, it's touching my shoulders!"


Here's a picture of the final result of Kaylin with straight hair. We think it has a kind of retro flip look. Plus, she got to have dinner from McDonalds!


Here's Kaylin playing trains with cousins and Uncle Steve. Check out her new hair blowing in the breeze!

Then, Uncle Steve took her for a ride behind his bike with cousin Danny. Kaylin had asked to have her straight hair put in two pony tails. When she went to bed, she asked Aunt DeeDee to leave her ponies in so that she could look in the mirror at them when she woke up in the middle of the night.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day everybody... and special thanks to Grams and Papa for sending the green shirt!

Birthday Celebrations - part 1

On Friday evening we had a family gathering to celebrate two birthdays... Steve Massey's was last week and mine is this Thursday. It was lots of fun (and chaotic as usual) to have everyone together. Steve and I enjoyed a great taco meal, playing with all the kids, opening presents and some tasty dessert! Thanks to everyone for my cards and presents... I appreciate it!

Splashin' Around!

What a workout!

Planting Strawberries...

This past weekend Kaylin got to help Uncle Steve plant some strawberries!

KK & TJ

Derek's New Job

So many of you have been praying for us in this time of transition and we so appreciate it. One specific prayer request has been for the Lord to show me how/where I could earn a living to support my family. Some recent news that is a step toward that is my new part-time on campus position. On Monday I started a temporary (this semester) job as the Distance Learning Coordinator, working in the Dean's Office at Talbot School of Theology. Talbot is about to launch two new extension campuses, one in Kiev, Ukraine and the other in New York City. Classes begin this month in Kiev and this summer in Manhattan. These exciting new ventures required the Dean's Office to seek additional help and while the position is temporary for now, the need for staffing in this area may continue after this semester. I'll post a bit more about what I'm doing when I can.

It's exciting to be a part of it, it will help us pay the bills while we continue to live with family, it's a great foot in the door to the campus community (I'm meeting tons of profs and staff), and it will buy me some time while I apply for some full-time positions. So that's the update! Thanks for both your past and continued prayers for us!

Big Girl Bike!

Kaylin is lovin' her new bike! We recently discovered that it was time for Kaylin to make the jump from her little trike to a "big girl bike" when she hopped on a friend's bike, did well and like it. So Amy suggested we check out garage sales. We did and at the first place we targeted, we found one! I added Disney princess tassles and bell to the handlebars to spiff it up a bit and Kaylin loves her new bike! Her cousin Clara got a new bike that day too from the same garage sale, they had fun riding together.

After Uncle Steve gave the bike a tune-up...

... off she went!

A couple of falls... no big deal... Kaylin got up and kept going!
Yep, Dad snapped a picture before helping her up =)

Kaylin and Clara on their new bikes!

At Long Last...

This post goes out to those of you that have been visiting OlsonWeb faithfully throughout the past few weeks but have repeatedly left unhappy, unfulfilled and unappreciated... or something like that!

Blogging should resume with some more regularity now that (and I'm proud to report) my sister-in-law and her family have moved into the 21st century after making the switch from dial-up to DSL. Plus, while things are still crazy, at this this blogger has settled into his new routine as a graduate student. Not much news on employment yet... but keep it tuned to OlsonWeb for the latest, breaking news!

Following are several pictures from the past few weeks...

Kaylin, who's always been a good helper for mommy, has recently taken particular interest in helping feed her brother. Notice that she, like many of us veteran parents, opens her own mouth in hopes that will help T.J. do so!


Cousins Kaylin and Jenna have enjoyed spending time together...


...and getting into trouble together! Here they are after raiding Aunt DeeDee's makeup bag!


This past weekend we enjoyed an RV trip with Amy's parents to Lake Elsinore. We also enjoyed the beautiful weather... Saturday was sunny, mid 80s and pleasantly breezy.

Here's Kaylin posing with some of the friends we made when we starting throwing bits of bread into the lake!

"I like the cold water on my toes!"

Sunny SoCal!

We made it safely to our destination! Four crazy long days of packing, loading, driving and unloading... we're pretty tired. And just to make things interesting, our kids are both sick. But we're doing well and glad to be here. Right now we only have limited internet access... so new posts will be less frequent... but I'll get some moving pictures up soon and updates on the transition whenever I can. Peace Out!

My Last Day at Mission Springs

Today is my last day at Mission Springs. I just packed up my desk... feels a bit weird. My family and I will miss our the Mission Springs community - staff, residents, and our church family. My fellow Program staffers put together a very nice going away party for me on Wednesday. There were a few rounds of "Duke Trivia," some sharing, some stories, and some food. I really appreciated it! One of the gifts I received was a memory book with pictures and notes from many people... very cool. Here's the group just after the party...

I'm very thankful for the time I had to serve the Lord on staff here at Mission Springs... and we will truly miss the people here! We also love the many amazing people that have served with us at Frontier Ranch in the past few years. Please keep in touch with us!

Amtrak & the Dentist

Kaylin had a very exciting day yesterday! She rode on a train for the first time and went to the dentist for the first time.

She and Grams rode the train to San Jose where Amy picked Kaylin up. Kaylin was coming home after enjoying 2 nights at Grams & Big Papa's house! When I asked her about the train she said she'd had fun and "then it got to San Jose and that was all."

Thanks for takin' a train ride with me Grams! And thanks for this picture!

Then, Amy took her straight to our dentist's office. After a bit of warming up, she did great! She let both Christine (hygienist) and Dr. Shively look in her mouth. They gave an excellent report that her electric Dora toothbrush (and mommy and daddy) are doing a great job... her 20 teeth looked great!

T.J.'s First Tooth!

Here's our cute boy... Mom spotted his first tooth today! Unlike his sister, cutting it didn't seem to bother him much... we hope that will become a trend. =)

Happy Birthday Avery!

Our niece Avery turned 2 on Saturday and we all had fun at her party on Sunday afternoon! Maybe this link to their blog will put some friendly pressure on her parents to put up some pictures! =)

Happy Birthday Cute Niecie!

Thanks Mom!

My mom visited for a few days this past week and although it went too fast, it was a great time! She spent a couple days with J & J and then a couple days with us. Kaylin and T.J. loved getting to play with Gramma Darlene! Amy and I were busy packing so we appreciated all her help entertaining the kids... Plus, you can't stop her, you can only hope to contain her... she packed boxes for us too! We were so busy we didn't take pics. Mom - Maybe you can email me one of you and the kids?

Decades of Dance Moves!

I was eating lunch at home, no one else was home... so I was surfing YouTube and saw this. I think it's a classic dance routine that shows the evolution of dancing. Amy wasn't sure it was blog worthy. Give it a chance and then let us know what you thought by posting a comment!

My first seminary classes

I registered yesterday for my first semester of classes at Talbot School of Theology. I decided to go with a light load in order to ease back into being a student. I'm registered to take:

TTBE 520 - Survey of Matthew-Revelation (3 units)
Tuesdays 1:30-4:10
A general overview of the New Testament books, including selected introductory and critical issues, relevant background, major themes and divisions, and crucial problems. Required of M.Div. and M.A. students. Taught by Dr. John Hutchison

TTPT 706 - Personal Foundations of Ministry (2 units)
Wednesdays 12:30-2:20
Focused on the importance of self-understanding for spiritual and emotional well-being as well as effective ministry to hurting people, an investigation of the impact of personal and family history on theological outlook, emotional congruence, relational attractions and moral decisions. Several personal assessments as well as one or more therapy sessions are an integral part of this course. Taught by Dr. Rex Johnson

NOTE: Dr. Johnson is the professor that we got to meet through our friends Brent & Lynelle. The same weekend that I visited Talbot just after summer, we had lunch with Dr. Johnson and his wife.

Less than 2 weeks...

My last day at Mission Springs will be Friday, January 19th. I will pick up our Uhaul truck after church on Sunday the 21st and we're planning to drive away in the early morning hours of Tuesday the 23rd. We will be moving in with Amy's sister DeeDee and her family for a brief transition time. That will allow me to continue looking for work and us to look for housing without the time pressure of needing to move in immediately.

Flea, Fly, Flo!

To sell or not to sell...
To move it or lose it...
To pack it or chuck it...

Those are the questions we have been considering the last few days. Today, we answered those questions by going to the Santa Cruz Flea Market. With the help our our friends (and my co-workers) Sharon and Terry, we took a LOT of our stuff to the flea dark and early this morning. We go up at 5:30 and Sharon came over to spend the morning with Kaylin. Terrry went with us to the flea to help us set up and survive the initial RUSH of interested customers.

Here's Amy & Terry in our space AFTER the initial busy rush...

When we drove away this morning, this Mission Springs truck was full to the top of the rack with our stuff and we filled up our minivan. When we came back home, we only had two boxes to take to Goodwill!

Between our garage sale a couple months ago, selling some items on craigslist.com recently, and today's flea market adventure, we trimmed our stuff and made over $900 that will help greatly with moving expenses, housing deposits, school fees, etc.

Both Amy and I can be pack rats at times, but we also have times of desiring to live more simply. In the past few months as we've sorted through areas of our house, we've realized how easy it is to accumulate STUFF that we really don't need or use. Someone else might be able to use it more... toward the end of our day we started giving away all that was left. While we need to be good stewards of the resources God has given us, we also don't need to rely on material things. We've been so blessed throughout our marriage to watch God provide for our needs again and again. This sale was just another way that He's giving us what we need during this transition time!

No Human Interaction...

A couple weeks ago while we were staying with Amy's parents, I was sent to the grocery story around the corner. Amy needed some more eggs for her annual Christmas eve deviled eggs. Anyway, the store had a self-checkout lane with no wait... so having never done so before, I tried it out. It was easy enough, especially since I only had 2 items. But I never interacted with a human and I paid the same price for less service. Hmmmm.....

Self checkout, a good thing or not so much?

Some Progress...

Just a few hours after hosting a small New Year's Eve party last night and then a New Year's Day brunch this morning, our house is in a state of disarray! However, it's that way because we did make some good progress on getting organized to move. Amy worked hard to trim down, sort and pack some of our stuff. I spent a good part of the day listing many items on Craig's List. So here's the proof that we're starting to get ready to move:

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/gms/256227832.html

Happy New Year from the soon-to-be Southern Cal Olsons!

2007!

Happy New Year to all our family and friends!

Our evening started with Jaron, Jenni and Avery coming over to have dinner with us. Then, later Chris and Kirsten came to hang out. The kids entertained us all until they went to bed, we snacked, we chatted, we ate, play games, snacked some more, toasted at midnight, smooched our spouse (or soon to be spouse), played more games and then called it a night just after 1:00 am. Pretty good for a group that included parents of small children! =)