Gramma Darlene's Visit!

My mom came to visit for a few days in late July. As usual, we all enjoyed having Gramma Darlene stay with us! She was here for a swimming playgroup on Thursday and got to see Kaylin and TJ practicing all they have been learning in swim lessons. Mom and I enjoyed a catch-up chat over a snack at Panera on Friday. Then, that evening, we all went to our church's first annual art festival which was very cool! Thanks mom/gramma for coming to visit... we love you!

While mom was here, we had my great aunt Lois and her husband Sam over for lunch... it was great to see them!

Kaylin and "Big Baby"

A couple of weeks ago, I went into the kid's room to check on them before Amy and I went to bed and this is what I found...

Somehow, Kaylin's "Big Baby" had ended up "sleeping" on top of her!

2 Days, 3 Lakes!

As I mentioned in the previous post, Amy and I were able to get away for a couple nights for our anniversary! Thanks Mom SO much for taking good care of our kids and allowing us to celebrate and get some time together! Plus, we were blessed with financial gifts (thanks to all!) that allowed us to enjoy good meals and fun activities... for details, just keep reading! =)

Our friends Jim and Nancy live in Green Valley Lake, CA and had offered awhile back that we could come up and stay in their "guest suite" anytime. Jim is the pastor of the only church in Green Valley Lake and a long-time family friend. Green Valley Lake is the highest community in the San Bernardino mountains (over 7,000 feet elevation), it's where Amy's parents used to have a cabin, and where we've taken the young adults on a weekend retreat... so it's a place that has lots of fun memories! Anyway, for our 9th anniversary celebration, we finally decided to take Jim and Nancy up on their offer. They were AMAZING and GENEROUS hosts and we appreciate their hospitality so much! Jim and Nancy, thanks so much for sharing your place with us and we enjoyed spending time with you both and Justin!

Jim & Nancy

First, some pictures of our "Bed & Breakfast," Jim & Nancy's beautiful mountain "resort." =)

Jim & Nancy's home, the white door is a separate entrance into their guest room, where we stayed.

Jim & Nancy are great people, great decorators and great cooks! What a great combo for hosting our unofficial bed and breakfast! Below are some pics of the room. They had gone above in beyond in creating a welcoming place for us and made us feel very loved. Special touches included fresh flowers, a bottle of sparkling cider, a personal note, and candles. Plus, the room had everything a very nice hotel would!

Now, on to pics of our anniversary getaway adventures... 3 lakes in 2 days!

Our first afternoon, we took a nice walk down to Green Valley lake.


The second day, we enjoyed an excellent brunch at a waffle house Jim had recommended in Lake Arrowhead.


The cute couple in Lake Arrowhead village


Then, the highlight activity of the trip was kayaking on Big Bear Lake.


What a cutie! As you can see by looking at Amy's shorts, we got wet while on the lake but we never tipped over! Amy was glad for that... I wouldn't have minded a swim! =)


We also visited the Big Bear Lake Discovery Center where we met this guy.

It was a great trip! As we continue to trust and follow the Lord, keeping Him at the center of our relationship, I look forward to many more years loving my best friend Amy!

Nine Years of Wedded Bliss! =)

Today is our 9th wedding anniversary!

Happy Anniversary Amy... I love you so very much! I am so grateful to God for blessing me with an amazing wife who is my best friend and an amazing mom to our kids.

Walking down the aisle after getting married, the Disneyland Electrical Parade theme music is playing, people are totally clapping in rhythm and we thought it was quite funny!

Thanks to Amy's amazing parents, who will be taking care of our kids, Amy and I get to spend two nights away in the mountains together! We'll blog about our trip in a few days...

What a Swimmer!

With time in the pool being just about a daily occurence, Kaylin was already getting very comfortable in the water. Add to that a couple weeks of swim lessons with Miss Megan from church and lots of practice with mommy and daddy and you get quite a little swimmer! Today was a breakthrough day... she was finally able to roll into a backfloat on her own. So this video is of her swimming, using the backfloat as a breather, then continuing on to the other side of the pool! Mommy is there for moral support but doesn't help her at all. Good job Kaylin!


Swimmer Kaylin! from Derek Olson on Vimeo.

Rainbow Falls

This was the highlight activity of the trip to Mammoth...

Trevor loved riding the shuttle bus down to the trailhead



The trail was 1.3 miles each way. Here are the kids taking a break from the hike.
Zoe, Kaylin, TJ, and Isaiah (L-R)



Kaylin took this picture of the adults (plus TJ) on the same log.
Pat & Teri, Amy & I, Shayleen & Mike Sanborn (L-R)



Well, let's be honest... TJ didn't do much hiking! However, Kaylin was a trooper... she walked both legs of the hike, 2.6 miles total, all by herself!



Here we are upon reaching the overlook by Rainbow Falls



Then, we hiked down the canyon further, waded through a shallow part of the river and posed for this picture on a log in the middle of the river. It's wild how loud a 101-foot waterfall can be! We also enjoyed eating a picnic lunch while at the falls!



I love swimming in rivers... so I couldn't resist. Mike and I waded out into the snow-melt... then, just after this picture, we dove in and swam toward the falls. Pretty cold... but way fun!



This picture is currently my desktop picture on my computer!

Camping Trip to Mammoth

We just got back from an all-church camping trip in Mammoth! The trip started out a bit rough... TJ was getting a cold and kept us up almost all the first night. After that, things were bound to get better! =)


Here's our "campsite family." Pictured here are the Hammans, Sanborns and Elfelts (L-R). Also in our site but not picture were the Morseys and Emersons.


camping sometimes meant being dirty and tired...


Amy helped the kids roast marshmellows for smores... but then they both chose to eat the graham crackers and chocolate without the marshmellows!


our borrowed tent (thanks Francis fam!)


Amy and I about to chow down at Sunday night's potluck dinner


here we are at Angel's, our friends Tim & Annette insisted we check it out... and it was good! Thanks Tim and Annette for the tip!


bathtime... camp-style!


sister needing a bath... wow!


here we are waiting for the evening session to start

Done with Classes until August!

I finished my last summer class today! I really enjoyed my two summer classes... but boy was I ready to be done. I've been in class almost non-stop since last August... fall classes, January term class, spring classes and then summer classes... whew!

Last weekend, this was my favorite spot to study during the heat wave:

Chair submerged in pool, umbrella for shade, Coke within reach!

Jaron, Jenni, Avery & Riley!

My brother and his family came to visit this past weekend... it was great to have them with us for a few days! Both our nieces are cuties! Kaylin and Avery were inseparable. If they were apart, even for just an hour, they would run to each other and hug as if they hadn't seen each other in ages... good stuff! Their blog has some posts about their visit too.


There was quite a heat wave during their visit... so here we are getting frozen yogurt at Golden Spoon... check it out, I'm even in the picture. =)


A classic, summer dinner together... hot dogs, corn, etc.

Thanks for visiting Olson family... we love you!

Hoopin'

Since they no longer had room for it, Amy's sister DeeDee and her family made a generous donation to our rec room...


Our family enjoys shooting hoops and it was a popular attraction during the last church gathering we hosted on a Sunday evening... thanks DeeDee and Steve!

A Coca-Cola Father's Day!

I have always wanted to collect Coca-Cola memorabilia. So now that we have a rec room, it's a perfect opportunity to decorate with Coke stuff!

On Father's Day, Amy and the kids got me a vintage, tin sign that is super cool!


Then, just for fun, we went over to a store Amy had heard about, "Cola Corner" in Anaheim. It was Coke heaven for me! It's a pretty large store and it was packed with anything and everything Coca-Cola related. I got to pick out a couple more things to add to my suddenly decent-size memorabilia collection... it was a great idea and a fun Father's Day outing! Thanks Amy, Kaylin and TJ... I love you very much!

Peaches!

Kaylin and Amy enjoying "first fruits" from our peach tree!

The Ferreira Family!

Our dear friends from Escalon, the Ferreira family, stayed one night with us recently and it was great to see them! They were passing through on their way to vacation on the coast down near San Diego. I've known Scott since high school and we became good friends when we coached freshmen basketball together at Escalon High School. We don't get to see them enough but we sure had fun during this brief visit! Thanks for coming by Ferreira fam!

Scott, Clayton, Amanda & Ben (Gracie didn't feel like being in the picture)

The Ferreira & Olson men

Kaylin & Gracie had a great time playing together... here were pretending to sleep! =)


TJ decided to crawl around with Ben

The Garden

Amy wanted to follow her dad's example (but on a smaller scale) by growing some vegetables. So her dad planted two tomato plants and some squash... and Amy's been tending her "crops." Stay tuned....

Typical Trevor @ Two

Untitled from Derek Olson on Vimeo.

Swimmin' with the Swains!

We've been frantically trying to squeeze in chances to hang out with our friends, the Swains, before they leave for Alaska in a week! We are glad they finally started a blog... we look forward to following their adventures!

A few weeks ago, Amy and I got to go on a double date with Jason and Lindsay... we enjoyed some great chat time and some yummy dessert at the Cheesecake Factory. In fact, we had such a great time that we forgot to take a picture. So, when our families got to hang out recently for swimming and "grillin' out" at our house, we made sure to take pictures!

Trevor and Savannah enjoyed jumping in to their dads:

no comments about my incredible whiteness... it's still early in the summer season

Here are our kids and the Swain girls, Ellie and Savannah... sorry Jacson, we didn't get a picture of you going down the slide!

Lindsay and Amy just chillin' and watchin' the swimming action!

The Latest...

One Down, One To Go!
I just finished the first of two classes that I am taking this summer. I'm really glad to have taken it because I always felt my knowledge of church history was pretty weak. Up next, "Life of Christ" with Dr. Darrel Bock from Dallas Theological Seminary... I'm really looking forward to it. Please pray that I'll be able to push through for two more weeks!

Sunday Evening Gatherings at our House
We've been really enjoying opportunities to use host people in our home. Check out this post on the GHFC Young Adults blog to get an idea about our Sunday night gatherings that are going on this summer.

Ding, Dong! It's Avon!
Amy has been busily getting off to a great start on her new adventure of selling Avon. Follow this link to check out her Avon website.

Makin' Progress, Slowly but Surely!

We arrived in SoCal in January 2007 for me to begin working on my seminary degree. I just completed my third semester... plus I took classes last summer and during January term. I just finished the spring semester in which I took the heaviest unit load yet... 8 units! Whew... loved the classes but glad I'm done!

Spring '08
Greek II - 2 units
Hermeneutics - 3 units
Pastoral Care & Counseling - 2 unites
Research Methodologies - 1 unit
Field Education - 0 units

Now, in an effort to keep the number of classes that I have to take during the full semesters manageable, I am taking two classes this summer... starting today!

Summer '08
Historical Theology Survey - 3 units
Life of Christ - 2 units

All of this means that, by the end of June, I will have completed 29 units toward my 66-unit M.A. in Biblical & Theological Studies. Not bad... I'm hoping to finish in summer 2010... but might need until December 2010.