You've got a FRIEND in me

Could these little boys possible look any happier? There are two of them anyway that look like they are having the absolute best day of their little 4 year old lives. Any day at "M" with your pals is a great day though, right?


One of the highlights of my day is watching Heber interact with his friends before and after school. It reminds me of a time when life was easy and fun.....why would we ever want to grow up? Of course, if we didn't, we would miss out on moments like this....the moments that make being a grown up and a parent easy and fun!!

Santa Clause wants you to be nice....or he won't bring you a book!

We actually did celebrate Christmas at our house.....apparently Heber has not realized this yet. Each time I ask him to eat his dinner or clean his toy room I am reminded that Santa wants me to be nice. Maybe now that I am finally posting about it he will clue in and move on to the Easter Bunny or some other friendly fictional creeper of the night.

Daddy actually had Christmas off this year (maybe because he had surgery a week before...nonetheless we loved having him here in PJ's on Christmas morning). We put the pager deep down in the box and enjoyed the entire weekend together.

Heber was very happy to see that Santa enjoyed the cookies and milk placed in the perfect spot for him to see.
Up until this year Heber has not been very into the opening of gifts......this time he could not get enough and not only opened his own, but all of ours as well.

*As a side note, Ben is very very sad that the Browns didn't make it to the Super Bowl this year......we thought they had it in the bag!!! Sorry we still have your shirt Ray, we just couldn't part with it!*

You would think then that I would have had more time to take pictures of the whole event. I kept forgetting my camera was sitting right beside me. I missed capturing many marvelous expressions as he uncovered what lay hidden beneath the red and green paper.....he did love this book though and has requested it almost every night for a month.

Perhaps the biggest photo op blunder of the day though was the grand finale. Anyone who had the pleasure of associating with Heber (even for a second) during the months leading up to Christmas (Jan-Dec) knew that he really wanted only one thing. It was so important to him that he actually braved up this year and sat on Santas lap all by himself just to make sure that the big man knew what he really wanted.

Santa was very smart and knew that Heber would ignore the aforementioned gifts in red and green if he came down the stairs and spotted this first, so he stragegically set it up and left it hidden behind the doors of the armoire all ready to play when the rest of the Christmas unwrapping was done.

I have to say that I am very proud of Heber. Each gift he unwrapped brought with it a big smile and many many "thank you's" but his little eyes kept scanning the room for the gift that looked like it would be what he had asked for. When we were all done unwrapping Ben asked him if he had a good Christmas. Heber responded with eyes still scanning "the BEST dad!"

I couldn't resist any longer and pointed him toward the big red ribbon around the TV cupboard. He excidetly opened it and realized Santa had not let him down. I almost cried when the first words out of his mouth (realizing there was 3 of everything) were a very enthusiastic "we can all play together." The Wii has proven to be a great gift for all of us....not just because there are enough remotes for all of us to play but it is quite the bargaining tool as well!

This is what we have been doing ever since!

*I did in fact get the book I wanted for Christmas...for any of you who have not read Dan Brown's Robert Langdon series I highly recommend it.

Merry Christmas

Love These Guys

About a month ago we got to have daddy to ourselves for a whole weekend. We decided to take full advantage of this and the beautiful November day and venture out to a favorite hiking spot. Of course, the boys were totally in their element. All the fresh air and falling leaves brought with it many wrestling matches, sword fights, and even a baseball game complete with gloves and bat which a good daddy had the foresight to toss in the back of the truck.

"I'm 4 and my Letter is H"

The other day I was trying to see if Heber could spell his name for me. He was far too busy playing to answer my question...should have guessed this right away when he kept playing like I wasn't even speaking, but I kept asking until I got a response. He finally looked at me with his most exasperated face, put his hands on his hips, and said "I am 4 and my letter is H!" and then he walked away.

Another funny conversation from earlier today as we were approaching our car to go to the grocery store.

Heber: Oh great, here we go again.
Me: Why do you say that?
Heber: Here we go in this dumb old car.
Me: What kind of car would you like to have?
Heber: A BAN (van)....a BIG BAN. That is my dream mom.
Me: Well someday you can get married and have lots of kids and a van.
Heber: No mom...I not gettin married. I just want a Ban.

This little guy says something every day (and very often) that makes me laugh. I wish I kept better track of the things that come out of his mouth. I often wonder what it might be like to have actual adult conversation for the better part of the day instead of 99% of it being spent communicating with a 4.5 year old. I would be sad to miss these moments though. If I could only choose one person to talk with for the rest of my life at least I would know that Heber would keep me laughing.

Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice

For almost 5 years now I have become very VERY accustomed to

and I am

BUT..... it looks like I am going to have to give it my best shot. We will be welcoming a little GIRL into our home sometime in April. Since she has measured a week ahead of schedule on the last 2 ultrasounds the doctor is trying to decide if we are looking at an April 3rd baby or an April 10th baby. Either way we are excited and will be anxiously awaiting our pink bundle of joy.

Heber has been saying now for over a month we would be having a sister baby. He even gave me the "I told you" line as we walked away from the doctors office. He will be a fun big brother and has already started coming up with some interesting names for the baby(CHARLENA...with a hard CH). Hopefully Ben and I can come to some sort of an agreement in the next 5 months or Heber might just win.

Home of the BRAVE

"All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing."

- Edmund Burke

There truly aren't words enough to adequately say thank you to the many men and women who protect this country and all that it means to be an American. We truly are very blessed by your service. Thank you!

(Grandpa Brick) Morris Woolstenhulme

United States Army

World War II--South Pacific

(Little Grandpa) Glen Hyrum Smith

United States Army

World War II--Stateside

John Heber Olson

United States Army National Guard

Iraq 2005.......Leaving again 2010

Not pictured is Ben's grandpa Leland Stanford (Jinx) who served this country, a pilot himself, training pilots during World War II.

I look at the beautiful flag in red, white, and blue, place my hand on my chest, and feel my heart swell with pride because of you. I am proud to say people I love so much have worked so hard to defend my freedom. I love you.