"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.

A long time coming

We were so excited to go back home to Idaho in September. Ben had just had surgery and we probably should not have made the trip but it was so nice to see everyone and to enjoy the company of family for a couple of weeks.

Thank you Aunt Dayna for giving us a reason to come home. We were grateful for the opportunity we had to celebrate your special wedding day with you and Marc. Look how great those Olson (Homer) grandbabies look!! We need to give those boys a reason to wear ties more often.

I always swore I wouldn't be one of "those" moms who let there kids play video games. Let me just tell you how happy I am to eat those words. This little gem made our flight time and 3 hour layover in Denver seem like Heaven.
Heber loved playing with the grandparents and all the cousins. He had to earn a little money while we were home and decided to help grandpa fix the door. He also played around outside each day while grandpa picked up the many apples falling from the trees. That counts as help right?

My Grandpa passed away in May soon after Ben's first surgery. I didn't make the trip home to the funeral. I finally got a chance to say goodbye while we were there. It was nice to spend a little time in that beautiful place on the hill. We love you grandpa and grandma.

One of the reasons I will always love home. How beautiful is that lake!!

Heber even got to experiene the first snowfall of the season. As you can see, this was not a good old "Bear Laker" but nonetheless it snowed in September and Heber thought that was great.

Mamma Mia

Since this is ALL he EVER wants to do
I was not at all surprised when THIS is what he asked to BE for Halloween

Check out my mad sewing skills on that hat. I looked all over Canton, OH and the internet to find the perfect little hat for my Luigi. I finally gave up and made one myself. Oh yea....this is the first time I have used my sewing machine for something other than scrapbooking. Not too bad!

J-Pouch anastomosis with loop illeostomy

On September 3, Ben underwent his 2nd of 3 operations to officially rid his body of the nasty ulcerative colitis that landed him in this mess in the first place.

I think we both underestimated the magnitude of this particular step in the process and are very grateful now 2 months later that he seems to be returning back to normal.

Ben's belly - the large bowel + the loop illeostomy + J-pouch reservoir + 1 very long scar that will be a forever reminder of what a blessing it is to feel good.
Below is a picture of the appliance that attaches to the illeostomy. He gets to get rid of this officially in December when he will have his 3rd and (hopefully) final procedure.

Welcome Back to Westbrook

Heber started his 2nd year of preschool in September. He was very excited to return back to Westbrook and to all of his buddies from last year. He went in without a hitch and didn't look back to say goodbye.