Dear Heber:

With a new little sister and a few extra stresses, Heber has probably felt a little lost in the shuffle of our ever changing lives, so this post is dedicated solely to him.....the BEST big brother and all around kiddo any family could ask for.

I love the way you take such good care of your little Adele. It is nice that you protect her and watch out for her, even if it means correcting mama when you suspect I am getting grumpy with her. Thank you for reminding me to tell her that I am sorry and for sending me to "the put your nose in the corner TIME OUT" when I need it.

You are so good at karate. It makes me so happy to watch you and to see how much you enjoy accomplishing big things. We are so proud of you for earning your orange stripe. We know you have worked very hard for that special award and think that you are so big for showing such good discipline.

(Heber has been working for quite some time to earn that orange stripe on the tip of his belt. It is achieved for showing good discipline so earning this is very noteworthy for an active 5 year old boy. )

Part of showing good discipline in karate class is addressing each black belt as Yes Mam or Yes Sir.....

On the way home from Karate on this particular day Heber asked me if he could tell daddy when he got home. When I said yes, he corrected me and told me that I now needed to say

"YES SIR!"

I cannot wait to watch you try out your new t-ball skills coming up in a couple of weeks. Mommy was so proud of you when you hit the ball for me to see at your school. You are so full of energy and love to play and be involved. I hope you are always able to find things that make you happy.

Guscoff baseball trained......you must see the video posted below!!
(Ted Guscoff taught these little guys some great baseball tips. He is a scout for the Houston Astros.)

You are such a smart boy. Mom and Dad are so happy that you had so much fun at Westbrook and that you learned so much. I loved to hear from your teacher that you were such a good friend, not only to your "best boys" but also to those who needed a good friend, even when they were mean to you. Preschool is just the beginning for you little man. I cannot wait to see the many great thing that you have left to accomplish. "Kid, you will move mountains" just like in your favorite bedtime story. Please never question your great potential.

Thank you for letting me come to your birthday party, even though I almost lost that privilege many times for misbehaving. I had a lot of fun playing with you and watching you enjoy your friends and family.

(This super duper birthday gets it's very own post to follow. Watch out for 15 jumping kids, 2 very special visitors,

and 1 baseball glove prepped and ready for those foul balls!)

Each May 23, I think of the day you were born. You were forced to come into this world before you were ready so that my body could not be so sick anymore.....my little Knight in shining armor. I will never forget the first time I heard you cry or the first time I saw your sweet little face, so strong and so alive.....not much has changed in your 5 years in this life. You are as much a miracle to me today as you were to me that day.

We love you and are so proud of you.

Love,

Mom and Dad

Wise men say only fools rush in

But I can't help falling in love with you

Adele Fae Olson

March 31, 2010

okay so it's been 2 months.....I've been a little busy!!

6 lb 13 oz.................19.25 inches long

Such a BEAUTIFUL girl

Holding my pretty lady for the first time

SMITTEN!! All 10 fingers and all 10 toes.

I couldn't keep my eyes off of this baby

Since daddy had to exhaust all of his time off for his own surgeries this year, Adele got to work with daddy right from the start dictating and charting.

"You are so much beautiful."

A proper sendoff orthopedic surgery style

Welcome home baby Adele. Heber did not want to leave her side for a minute.

I'm just noticing the socks....this is why mommies can't be in the hospital too long!!

LOVE at First Sight

Some pictures just don't need any further explanation.....this one sums it up just perfectly!

The long awaited day finally arrived. Heber has been waiting for this day since before he even attended his first "NINJA" class.

The semi-annual East Cost karate tournement was where it all went down, and as you can see, it was a GREAT day.

Heber finally got to trade in his "paper trophy"(see post below) for the real thing. Who doesn't love a trophy....especially when it is GOLD.

He has been working on perfecting his skills at the push pull game. He won his match when it counted and mommy was so excited she missed the greatest part of the whole day with the camera...Heber very humbly celebrated as he walked back to his seat on the mat with his arms up by his face...giving them a little champion like shake with a quiet embarrassed smile across his face. I will never get this photo-op back....I can't believe I shut my camera off too soon. I am so happy though that I got to witness that little moment for him.....I may never forget that little face, for a moment a pure satisfaction and a sure realization of his limitless potential.

Congratulations my boy!!

Kiai (Hi-Yah)

We finally did it. For a while now I have debated with myself about putting Heber in Karate. I knew it was something he would love, I just also knew he was already very aggressive and did not need any further encouragement to be so.

I decided to take the plunge anyway and was not at all surprised on the first day when he absolutely loved it. He was so excited about the "ninja suit" and being with the other kids and especially yelling a very enthusiastic "Kiai "(I mean up on his toes yelling). I was shocked however at how well he listened and followed direction (maybe I need to become a black belt for more success with this at home). I thought maybe it was first day jitters but now 4 sessions in, Heber seems to be really grasping not only the beginning skills of Karate but also the art of the respect and discipline that encompasses it. I am happy that he enjoys it and that he has not tried out any moves on anyone at school!



Today he learned a competitive game they will be playing at a tournement coming up in March. He didn't do too bad......he came out feeling like he was a winner. After class was over he ran to me with a bright green flyer advertising the upcoming tournement and told me he won a "Paper trophy"....... I love it!!!!

A good old "BEAR LAKER"

Okay, so maybe not quite. This year however has presented the worst winter in the 5 years we have been in OH and it has all come about in the last week and a half. These pictures were taken during the first of 3 winter storm warnings that were issued. We probably have about 2 feet on the ground right now after a good dose of warmth and even a little sunshine in between.

We have been waiting for some decent snowman snow. For now though it is fun to play with the doorbell, running up and down the front walk as mommy squeals from inside the house.....I think they call it doorbell ditching these days. I hope he thinks this is only a winter game......one can only do this so many times!

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.

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.