Finn One Year Old!

 I'm interrupting all of my catch-up posts to celebrate Finn's birthday today!  I am celebrating the fact that within the last month he has finally started sleeping through the night! Hallelujah! He is really a happy little man and just loves to explore and climb on things. He is so close to walking, he will take a few steps on his own before falling down. To celebrate his birthday we took him to Build-a-bear to get his own special stuffed animal that Tucker and Halle can't steal from him. Happy Birthday little Finn! We love having you in our family.

September 2013

Two cute pics of Finn. I'm sure he'll turn out to be a great soccer player like his Dad. He already loves grabbing things with his feet.

We love finding fun, new parks to go to. We found an awesome wood park in West Jordan, I think, that also had 3 or 4 other parks right next to it. The kids had a blast checking out all of the parks.

We were able to go to the State Fair with Sheldon's family. We started out by watching a cute and funny magic/science show. I love that Halle is wearing one of Tucker's old shirts.

This year we let Tucker and Halle go on two rides at the fair. Tucker, Claytin, and Halle went on one ride all by themselves and they were SO excited to go on a ride alone. I think it was the first time Tucker and Halle have ever been on a ride by themselves, I could tell they were scared and excited at the same time. They had so much fun on that ride, they laughed the whole time.

One of the cutest parts was this area where the kids learned all about farming. They did all this pretend plant seeds, harvest plants, and then 'sold' their crops at the market. Then they got some pretend money that they could pick out a treat with. It was really cute and they both enjoyed their rice krispy treats.

In September we also made it to Hogle Zoo. I had never been there before and didn't know what to expect, but I was really impressed and thought it was a nice zoo. The only zoo I have been to is the San Diego Zoo and of course Hogle Zoo is not as amazing, but it is still cool. Tucker's favorite animal was the spider monkey. The polar bear was also awesome because he was swimming all over the place and would come right up to the glass and then stand up and fall back in the water. 

We also went to This is the Place Monument and spent time in the village. Since we went to the village in the fall during the day it wasn't very crowded, but they also didn't have some of the shops open, which was disappointing. I think we will definitely go back next summer, the kids had a lot of fun and there were so many things to do we didn't get a chance to do them all before they were closing.

Tucker was a little nervous and didn't really want to get a shave, but I'm so glad we convinced him. I twas really cute to watch him get an old fashioned shave.

Halle's favorite thing was probably panning for gold. She was so good at it and definitely caught some gold fever. She would have sat there for hours picking out the little gold pieces if we had let her.

And a random picture of what things usually look like at our house to finish out the post. Tucker and Halle coloring and Finn trying to eat crayons and markers that get dropped on the floor.

Brian Head 2013

Just before Tucker started school in August we were able to have a little Olsen Family Reunion at Brian Head. It wasn't a true reunion because Daniel wasn't able to come, thanks to his unfortunate crazy work schedule. We definitely missed Daniel! It was a great trip and even though it probably rained almost every day, I loved just being in the mountains and relaxing with family.

On the drive down to Brian Head we stopped at Cove Fort. Sheldon and I have stopped there before, but it was the first time for Terrell and Rachel since they were kids. It's funny we stopped there, because on one trip to California when I was a kid we stopped at Cove Fort, but we were all grumpy and did not want to stop and it has become a joke that we are going to stop at Cove Fort. But we stopped this time and it was great! Cove Fort is a really nice stop, they have great bathrooms and the tour they give is actually really interesting. Tucker had been playing with the camera and so this picture accidentally turned out black and white but it's perfect and fits with Cove Fort.

Tucker got some fun birthday presents from Grandma and Grandpa Olsen. You can't go wrong with some new cars and books. 

 I love being in the mountains and you can just walk out your front door and go on a great hike! We didn't spend a lot of time hiking since it rained so much, but the little hikes we went on outside our cabin were really fun. Sheldon found lots of great walking sticks to carve.

 You can't go to the mountains without having a fire and roasting marshmallows. This summer I made marshmallows for the first time! They are easier than I thought to make and everyone should try them at least once. I love homemade mallows but I also love classic jet-puffed. We had a difficult time making fires since all the wood was wet, but these boys can really make a fire. I tried to contribute by finding cowpies to burn, but cowpies also need to be dry to burn. Lesson learned.

Lots of cows by where we were making our fire. You really had to watch your step and make sure you didn't step in a cowpie.

 Deluxe homemade waffles with whip cream and strawberries for breakfast! This recipe for Gluten Free Waffles taste just as good as regular waffles.

 Sheldon and his awesome walking sticks. He worked really hard carving it and it turned out really good.

Sheldon and Terrell went biking at Brian Head one morning and the rest of us went on a little nature walk. We learned about animals in the area and lichens slowly break apart rocks.

We drove up to the top of this mountain that has a lookout point, but because there was lightning and we were on top of a mountain, my parents thought we shouldn't get out of the car (for good reason). Rachel and I like to live life on the edge though so we got out and ran to the lookout point. It was really awesome being up on top of the mountain and the clouds so low around us. Luckily no one was struck by lightning and we lived to tell about it!

On Sunday we went to church in Panguitch. Someone at church said my dad looked like Steve Martin :) I think it's a compliment. There was a great park right outside the church we had to stop and play at. It was the only time we had sunny skies!

We stopped at the Cedar Breaks visitor center for a little bit before it started pouring on us.

Of course we played lots of fun games! I think we are playing Dix It here, which is a fun party game. Some of my other favorite games:

Wits and Wagers

Gemblo

Seven Wonders

Trivial Pursuit

Any game I can beat Sheldon... ;)