Emery's Birthday Celebration

Yesterday my life changed drastically, I no longer live with a toddler!! I can't believe Emery turned three. It is so strange and sad that my youngest child is three. I am constantly thinking of the next thing to look forward to. It helps keep me motivated!!! So...I love birthdays. Here's a fun run through of Emery's birthday celebration.


It had to be a pink day so we started off going to church in one of her favorite pink dresses!


After church we headed to Chris and Jenny's to i-chat with my parents and Chance. (Since they live in Chicago, including Chance who moved there this weekend. It's nice having 1/2 the family in AZ and the other in Chicago.) Chatting over the internet is wonderful, Emery was able to include Grandma Kathy and Grandpa Kenny in the birthday festivities. They were able to watch Emery open their gifts to her. It's not the same as having them with us in person, but it's a close second!


My mom made Emery a cute new blanket and Emery got another Fancy Nancy book. Her third and I'm sure we will be reading it every night for the next two months.


I just liked this picture!


Aunt Jenny made a giant cupcake for Emery!! Emery loves aunt Jenny!


We spent the night at Nanny and Papa's (Sam's parents) and today, Labor Day, we had a cousin party for Emery. She has been looking forward to her cousin party for some time now. Nanny knows how to throw a party and Emery loved it. She had to wear a "Nanny suit" to swim in!! It's a little big, but she insisted on wearing it.


Emery couldn't wait until the party began so she was able to open one gift from Nanny and Papa. It was this dress, her party dress. She was quite excited to put it on. I took her outside and let her choose which flowers to stand by. I was really hoping to get a good picture of her. She never looked up. Nanny was in the house watching, just laughing. Sam was the same way. I have always said her personality is so much like her father's, but this picture really shows how much alike they are. Sam always cried when he had to have his picture taken when he was younger. So does Emery!!



The plan was to eat lunch, open presents and then swim. The birthday girl was not happy with that and they headed to the pool first. Here she is with some of her cute cousins. Once she went swimming, she was much happier the rest of the day, thankfully.



It is amazing how long she will hang there. It's always done with a huge grin!


Emery really wanted me to eat next to her. The conversation at that table was so fun to listen to. One cousin would say, "you have doodie on your face." The next would say, "no you have doodie on your head." Then all the kids at the table, including Emery would just bust up laughing. It was so funny to listen to and yet so cute to watch them all interacting and carrying on their own conversations.



Emery could not handle all of the attention. Again just like her dad at that age. I ended up blowing out her candles for her. I know she loved the attention, she just didn't want anyone to know she liked it!



Emmet was so cute the entire day. He absolutely loves spending time with his cousins. I was also proud of him because it's been hard for him having Emery's birthday come before his!!!


This is most of Emery's cousins. Some of the babies were inside. What a fun group of kids!!


A day at Nanny and Papa's would not be complete without racing bikes around the track in the backyard. Emery's learned it's more fun to make someone else work. Thanks Maddy.


At the end of the day, Emery put back on her party dress and dressed her baby doll in the same outfit. She was quite happy with such a fabulous day.

How grateful I am to have family that helped make Emery's birthday special. She will be able to think back and remember how loved she is. I can't help but hope that days like today will fill Emery and Emmet with happy memories so when they think about growing up without Sam, that they can have happy memories to replace the ache in their hearts. I know I thought a lot about Sam this weekend and wished he could have been here to celebrate.

A Quick Remodel

I love my home. I love the feeling in it and the little sanctuary it really has become. But, I've hated how small and limited I was in my kitchen.




Notice the bar area is high up and it was scary for the kids to use that area. It was waisted countertop space. So, I got the idea to turn that area into an island and make it all one level. I consulted with my brother-in-law Jason (married to Sam's sister Tamara). He said it could definitely be done. So last week Jason spent Wed. tearing down the existing countertop.

It took Jason most of the day. I have to admit it was so nice to have another adult in the house. I had no idea how hard it would be to take down the countertop, nor how messy.
The second day the countertop guy came over and spent an entire day putting the countertop on. I had never seen a countertop put on and I again had no idea how labor intensive it was. He actually came back the third day to finish. Saturday morning Jason came over at 7:30am to put my kitchen sink in. Hallelujah!! Three days without a kitchen sink was beginning to get to me!!



I don't know if the pictures do it justice. But, I finally have a functional kitchen. I splurged on the red stools, but I couldn't resist. It tied everything together so well. Plus, they are really sturdy!! Sunday morning I was feeding my kids breakfast and I was crying with tears of joy because it was so nice to have them sit at the counter and it has made meal time so much easier. It's the best decision I've made in a long time!! So I had to share!!

Same Dress

Every Sunday in order to make it to church on time, I allow Emery to choose her dress. She often will wear the same dress three weeks in a row. This Sunday she surprised me by choosing a dress that my mom had made for me when I was a little girl. I was reluctant to have her try on the dress for fear it would be too big. I wore the dress when I was five years old. The dress not only fit, but almost was too tight around the neck!! I could not believe it. I pulled out the pictures of me wearing the dress. I don't think Emery is exceptionally tall for her age, I think I was exceptionally short!!




This last picture I took with my phone and Emmet was not happy to be posing for a picture!! I think looking at these pictures Emery's coloring and looks are her dad's!!!

Crazy July

What a fun month July has been for us! We kicked off July with a "rockin" fourth! We spent the evening enjoying rock band with cousins. It was too hot to view the fireworks! That does make two years in a row without viewing fireworks. I think I need to try harder next year and let the kids enjoy some fireworks. Emery has never seen them.


A week later the kids and I flew to Chicago to visit my parents. They have recently moved there. We absolutely loved being with them. We don't see my dad very often, so it was fun to spend time with him. They live in downtown Chicago on the 43rd floor of an apartment building. Emmet enjoyed the elevator and really liked putting trash down the garbage shoot. He kept asking why we can't live in an apartment. Thoughts of Morningside Heights kept coming to mind!!! (My apartment in Mayrland) I explained that while an apartment was fun for a few days, he would be much happier in a house. He didn't quite agree. The apartment was quite small, but had a gorgeous view of the river and lake. We especially loved looking out the window to watch the all the different boats go by.

No trip would be complete unless we went to the American Girl store. My dad was quite excited to take Emery there. We would walk up and down Michigan Avenue seeing red bags and cute girls dressed just like their dolls.

My parents apartment is in a great location. Everything was within walking distance. The kids just hung out in their strollers and loved being pushed around. One evening I hit a bump and Emmet flew out of his stroller. From then on he would yell "pit hole" whenever he thought he might go flying. I'm not sure how he came up with that.

We spent a lot of time at Millenium Park. We listened to a great concert out on the lawn. I would have stayed longer, but the symphony didn't hold Emmet and Emery's attention. They also have a great water area. There are two brick towers with images of prominent Chicago citizens who are projected on the towers. Their lips eventually pucker and then they spit at you. It's great. Eventually it turns into a huge waterfall. The kids loved this!!


The kids had fun swimming, in what Arizonans would consider a "fake" pool. It looked like a giant bathtub. The kids enjoyed it though because it was outside on the 16th floor of my parents apartment building.

The highlight for Emmet was the boat ride we took on out on the Lake. We had no idea that we were sitting in the splash zone. We were looking forward to a quiet ride, but we got soaked. Emmet was hit the worst. I really was trying not to laugh. We literally were the only ones getting off wet. Emmet kept making sure we wouldn't go on anymore boat rides.

before

during the ride--he's quite mad!!

I could go on and on about how much fun we had. I love that my parents finally live in a fun place to visit. Emery loved the dog park we visited daily. There were the cutest dogs there. We visited Oprah's store. Nothing special, but we had to see it. I have to say though that my favorite part of the trip was going to see Wicked.

I hadn't been to a musical in almost ten years. The theater was beautiful. We had great seats. Two short women sat in front of us, so I had a great view of the stage!! I knew nothing about the story, but it was so fun and quirky. The two leads were women and I was stunned by how beautiful their voices were. The were so strong and clear. I was mesmorized. My mom and I walked home, thats how close the theater was. If you have an opportunity to see Wicked I highly recommend it. I came home and downloaded some of the songs!

We got back from Chicago a little depressed because we were on the go so much there. We were invited last minute to go camping and on a whim we went. I drove my car following our friends and I actually kept up. I have never taken the kids camping, but we had a great time. I drove on a dirt road for a long time and the kids were quite nervous about my driving abilities. Emmet and Emery at first really didn't know what to do, but once they realized I didn't care if they got dirty they had a great time!!


To leave the campsite we had to go uphill. This made Emmet nervous, so he kept saying the sweetest prayer as I drove up the mountain. He was so excited that we made it!! I would definitely take them camping again. Especially with our friends we went with. They set up our tent and cooked. What more could you ask for.

The next weekend the kids had the fun opportunity to spend a few days with their Nanny and Papa (Sam's parents) while I attended my ward's youth conference. I have to say I had a hard time leaving them. It was the first time I would be apart from them that long and I wasn't sure if I would be in cell phone range if there was a problem. But...when the kids got home they couldn't stop talking about all the fun they had and I had a great time as well. I love being with the youth. We camped outside of Flagstaff and it was beautiful. I got to go repelling, which I love to do and hadn't done in years. We sang silly girls camp songs, which is always fun. I feel quite lucky to be in young women's.

Well...I think August won't be as exciting of a month. Emmet starts preschool in a few weeks. That will keep us around!

My Summer Splurge

Who knew that buying the Wii would end up being such a blessing!! This little box has changed our lives. First of all I was able to hook it up all by myself. It's very user friendly!! Second, these long hot summer days somehow go by quicker. Emmet can navigate through the games without my help!! He absolutely loves creating Miis. I think we are up to 78. What's funny is the names that Emmet chooses to give them. Such as Cup, Hot Star (that's Emmet), Picture Frame, Dog, Happio, Legs, Carpet. The only problem with this glorious box is that Emmet hates losing. We were bowling and I was honestly trying to lose and I kept getting strikes. So, I think the next lesson I need to teach Emmet is that it's okay to lose!

I survived another anniversary

Amazingly, today was a really good day. I think I've learned to plan ahead and make lots of plans on days I know will be hard. It was bittersweet looking back 9 years and remembering my wedding. I loved that day, I've always loved it. I spent time in the Temple today and as I walked to my car I realized how stinking hot it is here and memories came flooding back of how hot Sam was in his tux and I in my dress. I don't stop by Sam's grave often, but I made a visit there today. It's easier to visit without the kids. I love his tombstone because it has our marriage date on it!! I even ate Rubio's for the first time since Sam's death. I have been boycotting my favorite place to eat because it was the last meal Sam and I ate together. Then, I thought today I'll eat it for the both of us. I really enjoyed my burrito!! I squeezed in a facial which was fantastic. I highly recommend them, I was quite sad when it was over it felt so good. I ended the night at a vinyl lettering party that was lots of fun. I'm in the process of getting Emery into a twin bed and I bought some fun stuff tonight for her walls. I'm grateful that I could make today a positive day. It doesn't mean I didn't cry some, I still miss him, but I'm glad for such wonderful happy memories!!

Summer Vacation

The entire Olson clan got together last week for a memorable vacation in Cancun. We don't see each other often, so it's a fun occasion when we are all together. It was a very stress free, relaxing vacation. We stayed in an all inclusive hotel right on the beach. It was so nice to not worry about food. I think the we all ate too much though, because the food was great!! I even tried sushi for the first time and loved it. We had an endless supply of smoothies and by the last day we came up with the perfect drink. Emmet and Emery were in heaven with an endless supply of ice cream, pizza and 7up!!

It's so hard to capture in picture how beautiful the water really was. I was amazed at the water's warmth and how soft the sand was. It was quite picturesque. The highlight of the trip was when the hotel sponsored a "keep your balance" game in the pool. Jenny (my sister-in-law) convinced us to try. She going first of course! There was a giant surfboard in the middle of the pool. A person was at each end of the board. The game was to see who could keep their balance the longest. I spanked the competition. They could not get me off of the board. They even lifted half of it up in the air. I was shocked that I could hold my balance so well. Most people couldn't last over 10 seconds. I lasted almost 40 seconds!! I have to say I was pretty proud of myself. I won a shirt!! This little girl later that day, said, "hey your Kira who won that competition". So, I was a celebrity for a day!!! It was fun to be with family. My kids had a great time and there were no hiccups getting to and from Cancun. It went perfectly!! Thanks mom and dad for a great trip.