Happy Lucky Seven Anniversary!

Has it really been 7 years?!! I like the picture above because I of course trip down the stairs at the exit of the Salt Lake temple.

We went to The Roof restaurant and had a great view of the Salt Lake Temple. We were also able to see the Mormon Tabernacle concert.

The most romantic gifts ever ... For me .. Gnomeo and Juliet. I'm already a yard 'accessory' collector and this takes it to a WHOLE 'Nother LEVEL!

For Pete .. In concert with the BEST singer song writer of ALL TIMES. Neil Diamond here we come!

Bountiful Wind Storm

There were record wind speeds a week after Thanksgiving (95 mph in Bountiful!). The windstorm made national news! KSL article. We were without power for 44 hours. It was amazing how much we rely on electricity! Good thing I had a smart phone or else I would have felt REALLY cut off. Our heater uses gas, but the blower uses electricity. So we didn't have heat and our house quickly dropped to about 55 degrees that first night. Pete got the kitchen fire going and we had it up to about 67 by the time we went to bed. I went to my parents the next day and slept over my sister-in-laws house that night. My mom was on her stake emergency preparedness committee and gives us emergency prepardness items for christmas. We did pull out the 1,000 hour candle and the solar powered emergency radio.

The power came back on and we were SO glad to be back at home. But it didn't stop there. Our street alone lost 16 50-year-old trees. Pete was out all day Saturday and even Sunday cleaning up fallen trees and branches. They canceled church so that there would be more time for cleanup before another possible storm. Deseret article on the Sunday clean-up.

So did we get any damage? Yes, our 25ft flag pole that was staked in the ground by 36 strands of christmas lights snapped in half. You can see in the picture that the deer and santa look like a war zone. We tried to salvage what we could, but the ground was already frozen and we couldn't stake anything new into the ground. It was sad because there were a lot of people showing up to our house for a show. It will be up and going next year!!

I think what I learned from the wind storm and power outage how quickly circumstances can change with a disaster (this was a small one). We did go out and buy a generator prior to the second storm because we didn't want to have to leave our house again. We still had gas and running water, so we'll have to think through our recovery strategy for both of those!

Christmas Decor

So, I am a little crazy ... or maybe a LOT crazy ...

When we were starting to talk to contractors for our exterior remodel I got REALLY excited when they said we could vault the ceiling in the Living room. Pete saw the glint and my eyes and knew it meant only one thing ... I was imagining a BIGGER Christmas tree.

Well, it required removing the roof, one custom curved steel beam and new dry wall, roof, etc .. and our Living room was ready for my new TREE!

By Day ...

By Night ...

I didn't get a picture of all of our trees. Here's my entry from last year. The only changes were we added another tree for Amelia (a PURPLE tree!). I also created a Jim Henson Wreath. It's already put away, but I'm tempted to get it out of the cover to get a picture of it. Ah well, we'll have to wait until next year. We also had a Christmas Carnival display with a Circus train. Again, I'll post a video next year!

Shelf of German Junk!

A new shelf to display Nutcrackers, matryoshkas, and nativities GALORE!

I only got this video of the Christmas Light show display. Sadly, our light show was only up for a week because of the wind storm. Excuse the background sniffles, I had a cold when I shot the video and meant to retake it!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I realize why I have been slacking with my blog ... we were really busy this Fall!

Thanksgiving was a LOT of fun. I think looking at the pictures it was more fun now than at the time. Both Pete and I had come down with a really bad cold, but we went ahead and showed up at family functions .. tried not to get anyone else sick.

Pete and Phillip got to have two football games. One in the morning after breakfast with the Olsens, and one at a park with the Wirthlin family. The Thanksgiving meal was great as always. I made the southern sweet potato casserole, apple pie, and 'my' green bean casserole. It's funny how you get 'type cast' with certain dishes.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving we went to Breakfast with Santa! The kids loved it! Phillip especially LOVED it! He kept saying, "This is the best breakfast ever!" I think because he could have as much bacon as he wanted .. 11 pieces. My favorite part was the hot chocolate bar (there was REAL chocolate in it), the Santa photo shoot where they gave me the digital image (Christmas card RESCUE!), and really fancy coke bottles. I kept asking for more, then later explained to the waiter that I wanted to add the coke bottles to my coke Christmas tree!

Happy Rainbow Party Pete!

Well, Amelia and Lily couldn't decide on a 'color' for Pete's birthday party theme. They decided he needed ALL of the colors! Thus, the "Rainbow Birthday Party" for Pete. I think I went a little overboard, but Pete was a good sport.

We went to St. George over Pete's birthday weekend. It was a great day of hanging out at Becca and Paul's house. Becca was cooking non-stop all weekend. It was a very relaxing weekend. We even went to the "Glitter Hole" which is a pit of gypsum. The kids got to collect the 'glittery' rock.

My Purple Girl! Amelia!

Amelia came up with her own Birthday theme this year. It was a PURPLE birthday party! (Weeks prior she kept changing the color, but I was able to get her to stick to one color). I think Amelia's purple designation started this spring when I got Lily & Amelia easter outfits, Lily=Pink Amelia=Purple. It's kind of translated to their room decor (pink and purple christmas trees), slippers, and piggy banks, etc. When asked, "whose birthday is it?" she would say, "My purple birday pawdee!!"

Amelia is a good little helper. It's amazing what she is able to do on her own. She is very ARTISTIC! She can wield a sharpie like no other. She did cover our couches, walls, end tables with her original art. Below is a picture of her all tuckered out after coloring my bathroom with lip and eye liner. She has a determined independent spirit. Her new saying is, "I do it MYSELF!"

Amelia, Lily, and their cousins Brinklee and Bryndee are all in purple dresses! I would like to say that I made the dresses myself.. but no .. Pete's mom made the dresses and the girls all wanted to wear them for the party!

Christmas Recap

What a GREAT christmas we had! It was so sweet to have a brand new baby at home over Christmas. I was feeling pretty good and the kids were SO excited to have their baby brother home. Below is a picture of the kids SHOWERING Henrie with love. Phillip told me that he didn't want anything for christmas because he already got what he wanted ... a baby brother. But, on Christmas eve, he decided he wanted more ;-)

We went to Pete's Parents house for dinner, nativity, singing with the bells and much more fun! Henrie was the perfect baby Jesus.

It was nice to have everything done before the baby was born. I went to bed on Christmas eve at midnight! (it's usually 1 or 2 AM). Santa was nice enough to leave a note for the kids. You could tell it was from Santa because the edges were burned.

Phillip's Favorite part was "the whole entire day." When asked for specifics, he said, "EVERYTHING, I liked EVERYTHING about christmas." I think he was pretty excited to get the Nintendo Wii. It was an impulse buy, but Phillip and Pete played Lego Indiana Jones for 2 and half hours without noticing the time go by!

Lily's favorite part was when she opened presents, and Daddy opened presents, and everyone had their OWN presents. She said when opening a present, "OH Daddy you are SO Sweet!"

Amelia's favorite part was her big and little Lalaloopsy. When asked before christmas she would say, "My favowate pawt is TEENY TINY Lalaloopsy!!"

My favorite part was that both Pete and I gave each other foot baths. I know we are both a little weird, but at least we think alike!

Pete's favorite part was just staying home and being lazy with the family. First time we have stayed home on Christmas day and it was GREAT! I think we will also continue with my last minute meal plan. French Onion Soup and Fondue for dinner. It is comfort food, but it doesn't take too much effort to prepare.

I didn't get too many photographs this year, but I guess that means I was enjoying myself too much! Enjoy!

The kids and their early Christmas present!

Lily & Santa Henrie on Christmas Day

Amelia and her favorite item from Santa from her Stocking.

Phillip enjoying his Matchbox Race Track

Lily and all her new princesses, and Tangled bookshelf.

His and Hers Foot Bath!

Henrie, tired after a long day of sleeping and eating, had to sack out on the couch next to Homer.

Welcome Henrie!

We are pleased to announce the birth of Henrie McEntire Olsen.

He weighed 6 pounds and 10 oz, 19 inches.

He looks a lot like Phillip as a baby. A little peanut!

I have most of the day with the baby, me, and my iPad. Maybe I'll finally get a chance to catch up on the happenings since October!