Question of the day...

The other day Alexa was asking questions about death and she asked, "Mommy, does Heavenly Father come to get us or do we just flap our hands?" How cute is that!

A house divided

There is a reason why Phillip and I don't watch the BYU v. Utah game together each year:

Yet we still love each other. (Go Utes!!)

Grace can jump!

Grace learned how to jump while we were in California and I think it is just the cutest thing!

The best vacation ever!

We had the BEST vacation to California and I'm so excited to post some pictures. Warning: this may be a long post! During our drive down we stopped in St. George to see Phillip's grandparents for an hour and had such a wonderful visit. They are both such sweet people and we felt so blessed to be able to spend a little time with them. We spent four days in Disneyland before driving down to San Diego and spending a day at Sea World. I never realized how exhausting it is to go to Disneyland with three active little girls but it was so much fun! Our first day there I had to laugh because each member of my family (Phillip and me, my dad, my mom, and my three sisters) were each holding something that belonged to us as we were waiting to get on the tram to go into the park. There were seven adults and between each of us we were holding Adelle, Grace, her walker, two strollers, my backpack, and the girls' hoodies. I said, "how many people does it take to get the Olson family to Disneyland!" We were so grateful that my family came with us...not only were they very helpful but the company was great too!

The first ride we went on at Disneyland was Snow White and I was a little worried that Grace would be afraid and cry. Suprisingly, Alexa cried and Grace was fine! Grace was so unpredictable because the rides we thought she'd love, like Peter Pan, she absolutely hated; and rides we thought she'd be a little afraid of, like Pirates of the Caribbean, she absolutely loved! Alexandra loved Splash Mountain and the river-rafting ride, and they both adored Dumbo. (I remember my Grandpa Mallonee taking me on the Dumbo ride when I was three years old!)

The girls had so much fun meeting the characters and getting their little t-shirts autographed. The princesses and fairies were so sweet to them and paid extra-special attention to Grace.

Our third night there we ate dinner with the princesses at Ariel's Grotto and the girls were in heaven! (So were Phillip and my dad!) Alexa was so excited to meet Aurora and told her that they had the same kind of hair. It was very cute watching them compare their golden locks.

As for myself, I got to meet Captain Jack Sparrow and was pretty excited about that. But dangit, why did I have to close my eyes for the stinkin' picture! (this one's for you, Gina!)I love this picture of Adelle and Alexandra's Tinkerbell doll:

I feel like our vacation was just so much fun that I can't even write about it all! We just had so much fun being together as a family and watching our girls experience the magic of Disneyland for the first time. Alexa could not have been happier with all the new experiences, and Phillip and I were so impressed by how well the employees at the park took care of Grace's special needs. I was so excited to be home after such a long and tiring vacation, but I was so sad to leave Disneyland. I can't wait to go back again!

I found this picture from when Phillip and I went in 2002 when I was pregnant with Alexa:

And here we are now!

Family Pictures

I just wanted to post some family pictures that our friend Tiffany took for us. Check out her studio on my side bar under Tiffany Moody Photography.Don't I have the most gorgeous sisters? And I just love this one of Adelle!!

Husband Tag!

I'm such a nerd and just realized that people have been tagging me with different tags for a long time and I never noticed! I keep seeing people being tagged and have thought, "how cool for them, wish I was that cool" and it turns out, I am that cool! Anyway, I thought I'd answer this one since it's all about my favorite person in the whole wide world. Sorry everyone whose tags I didn't notice.

1.Where did you two meet? West Jordan High School

2. How long did you date before you got married? One year and ten days

3.How long have you been married? 8 years and 14 days

4.What does he do to surprise you? For our anniversary he suprised me with a little getaway to Little America, and today I came home from school to a spotless house. He even washed the windows!!

5.Favorite feature about him? Oh, do I have to chose just one?

6.Favorite quality about him? Really, just one? I love what a good daddy he is and how he'll even play "dollies"

7.Does he have a nick name for you? Boo, Bug, Sweets (that's my favorite!), Babe

8. What is his favorite color? Cougar Blue (ugh)

9.What is his favorite food? If you were to ask him he'd say anything I made. I know, he's just that sweet. Really though, he loves spicy Mexican food or steak.

10.What is his favorite sport? He loves to play basketball with his brothers. His favorite sports to watch are basketball and football.

11.Who said "I love you" first? He did

12.When and where was your first kiss? Outside his house in January, 2000

13.Favorite thing to do as a couple? Anything! We love being with our girls, but those rare moments when it's just us are so wonderful. We love going out to eat together, or just cuddling up under our "dating blanket" in front of the tv.

14.What is a hidden talent that he has? Housekeeping. He loves a clean house and is so wonderful at keeping it that way. Thankfully he is patient with me when I don't do such a great job at keeping my mess cleaned up!

15.Where was your first date? It was to a BYU dance at the Tivoli Art Gallery in downtown Salt Lake City.

16.How did he propose? We were on a date downtown and took a walk through Temple Square. He led me to one of the water fountains and told me that he wanted to take me to the temple to marry me someday.

17.What do you most admire most about him? Wow, there are so many things about Phillip that I just love and admire. He always puts his family before anything else and works so hard to make sure we are taken care of. He has such a charitable heart and is always finding ways to serve other people. I am so blessed that I get to be his wife and I love him so much!

I TAG: SANDRA, JENNA, CHERI, MICHELLE F. and MELISSA!!!

Halloween (sorry, I know it's late)

We had such a fun Halloween this year and ended up with way too much candy. I recycled costumes from previous years so Grace and Alexandra wore sunflower costumes I made and Adelle was a pea pod. They all looked so darn cute! The weekend before Halloween we went to a party at Primary Children's Medical Center for the Hydrocephalus Parent Support Group and had such a blast! They provided a hot dog dinner (one of the girls' favorites!) and lots of games. I think their favorite game was the pumpkin walk where they each earned a painted pumpkin. Grace loved hers so much that she even slept with it during her nap the next day!Right after that party we rushed to Phillip's work for the annual trunk-or-treat. We actually missed the trunk-or-treating (which was fine by me!) but still got there in time for the yummy sugar cookies and chocolate milk. They also took tons of family pictures and gave the girls tons of candy so everyone was happy. Halloween night we took the girls trick-or-treating around our neighborhood and pulled Grace in our red wagon. We had dinner with my family and grandparents and had a nice time visiting with them.

Since we were busy preparing to leave for our vacation the next day we didn't have time to carve pumpkins as we had planned. Thankfully Alexa improvised and didn't know that you don't traditionally carve a pumpkin without gutting it first. She was content to just carve a face in it and stick glow-sticks inside to make it glow. It kind of broke my heart at first, but I was so relieved that she didn't know the difference and was still happy. I love how she included cheeks and eyelashes on her pumpkin. She is definitely a girl!