Family Pictures.....

I LOVE getting Family Pictures..... even though it is the most stressful day ever! We were running out of time and Grammy was nagging (daily) that she needed some updated pictures of all the grandkids so we met my sister up in Hidden Springs to have her snap a few shots. I was so happy that we were able to get some good pictures.... we only had 30 min, in the snow, Tyler complaining that her feet were getting wet, Tanner could not leave the snow alone, Allie didn't want to rock her sister, Kole crying because his hands were cold (but couldn't stop picking up snow) and Hannah was not happy! What a day.......but my sister did a fantastic job so it was worth it.

Here is my favorite picture of all the cousins.....

SNOW!!!

We have LOVED all this snow we have had this year.... the kids even had a snow day and got to stay home from school! They had so much fun playing in the back yard making a snowman and igloo (with Daddy Dustin's help)

After 2 years of snowboarding we thought it might be fun for the kids to try skiing so they "practiced" in our back yard. They were bored after 10 min....


One afternoon we met up with Brad and Vanessa and found a little spot just South of Boise to do some sledding. There wasn't as much snow as we hoped for but it was nice to get out of town and the dad's hooked a tube behind the four-wheeler and pulled the kids.

Tyler's Birthday Party....

I can't believe Tyler is 9!!! I was a little sad. I started thinking that she is half way to 18..... I am not ready for her to grow up yet. This year she invited a few of her best girlfriends and we had a Fashion Show Party with a Mani/Pedi station, hair, and make up. Then the girls were able to make a scrapbook of the night (Courtesy of Grammy for suppling all the material.... pre-cut and all) It was so much fun to watch her and her freinds pose and walk the runway. In between stations Vanessa and I watched the girls dance to Justin Beiber. What a party......

Ragnar

So just as I finished the Vikingman Duathlon (and swore I was never running again) I had a call from a couple girlfriends that they wanted me to race with them in Vegas. There was 12 of us girls running a relay of 195 miles through Vegas in 24 hours..... nonstop. I only ran 13 miles (there was a lot of uphill) but it was a whole lot harder than I thought. We were in 2 vans (very little room) so it was a lot of eating and no sleep. I don't know if I will ever be able to eat wheat thins again?!?! I think the best part was getting to spend some time with the girls and exploring Vegas. I also got to eat In & Out for the first time. Lot's of firsts for me on this trip and I still crack up looking at the pictures from our crazy weekend.

Halloween

This Halloween was the BEST Halloween ever.... We carved pumpkins, had a HUGE Halloween party for the kids, Trunk-or-Treated at the church and a little more Trick-or-Treating around the neighborhood. We still have a ton of candy!
3 hours with 43 kids was CRAZY but we had a blast!!! We played games, danced, told ghost stories, and ate LOTS of candy.

ADOPTION!!!

YAY!!! It's official!!! We have been approved!!! NOW.... all we need is a baby! :) So I am pretty sure EVERYONE knows that we started the Adoption process and after 10 months of A TON of paperwork we are officially ready for Birth Mom's to view our profile. For everyone who isn't familiar with the process of LDS Adoption Services.... we are approved but have to be chosen by a Birth Mom. The average wait is around 2 years so we are hoping all of our friends and family will keep us in mind and help in passing our information along. We are so excited to be this far and anxiously wait for the day we can bring home a baby.

To view our Adoption Info log onto www.itsaboutlove.org and our Profile ID 24630594 or search by our names.

Football...Football... & MORE Football....

It's that time of year again....!!!! FOOTBALL!!! Tyler cheered again for an Optimist Football team and is still loving cheer more then anything which is a good thing because they bumped practice up to 3 nights a week (6 hours) and she was one busy little girl. Tanner played Flag football this year and he has decided that he loves to play Center even though the Coach said he makes a better Tight End. (I still don't know what either of those positions are) He loved learning new plays and loves to "fake" a pass. We have enjoyed every Saturday out at the fields and cheering them on!

Dustin Turns 30!!!!!

YAY!!! Dustin turned 30 last week!!! So I had the hardest time ever this year..... Not only WHAT to buy him but WHAT to do for his party!?!?! I wanted to do something really big and exciting but it was so hard since we just got back from our 2 big trips. Technically the BSU Tickets were his gift but I still felt like I needed to do something because 30 is such a BIG deal. Right?!?!? All he wanted was a Poker Party with his buddies so that's what he got. I totally forgot to take pictures during the party (I was a little busy hosting... and playing with all the babies) but here are some pics I was able to squeeze in... at midnight (as you can see from the picture of me in my sweats). Almost all of our friends were able to stop by and we had a blast!
Sunday night we had a family BBQ with Aunt Kirsten, his parents, and mine. Tyler and Tanner were able to teach Grammy and Crappa how to play the Wii.

And of course Grandma Olson made EVERYONES favorite.... BLACK FOREST CAKE!!!

Vikingman Duathlon....

Last weekend I completed my longest race and it kicked my BUTT!!! One of my best friends Kaley convinced me (I mean begged me!) to sign up for the Vikingman Duathlon a month ago and I knew it would be hard but I had no idea HOW hard it would be. After my parents were done laughing at me for signing up for such a big race my dad was right on top of it.... providing me a training schedule and a road bike. After a few days of training I was able to get Vanessa to sign up for the race and us 3 girls had a busy, busy, BUSY month of training. The race was in Burley so Vanessa and I went a day early and enjoyed some girl time and carb loading.
The day of the race was a little intense.... I had 2 flat tires and on my second I called my parents (almost in tears) to find out they made the trip to Burley to surprise us girls.... and it's a good thing they did! They were like our personal coaches riding right along side of us, filling our water, and changing my tire. The race was a 15K run-56K bike which we ended up running almost 3 additional miles due to bad signs. All in all it was an amazing experience and we all finished (which was our goal) Vanessa's time=4:13 Nichelle's time=4:30 Kaley's time=4:37
I don't want to even think about running... until next month!!!

New York & D.C. 2010

What an AMAZING trip!!! We started planning our trip with our good friend's "The Jones" clear back in January. The guys were talking about how much fun it would be to go to the BSU-vs-Virginia Tech game and with getting a nice hook-up on tickets (thank you April & Doug) we thought.... Hey, let's make a whole trip of it! I felt like we were gone a month and I think we did everything we possibly could during that visit. We first flew into New York and spent a couple days there doing all the "touristy" stuff, shopped, went to a Yankee's game and ate LOTS of really good food. We then took the train to D.C. and visited all the Museums and Monuments and one of the best parts of the whole trip was the BSU GAME!!! Sitting 9 rows back on the 50 yard line.....We were even on ESPN!!! Dustin's favorite part of the trip was visiting Little Italy and eating some amazing food there. He was actually able to use his Italian Speaking Skills quite a bit on the trip. I loved all the excitement in New York. You could just walk around all day and enjoy the people, lights, and entertainment. In D.C. the Holocaust Museum was definitely the best. We were also able to visit Arlington Cemetery and watch the Changing of the Guards which was such a neat experience. I think after our crazy busy summer of vacations we are ready to spend some time at home.....

First Day of School....

I can't even believe it.....!?!?! Tyler is in 3rd grade and Tanner is in 1st grade! The kids seem so big and ready do to everything on their own. I remember Tanner wanting me to stand on the sidewalk and stay with him until the bus came every day last and this year I turned around and he was gone. Tyler only wanted me to walk with her until she found her friends and then told me I was okay to go home. How sad.... So for the first day of school we did our parent thing and met up with Vanessa (Brad was out of town) and then walked the kids to school. Trace was excited to see her big brother and sister off to school and even followed behind them on our way.... Melted my heart! After they had an amazing first day of school we all met up again for dinner at Texas Roadhouse.


And this is what our family picture will look like when we get a baby......

Happy Anniversary!!!

I can not even believe we have been married 3 years already!!! Every time I think life is going to slow down a little for us.... it gets even busier!!! I will say we have gotten better at managing our crazy lives and still finding some time to spend together for our weekly date nights. We have had a lot of big changes this year.... First, Dustin was promoted to a Branch Manager 3 and is now working at the Wells Fargo in Eagle (with me!) and Second, We have officially started the adoption process. Tyler and Tanner are still just as busy as ever with all their sports and activities but we enjoy them more and more the older they get.

This year was a little challenging in celebrating out anniversary with just getting back from the coast and leaving for New York in 2 weeks our gifts were a little.... odd?!?! Kitchen knives for Dustin and a running watch for me. We did get to spend a day together and have what we call our "perfect date" Tacanos and a Movie Marathon! Dustin also spoiled me with chocolate covered gummy bears and a Chocolate covered strawberry waffle bowl from Dairy Queen (I am so sick just thinking about everything I ate that day!) The last 3 years have been amazing and I can't wait to see what happens next.....

Our Oregon Coast Trip....

We just got home from our BIG summer vacation to the Oregon Coast. I didn't think we could possibly have more fun than last year..... but we did!!! We stayed with my grandparents in Rockaway Beach. We spent our days exploring the Beaches and our evening together at the beach house. We took over 600 pictures of our busy week so here are just a few of the things we did.

The kids spent as much time as they could on the beach, swimming in the Ocean, playing in the sand and building sand castles......

Of course we had to visit Dustin's favorite place... The Tillamook Cheese Factory! I think Daddy Dustin and the kids had a little too much fun!?!?!

The kid's LOVE the Newport Aquarium! We spent hours looking at all the amazing creatures.....And of course mom made them pose for some pictures before we could go inside.

One thing I was SO looking forward to this year was Crab Fishing in the Ocean. I knew this is something that the kids have never experienced and it was amazing.... All of us were a little sea sick and the kids were afraid that a shark would eat us (No more Shark Week on the Discovery Channel) but we still had a lot of fun!!!

We stopped in Sea Side to feed the Seals....

We spent some time in Astoria and climbed the 164 steps to the top of the Column....

We were lucky enough to have one morning with a low tide in Echola Park and we could see all the little creatures from the Ocean. The kids loved it....

AND...we spent a couple nights on the beach making Smores and roasting Starbursts...