Preschool Graduation

It was cute, frustrating, fun, and kind of sad.
Arden doesn't like too many changes. He didn't like the idea of graduating from pre-school.

His class and his "Big Friends" had been practicing for probably weeks how the graduation was going to happen. They practiced in order to help the children get ready.

Arden didn't like it. He didn't like talking about graduation.
On the day of graduation, May 19, we got dressed and ready to go. We even made it on time. Once we arrived to the courtyard of the school, Arden froze. He didn't want to participate. He ran off. He left. Thank goodness Newel was there and chased after him. I was glad Newel was there. I couldn't have handled Arden's meltdown and Maya's adventuring spirit.

He didn't participate on the program. He pouted. All of the children got up with their Big Friends and the friends spoke about their child and the child's uniqueness. All of the children, except for Arden. His big friends also talked about him and it was touching.
I felt frustrated. I tried not to. I knew he didn't like the idea of change, but at one point I even chastised him. As if he was embarrassing me. I'm ashamed to admit that.
Once the ceremony was over he was fine. He spoke with his teacher, gave her a hug, looked at his diploma, ate treats, and played with the trinkets he received.

Its odd to me how such a friendly little guy can shut down like that.
No matter what we did, chastise, be nice, bribe, let him be, threaten, nothing worked. I guess he just needed time to take it all in and come to terms that he was graduating.

No more pre-school.

A new phase of life is going to start....

In a few months....

Kindergarten!

That's going to be interesting to say the least.

May be by his Kindergarten graduation I will have learned more patience.

Random Blurbs

May 11th, Maya sleeps on her big girl bed for the first time. Arden transitioned from a crib to a bed around the same age. It wasn't too bad getting her to stay in her bed...the first couple of nights. Then, she discovered that she can get out of her bed and play. Most nights, the children will play for an hour before they finally fall asleep. They try escaping from the room, they climb on their dresser, take out the books, jump on the beds, and I don't even want to know what else. It's an animal house during that time. But they finally fall asleep...and wake up very early the next morning to start their routine all over again.



Last Tuesday night, it was Newel's birthday. Kristen and B took him out to dinner to celebrate. I stayed home with the girls and my children to take care of them. It was so fun.

The little ones (Tabitha and Maya) and I played dolls. We played over an hour...dressing, undressing the dolls, driving them around, laying them down to sleep, feeding them etc. These are the Polly Pockets. They normally don't play with them because the pieces are too small and the girls can swallow them or choke on them. I was supervising.

It was like being a kid again! The time went by so quickly. I feel sad that I don't do this enough. I don't pause and just play. I'm too busy worrying about a clean house, meals, teaching my children how to behave properly, disciplining, etc. I need to pause and play more often. If I don't, I'm going to regret it. It's a long time before I become a grandmother, so I need to pause and play.

A Wonderful Heritage

Great-Grandma Olsen passed away on Thursday, May 7, 2009. She will be missed by her entire family and friends. What a wonderful example and heritage she leaves behind.

She is loved dearly by all.


As a final act of Grandma Olsen, she helped get the entire family together.

HB flew in from FL, while Nate and Jessica drove in town from TX. Mary drove from NV with her children.

It was nice to see the brothers together again, and behaving...somewhat human...not sub human.

Grandma's birthday was on Saturday, so all of the grandchildren had a birthday party for Grandma.

They decorating a gigantic Rice Krispy Treat for the birthday party.

A Family Portrait

The following Sunday was Mother's Day, as a gift (I guess you can call it a gift) all of Grandma's children and grandchildren (who were in town, sorry Jenny, Mia, and Mae) went to church with her. We took over two long benches. It was really special, noisy at times, but nice.

That Sunday afternoon Grandma read from her father's journal regarding Grandma Olsen. He expressed his love for her and how amazing she was. The family members who were there also shared their thoughts and feelings regarding Grandma Olsen. It was so lovely.

Luvins for Mom-e

Grandma was the example of a strong faithful woman. She always spoke her mind, but only when asked her opinion. She cared for the entire family. She was the matriarch of this family. When I die, I can only hope I can be at least half as strong as she was. She was a pillar, even to the last moments of her mortal life. I am grateful for the Plan of Salvation. I know we can be with our families forever and I know there is a life after this one.

Back to Stanford

Our trip to Stanford was so much fun, but too short. I could have easily spent another 4 or 5 more days.
The children had a blast. I had a blast. We all had a blast.

We went to places. We played with friends. I had a girls' night, which I haven't had one in a super long time.

I had a chance to catch up with old friends.
Our friend Larisa and her family were so nice to let us stay over at their place.

They didn't even kick us out after we got them sick. What good friends!

Some of the fun things we did was visit the San Francisco zoo.
It was our first time there. The following day, we went to Pillar Point to see the tide pools.

It started out a bit rocky. Besides Arden, the other children were not into observing sea life.

They were more interested in collecting shells, trying to jump in the water, and playing in the sand.


However, Larisa made a really fun discovery...crabs in the rocks. We all had so much fun finding all kinds of crabs and rock climbing. Then, the children were interested in sea stars and other creatures. Over all, it was a blast!

We also enjoyed lovely afternoons playing in the park and knocking over toys.

After so much playing we were all tired.

I had so much fun staying up with Larisa talking until very late at night. By the end of the week I was super tired, but it was so worth it to me.
We also went to the California Science Museum at the Golden Gate Park.

It was way cool. It had a huge aquarium, planetarium, tropical rain forest, and so much more.
Arden gave it a try at photography. The photo of Mayita and I was taken by Arden.

One of Arden's very favorite things was touching the butterflies at the rain forest.

It was absolutely amazing. The butterflies were not scared at all.

We were able to get so close to them.

Really close to them. Arden's other favorite experience at the museum...the 3D-Bug film. Really fun!

Finally, Friday morning came and we rushed to the airport to pick up Newel. I didn't realize how much Maya missed her daddy. She hugged Newel so tight and would not let him go for a while.
That same day we had a lunch play date over our friend Rachel's house.

There was yummy food, but the best part was seeing our wonderful friends.

After naps and quiet time, we headed to the GSB for a little get together.

It was really hectic. It was also raining so the kids got super wet in the rain, but once again, they had so much fun. Also, we got to see other friends we hadn't seen since last year.

The event was getting to be too crazy for us, so my friend Abbey and I headed out to a pizza place in downtown Palo Alto to catch up. It was nice.

The following day was the Carnival. It was awesome! We were too busy having so much fun that I barely took any photos.

My favorite memory of those last two days was watching Arden and Ellie. It was like time didn't pass by and they picked up where they left off...super good friends.

That night, our friends, the Cuffs, were once again, super nice and watched our children while we went out to the GBS dinner and dance. It was great. I was so tired, I could barely keep my eyes open, but it was really nice to see more friends.

On our way to Stanford

I started driving with the children. I was kind of nervous. I had never driven that far (over 700 miles) by myself before. Also, I had both of my children with me. What if the car broke down? Other than a flat. What if I was in a car accident? What if...?
I guess, the weather is the tool to motivate me to do something like this. I was prepared. I had gone to the library, checked out books and videos for the children. I had toys. I had snacks galore, but still I didn't know about the drive.
We got in the car around 4:30PM. I started driving. For a while the children were great. I fed them dinner, gave them toys to play with and some snacks. After a couple of hours, they started to get anxious and I needed to fill up the car with gas. I hadn't filled the tank before I left Salt Lake. I just wanted to leave.
We stopped, filled the car, potty break, and started to drive again. Time for a video and a book on CD for Arden. Maya was pretty well behaved. Often, she can be high maintenance in the car. There were moments when she would say, "Mommy" over and over again and wait for me to turn my head, she would smile and try to say something I couldn't understand. She would get mad and have a fit if I wouldn't pay attention...so we had some fits. But overall, the children were great.
It took a while for the children to fall asleep, but they finally fell asleep, and I kept driving.
A little bit after 11PM Nevada time, I made it to Reno. I could have kept driving, but I didn't want to cross Donner's Pass in the dark. It's kind of scary for me. Also, I knew if I kept driving I might not find a hotel open for the evening.
I stopped at Reno. My plan was to find a small hotel we could stay at. I didn't want to stay at a large Casino since it would be difficult to try to take two sleepy children in the the elevator.
Anyways, after driving around for what felt like like 30 minutes, I found a little motel/hotel that was open. Everything else was closed.
I rang the bell. The middle aged Indian man came to the counter.
"I need a room."
"How many?"
"It's just two children and me."
"You need two rooms?"
"No, they are small. Just one room. One bed is fine." I answered.
"I have a nice room up here," pointing above his head, "it's been painted, really nice, fifty dollars."
"No, thanks, I don't need a nice room I just need a place to sleep for tonight." I wasn't planning on spending more than $40.00. It's Sunday, rates are lower and it was late at night, even lower rates.
"Okay, I give you other room, forty-five dollars."
"What? Only five dollars difference?" I asked kind of confused.
"Okay, forty dollars," he answers.
"Is that before or after taxes?" I ask.
"Forty dollars, total."
Yes, it's exactly at my price range. "I'll take it." I fill out the paper work, pay the man, and grab my key. I walk back to the car.
By this time Maya was awake and was crying in the van. This crying woke up Arden, who was also crying in the van.
I looked at the room number. The room is on the third floor, farthest away from the elevator and farthest away from the car. I'm a paranoid mom and I don't like to leave my children unattended in a place like this, even for a minute. I walk back to the man.
"Do you have another room that's closer to the elevator? I need to carry both of my children and my stuff. "
"Yes, nice room upstairs, fifty dollars."
"No, thanks." I am not happy about this, but it's no big deal. I return to the car and I figure, I can run really fast to the third floor (the first floor is the parking lot) drop off Maya and then get Arden. It'll be really fast.
I follow my plan. I run up the stairs (the elevator looks really slow) with Maya and my purse in my arms. I open the door to the room. Drop her off. I let her know I'll be right back. At that moment, I noticed an odor, but I'm in such a rush I don't really pay attention. I run back down the stairs, pick up Arden, who is waiting patiently for me, and carry him to the room. At that moment, I realize the odor in the room is the stench of cigarette smoke. I am not kidding when I say that it felt like someone was smoking in the room. The walls, the furniture, the bedding, all were saturated with that stench. Arden immediately says, "Mommy, it stinks."
"I know, Honey." I know there's no way I am going to let my children sleep in that room. There's no way any of us could sleep in that room. "I'm going to go downstairs and get us another room. I will be right back. I'll be downstairs. Don't open the door to anyone."
Maya had been totally content at this point, since I had left my purse with her and she was having so much fun pulling everything out of the bag. I grabbed my bag and ran back downstairs.
I rang the bell.
"Excuse me. Is there another room we could sleep in? Our room smells like cigarette really bad. We haven't touched anything in the room, so everything is in order."
"Yes," the man replies, "you can have the nice room for ten dollars more."
Yes, it was only ten dollars more, but now it was a matter of principle.
"What? You are charging me ten dollars more for a non-smoking room?"
"Yes, nice room upstairs."
"I don't need a nice room. I just need a room that doesn't smell like cigarette."
"You can have the nice room."
"Am I going to have to pay ten dollars?"
"Yes, " he replies.
By this point, I am getting really tired, really irritated and I know my children are up in the room by themselves, probably crying their heads off. My blood starts to boil. My heart is beating faster and I know the expression on my face is sheer anger. I raise my voice. I think I started to shout at the man.
"What? Do you know how ridiculous this is? You are charging me ten dollars more for a non-smoking room. I don't think I should be paying for this. I have never heard of paying more for a non-smoking room. I don't smoke, my children don't smoke and we shouldn't have to sleep in such a smoke smelling room." Yes, I believe I was shouting. "Give me another room. I don't need a nice room. I need a room that doesn't smell bad."
At this point I had decided if he wasn't going to give me a non-smoking room, I was going to cancel my payment and leave.
The man turned to the box of keys and handed me a key.
"What's this?" I ask.
"Key to nice room. Don't smell like cigarette."
"Are you charging me extra?"
"No,"replied the man.
"Thank you. Here's your other key. I don't need it. I'm going to get the children out of the room and into the other room."
Once again, I ran up the stairs. I looked through the window and both children are crying hysterically. I knock on the door. I tell Arden to let me in. He's so wound up, he can't turn the knob to let me in. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't realize it was me at the door.
Mayita sees me and gets off the bed. Arden (the protector) picks her back up and tries to put her on the bed, almost dropping her. Even though I'm a bit stressed out, I can't help smiling and thinking, 'this is so surreal. This is silly. I can't believe this is happening.'
They are crying so loud I know he can't hear me. I raise my voice. "It's okay, honey. Just turn the knob. The bottom one sweetheart...take a deep breath...it's okay, baby. You can do it. Arden look at me, turn the bottom knob."
A woman in the next room opens her door to see what's going on. The man (who attended me) opens the door to his room and asks if I need the key.
"It's okay. He'll open it, " I reply. I felt kind of bad I yelled at him.
I jiggle the doorknob...Arden realizes which knob I'm talking about, and he opens the door. They are a bit shaken up, but the crying is stopping. I carry them across the hallway to the "nice" room. It has a slight cigarette smell, but it's not as bad. We can sleep in here. The room is bigger, but not necessarily nicer. One of the lamps doesn't work. The curtains don't work properly nor do they close all the way. There are only two bathing towels and the pillows are flat.
Arden falls asleep within minutes. I laid Maya in her pack and play. An hour later, she's still awake. She'll lay there quietly, but every few minutes, I can hear her move and then she'll ask, "Mommy?" To make sure I haven't abandoned her.
"I'm here sweetheart. It's okay. Shh, go to sleep." But she doesn't fall asleep. I finally bring her in bed with me. She snuggles up to me as close as she can. She finally falls asleep with her hand over my head touching me, making sure I am still there. She's almost suffocating me.
Two hours later a car alarm goes off. I think I am at home and I turn around to ask Newel to check and see if it's our car. I realize Newel is not there. It's just the children and me. It's so loud. I grab my keys and get dressed. By the time I am walking out the door the alarm stops. I run down the stairs, and check. The van is fine. No one broke in it.
I run back up the stairs, undress myself, check on the children and fall back asleep.

A Lovely Week

Spring is FINALLY here. The week after we returned from San Diego was gorgeous. The weather was perfect. It was sunny, barely a cloud in the sky, and the temperature was just right.
It was so nice I postponed unpacking and cleaning for a couple of days and we went outside and played. We played almost all day long.

We went to the park, we had picnics, Arden played and collected insects. We put on sunblock, hats, and sunglasses. We hung out with friends.

Oh, it was just lovely.

The beautiful weather only lasted 5 days, then it became cloudy and rainy. I was told this is Spring weather in Utah.

Arden and his some of his cousins were scientists that cloudy, cold, and rainy Saturday.

The children and Grandma had so much fun conducting all kinds of experiments.

Like, is the color black really black? According to Arden's conclusion, no. Black has blue in it.

All right, I'll admit it. I am a total wimp when it comes to crappy weather. It affects my mood. So that Sunday, it continued to rain and then it began to snow. Yes, more snow.

That previous Thursday (one of the last nice days), I had called my friend Larisa in Cali to see if I could crash at her place with my children for a few days, before Newel's Class Reunion. She agreed. I spent a good part of Saturday unpacking (from the San Diego trip), doing laundry, and repacking (for the Stanford trip). Once it began to snow on Sunday afternoon, I had had it! I was sick of the snow. I told Newel:
"That's it, I'm leaving today." At first he encouraged it, in a joking manner, but then I think I surprised him. The more I toyed with the idea of packing and leaving, I thought to myself, "why not?"

Mind you, I hadn't planned on leaving until Monday afternoon, spend the night in Reno, and get there some time on Tuesday afternoon.

I finished packing our stuff, loaded the car, buckled in the children, and started driving.

I hadn't been able to get a hold of my friend Larisa yet, to ask her if we could come up a day early, but I just started driving, anyways.

She was so nice and wonderful and said it was fine. I could stay a day earlier. I just love Larisa. She's so nice and laid back. Thanks Larisa for putting up with my MENTAL insanity.

We spent that night in Reno...which will have to be a post by itself. I don't want to forget that memory, it was kind of surreal.

San Diego Trip

Half way through April, we took a trip to San Diego. We were invited to a wedding, so on Thursday afternoon, we got in the van and drove overnight.
On our way there, Mayita caught a bug and threw up most of the night (while we were driving through the night) and part of the next day. We didn't get much sleep, we did a lot of laundry, but we were glad to be there.

Craig and Tanya were super nice and let us stay over at their place, even with our sick child. They were such nice hosts.

They even took us back to Mexico. Oh, do we love Mexico!

Just so you know, we made there and back in one piece. No problems. We didn't get shot, arrested, or kidnapped by anyone. We were perfectly safe.

It probably helps that Tanya and Craig know Tijuana and its surroundings pretty well.
Once we crossed the border into Mexico, we went to the beach to a place called La Mision. It was really nice to be by the ocean. I missed the smell of the sea, the sand, the waves, the breeze, the kelp, and everything else.
It was so relaxing.

Even Maya who was still a bit sick was loving the beach.

Arden gave boogie boarding a try and liked it, a little bit.

After the beach we went to Ensenada for some shopping. I stayed in the van with Maya.

Then, back to Tijuana to one of our all time favorite restaurants: El Rodeo.

The food is delicious, the service is fabulous, and the atmosphere is friendly.


If you're ever in Tijuana, El Rodeo is the place to eat.

The following day, Newel drove to Pasadena to play basketball with the groom and hang out with some friends. I stayed with the children for a while, then I got on the train and headed to Pasadena to join Newel for the wedding.

It was an amazing wedding. I can't even begin to describe, so I won't. I left the camera in the car, so I could enjoy an amazing night with Newel.

The children stayed with Tanya, who is so nice and sweet to watch them for us. It really meant a lot to us. It was also really nice to know the children like Tanya and they were in good hands.

On Sunday, we got up early and headed home. It was a short trip, but loads of fun.

Tid Bits

I'm really trying to catch up with this blog. So here are a few things: There are a lot of trivial stuff in here, but I mostly blog to make this into a family book later on. So, you're welcome to skip over this, since it's kind of uninteresting.

The first weekend in April was Conference Weekend for our church. We had a chance to be spiritually uplifted all weekend long.

Along with that, the Vegas cousins came over for a visit. Of course, we couldn't pass up the chance of getting them all together for lunch and other times to play together.

What a bunch of cute kids!

It's been a while since I've blogged. I haven't felt like it. After we got back home from our FL visit, we had a couple of nice sunny days, but then it turned yucky again. It was about 4 weeks of nasty snow, cloudy, or cold weather. Where did the Spring go?

At one point, I thought about getting in the car and just start driving, no packing, just go...to where? Texas? or Vegas? Any place that was warm and sunny. I thought I was going to go crazy. Also, it was a bit of a challenge finding a routine for the kids. Swimming session was half way done when we arrived from FL and the following session was booked...so, what to do with all that time?

There were a couple of days when the weather was nicer, so we did some planting. It's a bummer I keep forgetting to water the plants.

During our yucky days, I worked on a few small projects

I needed a drop off spot at the entrance of the house, so, I hit the DI (a thrift store in UT) and found a few items, repainted them and hung them up. I can now find my keys...most of the time, and I have a place to drop off all that junk that I accumulate in the car. I had to place it a bit higher than normal, since Maya likes to grab my keys and carry them around the house.

Next, was getting a study/pile up area. By no means do I claim to be stylish or talented when it comes to refinishing furniture (or the way I dress), but I gave it a try.

Here's the before:
This is the lovely fabric of the chair cover...it looks nicer in the photo.
The chair and the desk area.

Here's the after: I'm still not done with my study area. I took this photo a couple of weeks ago, and I've changed some things around. It's nice to have my own special area. It's also pretty convenient (most of the time) since it's in the playroom and the desk is long enough, it also serves as the computer desk.