Christmas Letter 2009!

Hello Everyone! I am writing this at 6:30am while there’s a snowstorm raging outside. I can’t believe its that time of the year again. It came so fast, but I guess it always does. Looking back over the year is always fun, though I don’t think we had much change or drama this year…lol. The biggest news this year with our family is my Dad’s engagement! It wasn’t a big surprise for me, and we’re very happy for my Dad and excited to get to know Penny better. She’ll make a great addition to our family. They will be getting married in May, so we are looking forward to the big celebration!

Nate is turning five next week. I really can’t believe it. He’ll start kindergarten next Fall. It’s exciting to watch him grow up but sad at the same time. I think I’ll have a hard time letting him go. He’s really sprouted up this year and is looking so much older. He’s getting a lot braver with people and coming out of his little shy shell. He’s becoming quite the performer. He loves to sing for people. I was so proud of him because he got up in front of the whole Shurtz clan (about 30-40 people!) and sang “I hope they call me on a mission” when my cousin returned off his mission, and he got up in front of our church to say his part for the presentation that the Primary kids put on once a year. He’s usually quite shy so these are big steps for him. He is in love with Rock Band right now. We have one at my Dad’s and he’s gotten really good at the drums. He loves the Beatle’s and Carrie Underwood, and is always drumming along on his own when their music is playing. We’ll have to get him into lessons soon. He can sit and read and do quiet activities, but he also has this really hyper side of him. He and Ty can have so much fun playing together and both have big imaginations. He’s been learning to write his letters and numbers this year, and is doing really good. I’m hoping to get him reading a little bit before he starts school. He’s really looking forward to Christmas and his superhero birthday party, which we’re having later today!

Ty will be turning three in January. He’s been potty trained for a couple of months now. He took to it quite quickly and has been doing really well. It’s so nice only having one little bum to change now. He is a bundle of personality! He talks to anyone and everyone…and I mean TALKS. He barely stops talking. I guess he gets that from his Mother! He is so charming and really knows how to make people smile. He is so funny and is always making us laugh! He’s starting to catch the Rock Band and singing bug from Nate and can sing a mean “Cowboy Casanova” by Carrie Underwood. He’s starting to do and say such big boy things and always has to do everything BY HIMSELF. He still loves helping us do anything and everything, and loves to spend time with his Auntie Ginger. He’s quite an emotional little guy and still loves to cuddle with Mommy and Daddy. He usually crawls into bed with us in the middle of the night where I then transfer him to the little bed that we’ve made on the floor. He is also really looking forward to Christmas and asks me everyday if Santa is coming yet!

My little Miss McKenna is getting so big! She’s becoming less and less of my baby everyday. It’s so sad but fun to watch her become this little person. She will turn two in February. She’s just the cutest little thing with the cutest little high pitched voice, which she uses a lot. She is talking so well. We can pretty much understand most things she says. She is becoming a little entertainer also. We had Ryan’s family over the other day and she just entertained everyone and made us all laugh for a good half an hour. She loves playing with blocks right now. She’ll line them up and then pile them into a tower and knock them down. She loves to color, but only if she can use Mommy’s markers. She loves running around with her brothers, but also loves to sit on our laps and read a book. She loves to watch “Mickey Mouse Clubhouse” and “Dora the Explorer” and is really into the Mickey Christmas movie we have right now. She is quite a feisty little thing and will let you know if she is not happy with you by yelling at you for a good 2 minutes straight. She hates to be told she can’t do, or get into something, and throws the biggest fits. She also loves her Auntie Ginger and will even get mad if her cousin Bella goes anywhere near her. She’s starting to understand the world and makes us smile and laugh all the time.

Ryan is working hard as always. He really enjoys his line of work and working for the company that he does. We are both in charge of teaching the 3 year old nursery class at church, and will move up with them when they start Primary in January. We are really enjoying it, especially because we get to do it together. We just got an elliptical machine and both want to get into shape this coming year. We just celebrated our Six year Anniversary at the end of November and were able to get away to Calgary for the night. We love spending time together and try to get out on a date once a month. We have the most amazing babysitters ever! Thanks guys! You all know who you are! We seriously have like 5 people that we can rely on anytime and it has been a huge blessing to us. I’m still working at the clinic two nights a week and am loving every minute of it. We’re working really hard at getting out of debt and can see a light at the end of the tunnel. We are almost there. What a great feeling that will be! This will be our second Christmas without my Mom. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about her or miss her, but I’m greatful for the example she will always be in my life! We love living so close to our family and love spending time with you! To those who live far away, we love and miss you and hope this letter will help you feel a little bit closer.

Merry Christmas and God Bless!

Love the Olsen’s

Ryan, Kelli, Nate, Ty, and McKenna

08/01/10

Christmas!

Well Christmas has come and gone. It seems like it goes by faster each year. We had a super fun, super busy, and super exhausting holiday! But I wouldn't want it any other way. Here are some highlights:

The kids decorating their Gingerbread houses pretty much all by themselves! (of course they needed some help putting it together)

The fish pond that Grandpa and Grandma Olsen did. Its a new tradition and the kids loved fishing for some prizes!

The kids doing the Nativity with the Olsen's and the Shurtz's! They all looked so dang cute! Nate was very proud to have been a wise man for both and still likes to wear his crown occasionally!

Christmas Eve Pajama's! Best tradition ever!

Playing an endless amount of games till all hours of the night (well, atleast for us OLD people!)

So much good food! I especially loved the Olsen's new fondue tradition! Seriously, amazing!

I love Christmas Eve when the kids are in bed and us "Santa's" get to fill the stockings and put the gifts under the tree! It makes me get so excited!

What would Christmas be without me waking up and having to wait for the kids to wake up. We always end up waking them up!

Walking downstairs and seeing the look of pure joy and excitement as the kids see that Santa has really, and finally come!

McKenna's Rose Petal Cottage! I seriously wanted to get it for her since the day I knew I was pregnant with a girl!

Nate's drum set from Grandpa Jim! He's quite the little drummer and we're excited to get him into lessons.

So much time spent visiting with family! and did I mention fabulous food like 24/7!

Santa Bags with the Malacko's

Singing with all the Shurtz family this year. We really need to do more of it! and singing some Christmas songs with the kids while Ginger played the guitar. Felt like Mom was there!

Shopping on boxing day! I got lots of great stuff and had a really fun day with my sister!



And of course what would a Christmas post be without pictures!



















04/01/10

Cellophane!

Mister Cellophane
Shoulda been my name
Mister Cellophane
'Cause you can look right through me
Walk right by me
And never know I'm there...





I wonder if there's a way to bring these babies back in style! Not sure why they aren't anymore...











18/12/09

Rock Band!

Us and my two brothers went in together and bought Rock Band and the Beatles Rock Band. We love getting together to play. Little did we know we would spark something in Nate. He absolutely loves it. He loves to sing, the guitar is a little hard for him to play right now, but he really loves to play the drums, and he's actually quite good at it. I was so surprised how quickly he caught on. He drums anywhere, anytime, on anything. I'll be blasting Carrie Underwood's "Cowboy Casanova" and Ty and I will be singing and dancing, McKenna will be dancing, and Nate will be either playing guitar, or drums, and he'll only sing the back up parts. Its so fun to see some of their talents start to emerge. Looks like we'll be needing to start some lessons!






Mom's of 3-5 year old girls, you might want to lock them up in a few years...he's going to be a hard one to stay away from!

18/12/09

Superheroes Unite!

We had a Superheroes theme for Nate's 5th birthday party. As you all know we had to cancel his party the weekend before because of a blizzard, so we moved it to the next weekend. Well, it snowed again and so his out of town cousins couldn't make it. It doesn't matter what we do it seems its inevitable that it will snow on the day of Nate's party. But we still went ahead with it and my brothers and sisters were able to make it. All the kids were dressed up as superheroes. Nate was Dash, Ty was Iron Man, Bella was a super fairy princess, and McKenna was super M-Doodie (which is what Nate calls her). We played some superhero games, busted open a spiderman pinuata and filled our treat bags with goodies, opened presents, and ate a yummy Batman cake. We had a blast, and Nate loved every minute of it. He was really wishing his Ben cousin's could be there though...maybe next year. We'll cross our fingers!









14/12/09

Five!

I can't believe my little man is Five!

Happy Birthday Bud! I love you!



12/12/09

Happy 6 years!

Last weekend was mine and Ryan's 6 yr anniversary. We went to Calgary for the night. Went to the Cactus Club for dinner, and spent Saturday shopping! There was a huge sale at Old Navy so we picked up a lot of good stuff for the kids, and we even got ourselves a few things. I mean, c'mon...6 years...we deserve it! Thats something to be proud of! Thanks honey for the fun weekend, and my fabulous gifts!





05/12/09

Early Christmas Present!

Ryan and I have been wanting an elliptical for some time now. Ryan's been keeping an eye out for any on sale. Well, we finally found one the other day and its perfect. Now I can work out in my own home. I love it! Now I just need some hand weights and I'll be set to go. Who needs the gym.



05/12/09

Bummer

We were planning on having Nate's 5th birthday party today. His birthday isn't until the 11th but last year we planned it for the second weekend and we ended up having a blizzard and no one could make it. This year I thought I would be smart and plan it for the first weekend. I figured there would be less chance that we'd have snow, right...wrong. Again, we had to cancel his birthday party because of a blizzard. Poor kid. Hopefully it will be clear for next weekend. We felt bad because he was expecting a party, so we ate cake anyway and let him open his gift from us. We got him a leapster with a Backyardigans game to go with it. I think he loves it! He even had to plug the head phones into it!





05/12/09

Christmas Tree's and Fudge!

We put up our Christmas tree last night! It is so fun to watch the kids get excited for the little Christmas traditions that I remember so fondly as a child! They all participated in decorating the tree this year and had so much fun! Now its a chore just to get them to keep their hands off the tree, and they must have the lights on at all times! After we finished decorating we watched Mickey's twice upon a Christmas and then ended the night with eggnog and homemade fudge! Yum!












01/12/09

Man I love this guy! Happy 6 years Ry!

28/11/09

Its Official...

My little Ty guy is potty trained! I wasn't really motivated to potty train Nate, and life was so busy when it was the perfect time to do it, so I held off a little too long and it was a disaster. I was determined to get it right with Ty, so I sent Ryan, Nate, and McKenna off to the farm for the weekend and Ty and I had a weekend of potty learning just the two of us. No distractions. It went really well, and after a couple of weeks with some accidents here and there, he got it! Now he does it all by himself without our help and is even sleeping the night in underwear. How nice it is only to have one little bum to change. I'm so proud of my big boy!

19/11/09

All Hallow's Eve!

This Halloween I was sick with the flu. We were planning to do our annual Halloween party with all the Shurtz cousin's but ended up cancelling it cause Ginger and I were both sick. Ryan went to work with his Dad and Connie came in to help out with the kids. I stayed in bed all day! Its so nice to have in-laws close by. The kids had lots of fun with Grandma. Later in the afternoon we headed over to my Dad's for Halloween with my family. Nate dressed up as Dash (from the incredibles), Ty was Peter Pan, and miss McKenna was a ladybug. The kids looked great in their costumes. My sister in-law had a fishing game set up and the kids fished for some prizes. We ate dinner and then Ryan and I took the kids trick or treating to a couple of friends houses, and then we came back to my Dad's and did a few houses with cousin Bella. The kids had so much fun and got just enough candy! Now they continue to run around the house playing trick or treat! Its a good thing they don't complain when I give them imaginary candy!











06/11/09

Strider!

My sister bought a Strider bike for all the kids to share. Ty's kind of adopted it right now though cause he's the perfect age and size for it. For anyone who doesn't know what they are its a bike with no pedals, so the child learns to push with their feet to move. Its a great way for kids to learn how to steer and keep their balance. He has had so much fun on it and has gotten pretty good. Sadly I've been really bad at taking pictures the last couple of months so I have none of Ty riding it. I do have a couple of McKenna though. In the second pic she's fixing the bike!









Just to show how well they've been playing with each other lately!




21/10/09

Kalispell!

Wow. Its been way too long since I've blogged. Last month we went to Kalispell for the Hasegawa retreat. Ryan's boss has a cabin there, so we've made it an annual tradition to go down for a weekend. The guys usually golf while the girls shop. We go out for dinner together, and then we spend all day Saturday at the cabin boating, and quading, and then Mark and Michelle BBQ steaks and we have a fabulous dinner. We had so much fun, and its always nice to get away from the kids for a weekend!





21/10/09

Scentsy!

I'm officially a Scentsy consultant! I'm so excited because it is such a great product!

Scentsy Warmers use a low-watt bulb to melt specially formulated wax slowly, maximizing the fragrance time of the Scentsy Bar or Scentsy Brick.

With no flame, soot, smoke or lead to worry about, the Scentsy system is a safe way to enjoy more than 80 delightful scents!

Check out my website: kelliolsen.scentsy.ca (don't add www.) if that doesn't work, try www.scentsy.ca/50328.

If you have any questions, want to order (other then online), host a party, or sell it yourself email me at: kelli.scentsy@hotmail.com.

I'm just waiting to get my Scentsy info pack and then I'll be hosting an open house. I'll let you know more details soon!













03/10/09

End of Summer

Monday my sister in-law and I took the kids to Waterton for the last time this summer. My Grandma had her trailer there, so we drove up for the day. It was fun just chillin by the water and the playground. Then we ended our trip with ice cream, and said goodbye to one of our favorite places. Until next year...











So as crazy as it seems, yesterday was the first time all summer that I took the kids to Park Lake. My sister in-law and I were sitting on the blanket enjoying the sunshine while the kids had fun playing in the water and sand. I sat there thinking, why we didn't do this all summer. It was so nice and relaxing. Maybe next year.









04/09/09