Good Bye, Summer!

"If they can do it, so can I."

I'm pretty sure that's what Madelyn would say if she was more "advanced" verbally.

I mean, does this face not scream rock star, or what?!?

If only her legs were a little longer...

They're absolutely best of buds!

I can only imagine the stories they will have to tell as the years go by...

Our sweet baby girl is turning into a sweet little girl...

It's fun to watch, but painful too.

The things she puts up with...

Don't worry.

I think she's secretly scheming in her mind all of the ways she will get them back when she's a little quicker...

This is only the beginning of "collections", and "forts" and playing at the park...

I love watching them play together.

They have SO much fun!

Our sweet little girl...

And our sweet big boy!

*I realize this is sort of a random post, but that is sort of our life these days... or maybe just my mind these days!*

Summer Days...

This will be quick, but I have GOT to get back in the hang of blogging. I miss making memories on here and it sure looks like our summer has been pretty blaw! For the most part, no one has really missed anything! BUT, we're starting to get out and about a bit and I'd hate to forget to document it! =)

Yesterday, we had our carpets cleaned for FREE because I won a drawing at Summerfest last weekend! It was SO fun! My carpets look amazing. I told the man that I haven't ever loved them this much and he kind of looked at me funny... anyway. Loved it! So, once Summit Cleaning was on there way, we opened up some windows and started some fans and headed up to Wilsonville to play with friends!

We dropped off Matt with Ben and picked up Ben's little boy Droiy and headed over to Memorial Park to have some REAL summer fun!

Once again, I always have a hard time picking which pictures to post...

... of course this picture was a must!

... and maybe this one too...

(This picture says SO much about our little Madelyn's personality...)

The first of many!

Kissing another boyfriend...

... and another!

One of my faves, even though the quality is really poor!

And finally, the best group shot I could get!

Here's to four REALLY cute kids!!!

If I may say so myself! =)

Small Town, USA

I know that it's practically Christmas shopping time and I'm just now blogging about the 4th of July, but please cut me some slack...

The Fourth is our all-time-favorite holiday! We spend it with friends (and family) and we have traditions... shocking, I know!

This year we added a new tradition to our day, which is already pretty full. We decided to get up early and walk in the 3K Fun Run/Walk for the National Kidney Foundation. It was two days and two weeks after Matt's big surgery, and he did AWESOME!

Matt's two nephews, brother, sister, and parents came over to join in on the fun! (Please note the amount of red/white/or blue that is being worn in this picture... so proud of them! =)

Matt walked across the start line and the finish line, but may or may not have had help in the middle. =)

Our little family after the race!

Next we moved on to a bar-b-que at the Pynchs' house followed by Stayton's 4th of July Parade!

In all honesty, it was kind of a lame year for the parade, but Madi sure got the idea down...

The clan watching/waiting for the parade!

Madi dancing to some 'tunes!

Sweet baby Michael and Madi sitting on Auntie Krista's lap...

My two faves...

And second-to-last, but certainly not least, we did a little softball watchin'...

No, none of us Olsons played this year, but we had fun watching everyone else get sweaty!

... and eating licorice, of course!

We ended with some *cough* stellar *cough* fireworks, and called it a day!

Until next year Fourth of July... we sure love you!

Ten Years!

I've been dying to blog about this... well, honestly, I've just been dying to finally BLOG again. I'm hoping this will be the beginning to a lot of fun summer posts!

My dad surprised my mom and rented a Limo for my parents' 35th Wedding Anniversary! Yes, 35 years! He did this ten years ago on my parents 25th anniversary and apparently he decided to make it a tradition (what a surprise =)! My mom wasn't/didn't know anything about it until about 15 minutes before the limo got there when my mom received a phone call asking directions to her house. The kind driver said, "Were you expecting a chauffeur tonight?" And of course my mom said, "Well, not that I know of!" Meanwhile, my dad was on the other line with my brother and knew the gig had been blown!

The poor driver felt awful! All was well though, we still had fun and my mom was quite surprised. Now, I'm sure you're all wondering how WE all got to be a part of my parents' anniversary dinner. As tradition stands (please note, I'm now referring to this as a "tradition"), my dad rents the limo to take my mom and him out to dinner and the kids get to have the limo while mom and dad are eating!

So... after dropping them off at some fancy Italian restaurant in Keizer, we cruised around and decided on getting a bite to eat at Red Robin. Red Robin, however, is not tradition. Ten years ago you were allowed to EAT in limos, now it's against the rules! We had a blast, as can be expected, and we loved reminiscing about the "changes" that have occured in the last ten years!

Now for the drum role please....

This is what Matt and I looked like on our last limo ride...

*Please excuse the '90's scrapbooking. It was "in" back then, trust me!*

Total dorks, I know! You'll have to excuse the "accessories". I had to upload this via our scanner from this little scrapbook that I made for Matt when he graduated from high school (9 years ago)... I bet there weren't even scanners ten years ago...

This is the new and improved Olson clan...

*Please excuse the bags under our eyes, obviously I don't know how to edit pictures that well... and that's what ten years will get ya!*

Madi was trying to squirm free to play inside the limo with her cousins.

Just the two of us...

I can't really say we've gained much/any weight, just a walker, I guess!

Another of the whole fam...

And finally, the anniversary couple and their grandbabies - obviously their favorite additions in the last ten years! =)

Here's to ten more years, a whole 'nother litter of children, no walker, and maybe even another brother-in-law/son-in-law?!? (No pressure, we love you single too, J! ;)

P.S. Thanks Mom and Dad for letting us join in/spoil your fun! =)

Vacation: Day 2

Day two pictures are much less entertaining!  We decompressed after finally being done with appointments by roaming the big city as a family.  The only pictures we took were in front of the beloved 1st Starbucks!

I like that Madi is craning her neck to people watch in this picture.  There was this crazy lady dancing to drums while some big crazy hippy whispered strange things in her ear.  I can't really blame her for being a looky-lucy... in fact, I think I know where she gets it from!

Here she is with her Mama in the same spot... someday she'll appreciate it a little more! =)

It didn't rain on us and we didn't get mugged!  It was a great night! =)  Mostly because we ended it with another delicious slice of cheesecake!  Mmmm... I can almost taste it now!

Vacation: Day 1

This waiting room is getting old, so I'm updating our blog.  I realized when I went through our pictures that we've done a terrible job of documenting our week!  

Oh well... 

Here is to day one...

After Matt's doctor's appointments, we checked into our hotel, the Camlin, and headed back to Renton and picked up Madi from her Uncle Josh and Auntie Krista's house.  J & H gave us a gift card to Cheesecake Factory so we walked the wopping two blocks from our hotel and had a fun family date! 

*Please excuse the horrible picture - I'm still grateful to the stranger that took it! =)*

Madi has been a great trooper!  She loves to snuggle her baby doll in her stroller and "people watch" (just like Mommy and Daddy =). 

It was a fun first day!  We shared a delicious dinner, which I selected, and then an even more delicious dessert, which Matt selected!  We took the slice of cheesecake back to our hotel (white chocolate raspberry - sorry to make you jealous! =) and ate it in the dark while Madi slept!  It was so AMAZING that we decided we should make it a "tradition" and we ate another piece the next night... in the dark! =)  It was great, until Thursday night came around and Matt had to stop eating that morning at 9 and we felt (especially me) oh-so-deprived to not have our traditional "cheescake-in-the-dark" treat!  Very spoiled... I know!

That pretty much entailed the first day!  We loved having a little "vacation" in the midst of this craziness!

The Beginning of the End...

To my faithful bloggees (that would be fancy for "blog-followers")(assuming I have some =):

We are headed up to Seattle, and we hope to come back without Arnold (Matt's tumor's nickname... long story). We like to think of it as a "vacation". (Okay, so I like to think of it more as a vacation than Matt does.) We appreciate all of your prayers! I'm not sure that I will be blogging much, if at all, but I have set up a caring bridge website so that we can keep people updated quickly and efficiently. You're welcome to check it out at www.caringbridge.org/visit/mattolson or head to the caring bridge website and type in mattolson (all one word).

We're hoping to be back before July (mostly because Stayton is THE place to celebrate the 4th of July... =), but it will all be in God's timing, NOT ours!

Thank you for your prayers! God is good!

Family Dinner...

The Lambert Family has started a new tradition.

And for those that know us well, you know we absolutely LOVE tradition!

Our new tradition congregated around one of the coolest picnic tables in the world this week. Okay, so it might just be THE coolest picnic table in the world...

Yes, folks, it's an octagon (and it seats 16).

And yes, it was handcrafted by my brother-himself.

It is my sister-in-law's new birthday present and he made it in about 2 days flat. Let's just say that when he gets an idea it rarely leaves him until the idea is completed. I think it's definitely a good quality (although some could argue that it could be annoying).

Anyway, back to the tradition. Every Sunday afternoon we are coming together to have a "family dinner".

This week we enjoyed the sun (finally) and some A-mazing homemade ceviche!

We were hoping the Mexican neighbors would be out blasting their salsa music, but we didn't luck out.

We finished off our meal with some key lime cake (mmmm).

As well as some melted ice cream...

Some of you may have noticed Madi's cousin in the background and assumed that she is probably just copying what she sees.

Oh, you're wrong! She definitely started the plate licking, and her older cousin definitely copied her!

Matt and I pray regularly that her strong personality is used to glorify God and that someday Madi will proudly stand up for her faith...

because this little girl has got a mind of her own!

And her older cousin is quite the follower (adorable, nonetheless!)

For right now, I think she's got them both right where she wants them.

With, or without her clothes on!

=)

Just Another Day...

Rest in Me, My child. Give your mind a break from planning and trying to anticipate what will happen. Pray continually, asking My Spirit to take charge of the details of this day. Remember that you are on a journey with Me. When you try to peer into the future and plan for every possibility, you ignore your constant Companion who sustains you moment by moment. As you gaze anxiously into the distance, you don't even feel the strong grip of My hand holding yours. How foolish you are, My Child!

Remembrance of Me is a daily discipline. Never lose sight of My Presence with you. This will keep you resting in Me all day, every day.

Today was our last day of school. Matt's last day of work (he got laid off for those who don't know... thank you budget cuts). It's always a bittersweet time, but when we have NO idea what our plan is for the fall it feels a little more "bitter" than "sweet". This was our daily devotional that Matt read to me before bed tonight. They always seem to be so appropriate, especially during this time in our lives! Thanks for all your prayers! I'll leave you with a sweet picture of our baby girl - this is how she feels about life! =)

I wait quietly before God, for my hope is in Him!

Psalms 62:5

Always be joyful. Keep on praying. No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.

I Thessolonians 5:16-18

Pink Toes...

I'm finding it sort of hard to want to blog about anything, so I dug through our pictures that we've taken recently and couldn't resist sharing these!

Madelyn had her toes painted for the first time... and her response was priceless.

Why is Daddy blowing on my feet?

Her cousin Seven was here, so he helped her blow on them so that they would dry fast! As you can see from the pictures, Madi's favorite thing to do was hold the finger nail polish. I think she was more excited about carting the little bottle around for the next hour than she was about her cute little toes!

Now Seven's doing it to?!?!

... and of course she had to check out the finished product! She has been so cute in her little sandals and every time we ask her where her toes are she stops and stares down at her feet! =) ... just one of her many new tricks! She's so much fun!!!