It Started Like This.....

Thanksgiving-2011! We adore our Thanksgiving traditions with our Olsen Family. We begin like this.......watching the Detroit Lyons football game. Come as your are---pj's, sweatshirts, pillows, blankets, slippers, etc. Touchdown's, you score chocolate delights...YUM! When the opposing team scores....someone draws a slip of paper out of a bowl and we have to do whatever it says on the paper....we ran laps, danced, etc. Always fun.

Table clothe art, after the football game.

Here are the results, before dinner was served buffet style.

My husband drew this around his table setting.

And, he drew this around mine....oh, good. You get a chance to see my dinner. It was so good.

When I cleared my plate from the table, I found this......yep, he is a good catch and all that goes with it.

We adore our traditional desserts. We have divine fudge over to the far left upper corner....can't miss the fabulous chocolate cake.....pies---need I say more? Well, a little more. L to R, coconut cream pie (with a bottom layer of nuts, butter and brown sugar), apple crumble pie, and double layer pumpkin pie (theirs a whip cream, cream cheese, sugar layer hidden beneath the pumpkin). This has to be served buffet style so that you can have a little of each. It is a must!

We then, settle ourselves down into the cozy couches and watch a fun movie to top off our Thanksgiving day.

Love the holiday season. Wonderful memories from Thanksgiving with those near and far....loved all the email, texts, phone calls and conversation from before, during and after the holiday weekend.

Happy days to you and yours! xo

HALLOWEEN and such!

Great HALLOWEEN!!!

Zombie time!!

Yep...getting into character and all that goes with it! Party on, Zombie boy!

Lots of Halloween parties over the last week. All good! Our town hosts trick-r-treat from 4pm until 6pm...followed by cider and donuts and a costume parade for the little ones, downtown. Makes for a perfect Halloween and love that everything begins early in the day...no late night stuff.
So, our family had a nice yummy dinner of Pumpkin Corn Chowder and crackers. It was delicious. I must admit, I was sceptical, but, WOW! This was really a tasty Fall soup recipe.

We had what we call "dinner theater" and ate our dinner and watched the Halloween episode of Psych from last week----and for those of you who follow this series, you will understand our dessert choice----we cut up a fresh pineapple and boy oh boy was that delicious.

Now, these little pumpkin cookies may look like dessert. Not so fast! Ha! I made these pumpkin cookies fairly healthy...whole wheat, oatmeal, ground flax seed,wheat germ, raisins, walnuts, very low sugar...added some dark chopped chocolate for the fun of it. These actually became our appetizer...not intentionally. Just turned out that way as everyone arrived home from work, school, and Halloween doings----nearly starving to death. So, piping hot pumpkin goodness was enjoyed right away.

Hope your Halloween was sensational and that your holiday season, (which has begun here in our household ---even heard Christmas carols on the radio over the weekend and I don't seem to mind--ha!), will be wonderful and full of joy and happiness. I have got Thanksgiving thoughts running through my head. Watch out Olsen's....we will be to your house to celebrate and eat turkey and all the fixing's before you know it. And of course, GO LYONS! XO

Pumpkin Corn Chowder

In a large soup pot (Dutch oven works well), melt 2 T butter. Add in and cook for 5 minutes, 1/2 small yellow onion and 2 cloves minced garlic.

Stir in 1 t Curry Powder and cook for 30 seconds or so.

Add in 2 cups cubed sweet potatoes and 2 cups cubed potatoes.

Next, 1 14 ounce can of chicken stock, 1/4 each salt and pepper.

Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered for 15-20 minutes.

When that is all cooked nicely, add in.....1 14 ounce can pumpkin, 1 14.75 ounce can cream style corn, 1, 10.75 ounce can cream of celery soup, 1 cup milk, 1 t dried thyme, crushed. YUM!

I let this soup sit for about an hour and 1/2 before serving...just like spaghetti sauce...this soup tastes better with a little aging. Can't wait to taste what little soup was leftover for my lunch today. Bet the flavor will be bold and divine.

Can serve with a sprinkling of pumpkin seeds, sour cream or crackers.

Pumpkin Cookies

My mom makes excellent cookies. I do remember her making pumpkin cookies and applesauce cookies. These two cookies were always so moist and delicious.

Oven...375 degrees.

Mix 1 regular can of pumpkin, with 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/2 cup shortening. ( Can decrease sugar to about 1/4 and add in 1/4 cup applesauce and reduce shortening to 1/4 cup).

Add in....2 cups whole wheat flour, 1 t baking powder, 1 t baking soda, 1 t ground cinnamon, and 1/4 t salt. And, if your care to, here is where I add in a little ground flax seed, and wheat germ. I also use ground oatmeal with the whole wheat flour to equal the 2 cups.

Then, my favorites...add in raisins and chopped walnuts.....as much as you want. So good. Can add in chocolate at this point, as well. Mix and drop by teaspoon full onto greased cookie sheet.

Dough is very soft and fluffy. That is ok. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

SUPER delicious if you can manage to eat these cookies right out of the oven.

XO

White Stuff and Faces I Love!!

Woke -up very early one morning and found this in our drive-way. You may be asking yourself what this could be...no need to wait any longer it is......

THIS! Yep...we were tp'd something fierce. I am pretty sure it was girls because all the way up our stairway and flower planters, toilet paper was delicately draped and tied in bows around the largest part of some of my plants. The stair railing had tp meticulously woven into it's rails and their was a bow of tp in our cats outdoor little house on the porch. Bows of tp were tied on the outdoor lights and as previously seen, squares of tp went from our garage area out to the dirt road in front of our house...ha! Had a very good laugh.
We met up with our very, very, very best of the best friends before children headed back to college and high school.
These two boys...funniest boys in the land. Such good humor and personalities.

My how they have grown! And, they eat a lot, too! Ha!

Got to love these girls......and,

...these girls, too!

We are happy and proud mama's! So thankful for good children who work so hard at what they do! We love these kids to pieces!

How is the school and work year treating all of you this fall? Between my friend and I we have 2 children in high school, 4 children going to 3 different colleges, and one married----yep, that would be, Jenna. Time marches on, because I am sure it was just yesterday that we were holding babies, nursing wounds, singing lullabies, reading stories, going to the playground to swing, fixing pretty bows in hair, etc. Sigh....those were lovely days, too. xo

Tennis and a little Italian Dinner...Yum!

Time to celebrate! High School tennis is in full-swing. No, school has not started for us, but activities have begun. 9 matches and 3 tournaments later, a nice medal is gracing our dinner table. I do like the design on this medal....oh, I think the ole medal looks distinguish and delightful, displayed sitting on the bottom of a fun glass, don't you?

My son playing through a lot of opponents and summer heat.

So, at the end of the day, it was time to celebrate a sweet victory and enjoy a family dinner. Truth be told, I bought an Italian cookbook and it arrived today. I read the recipes and family stories from cover to cover. This of course, inspired me to put on my apron and add something of the "Italian" nature to our dinner celebration menu.
Yum...I do love pork chops. So, I browned up the pork.....

....got into my pantry and pulled out a bottle of Italian, Sausage and Garlic Spaghetti Sauce. Hmmmm...seems like these two would combine and fit together well. So, when the pork chops were nearly done, in went the sauce. Boy oh boy, did it ever smell good.

And, one of my very most favorite pasta's....Angel Hair. It cooks in 3-5 minutes and is light as a feather. I do make noodles for chicken noodle soup, but, would love to learn how to make other types of noodles.

Lovely. Just pour the sauce and meat over the pasta.

Nice little dinner for the family.....crystal glasses filled with berry juice and our summer colorful plastic plates---ha! Love it.

And can't forget the dessert, no way! These are such pretty pears and oh so good.
They are ready to be sliced.

Well, this dinner was so fast and so easy....and tasted great. Give it a try, when you get the chance.

So, whats cooking at your house? xo

More Family...in the good ole summer time!

One of my favorite summer pictures! My son-in-law taking a run through the rain. He even put his swim suit on for the occasion. He doesn't see much rain in his neck of the woods and just had to get out in it and enjoy it for awhile. He is such a fun guy!

My son joining in the fun. See how brown the grass became this summer? Hot, hot and hot days with very little rain.

HA! After their run, someone was even a little bit cold. Felt great!

Had to pull out the rocking horse from storage. Ride'm cowgirl. This little sweetie needs cowgirl boots...pink cowgirl boots, for sure.

We sure enjoyed celebrating the 4th of July together. We even braved the heat and ate outside.

Plenty of chefs on hand to do things up right!

I do love a good ole bbq......

...and all the fixings!

Time to eat and enjoy each others company!

The more, the merrier!

A favorite past time. Ha! Pushing one's own stroller around and around.

There was work to be done, too! We put in a little, lovely rose garden off of our back porch.

Everybody needs someone to supervise a ground breaking activity....and to eat snacks.

Just about done. Love seeing this rose garden each and everyday. I am loving the colors of roses this year...orange, yellow and lavender. The lavender has a beautiful scent....very different from other roses that I am familiar with. I have been clipping many a bloom. They sure do brighten-up our home and smell so good.

Keep on enjoying the summer everyone! xo

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig!

Our daughter is home from serving a mission for our church. She spent the last year and a half in the San Diego, California area...and speaks Spanish!

My son was so happy to see his sister again. See the two different colors of flooring. You can see an officer sitting in a little chair and desk thing-y to the far left of the picture. Above their is a sign that says Do Not Enter. We were perched on the very edge of that grey flooring trying not to run towards Kristen when we saw her round the bend...til we just could not take it anymore. So, we most likely ebbed in 5-10 feet in the "don't get in here" zone.

My husband took over the camera. So glad to get a picture of my other daughter, Alyson, Kristen and me. Happy times.


All of us were so excited to see Kristen again. And, we are feeling very lucky that more of our family will be traveling from out west to join us in celebrating Kristen coming home safe and sound, after serving a very wonderful mission.

And, so, there was cooking. Just have to learn these great recipes from Kristen's Spanish speaking mission area. Yummy.
Recipe..... corn taco's, stuffed with-------get ready, shredded chicken and mashed potato's, fried in canola oil. Get everything nice and hot in the inside and a bit crisp on the outside.

And, the toppings. I do love a good hot sauce and this combination of toppings were so divine...shredded lettuce, tomato's, diced onion, salsa verde, hot sauce, lime and sour cream. Oh--the drink. It is a fun one, for sure. It is called Horchata. It is a skim milk, cinnamon and rice flavored drink. It was tasty and more like a little cup of dessert. We found it in our International Section of our grocery store...along with Jumex, guava nector. Super good to drink.

So, all in all, we are relishing in having our girl home. How we missed her and how we are enjoying hearing about all her adventures. She is a gem. We are so excited for her to see our Olsen family and friends and our traveling family members. What a blessing and what great times for us all.

Life is good!!!xo

I'ts your.....BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!

Well, well, well! Somebody is having a birthday today!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JENNA!

I think we should take a little walk down memory lane, don't you? It was a lovely spring morning. It was 9 am to be exact, and a Sunday. My husband had just left to go to an early meeting. I heard the door close and within seconds, and I do mean seconds, I jumped up out of bed because my water broke. I remember the shock and surprise--ha! It was April 20th...my due date was May 5th. So, a bit early. I of course, fetched my husband home.

Off to the hospital we went. I remember the happy and stunned feeling, that half smile on my face....it was really happening. I waddled into the hospital and was very surprised at how rapid and "true to life" my contractions were. Maybe this baby will arrive fast as lightening?

Silly me.

I remember labor. I will always remember labor. There is no cushioning of the contractions when your water breaks. And why is it that back labor is so out of this world? I vividly remember a fleeting thought---maybe, just maybe if I get up and out of this hospital bed and RUN...RUN like crazy, I can leave these crazy contractions behind. Of course, it was about this time (4pm) that I received an epidural. Relief. And, it is worth noting that this would be the first, but not last time when I was having a baby, that I saw my hubby have to breath into a brown paper bag to regain himself...poor fellow, the epidural was all a bit much for him-ha!

More of the story...

Around 7pm, I remember chuckling to myself and wondering if anyone was aware I was having a baby. This thought came to me from my view from the bed. In front of me, my husband and Doctor were kicking back, drinking juice, having a snack and watching a basketball game on tv...ha! Hello? Remember me? Having a baby over here. Ha!

And, soon enough, at 9:38pm, on April 20th, our little baby girl arrived....all 6 pounds 7 ounces of her 18 1/2 inch long, self. Lots of dark hair and sweet as pie. Whew!

Our lives would never, ever be the same. We were definitely ok with that little fact, and so happy because we were now a family of three.

So, here's to you, Jenna! Oh, I mean here's a picture of Jenna's favorite lemon sour cream pound cake I sent to her. I sent it in cupcake form last year. Hmmm...I think I need to post this recipe, but later, cuz we are having a celebration right now.
So, thank-you, Jenna, for being such a wonderful daughter and forever friend. Through the years, you have made such a significant difference in our family. Being the oldest child, and first born grandchild on both sides of the family, comes with such HUGE responsibility. You have been so successful in this role. You are loved deeply, respected, and admired by all of us, because of how you have lived your life.

And, now...you have a wee babe of your own. She is such a treasure and so blessed to have you, as her mama.

April 2oth, will always be your day (well, and Jared Nelson's--happy b-day, Jared) and the day that your dad and I will always remember...our hearts grew a little bit larger and a little bit softer, and our lives were changed...all because a little bit of heaven joined our family and made all the difference in the world.

Love you bigger than the sky................................