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

New Tastes

I've been in a weird mood lately. There are times in my life when it feels like a small earthquake is going on inside, when my personality cracks and the templates of who I am shift and former mountains become valleys and vis versa. I always enjoy when this happens because for a few days or weeks the monotony of life's every day repetitiveness gets a make over and fresh air blows through the regularity. At the same time, like when an earthquake disfigures familiar landmarks, I have to get to know these new land masses and make them a part of me and align and expand the beliefs and traditions and habits that have been governing my every thought and action since consciousness.

This long deep glimpse into my soul (haha) is simply an introduction to a new line I've recently discovered in London where they have the most fabulous and INTERESTING shoes....

Bacon and Eggs

Cortesan Floral Bar

Daddy's Girl

Duke the 2nd

Oriento Sun So

Can't Touch This

I probably never would have looked at them twice had this shift in nature not occurred bringing on these new tastes. These names alone are awesome. I can see myself ordering a pair and when it arrives in the mail exclaiming, "My bacon and eggs are here!"Or if I've lost them, "Has anyone seen Duke the 2nd?"

Along with new, weird tastes in fashion this out-of-no-where life altering has brought a gratifying awareness to a new singer, Adele. Have you heard of her!? Sooooo good! Here is one of my favorites, although beware, it's so beautiful it always makes me all teary:




Have a happy weekend!

The Vest...and more!

Many moons ago, I mentioned doing some sewing for my son. I made him a vest and tie for Prom. I believe it turned out AOK.

Hardest part was finding out my button hole feature did not work on my sewing machine...a machine I have had since I was 17 years old...eeeekkk! So, I made button holes by hand. Maybe you all know how to make button holes by hand? Not me. Had to look it up on the Internet and then do it! The last hole I sewed was by far the best. The first....room for improvement.

Dropping a car off at the school before my son headed to his Prom meeting spot.


Hubby and son, shooting the breeze with snacks and drinks at the designated meeting house for all the Prom goers in this particular group. Lots and lots of pictures were being taking, of course.

Got to love that look on my son's face. He and the boys seem very comfortable hovering around the food table while the girls were having their pictures taken.

After many years of taking pictures of our 3 older girls going to dances and Prom, it was nice to switch things up and hook into the boys side of picture taking.

Got to love this pose.

And, the smiles.

Only boys would think to get into a tree for a picture!

One of our favorite friends, Samantha

Heading down to the lake and garden area for more fun pictures.

This truly was a happy group of kids----actually, these kids have been friends for many, many, many school years and just enjoy being together.

A great group.

Looking back up to the house from the lake. This was back at the beginning of May, so, the beautiful gardens are just getting the hang of having to grow again. The lady of this house, had placed little name makers next to each and every flower, bush, or growing thing. It was so lovely.

And, here is the shed with the garage behind it. So cute and so fun.

More man poses!

And, more laughing.

The blue bottle tree.

Last picture because it was time to head out for dinner and dancing.

Great memories...loads of fun...see more of these kids next school year.

Sure brought back fond memories of my own Prom days. How about you? Were you a Prom goer?

Happy Times!!

It's summer. Time for sunglasses and lunch with my dad.

....and with my mom.

One last walk with dad before he goes back to work.

In my Mom's books....

Huh?

I love books of any size or shape.

Happy girl, for sure!

Great kick off to summer spending time with Jenna and her family out west. They will travel out to Michigan this summer, as well. Can barely wait. xoxo

p.s. What summer plans are ahead for you all?

Gone Fishing! And other tall tales....

It is that time of year! My husband and I took an early wedding anniversary trip up north to our favorite, favorite and I do really mean, favorite camping, hiking, fishing, biking, etc. place. We are not only celebrating our 27th anniversary this year, but, we are also celebrating 20 great years of camping in these woods. Love it! Let's head to the campground...ok?

Lots of trucks and trailers in this particular shot from the upper side of the campground. We prefer the lower side of the campground that is loaded with tree's and wildflowers....a little more private, and near a biking trail.
We unloaded, set up our camp, had a snack and headed for the woods. How I love these woods and all the memories over the past 20 years. So, park your car, or bike, and let's head across the bridge.

Now, think...have you forgotten anything?...water bottle, camera, bug spray....check, check and check. Carry on.

Keep on going. Up above the forest floor and heading to the Visitor's Center. We are almost their.

Hello, old friend. What a happy and welcoming sight. We enter and chat with a few park rangers, look at the new displays, check out the quilt that is sewn every late winter, early spring and raffled off at summers end, sit for a while at the bird windows (huge windows across the back side of the visitors center) and enjoy watching the birds come to many different bird feeders.

And, what do I spy? The BLACK SQUIRREL!!! I am a winner. Every year...for 20 years of camping, we have a contest in our family to see who can spot a black squirrel first. Well, in all fairness....hubby was asking a question at the info desk and I snuck out the back of the visitors center to see if I could possibly see a black squirrel and...well, there you go. Candy bar of choice for me. Lucky day!

Off we go into the woods. Here we are at the logging museum....life from the logging days can be seen in each of these buildings. For years (too many years to count) I have taken a small slip of paper with a "vinegar pie" recipe on it from the museum, logging camp, kitchen. I finally made the recipe this past year and have to say, it was pretty good.

Don't know how the loggers survived the hard winters and all the trees that they chopped and hauled and floated down the rivers to their destinations.

On with our walk, out of the logging camp and up and around the bend and down the hill ---and up again to the chapel in the woods. We have seen a bride and groom, here and their through the years, going or coming out of the chapel and woods.

Rough storms this year brought down a lot of large trees. We counted 5 downed trees, close to the chapel. So glad a tree did not land on the chapel.

Making our way through the woods....taking pictures, talking and swatting a mosquito or two or three...ok, or more.

Forest floor with new seedlings growing and spreading. Have to see if they can get enough light to grow. The forest is so dense that you can easily walk through the forest when it is raining and not get soaked. We use to do this with our children when they were little....rain was not a problem. We would just go into the woods and hike the trails and stay fairly dry.

My husband loves to look up into these particular old trees. It is one of his favorite spots in the forest.

More trail.

More beautiful woods.

Just love all the sounds and smells of the forest. My mind goes back to all my tree climbing days as a child....when I was sure I wanted to build a house in a tree.

Maybe I need one of those bumper stickers that says, "Have you hugged a tree today?"

Any favorite hiking or biking trails for you? Any campers out their? I do love Mother Nature and all her beauty. Can't wait to go up north again. We had a blast.

Enjoy the day. We have gone from a gentle spring into summer over night. Saturday was 92 with humidity....that is rare for this time of year...or for us to reach into the 90's does not happen very often all summer long. Whew! Happy times ahead!!! xo