Monday, January 28, 2008

Celebrating Dad's birthday in Park City!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!! We hope you had a great birthday weekend! Thanks for sharing it with us!! You are the BEST dad on and off the slopes!!

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Allie turns 20!

20 things we love about Allie:

1. We love...her big brown eyes!
2. We love...the way she makes us all laugh!
3. We love...her gorgeous smile!
4. We love...her adorably cute, raspy voice!
5. We love...that she LOVES Zebras!!
6. We love...that she is incredibly smart but still seems to misplace her keys, her camera, ipod and the homework that is due today:)!!
7. We love...if she is having a bad day...all you need to do is buy her a bean burrito, no cheese, no onions and no sauce...just beans at TACO Bell and its all good!!
8. We love...her scar on her leg that she got when she fell out of the family van at great Grandma's house when she was a little girl (ask her to show it to you someday!)
9. We love...that she doesn't have an "inside voice!"
10. We love...the way that she demanded Apple Juice when she was a little girl!
11. We love...the way that she is amazingly kind and sensitive!
12. We love...her red ruby lips and beautiful smile!
13. We love...the way she dances to "Ace of Base"!
14. We love...that she loves speaking spanish and she is good at it!
15. We love...skiing Park City on a powder day and singing "Winter Wonderland!"
16. We love...the her giggle and laugh!
17. We love...the way she snorts when she giggles and laughs real hard!
18. We love...that she is so gullable and believes all my stories no matter how ridiculous!!!
19. We love...that she is going to be a nurse because she loves to take care of others!
20. We love...that she is passionate and cares a lot about the things that matter most: the gospel, her family, and her friends!

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Welcome Home Elder Holt!

What a wonderful Christmas it was for the our family this year! Allie was home from BYU, and Kimber & Brett joined us right after Christmas to welcome Elder Holt home on Friday, December 29th! Tyler missed his plane from Sao Paulo to Houston, so he spent the next 24 hours trying to get home. He was supposed to arrive on Friday at 11 am but instead he got in at 11 pm! After spending 36 hours traveling, he was exhausted but so happy to finally be home! What a fun reunion we had at the airport! The anticipation and joy that we felt was awesome! As a family, we decided to wait and celebrate Christmas when he got home. So we greeted him at the airport, took a few pictures at the airport (Dad said it was a lot more than a few!), hurried home, had Christmas dinner at midnight and stayed up until 2 am opening presents and listening to missionary stories! It was awesome! So good to have him home and be together as a family once again! Saturday, we had all the family and friends over for a party, and of course, basketball and jacuzzi with Tyler's buddies! It was wonderful! Sunday, Tyler spoke at church and did an awesome job! Ashley sung "A Window to His Love" and it was beautiful! After church, all the family and friends came over for Sunday dinner! We visited all night and played the Wii. Everyone had to participate! After much coaxing and persuasion, we got Grandma and Grandpa Olson to play Wii tennis! They were adorable! Monday, we watched football and packed. Dad was so happy to have his boy home so that they could watch the bowls games together again! That night we went to Ruth's Chris for dinner with just our family. It was wonderful to have a few hours to just visit and hear Tyler's missionary stories and be together as a family! Tuesday morning, Brett and Kimber flew back to NYC. We had so much fun with them and we are going to miss them! Tyler was excited to meet Brett and so happy to have a brother! He loved talking about his mission and football with Brett! Wednesday morning, we packed the car up and headed to Provo to get Tyler moved in and settled for school! It was a busy, but fun few days with Tyler! It was hard to leave him so soon...but we back in Utah in a few weeks so we will be able to spend more time with him. We are grateful to have him home and listen to his wonderful stories about the people that he taught in Brazil! We are so grateful that Tyler was able to serve a mission, grateful for the gospel and the joy that we experienced as a family when he was on his mission! And grateful for families and the love that we have for each other and to be reunited again! We are most grateful to be able to Welcome Home Elder Holt!! We love you, Tyler!