18 MONTHS Little Man!!!

Lincoln turned 18 Months on October 14th (I know I'm a month behind but better late than never). I just got him in for his check-up/shots two weeks ago and let's just say this was a BIG MILESTONE for LINCOLN...he finally made the weight chart! At about 6 months old Lincoln dropped below the Weight chart and started making his own curve underneath everyone else, which is when I had to start taking him in monthly for a weight check. Anyways, Lincoln finally passed up the 20 lb marker...putting him at 2% on the weight curve. I know it's not much but at least my little guy is on there now...2% makes me laugh just thinking about it. He was 21 lbs (2nd percentile for weight) and 32" tall (25th percentile for height). FINALLY.

Here's a few things about Lincoln that I don't want to forget...
- You are the busiest little boy I know! Seriously outta control these days. You are into EVERYTHING and I like to refer to you as 'mr. destructo' on many occassions. You love to pull everything out of my purse, take all of your clothes out of your suitcase and throw them on the floor (yes we've been living out of suitcases for 4 months now), and you keep me EXTREMELY busy. Kenedee can sit there and entertain herself for hours but you need to be busy and right by my side.
- You love to copy EVERYTHING Kenedee does, what she says, how she walks and dances, what she climbs on, what she eats, you name it. It's pretty cute to see you follow her around everywhere wanting to do what she does.
- You love to take things apart (we think you'll be some kind of engineer someday). You can open and pull apart almost anything. Seriously amazing.
- You LOVE LOVE LOVE fruit. You could eat fruit all day...grapes, apples, bananas, canteloup, pineapple, watermelon, if it's anywhere in sight you want it.
- You LOVE LOVE LOVE candy/chocolate. We keep a candy stash back in our bedroom for Adam and I so you kiddos can't find it but you know exaclty where it is and try to sneak in and get it. On MANY occassions I find you sitting on the ground with wrappers around you munching on my chocoalate (stinker)
- You can say a million words, I swear. You are a much quicker talker than Kenedee. You can say 'mama, dada, Jesus, ball, bath, bird, flower, milk, apple, moon, i wan dat (I want that), bompa (Grandpa), lizard (Aunt Debby has a lizard that lives outside her front door each night that you LOVE to look at), and a few more that I can't think of at the moment
- You are one happy boy. You may be my busy boy and drive me crazy but you are such a happy boy and love to laugh. Just about anything makes you laugh. And you are also extremely ticklish
- You love your bath
- We're pretty sure you're left-handed (like your dad). You do everything with your left hand
- You love to give hugs and kisses
- You fold your arms and bow your head when we pray and it's the cutest little thing to see

Thanks for bringing so much laughter and craziness into our lives. YOU SERIOUSLY ARE THE CUTEST LITTLE BOY EVER!!!

HOMEOWNERS ROUND 2

WE CLOSED!!! I've been hush hush about this house because of how long it has taken, I didn't want to get all excited about it & post and then have it all fall through. But let me just say that this has been the most FRUSTURATING thing ever. WAITING FOR 2 MONTHS. We found this house the first of September, loved it (with serious work needing done) and put in our offer (foreclosure of course, everything out here is either a foreclosure or short sale). That weekend we had three homes accept our offers (two we previously had offers on). But our favorite and smartest investment was this house we just closed on...so we turned down the other two and said 'yes' to this house. At that time, they had verbally told us that they accepted our offer, so we were waiting for the paperwork to come through to sign to move ahead...one week later we received the paperwork, signed and faxed it back, and waited for them to sign off on it so we could start the inspection, appraisel, all that fun stuff in order to close...two weeks later (so a total of 3 weeks at this point) we finally got the go-ahead to start our inspections, which by this point we should have already been three weeks into closing with a week left. But the bank that owned this house took its SWEET time with EVERYTHING - no wonder these banks are having problems!!! So after three weeks of waiting we quickly got everything started, inspections, appraisels, underwriting on our loan, etc. At that point our lending was all in place so we were hoping to close in three weeks. Our original close date was Nov 4th so we were hoping to beat that by a week...more time goes on. We signed our closing docs last weeks, bank again needs more SWEET time to sign off on our home because they were swamped so we waited and waited and waited. AND FINALLY, WE CLOSED!!! TWO MONTHS LATER!!!

But...we can't move in yet. This home is trashed on the inside (cosmetically trashed that is) so it will take about two weeks to fix up the inside before we move in. But it will be brand-new on the inside and I couldn't be happier (I really hope it turns out nice). It's getting ALL new carpets, new lighting, recessed lighting in the kitchen, crown-molding in the family/kitchen area, new base boards, new toilets, sinks, appliances, you name it. This house was a mess!!! But we got it for a killer deal so it's definitely worth it. Kenedee refers to this house as the 'yucky dirty house' and that is correct. But hopefully in two weeks this home will be brand-spanking new!!! And we should have some pretty sweet before and after pics...get excited! I feel so bad we have been living with his aunt/uncle for four months now, but two months ago when our offer was accepted we thought we'd be out of here much quicker than it's been. They have been more than generous and we owe them big time!

As for our home in Georgia, our renter is awesome and should be converting to a purchase in February. Sweet!

Being CRAFTY is ADDICTING

Am I addicted to sewing when all I think about now are new sewing projects I can create. I look at the detail on every shirt I see and pass while out & about thinking, 'I could add that to a shirt' 'I could make a dress like that'. I'm now finding my favorite shirts of Kenedee's and wanting to re-create these for her and me. SOOO ADDICTING and I feel like there are endless possibilities out there with all of these 'crafty' blog sites, which is a bit overwhelming!!! But a favorite of mine at the moment is SO YOU THINK YOU'RE CRAFTY... I stumbled upon this blog since I follow quite a few of these crafters' blogs on my google reader. There are 10 crafters that were chosen to participate. Each week a theme is given and they must create something from that. Their ideas are posted and everyone can vote. At the end of the week the winner is chosen. The winner then gives a tutorial on that winning item...it's been to fun to see all of the different ideas out there. Check it out!

(PS. I just finished sewing some pillows for our new house and they turned out so dang CUTE! Speaking of our new house - I'll be venting my frusturation and excitement soon, once this two-month ordeal is closed!!!). I also finished a few more projects that will be posted soon... one of my closest friends from Georgia is COMING TO SEE ME!!! Along with her family! So I decided to make something for her two kids and my two kids (AWESOME) and the cutest little twirly skirts for McKenzi & Kenedee (the cutest things I've ever seen) and something for Miss Marissa as well. Can you tell I'm excited to see these guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We miss our friends!!!!!!!!!!! Only TWO MORE DAYS!!!

HALLOWEEN 2009

I would have to say this has been our best Halloween yet!!! Perfect weather, the cutest kids & costumes, and grandparents come to town!

My parents drove to Arizona (all day Friday) arriving in time for dinner. We grubbed and hung out for the evening. Saturday morning we went swimming, yes swimming in their outdoor hotel pool on October 31st. I still can't believe this weather...it is beautiful! After swimming came lunch, naps, shopping, and costume prep. The kids were so excited to go Trick or Treating and LOVED their costumes...which is another sweet story. My mom made their costumes 20 YEARS AGO. Kenedee wore the one she made for me and Lincoln wore the one she made for Kurt, my little brother. They were the cutest things I've ever seen all dressed up, they made my night!!! I introduce to you MINNIE & MICKEY MOUSE



I couldn't pass up Halloween without making them something. Since their Halloween bags are packed I decided to make them, costing me $2 in fabric, SCORE. I also made them new ears and added a bow for Minnie's ears. Their bags had to be matching of course!

Posing before heading out the door...

Minnie & Mickey with Grandma Kris & Grandpa Craig (Lincoln learned how to say 'grandpa' this weekend and said it about 500 times, not joking - 'bompa'

Next door to another one of Adam's Uncle/Aunt they go ALL OUT. It was one sweet set-up but a little creepy for the kids. They had this remote-control half-body zombie crawling on the ground towards Kenedee and she screamed! But other than that, they did good with the scaryness...


One of the few doors they knocked on. Halloween in Arizona was a new experience for myself and my parents. It was about 75-80 degrees outside and everyone was out sitting on their porches with the candy.

Chatting it up with life-size Buzz Lightyear -

Catching a ride with 'bompa'

Minnie in all her cuteness (don't you love her tail!)

The funniest costume I've ever seen. Hilarious!

An Olson tradition - enjoying McDonalds' hot fudge sundaes after a night of Trick or treating (growing up they used to give out free sundaes to kids in costumes on the night of Halloween so our parents always took us after we got done trick or treating)

Candy galore!

THE BEST HALLOWEEN EVER! Thanks Mom & Dad for sharing this day with us! We spent Sunday together and they drove home (all 14 hours) to Idaho on Monday. They are the BEST!!!

Trunk or Treat
Wednesday before Halloween we headed over to a Trunk or Treat (the Uncle/Aunt's Ward that we're staying with). Both kids had sugar overload. Lincoln ate all of this cotton candy, yes I should have taken it away but who doesn't love them some cotton candy.


After Lincoln finished off his cotton candy, he snuck over to the dessert table and started going to town on the brightest green cupcake I've ever seen! After cleaning him up after that he was trying to grab the popcorn on the table behind him, he loves him some SUGAR!

Pumpkin Patch & Carving Festivities

Celebrating Halloween (and really the Fall in general) has been super different here in Arizona. For one - it's still a billion degrees outside (alright, just 90 degrees now), two - there are no trees to experience the beauty of the changing colors, and three - we missed our annual trip with the Clark family up to Burt's and the Pumpkin Carving Contest that has kept Adam coming up with ideas year round. So this year we celebrated quite differently...

We headed over to the Desert Botanical Gardens on Saturday, the 24th. They had a carnival for the kids, hay ride to the Pumpkin patch area, and free pumpkins for all of the kiddos. It was a good time even in our 90 degree weather that day (not joking, it was SOOOO hot that day). This is by far the hottest Halloween I've ever experienced. Not that I'm minding it at all because the weather right now is PERFECT but definitely not your 'fall' weather...

Here's Lincoln and Merrick (second cousin to Lincoln) enjoying their ride. (I could not get them to smile in the same pic)

Kids' first Hayride -

Kenedee, our fearless leader, was so excited to get to the pumpkins that she raced through the maze, leaving the rest of us to run to catch up with her...

So many options for a 3 year-old

Searching for the perfect pumpkin

Found it!

Laters Mom! Gotta show Dad!

Mr. Destructo was a little too strong for one of the handles. (He was even known to be seen picking up pumpkins and chucking them as far as he could! He loves to throw things right now and thought it was an awesome game until I caught him; sorry to anyone who got that pumpkin!)

Showing off their pumpkins...

Tractor loving! I might be from Idaho (and many think that is all Idahoans do - ride tractors - but I for one have never been on one!)

Like Father like Son. (you can also see Lincoln's flushed cheeks from the heat, we were dying out there!)


PUMPKING CARVING 2009
It was sad this year not having a Carving Contest (I'm a little bit, more like extremely competitive so that was always an exciting event for Adam and I) so next year I might just have to start one out here.

Lincoln was all for the pumpkin guts...


Kenedee, on the other hand, stuck to coloring her little pumpkin from Aunt Debby. She wanted nothing to do with the 'yucky' pumpkins...

This year's pumpkins were not too impressive but super quick to carve out. Hopefully next year we'll come back with some winners.

Adam roasted up some pumpkin seeds and they are delicious!


To remind you of some of our favorite pumpkins...
2006 - Pumpkin helmet on top of a pumpkin carved face (AWESOME)
2007 - Adam's pumpkin doing his business on the toilet, Kandis' pumpkin - Kenedee's face
2008 - Adam's basketball net and ball, Kandis' pumpkin bird in a birdcage (Adam's idea).

SPEECHLESS

Somewhat of a weird title for this because I have so much to say about it, but at the moment I am in complete shock (fingers shaking while I'm writing this). Am I shocked to find out about what happened, no, but I am shocked because I was so closely related to it. And feel so blessed that I was not the victim he snapped on...

Most of you might remember my crazy story with the neighbor across the street. For those of you who don't, let me remind you. Before Lincoln was almost born (April of 2008) this guy moved in with his mom, across the street from our home in Georgia. Shortly thereafter he was caught, peeping-tom style. He was looking into our home from across the street with binoculars in hand, while doing extreme horrible things facing my house, naked. I went into panic mode, felt extremely violated, shocked, couldn't get a hold of Adam since he was in class at the time. I called my sister, Kellie, told her what was happening and that this guy was still out across the street doing these horrible things facing my house (this had been going on for about 15 minutes). She told me to take a picture and she was sending Steve (brother-in-law) right over. When Steve showed up he told me to call the cops. Cops, what. That also freaked me out since I've never had anything to do with cops. But I called the cops, they arrived within minutes, I showed them the picture, and DANIEL BUCKNER was arrested that day. He was sent to jail for many months.

Fast forward to this last January (09). He had just gotten out of prison and came back to live with him mom. THIS FREAKED ME OUT. My Georgia friends can attest to this. We called the cops that day and they said that because he had served his time in jail, he no longer had a restraining order and such. It not only freaked me out that he was back across the street, but also freaked me out because that very day he moved in, he started taunting me. I saw him leave the house and he noticed me turn my head to look out the window. He then walked to the middle of the street, facing my house, and stood there looking at me. After a few minutes with this nasty scary smile on his face, I called Adam. I couldn't live like this. So that night Adam went over to this house. He told him that if he does anymore funny business with our house, that we are pressing charges and sending him back to jail. (Adam wants me to mention that he punked him in his face). Lucky for me, he cooperated and stayed inside the house with the blinds shut. Did I mention I've never been so paranoid in my life! But after a few weeks, I started to settle down and life seemed back to normal. Until...

Fast forward to March of this year when I was interviewed and on the 6:00 news and the next day, 6 US Marshalls showed up at my doorstep. This is when I found out that DANIEL BUCKNER had just mollested a child and exposed himself to a lady at a carwash that week. WHAT!!! I was tripping then that more was happening. But his family started hiding him and the US Marshall told me that his family believed that him going to jail was not the help he needed right now. HELLO psychos! So the US Marshall gave me his personal number and put me in spy mode to try and catch him. After writing down many license plates and keeping watch across the street, time went on and it all quieted down. At this point is when I found out about his past and realized that this guy was a serious psychopath. And needed serious help. Someone who does those things doesn't just magically become a moral human being again, they need serious help. Did I think he would eventually SNAP, heck yes. So when we were moving out to Phoenix, I was a bit relieved, actually A LOT relieved to move away from that house across the street.

Fast forward to tonight, watching the news with Adam. He turns to me and says "I wonder if that guy was ever caught??? Do you remember his name?" Hello, yes. DANIEL BUCKNER. So he gets on the computer, googles his name, and what pops up DOUBLE MURDER. Not joking. Four months ago he murdered two people that he was living with. It angers me to think that his family has been hiding him this entire time and now two people are dead because of it. WOW. To read more, check out the article we found online...

Murder Suspect had moved in with shooting victims

If only his family had turned him in when he was wanted by the US Marshall, would this all of happened, no. Would it have happened in the future, maybe. But hopefully he would have served his time and received from mental help and this could have been avoided. Oh how happy I am at this moment that my incident with him was so minor compared to what put him in jail for life. WOW!!!!!!!

Goodbye ELDER BARLOW!!!

Uncle Taylor received his mission call to Micronesia Guam (crazy) and spoke in church last Sunday (the 18th). He gave a great talk on Sunday and we were just happy to be there to support him. The girl right before him though fainted in the middle of her talk, a first for me seeing someone faint at church, poor girl cause she was giving an awesome talk.

Many tears were shed but Taylor is one of a kind and will do an amazing job. We love you TAYLOR!!!

I married into an amazing family. Adam's parents did something right, raising 10 kids in California each strong in the gospel. Taylor is the last of the six boys to go on a mission, his parents have got to be proud!
McKay, Matt, Taylor, Adam, and his Dad (missing Clark & Jacob);

Kenedee & Lincoln w/Uncle Taylor

Taylor reported to the MTC last Wednesday (Oct 21st). See you in two years, we'll miss you!

Side Note. Kenedee was entertained by Tucker (the dog) and cousin Sam. She loved holding & kissing Sam. But do you notice her arm... Tucker's dog leash. It makes me laugh so hard that I got this in a picture!!! She walked Tucker around the house and in the backyard, making him go everywhere she wanted to go (ALL WEEKEND LONG). She loved it! Poor dog though, after two hours of no rest, we finally had to take the leash off of him to give him a break. She'd do this a few times a day. Tucker was probably excited for us to leave, but thanks for keeping her so entertained!