Christmas Eve Nativity 2011

The second Annual Olsen Grandkids Nativity was bigger and better than last year. Maddie rejoined the cast as a non-grandchild, along with several nieces and children of nieces. Several other nieces also joined Freddy O and Luke as narrators. The only downgrade this year was that baby Jesus had to be played by a baby doll—a problem which is likely to reoccur this year; unless Betsy is with child and hasn't told anyone yet, or we try to pass a 7-month-old Ashton off as a newborn.

Christian and Zach reprised their roles as lambs (although Zach was sadly too big for a lamb costume this year). The two boys combined to help bring down the backdrop at the 8:10 mark.

Sophie joined Ava and Zoe as angels this year, because you can never have too many angels in your nativity. Be sure to check out the angels' mad dance moves at the 8:50 mark.

And without any further adieu, here's this year's production uncensored and uncut.

Cast
(in order of appearance)
Joseph: Seth
Mary: Bailey
Lambs: Christian & Zach
Angels: Sophie, Ava & Zoe
Wise Men: Maddie, McKenzie, and Sarah

Narrators
(in order of appearance)
Fred
Johnna
Sam
Isabel
Luke

Sun Valley in September

Back in September we went up to Sun Valley for a couple of days. Sun Valley is one of our favorite vacation spots. It is absolutely beautiful and relaxing. We were especially lucky this time because all of the Olsen cousins were able to come. Here's Ava and Christian practicing their golf swings.

Ava and Christian had a great time playing with their cousins, going on bike rides, swimming, and staying up late watching movies. Here's the kids on Sunday before we headed home.

We had such a fun time and can't wait for more Sun Valley adventures!

Christmas Eve Nativity 2010

On Christmas Eve, the little cousins put on their first annual Nativity.

Ava was an angel...

..and Christian was a little lamb.

With so many little kids, it was a little hectic...

...but as they say in the biz, the show must go on.

Here's a video of the entire production:

Cast
(in order of appearance)
Shepherd: Maddie
Lambs: Christian & Zach
Angels: Ava & Zoe
Joseph: Seth
Mary: Sophie
Baby Jesus: Leila
Star: Annissa

Jordan's Mission Call

Larry's brother Jordan received his mission call in the mail today. He has been called to serve in the Guatemala Guatemala City South Mission. Jordan reports to the Provo, Utah MTC on October 12th. After spending three weeks there, he will complete his missionary training in the Guatemala City MTC for six weeks before entering the mission field.

Congratulations Jordan on your mission call!

Patriotic Cousins

Sophie, Ava and Annissa at the 4th of July parade in Murray.

Hangin' in Preston with the Cousins

This past summer we spent lots of time in Preston, Idaho, which has become one of Ava's and Christian's favorite places to go. There's always something fun to do, from going to parades to swimming in the backyard. Their favorite pastime, however, is playing with their cousins.

More Cousins Pictures

Here are some more of our favorite pictures from the cousins photo shoot.

All of the little kids did such a great job during the photo session but by the end, Christian decided he was hungry and tired.

Thanks Kate for doing such an amazing job!

Olsen Cousins Pictures 2010

At the beginning of November, we got all of the Olsen grandchildren together to get their pictures taken. The pictures were taken by Kate Jeppson who did such a great job of capturing adorable photographs of ten spirited children.

Here are the five beautiful little girls.

The three three-year-olds. They are the best of friends!

Christian was very excited when it was time to play in the leaves.

He was a lot more interested in the tiny leaf on his hand than in getting his picture taken.

It's crazy to think that he is not the baby anymore. Since the last cousins pictures last December, we have had two more Olsen cousins born, Katharine and James.

Christian is now my sweet little toddler!

And here is my sweet little Ava!

Boo at the Zoo

The Saturday before Halloween we went to the Hogle Zoo's annual "Boo at the Zoo." It is a very fun event. Kids (and even some adults) come in costume and can trick-or-treat at candy booths set up throughout the zoo. We started the day going on the zoo's train which is always a favorite with the kids. Here are Ava and Annissa with baby Kat in the seat behind them.

Ava was so excited to spend the day with her two best friends, Sophie and Annissa.

She was also quite excited to see Betsy and Owen, although she was not quite sure what to think of their very festive costumes.

Here are the older cousins stopping a moment for a picture.

Sadly we didn't get that many pictures of Christian or the littler cousins who had to be contained in their strollers during much of the zoo trip. Luckily, Christian was happy (though you can't tell looking at this picture) drawing on his magna doodle.

Here Ava, Luke, Maddie, and Christian measure their heights against the gorillas.

Christian and Ava look in at the gorillas.

We had such a fun time trick-or-treating at the zoo and can't wait to go next year!

I'm Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee

Ava was a bee for Halloween this year.

Although if you saw Ava the week of Halloween, you probably saw her in many costumes. She insisted on wearing a different costume every day.

Christian was a baby bumblebee.

Ava thought it was a lot of fun that she and her brother were both bees for Halloween.

Ava said that she was the "princess bee" (her version of a queen bee we suppose) and Jellybean was her baby bee.

Per our annual Halloween tradition, we went to see the witches at Gardner Village and take pictures with a few of the cousins.

Here's Christian with cousin Zoe who was a cute little pumpkin fairy.

And here's Ava with cousin Zach dressed as a skeleton.

After all the pictures were taken, Ava was ready to go trick-or-treating.

More Halloween fun to follow...