The Olson Gang Rides Again

Ryan was finally able to pick up his Christmas gift today. He has been asking for it every single day. We filled it up and headed out on the town to show it off. We are looking forward to visiting family and friends "in style". However, after driving around the neighborhood we have discovered it is VERY COLD!! See you in the spring! Candace is featuring her new helmet as she sits upon "the bike", Ryan can handle it much better as seen in the other two pictures! Candace will be more of a passenger than a rider.

Anderson Christmas

Let's see.. one, two, three, four...... twenty-seven, twenty-eight, TWENTY-NINE, yes, we had 29 of our family attend Christmas at Nancy's house. We had Ham with an assortment of sides and desserts. Candace said grace and we all dug in! You can see by the picture that we had a full house! The pictures include my sister Andrea with my niece Mandy, All of us at the dinner table, Grandma and Grandpa with the grandchildren, My parents opening presents, and of course Ryan and I. We had an ornament exchange for the third Christmas in a row. Amy read this year's story and we all got a beautiful new ornament.

Merry Christmas

What a MerryChristmas this season is... Tivoli got some new bones, Candace got a new North Face winter coat, a Denali North Face jacket, lots and lots of Socks AND a zero balance on Ryan's credit card. Ryan got some new shirts, a sweatshirt, a pair of brown shoes (since Tivoli ate his), a tie, a leather jacket AND the keys to his new motorcycle!!!!!! Oh My Gosh!! I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season!! We love you!

Baking Baking Baking

How many chefs does it take to make Christmas cookies? Well, throughout the day, there were five sisters, four nieces, one nephew, and three cousins preparing cookies, although the guys just helped eat the cookies! There were enough cookies made to at least last the weekend. Tivoli was upset she missed the baking extravaganza, so we decided to bake some dog biscuits with her when we got home.

Snow Day

Tivoli kept praying for a snow day and she got her wish! She likes it because then we get to stay home with her. Actually, Candace wasn't feeling very well (note the thermometer) so Tivoli decided to keep her warm. Isn't she sweet? Tivoli then asked if we could take her picture by the Christmas tree...she didn't like what we were wearing so we weren't allowed in the picture. However, she changed her mind and decided to let us in on one picture.

Birthday with Book Club

Not that surprising me with a family surprise party wasn't enough. Ryan had some of our friends join us for drinks at Cheeseburger in Paradise. Thank for showing up gang. You helped make entering my thirties bearable. =)

Tivoli with her best dog McKinley

McKinley tried to teach Tivoli how to swim this summer. Tivoli had a hard time catching on, but did enjoy splashing in the water. Doggie style didn't come naturally for Tivoli?!?! Next summer, McKinley and Tivoli are going to consider joining the synchronized swimming team. We'll keep posted.

Surprise! It's my Birthday!

Surprise! Ryan figured out a way to surprise me afterall. I had assumed he wasn't going to do anything for my birthday since he had made his own plans and didn't tell me to leave my schedule open. He said he was going to dinner and a movie with a friend (Mike), so I dropped him off at Buffalo Wild Wings. After getting ready, I headed to my sister's for dinner, to see that he had invited my whole entire family. Twenty-two guests made it to this awesome event. It was so nice to see my family all together to celebrate me and Andrea's 30th birthday. Just in case you are wondering why I look so youthful in the pictures, it was because I was still 29 years old on Saturday, I turned 30 today.

Sweetest Day!

Ryan treated me like a princess on sweetest day. He had a beautiful bouquet of flowers sent to work on Friday. What a man! Then, Saturday morning he took care of the dog, let me sleep in, and then he served me breakfast in bed. I am one lucky lady!!

Midnight Bandit

We've had a bandit recently who has been stealing our pumpkins at night from our doorstep. Tivoli claims she saw him two nights ago sneaking up the sidewalk. We didn't have any paper for Tivoli to draw on, so she just carved the bandit's likeness on a pumpkin. Call us with any leads.

Tiv-O-Lantern

Tivoli begged us to get a pumpkin today even though it's still more than two weeks until Halloween. She supervised as she told daddy what she wanted the pumpkin to look like. Tivoli also invited mommy to help. She is so proud of her pumpking carving talents!

It's Your Birthday!!

Hope you have a wonderful Birthday Jenoa!
God Bless You!

Corn Maze Race!

So, we went to the world's LARGEST corn maze and had a blast. We seperated into two different teams.. who's team will win? Team Red (Mandy, Candace, Amy and Laura) or Team Blue (Lainey, Hannah, Michael, Shelly, Nancy and Grandma). Although teams were not balanced....TEAM RED WON!!! We also went down a very big slide. I felt like a kid again! Yeah! What a great day! We celebrated Laura's 14th birthday at Chili's too!! Love you all! Thanks for the memories...

Taking Tivoli to the Park

We decided to take Tivoli to the Park because she did so well as we did many errands on Sunday. She was so excited to go! We went to Verteran Acres in Crystal Lake, a park that Candace went to very often as a child. Isn't it a beautiful park?

Home Schooling

Tivoli is getting her first lesson on technology. She is learning how to surf the net. We think she is almost ready to do Email.

Her favorite times during home schooling are gym because she gets to play tug-o-war with Dad, nap time (especially when she can sleep in the big bed), and Driver's Education. She is learning how to stick her head out the window and keep her eyes open.

Tivoli's Birthday

Tivoli has become a teenager over night. Yes folks, she is fourteen (in dog years) today. She rested up with Daddy and friends last night in anticipation of "The Big Day". For her birthday she recieved a very big bone which she had half eaten with in an hour. Happy Birthday Tivoli. Oh, she also wanted to wish her cousin Paige a Happy Birthday too! Arf Arf (translated to "happy birthday paige") from Tivoli!

Tomato Sauce Adventure

Dad (Anderson) has given us so many tomatoes that we had to start doing something with them. We have sliced them, diced them, chopped them and smooshed them. But today we have decided to use them to make a very tasty tomato sauce. It tastes so good, it is better than anything you would find in the stores. We discussed going into business, but think we first need to get a bigger kitchen.

First FULL Day of School

First full day of school. We made it! This is Ryan's 5th year and Candace's 7th year in education. Candace is having a hard time getting up at 6 in the morning (she says you can see it in her eyes), even though she makes Ryan get up at 5 in the morning to run. Man, she sure is a drill sergeant!!