a croupy christmas

Christmas morning was a sad morning for Mr Cooper. He woke up with the continued fever from the previous day plus a crazy cough sounding a lot like croup. Poor boy, he miserably sat and tried to seem excited for us ;)


He made out with some fun loot although at the time we felt like we had failed because he didn't really play with anything except for one toy...


...which was the farm set from Grandma and Grandpa. That was the biggest hit of the morning.


Later we headed to Steve's parents and the snow headed in. I was excited. Apparently Atlanta has not had a white Christmas for 128 years. How lucky were we! (Plus they ended up canceling church the next day because of the storm, thumbs up snow day)


Cooper seemed to fare a bit worse as the day went on but willingly sat through another round of presents, he loved his new shape sorter.


So by the evening Cooper's breathing did not sound good or normal so we headed to the ER on the way home. It was confirmed croup and they gave him a steroid liquid that was like magic. After a 5 hour evening at the hospital we were back home at 1am to end the day. I say magic liquid because I think it worked wonders quickly, he slept great and woke up better with a looser cough the next day. Phew. Could have been a rough few days waiting til monday to go to the pediatrician. Memorable Christmas 2010.

apps for your pleasure

I made these twice for two parties this December - wanted to try some new appetizers and these were great and different and delicious. You should add them to your stash, you won't be disappointed.

Pancetta Crisps With Goat Cheese and Pear on the left and Greek Salad Skewers on the right.

our eve party

Ready for the party at Grandma Great's house with all the Clarks, the Thomsons, and the missionaries.


We celebrated with appetizers and carols.


Playing with presents during the singing.


The whole room full of people.


Me and my Coops (running a slight fever, uh oh).


Opening new jammies with dad.

+6

This man has been mine for the past 6 years and we are loving every minute together (mostly) haha. I can't believe how much younger we already look only 6 years ago.

We celebrated our anniversary getting Thai food and going to the Nutcracker.


Steve was a good man for taking me. I had been wanting to go ever since we moved here and this year he pulled through.

photo credit

have you sat lately?

I had to add this pic in from the falls because we had group visit to see Santa and somehow I was the lucky one to be invited to sit on his lap for the pic. Kind of awkward for being my age and sitting on some strange males lap but made for a funny pic.

grandpa the greatest

Well this cool guy decided he was bored of this world and wanted to see his wife and friends on the other side. The day after we got back from Utah we got the call that my 94 yr old Grandpa Earl had passed away. He is one of the best men I know and I am so proud he was my grandpa.


My whole family was able to make it out for the funeral just a few days later thanks to the help of my generous parents. The whole event, although sad because we'll miss our grandpa, was for the most part a happy one.


My aunt had a bunch of balloons brought to the cemetery to be released into the sky. This was a fun moment for everyone as we watched them disappear.



My whole Olson Family


The fun didn't stop after the funeral because my Aunt Janalyn thought it'd be fun to wrap up a bunch of trinkets and decor from my grandparents house and let all us grandkids and great grandkids open and inherit some 'awesome' treasures white elephant style.


As you can see we got some winners, they didn't all make it home with us though ;)


All of my cousins and our awesome prizes! Thanks Janalyn for these sweet memories. A fun way to celebrate my grandpa and his life. We had a great time being together for the weekend. We'll miss you grandpa!

an 's' of a time

Kandis, the kids, and me spent the week after Thanksgiving up in the Falls and the kids no doubt had a great time.


We spent lunches at a few play areas and Cooper thought he was such a big kid.


SLIDES were a big hit.



SNACKS were had daily at grandmas, they never stop.


SWORD fights ensued between those who'd pursue.


SUCKERS can always be found in more mouths than one.


SLEDDING made the list of course although Cooper gave this a thumbs down.


SNOWMEN were built by Kandis herself.


SMILES were found on mouths all around.


STACKING blocks turned into cities and rows.



Thanks grandma and grandpa for the week full of fun.

the last time

We were able to share some memorable visits over the break with my grandpa Earl. He had been sick about a month with pneumonia and wasn't making too much progress in recovering. My dad had an inkling this would be how he would leave this world.


He enjoyed watching his great grandkids play and run around at the care center which brought smiles to his face. We knew this would be possibly the last time we would see him. It was a sad goodbye but we knew he'd be taken care of.

lights in the night

We made it to one of my favorite places over Thanksgiving, Temple Square to see the lights!




It was fun watching Cooper look at all the lights, he LOVES lights of all kinds.


They had a huge cutout model of the temple in one of the smaller visitor centers which was really neat to see.


Mr. Benson all bundled up.