Super Late Post of my Surpirse Sister Trip!!!

Early in October after listening to weeks of Shannon asking me to come see her because I'm her favorite and so wonderful, pretty, and fun...and well the list goes on. I called Ian and asked if I could come surprise Shannon in early November. Hardest secret I have ever kept, I could hardly talk to Shannon because I didn't want to spill the beans!! But after a long awaited month I showed up on her door (thanks to Ian's plan of a "package arriving") and got just the reaction I expected, something along the lines of. "Shut up you are NOT here!!!!" haha It was so fun! Here's the picture Weston took within the first minute of me being there... thanks for the cabbage patch face Shan!
So luckily Shannon had already planned a fun weekend for the kids and I got to tag along!! We watched movies, talked, napped and had some good ol' sister time!
The boys obviously don't listen to their Auntie Mel very well when she says, " OK smile at Auntie Mel!!" Because this is what I got 90% of the time... thanks boys! ha
I loved all the monkey's, they were so stinkin' funny especially the ones that reminded us of mommy dearest! (***Video on Shannon's Blog***) This is my signature monkey face!!
I told Weston to stick his head in the Lion's mouth and Davin wanted to give it a try... Does he look scared?! HA They were seriously so funny this last trip!
Here's our brave lion tamer!!! He's getting so big and fun to talk to. I'm so glad I was able to drive down and that my whole family of women could keep it a secret!! I love you Shannon and I'm glad you are only a few hours away from me and congratulations on delivering the most beautiful baby girl, we love you tons!

Happy Halloween!!!

Brad and I have been pretty busy with him in school studying 24/7 and me working and keeping the rest of our lives in order, but our good friends Jen and BJ had their Halloween party and it couldn't have come at a better time. We had a hard time figuring out what to dress up as, we finally settled with Nerds. I headed to DI to find fun stuff for the party. Here we are! (Believe it or not, those are really Brad's chemistry goggles!)

The party was a lot of fun, we've gotten to know Jen and BJ's family throughout this last year and so we felt very comfortable with everyone there! This is BJ bobbing for an apple, which was fun to watch, Brad and I weren't feeling brave.

The doughnut eating contest was the best part because win or lose, you got a really good doughnut, but the Chapman siblings pretty much dominated at this game! There was no chance for me.
With Brad being super busy and me not being allowed to bother him, I've been trying to find things to do! For halloween I decided I will bake... a lot. These are for the cake walk for the ward party and I took some to the neighbor that we "phantomed" and then I'm making 4 dozen for work on Saturday, like I said I have to find something the keep me busy!
This is the first year I get to be home to pass out candy to the little trick or treaters! I always have to leave that for Brad because I have worked every year. But I'm excited for it this year, and to see all the cute costumes.
I love getting fun mail, and I was talking to Linda about how I have no Halloween decorations, and what comes in the mail?! The absolutely cutest mummy!! Brad and I love him, he had a spot as soon as he came out of the package. A Big Big Thank you Linda!!!
This was actually Brad's idea because of my complaining about not having anything fun to put up! I paid $.75 for this and what a cute decoration!
I love carving pumpkins so almost the day we got them I made a "Love Pumpkin" for Brad! It's cheesy but it was so fun to do and surprise him with. I did lips and hearts all over it!
This the new pumpkin, I did him a few days ago! And I found the cutest baby pumpkin, have I said that I love Halloween?
This is all of my decorations for the outside, I have my cute welcome sign, the window clings, the "phantom" thing the neighborhood is doing, the light hanging, and the pumpkins!
Hope everyone has a very fun and safe Halloween weekend!

Baking!!!

One of the Pharmacist that Brad works with had a lot of extra zucchini and offered us some, how can you say no to yummy home grown zucchini!! These things were HUGE!! Look at them next to my lovely Kitchen Aid.
I have been wanting to bake for awhile and it was cooling down a bit so each zucchini would make 5 mini loaves of zucchini bread and one batch of zucchini brownies, which I have been wanting to try forever since Lindsay sent me a recipe!
I ended up making 10 mini loaves, 3 sheet cakes of brownies, and sliced and froze half of the last zucchini.
Then we experimented with pizza, with garlic alfredo, portabello mushroom, bacon, mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Super yummy!
We don't do much other than work, Brad goes to school and works, and we eat! ha But at the candy store in Zion they had these popcorn off the cob and I really wanted it, because it was so cute! A convinced Brad caved, and we finally tried it out, it was pretty good, I burnt half of it, and when I told Brad to hold it for a picture, he burnt his fingers with the extremely hot kernals...opps! :) Other than that we haven't been up to much, just preparing for the winter!! YAY!! Not really. Ha

New Hair!

This is the new look. I will take more pictures of it with it not pulled back, but you see the color and the shortness!! Talking to Shannon trying to show her my hair but my not so bright computer wouldn't let me upload anything!
This is the back, it's cute and layered!
First thing in the morning! Just getting ready to go to work! I love it, I'm having fun learning how to do it still and enjoying the lightness!

Summer in Washington!

Brad and I got to spend a week with his family un Washington. The trip started hours before the sun came up, this was about 3-4 hours into our trip. We made it with only 3 bathroom breaks...(that's to impress Jeremy and everyone else that knows about my small bladder!) When we first got there we went sailing on their sail boat. It was so fun, super relaxing and perfect weather!

I even got to test my sailing skills, which was an excuse to quote "What about Bob?" I sail!! Ahoy!! I had so much fun trying to catch the wind in the sail, it's harder than you think.

We went to Seattle to shop around the touristy things and for a Mariners game. Safeco Field was very nice, and since it was rainy we got to see it with the roof up! They didn't end up winning but still a fun game.

This was after we went to the team store and got Brad a new hat, he was like a kid in a candy store, we got the conformation smile/smirk and we were off to our seats!

At Mariners games they give away "Rally Fries" to the fans that have the best poster. Brad wanted to make one to see if we could get any. We didn't end up getting the fries but it was still fun to hold up and get the funny stares.

The rival fans sit together!!!

We also went on a lot of ferry rides, but it was a very brisk wind so by the last ride Brad and I wanted to stay in the car!

This is the view from the car window while on the ferry, Pretty cool huh?!

We went to 2 different light houses, this one you could tour and go all the way up, Brad and I, mostly me got a little nervy and didn't go all the way up. A little way down from this light house, we did a fun hot dog picnic and enjoyed the fun surroundings.

This was where we did the picnic, and it was right by the light house, it was where they kept people from invading. It had been partially restored so people can continue to come see it.

Linda took some "engagement" pictures of us. They are family pictures but with no kids they always look like engagement pictures, but it was a lot of fun on this little beach. Brad and I skipped rocks, walked around the tide pools, and Linda successfully stacked rocks. (it's harder than you think.)

This was a fun summer trip we got to see family, new things, and go to Buffalo twice. Brad and I loved hanging out with everyone, playing games, and getting away from home. Thanks for the amazing trip Linda and Dave, we love you and are grateful for the things you did and do for us!

Olson Family Trip to Zion

Sorry this is insanely late!! Computer wouldn't load my pictures! But here it is, at the end of a long semester Brad and I were definately looking forward to some vacation time! Our first vacation started the day after we finished school. We met my parents, Jules, Bowles, and Henshaws in Zion, Utah! The day we got there we did dinner outside and used the fire pit that was on the hotel grounds and had hot dogs and everything that goes along with it. Mom gave the kids bubbles, which was fun, even those Lizzie was really the only one that got the hang of it!

After hotdogs we roasted marshmellows, Rachel was having a hard time so we let her do her own thing (to prevent a fit) and she just stuck her stick and marshmellow in the hot coals and was so proud of herself she was waving it around, hence the faces! One of the best part of the trip for Brad and I was watching the kids play and interact. They are getting so big and we just don't see them that much, we love our family and this was what this trip was all about.

Mom had tons of fun crafts for the kids and apparently for Jules and I! We made foam ocean landscapes. Weston and Mimi went to town with this one!

After the kiddies went to bed we did a cream soda blind taste test! Apparently Jones cream soda tastes like refried beans.... Ha I think it's just Shannon's pregnancy hormones! It was a lot of fun, but very bubbly tummies after.

We did a fun nature walk, and it was the perfect time of day there was cloud cover and not too hot! Brad and I loved watching the kiddies find all the bugs. It was nice because we all walked at our own pace and took pictures.

There were tons of stink bugs on the walk way and dodging them was the a task, because there wouldn't be one for awhile and then one would seem to pop out of no where! This is Brad being so brave.

I was not kidding when I said nature walk, we saw deer! This is Jules and Brad being twinners with their matching hats and dreams of being the next Jeff Corwin! haha

We had a blast and really enjoyed hanging out in the pool and in the hotel room, we shopped in Zion and had a fun lunch at Oscar's. It was the perfect trip to start the summer. Big thank you to Mom and Dad for making it happen, Love you tons!

It's all in the jeans!!!

Brad and I have been in desperate need of some new clothes that fit and aren't from high school. We finally had some extra money so we went down to kohl's and got Brad 2 pairs of his favorite jeans that happened to be on sale so it made them 2 for the price of 1!!! He still has another pair that is just getting close to throwing away so the timing was perfect. I hate shopping for jeans, it's the most uncomfotable, ego blasting, realize-how-big-I-really-am experience. Last time I found some jeans, the people were really nice helped me find what I needed but I definately paid a hefty price for it. Last time Brad and I were in Bozeman, MT we went to a store called Vanity (where I found the cutest dress) and the girl that was working was super nice and they had more options than the other store and was about a third the price! So, for this shopping trip we went to Vanity in the Idaho Falls Mall, and the girls totally helped me out and were just throwing pair after pair in my dressing room. And with great success I came out with 2 new pairs of jeans. Brad and I are set for a bit now!!

oh P.S. my favorite thing about this jean store is that it's not only your size and then short, tall, regular. They do waist and INSEAM!!! I've never seen a girls jean that does that, It's wonderful having jeans that fit all around and best of all no hemming!!

Healthier Eating

Being so busy, we eat whatever is fastest! But on my days off I really like to cook! This was from Cinco de Mayo. I didn't put the picture up but I came home from work and Brad grilled some chicken and we have grilled chicken tacos and I made virgin strawberry daiquiri's, so yummy! The other day I really wanted kabob's. I really like sho-yu chicken so we grilled chicken kabobs with onions and mushrooms that marinaded in the sho-yu sauce for a few hours. When they were almost done we grilled the tortillas and threw it all together. It was so good and not too bad for us.

By the time we ate we had 2 flour tortillas and a chicken breast with vegi's! We love grilling and are so happy it's semi grilling weather!

If you have anymore fun grilling ideas let me know!! We're up to any challenge..

Last but not least my favorite of all. When I have more time in the morning, I like to mix up my Slimfast. (I've been drinking slimfast forever, it's my favorite thing to have in the morning) I always keep frozen berries in my freezer. Schwan's sells a mixed bag that has Blackberries, Blue Berries, and Raspberries. I also always keep another bag of blueberries, but because I really like them. So I put my normal slimfast in the blender and throw in about a cup of berries, and it's this wonderful chocolate berry shake.. I highly suggest trying it those slimfast lovers out there.

Random...

With Brad and I both in school and working, life is a little crazy and a lot of busy! At the beginning of the month my friend Jen and sister-in-law told me about something called Bountiful Baskets. For $15 I got all of this!! It was so fun because I love fresh produce but really can't afford as much as I would like. All of this lasted me about 3 weeks and was so fun to have, Brad's favorite was the melons, and trying an artichoke for the first time!! When school started up again we had to say good-bye to the beard. Brad loves having his facial hair and I don't really care either way, but here is Bradley with no more facial hair. He can't wait to graduate next year! I will never see a clean shaven face again... so he says!!