Iron Girl 2011

Today Julie and Natalie competed in Iron Girl held at Lake Las Vegas near Henderson, Nevada. Both successfully finished which means they swam a half mile, biked 14 miles, and ran for 3.2 miles. It was fun to see them participate in this race together. It was a rather cool, windy day. I guess that caused the water in the lake to be a bit rough. The girls said on the bike ride and run there were places on the trail that were harder than others because of the wind pushing against them. The girls had to be at the lake at 5:30 a.m. We arrived at 6:30 a.m. which seemed very early for a Saturday morning. However, I am very glad we were able to be spectators. As before when Melanie and Natalie competed in previous races, it was a lot of fun being outside and watching all the athletes. I wouldn't have missed it. Way to go girls--here's to good health and being strong!

My Visit to Oklahoma

On Tuesday, April 12th, Melanie had surgery in Ardmore, Oklahoma to remove a very large fibroid tumor.  Heather and Ryan were with her, and I came a week later to help out during my spring break.  Melanie is doing amazingly well this week considering everything she went through last week.  The surgery was a success, and she didn't need a hysterectomy.  That was great news.  By the time I got there she was doing much better.  Now she needs four to six weeks to continue healing.  She is in some pain still and can't walk for any extended period of time; but overall, I would say she's getting better.  While I was there we managed to spend quite a bit of mother/daughter time together.  We went out to eat a bunch of times, went to a great movie called "Water for Elephants," ran a few errands which included going to her work to pick up her check and visiting with her co-workers, lunch at Jessie and Tim's house who are Ryan's brother and sister-in-law, and a bit of sightseeing.  We also stayed home a lot and watched TV and visited.  I think I'm hooked now on "Say Yes to the Dress" and "I Didn't Know I was Pregnant."  It was great to be with Melanie and to see firsthand that she's okay and finally rid of that horrible tumor that's been bothering her for the last five or so years.  Spring Break went by much too fast, but summer is just around the corner.  That's music to my ears.

Melanie a day after surgery in the hospital

Heather flew from St. Louis to be with Melanie for
five days.  She was a huge help and support.

Melanie received beautiful floral arrangements from friends,
family, and co-workers.

This is where she had the surgery.



Another picture of Mercy Memorial Hospital



This is the apron Natalie made for
Melanie on her new sewing machine.



This is my first day with Melanie.  We decided to go
shopping and get out for a few hours.

This is definitely a different kind of store.  It was fun
to look at all the stuff they were selling.  I've never
seen anything quite like it.

This is also at that crazy store.  The decorations were
very random.  It made me laugh.

The guy was naked except for one leaf.

One of the great restaurants we ate at while I was in OK

We were totally having fun kidding around by
the funny murals outside the restaurant.



Isn't Melanie scary?



Regional Park looked like a lot of fun.  Melanie
says that's where she goes walking with some of the
women she works with.  It looked like acres and acres of
land with playground equipment, tennis courts, baseball courts,
and even a lake for fishing and boating.

We saw a long snake with a fish in his mouth.  If you
look closely it's right behind Melanie in the water to the left
of the wood walkway.

That's me enjoying the beautiful scenery at the park.

Sheldon Graduates in 4 1/2 Weeks

This last year while Sheldon has been doing his residency in four different cities we've had the good pleasure of seeing more of the Olsens than usual.  This last week while Sheldon was in Oregon taking his last board to qualify to be an optometrist, Julie and Jace have been in Vegas.  We had a lot of fun.  We went to the park, to Chuck E. Cheese, to the bounce house, to church, and to dinner out.  We even managed to squeeze in an early Easter celebration a week early.  Julie and I went to Joclyn Wood's bridal shower at the very glitzy Spanish Trails Country Club and thoroughly enjoyed the "rich life."  We spent quite a bit of time after the shower shopping so Julie could get some things she wanted to buy for the Mexico cruise they are going to go on with some other couples from optometry school right after graduation in May.  Today Julie, Sheldon, and Jace headed back to Lake Havasu, Arizona for the last 4 1/2 weeks of residency there at Eyes of Arizona.  The next time I see them it will be just days before we fly to Portland for the long-awaited and highly anticipated graduation. We couldn't be prouder of Sheldon's academic efforts, and we are also anxiously awaiting news where they will move once he has his degree.

Jace modeling his new blue Crocs right
before he and his mommy and daddy
head for Lake Havasu.

Bye Sheldon, Julie, and Jace.  See you in 4 1/2
weeks in Oregon for GRADUATION!!!!!!

Celebrating Easter a Week Early

We were going to have a BBQ at the park for our Easter
celebration, but we decided it was too hot.  We stayed home
instead and enjoyed grilled hamburgers and
hot dogs.  It definitely was not the typical Easter meal, but
everyone seemed to enjoy the menu anyway.

We ate on egg-shaped purple paper plates and had
matching purple drinks.  The table looked cute if I do say
so myself.

Here's the group for Easter dinner.  I wish Melanie, Heather, and
their families could have joined us too.

Here I am modeling my new apron that Natalie made me
for Valentine's Day.  I finally got to show it off while I
fixed Easter dinner.

Cali had a lot of fun hunting for all
of her eggs from the Easter bunny.

Jace might be short, but it was amazing to see how
he could stretch to reach all those Easter eggs.

Cali is so sweet and knows just how to pose
for all my photos of her.

Here's the group we had for Easter dinner.  I sure love
all my girls and their families even the ones not
pictured.   Happy Easter family!

Ashton Turns Two

Ashton celebrated his birthday with two Ellsworth cousins.
Steve and I were invited so we tagged along as the kids enjoyed
 playing together and eating pizza, yummy cake and ice cream.

Here's Ashton in Nathan and Tracy's back yard
enjoying a creative game of basketball.

We gave Ashton a ride-along toy.  He kept
calling it a motorcycle.  He was so happy and
that made us happy.

Ashton can say "Buzz Lightyear."  It is so cute
to hear him learn to speak.

Ashton spent quite a bit of time in the front playing
on his new "motorcycle."

Here's another pic of Ashton playing in his aunt and uncle's
back yard on his 2nd birthday.  All of the kids had a great time.

A Weekend in California

Last weekend Steve and I met Julie, Sheldon, Jace, Natalie, Thomas, Cali, and Ashton in California for a three-day adventure in California.  We stayed at The Hilton in Irvine which was very close to Disneyland and Newport Beach.  Julie suggested the trip for all of us because they were going to California anyway for a board test that Sheldon had to take in preparation for his upcoming graduation from optometry school.  We went to Disneyland on Saturday and Sunday and then on Monday while Sheldon was testing the rest of us spent a few hours at the hotel pool before going to Newport Beach for the afternoon.  We had a great time although on Tuesday morning when the alarm went off at 4:15 a.m. I was wondering how wise it was to vacation during a school week.