Silly.

Aunt Julie came over on Christmas Eve day to see Peyton for a bit.  Here's a clip of him being super silly!  (I'm sorry I can't tilt it right side up, grr!)

Christmas ~2011~

Christmas was a lot of fun this year.  Peyton's at an age where he was able to open presents and get excited.  Even though he didn't know why everything was happening, he knew something exciting was going on!  He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do when given a gift to unwrap, but by the end of the weekend he was a pro.

So, for all the festivities!:

Friday night we celebrated with Steve's family.  We went to Dennis & Joan's for a lasagna dinner and opened {TONS!} of presents.  It was such a nice time and a great kick-off to the weekend.

Here's Peyton opening a present.  He was this slow

and calm with every gift.  We thought he'd eventually

tear into them - but nope!

14 Stockings were hung!

Checking out the village

Presents galore! 

Adult dinnertable

I was in love with the roses in the backyard

& told Peyton to smell them!

Cousins Peyton, Jake, Ian, & Madison

Saturday, Christmas Eve, we went to dinner at the Grand Lux Cafe.  We (Steve, Peyton, and I) usually go to The Keg, but we aren't nearby one anymore, so we checked Grand Lux out and it was pretty nice.

Then Sunday, Christmas Day, we opened presents in the morning and headed to my mom's house that afternoon.  We had a delicious dinner with Turkey and all the fixin's.  We opened more presents and noshed on food again.

We had such a beautiful Christmas this year and cannot believe how much we received - we must've BEEN GOOD!!!!  :)))))

Our Tree on Christmas Morning

Giving Ginger her gift

OH WOW!

Ginger helping out.  ;)

 Didn't take long...

Over at my mom's house...

Obsessed with the choo choo - note to self, MUST

get one for around our tree next year!

OH WOW! {his new phrase}

Amanda & JJ came by for a bit

Watching the silly bear sing, 

"Feliz Navidad" 

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas!  xoxo

Our 2011 Christmas Card.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE OLSON FAMILY! 

Snowmen Cake Pops.

Check out the snowmen cake pops I made today!

{during}

{after}

The Turning Of A Page.

I turned 30 in November and I have to say, it wasn't so bad!

In hindsight, I went through all the sappy stuff when Steve turned 30 and apparently got it all out of my system then. (read about that here.)  I remember feeling as if I was the one turning 30 - I was emotional and spent a lot of time reminiscing about our 20's.  We spent all of our 20's together, so when he turned 30, it was like that part of our life was over.  I felt like since he was turning the page into a new decade, so was I.

By the time my 30th rolled around last month, I didn't feel a thing!  I know it was partially because of getting it all out at Steve's 30th birthday, but it was also partially because I'm exactly where I hoped to be at this time in my life.  I have nothing to be regretful about, which is such a blessing.   

But, I would like to still take a moment and reminisce about it all.  :)  My 20's were a time of craziness and fun!  They were spent just how I think one should spend them.  Exploring, partying, in college, traveling, making mistakes, learning, figuring out who you are, what you want to be, partying, and partying some more.  A time where the motto is, "the more the merrier!"  They were a great time and I have no regrets.  I'm very grateful to have gone through a "crazy" time early in life.

I imagine my 30's will be just as fun, but in a different way.  This is a time about settling in and creating my own family and traditions, a time that will by trying for sure, but if done right, we will reap the benefits later on in life.  

And my 40's (while we're at it!) will be a time of peace & joy.  I've heard your 40's are the best time of your life.  You're set in your career & are no longer searching, your children are independent, you've made your major life mistakes (hopefully), you're the most secure in yourself at this time, and now you just get to enjoy the ride.  I'm looking forward to my 40's quite frankly!  :)  BUT, I definitely do not wish my 30's away.  

So, the big 3-0 birthday celebrations were a blast.  I woke up in my new home for the first time on my 30th birthday, and although I spent the day unpacking, it was a wonderful day receiving calls, texts and facebook messages.  Steve brought me roses and dinner.  It was simple and sweet.

The next day, Steve planned a surprise birthday dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Postino, with his entire family (minus Ryan) and my entire family (minus Laurie).  It was a nice time!  

Then, that weekend I partied with good friends.  We went to Lucky Strike at CityScape in downtown Phoenix.  We bowled, had drinks, mingled, and had a great time.  After the bowling, we went to Copper Blues next door and continued until the night was no longer young.  =)

Thank you to everyone who helped me celebrate my big birthday!  It was special and I'm grateful for that.  Now, onto a new decade.  Bring it, baby!

Tim McGraw, "My Next Thirty Years"

Listen to it HERE.

Christmastime!

Here's a bit of what we've been up to during this holiday season:

Joan had us over a few weekends ago to decorate Christmas cookies.  They were babysitting Jenifer's kids (Steve's half sister) so she wanted to do something fun with all the kids/cousins together.  Here's a cookie Jake decorated:

Here's Peyton enjoying it:

 Here's cousins Madison and Peyton:

Jake reading to Peyton: 

Dinner at Peter Piper Pizza!  (Dennis and Joan with all their grandkids) - Ian, Peyton, Madison, & Jake:

This past weekend, my friend Siobhan had an Ugly Christmas Sweater party.  It was a fun time eating and laughing.  Here's Megan, me, & Siobhan rockin our awesome sweaters:

Us three in 2009 at her party -- all pregnant.  :)

Darren awarding the winner of the ugliest sweater:

The other night my friend Amanda took me to dinner at The Vig.  She'd had a 30th birthday gift she'd been wanting to give me, so she came over to see my new place, picked up Peyton and I, then off we went!

Let me point out that the pics from here-on involve a poor little boy with a black eye.  Peyton slipped in the bathroom (DARN TILE!  I'm getting awfully sick of how slippery it is) and WHAM! banged his head right into the toilet.  So sad.

Anyway, here we are heading to The Vig.  JJ is my Godson and such a good friend to Peyton:

Amanda & JJ at dinner:

HOLLA!  She got me a Coach wristlet and Coach cardholder.  Definitely spoiled me waaay too much.

After din din, we visited this house in Arcadia that is decked out HARD CORE.  For the past 30 years they've been doing it, and I remember seeing it a few years ago, so I suggested we take our boys.
They had 3 areas with train sets and Peyton could've sat at this one all night long:

Santa (a fake one) was sitting out there, Peyton had fun saying, "ho ho ho."  They also had a huge bubble machine that Peyton was super excited about.  He kept saying, "bubba! bubba!"

It was such a fun evening out!

Steve's office party was last week and that was a lot of fun.  We belonged to this specific Coldwell Banker office during my whole pregnancy when I was working full-time with Steve (then left to a different office, and are now back) so I knew pretty much everyone there, which made it a lot of fun catching up with everyone.  Sorry, no pics.  

Here's a pic of Peyton enjoying our Christmas tree this morning:

We decided today was the only day left we could take Peyton to see Santa.  We also assumed we'd get semi right in since we were going during the day.  WRONG!  I guess I'm still a rookie in this department.  But, we had a blast waiting.  We went to Bass Pro Shop around 1pm and got a Bass Pass for 4pm.  At first we said forget it.  Then, we changed our minds.  And, a nice lady gave us her 3:30 pass after she apparently said forget it.  So in the long meantime, we looked at gigantic fish:

Rode the carousal:

 Snapped some pics in front of the tree:

 Ate lunch at Toby Keith's, where we got another pic in front of a tree (with red cups as ornaments, ha!):

And finally, got our picture with Santa!  We pointed out Santa as soon as we were close enough in line to see him.  Peyton was anxious and wanted to go right up to him.  Finally, it was our turn and we walked up to Santa, while Peyton took his time.  He was shy, not scared.  Eventually, because I was anticipating dirty looks because I wasn't moving fast enough, I picked Peyton up and plopped him on Santa's lap (which BTW was big, red, and scary!  No wonder kids cry!) Peyton sat as still as he could, and moved his eyes around like, "WOW!"  He had a twinkle in his eye and a face of amazement.  It was unbelievably sweet.  After the pic, Santa talked to him and he said in his quite, sweet voice, "dah, dah?" He was totally talking to Santa and I wanted it to last forever, but I had to pick him up and leave.  He looked back at him a few times and then we were on our way.  Tonight when I put Peyton to bed, unprovoked he suddenly said, "Ho Ho Ho!"  Yeah, it was a Santa kinda-day!  :)))

On our way home with no nap, Peyton conked out.  We met some family friends for dinner tonight at the Old Spaghetti Factory (didn't take any pics) and I was worried after a long day, he wouldn't be up for it.  But, he did great at dinner.

Only a few days left, and they're gonna be busy!  I hope you're enjoying these last few days before Christmas!