My time in Iowa

This blog is for me. It is what became a part of me, forever.

I cannot begin to count the number of times I pause and think about the time that I spent in Iowa. Like 8-10 times a day, at least. I cannot think of a more remarkable place that exists in all of the world. The saints that live there are like no other I have ever known nor do I think I will find elsewhere in all the world over. There is a piece of my heart that was branded in Iowa. When sharing some of my sorrow with my mother about the choice to have moved back West she in her wisdom said, "Amber, don't be sad for having left, but be eternally grateful for the experiences that you had while you were there." Sometimes Mom's just get it. And so I share a smidgen of the miracles that exist in Iowa.

The Glow

On an evening not long before we moved we had several ward members come to help us work on the remodeling in our basement. It was Ruston and Curtis Ford and Keith and Malia Gray. Two of the most salt of the earth, hope my plot is next to theirs in heaven kind of families. As I walked outside that night I will never forget the color of the sky. It was so beautiful. The moon was visible but the earth just seemed to exude a warm glow that night. I shut off my flash and took some pictures hoping to catch wonder of that night.

Friends that made life Zion

Keith, Mr. Dremmel Ruston and Curtis Drywall team

Miss Malia, my visiting teacher, my companion in the cornfields. Who else would show up and wrap bottle after bottle of food storage with me. A saint in every sense of the word. I can't count the number of times she showed up just to help. It was remarkable.

Dr. Who & the Mietzner's - They watched ours, we watched theirs

Jonathan and I are the best babysitters ever. We were "babysitting" Cameron and DeEtte while their parents were out of town for a week. They were staying at our home but I dropped them off with my boys at the pool in town. After swimming Cameron had decided to walk home to his house really quickly before heading back to our place. While at home he managed to wreck his parent's truck. Oh what teenagers don't manage to get themselves into, in such a short amount of time. I'll never forget the tremor in his voice when I picked up the phone and I heard, "Is Brother Jenson there?" Cameron was terrified and knew the wrath of his parents was going to sting. Lucky for him he had a whole week at our house before his parents would return. They had a week to simmer down before they got their hands on him. We loved him at our place for the rest of the week. He spent a lot of pensive moments staring at the floor while staying at our place. Jonathan and I just laughed when we saw the damage because we knew all

too soon it will be our kids doing crazy teenager things.

Iowa Cubbies

Every summer,

tail gate,

brats,

the entire Ottumwa Ward,

humid as h***,

baseball.

To be continued.....

Adam's Christmas Concert

That's my Adam

Melton the Warm Hearted Snowman - The first and second graders put on a play and Adam got to sing a solo part with two other kids in the school. He did a wonderful job. Adam loves to sing. He gets that from his Dad. He loves to sit at the piano while Jonathan plays and sing along. I think his favorite song right now is "Praise to the Man" that they learned for the Primary Program in church this year.

Gramps and Grams Olsen

Oh how all of my scheming is really starting to pay off. I new the move to Oregon was good for something. Wendy's oldest son Dallas turned 12 this past week and was ordained a Deacon on Sunday. Mom and Dad came to participate in the ordination and lucky me, what airport did they fly into? Medford, of course. They had 4 days off from the temple and they made a mad dash of it. They visited me for day, drove to Redding to spend a day with Wendy, back to Medford to fly to Seattle to see Cindi for a day and then back home to the temple. It was marvelous to be able to see them. I remember so distinctly sitting so many Sunday afternoons in Iowa having a small twinge to be in on the Sunday treats at my parent's home or to be surrounded by family just visiting. Sunday I did. We spent Sunday enjoying one another's company, celebrating Dallas' birthday, eating Mexican and participating in the ordination. It was fun to marinade in family just a bit.

On Dasher, On Dancer...!

We have had a rough couple of weeks with continuous colds and ear infections at our house. The past couple of days have been stay in jammies and survive days. The big boys were off to school and Andrew decided it was time to really get in the Christmas spirit. He constructed Santa's sleigh complete with a grocery sack full of toys to deliver to good boys and girls. We found a couple of Santa hats and he and I played Santa Claus in the kitchen while little Michael napped. Now it is quite a game the three oldest boys play. One takes turns playing Santa and the other two lay on the couch and pretend to be asleep. If they open their eyes Santa passes by, but if they are sleeping soundly he stops and fills their stockings full of toys. They have been such a hoot to watch pretend together.

Christmas Gifts for Teachers

I am posting this blog because I know how thankful I was when my sister sent the idea to me. It is a really simple and really inexpensive Christmas gift for teachers. I buy my frames at the dollar store or other "cheapie" place, the crayons I buy for a quarter a box during back to school and I have a bottle of elmer's glue laying around at all times. I made them for Adam's kindergarten and 1st grade teachers in Iowa. I decided to keep the tradition going for our new Oregon teachers. Adam's teachers have always LOVED them. I really like to give them to them at Christmas because then the boys get to enjoy looking at them in the classroom for the remainder of the year. I have it down to where I can whip a frame out in about 30 minutes. Enjoy!

Michael's First Birthday

The littlest peanut has turned one! Seven teeth, no crawling and strictly bum scooting, happiest child I have ever had. Michael is the joy of our home. He is a Daddy's boy and soooo completely loved by his brothers. He loves to watch the dog through the sliding glass door, take baths, go for walks in the stroller, and read books. He has the curliest hair of the all the boys. I have to keep cutting off little curls that grow up around his ears. What a dumplin'.

Ma and the boys with the train cake. I swore I wouldn't be one of those mothers that killed the latter children's birthday's, but I am. Here is the last minute version of what do I have in the pantry... marshmallow's and graham crackers.

You would think he had waited his whole life for that one gift.

In Matthew's kindergarten play group they made Christmas trees out of ice cream cones. He wanted to give his to Michael. Matthew was so happy to give him a special gift. Michael actually enjoyed eating it more than the cake.

Picking off the marshmallows one by one. I didn't realize what a distraction those little devils would be. By the time he was done with marshmallows, graham crackers, and M&M's he didn't want much to do with the cake.