Olmstead Update

So, we've been busy! Before our week and a half trip to Utah, Molly started AYSO soccer. She of course is the skinny girl with the purple soccer ball. She cried for a second the first practice until Matt went with her onto the field and for the first part of practice. She now LOVES it! She really is the fastest one on her team, and a little bit too aggressive. I love it:) Jax always asks when he gets to play, and we remind him that once he turns 4 in March, we're signing him up for baseball (t-ball). He's excited b/c Matt bought him a t-ball set and they practice all the time. At first he couldn't hit the ball for the life of him. Matt was frustrated b/c he has always assumed his son would be good at baseball like him. Well, thanks to me, I realized the problem. Matt was trying to teach him how to bat right handed. I figured we'll try left handed b/c, well, I'm left handed. Bingo! The kids hits it over our fence every time:) Matt couldn't be more thrilled. He always dreamed of having a tall left-handed pitching son, and he just might have gotten one.

Right after Molly's first soccer practice, the kids and I hopped in my car (which was already packed) and hit the road for Utah. We loved our visit with Jenny, Marty, Jacob, and Ben. While there the kids played non-stop. They rode scooters, jumped on the trampoline, went to the park, played tag, ran around outside, and just wore each other out. The whole week Jax would only call Jake, "Big Jakey". It was a blast. Thanks, Jen and Mart.

After Matt arrived and did a little business, we drove to Park City/Midway. We met our friends, Ryan and Julie Hoke, and their 3 girls there. Ryan's parents have a house in Midway that we all stayed at. We went there to attend "Swiss Days". Basically, it's etsy on crack! I loved it! I plan to attend next year. I will have to take a few pictures of the goodies I bought. Seriously, it's the best family fair ever. I loved that we could buy the kids a lunch that included a cheeseburger or hotdog, cookie, chips and drink for $4. Awesome. Matt and I shared a scone for lunch. Yum. I have included a picture of the kids eating their awesome, cheap lunch.

While in Utah, we went to BYU, which sadly I did not get any pictures of. I just wasn't thinking. Too busy going crazy in the bookstore. Jax and Molly thought it was cool to go where Mommy went to school. We went on a the Friday of the second week of school. They were setting up for a dance just outside between the Cougar Eat and Library. They were setting up a ton of bounce houses and obstacle courses. It was perfect b/c as soon as Molly and Jax saw those, they both said that they want to come to this school. I lied and promised them that there will still be bounce houses there when they attend:) Anything to get them brainwashed into attending BYU:) We all got BYU shirts. I run in mine 3 times a week. I love it:) Go Cougars!!!

One Friday night in Utah, The Hokes and us met up with some of our friends that just moved there from here in Orange County. the Sunderlands moved to Farmington. We met them at one of those Brazilian bbq/meat galore restaurants at Gateway Mall in SLC. After dinner, we took the kids to Temple Square. It was a beautiful Utah summer night and the sun was just starting to set. We walked around reading all of the plaques and looking at all of the statues. Both kids kept calling the SL Temple the "Castle Temple". They noticed how much bigger it is than our Newport Beach Temple. It was a great time!