Today we returned from a camping trip. We finally had the opportunity to use our camping equipment that has been gathering dust. We went with some other families in our ward and had an enjoyable time. Well, most of the trip was enjoyable.

The not so enjoyable part of the trip was the sleeping part. Or the lack thereof. Isaac ended up in bed with me and Andrew ended up in bed with Emily. Other then not sleeping much last night we all had a really good time.

Yesterday we went up to Patti’s cabin to help get some work done. The weather was perfect. There was a cloud cover and it wasn’t too hot or too cold. We spent all day outside either working or sitting on the porch.

Patti purchased a swing set that Mark, Jeff and Emily mostly set up a couple of weekends ago. Emily and I finished it up yesterday. We didn’t have the camera with us so we don’t have pictures of it. The boys had a lot of fun on the swing set when it was done.

After we did that we hauled away a bunch of branches and logs. Andrew was really concerned about what was going to happen with the wood.

We also took down the zip line yesterday. That was a sad time. The zip line was so fun. The problem was that someone bought the land across the creek from Patti and didn’t like the zip line. We are hoping we can find a new place to set it up so we can continue to enjoy it.

The real fun happened on the ride home. We were about 15-20 minutes away from home when Jake and Andrew decided to throw up at the same time. We pulled over and Emily got the car cleaned up while I tried to keep from tossing my cookies. It’s okay because I cleaned up Jake’s throw up earlier yesterday at the cabin.

Yes, we did do stuff besides work. We took the boys out on the ATVs. They always enjoy that.

This week we returned from California. We spent three days camping at the beach. The boys loved the beach. Andrew preferred not to go to far into the ocean but Jake and Isaac had no fear. Isaac and Jake were quite upset when it was time to leave the beach and go to Grandma’s house. Luckily when we got to Grandma Murphy’s house they were glad to be there.

This year we once again headed to California to spend Christmas with Emily’s family. We are quickly learning that the more kids you have the harder it becomes to do Christmas away from home. However, we did have a lot of fun.

We had the opportunity to go to LegoLand while in California. It is amazing how much of the park is built our of Legos (or imitation Legos). They have a sign the says how many Legos were used in the park (over 3 billion). It is a lot of fun for kids of all ages. Jake and Andrew had a blast there. Unfortunately we went on the same day as the BYU vs. UCLA Las Vegas Bowl. Being hard core BYU football fans the guys loaded up in our van and took the youngest kids back to Emily’s parents house to watch the game and eat In and Out burgers. The women decided to stay at LegoLand with the older kids and watch the firework show. I will hopefully have pictures up soon of the trip to LegoLand.

Christmas was insane since all of Emily’s side of the family was there. We quickly learned that there were too many people for all the kids to sit and watch open presents. So, we decided all the kids would open their gifts first and then they could go play with all their new toys while the adults opened their gifts. Of course the real fun came when all the kids decided everyone else’s toys were cooler. Luckily we made it out of Christmas day alive. Did I mention we actually celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve? That was weird, especially on Christmas day realizing that everyone else was celebrating Christmas while we were moving on with life.

Since we celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve we needed to find something to do on Christmas day. Well, we all went to the beach. It was perfect weather! Jake had a blast with Emily playing in the water. They were the only two that actually went in the water. However, Emily brought a change of clothes for the boys but none for herself. Andrew and Isaac hung out by Grandma Murphy.

We ended our trip with a visit to the Discover Science Center. That was a lot of fun. There were a lot of hands on things that the kids enjoyed doing.

Now we are back home spending some time with my family that’s in town. We have had a blast this holiday season but we also look forward to the time when things get back to normal. The three boys were so happy to be home again but have had tons of fun seeing all of their cousins from both sides over the past week and a half.

We hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and that the New Year finds you all happy and in good health.

Best wishes from the Olsen Family!