Tuesday, July 31, 2012

We Love You Elder Clark!


Last month my not-so-baby-brother left for his mission to JACKSONVILLE, FLORIDA!!! We sure miss him and but we're so proud and excited for him. He got to his new area a couple of weeks ago and is doing great. He did a great job on his farewell talk and is loving teaching the people of Florida.


John, Kory, Dad, Nathan, and Dallas

Mom and Nate

Kory and Hailey

Isn't he cute?

Nate and Oaklie

Nate and Paxton

Nate and Jackson

Nate and Hailey

The Olavesons



Me and my (big) brother.
He got a black eye playing basketball :)

Here's a portion of his first email from Florida, "I am doing really well and have grown so sososososo much spiritually! God love every one on this earth and has made a way to come back to him and that is though Jesus Christ! if you don't know how to come closer to Jesus Christ Immerse yourself in his holy word! that great Book, The Book Of Mormon!"


We Love You Elder Clark!

June Summer Fun

We've had a fun summer so far! We've been so busy that I haven't had a chance to update our blog. 





We've spent some time at the park with our cousins.
Passed out on the couch.

Spent some more time at the park with more cousins.



Took out one of the RZR's from Dallas' work out with Dallas' mission companion and his family.

The Abrams

The Egberts

We drove from Rexburg to Kelly Canyon and Amaya kept asking, "When are we getting to Kelly's house?"


Elder Egbert and Elder Abrams all grown up!

Oaklie passed out--down-set-hike!

Amaya got into the closet, put on her winter coat and passed out. It was like an oven in her room. I have no idea how she slept in that.

More time at the park




Our ward put a team together for the American Cancer Society's Relay for Life. I'd never been but it was so fun and such a neat, hopeful experience.
The ladies in my ward who have had cancer (one of them isn't in this picture)






Drawing our luminary bag. They dedicate bags to people who have had cancer and at nightfall, light them around the track.



Customized by Amaya and Oaklie



Cousin Jackson

Emily and I. She came and hung out with me the whole time!



They lit off lanterns at nightfall in honor of those who have passed away from cancer. They played a song from "Tangled" and Amaya was AMAZED! It was like a Disney movie that came to life.

Oaklie fell asleep while she was eating a cupcake.

A couple of days before the Relay we got the BEST news of the summer. I had another biopsy done. When I woke up, my surgeon gave me great news. He had seen so sign of cancer, scar tissue, or anything unusual. A few days later, my results came back that I am cancer free! Words cannot express how it felt to have such a huge burden lifted off of my shoulders. I know that our family was blessed with a miracle and that my cancer-free status is thanks to lots of prayers offered on our behalf. I've already got some nice peach fuzz going on and only have check-ups until my next biopsy in September.

Amaya took this picture. She did a great job!

More posts to follow!

Monday, June 25, 2012

Amaya-isms and Okie-ese

A good chunk of my day I spend listening to my kids chatter and then making fun of them. Oaklie is starting to talk more and more. She used to jibber like a martian, but now she is saying lots of silly things.


That kid has more variations of her name than anyone I know. Amaya and most of the cousins call her "Okie", some call her "Oakwie", Paxton calls her "Oakie-Oakie!" and she called herself, "Gokie!" 


Like most almost 2 year olds, everything is, "MY!" If I point to something and ask her what it is (i.e. a ball) she just says, "My-mine!" Everything is, "MY-ah baby!", "MY-MY shoes!",  and "MY-pa-pad". (my i-pad). Her other favorite word is "Nyo" or "Nope."

Mom: Do you want a banana?
Oaklie: Nyo.
Mom: Do you want an apple?
Oaklie (sinister voice): Nyope.
Mom: Do you want a cookie?
Oaklie: Nyope.
Mom: Do you want to go to Disneyland?
Oaklie: Nope.

She likes to sing songs songs like, "wo, wo, wo is-a-bow" (Row, Row, Row Your Boat) and Called to Serve, "alled to erve our KEEEN!"

"Nee" is Uncle Nate, "Non" is Uncle John, and "Paps" is cousin Paxton.

Oaklie is starting to go in the potty sometimes. She has a little potty seat that goes on our toilet because her bum is so tiny she can't sit on the regular seat. It has little ducks on it and hangs on a hook on our wall when it's not in use. Oaklie thinks it's the neatest thing ever. "MY guck pawee," she says. Last night when she was supposed to be sleeping, she came downstairs buck naked. I took her upstairs, she'd taken her dirty diaper off, so I cleaned her up and sent her back to bed. Later, when Dallas went to use the bathroom, there was a half a roll of toilet paper in the bowl and poop smeared all over the seat and Oaklie's potty seat. The sick part was that she'd hung her toilet seat back up on the wall.

Saturday Oaklie came out of her bedroom and went crying to Dallas, saying, "Owee! Owee! Owee!" and pointed to these red marks on her arm, then dissolved in tears. It was ketchup. I'd missed one of her arms after lunch.

Amaya is starting to have quite the imagination. She loves to tell me stories. She has a birthday coming up and we were talking about presents and what she wanted for her birthday. This is what she said, "Um, like a doll, and she haves red hair like me, and it's kinda long like this, and then she haves cancer and her hair go all gone, and then she wear a scarf like this." I haven't heard of any dolls like that for sale, but I'll keep my eyes open.

Amaya is starting to understand family relations i.e. Nanna is Mom's mom, Uncle Tyson is Dad's brother, Great-Grandma Baxter is Grandma's Mom, etc.  She always tells me that she is AbbyJo's mom (that's her baby doll) and I am AbbyJo's Nana. Last night she told me she had a new mom named "Olga" (she always makes up the weirdest names). A new NICE mom (ouch, right?) and that I was her aunt. It was painful to hear, but the real salt in the wound was when she said that Olga was AbbyJo's new Nana, not me. When I put her to bed, she brought up her new NICE mom, Olga, and I told her if she got a new mom I would be sad. She'd have to go to a new house and leave all of her toys at our house. Mom, Dad, and Oaklie would all stay here and we would miss her. I would be really sad and I would miss my Amaya a lot. She looked at me, shrugged her shoulders and said, "You can be the aunt."

The other day I told her to go get her shoes in her room. Then I said, "Actually, your shoes are downstairs." She turned to me, laughed, and said, "I'm not Ashley! I'm Amaya nerd!"

Last week I told her we were going to run some errands. "Why we going to Erin's house?" she asked. "We're not going to Erin's house, we're running errands." I said (I don't even know anyone named Erin). Pouty face, "But I wanted to go to Erin's house!" I explained to her that running errands meant we were going to the grocery store, the bank, and dropping off invitations to my activity day girls. Errands is just a word that means you are going places to get jobs done. She nodded and seemed to grasp the concept. I told her she needed to go to the bathroom before we left. "It's okay," she said "I'll just go potty at Erin's house."

I've got some updates I still need to finish...pictures from Kelly Canyon when we drove side-by-sides over to have a picnic, relay for life, and Nate's farewell.