Independence Day '14

Russ's dads side of the family normally go camping down by Ferron Resevoir for the 4th of July. We joined them last year but I was scheduled to work this 4th of July and we were in the process of starting our sprinkler system. As a result Russ decided to work the 4th and then we could both take off camping for the 24th instead. Russ had 2 employees that had chose to work with him that day so I went up that afternoon and we had a BBQ and got ice cream from the neighboring gas station. I hung out for a little bit then headed home to prepare for work.

At 5pm I received a phone call saying that we were low census (not very many patients) and they needed to call me off for the night, but since I'm full time status I could still choose to work and they'd call someone else. I haven't been called off work in months so I immediately jumped at the opportunity, changed out of my scrubs and notified Russ of my exciting news.

Russ got home from work and we decided to run some errands to get ready for our big sprinkler trenching the next morning. First stop was Home Depot to gather some supplies then Mark's house to gather trenching shovels. Russ's dad was working that night so we played some pranks on his house and then took a picture with his dirt bike and sent it to him to brighten his work evening.

After errands we went and met up with our friends, The Douglas's, at a church on 9th east in Provo to watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks. Some of Chelsea's family members were also there so we hung out, played games, and rigged the sprinkler system so we wouldn't get soaked in the middle of the fireworks.

The boys doing their ritual of showing funny truck pictures and youtube videos

It only took us about 2 years but we finally got a picture together

 It was a pretty low key 4th of July but turned out to be pretty awesome just being off work and hanging out with my man! (Also getting some sleep before our 7AM start to sprinkler trenching was also a win)! low-key or not the 4th of July is still one of my favorite holidays!

The celebration continued on that Sunday the 6th when we had dinner at my parents and played with sparklers afterwards. First time doing sparklers while the sun was still up but it was worth it to do it before the kiddos bedtime so they could be a part of it.

Lake Powell 2014

I had never been to Lake Powell before-I've seen Wahweap from the road on my way to Page Arizona but I'd never actually been to Lake Powell. That was until the first weekend of June....

Russ's business partner, Luke, decided to get married in Lake Powell on June 7. Seeing as how I had never been, had the weekend off we took the vacation opportunity. Luckily Taylor was nice enough to come house & dog sit for the weekend, so we could take off.

I worked Thurs (the 5th) night, and as I got home that morning Russ woke up and we loaded up the truck and boat to head South. Our road trip buddies-Austin, Jake, and Quentin showed up around 8, and as soon as the Dustin and Chad Park's families finally showed up our caravan was off.

I don't know if it was sleep deprivation seeing as how I hadn't slept since working all night, but I didn't realize just how far away Lake Powell was and in the middle of no where! Luckily, we have pretty awesome friends that helped make the trip not only bearable but fun!

Gas station treasures!

Found me a new job on a pit stop outside Bullfrog :)

I don't remember what time we made it to Bullfrog but by the time we got the boat unloaded, figured out others camping arrangements etc... all I remember was that I was ready to jump in! It was about 90 + degrees that day and I was so ready for water! As we took all our camping supplies out on the boat, we cruised over to the wedding location where Luke had docked his houseboat and other wedding guests had staked out campsites. The water had been rising about 1 foot a day so by the time we arrived there wasn't much beach left which took us up on the rocks to set up camp.

view from our "campground" Lake Powell is gorgeous!

Tents were set up, suits were on, boats were unpacked, and water awaited! Chad and his family loaded up in the boat with us and we took off to explore and teach his kids how to fish!

My lil buddy Hayley and I were proud of our big catch : )

someone caught a fish with on our anchovies we had thrown in to bring the fish in, we were pretty pumped!

Proud Austin with the first Stripper catch!

That night we roasted some hot dogs for dinner then hung out in the cool 70 degree air and admired the stars and semi full moon.

Saturday Morning came early as the sun and heat poured in our tents as the sun came up. We ate a quick breakfast and took off on the boat to the marina to grab some ice and other necessities. (Granted all these little things were seen as exciting to me as a first time Lake Poweller) On the way back Russ let Cowan and Hayley drive the boat. Turned out to be a life flashing before our eyes/seasick experience but the kids loved it!

After some lunch the heat was getting to us again so we took off back out on the water! Austin,  Chad's family, along with Shelley and her two kiddos came along with us! Russ got to wakeboard for the first time this summer, Austin tried it out, and Chad tried for the first time as well! It was pretty entertaining.

Shelley and Ella cooling off in between wakeboarders

My talented man!

Chad's falling action shot

Poor baby Ethan was getting so tired and it was a little rowdy on the boat so we went back to shore to let him go nap along with get our fishing supplies to try and catch a couple more fish before the ceremony was to take place that evening. Jake, Luke's brother, came with us this time and he ended up catching the most fish! It seemed like every time he'd cast out, he'd instantly be reeling back in.

Jake's first catch was one of our anchovies. So thoughtful of him to catch us some bait!

My lil buddy Hayley and I got a little sleepy enjoying the shade. Her cute little Gatorade stained face is so cute!

The mustache's make their return!

When we arrived back on shore as we were docking the boat the wind started to pick up. It was about 2 hours from when the ceremony was supposed to start and we'd returned back to help set up. However, the wind kept picking up and as we were docking our boat-Julie went on a hike to try out a different route to get to our tents (Kevin and her were camped up on the rocks with us). Next thing I know she's leaning over the cliffs hollering at us to get up there. The boys were busy trying to keep the boats from knocking. So I took off running and grabbed Quentin along the way. We got to the top to find the wind had taken 2 canopy's, and 2 tents as it's victims. Luckily our tent was the same one Russ takes hunting on top of mountains so it stayed standing the whole time. But we tried to prevent more damage on the other tents and rolled up the broken canopies. As we started to venture back down off the rocks I looked down to see everyone in what appeared to be a tug-a-war with the house boat. The wind had blown so hard that it had broke anchor off of the rhubarb it had been anchored to in the rock. For the next who knows how long we were all in a battle with the wind-we thought we had re-established anchor on one side with the wind shifted and next thing we know the boat is headed for the other anchored boats, as well as us on the shore. Finally we got it situated right as sunset was approaching. Once boat anchors had been re-established we were assigned to go on a trip into one of the marinas to check for a late arriving wedding guest. We took advantage of some photo opportunities while we waited : )

Chad, Heather, Cohan, and Hayley

The wedding dinner was ready when we got back, which was more hotdogs :) luckily there was some salads, chips and salsa etc... to go with them! The plan had been for them to get married with the sun setting in the background and since the boat fiasco had thrown a little kink in the plan we soon all found ourselves scrambling up the rocks to get everything ready before we lost daylight. Seeing as how I wasn't there for the "wedding" part. I didn't get any pictures of the ceremony but afterwards Shelley got a picture of us with the sunset in the background.

Once the "wedding" was over they passed out glow sticks and we sent off Chinese lanterns, (unless someone of legal authority reads this then I had nothing to do with it because I'm pretty sure it was illegal). Russ got a little excited about the glowsticks and was soon covered in them, along with the rest of his friends.

After some dance party time, and attempting some carp spear fishing off the house boat, along with soaking up some moonlight time on another beach, we ended our last night in Powell. As the morning sun came up our trip had ended just as fast as it had started. Although it was a short trip I'm still grateful we made the time for a quick little getaway.
Thanks to my awesome husband and all our friends for such an awesome, fun trip! Until next time Powell....

(oh and ps. 2 days after we got home Russ got phonecalls wondering if he was okay because they had discovered/found a body in Bullfrog. Crazy!)

some of this...some of that

I don't know how life for newlyweds can be so busy but nonetheless we always find ourselves with something to do, or something going on. However, even though it's a busy life, it's still a great life! Some of the things we have been up to lately....
 
Kezy girl played soccer this Spring and we got the opportunity to go watch a couple of her games. She was quite the fiesty little soccer girl and it was fun to watch her, cheer her on, and see her mom yell at her for pushing around the other team :)

Remi got to come to a game--she may have stolen the show! and I think this fellow makes quite the attractive soccer dad!

going up against the team that looked like they were 2 years older and 100 pounds heavier than Kezy's team

Russ has a good friend, Brett Baum, that lives up in Wallsburg. He's looking at going back to Afghanistan to be with his wife and was looking for someone to give 2 of his horses to. Knowing my dad's love for horses and the fact that he has his farm now where he'd actually have a place for them we brought him up to Wallsburg with us to check them out-and while we were there we met Brett's donkey Poncho. Something about his personality that was hilarious. He was a friendly donkey and appeared quite attached to my mom much to her disinterest :)
 

 Mother's Day was an exciting day in the Olsen home, we got to talk to our missionaries! Luckily I had the night off so Russ and I spent the afternoon hanging out at my parents as we got to chat with each of them. It was so nice to see them, hear them laugh and get to hear more about how they are doing. Both are loving their missions and doing great! Not to lie-it's still weird having them gone but time is flying! Channy is already over half way through her mission and come fall Tanner will hit his halfway mark at 1 year!

The Morning after Mother's day Russ and his dad Mark went up by Squaw Peak to try and get a Turkey. Lucky for them they were successful and Russ was able to fill his Turkey tag. It was fun for all of us because 2 weeks ago we had a turkey roast and invited everyone over to eat said turkey. Turned out delicious!

 On May 18, my dad was released from his 5 year term as bishop. (WAHOO!!!) It was exciting to watch him get released so he can be home more and to be honest have some burdens lifted off his shoulders. However, I have no doubt that he blessed many lives and served his calling to the fullest. I'll be grateful forever that we were able to have him marry us!

We went shooting!! Being up in the mountains this time of year is one of our favorite things this time of year and so when an opportunity presented to sneak away up Hobble Creek Canyon with our friends The Douglas's and Russ's employee/friend Austin we took it! It was a blast to break out the guns, shoot some skeet, blow up some soda and water bottles.

unfortunately I only got one other picture of the boys blasting the remainder of the targets right before we left.

House projects have been consuming our lives lately. Don't get me wrong we are loving our new house but there's always something to do! Luckily Russ is talented in many ways and he's been able to build shelves and build storage areas in our garage so we were able to get the floor cleared and park our trucks in the garage.May seem like a small thing but with how big our trucks are it's quite the accomplishment to fit them along with other items like freezers, dirt bike, 4-wheeler, etc.. in with them. Now time for the landscaping project...

Things have continued to be busy with work, and I've had lots of opportunites to progress and grow in my area. Back in the Fall I started cross training to our pediatric unit, and while Winter turned out to be a baptism by fire when RSV season hit, I'm loving it. Totally out of my comfort zone of dealing with grown people who can speak back to me and tell me what's wrong, and understand why I have to do things like poke them with needles and put oxygen on them. But I love that coloring, racing around wet floor signs in the hallways, and playing the Wii are now parts of my job description :)

The Pediatric Unit is decorated in Vinyl with Dr. Suess quotes, pictures, etc... There's a wall when you first enter though that says "Meet Your Nurses". I had to document when I officially made it on the wall :)

I was also chosen to be one of a handful of nurses to take a National Orthopedic Nurse Certification test that the hospital was paying for. I took the class back in December and majority of the nurses took the test back in April-however due to all the house activity I was the last to take it on June 10. I passed! Thank goodness. It was a good refresher of things to know and learn for taking care of my ortho patients but the main thing I learned was that I'm not cut out to go back to school. It was so hard to self discipline to study, and that was just for one test! But I got the bonus, certificate, name on the plaque on our unit, etc... but the most thing I got was the burden of studying off my shoulders just in time for summer!!

Our life may be busy but it's pretty awesome and I'm grateful everyday for having such a blessed life.