It took us 4 years but we finally got family pictures taken. We have often talked about it and even came close a few times but never pulled the trigger. We always had some lame excuse: we don't have the right clothes, we'll get pictures after I lose a few pounds, no time, blah blah blah. Olan Mills was running a special for $12.95, 1 - 10x13, 1 - 8x10, 1 - 5x7, and 12 wallets; all of the same pose. When Shanna saw it she prepaid it so we felt an even more compelling reason to show up. I thought the pictures looked great. Of course they take forever to print so we don't have them yet. As soon as we do I'll scan it and post it here. If you want to see them sooner then they are available online at Olan Mills' website. Just contact Shanna or myself and we can send you the information.
Last Sunday our ward had a special meeting with the Stake Presidency. In a nutshell, our ward was combined with the downtown branch (which was struggling) and then the whole thing split into two wards. Essentially our ward and their branch got split and the two halves joined together. A lot of changes in our ward(s) as we have a new Bishop (both wards do - our previous Bishop was finally released), and lots of new callings to fill. On THAT note, Thursday night I met with our new Bishop. I have been asked to serve as the Young Men's President. Yowser!! I think back to the YM leaders I had when I was younger (Dick Barnes, Alan Parker, Jimmy Priest) and I feel supremely inadequate. I looked over the names of the young men in our ward and I don't know any of them. Obviously that will soon change. As I got home and prayed about it I actually started to get excited (yet still overwhelmed).
Finally, Jacen's birthday was November 27th. We celebrated it on the following Saturday and pretended that day was his birthday. We had a party here with a few family and friends invited. Lot's of rugrats running around! Shanna did a great job planning and executing the whole thing. It was Thomas the Tank Engine themed and we borrowed a train set from Shanna's dad and had it set up on the pool table. We had three stations for the kids -- 1)watercolor painting 2)coloring 3)picture frame decorating. The last one needs a bit more explanation. We borrowed a train engineer's costume from our friend's the Miller family (the same one Jacen used for Halloween) and we put each of the kids in the costume and took their picture. I then printed off each of the pictures and we put that picture in the picture frame the kids decorated. They ended up looking pretty cool. We seem to have lost Jacen's frame but here is his picture.
Last Sunday our ward had a special meeting with the Stake Presidency. In a nutshell, our ward was combined with the downtown branch (which was struggling) and then the whole thing split into two wards. Essentially our ward and their branch got split and the two halves joined together. A lot of changes in our ward(s) as we have a new Bishop (both wards do - our previous Bishop was finally released), and lots of new callings to fill. On THAT note, Thursday night I met with our new Bishop. I have been asked to serve as the Young Men's President. Yowser!! I think back to the YM leaders I had when I was younger (Dick Barnes, Alan Parker, Jimmy Priest) and I feel supremely inadequate. I looked over the names of the young men in our ward and I don't know any of them. Obviously that will soon change. As I got home and prayed about it I actually started to get excited (yet still overwhelmed).
Finally, Jacen's birthday was November 27th. We celebrated it on the following Saturday and pretended that day was his birthday. We had a party here with a few family and friends invited. Lot's of rugrats running around! Shanna did a great job planning and executing the whole thing. It was Thomas the Tank Engine themed and we borrowed a train set from Shanna's dad and had it set up on the pool table. We had three stations for the kids -- 1)watercolor painting 2)coloring 3)picture frame decorating. The last one needs a bit more explanation. We borrowed a train engineer's costume from our friend's the Miller family (the same one Jacen used for Halloween) and we put each of the kids in the costume and took their picture. I then printed off each of the pictures and we put that picture in the picture frame the kids decorated. They ended up looking pretty cool. We seem to have lost Jacen's frame but here is his picture.
All the kids had a GREAT time. We of course had cake (no ice cream) and with a little help Jacen blew out all the candles. Shanna made and decorated the cake--except for the train Jacen did that on his own. And by on his own I mean, without our permission and knowledge, and not exactly where we wanted to put it. But it was his cake so I guess that makes it okay.
And opening presents was a madhouse. Jacen had help from all his friends to open the gifts. Pretty funny to watch actually. We decided that Jacen didn't really need all of his presents all at once so many of them got stashed away and we'll release them slowly. You know, so he appreciates them more, not because many of them are loud and obnoxious.
Ian Noah Olmsted at 2 weeks
Aaron enrolled Jacen in a swimming class at UC that allows for parents to be in the water with their child. Jacen loves to swim and loves these lessons because they give him special "daddy time" at daddy's school! Again I sat, watched and photographed. Here is Jacen floating with help from Aaron.
Good hit, Jacen!
We spent most of our time following Jacen around this huge field. He carried his teeball set from place to place only pausing long enough to hit a ball or two. We thought we were teaching him how to play ball but he actually taught us that it is perfectly all right to play ball with no rules. It is so liberating to be able to hit the ball in any of the cardinal directions with no regard to where the other players are located, to feel no guilt at stealing "home plate" on a whim and carting it off to a new field of play, or to self-congratulate at regular intervals by saying "that was a good one!"
