Hello, iphone

 When we moved here one of the first things we noticed is our phones didn't work. I couldn't call or text without my phone dropping the call or text. So we went to Verizon to set up an account and they gave us free iphones. I was so excited. I love free!

One of the funnest things (that I know how to do-there is much, much I don't know how to do) is the camera and the camera apps. I have been having a lot of fun with those. 

I know that these are not great pictures. I know the resolution is low and some of the overlays are wonky. 

But it's just so fun!

 This says "the princess loves otterpops." I don't know why it didn't all show up.

These are the trees in our yard. I LOVE the trees in our yard. 

So I am new to smartphones. What is your favorite app or trick? I feel like I need to class on how to work these. 

And the apps I used to make these photos fun are "Rhonna" and "Picture Show." Both are $1.99 and so fun. 

Omaha Independence Day

 We greatly underestimated how much Nebraskans love Independence Day.

On July 3rd, we went to a bbq and stayed out until 9 pm (which is very late for our kids) so for the 4th, we thought we would just let them light off sparklers and poppers. Because of daylight savings, it doesn't get dark until 10 pm and we didn't want to keep the kids up until 11 pm for the fireworks. (We're boring like that.)

So we put Lucy to bed and then we went out for our "fun." The girls were so scared at first. Jonathan made the comment that things would be so much different if we had boys. But I was terrified of fire works when I was their age, so I understand. 

Eventually we got into it and the girls had a blast. But we realized sparklers are much more sparkly in the dark.

After we got the older girls in bed, we watched a show and then it started sounding like a war zone outside. We went out onto the porch and was awed by the amount and intensity of the fireworks here. We had neighbors shooting off commercial fireworks! It smelled like there was a forest fire burning. It was unbelievable. And it just kept going and going. At 11 pm, we put in ear plugs and went to bed. 

I don't remember it being like that when I was teenager living in Nebraska. I was shocked the girls didn't wake up, and I am glad they didn't because they would have been scared. 

Maybe next year we will keep the older girls up for it, now that we know what happens in our neighborhood. 

The older I get, the more I am grateful for a free country.

God bless America!

The Olsens are in Omaha!

Omaha is a cute city. We have a Culver's and a Hobby Lobby right by our house!

Omaha is very humid. So humid that Jonathan says he can hear the grass growing. The green, soft grass and the big trees are so pretty. 

People are friendly. Food is expensive. It stays light until almost 10 pm at night. 

Fireworks are legal, so they are going off all the time. 

Church is at 9 am, but sacrament is last so that is really different. But it is nice if you are running a little late ;) like we were last week in the race to find shoes.

To be honest, this has been a hard move.

Moving out of our home, the only home the girls have known, and saying good-bye to our friends and family was so hard.

We had so much help getting our house ready and packing and even driving here (my mom and Jonathan's brother came and helped us drive) but it was so exhausting. It was nice to get here, but then there was the unpacking. It has felt like our lives have been chaotic lately. 

So we decided to have some fun today. 

We went to the zoo.

The girls were the most excited to go to this playground. Funny, that with all the animals and exhibits, the playground is what was the most fun for them. 

The drive here was very hard on Lucy, so it was nice to see her smile and have fun. She is getting lots of teeth!

 The carousel was also a highlight of the zoo. 

Even though I get frustrated that I don't know my way around town yet and there are boxes that I just want to go away, I am grateful to be here. For Jonathan. He has had SUCH a hard time in residency and now he feels a great weight has been lifted off of him. 

And I recognize my blessings. The Lord was truly with us. I know that we will settle in here and I look forward to that. 

Residency Graduation

Last night was Jonathan's residency graduation.

It was a really nice ceremony. It was at the Biltmore Resort in Phoenix, which is super fancy, and the dinner was amazing! But of course the best part was knowing that residency was almost done and seeing Jonathan get recognized for all his hard work.

Jonathan was voted "most likely to be mistaken as having an asthma attack while laughing." We thought this was hilarious because J has this wheezing laugh that is so funny. (He gets it from his mom, she laughs the same way.) 

He was also awarded "Clinic Resident of the Year," and was given the "House Award for Best Diagnostic Skills." 

I thought that was awesome and I am so glad the program recognizes how hard he works. Jonathan feels that the awards were not appropriately given because he hates clinic (true that, he is always complaining about it which makes it so funny that he got a resident of the year award for clinic) and he feels that there are smarter doctors who should have gotten the House award. And he wasn't just trying to be humble. He started listing off residents who should of gotten a plaque and didn't. And I agree that all the residents should have gotten an award because residency is BRUTAL. But I love him for his kindness and I am still happy that he got his awards. :) 

 (If you can't tell what this picture is, it's the slide of Dr. House on the left and Jonathan on the right.)

Jonathan's mom and sister came and it was so fun to have them there.

I cannot tell you strongly enough how glad we are that residency is done!  (Well...almost done. He has to keep working until we move.)

Really, we are not sad about this at all. (We are sad about moving from our friends and family, though.) 

Residency is hard. So hard. Really, it is so, so hard.

There were some times when I was sure J was going to quit. He started looking at other programs and looking at jobs that didn't need a residency completed. He was totally and completely exhausted. But he hung in there and we are all so glad.

And through all of the difficulty of residency, I have truly seen the Lord's hand in our lives. I know that we could not have done it without the Lord's constant help. So the biggest lesson that I have personally learned while Jonathan did residency is that the Lord's grace is real. And so even though we are not done, and Jonathan is starting a two year fellowship in a few weeks, I know that the Lord will continue to help us. And I will always be glad that residency helped teach me that.

Lucy Update

 Lucy is walking everywhere. She is done with crawling.

She is teething again. I am will be so glad when all those teeth are in and I know she will be too.

She loves to play with her sisters. She is always trying to do what they do, which is why she can already climb up on my couch. 

She loves canned fruit the very best.

She amazes me constantly at how smart she is. When I tell the girls to go wash their hands, she rubs her hands together like she is washing her hands.

She leans her head in for kisses. 

She is determined. Very determined. If we can channel that determination, she is going to do amazing things.

She likes to try talking and she is really good at saying "hi" and waving her hand.

She loves playing peek-a-boo.

We think we are so lucky to have our Lucy girl. 

Preschool Graduation 2013

This past Thursday was preschool graduation for Sami and Janie.

Jonathan had to work a night shift in the ICU so he couldn't come and I got a sitter for Lucy so she could go to bed and I could enjoy the program. It was really nice to just enjoy their big moment and take tons of pictures. 

 We are all sad that preschool is over for the summer. It was only on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8:30-10:30, but I got a lot done in those four hours every week! And I knew the girls were learning and having fun so it was a win-win situation. 

The girls were true to their personalities before and during the program. 

Janie gets nervous when she doesn't know for sure what is going on around her.

And Sami is our little social butterfly, always. 

Finally it was time to walk up and get their "diploma." (I was tempted to put in tons of pictures of all their songs, etc. but I realize that maybe you don't want to see all 94 pictures that I took that night. ☺)

And Sami and Janie would tell you the best part were the cookies after the program. 

I thought Mrs. Carole was a great teacher. She has done preschool for 25 years, and she only charges $60 a month per kid. I think that is SO reasonable. She is so good with the kids and they learn a lot. And I liked that she is LDS and all of the kids in the class were LDS too.  I will miss her. But maybe we will be back in Arizona for Lucy to go to her preschool. 

And now Sami will be going to kindergarten in the Fall. She is so excited and just thinking about makes me anxious. I will miss not having her around all day. I will miss not knowing what she is doing and who she is with. I realize that I will have to turn her over to Heavenly Father and good teachers. And although it stresses me out, I know it will be so good for her. She is academically ready, and I know she will love being around other kids best of all. I think my kids are growing up too fast.  

Tumbling Recital 2013

This past Friday was the girls' tumbling recital. It was so, so cute.

Sami was nervous before their song, which kinda surprised me because she wasn't nervous last year. I guess that means she is growing up, sniff, sniff.

We were lucky that Grandma Trish and Aunt Tami came. Boy, are going to miss them when we move! Jonathan made it too, which was a miracle because he was on late call in the ICU. But we were so blessed that he walked in right before it started. I am grateful that he has good friends in the program that were able to cover him.

So I have got to say that I am a horrible video-taker person. The picture is so wobbly and I almost didn't post this, but just in case you really want to see it, here it is. I love that the girls' personalities shine through so much during their number. Sami took the cartwheels and her part very seriously. She had been practicing and practicing at home. And Janie doesn't mind moving her hips at all. She does this all the time at home and it scares me how good she is at moving those hips. (And please ignore my cackling laugh, it makes me cringe every time I watch this, which is a lot because the girls' love watching themselves perform.)