It was Professor Plum in the Conservatory with the Rope!

Zach and I have had the privilege of helping out with youth group activities. We got to play a part in the super suspicious, quirky quagmire, murder mystery Clue evening. You should be able to figure out our roles based on the pictures (although Zach thought he looked more like an "unkempt Dutchman" than his character). :-) In case you didn't crack the case, we were Colonel Mustard and Miss Scarlet. What a pair of sly, scheming sleuths.

Oh No...Not Again!

I couldn't believe it! The day after our first dish broke, another one did! I was pulling a glass out of the cupboard, had butterfingers, and is slipped. Whoops! I hope this doesn't turn into a daily happening.

Endings and New Beginnings

Well, we knew this day would come. Today our first wedding gift broke. I opened our dishwasher and inside I found a glass that will never see another sip. Zach said a few words, and after six great months, it found it's final resting place, the trashcan.
But, on the positive side I am thrilled with a purchase we recently made! Ever since I moved out of my parents' house I have had a second hand vacuum. It worked, but didn't really suck. I always had to crawl around after I vacuumed to pick up all the left-overs the vacuum missed.
I am someone who greatly appreciates those nice vacuum streaks a powerful vacuum makes, and I hoped that one day I could make my own. Well...my day finally came!! Our old vacuum pooped out so we drove to Buffalo and bought a (drum roll please....) new vacuum! We happily welcomed our new friend, Sir Sucks a Lot, into our home.
Look at those awesome streaks! Go Sir Sucks a Lot!

We love him :-)

Sunny San Diego

We had the wonderful opportunity to travel to San Diego, California for a conference at Westminster Seminary. We were thrilled to attend, and thrilled to escape the cold for a week. Zach couldn't wait to drive on Californian roads again. Here is Zach with our rental car, which later was nicknamed, "the hearse." Our first night we got together with our good friend, Claus, and met his girlfriend, Mia. We met for pizza and a walk on the pier in San Clemente. Unfortunately, Zach and I were so pooped from being up 26 hours that we didn't make it through the evening. We took a nap in Claus' car while he and Mia finished their date. Here we are before we fell asleep. It didn't take us long to visit Zach's favorite restaurant, El Indio De Tijuana. Oh, the anticipation..... "Oh Yeah...Mmmmm..." (Those were his exact words)
We met up with our good friends, Buss, Jules, and Claus for yet another burrito.
The conference was very interesting. The theme was the two Kingdoms and how they are distinguished, overlap, and interact. It was great meeting many of Zach's professors and friends. We had super fun, laugh-filled, nights together playing games, sitting around a bon fire, avoiding skunks, and hanging out. Here Zach and Buss got into a competitive ping-pong game on their old stomping ground.
We stayed with a wonderful woman named Clara, whom I was honored to meet. She opened up her home to us for the visit, and even taught me how to knit! She got up at 3:30 in the morning to ensure we had a good breakfast before traveling home.

Our Post-Christmas Christmas

This year we waited until mid-January to celebrate Christmas in GR, and it worked out well because it spread out the Christmas cheer! We had a fantastic visit with family playing games (especially the Game of Things- super fun!), eating delicious food, opening gifts, and hanging out. I had my camera out for the Mallekoote Christmas so here are a few pictures of that night...
Aunt Helen made blankets, scarves, and hats for everyone. Here we are showcasing them:




Grandma and Grandpa made their grandkids VERY happy!

Mom had the great idea of putting a blindfold on us while she brought in gifts. She even remembered a gift for our Webster- a grill cover! Now he wont get so cold in the winter months :-)



May you all have a blessed start to 2010!

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year

Merry Christmas from our family to yours. We pray you all enjoyed time celebrating the birth of our Savior and giving thanks for His unfailing love, great faithfulness, and unmerited grace.
We had a quiet afternoon opening gifts and relaxing together. Here we are displaying some fun gifts.
Zach gained yet another Michigan shirt- Go Blue!

Wahoo- a space heater!!

Continued and New Traditions...

We are continuing an Olson tradition with pasties! We made our first pasties and they turned out awesome- Mmmmm...



We thought it would be fun to start the tradition of making a gingerbread house. 2 intelligent adults + 1 "do it yourself" gingerbread packet = great fun right?! In reality: 2 intelligent adults + 1 "do it yourself" gingerbread packet = a LOT of work! We are highly suspicious that children did not create the gingerbread house on the picture guide that came with the box.


The finished product turned out, but the jury is still out on whether this tradition will make the cut next year. Uh oh- there goes the tree again!

Reverend Bussis

I had the privilege of witnessing the ordination of our good friend, Steve Bussis. It was a special service and great event! Zach wasn't able to be there, but if you look close enough, you'll notice that he did make an appearance. :-)

It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

...At the Olson home! Zach and I took down our fall decorations (see below)

and put up our Christmas decorations for our first Christmas as husband and wife! Here are some before and after shots of the decorating.
Before...

After!

Before...

After!

A huge, special thanks to those who gave us decorations to help spread the Christmas cheer in our home!!

Gobble Gobble

To Grand Rapids or Bust! Zach and I were able to go to GR for Thanksgiving. We spent two days with our family eating delicious turkey, playing trivia pursuit, watching TLC bride shows, Christmas shopping, Christmas decorating, and hanging out.





Grandpa and Pieter
That's all for now. Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Zach's first, second, and third baptism!

It hasn't even been two weeks since Zach's ordination, and he has already had the privilege of baptizing three babies. He was very excited and nervous going into each one. (We even practiced with my old stuffed animal, whose head is semi-attached which made it interesting when passing "the baby" back and forth.) He did a wonderful job; I was so proud! He now states that baptizing children is one of his favorite parts of his job. And with several births recently, he will continue to get plenty of practice! At a congregational meeting he encouraged everyone to "Keep having more babies!" Of course, we got targeted to be the ones to have the next baby. Oh boy, were we both blushing. :-)
Below is a picture of the family at the first baptism.

Fun at the Falls

Our good friends, Jules and Steve stayed for a weekend visit after Zach's ordination (Wahoo!). Saturday we ventured to Niagara Falls. It is a powerful, majestic sight.
While walking around we had some fun with the signs...

We took a special tour that takes you down in an elevator to the caves. It was awesome to see the falls from that perspective. It was also neat to learn the history of the falls and different stories about people surviving accidents at the falls. There was one young boy who was in a boating accident and fell down the falls with only a life jacket and survived with minor injuries- incredible!




The picture below has a fun story that goes with it. The man in the picture asked Zach to take a picture of him and his girlfriend, but then he whispered something into Zach's ear. I knew something was up by the smile that spread across Zach's face. As Zach was taking the picture the man took out an engagement ring and held it behind his girlfriend's shoulder. Then he told his girlfriend to check the picture to make sure it turned out. As she was looking, her eyes grew wide as she realized he had an engagement ring! She screamed with excitement as he asked her to marry him. It was fun to play a minor role in the happy event.
We also walked up the tourist road with all sorts of souveneir shops, food stands and sights. We stopped at the Guinuess Record Tour and took a picture in the chair of the tallest man in the world.
We spent the rest of the weekend hanging out and playing cards. Julie and I almost beat Zach and Steve in Euchre (a feat we've yet to accomplish). We came close with a rubber match that ended in a cut-throat 10-9 win for the boys. One of these days Julie and I will beat those guys...
Thanks for coming Buss and Jules!