A new cousin!

Baby Madison arrived safe and sound Wednesday evening, weighing in at 6 lbs. 12 oz. and with a very respectable head of hair! We went to visit her in the hospital last night--truthfully, Elizabeth was more interested in the box of granola bars she came across than the baby. . .but we're sure that will change soon enough. Holly, on the other hand, could not get enough of baby Madison--what a precious little bundle. Those chubby little cheeks, that tiny mouth, those sweet newborn squeaks. . .not to mention the impossibly long Olson toes! There is nothing quite so precious and tender as a brand-new baby. . .

Congrats to Jay and Lisa and big brother Jordan. . .We're so happy to have a new cousin who lives in the same area code as us! :) (Sinead and Brooklyn, we love you too, of course!)

Murphy's Law of Toys

A child will prefer to play with a toy in all but its intended purposes. I think there are some others, too--like the more expensive the toy, the less appealing it is to the child. . . And when surrounded by a selection of carefully chosen, age-appropriate toys, the child will inevitably choose to play with the doorstop.

Movie star

(You *know* that she only left the sunglasses and hairbow on long enough for me to take this picture!)

Checking the headlines

Hmmm. . ."Canada Stalls on Trade Agreement". . .

More Halloween Pics. . .

Cousin Jordan as a purple dragon, Jared as Han Solo. (Wait, which episode of Star Wars was the purple dragon in? Must've missed that one. . .)











Baby Sinead as a very chubby, very cute bumblebee. . .Aunt Clare, Aunt Clare's little sister, and Uncle Dan as various characters from ,One Fish, Two Fish




Newlyweds Aunt Joni and Uncle Aaron as Boots and King (the Olson family's pets, to the uninitiated)





Grandma Olson holding Cousin Sinead

The Olson Family Halloween Party

Our sister-in-law throws a Halloween party every year--since she's expecting a baby girl next week, we ended up having it early this year! Sorry, there are no pics of Elizabeth in her costume--this year it was a party just for the adults, so she got to stay home with Nonny and Papa (and Aunt Amy and Uncle Aaron too--bonus!)



Hmm, maybe we need to get Elizabeth an Ewok costume. . .






Who'd have thought Elizabeth's Grandpa Olson would make such a great Frankenstein? The next picture is of Aunts Sarah and Skylar. . .can you guess who they're supposed to be? :)

The newest addition to our family!

It's the moment we've all been waiting for. . .The Land Cruiser is up and running!

As you may know, Jared has a special affinity for Land Cruisers. He sold his first TLC to go on his mission, and his second to pay for school shortly after we met. Several months ago he came across an ad for a Land Cruiser needing some major engine work--and knowing his love of Land Cruisers, I couldn't say no. . .And so we became the proud new owners of a Land Cruiser that didn't run.

Jared has worked diligently on Project: Behemoth for several months, spending countless hours in the basement and driveway in grease up to his elbows. Yesterday we were able to take it on its first family drive. Aside from the dents on the front hood, it's in fantastic shape thanks to Jared's hard work. . .Holly is beginning to feel vaguely like a soccer mom, now that she's got this huge car that will fit an entire PeeWee team!