Easter 2019

When clothing manufacturers design Easter dresses for little girls, they basically ignore the fact that it is usually well below 70 degrees, often raining, and typically windy on Easter in the PNW. Many a PNW girl has a parka over her adorable Easter dress and has blue toes sticking out of her Easter sandals. No, spaghetti strap dresses and barely-there sandals are not what our sweet (and usually a bit soggy) PNW kiddos require on Easter. Usually.

This year, Easter's weather was GORGEOUS and we didn't freeze. Why? We lucked out. Also, having Easter at the end of April didn't hurt. March Easters result in much more frostbitten egg hunters.

Our Easter fun started out at home the day before Easter when we finally found some spare time to dy our Easter eggs. This year's efforts were quite creative; Eric decided to use candle wax to control where the dye was allowed to touch the egg shell. Annika and I tried used rubber bands to create stripes on a couple of eggs. Conor played with creating multi-colored eggs, and even made an Irish flag egg. It always feels a bit sad to crack into the pretty creations, but the deviled eggs we enjoy on Easter eases the pain a bit.

Some of our eggs

Easter morning's festivities started with the kids digging into their Easter baskets and discovering what goodies the Easter bunny left for them. (Eric and I happily slurped our Easter coffee as the kids plotted out which candy would start their sugar highs.).

Loot!

After baskets, the kids and I got spiffed up (aka out of our PJs) and headed to 10:30 mass. We needed to be there a bit early because Annika was slated to be one of the altar servers. I took advantage of our early arrival and snapped a couple of quick pics of the kids in their Easter attire before mass, just in case rain came in any time soon. (The spirit of a true PNW person ... do it now, who knows how long the rain will cooperate with us!)

Quick pre-mass photo

Annika altar serving during mass
(I didn't get struck with lightning for taking a photo during mass, so I'm guessing God is OK with it)

We caught our collective breath at home for a few minutes after mass. That might be a bit of an over statement. We went home after mass, which started "Destroy the Pretty Eggs" phase of our day. Eric and I feverishly peeled the eggs, many of which resisted our efforts and didn't make it onto the plate of deviled eggs. I did get enough yolks to fill the egg whites that didn't look like they were doing golf ball impersonations with the number of divots (or "diggots" as Annika says) they wound up having. I beautifully piped the yolks into the whites, dusted them with paprika, carefully covered them loosely with foil, and proceeded ti flip the plate of eggs over onto the eggs as I loaded them into the car. Yup - I'm THAT impressive. Fortunately, the foil kept everything together .... just a bit more smooshed than I'd hoped for. Oh well...  they still tasted great!

Once the smooshed eggs and the rest of our meal contributions (hot crossed buns, bunny-shaped dinner rolls, and lemon bars) were loaded in the car, we headed across Lake Washington to celebrate Easter with some of our extended family. My brother (Troy) and sister-in-law (Staci) graciously hosted the family Easter dinner. Lucky for us, Mother Nature decided to be kind and gave us a day that made us want to be outside and enjoy the deck. Cousin Ian set up a little egg hunt for the kids (an Easter must at this point), which will be sorely missed once Ian spreads his wings and heads to college next year. (Unless he comes home for Easter, than all is saved!)

Easter egg hunters

Our little bunnies

We ate our fill (and then some), toasted the holiday and beautiful weather, and had fun catching up a bit. My sister (Suzanne), brother-in-law (Randy), niece (Anna), and nephew (Robert) were also on hand to celebrate Easter. (Once again, I cannot begin to express how much we love having Frisches living here in Western WA!!! Four out of six so far ... now we need to work on getting Abby and Emily up here!)

 

My loves

The kiddos and their mama

Troy, Randy, and Eric toasting the day

Anna and Robert's inventive method for cooling their beverages

We drove home in a food-induced daze and practically fell into bed upon walking through the door. Thanks to everyone who made the day fun and filling. Now. to clean up the Easter decor and put the baskets away until next year.

July 3rd Family Lunch

You probably wouldn't know it by looking at us, but we're a bunch of rebels. This year, we decided to celebrate our country's birthday a day early ... we hope the Founding Fathers don't mind! :)

We all gathered at my mom's house a bit after 11 for mass (ahh... nothing like a Jesuit fix!) and then a lunch that could have fed a small country!! The best part of the day? The fried chicken? Nope (but it was mighty good!) The thought-provoking homily? Again, nope (but ya really can't beat a homily by Fred!). 

The cousins played and had a marvelous time being silly together. They played badminton, tag, and hide-and-seek. They even had a cherry pit-spitting contest. Good times, I tell ya!!

The best part of the day was just being together and relaxing together. We laughed ... joked ... the kids played ... and we just were. There wasn't anything specific that was scheduled or planned and that was perfectly wonderful. We just were. Sometimes it is nice to stop doing and just be ... and today we "just be'd" together around a couple of tables. Days without a set agenda are sometimes the most rejuvenating and fulfilling.

The sugar cookies I made for the get together

Eric and Conor being silly

Annika's photobomb

Fred talking about how the chalice's original owner
 (Fr. Suver) was at the flag raising at Iwo Jima

Troy being very serious as he did the 1st reading

Kat and Staci

Ian sporting his patriotic lei

Eric and Annika ... snuggle time

Annika and Nana enjoying lunch together

Happy Kat

Fred taking in all of the family-related craziness

Fred teaching us how to open a beer using another beer ... once a teacher, always a teacher

Troy's turn

An Olson totem pole

Cherry pit spitting is a messy business

We have an 8-year-old little girl

My apologies, dear readers and birthday girl, the month of August has apparently gone into turbo mode and we are nearing its end and I have yet to write up a blog post about our sweet girl turning 8 years old.

The night before her birthday, Annika was CONVINCED that she'd be too excited to sleep. Fortunately, she was incorrect and had no problems resting up for her big day. She rested up so much that Eric and I didn't see her until after we got home from work... it was so odd not to see her the morning of her birthday, but it seemed cruel to wake her up early just so we could say happy birthday. 

The evening of her birthday, we had a little "Olson Four" celebration for her, which included Annika's chosen dinner (chicken pot pie) and dessert (grasshopper pie) ... notice a theme?? Our dining portion of the festivities were followed by the much-anticipated give portion of the evening. Conor gave her an over-sized stuffed unicorn that Annika named "Sparkle Horn" and quickly placed in the center of her stuffed animal affections. Eric and I gave her a Dash robot, which is a robot toy that helps kids learn a few programming basics. She is enamored with robots these days, so the gift was a hit. She can program it to follow paths that she sets up, make noises, change colors, etc. 

Because Annika's birthday fell on a Thursday this week, we held off on having a party that included more than the four of us for a couple of days. The Saturday after her birthday, we invited the local extended family over for a BBQ lunch to celebrate Annika's birthday. 

It was a lovely day filled with lots of laughter, wonderful company (Eric's parents, my mom, Uncle Troy, Auntie Staci, Ian, Kat, and Uncle Dave), and more food than we could possibly eat.  Our little girl was showered with love and gifts ... truly a very good day in her eyes. She received safety equipment from Eric's mom/dad, a cook book and apron from my mom, a Pete the Cat book from my brother and his family, and best of all... big cousin Ian gave her all of his old Pokemon cards (130 in all). Without a doubt, the Pokemon cards was the best of the bunch in her eyes; before bed that night, she spent about an hour and a half organizing her new cards in her binder and taking the time to ohh and ahh over each card. 

Our nephew Ian put a spin on the antipasto plate by
adding little protesters... he never fails to amuse!

The top of Annika's requested bunny cake

Side view - Didn't Eric do an amazing job???
(My contribution: The inside is a white cake with pink, purple, and teal polka dots)

Cook book from Nana

Book from the Nelsons

Cousin Ian and goofy Conor

Annika and her hand-me-down Pokemon cards

Blowing out the candles (did I mention they were trick candles??)

Modeling her new apron and safety equipment

Thank you to everyone for making Annika's celebration so special. We are so grateful for the community that has rallied around us from the minute we told them that we were embarking on the roller coaster ride that is parenthood.

Happy 8th birthday, sweet Annika! We love you to the ends of the universe ... and back.

Sibling Dinner at Morton's Steakhouse

Recently, my sister Suzanne) and her husband (Randy) were in town, partially because he had business here and partially as a pit stop on their way to their cabin. While they were in town, Suzanne, our sister-in-law (Staci), and I celebrated Suzanne's recent birthday (way to be a deck of cards, Suzanne!) by having lunch at The Barking Frog and then sampling some of the offerings from the tasting rooms in Woodinville. It was a marvelous, low-key, laughter-filled afternoon together. We ate marvelous food (although waited an insane amount of time for a black napkin, but oh well) and tried many tasty wines. The three of us shared a tasting at three different tasting rooms, so we got some lovely wines to sample, but not so much that we were stumbling through Woodinville.

A garden by The Barking Frog

Suzanne and Staci

Suzanne and Staci... up close and personal (and at a diagonal)

The slough reflecting the beautiful sky

A big dragonfly statue near the slough

The next day, we had a siblings' dinner out with my brother (Troy), Staci, Suzanne, Randy, Eric, and me. Suzanne and Randy suggested we eat at Morton's, which sounded great to the rest of us. We got all spiffed up and headed downtown.

Morton's is an old-school steak house, and I'm a little surprised we didn't see the likes of Al Capone and someone who goes by the nickname of Bugsy or Tiny Timmy Tuna at one of the nearby tables. Being a Tuesday evening, the restaurant was fairly empty, which meant there weren't many people for our loud, uproarious laughter to disturb... and we didn't have to wait long for our food. We told stories, reminisced, teased, joked, and acted like the goofballs that we truly are. It was such fun to reconnect with each other and just be together for a couple of hours.

When the topic of appetizers came up, we all agreed that a little nibble would be nice. Troy asked if anyone else would like to share a plate of oysters. Umm... nope!! Not a single taker, so he ate it all on his own. For every "mmmmm!!!" that escaped from Troy, an "ick", "blech", or "gag" was returned. As for dinner, everyone agreed that we ordered well. Eric and I both ordered the same thing: a plate that had filet mignon (YUM!), prawns, and bacon-wrapped scallops. Oh my... that's all I can say. Just oh my.... :)

Unfortunately for us (probably a good thing for the employees at the restaurant), our sibling dinner was on a work night, so we couldn't stay out gabbing as long as we probably would have had we gone out on a weekend. It was hard to pull ourselves away, but knowing work and waking up early were around the bend, we eventually said our goodbyes and headed our separate ways.

Due to rather convoluted reasons that aren't overly blog-worthy, Eric and I wound up driving Suzanne and Randy's car to the restaurant, so they could drive it to Idaho the next morning. Not wanting to drive two cars downtown, I suggested that Eric and I just take a cab or the like home. We wound up trying out Uber car and cannot say enough about it. We used the app to summon a car (wow - how snooty did THAT sound?) and a driver picked us up within 5 minutes. We could even see his car approach on the app's map. The car was impeccably clean, the driver was very courteous, and we were home in a snap. All in all, a wonderful experience.

Staci and Troy... so cute!

Randy and Troy ... da photobombers of Morton's

One guess who does and doesn't like oysters!

This is what happens when Suzanne is emphatic about her topic of conversation

What a sharp lookin' group!

Staci wanted in on the photobombing action, too

Troy, aka the peace sign photo bomber, with Suzanne and Randy

Aunt June's 101st birthday celebration

This weekend, we celebrated my great aunt's 101st birthday. To celebrate her day, the kids and I went to her home to have lunch with my brother and his family, Aunt June's son Gary who was in town for a visit, and my mom. Some other family friends arrived with a birthday cake for Aunt June, so it turned into a proper party!

As soon as we walked in the door, Annika ran up to Aunt June and said, "Happy 101st birthday, Aunt June! You definitely look older!!" Fortunately, Aunt June is good humored about her age and wasn't offended by our blunt little one.

A bit after our arrival, Aunt June tugged on my sleeve and said (while smiling ear to ear) that immediately after Conor's arrival, he ran up to her and gave her a big hug. Aunt June said this was the first time he'd greeted her like that without being prompted to say hi to her. I could tell by the look on her face, that it meant a great deal to her... and I can see why!

We are so blessed to have her in our lives and hope she had a fun birthday with our loud, chaotic bunch.

Happy birthday, Aunt June! We love you!!