The National Western Stock Show

Whenever we are in Denver in January we try to go to the National Western Stock Show. It is an Olson Family tradition and I absolutely love it. This year we actually went twice, but I only have pictures from the first trip.
This was Abe and Olivia's second time to the Stock Show, and they seemed to love seeing the animals. During the second weekend we were able to go to the petting zoo, which was a blast.

You have to see the Snell boy's outfits and a few more rodeo pictures on their blog.

What happens when your roommate is a two-year-old?

At 7:00 am you have to fit three in the bed, but we didn't mind.

You mean I have to leave Idaho and go to Arizona for Christmas?

Deal!

Sam and Victoria were married over Christmas, so the entire Olson brood rented a house and headed for sunny Arizona. It was so much fun. We swam in a heated pool almost everyday, watched movies, and just played for a week.

One of the highlights for me was making brown paper bag puppets of each character in the Nativity story. We drew our character assignment out of a hat and then got to work. I had to make Mary, and yes, she had a very pregnant belly. Mark had to make the Inn Keeper, that he named Li, and probably gave everyone nightmares. After everyone made their puppets, we acted out the story for the kids.

We also played the bells, which is the only picture of Christmas I took.

Another obvious highlight was Sam and Victoria's wedding on December 28th. They were married in the Mesa Temple that morning and then had a reception at Tori's house that night. These are the only pictures I have.

For better pictures of this trip go here, here, and here.

Christmas Concert

We continued the graduation festivities in Salt Lake with dinner at PF Changs and the Christmas Concert. My sweet father-in-law, Clair, took such great care of us and made the whole thing happen. We all had a blast.

Sam and Victoria also went to the concert, 

but Clair was able to get seats on the floor for them. (So they aren't in these pictures)

After the concert, we walked around temple square and looked at the lights.

Skyler's shirt was a huge hit. We were pretty sure it was made out of metal.

The next morning we stopped by Grandpa Ike's to pick up some chaps and chat.

The Gradutootinest Gradututionist

Well, it is official. I graduated!
It was such a great weekend. My parents came up to Idaho for commencement, and I was grateful for the support from our families that night.