Lady-mens & Gentlemen! Boys & girls of all ages! Please welcome back…Sammy’s Superheroes!
That’s the way Ella announces herself on “stage,” which is a small area of our living room. She’s quite confident in her theatrical abilities. I love it.
I’m thrilled to announce that we will again be participating in the Step Up for Down Syndrome walk in Duluth on Sunday, September 29. Our little Sammy was only three months old last time but he showed he makes quite the impressive superhero. We’ll all be dressing up again, which caught the attention of many at the walk last year. Click here for lots of great photos from last year.
We’ve been blessed tremendously by the Down syndrome community here in Duluth. Down Up North is a group of families that meets once a month for fellowship and education. Just a few weeks ago we were able to attend their summer picnic, which included a pretty fantastic puppet show and activities for the kids. Without a group like this, it would be harder to get a hold of valuable resources in the city or to find the answers to so many questions we have. That’s why we want to support the Down Syndrome Association of Minnesota through being a part of the walk. They are doing great things!
Sammy & his buddy Caleb
We’ll be holding a yard & cupcake sale again this year to raise money for Sammy’s Superheroes. That will be on Saturday, September 21 from 8am to 3pm in our very own yard. Mini cupcakes will be for sale for $6 a dozen. They sold like hot cakes last year, so be sure to stop by before noon if you want to score the (now fairly rare) Little Yellow Kitchen delights! If you would like the address of the sale, email me at olsen.angela {at} gmail.com.
If you are not able to make it to the yard sale and would like to donate to Sammy’s team, please jump over to OUR DONATION PAGE. There you will find instructions on how to donate. Last year we raised $1,742. Let’s see what we can do this year!
a big part of Sammy’s team last year
Feel free to post questions below in the comments section or email them to me at olsen.angela {at} gmail.com. We’d love to have you join us!
My dear friends, I know I haven’t been great this month about posting. You know how it gets in the summer. Busy, busy, busy! And I love it. We’ve been out and about a whole lot this month, so I hope to get lots posted in the next few weeks.
First, here are a few photos from our fourth of July. Pete had his first ER shift in Cloquet that very day, so I took the kids to Pequot Lakes to celebrate with my parents. We hit up the parade, spent lots of time outside, and then enjoyed a nearby beach the next day. Such fun!
Ella was thrilled to have her first bus ride as we shuttled from the school parking lot to the parade route.
I was actually just as thrilled that her first ride was on a Pequot bus.
We call this ‘The Store.’ That’s what happens when you live in a small town and a new store goes in. No need to explain which store when it’s pretty much one of a kind. I left the kids with my parents to make a quick trip there, telling them I was only going to pick up one thing. Well, the store ended up being a lot bigger than I remembered. I was there an hour and left with some great finds.
Dinner on the deck of my parents’ house, overlooking their beautiful 40 acres in the country.
We always take an after-dinner walk “around the block.”
Being at Nana & Papa’s makes a boy tired!
I caught a few fun pictures of Ella during a road side potty stop.
Summer has found us at long last, which hasn’t given us much time for postin on the blog. I’m currently in Minneapolis with the kids while Pete counts his last few days in the clinic. We’re visiting friends, swimming, and trying to say cool. When we get back to Duluth on Thursday, I hope to post a few of our latest adventures. Until then, enjoy your summer! {this post comes to you from my iPhone}
Welcome to Ella’s Ice Cream Shoppe! Saturday was our big birthday celebration with Ella’s friends. The weather was perfect, especially after I spent days thinking it was going to rain and we would all have to be inside. Instead, we spread out through the back yard to play for the first half of the party, and then moved to the front for ice cream and gifts.
Ella and I had a lot of fun planning her party. Yes, I dealt with most of the actual work, but she helped me plan the details of what to eat and what we should do at the party. Play on the swing set? Okay! And that became one of the main events of the party. The photos tell a great story of Miss Ella’s celebration. Thanks to my brother, Jake, for grabbing my camera for a while and taking some great pictures.
Pete found a little root beer keg!
Ella’s cousin, Maira
Ella’s cousin, Malena, making an ice cream party hat
Pete gave the kids Jeep rides around the block. That’s better than renting a pony!
We were so happy to have so many of our friends and Ella’s friends join us for her party. This was one of my favorite birthday celebrations!
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After the party, we did a little cleaning up, but some things just ended up in the kitchen for later. It’s amazing how much energy it takes to have a party! I love planning and putting them on, but it’s always lovely to relax afterward. So that’s what we did. We stacked things in the kitchen and popped in a movie.
Pete left at midnight Saturday night to begin a 24-hour shift delivering babies. We’re quite used to this, so I got the kids ready for church in the morning and planned to head out for the service at 9am. A little after 8, I plopped Sam in the middle of the living room floor with a few toys and took Ella up to pick out something to wear. On the way back down to Sam, Ella was ahead of me. As she turned in and saw him, she let out an exasperated, “Sam! Noooooo!” I looked in to find this.
One happy little boy shoveling blue sugar sprinkles into his mouth as fast as he could. Apparently, Ella had swiped a cup of sprinkles from the kitchen and was eating them in the living room before I took her upstairs. She left the cup on the floor, much to Sammy’s delight. As soon as we left the room, he rolled his way over to her brightly colored cup and helped himself.
All I could do by that point was pop him in the bathtub in the hopes that his blue-stained hands and face would fade with a good soak.
So much for making it to the nine o’clock service. After playtime in the water and a cuddle in his monkey towel, all was fresh again.
And, two hours later, we actually did make it to church. Thankful for that eleven o’clock service with a nice cup of coffee.
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Happy 4th of July! We’re going to head to Pequot Lakes for a couple days to celebrate with my parents. Pete will be working, so I’ll just be going with the kids. I love parades, fireworks, and picnics. What will you be doing to celebrate? I love hearing from readers. The community that I feel when writing and sharing so much with each of you and then hearing back is exciting! Feel free to leave a comment below!
I cannot believe we’re getting so close to the end of Pete’s three years of family medicine residency. We’ve been on this journey the entire time we’ve been together. We met nearly eight years ago when Pete was in the process of interviewing at a handful of medical schools. His hope was to be accepted at the University of Minnesota here in Duluth because of their unique focus on rural family medicine. He knew he wanted to go to the mission field, and Duluth would provide the best training for being in the middle of Africa with minimal resources. I remember when he received his letter of acceptance. We had been dating for about five months. I was in New York visiting one of my best friends, Jessica, just after graduating from college. He called me, we talked while I stood on the back porch of Jess’s apartment in Brooklyn, and I cried. I cried because I knew what this meant for our future. We already knew we would be married, and I had longed my entire life to teach abroad. This was Jesus’ way of leading both of us down the path of our necessary training so we could get to Africa. It all felt so right.
Pete began medical school in August of 2006. We were married a week after he finished his first year. One year later, we moved to southern Minnesota where he did RPAP, a program for medical students to get a taste of real life doctoring in a small town. I taught there for six months and Ella was born six days before we moved away. That’s when we landed in Minneapolis for one year. The year was filled with interviews and dinners across Minnesota and Wisconsin as we attempted to narrow down our list of where he might want to do his three years of residency. Then, on March 17, 2010, during a “match day” ceremony, we received a letter telling us we would be moving back to Duluth for residency, exactly as we had hoped and prayed. It was in that very same room, pictured below, that Pete celebrated his graduation just two weeks ago. We were coming full circle. Three years had come and gone, and a whole lot of life had passed with it.
June 4, a Tuesday afternoon, we jumped on a giant coach bus headed for Minneapolis with the nine other graduating residents in Pete’s program as well as a number of the faculty and staff who work with them. It was possibly the last time that some of us would hang out together. Many will be moving away in the next few months to start their first jobs as physicians. One will be in Colorado, one in Alaska, another in Idaho, a couple in Wisconsin, and a few in northern Minnesota. We will be staying in Duluth. I am beyond thrilled about that. Pete signed a two-year contract with a hospital emergency room in Cloquet, a small town about 20 minutes away from us. (The contract is a complete answer to prayer, no question. I’ll have more about it in an upcoming post about where we’re going from here. )
The graduation ceremony was lovely. Not too solemn or serious. In fact, there were some fairly humorous moments. We were served elaborate hours d’oeuvres and desserts just before it began, which makes any ceremony better. Wine and chocolate? Well, I could sit and listen to just about anything with that placed in front of me.
The event began with a few special awards. My dear friend, Jen, was given one, which made me so proud. She’s third from the left in the photo below. Jen is not only a resident but also a wife and mama to two. Her baby girl isn’t even a year yet. Amazing! Jen did residency near Minneapolis and will be staying there for her job following graduation. So glad, since I would hate for her to move away.
Here are a few of the residents from the Duluth program along with the program director at the podium. To introduce the Duluth residency, she listed off a number of pretty impressive stats from their three years together. I so wish I had jotted a few down. They were things like the number of marathons completed, number of countries visited, and number of babies born. This was a really great program to be a part of. Super ambitious and made babies like nobody’s business. How is there even time for more babies during residency? Well, we certainly did our part to up those numbers, so I was actually very proud.
Doesn’t Pete look handsome on stage in his suit?
Speaking of babies, here’s little Tate who joined us for the trip! Tate is just a couple months old and was born to my doctor, Maria.
Maria was with me during my pregnancy and Sam’s arrival. I had a rock star labor team between Maria and Pete, which gives me very, very good memories of his delivery. She will be moving to Colorado this winter and will be a fantastic doctor in a practice there.
Following the ceremony, each program was lined up for a photo in a back room. I tried to snap a few, but you know how it is when there’s a professional photographer? It just feels a bit awkward, like I’m stealing his work. I didn’t use my flash, but still. I did my best with these without stepping on his toes.
The faculty and staff joined in on this one.
Seriously, this is such a great group! I will be sad when everyone disburses. The close to a very good part of our lives is just around the corner.
As Pete and I walked out of the building following the festivities, it really hit me that we’re nearly at the end of this part of our journey. We stood in the very same place three years ago while calling friends and family to let them know we’d be moving back to Duluth. I had to document it. From here, we move forward, another step toward the place where God has so clearly called our family. The thought of that brings so much joy. I cannot wait to see what is ahead.
As of today, Pete has 41 days remaining of residency. He will finish the last day of July. He will then have the ENTIRE month of August off so we can relax and breathe as a family. We’re currently planning a “staycation” with lots of fun things to do in Duluth. We’ll also be visiting both sets of Nana & Papas as well as having a short stay at a resort near Brainerd. Fun things to come!
We had an absolutely fantastic time celebrating Father’s Day this weekend! I had to be a bit strategic as to how we would actually get to do up the big day, but in the end, we made it happen. Pete was on call delivering babies all day on Sunday, so we did most of our celebrating on Saturday. I think it’s fun that he was a part of giving a few dads a really great father’s day.
Bright and early Saturday morning, Ella and I woke Pete with a very special superhero-theme card, giving him the option of three different Duluth locations for breakfast. He selected New London Cafe, a place we’ve been for their very yummy three-cheese grilled sandwiches and sweet potato fries for lunch, but this was our first time swinging by for breakfast.
Miss Maira accompanied us, since she had spent the night while her big sister was in the hospital. (check out the update at the end of this post)
Sammy just adores his daddy.
This is one way the little guy gives kisses. Super cute, though it may need to change now that he’s popped a tooth. A very sharp tooth, at that. With more on the way, it could turn into a dangerous little kiss.
Once our tummies were filled with French toast and eggs, we headed back home where we were joined by our friends, Interna and Lindsay. The two of them drove all the way up from the Cities to help construct Ella and Sam’s brand new, crazy complex swing set. Three boxes of lumber, a whole lotta nuts and bolts, and a 42-page instruction guide made for a work-filled day. I primarily stuck to taking care of the kids while they put the entire thing together.
Eventually, Eli joined the action, too. This was quite the project!
At one point during the early stages of work, Pete asked if we had any snacks. Did we have snacks? Oh yes! Along with our superhero Father’s Day theme, I had put together this bucket of treats using a free printable party package I found while searching through Pinterest.
It was fun coming up with titles for some of Pete’s favorite treats.
Look at that superhero of a dad! And yes, every superhero needs a bottle of muscle milk. And a mask. Pretty sure it’s required.
I snapped photos throughout the day of the construction progress.
Eventually it was time for another snack, so Ella and I whipped up a batch of cupcakes.
She decorated a special one just for Daddy.
She had also made a plate for him a few days earlier, so we presented that to him with his cupcake (which may have landed on the grass before this photo was taken).
I’ve been dreaming of having a playhouse for Ella and Sam for about the last year. A nice wooden playhouse that would stay in the yard for years, not a little plastic one. I had not even been dreaming, however, that it would also include a slide and swings. This play set was a complete surprise!
A couple weeks ago, Pete’s parents told us they would like to get the kids a swing set for their birthdays this year. How absolutely thrilled was I?! Pete did a little shopping with them and told me that they found a great one. I didn’t get to see it until they started to put it together Saturday morning. This is far beyond what I had imagined. Such a very special surprise!
At last, after hours and hours of work and two trips to the hardware store, all was complete. We let Ella stay up so she could play on it as soon as it was ready. And because it was getting dark, I wrapped a string of big bulbs around it, a touch that I think perfectly completed it. We hadn’t told Ella what was being built during the day, so she slowly watched it going together. The first time she climbed up the ladder, she stood in the tree house and said, over and over, “I love it! I love it!”
It seemed like the perfect project on Father’s Day. Thank you so much to Interna and Lindsay for the incredible help putting it all together. It definitely wouldn’t have happened without you!
Countless hours of play time await!
We did eventually get Ella into bed Saturday night, though it took some convincing. The very first thing she said when she woke on Sunday? “I have a new swing!” in a rather sleepy voice. What a doll.
As I mentioned, Pete was on call all day on Sunday. I took the kids to church in the morning before swinging up to the OB unit to surprise Daddy. Ella brought him a balloon she picked out on her own at the grocery store along with a big bag of cashews, a Pete favorite.
This little sign was Sam’s gift to his daddy.
Daddy and his boy. Such a special bond between these two.
We had a great time celebrating Pete’s special day this year. He’s an incredible father. Even when he’s at his busiest, he never loses his focus on being a dad. He has extra long cuddles on the couch with Sam and takes Ella on weekly dates for donuts or ice cream. As the mama, I’m so very blessed to know and see that my little ones are being loved on by a strong, confident man who does not shy away from being gentle and sensitive. I know that his bond with each of them will greatly impact their lives. How blessed we all are by that.
Happy Father’s Day, my love.
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Malena update: As I wrote on Friday, my niece Malena was in the hospital following seizure-like activity, a result of a mass in her brain. Tests were done on Saturday before she was discharged. No answers were provided as to what was causing the activity, so she’ll have more testing done soon at Amplatz Childrens Hospital in Minneapolis. She’s had many appointments there already over the last few months. We’re praying for more answers on what the mass is (cancer was ruled out in March) and what can be done to deal with the side effects. I will continue to update as time progresses. Your continued prayers are greatly appreciated.
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I leave you with these fantastic Sammy swing reactions.
