Finn's turn to meet Steven

We were able to visit with Steven once more before his return to Kenya. Aunt Maureen, Cami, Jaime, Brookes, Sheri (Cami's friends from work) and her 2 kids were there too. Finn had been crying daily about the fact that he hadn't been able to meet Steven when the big boys went. He was overjoyed when I took him down with me to finally meet him!  When we got there, Finn was adorable as usual, and Steven just loved him. The feeling was mutual!

We spent some time looking through photo albums of the orphanage.  

As we were leaving, Steven got a phone call from his wife in Nairobi!  She was ready for him to come home.  :)

I love to see the temple...

What an amazing experience with my kids at the Brigham City Temple. They were all so good and reverent inside, even Harper! They talked about this tour for weeks and months afterwards. Happy, happy day. The only thing missing: Jason, who was gone on business, sadly.

 Out to eat at the Idle Isle afterwards...

Snowbird

We went to an executive retreat with the PROBAR peeps at Snowbird in September. (We used this as our anniversary trip!) After just having spent time with Steven learning more about the orphans he cares for, I was a little sickened by all the money spent on spa treatments and fancy food there at Snowbird, but I tried to just hush up and enjoy it. (I'm so not a spa person.) And I did enjoy it, mostly, with the exception of the hike straight up the mountain which I finished a half hour after everyone else. Yeah. It was hard, and I almost turned around and went back to the hotel to read magazines by the rooftop pool. But instead I hiked on. I'm not going to try to make this into an analogy of life or anything. It was just really hard and I hated it until we were on our way down in the gondola. And then we ate delish food at Oktoberfest, and all was well. Ha ha!

At the top, enjoying the view most people PAY to ride the gondola up for.

But it was pretty.

Yes, Snowbird is gloriously beautiful, but not as beautiful as this sight I came home to Sunday morning... Thanks, Aunt Cami, for babysitting!

Pumpkin!  I hate leaving my kids.  I hate it.  Always.  Even when they are in good hands!  It is always such a relief to see them and cuddle them up.

But as weekends away go, this one was good.

School Days, School Days.

5th grader Bennett!

Third grader Owen!

1st grader Jacob!

Crazy kids... But so handsome.  Seriously.

Finn's first day at the 4 & 5 year-old lab at USU.

Yay for school!

Meet Steve Kyalo

While serving in Kenya, my parents have become close to an LDS man named Steven. Steven is younger than I am, and he runs an orphanage for about 150 kids, where my parents have done various projects for. He began taking orphaned children in off the streets of Nairobi and bringing them home to his wife and children. Eventually they had to move them to a bigger place, separate from their home. What an amazing couple. He spends all day every day making sure the kids have what they need to survive that day, especially in the way of food. He runs a woodcarving shop which sells work to assist the orphanage. My parents absolutely adore this man, and when we found out he was coming to visit Utah, we were so excited to meet him! He came here with another senior missionary couple, Dick and Janet Tuttle (Nicest people ever!) who live in Farmington. We were able to witness Steven eating his first sandwich ever, as well as his first pickle ever within minutes of our arrival. It was hilarious. He liked the sandwiches, but the pickle? Not so much. We had the best visit with him. I got pretty emotional as he told us how special Elder and Sister Olsen are. He told us that my dad often slips him some money and tells him not to let those kids go hungry, which is the most Dean-like thing I can even think of. My dad is probably the best ever. Anyway, it made me miss them, but also made me happy to see how much Steven loves and appreciates them, all the way on the other side of the globe. He showed us pictures of the orphanage and school, as well as the children.  It's really hard to fathom how little they have. They all sit together in the dirt for meals and pass one bowl and one cup around to share.  They didn't even have pit toilets until about a month ago.  (My parents helped dig them, and you know how much they loved that!  A LOT!)  Learning about the plight of these children really was a learning experience for all of us.  We are so richly blessed here, and there's no way to really understand it without seeing the contrast.  I can't imagine coming from Steven's upbringing in Kenya and coming to America, land of multiple car families, dishwashers, hot water straight out of the wall... I'm sure he's changed forever too.

First sandwich:

First pickle:

I don't know why you would want to eat this...

Steven with us, and Steven and the boys with the Tuttles.

Inside the room which housed all the carvings he was here to sell.

Goodbye hugs...

What a life changing day for me and my oldest 3.