The Beeson Report

2008-12-11T23:33:00.004-06:00

Beeson Family 2008 Holiday Blog

Anakin (Addie) Skywalker
Addie is our loving, mellow, even-tempered child – but she has her moments. When Elyse gets her upset, WATCH OUT! Following a summer of watching all the Stars Wars movies this summer, Elyse enjoys getting Addie even more upset by calling her Darth Addie, Anakin, or Addakin (and then Addie REALLY gets upset!).

Contemplating the Force
“Do you think Padme knows that Anakin eventually turned back to the good side?” Addie loves Star Wars and constantly contemplates the power of the force, why Obi-Wan Kenobi let himself be struck down by Darth Vader, and other deep thoughts about the series. She likes the movies so much that she often hums the music. Did you know that there’s a different melody the evil empire – Addie can hum it for you. She even dressed as Padme Amidala for Halloween. Drop by – we’ll be watching the entire series again this holiday break.

Confidence in her Talents
Addie likes to dance and enjoys gymnastics but she LOVES art class. When her school teacher asked her to write down what she thought she was good at, Addie instead of writing one or two things gave her a laundry list of thing. Hallelujah! We pray she remains this self-confident as she grows. Among her talents are new solid bike riding skills, scooter expertise, and love of reading.

Who Needs ‘Em
After a pattern of frequent sinus infections, Elyse’s doctors suggested the removal of her Adenoids. It worked great. No longer does she have lingering coughs, colds, ear infections, etc. We just hope that we don’t have to watch our daughter undergo any type of surgical procedure again, and experience the panic that can accompany children coming out of anesthesia.

Eager for Kindergarten
Lysie is in her last year of preschool and loves having her own set of friends and teachers. As luck would have it, her new friend at preschool lives right around the corner. We can actually see her yard from ours. This thrills Lysie to no end. She constantly bombards mommy with questions scheduling a play date with Campbell. Kindergarten can’t come soon enough. She rides her bike with Mommy and Addie to school. And after dropping Addie off at her class, she makes a daily trip to Addie’s old Kindergarten teacher to give her a hug.

Our Goofy Girl
If Lysie wasn’t so obedient in class, she’d definitely be the class clown. In fact, her favorite thing to do is anything that will make her sister laugh – and not just chuckle, but she’s not satisfied until Addie is belly laughing uncontrollably. When I tell Lysie something like ‘we’re going out for dinner’ she’ll respond, “Really? For real? In real life”, questioning whether or not I’m pulling her leg. And over the last week or so, she’s been telling us that she has a present for us, then RUNNING and lunging her arms around us and give us a big hug.

Run Forrest Run
From the blog entries below, you can see what Mylie has been up to. If spinning classes weren’t enough, or step class, or treadmills – Mylie now trains for 5k runs and does personal weight training. She’s improving almost weekly. The only question remains is – what intensive workout activity will be next?

Golden Vacations
We visited California several times this year and were reminded why 35 million people make it their home. We spent a great week in SoCal doing, what else… going to Disneyland and the beach. We had a great time NorCal in July as well, giving the kids time to get to know their aunts, uncles and cousins much better.

Attitude of Gratitude
In spite of horrendous economic woes that the country is enduring, we continue to be blessed beyond measure with health, happiness, family, and friends.

Merry Christmas - Happy Hanukkah

We invite you to return to our blog, and comment on our stories and pictures.

2008-11-23T16:41:00.002-06:00

The Wing Ding 5K

So last weekend I finished my second 5k. My goal for my first race was just to finish it. So after finishing my race in August I added another day to my running schedule and continued to train. So my whole goal for this race was to get a little faster. A few things unfortunately were a little off. First, I thought it would be a good idea to have protein bar so that I wasn't running on empty. Bad idea, I ended up nauseous for the whole first half of the race. Next time I won't be eating anything till after the race I obviously get way too nervous for food. After the first mile my time was 11 mins 45 seconds and I thought I was doing pretty good but then I kept waiting for the second mile marker but it never came. Well I shouldn't say never it finally came but it seemed like forever and when I looked at my watched it showed 32 mins. I freaked out and just started running faster and I started passing people up. About a 1/2 a mile later maybe less I saw the 3 mile marker and realized I might be able to beat my time although I wasn't sure how much time had passed so I ran as fast as I could and came in at 37 min 13 sec. I was so excited. Then about an hour later the girls and I ran a 1k for kids. Addie had so much fun. Lysie not so much she kept complaining that her legs her but when I asked her if she wanted to stop and walk she said "NO". She would not quit. She ran the whole way and was happy when it was over. I have a feeling Addie will be running more races with me but Lysie not so much!

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The girls and I did a little Jazzercizzi to warm up before the run

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Addie was kicking some serious butt running for such a little girl. She really surprised us.

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Halloween 2008
So for Halloween this year Addie dressed up as Padme (for those of you who are not into Star Wars that would be princess Leia's mother). The girls and Mike watched the Star Wars series this summer and fell in love with it. Mike and I have always been fans but this was all new to the girls. I think we were both surprised how they took to it. Lysie was origionally planning on dressing up as princess Leia but then change and wanted to be a Ballerina, butterfly, fairy, baby bunny. Don't ask, I don't think she could decide on on thing. We did Trunk or Treat on the Saturday before Halloween and it was cold so the girl both had turtlenecks on and by Halloween it had warmed up so that they both went with out. I know they're hard to recognize with their bangs slicked back but that's them. Actually since then Addie has decided she wants to grow her bangs out.

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We made our annual trek to the pumpkin patch to take pictures of the girls and to pick out pumpkins to carve on Halloween.

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She sure loves her daddy

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Lysie throwing hay.

2008-11-16T16:28:00.000-06:00

The following pictures were all from the Halloween party at Lysie's preschool.

2008-11-15T15:55:00.001-06:00

Lysie and her friends on the hay ride

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Check out that turtleneck...She was being surprisingly modest that day

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Lysie ready for her 1st field trip

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Lysie learned about milking cows

2008-11-15T11:31:00.000-06:00

Lysie checking out the big turtle

2008-09-18T16:10:00.021-05:00

Baby Kate Nicole Olson is here!
So Tuesday morning I get a call from Mike that Robyn is in labor 5 days early and mom isn't coming in until late that evening. I call Robyn feeling a bit panicky and she says yeah she's in labor but the contractions are still pretty far a part. I tell her if she needs anything to call me that I'm heading to my hair dresser for a cut and color to which Robyn replies that she's really in need of a cut herself. So I call my hair dresser to see if she can squeeze her in between my color and my cut. She does, so with great looking hair Robyn heads to the hospital at 11 pm. Mom landed a little after 11 pm and mom and Mike head for the hospital. Dan calls at 10 to midnight and Robyn is really close to delivering. Mike apparently tells her to start pushing if she wants Kate to come before Chloe's birthday. Robyn was successful! In just two pushes with no epidural Baby Kate was born at 11:58 pm on September 16th. 6 lbs 13 ounces and 18 1/2 inches.

Anyway, here are the pictures on the newest Olson!

2008-09-18T16:10:00.017-05:00

Proud Siblings!

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Lysie on her first day of pre-k. Doesn't she look cute! She made mommy put curls in her hair so she'd look her best!

2008-09-18T16:10:00.009-05:00

I decided I needed a different kind of a goal so at the beginning of the summer I decided to pick up running. For those of you that know me well, you know that I believe the only time you should run is if someone is chasing you. That being said I decided to train for a 5 k. I have several friends who have done this recently. Anyway, I was off to a pretty good start for the summer and really felt like I was making progress until I attempted to Wake Board while up visiting Jeff & Anne (Mike's and Sister-in-law) at their lake house this summer. I say attempted because I was not very successful and in the process injured my hamstring. However, I was determined to continue my training for the 5k unfortunately I had to regress a little bit with my running. The week before my first race I thought I'd push myself and see how far I could run. I was able to run 19 mins straight without walking not what it would take to finish the race but I figured I'd be able to run most of it and walk a little bit. Not exactly what I'd originally planned but I was okay with it and had decided I'd try and run the whole race the next time. Well, the night before the race Addie and Lysie prayed that I would win the race. There is no way mommy is winning any race is what I wanted to tell them and talked to Mike that night about it. He's take was that my "winning the race" would be running the whole thing without taking any walking breaks. I was skeptical but felt challenged to try. I told my friend Christa the morning of the race that I was going to try to run the whole thing. She had to run slower to keep pace with me and kept encouraging me the whole way. I don't think I could have done it without her but I did. On August 16th, I achieved my goal and finished my first 5k. Now I'm training for my second. I'll definitely be running another one in November and possible October as well. Below are some pictures of us running and crossing the finish line at the exact same time.

2008-09-18T16:10:00.006-05:00

2008-07-31T18:45:00.003-05:00

Cousin Daphne came out for a visit for ten days and we all had a great time with her. Lysie said of Daphne: "I love that girl. She's so pretty and so nice." and when she boarded the plane "I miss Daphne! When is she coming back? And Why did she have to leave?" Addie and Lysie have always been Brittney groupies. Now their Daphnie groupies as well. Get them all together and the kids wouldn't know what to do with themselves!

2008-07-31T18:40:00.004-05:00

Daphne and I took the girls to the mall. They got a mini makeover at Libby Lu's and some jewerly compliments of Granny Diana and Daphne got to shop at Holisters (an early birthday gift).

2008-07-31T18:37:00.002-05:00

Daphne dolled up the girls and the three little Divas check out downtown Austin you should have seen all the people staring.

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We took Daphne to see the Alamo and the Riverwalk in San Antonio.

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Cousins

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Just Daphne

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We took Daphne to see the Round Rock Express see the Sacrament River Cats. As you can see Lysie enjoyed hanging out in the grass more than watching the game.

2008-07-16T01:24:00.000-05:00

2008-07-15T17:18:00.001-05:00

What better place to get a little time alone without the kids than San Diego, CA particularly La Jolla. I love that place. Mom and Dad watched the kids and we took a mini vacation. We've only done something like this once before but it's fabulous. The following series of pictures are from our mini vacation.

2008-07-15T17:12:00.002-05:00

Mike decided to have a little fun by making funny faces so I decided to have a little fun with my composition!

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Mike looking for crabs for me to take pictures of at tide pools.

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The kids prepared to go to Covelo by climbing these huge rock structures. Addie is totally fearless. Lysie not so much. Daddy had to help get her down of course mommy freaked out and got stuck halfway up the structure which is maybe 6 ft tall! In the end we never made it to Covelo, CA. Mike decided the car ride was too long (3 hours one way). Too bad!

2008-07-15T16:52:00.003-05:00

Dog or Human? You decide. We took the kids to this cool park where they could dig for Dinasaur bones and climb on these hug rock structures.

2008-05-30T20:33:00.004-05:00

Addie's Inaugural Bike Ride (Spring 2008)

2008-05-30T16:29:00.003-05:00

So it seems like once every two years or so we make a point of vacationing down in Southern California. It's ironic really because growing up down there I couldn't wait to move away and now it's one of our top vacation spots. We always seem to make it to Newport Beach, Balboa Island and the Peninsula, and Disneyland the rest is up for grabs. This trip we also made it to San Diego but we missed out on Laguna which is nostalgic for me at least with Mike's memory it's hard to say if he feels the same. The following pictures are from the first day of trip which we spent on Balboa Island. (What we didn't get a picture of was the chocolate mess all over Lysie's face after eating a Balboa Bar. I love those things and now so do Addie and Elyse!)

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We visited with Cousins Lori and Leo.

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Doesn't he look relaxed!

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Wouldn't you like to live here. Balboa Island in CA is one of our favorite places.

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My childhood friend Nori, her mom Nellie, and the girls and I after dinner at Wongs.

2008-05-30T14:06:00.002-05:00

The following series of pictures are from the San Diego Zoo. It was Mike and the girls first trip! We took them to check out the animals but the girls thought we were there to check out the flowers. I think next time we'll take them to the botanical gardens.

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Peek-a-boo

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Daddy is just such a great role model!

2008-05-30T10:26:00.002-05:00

Did someone say lunch?

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The girls practicing being flamingos.

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A visit with Uncle Eric and Aunt Janet

2008-05-30T10:12:00.001-05:00

So the following pictures were from our most recent trip to So Cal. It's been a lot of years since I've lived there and I guess I forget what the weather can be like. We were hoping to recreate the fun we had last year at Hilton Head, SC with a lot of beach and pool time. But the weather just wasn't doing it for us while the weather in TX ranged between Hot Hot and thunderstorms the weather in So Cal was pretty much cool and overcast for our entire trip. So we never did make it into the ocean but despite that the girls had a blast just playing in the sand. Who knew they could be so easily entertained.

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2008-05-29T21:21:00.002-05:00

The blue photo was intentional. It was an overcast day so I flipped my white balance to normal room lighting even though I was outside to get that effect.

2008-05-29T18:35:00.004-05:00

While visiting So Cal in May 2008 we made our usual trek to Disneyland. We might have over done it a bit this time but we all had a great time. The girls loved the fast ride. I mean seriously loved the fast rides. In fact Lysie today said the next time we go she wants to go on Space Mountain just like Addie.

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2008-05-22T15:50:00.002-05:00

Lysie celebrated her 4th birthday along with 15 of her friends and family. It was originally going to be Peter Pan themed and Lysie had assigned everyone a part e.g. she was going to make mommy Capitan Hook until daddy convinced her Tiger Lilly would be a better choice but then at the last minute she change her mind completely and decided on a fairy theme with her friends coming dressed as fairies, princess, and superheros.

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The kids doing freeze dance.

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Fairy, Fairy, Pixie... You can't catch me!

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Check out my gifts!

2008-04-17T18:56:00.000-05:00

Loco Lysie on her 4th B-day

2006-09-05T18:13:00.000-05:00

Addie's first day of preschool

2006-07-19T13:25:00.000-05:00

Our Pretty Little Princess on her 4th birthday July 06

2006-07-19T13:17:00.000-05:00

The Beeson Girls enjoying the snow in Logan, UT

2006-06-07T21:50:00.000-05:00

Cousins

The best part of our trip to Southern California was seeing the cousins spending time together, reestablishing their friendships. They live thousands of miles away from each other but that doesn't stop them from feeling connected.

2006-04-29T21:56:00.000-05:00

Laughing over french toast (the syrup is definitely in her hair by this point)

Lysie and Addie sharing Addie's bed as they get ready for bed -- drink milk, read book, sing songs.. the entire bedtime ritual takes no less than 30 minutes. What have we done!

2006-04-29T21:41:00.000-05:00

Elyse must get to Covelo!

She loves to climb everything. We caught her the other day climbing out of the top floor of a playscape in order to dangle from the top of the swingset.

Sorry for the blur - still practicing with the camera.

Oh, and that's chocolate custard giving her the clown smile.

Checking the news of the day.

Addie is explaining to me what goes into spaghetti surprise, made of grass, weeds, mulch and sticks.

She too has a big of chocolate and the remnance of a flower painted on her face. She and Lysie are invited to all the best parties, you know!

2006-04-29T21:39:00.000-05:00

Uh oh - another Diet Coke fiend. She chugs while Daddy puts together the 3rd pink stool for the house.

2006-04-29T21:38:00.000-05:00

Lysie is serious about her fashion - off the shoulders and sporting the eyewear.

2006-04-29T21:32:00.000-05:00

More shots from the community playground. You can see that Addie likes to get pretty high herself on the swings.

Funny shot.

Addie always seems to know when the camera is on her.

2006-04-29T21:30:00.000-05:00

Elyse (aka Lysie, pronounced lee-sie), like most kids, loves to swing but she loves to swing fast and high. Here are some great shots using our new camera.

2006-04-29T21:23:00.000-05:00

Our backyard is coming along. The grass once extended to the fence but we pulled it back, added sprinklers (uh, had someone else add them), added 4 yards of soil, planted these trees and shrubs, and the Texas limestone border. It's a start...