Brrr for the Cure 5K + cousins!

Faye and the cousins visited for the Valentine's day weekend.  We were busy the whole weekend with lots of activities.  Faye and I were able to go to the women's expo in Minneapolis with Heather, while Tim babysat ALL 5 kids.  We are so lucky he gave us a girls' day.  Then we participated in a Relay for Life 5K in Forest Lake called Brr for the Cure.  It was about 17 degrees, windy, but wonderful.  We decided to buy snowshoes for the boys because Tim and I love ours so much and want it to be a family activity.  So we were all on our snowshoes and pulled a sled for the ones who get tired.

I couldn't be more proud of the kids.  We didn't have any expectations when we started and we were overjoyed at the end with what they accomplished.

Our group ready to go!

Tim and his sons snowshoeing on the frozen lake.

Faye pulling her girls

Charlie leading the group.

Linc took the word "race" literally.  He wanted to finish as fast as his little legs would go.  

HE IS A MACHINE!

Charlie and I talked to Nama while we walked.  Charlie continued to say:

"Nama, I'm cold and tired but I will finish for you!"

So proud of him for some many reasons!

Tim put a bungee cord around his waist and pulled Sophie and Max most of the way.  Izzy and Linc were his anchors.

Izzy and Charlie following the lights 

Faye, Soph, and Izzy.

Congrats on your first race with Mom!

The Olsons do their 1st 5k as a family for a great cause.

Time for hot chocolate!

Retired the snowshoes for the night

My friend and coworker, Dorothy.  She ran the race in 30 minutes (snow packed trailed).

Papa and Gram brave the MN cold

Papa and Grandma visited at the beginning of Feb, during some of our coldest days.  Papa brought Charlie his new dresser, another beautiful masterpiece!  Grandma did lots of art projects with the boys.  They also took the boys to see The Lego Movie and played their favorite board games.  We can't wait to see them again!  We love you both very much!  

Grandma and Charlie painted a Nama angel.

Charlie's new dresser from Papa!  

The boys working hard with Grandma on their paintings.

Dancing with the Xbox

Sequence Time!

A blessed baby girl

Jess and I were able to celebrate with Sheena the little blessing that will be here in April.  Chuck and Sheena are expecting a baby girl on April 2nd.  We are all so excited for them and cannot wait to meet this beautiful angel.  She will be a wonderful addition to the Lucht-Olson-Mathiason Family!

The 3 wives brought together by Tim, Tate, and Chuck.  Thanks Guys!

The grandmothers feeding each other baby food.

Sheena and Baby Girl were blessed with many heartfelt gifts.

A homemade blanket from Sheena's grandmother.

Blizzard Run 2014

At the end of January Mary and I participated in the BIG BLIZZARD RACE for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Rapid City.  Mary is a Big Sister for a little girl and a mentor for a young mother.  She is in the process of making changes in her life and wants to make a difference in other people's lives as well.  I am so proud of her and her positive attitude!  I can't wait to participate in this race with her next year, and hope to drag the rest of the family along.

 This was a scavenger hunt around Rapid City.  We were given clues of places we had to find.  When we got there we had to "perform" for the representative from Big Brothers Big Sisters.

So much fun, so many giggles!

Our team rocks!

Mary was interviewed for the local news about her role in the organization.

One clue led us to Who's Hobby shop.  We had to get this car to race around the track 30 times before we could move on.  Mary was much better at this than me.

Another clue had us running to Sanford's to make a blindfolded sandwich with directions from your teammate.  I couldn't stop laughing which wasn't helpful!

My favorite challenge. We were "firefighters" and had to navigate through a maze blindfolded and save a dummy.  We make a great team.

Last stop was drawing a portrait of your teammate without looking (I think Mar forgot that part).

Love you Mary!  So very proud of my LITTLE!