Since 1999 I have been invited to The Mister's extended family camp. Back then, it was aunts and uncles, Grandma n' Grandpa, and cousins. Being the oldest grandchild, The Mister of the House was the first to bring in an "outsider" via marriage. 

The tradition for family camp was going strong for a couple decades before I showed up. Grandma and Grandpa and Aunts and Uncles have watched the metamorphosis that I now witness: little punks, puberty, adulthood, marriage, kids, repeat. 

We are getting to be quite the group. Of course there are some that are far away and could not make it, and they were missed. 

This year I decided to document camp with a fun little project. Individual camp portraits were taken with something from camp that represents that person's favorite color. I have to add that I just finished a Family Reunion with my siblings, and it was out-of-state, and I was lacking time and energy, so no such documentation occurred there, but it was not for lack of love. 

With that, I now present The Kidd Family Camp of 2013 and it's smart and incredibly good-looking attendants:

Type rest 

So apart from having occasional neighbors that hardly know you think you're a freak for posting your life on the interweb, there is a draw to blogging that keeps you coming back (amidst possible scorn?). It is this: you learn so much about family and friends that you thought you already knew.

In the case of little brother of The Mister of the House, all I knew was that he and his lovely wife were moving far away to teach for a couple of years before settling into Law School. Back in them old 90's, we would have said goodbye, let us know when you're pregnant, and we'll see you at Christmas!



But now thanks to the interweb, and blogs, it's amusing to realize how kids can be clones of their parents when you didn't see it coming (as is the case with little bro-in-law). Or really watching someone come into adulthood since little bro was 14 when I married into the family.

And then there's the realization that as a former student, and English Major, I secretly longed for the teacher that would think I was special, mentor me to greatness, and think I had something to offer the world (although you are never quite sure what that is or was). If you grew up in the 90's, and absorbed the ever-loved movie Dead Poets Societ , you wanted O Captain, My Captain!



And it appears that Jackson & Celeste are El Capitan's to many students in one of the lowest performing public schools in the nation. As part of the Teach for America Program, they have been sent into schools with high drop-out and poverty rates, and from what I can tell, they are making a huge difference.

That is why I couldn't help sharing Jackson's (little bro) recent take on the Gettysburg Address. I'm pretty sure my mom has already shared it with all of her friends. It's inspiring to all levels of learners and teachers.

Enjoy!

Round 2 is below:


Keep up the good work Jack and Les!

Dear Nerds,

Having a Julliard-trained brother-in-law exercising his training in the production of the upcoming HBO series "Game of Thrones" means that Mrs. Olsen and The Mister of the House received a tour of the set that you have tried to sneak onto via fake job interviews, ninja methods, or pure open nerdiness that makes you feel like a legitimate consultant for the series.


Mandy & Bryan practicing as UK Tour Guides in Edinburgh

Since we were able to take no pictures of the set, we'll just say In your face nerds, we saw the Iron Throne!

And also, the fact that I'm gloating on the blog about seeing the Iron Throne (as well as Winterfell sets, Cersei's chambers, and The Red Keep) just might mean I could be on the other side of cool as well.

Our gracious glimpse into:
*an amazing storyline
*the sheer magnitude of talent required to actually produce sets and TV series
*beholding from afar the beauty of whatever actor plays Jaime Lannister

was interesting and exciting.

Thanks Bryan and Mandy for this 2010 highlight!

Signed,
Mrs. Olsen

What do you do when your husband's sister has red hair, lives in Ireland, and has a spare bedroom?

If you're female, and married to a feminist, what does that make you?

That makes you Kristen, the little sister of The Mister of the House. For any and all conservative readers out there, I would like to expand you're world a bit by sharing this little revelation: some feminists are....male.

[shudder] whaaaaa. ?

I know you didn't realize that this was possible, but alas, it is true. And Kristen's other half, an Olsen transplant like myself, is a self-proclaimed "hard-core feminist".

As far as I can tell, being married to a feminist means that Marshall (guilty party) likes to make bread, play with his kids, adore his wife, and become sweetly stubborn when he encounters a world that exploits for the sake of power, that furthers injustice for the sake of greed, or that says his kids aren't the cutest mutts on the block.

In Mrs. Olsen's ongoing series called "Here's my family in 8X10 black-and-white snippets sharing a kiss for my future kissing wall" I hereby present Kristen & Marshall:

What makes their love unique? Marshall's muddied the Olsen gene pool with his trim-if-you-dare Grandpa eyebrows. And Kristen is the only person in my generation that, immediately upon marriage, frequently began using the word "dear".

Dear, could you bring me a diaper for Peter?

Let's sit down and watch a "Soldier's Peace" dear, I hear it's an excellent documentary.

No matter how hard I try, I cannot call The Mister of the House "dear", it's so granny to me. And I absolutely adore that this crazy couple frequently uses this moniker. Kristen, if you're reading this: please don't stop.

What else makes their love unique? Kid #1 was conceived in Africa. Kid #2 was conceived in Jerusalem. They have traveled, worked, and served all over the globe, and when they finally came back "home" they took the Olsen Family on a

500-mile journey after Marshall served in the Iraq War. They are passionate about life, their kids, and making the world a better place...for all the people they hold dear to their hearts.

• kids only care about other kids
• Mrs. Olsen is horrible at getting together with her far-flung family members
• perhaps both

It's enough to make Mrs. Olsen's heart ache a little. So a while back, I decided I needed to step it up a notch and start putting pictures of my family on the walls. The wall is not finished yet, heck it's not even started...but I have a theme! It's my kissing wall, and to make it there in print you need to be lip-locked, blowing a kiss, or refusing a kiss, whatever. So in honor of Valentine's Day which is this week, and my own achey heart, we'll be posting some pics I have gathered so far.

If you want to email me pictures of a kiss (don't get nasty on me now) I would looooove to see them and post them on Saturday. Send me a kiss at mrsolsenipresume[at]gmail[dot]com.

Monday Kiss

The "acting sister" to The Mister of the House. In case you missed this short creepy thriller showcasing Olsen talents, you can reminisce here. The video of this real husband-wife-team will deplete the love from your stores. Hopefully this pic will fill it back up again.

Mandy & Bryan. What makes their love unique? She's taller than her man, and it's okay. What he lacks in height, he makes up in chest hair. He went to Juilliard and is my kids favorite story-teller because he makes all the characters come alive. They are both actors and also dabble in screen-writing. I love them because they weren't afraid to dream big!

Dad, if you're reading this, I have not turned a new-leaf from loving mother to online distributor of porn. Promise. Mainly, I wanted to highlight a couple of new blogs that are unique in their offerings and have one thing in common: sex.

Okay, so first! There is a new ad campaign and one of the Olsen Spawn is a founder. This is not the reason I am highlighting it however. Here's a blip and you guess what it's about. It'll be fun.

Fighter? I'm a lover not a fighter. Fighter of what?

Okay, I'll be a fighter.

Fight the New Drug is the up and coming ad campaign to educate families, perverts, and unfulfilled husbands on the dangers and addictions of pornography.

I am excited for this simply because I have two boys who eventually will hit puberty and get an email account with unsolicited naughty invitations (one can only have a hotmail account so long before getting on the perves mass mailing list).

Which brings me to the next blog you should become a fan of. Be One: Strengthening Marriage Through Sexual Intimacy is self-explanatory in its mission, to use sex to strengthen the marriage. The blog author is an old friend from years back, whose personal insight and sense of service literally leaves throngs of people in her wake hoping to get a free therapy session. She has a gift. Here's an excerpt from the blog, so you know where she's coming from:

Many of you may wonder how and why this subject has struck enough interest in me to start a blog. I mentioned before that this interest is a gift. I believe that. There are so few people out there with respectful knowledge about this topic- especially women- especially, especially LDS women. Where does one turn to learn and grow in knowledge? What if there are days of frustration and stress because of this subject? What if your marriage is suffering or it's causing hidden emotions, or you dislike intimacy all together? What if your situation is good but not GREAT? Where do you seek help? Is it ok to learn more? My interest is for everyone. -BLOG: "Be One" November 30, 2008 post

Husbands to Good-Christian-Women everywhere just found a new best friend.

To follow these or other blogs (Mrs. *cough*sen's blog) then simply log in to your blogger account, and find your dashboard and customize your reading list.

Since I spent last week glorifying my own Christmas list through my expert gift consultation ideas, I figured I would stop sounding like a commercial and talk about just one more thing you need to buy right now or your life will be forever changed for the worse.

Okay so back up a little. Here's a picture of my niece that's the same age as Vanilla Wafer. This picture will force the oohs and aahs out of you. Wait for it.....

wait for it....

(now scroll down).

Good one, huh? This is Marshall, and he married into the digitally-enhanced Olsen Family just like me. Here he is kissing his newborn daughter one more time before he boards the plane taking him to his deployment in Iraq. Me and all the Olsen's were wrenching our hands together in worry until he came back, safe and sound, a year later.

Having a baby at practically the same time (little niece is just 3 weeks younger than Vanilla Wafer), meant dealing with the worry of a potentially fatherless niece on top of my own hormones, crazed milk glands, sleepless nights, and dirty diapers. Having a newborn can make a woman in desperate need of her husband, even if it's just to change diapers, give shoulder rubs, tell her she's still pretty, and most importantly, to show off newly-acquired baby tricks. Sorry you had to do that alone Ting.



Although her dad missed her baby-tricks for the first year, he has made up for it now. Here's little niece now with two of my offspring. Aren't they all just happy and beautiful? Marshall has now been with her longer than he was apart from her, and I daresay she can't even remember her daddy was gone. She will be forever blessed by his service, and more than in the unquestioning reverence we so often give our soldiers (and they rightly deserve), but because of the thoughtfulness of his service.

I have sat back and witnessed the wrenching of body and soul while Marshall worked out his duel roles as soldier and follower of Christ. It was and is a thoughtful and painful process. So when Marshall returned from Iraq, he began his own catharsis by proclaiming peace through a 500-mile walk through the state of Utah. And those multimedia proned Olsen's followed him all along with their cameras. I can safely say that this is a certifiable Olsen Product, their very first feature-length documentary. I'm quite sure it won't be their last.

Among highlighting the Olsen video-gene, this documentary features

• Martin Sheen
• M.C. Hammer (for real people! minus the famous Hammer-Pants)
• Cindy Sheehan
• Ron Kovic (author of Born on the Fourth of July)
• and more importantly, in a blink or you'll miss her debut...my own little Rainbow Girl

For more info or to get on a waiting list for the DVD release, go here.