Derek & James

Everywhere we go people always comment on our 4 girls. Then they ask if we are going to try to get Derek a boy! My knee-jerk response is always, "HECK NO!" (In the past week or so I've started warming up to the idea... don't know why??? FREAK!) Anyway, the point of this story is we have a nephew, James, and he is Derek's surrogate son for now! Anyone who knows Derek's family always tells James he looks like his Uncle Derek. Katleyn and James have been best buddies since birth, and really, they could be twins. Anyway, James had a golf tourney and Derek went to cheer him on and be his scorekeeper. It was cute, they were matching and they didn't do it on purpose!

Happy Father's Day

It is getting silly how far behind I am on this dumb blog! Oh well, better late than never, right?!
Everyone came to The Oliversons for Father's Day. It was the same weekend as Katelyn's baptism, so I was lucky to have my mom and dad there that day too. It was beautiful weather, so we spent the evening outside visiting and playing musical chairs! Derek is the best dad. He is definitely a kid at heart, and the kids love playing with him. Everything's always more fun when Derek's involved!

Just a simple game of musical chairs...
Derek is a tad competive... and if you think he takes it easy on the kids you're kidding yourself!
In the end it was Derek and Taylor. EVERYONE was cheering for Taylor, and Derek was screaming like a girl everytime he ran around the chair. It was hilarious!
At the last second Derek, with his cat-like-reflexes, slipped between Taylor and the chair...
making Taylor fall to the ground and Derek won the game. All the kids rushed Derek and tackled him.

June 19th -- Katelyn's Baptism Day!

Katelyn and her cousin, Allysah were baptised on the same day. Allysah was supposed to be baptised the first weekend in June, but when we decided to move earlier Allysah decided to wait so they could be baptised together. It was a great day!It was amazing watching Derek baptize Katelyn! She was so happy!! In her journal she wrote that she was so happy and hyper!!

I can't believe this is my family!! I'm one lucky woman!!

Justin, Allysah, Derek, and Katelyn right before the meeting started!

This is right after the baptism was over. This is Katelyn's good friend Jaxon. It was his idea to bring her flowers. How Sweet!! It looks like a wedding picture, and I pointed that out to Katelyn and she couldn't stop laughing!

My great friend, and Jaxon's mom, Jessica!

Katelyn Grace modeling her dress!!

Katelyn and cousin, Taylor! (katelyn is taylor's mini-me)

Grandma & Grandpa Sully traveled from Kentucky. Look closely at Katelyn's face... she was still very hyper!! ha ha

I was trying to get Katie to smile NORMAL so I told her to say "I'm perfect now!" and this is the pose she struck while saying that!!

Jeff, Nina, L and Katie

My girls are starting to look so old! When did this happen?!?!

Katelyn and Allysah in their pretty dresses.

Derek told them to stike a pose.

Then he was acting like it was a photo shoot and said, "give me a tiger!"

fter the baptism we went into the cultural hall and had treats. (Thank you Shanna for getting that organized and making it so nice!) Alexis was chowing on a rice krispy treat. She still can't roll over, but she can put the food away!! ha ha

Grandma & Grandpa Sully again! (looks like a cruise pic!)

Samantha was definately enjoying the treats!

Katelyn and Jordyn

I meant to get pictures with all the kids and Grandma & Grandpa O. It was just a little crazy. If anyone has more pics of that night please pass them on!!

Annie & Alexis (june 11th... crack of dawn)

Annie LOVES Alexis. (sometimes a little too helpful with her!) Annie loves to get her out of bed, and out of her highchair. She loves to hold her and play with her. Annie's really good at finding Lexis's "banky" too. (binky!!)

Our 2 beautiful blued eyed girls!!

Katelyn Turned 8 on June 8th

Derek had a lunch date with his new boss on June 8th, and we wanted some time to "get to know" Kingman. We went down June 7th, spent the night and then spent the day in Kingman until the afternoon. Then we booked it back to St. George for Katelyn's birthday party. This is the rockin' awesome bridge that is being build over the canyon by the Hoover Dam. When it's done it will be a 4 lane highway that bypasses the dam... instead of a 2 lane road that is so packed with dam traffic that it takes an hour just to drive over it. I seriously can't wait for it to be finished. I won't be the first to drive over it though!!!
My sweet Katelyn Grace. 8 YEARS OLD!!! Her cousin, Taylor, curled her hair all cute. Katie also went out to lunch and clothes shopping with her Grandma O. And her Aunt Jen took her and a bunch of kids to see the movie "UP". Then we had her birthday party at a splash park with family. We ate Lil' Ceasars pizza and Costco cupcakes!! This was a year of me being basically absent for all my kids' birthdays. Thanks to Derek's family for making Katie's day a great one!

Katelyn's cousin, Jordyn, made her this candy bouquet. (it's july 1st and i'm still cleaning up jolly rancher wrappers!)

Katelyn really, really, really wanted a game called "Apples to Apples" for her birthday. Her Grandma Sully got it for her and she was super excited!

Katie got the traditional 8 year old gift of scriptures with her name engraved on them.

Her Aunt Shanna got her a pretty white flower to wear in her hair on her baptism day (and some other flower clips).

Derek and I also got Katelyn a really pretty white dress to wear at her baptism. This was when she saw it for the first time. (You can see the dress in an upcoming post!)

Katelyn was being a chicken and not wanting to get wet. So I threw her over my shoulder and ran her through the fountains!!! It was prety hot, so it felt good to get wet!!

Katie was still eating her cupcake, so...

When I picked her up to take her in the water again she shoved it in my face!! I had frosting EVERYWHERE!

Katelyn... I love you! I can't believe how grown up you are!!

Random Catching Up

fun times at Music Time (aka Cherubs). every wednesday morning there was a "mommy and me" music time at the village green club house. samantha liked singing and playing with friends there... well for the first 20 minutes or so. she usually started getting crazy at about 20 minutes into it so i'd have to drag her home!! below are pics of our last time at Cherubs.
(below) Allie with her 3 boys Jackson, Easton, and Creighton
Janel with Kambryn and Jantsen (and a bun in the oven!!!)
Angie w/Lucy and bun in the oven!! Shauna w/ Amelia and Ben
Bonnie organized all the music classes, and she did a great job. These kids with Samantha are all the birthdays that would pass in the summer when there aren't any music classes.
Allie's little "E-man"!! isn't his hair awesome?!
sami loved to "mother" kambryn. it was sweet, and kambryn was a pretty good sport about it. but sometimes i wondered if kambryn secretly hated it!!!!


this is a typical sprinkler/pool party in village green.






derek's graduation was may 15-16th (i still don't have any pictures of that yet). during that week we went to the zoo with the Goates. it was our last trip to the zoo. we had been there a million times and it was always a great place to burn a couple hours of an otherwise boring day. (i laugh every time i look at alex's sweet "gorilla pose"!!


the kids had to miss school for this zoo trip. annie's class happened to have their field trip to the zoo the same day. she decided to stay with her class... that's why she's not in any of the photos.
my 4 beautiful crazy girls! i think this was the morning of derek's hooding.
the girls sporting the new outfits grandma o. gave them when she came for derek's gradutaion.

SLIDES!!!

in downtown omaha there are these big slides. we heard about them the first year we lived in omaha, but it wasn't until our last month there that we finally went and checked them out. our kids loved them and went down there 3 times before moving. (once with a group of friends, once with our extended family, and once with the Goates. when we went witht the Goates we ate dinner on the grass and the kids fed the geese too.) i'm going to smash all the pics from the 3 trips into one post!!!
katelyn & annie
samantha
"WERD"! annie, katelyn, and samantah
elea
annie & the back of katelyn's head!
alexis & jeff
jeff & samantha
derek & annie
annie & katelyn

jack & creigh
alex
janel & kambryn
annie
benson & jenny, creighton


jantsenshauna
andrew!!!
ben
katelyn

allie & mitch
left to right: janel, kyle, kambryn, allie, derek, me, samantha, rich, shauna, tanner, benson, andrew. thank you jenny for taking the pic!
ben enjoying a chocolate chip cookie!
amelia

Wow...

lots has happened since my last post. we have made the move to st. george. a lot earlier than originally planned, but that's how derek and i roll!! we never stick to a schedule. we're a bit too spontaneous. anyway, in the next few days i'm going to be playing catch up. mostly because i took some great pictures of our last adventures in omaha, and we past some serious milestones. samantha turned 3 and derek graduated from law school. there's no way this is all going to be in order... so just enjoy the pics!!!


May 9th we had a 3L BBQ. It ended up being the 3Ls in Village Green: Cummings, Goates, Evers, Newmans, Gordons, and us. (there were others there, but i'm just naming the ones in the pictures.)

here's all the kids!! I'm posting 2 pics of them because there wasn't one pic where all their faces could be seen!! Top: katie, travis, annie (holding elizabeth), alex, hazel (holding marcus), matt, katelyn (holding alexis), mary, ashley, josh. Botton: jackson, creighton, samantha, ben (holding amelia). (allie, janette, shauna, kathleen, me, heidi) Hot Law Wives!! (ladies... i need a pic of all the guys together, and any of us or the kids that are better than the ones i ended up with on my camera!)

on may 13th we had the dean's dinner. it was fun to hang out for one of the last times... *tear* derek came, but left early to play in one of his last college intramural softball games. (below: allie, kathleen, me, and shauna)
above: mitch, morgan, and rich (we missed you derek... and you missed out on yummy food!!)

Job Update

the past few months have been a serious roller coaster ride. back in february derek started feeling like he should apply for a prosecution job. when he decided to quit the police department it was to become a prosecutor. i saw $$ in a private firm, so he gave it a try!!! after almost 2 years of working for a private firm he just knew it wasn't really for him. unfortunately not very many places are hiring, especially not hiring new graduates. but even with a limited job pool he ended up getting interviews with 3 DA offices. he received offers from 2, and we haven't heard back from one yet. ANYWAY, the point of my story is we are moving. i really wanted to stay in omaha, so i haven't been a very good sport about the whole thing. BUT, i have finally seen the signs and i'm getting around to feeling like moving is going to be good for our family. the office where derek will work seems amazing... he's going to love it. so, when are we moving? june 15th... hopefully we'll make it over the rockies with our u-haul towing a car, and get moved into the new place by the 18th. we had originally planned to move the 1st week in august, but we finally realized that's just not realistic. we need to move and get settled so derek has a solid 6 weeks to study for the bar. more importantly... WHERE are we moving? (was the suspense killing you?!) Kingman, AZ. Where in the world is that? it's in between Flagstaff and Lake Havasu. Mapquest it... that's what i had to do!!! a few good facts... it's about 80 minutes from vegas, it's 4-5 hours from san diego, it's 1/2 hour from the grand canyon, it's 15 minutes from havasupai falls, march-november it has fabulous weather, 45 minutes to lake havasu which we've heard the water is warm there almost the whole year, it's 2 hours from lake powell, it's 3 hours from derek's family (including kristina). the big negative... it's farther away from my parents. traveling to KY will be harder because driving there won't be an option, and kingman doesn't have a big airport. campbellsville doesn't have one either... pain! another negative (big to me, but small in the big scheme of things), kingman isn't easy on the eyes... well, my eyes. i really, really, really, really like GREEN. 2 words... grass and trees. and i really, really, really like rain and there's not much of that there either!! it seems like anytime i get comfortable and make a long term plan my world gets flipped upside down. every time it's happened it's ended up being a huge blessing, and i wouldn't change it. so, i may cry, and i'm going to miss my friends here in omaha more than i can express, but i know this will be good. it's going to be a crazy summer!

May 15-16th: derek's graduation

May 22nd: girls' last day of school

May 22-31st: going to utah, then on to kingman to find a place to live.
May 27th: samantha turns 3!

June 1-5: katelyn and annie have a photography class at the omaha zoo from 8:30-11:30am.

June 8th: katelyn turns 8!!!

June 15th: pack up the truck and head to kingman

July 4th: katelyn's baptism

July 6-20th (roughly): katelyn and annie are going to kentucky (hopefully).

July 29-30th: derek will be in phoenix taking The Bar.

August 4-11th: up to preston, ID we go for the oliverson reunion (family farm's 100th birthday).

August 13th: girls' start school

September 7-13th (roughly): head to KY because Thomas will be getting home from his mission!

September 14th: derek's job officially starts.

Happy Easter

on saturday, april 11th our neighborhood had an egg hunt. the girls had fun playing with their friends, hunting eggs, and doing crafts.

i've been waiting for today for WEEKS now!! i found these dresses and got so excited because, as you can see, i was able to get the same one for each of my girls!! it's so hard to find matching things for alexis and katelyn...so this was a total score!! anyway, i love to dress them up and i have to admit...they look pretty stinkin' cute! (derek's been telling me pride is never good, but oh well. i'm very proud to be these little girls' mom!)

derek's the one beaming with pride...can't you see it?! he loves his little girls.

we had stake conference today, and i have to document my children's behavior. IT WAS THE BEST EVER!! i don't know why or what or who...they were so good. no crying, talking in a normal voice after being told to whisper, no tantrums, pinching, holding of breath, fighting. anyway, today they were cute and well behaved...MIRACLES!! (oh, and all their hair got done and we were early enough for our meeting to sit in the cultral hall. HA)

2 words...cake pops

www.bakerella.blogspot.com






(thanks a lot carissa!!)

Sami and her blankies

samantha is very attached to her blanket. i don't even remember where it came from. i think i may have bought it for annie, but annie chose a different one. anyway...sami got a big piece of gum smashed into it. i'm sure there is a trick to getting it out...but honestly i'm glad for a reason to get rid of it and start fresh!! it used to be soft and fluffy. now even after i wash it it's dingy and crunchy!! ha ha (not a pretty picture...i know!) so today we went to walmart and samantha picked out a new blankie. she's into Dora right now, so she was super happy with what she found. the old one is the pink/flower one on the left.she wasn't even sad to throw it away!

this is for my own personal journaling...

katelyn had a little brown dog (thank you mom) and she sucked her thumb. we would lose that stupid little dog ALL THE TIME and katelyn would cry until it was found. i started to cut chunks of it off when she was about 18 months old. by the time she was 2 there was only a little square piece of material left, and then i took it away and told her her puppy went bye-bye. she cried and had a hard time sleeping 1 ngiht. after that she got over it and never sucked her thumb again!

annie started out with a cream blanket with teddy bears on it, and she LOVED her bink. after about a year the blanket was disgusting (she chewed on it) so i chuck it and bought her a new one, but it was the same exact blanket. when she was about 4 we chucked that one and she picked out a princess blanket. she has to sleep with it and it has to be laid on top if her a certain way. princess side up and the tag has to be down by her feet. (when she turned 2 i took the bink away. she had a few rough nights and nap times. we had bought and lost tons of them, and she would be in her room playing and come out with a bink...causing the drama all over because i would make her throw them away!

you know sam's blanket situation. she also used a bink. at 18 months old i took it away and she didn't even care. i'm pretty sure she sucked on the stupid thing because she thought i wanted her too!!!

alexis...loves her bink. not sure what other thing she'll be attached to. she has a blanket, a little tiny blanket with tags sewn on the edges, a little baby doll, and a sock monkey. any of those things i would be fine with her getting attached too!!!