GRADUATION!!!!!!

Y of I July 18, 2008

Chris earned his B.S. in Health Science

with an emphasis in Public Health

with academic clusters in

Chemistry and Spanish

Yay Chris!!!

now what?!!!

The "Liv" during a pre-graduation sweet moment. New shoes, but they wouldn't stay on. She got her Nanna's little feet, what can I say? Marie... Thanks for taking the "Liv" for the during graduation not so sweet moments!!!
So my camera didn't like the lighting at commencment, or at convocation. Man I could kill over this one! A huge huge day, Chris was working (graduated with his class A's under his gown), we rushed from one thing to another, and then the camera wouldn't co-operate. This is all I got. Sorry!!!

I actually kind of thought that it was appropriate that the flag was lit up in the background behind Chris. Fitting. Just wish it was a good picture. :(

4th of July

Picking out the camp spot, there were no fireworks, or big barbeque this year, although Laikynne and Savannah managed a parade and flag ceremony. The photo of the flowers is what I THINK might be Sego Lilies, the plant Native American's would use as food, and later Pioneers learned to use also, but I am not sure. This was the camp site.....


Boys that can't wait to get those toys off the trailer!!!

Olivia HAD to go swimming with the big kids, but I am thinking she was expecting water as warm as her "tubsey" at home judging by the look on her face!
Daddy finally got talked into taking her to the creek.

Meyers Canyon
where cars don't go
Colton getting a trail ride with is Dad
Braden on the big wheel as his bike died just weeks before. He nearly came up lost. He was leading the group, but thought he was trying to catch up with his Dad, so he was going as fast as he could. Good thing he noticed he ran out of trail and turned back...

Olaveson Family Reunion

My DH loves to smile for the camera...can ya tell!!! You would think he would be happier after a long day riding in the mountains.....oh wait that is his happy face sorry! lol
Logan discovered the power of a one man water fight ( he kept happy if not muddy )
DH and Becky at the auction watching my Mom go bazonkers again....gotta love the dividends on that one though!!!
The end of the day for one little girl!!!

Jori hanging out before the auction.
Logan and Livvy having a 2 year old's water fight.
Landon really enjoying spraying people!!!
Olivia... her shirt says "Charming" she was so cute BEFORE she was let loose on the reunion. This pic is about 2 hours before time to get out the pressure washer. The shirt hasn't recovered.
Uncle Dale getting the auction started.

Taking turns driving Grandma B's four wheeler.
The last of the spring flowers.
This is the view people pay millions to get their cabin to have. Oh, it's going to be subdivided soon.....arghh. 800 acres of pure planned getaway, for the buying, problem is then the rest of us won't be allowed anymore.....ok I will stop ranting.

As Grandma would say.... "Who knew having fun was so much work!?"..... There are two tired

boys!!! Their thumbs actually started to get sore from pushing the throttle in.... nothing that the swimming pool for the rest of the night didn't cure though!!!

Braden....sitting.... after riding with the big guys and discovering how good a mountain creek can feel after going rag doll and landing in a healthy and plentiful field of stinging nettle. It made for a good story anyway. His motorcycles funeral is to be announced. He had to be pulled out of the mountains via his Dad's bike with him in tow.

A.T. is OVER!!!!

We got a surprize phone call from Chris yesterday afternoon saying he was released from AT a day early and that he was waiting for a ride ASAP, which was crazy since it is about an hour away. It was a great day, we loaded up kids, some of ours, plus Jori and Logan and headed up there. I saw this view of the Tetons and had to take the picture!!! I just held the camera up ( and snaped a few in succession and managed to get this one through the windshield ).This isn't a great picture, but the the important element is the "person" in the bottom left hand corner. Logan called it "a Daddy", but Olivia came completley unglued and screamed and carried on, especially after Chris drug out the thing and kicked it and it didn't move. It didn't help any needless to say.

The only pic I got of Chris that day, and he is making a face, but WELCOME HOME !!! He had to take his PT test and was only 6 points from a perfect score, it was something like 12 seconds short on his run. He is happy with the score of course but is now wanting to make a personal goal of getting it perfect. Good idea for a guy that is going to run the Army Ten Miler in October huh !!!

We headed towards home and although the light had changed Chris snapped this pic through his window. Sorry the only pictures of the Teton Valley we took were of the actual Tetons, but it is all houses and golf courses now, and a few chain resteraunts with store fronts to look "rustic" and "historic". Very irritating.

Pops came to visit!!!!!!!!!!!!

So Pop surprized us with a visit from Missouri last week! The kids were really excited. Olivia decided to call him Popsie. It was really good seeing him, it was just too bad that Chris was out of town with the Guard.

Oliva and her adopted cat "George" Just a pic of one of my flower pots.

Blue skies!!! Finally!!!!

So I learned where the term "going the whole 9 yards" and "Hell hole" came from, both from WWI lingo.

Yesterday morning, I grabbed the kids, and hauled them to the Rexburg Air Show with my parents and Russell. We were a little late, but it was still fun to see the airplanes. Dad's brothers were there, with some family. Ryan told Mom he wanted to introduce her to his "...soon to be fiance' - wife". She has a son that I am guessing to be about the same age as one of his boys. It was good seeing them. Of course he had to be a stink and cover his face with the paper.

Dad found out they were hiring out a ride on one of the airplanes, and got all the information on the trip, and then talked himself out of it. BUT after all was said and done and he was home relaxing he changed his mind and WENT on the ride!!! How cool is that!!!

I also got a picture of the type of air plane that he will be going in this fall for a considerably longer length of time. It is a smaller aircraft, and was used for training during WWII. I would have to ask Dad for the right names.

The kids had fun, but the two older ones are reaching the ages that I will probably need to start bringing their friends along, their most fun was running into the kids they knew and breaking away from the family...... And it begins....... Sigh.

Chris and a couple of guys from the unit went to McCall today for breakfast and then drove to the head of McCall Lake to kind of revisit the 2000 fires they were called up for crash rescue support for.

When the kids called Pop tonight to wish him Happy Father's Day, he told us he is taking a run to Jackson Hole on Mon/Tues and will be picking up a load in Idaho Falls after that, so he will be stopping by to say hello Mon/Tues. The kids are so excited!!!

This is video of the airplane Dad went on last night.