Riley Jay Oliver

The newest member of the Oliver clan, Riley Jay Oliver. He was born on March 11, 2009. Congratulations Spencer and Lerisa!

I think that he looks just like Big Spencer when he was a baby. He is so adorable!!

OBAMA'S PLAN TO DROP VETS INSURANCE PLAN

Andrew was listening to news talk radio (weird, I know) and he heard about Obama's plan to drop vets insurance plans. He was outraged! He came across this clip that seemed to sum up what he was feeling. It's good.

Band Nerds

Mikel is our little Flutist. Oh, that sounds bad. I mean she plays the flute in band. Rachel, Karen and Mikel

This is the percussion section. They are very entertaining!

Thomas' 1st Pinewood Derby

What an exciting day!! These are all the cars that raced. Pretty cool huh!

Thomas' car is the yellow car with black stripes.

Andrew helped with the races.

Thomas recieved the "Best of Show" award.

We had so much fun!

Lee's Birthday!

Lee turned 41 years old on February 7th. I can't even believe that he is that old! I honestly feel like we are still in our 20's. Some of the things that the kids love most about their Dad is....

Andrew: Whenever I need help with something that I don't understand, he is willing to help, I love to bike ride with my Dad and I look forward to going mountain biking with him.

Mikel: Dad is really smart. He hugs me. He tells jokes but I don't think that he is that funny. He is a hard worker, I am glad that he works so hard so he can buy me stuff.

Sarah: He jumps on the trampoline with us, he fixes my bike and takes me on rides, he is funny. Daddy always hugs me and tells me that he loves me. When he is home, he tucks me in at night.

Thomas: He tells funny jokes. He is so old but still bounces on the trampoline with us. He is helping me make my pinewood derby car for Cub Scouts. He tickles me. He takes me on bike rides and races me. On Sunday he always races me to see who can get dressed for church first. I hate it when he wins!

Emma: He jumps on the trampoline with me. He snuggles with me. He spends time with me. I love being with him. He watches movies and eats pizza with us. He takes me on bike rides. He plays people with me. He comes home everyday to eat lunch with me and Mommy.

Some of the things that I love most about Lee are....

He is super smart. Sometimes he is funny, I think that it is cute when he tries to be funny. We don't get a lot of alone time, we both have really busy schedules but he always makes sure that we sit together during Sacrament mtg. and holds my hand. He takes care of the squirmy kids during Sacrament mtg. so I can sit and listen to the talks. He rubs my back for me. Even though he works 2 jobs and goes to school, when he is home, he looks for needs and takes care of them, I don't really ever have to ask him to do anything. He doesn't watch sports on T.V. (except the Super Bowl, yuk!) He is really good at fixing stuff which saves us a ton of money. He likes everyone and is quick to forgive, a talent that I admire, and he has a humble spirit.

Thomas' Special Day

Thomas was baptised, January 24, 2009. He was very excited! Some things that he would like to share are.... "the water felt hard and when I got dipped in, I had my eyes open for about 5 seconds, my Dad said it would be 4 seconds, but it wasn't 4 seconds, it was about 9 or 10 seconds, but I wasn't scared to be under the water like I am when I am under the water in our pool. After I was baptised I felt really good, and really cold. I felt like something was there with me and when I got into the changing room, I felt really happy, I felt really good, I felt the spirit. It felt awesome to receive the Holy Ghost from my Dad. It will help me to make good choices, it will protect me, and comfort me when I am sad or lonely. This week I repented when I made bad choices then I went to church on Sunday and took the Sacrament, it felt really good, like when I was baptised."

Thank you to Uncle Bill for leading the music. Julie for playing piano, even though we asked her at the last minute. Sarah & Grandma for the wonderful decorations, and all the family and friends who came to support Thomas on his very special day.

Jon Schmidt!!!!!

Every December Mikel, Sarah, and Mommy buy tickets to see Jon Schmidt in concert. It is a wonderful Christmas tradition for us girls. (Lee has decided that next year it will become a family tradition. He is starting to feel left out.) Jon Schmidt is Mikel's favorite composer. This year we forgot our camera. All we had was Lee's Blackberry so we only got a few fuzzy pictures, but we were happy with that. This year Mikel got to shake hands with Mr. Schmidt and talk with him for a little while. She was on cloud 9!

Yes he is actually playing with his feet. He also plays using his head.

If you look really close at the picture above, you will see his head under the key board.

He plays the whole song upside down.

Click the video bar at the top of the blog and you can see some of his work.

Here we go again, Scout #2

Thomas turned 8 years old last November and one of the things that is so great about turning 8 for boys, is Cub Scouts! Thomas was so excited about being in Cub Scouts he could hardly wait until his first meeting. He worked real hard and in 2 weeks he earned his Bobcat merit badge. He is really close to earning his next merit badge. He is in absolute amazment at all the merit badges that Andrew has earned and has set a personal goal to get more badges then Andrew.

Mikel's 14th Birthday

Mikel can now attend dances!! How exciting!! She and some of her friends went to her first dance on New Years Eve. It was SO fun! She now carries in her possession a genuine dance card and intends on using it every Saturday night.

Andrew's 17th Birthday