The Oliver Family

Temple Square Trip

2012-01-02T17:02:00.000-08:00

We found out recently that we had all let Delaney down. We were talking about the lights at Temple Square when she informed us that she had never been to see the Christmas lights. We all laughed and figured she was joking but when she remained resolute in the fact that she had never been, we all realized that we never taken her. How do you live in Sandy your whole life and you've never been to Temple Square to see the lights?? Norman and I go every year, and Miranda and Josh do as well. We had to correct this terrible error. So the Thursday after Christmas we all headed down town for some Hatch Family hot chocolate, the lights at Temple Square, and some delicious Italian at Biaggi's. The weather was wonderful! It was almost too warm for a coat. The night was filled with laughter and I fell even more in love with my family! They are the greatest! And I love every moment I get to spend with them.

I should be studying....

2011-10-03T20:58:00.000-07:00

But instead I'll give you all a quick update!! School is crazy! The first three weeks I had no homework. None. My dad would come home from work and be like "shouldn't you be doing something?" But I really had nothing to do. After my first weather discussion in front of the department however, it has been nonstop. Assignment after assignment and this week I have 3 tests in 2 days! Ugh...I really should be studying but I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around working so hard. But after Thursday it will be Fall Break and things will finally calm down.

And today I began applying for graduation!!!!! Oh to be done! I can't wait! Yes I took the GRE this summer with the idea that maybe I'd go to grad school but I think a year off will do me good. I cannot even comprehend going to school for another day let alone another 2 years. I want that diploma in my hand and say goodbye to school forever!

That's how I feel today anyway. But yep, all that's left is for someone in the business department to sign off on minor and I will be on the track to graduate next May.

In other exciting Oliver family news......

JOSH IS GOING ON A MISSION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I cannot even begin to put into words how excited I am for my brother and how proud of him I am! I know that we will be blessed so much because of his decision and that we will grow so much closer as a family. My dad will have a hard time saying goodbye to his favorite son for two years so we'll all have to be sure to give him some extra love, but he too is proud of Josh. The mission call gets here on Wednesday which is a miracle in and of itself. I was so scared that because of General Conference, my brother's call may have come while I was in California for Fall Break. But it's coming on Wednesday! and we're waiting until Thursday night to open it since my dad and Miranda have to work on Wednesday. I'll be sure to let everyone know where he is going!

Oh I just want to know now!!!!!!

Taking a break

2011-09-16T13:07:00.000-07:00

For the longest time, I have been promising friends, family, and myself that I would commit to blogging. But for some reason I find the months go by, and many things that should have been blogged about have become such old news. Recently however, I believe I have found the problem that keeps me from blogging.

Facebook.

It's evil. Ok maybe not evil. I just feel as though I've outgrown facebook. When I first opened an account, it was right before all my friends from high school were leaving for college and I was moving down to Provo for my first semester at BYU. It started out as such a great way to stay in touch with my best friends and a great way to help make new ones. But as time went on, Facebook began to take on a different role. It became the biggest distraction in the free world and the source of almost all of my procrastination. People started adding me on Facebook just to add me, or to stalk my pictures, or to get to other people. I don't know. All I know is that people were adding me with no intention of ever communicating with me. I shouldn't add these people, but it's another person to look at their pictures and read their statuses and basically take all work out of getting to know a person. It's really creepy when you're talking to someone about an experience you had and they cut you off and say yeah I saw you talking to someone about it on Facebook. I don't want these people knowing everything about me. And I only put a fraction of what everyone else puts on Facebook.

So I'm going to try my best to distance myself from Facebook. Hopefully this will help me with my procrastination problem. Also, I think I will be a much better blogger as a result. It's so much more personal anyways. I love sharing stories with the two people that read this blog haha and I've got some pretty entertaining stories to tell. So keep reading and I will keep you posted on all the happenings of the Oliver family!

Happy Birthday!!!

2011-04-22T12:54:00.000-07:00

Today is my dad's birthday! I just wanted to take a second to say how much I love him and what an incredible dad he really is! He is the best and I honestly don't know where I'd be without him.

Happy birthday dad! You are the greatest!

Yeah......

2011-04-11T14:01:00.000-07:00

I am currently taking a forecasting class and it is really hard. I know nobody trusts the weatherman and they watch the news thinking that it really couldn't be so hard, but I promise you, it's way hard!! Every Monday and Wednesday 20 of us sit in a computer lab for an hour and a half and try to put together a forecast. It is an hour and a half of total stress.

Well my stress was amplified today when I sat down to do my forecast and I realized that the date of my forecast model run was old. A MONTH old! No wonder I've been struggling so bad in my forecasting class. I've been looking at the same model run for a month. It's my fault for saving the tabs when I exited off the internet and not refreshing them. I thought something was weird last Wednesday when my precipitation model was about 12 hours behind everyone else's. Yeah I felt really smart. And by really smart I mean my face was bright red and everyone was laughing at me. Hopefully the rest of the class turns out well

I'm Awesome!

2011-04-05T06:44:00.000-07:00

I just wanted everyone to know that I won the family NCAA bracket!! Haha! I feel so awesome right now! I beat Mike, Chris, Josh, and my dad. I understand it was total luck and I had no real strategy, but I won and I was running around the house singing "I am the champion" last night. Better luck next year boys!!

Not Promising Anything....

2011-04-01T13:34:00.000-07:00

I'm not promising anything, but I do want my blog audience to know that I will be trying my best to be better at updating the blog. There's a lot that has happened since December 2009...A LOT!! I was debating on whether or not I should just forget about all that has happened (at least when it comes to this blog) and start from the present and go from there. But life seems so much more interesting when you look back at all the things that have happened in the past year then when you look at what is happening now. So I won't be writing about everything...But definitely the big events. I will do my best to tell the Oliver family story and I guess I'll start with pretty much the best thing that has ever happened to me! (Josh turned 18 and I turned 21 before this wonderful event but nothing too exciting happened around that so we'll just move on.)

About a week after my birthday, I went to Gold's Gym on a Tuesday morning to continue getting ready for the 5k my dad and I were going to run with Mike in May. A 5k doesn't require too much training, but I was also not in any kind of shape and I at least wanted to make a decent time. I didn't have class until 3:30 on Tuesdays so getting to the gym at 10 would give me enough time to run and still accomplish all that I hoped to before leaving for school. Little did I know what would happen next....

My favorite part of Gold's Gym is the cardio cinema room. It is a movie theater, but instead of chairs, there is exercise equipment. As wonderful as the cardio cinema room is, if there is a bad movie playing it is terribly disappointing. When I walked in on this Tuesday morning, the original Karate Kid was on. No offense to anyone who does really like this movie, I'm sure it is great, but I never want to see it as long as I live....

20 minutes into my run my knee gave out and everything went into slow motion. I can remember thinking to myself, "hurry and grab onto the hand rails!" followed shortly by, "nope it's too late for that, I'm going down." I then started to wonder what the outcome of this would be. As I hit the treadmill I thought to myself, "I wonder if the treadmill will start to move me?" and as it did I thought, "I wonder when I'll be thrown off?" All this must have taken place in a few seconds but it felt like minutes to me. As soon as I was off the treadmill and was laying on the ground next to the treadmill behind me, everything returned to normal time. As I lay there trying to catch my breath, several people came running up to me to make sure that I was ok. I had been running pretty fast at the time that this happened so I was trying to catch my breath and couldn't answer anyone at first, and they ran to go get help. Lying there, I straightened out my leg and felt it pop back into place. Phew... At least this way I wouldn't have to be taken to the doctor to have it popped back in like Delaney and Josh did. A trainer walked in and asked if I could walk and when I told him I thought so he helped me up, and miracles of miracles I could! But I also could feel it starting to blow up like a balloon so I had to get home quick. The first trainer was helping me out the cinema room when a second one walked up and made me fill out an incident report. Oh my goodness...it took forever and I just wanted to get home and lay down. I almost shouted at him that I wouldn't sue if he would just let me go! But we finished just before I hit my breaking point and I started to walk out with the trainer helping me. Just as we were about to leave...2 ambulances and a firetruck showed up! I don't know what that was about so I just kept walking. When they walked in and asked for the girl who was injured, the trainer standing next to me told them oh this is her. UGH....There had to be nearly 15 people standing there waiting to take care of me. One of them looks at me and said, "We were told you were unconscious..." Well I sure hated to disappoint the man, but I definitely was not. They kept asking me over and over, did you hit your head? do you want us to take you to the hospital? Can we check your vitals? No, no, no, NO!! I was sorry that so many of them showed up and there was nothing for them to do, but after three dislocated knees in less than a year I knew the financial cost it had been to my dad, and I also knew my knee well enough to know that I would be fine. As I'm arguing with the EMT's and firemen trying to get home, I turned around and everyone and the gym had stopped and were just staring at me....

The most embarrassing moment of my life!!

But they finally let me go home and I laid around the house doing nothing for the next week. The recovery process took awhile but I healed up pretty well until China, but that's for another post. Here is some photo documentation:

Bruises, as a result of my fall

I know it looks bad because of the ace bandage but it really didn't make it look much worse than it really was...
After going to work and being on my feet all day, all the swelling went to my ankle hahaha so funny!

Christmas!!

2010-05-25T10:35:00.000-07:00

Christmas was really fun this year but something was missing.....oh yeah! The Hoppers were gone!! We missed you guys so much but I really think every obstacle that could keep us from getting together came up. We still love you even though you broke a 13 year tradition haha. It's ok though because Mike, Emily and Mary joined us for Christmas dinner and while it was definitely different everyone still managed to have a good time.

Presents weren't too exciting because with the ridiculous holiday season we all just decided to tell my dad what we wanted rather than him trying to figure it out himself. We went and saw Avatar and it was much better than I expected. To be honest I really did not want to go see it at all but I'm glad we all did. And other than a whole lot of eating that was our Christmas!

The Incident

2010-05-24T12:43:00.001-07:00

I won't make this blog post too long because I know everyone has heard the story at least once, but my brother is in fact....a criminal. Not really. But he did get a ticket for disorderly conduct. A very serious offense...Here is how the events played out that cold wintry night:

Josh, after a grueling 5 hour shift, decided to go to straight to temple square with his friends and cause mischief.

On his way home, his friend Miranda received a phone call from her parents telling her that their neighbors were very upset with something Josh's friend Cole had done. Cole, I'm sure acting on an impulsive decision, had decided to use the restroom before they left Miranda's house for temple square. Except the restroom he used was the street, right in front of Miranda's neighbors' home. Needless to say, the lady that lived in the house was quite upset, but apparently she had recorded Cole in the act which is weird and kinda gross. When she told her husband what had occurred, he started to lose his mind. Miranda's parents called to warn them this guy was furious.

So when they got back to Miranda's house they made a mad dash to get insider her house. Later on when they were leaving, the man came storming out of his house and cornered Josh's friend Cole putting a flashlight into his face and yelling very rude things at him. Josh, being the heroic individual that he is, went running to Cole's rescue. Unfortunately, this turned the man's anger onto Josh. As the man walked back towards his house he yelled something along the lines

"You don't know anything about me!"

to which Josh replied, "You don't know anything about us."

Josh then describes the man's face going from zero to pissed in 0.5 seconds and he came running over to Josh and yelled

"Well I'm gonna find out where you live and burn your house down with your family inside."

Josh started to walk away but responded with "PSYCHO." Which in fact the man was, but probably not the best thing to shout at him. As Josh was getting into his car, the man came over and kicked the door shut onto Josh's leg. When Josh stood up to defend himself, he was then pinned between his car and his door. Josh's friends then called the cops.

At this point let me remind you that this is a grown man. A grown man assaulted my little brother. The cops showed up, and the man ran out to talk to them before anyone else could. (Very classy) And the cops asked for my dad to come. So as I'm driving home from a friend's close to 1 in the morning, I drive passed my dad pulling out of the neighborhood. Josh was given a ticket for disorderly conduct, but after his court date, his charges were dropped. I'm glad my little brother is ok, but I'm also glad he has the honor of being the first family "criminal" and not me haha.

Better late than never...?

2010-04-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

So...I'm a little behind. I know. But I have a week to do nothing pretty much between now and my finals and my dad wants me to start getting caught up on everything. ON EVERYTHING. It might take me my whole life to do that haha but I'm doing this for my dad and considering it his birthday present! So here we go all the way back to October 2009.....

One of the reasons I love the U so much more than BYU is that I get a fall break! A whole week off right in the middle of the semester! And I decided I would spend this week to go visit Norman. Shocker I know. Fall semester Norman had an internship with Xerox and was living in Rochester. When I got there the first night Norman took me to this bbq restaurant Sticky Lips that he had been wanting to go to. They had the biggest portion sizes I have ever seen.....Norman managed to eat half of this haha

Gross!! Haha and I got chicken and I think they brought out a whole chicken. Don't get me wrong, the food was delicious but way way way too much!! We went back home and just laid on the couch watching a movie trying to digest all the food. We felt so stinking fat!!! haha

The next day was by far the day I was looking forward to the most!! We were going to Niagra Falls! I was so so so excited!! We woke up bright and early and started making the drive down. Oh and did I mention how beautiful New York is when the leaves are changing colors!

The total trip was a couple of hours and we had fun listening to Jack on the way and enjoying the drive. When we got there, it was beyond beautiful. I'm so glad i got to see it. When you get there, you stand in line to buy a ticket, then you stand in line to take the elevator down to the boat, then you wait in line to get a poncho, then you get in line to get on the boat and finally you're there!! I kept quoting Bruce Almighty the whole time haha I think I was getting on Norman's nerves but I was having fun haha. Oh and you're gonna get soaked. No matter what. So don't even bother trying to look cute like I did. It obviously didn't work haha.

We took a lot of pictures around the Falls so bear with me haha. The funniest part of the whole thing was that three days before we went to Niagra Falls, the Office wedding episode aired and Jim and Pam got married at Niagra Falls! On the same boat we were getting on haha. Don't worry, Norman and I didn't get married but it was so funny!

After we finished exploring on the American side we decided to cross the border. The first time ever I had been outside the U.S. Norman made me drive and deal with border patrol. Those guys are scary and I was so nervous haha. But I survived and we went exploring around the Canadian side of Niagra Falls!

After all our Niagra Falls exploring we decided to go to Toronto! Canada is only different in currency and the metric system. Everything else is exactly the same. Except for the awesome radio commercials filled with awesome Canadian accents the whole time haha. When we got there Norman made me go up into the Toronto CN Tower. We all know how freaked out I was on the Empire State Building. This was worse. The elevators are on the outside with a glass side so you can watch the whole way up. I was terrified and definitely getting on Norman's nerves. It was really amazing though!! The only problem was that is was so cold on the outside deck so we couldn't really enjoy the view from there but oh well.

Then to end our perfectly fun day, what happens? We get swindled! And have to figure out how we're going to be able to pay the tolls to get home! Ugh! First, because we were freezing cold, we thought let's go get hot chocolate. We ordered it but when we went to pay, the guy goes oh we only accept mastercard. So Norman gives him $10 and he gives us our change in Canadian money!!! Ugh! Frustrating. And then...this homeless guy came and started talking to us and I got swindled even more because I felt bad and I gave him all the Canadian money I had. We didn't know what to do but we had to start heading home. We got through the first couple tolls and then we stopped in Buffalo to visit Norman's friend Eric. Eric took us to this restaurant called Duff's that had the greatest buffalo wings I've ever had. We ordered so much too!! I didn't keep up with the boys but I did pretty well haha. Eric's mom was nice enough to trade our Canadian money for American so we could make it home ok and then Eric gave us a tour of his childhood in Buffalo hahaha it was really fun! And we made it home safe and sound!

Monday night we made dinner. We popped open the recipe book I gave Norman for is birthday and picked out two delicious pieces to create! We made a really yummy soup and even yummier sandwich and then we watched Obsessed! It's a pretty good movie that will definitely have you cheering for Beyonce in the end haha.

Tuesday night was not as eventful. After sitting around doing nothing all day while Norman was at work, we went to the mall to go buy outfits for our fancy date we were going on the next night and then we hurried home to watch the biggest loser!!!! It was still a way fun night!

Then it was the night of our fancy date! We got all dressed up and went to this restaurant called Mario's. It looks way nice but when we walked in we were worried we were over dressed haha. Oh well we were looking good. We ate a very delicious dinner and at the end, the owner of the restaurant came to our table and brought me a rose. I was so so so so so happy!!! I couldn't stop grinning! On the drive to the movie theater I was rolling down the window and telling people on the streets about it haha. I'm never going to see any of them again right? Oh man it was great! Then we went and saw the movie Couples Retreat. It was ok. Not as funny as I was hoping for but oh well.

Thursday night Norman and I decided to keep things simple. When he got home for work we went to a park by his house and walked around taking lots of pictures and just goofing off. Then we went home and watched the office and just relaxed. On the ride home though I got a picture message from my dad. My phone broke so I can't show you it, but it was a picture of Delaney in a hospital bed with a sheet pulled over her and her arm hanging out. All it said underneath was your sister. So I call mad at my dad because that's messed up and he told me that Delaney had dislocated her knee. AGAIN!!!! Hahaha poor Bill! and she was so loopy on the pain killers. I won't show you the pictures my dad took of her because she would kill me but they were pretty hysterical. She was running on a hill when it popped out of place and was rushed to the hospital. But she's recovered wonderfully and her knee is doing great.

Friday night I dragged Norman to Palmyra haha. We drove out there but we got lost along the way. By the time we got there it was dark and late and nothing was really open. We were able to walk around the temple grounds though which is cool. The Palmyra Temple is really cool though. It's got a window that faces out toward the Sacred Grove and Norman felt pretty cool being able to look inside the temple haha. Then we went to a corn maze and wondered around aimlessly. We slightly cheated and had someone tell us how to get out but I'm sure we could've done it ourselves haha.

My last day there we debated about what to do forever but we finally decided we would go to Letchworth. It's a national park in New York filled with gorges and trees and we figured this time of year it would be beautiful with all the leaves changing colors! Too bad it was overcast or raining the whole time but it was still beautiful and a lot of fun!!

After the beautiful park we hit up the bowling alley where I kicked Norman's butt!! That's my score on the top! I'm pretty much awesome haha. And that was it! My first fall break! I had a blast! It was so so much fun and I got to see and experience things I definitely never thought I would. And I'm one step closer to finishing my dad's birthday present haha.

FREEDOM!!

2009-12-16T09:24:00.000-08:00

I know what you've all been thinking...why is Mandy such a slacker when it comes to blogging? Well school has been rough and on top of it I've been working a lot. I just haven't had time to do it ok? Don't be mad.

But now...FREEDOM!!!!! I just finished my last final and over the next few weeks you will all be bombarded with wonderful blog updates of the Oliver family! Hope all is well! I love you all!!

10 Perfect Days

2009-09-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

When we got home from Lake Powell, I had to take my finals and work a ton but at the end of that week Norman came home!! We had such a great time and while I can't give a play by play of Lake Powell I can of this haha so here we go....

Norman got into town and I got his parents to agree to let me pick him up and I was so excited! But then I was late picking him up. I was talking to my dad and he called saying he had landed. Crap! So I hurried and drove to the airport and picked him up. He flew right next to a huge thunderstorm and had the coolest videos of lightning! The weather geek in me loved it!

The next morning, I picked him up and he came to church with me. All my little beehives were so excited to see him. After sacrament, we got up and went to go see my bishop because my bishop had my comments to me along the line of don't commit yourself too early and such so I wanted him to meet Norman and see that he was a good guy and was willing to come to church with me. We went and found him and he goes, "Let's go into my office for a second." Uh oh...but it ended up being fine. He got to know Norman better and he even joked around with him a little bit saying go to her Young Women's lesson and then afterward we have this little ceremony thing where you dress in white and get in some water but it's not a big deal and don't worry about it haha. It was pretty funny! That night we went to the Cheesecake Factory with his parents and the food was really good. Then we went and visited my friend Larissa who ended up being really sick so me and Norman came prepared.We went to Color Me Mine the next day for Norman's birthday. He just moved into his own apartment for his internship so Norman, Delaney and I went there and made plates and bowls for Norman and his new apartment. I had to work that night so that's pretty much all we did that day haha

The next day, Norman's roommate Eric came to Utah for a few hours on his road trip back to New York. He had come through earlier in the summer and I meant to give him this amazing tour of Utah but it was rainy and miserable the whole night he was there so this time we finally got to take him on his hike and then we went to Hire's so he could have some traditional Utah food.

Afterward, we went to the young men/women pool party for my ward haha. Hey, it was free food! I think that night we stayed up and watched the meteor shower which was really amazing!

After work the next day we went to dinner and a movie. Asian Star! My favorite restaurant! His mom doesn't like it though. She doesn't think it's real Chinese food. And it's probably not but I still love it haha. On our drive back to my house we saw a rainbow and a secondary rainbow which was pretty cool!

Funny People is a great movie! I can't even describe it. It's not a comedy but it's not a drama. It's just great! It was a pretty perfect night!
Friday before work we went to pick up our color me mine creations and they turned out incredible! Norman wins for the most artistic but Delaney and I did pretty well too

Sunday night we decided to make dinner for our families and things kind of got out of hand. Norman and I had so much fun cooking. Norman did more of the cooking I have to admit, but I learned a lot haha. We just made a lot of food. A lot...Salmon, stir fry, mashed potatoes, salad shrimp, pot stickers, egg drop soup, cantaloupe, and brookies!! Josh could not believe we were really making all that for dinner when he called but we did and it was all delicious!! Norman's parents were in shock with Norman's cooking. He's an amazing chef! We'll make a really good dinner whenever Norman gets his butt down to Lake Powell with us

The next day we decided to go swimming and we had so so so much fun! I haven't gone swimming all summer minus Lake Powell and we had so much fun swimming with Bill!
After swimming we went to the U to buy my books. They didn't have half of them and then they confused me by making me think I needed my ID card when really I still could have bought them. But oh well not that big of a deal. We walked around and looked for where my classes are going to be and went exploring a little bit. It was really fun!

On our way home we stopped at the beginning of a hike right off Wasatch Blvd. up to the top of a mountain. We were looking at the trail and we were like oh it won't be that big of a deal, it's only 3 miles-ish, but then we looked closer and it was an elevation of 4000 ft. Maybe we'll do it next year...haha For the last day, we picked a little bit of an easier hike. We drove up to the Doughnut Falls hike and had a lot of fun. We got mixed up on the trail and went exploring off the trail and had to be true mountain men to get out and then we found the end and there was an amazing waterfall at the end! It was at the top of this crazy wall of boulders that I...yes me, Mandy Oliver...climbed up! It was crazy! But I'm so glad I was able to do it! It was beautiful and totally worth it!

N
After the hike we went to Cafe Rio and were barely able to finish one salad between the two of us haha it was kind of sad. We then went and visited our friends who all just got a house together and they got a little puppy. So cute! We went to dinner at a restaurant that Norman's mom had told us was American but turned out being quite Italian haha. It was really really good but I went to go take a drink out of my water and there was a fly in it! GROSS!! And then the chef came up to talk to us and it was kinda awkward. We met our friend Tina at Spoon Me and then I made Norman his birthday cake and watched some big brother haha (so glad Jordan won over stupid Natalie!). Then we went outside and laid down in the boat and listened to Jack Johnson and looked at the stars. I was starting to get sad because Norman was leaving the next morning. The whole week had been so perfect but the sooner he leaves the sooner I get to see him again I guess. We went to breakfast early the next morning before I had work but we were both so tired I don't really count it haha. Norman's promised to try his hardest to come down to Powell next year so everyone cross your fingers it happens!

Lake Powell!

2009-09-19T20:42:00.000-07:00

Chris has asked for a day by day break down of Lake Powell but I don't think I'm going to be able to do it. For one...I don't have all the time in the world. And then, loading pictures from two different pictures has left them completely out of order. I tried to organize them by date but that didn't really work since all the dates are messed up. So I'm going to try and give all the highlights and pictures but I know I'm going to miss things and that pictures will be out of order but try and bare with me. No one else has said anything about Lake Powell so no one gets to complain haha

I have to apologize for having to take summer classes and having to come down so late. It was kind of a scary ride but we made it safe and sound. The launch went well and found a great spot. The exact same one as last year! We were definitely missing Ron, Jessie, and Shaun already but Jaxon was the main entertainment for the whole trip! It was fun having Brittany and the boys there the whole time! And the next day Ken, Mike, and Chris came and joined! Having Mike there was really fun! It was great having a new person there!

There was boating, tubing, wakeboarding, fireworks, boulder rolling, night swimming, and lots and lots of FOOD!! And not to mention the big hit of the trip...BOLO!!!!! Here are pictures. I'll try to put them in order for you guys. Let me know if you see any huge mistakes haha

Lake Powell is one the greatest places on earth! Mostly because all of you are always there with us! It's so much fun and even though we eat about double our weight on the trip I wouldn't trade it for anything! Chris! You guys are coming next year!!!!! No excuses! I love you all!! I hope all is well! And we'll start planning the festivus soon!

I know it's late but...the 4th of July

2009-09-19T19:48:00.000-07:00

Ok. So I'm super behind on the blogging but so is everyone else I know so I don't feel too bad about it haha. Delaney and I are having a girl's night right now watching 17 again and I'm gonna use this time to catch up on my blg as best I can! So here is the Oliver 4th of July! Trey threw a few fireworks into the neighbor's lawns and he and Jaden had experimented a little bit trying to create the best fireworks they could. It was probably really dangerous but fun haha.

Then it was time for the best part of all! The black mambas! We had to wait till my dad got home which unfortunately wasn't till 11 since he had to close the store by himself. So we cleaned up all our stuff, stood as close as we could to the door, and waited while Mike and his boys set everything up. They're so stinking loud!! It was so so so funny! Luckily no one at church was too mad at us the next day.

New York, New York

2009-08-20T18:55:00.000-07:00

After Mr. Ken Martindale moved to the East Coast, there really wasn't anything to keep us from going to New York. Norman could come visit, my dad could see Ken and we all wanted to go on vacation and see New York anyways. So here it is, our amazing trip!!

Day 1: Travel day

We got up way too early and Josh's friend Chase drove us to the airport. Everything went smoothly and we got on our nonstop flight. Delaney and I were both pretty nervous about flying and Josh was freaking out about how bored he was going to be, but our flight had tv and we spent the time watching sportscenter, Malcom in the Middle, and Bernie Mac. It really made the time fly and kept me from getting nervous. I didn't study for my tests the way I should have but oh well...We got into JFK and made the slow ride into the City. Oh my gosh, I don't know how we would've gotten anywhere without a taxi. Driving in New York is insane! Our taxi driver was swerving in and out of traffic, getting on the freeway, getting off, getting back on, and while traffic was at a stand still we were somehow still moving rather quickly. We got to our hotel, and as we were checking in we heard the shocking news...Michael Jackson was dead. If only we knew what a circus was going to come from that. Our rooms were tiny but no one really minded. We went and dinner at the restaurant at our hotel and it was too pricey and not very good but we had fun. Then we felt like exploring, so we walked out of our hotel, took a left and just walked. We'd only been walking for 10 minutes when we walked into times square!!! It was amazing! It was so crazy how close we were to it. We were all tired from traveling so we went back to the hotel and went to bed.

Day 2: Seeing the Sights

We woke up way earlier than any of us really wanted to because we wanted to go see the Fray who were in concert on the Today show. But when we watched to get an idea of when we should head down to go see them, it was nonstop Michael Jackson...so annoying. So we went back to bed and then when we all woke up we started to explore.

Rockefeller Center was really cool. The flags looked so cool surrounding the fountain. The Rockefeller building or whatever is HUGE! Oh my goodness! And we got to see the NBC studio where they do the Today show every morning!

Then we made our way to the NBA store. It was cool filled with a lot of merchandise. Unfortunately though, it was all Lakers after their championship win and there was very little Jazz. I hate the Lakers!! Ugh!
Then my dad had to meet with Ken so we made our way back with a stop at Jamba Juice to fill us up. I then waited for Norman who was on a ridiculously long bus ride into the city! After being on a bus for over 5 hours he finally made it! We all went to the ESPN Zone for dinner (half the reason Josh even came to New York) and then we had bought tickets to go see Transformers 2. The show wasn't until midnight though so my dad, Bill, and Josh all headed back to the hotel while Norman and I went exploring around Times Square! We went and goofed off at the Toys 'R Us store, explored the MTV store, and then Norman tried to make me face my fears again and made me go into the Marriott Hotel which has clear elevators (I was pretty scared..). Then we started to make our way down to the movie theatre and we realized that people are NUTS!!! First of all, the wax museum in Times Square had put the wax statue of Michael Jackson in the front window and people were just gathered around it taking pictures and such. And then, this midget dressed like Michael Jackson walked by pulling a stereo on wheels blasting MJ music. And so many people were following him! He had his own bodyguard!! I don't know what's with people...Transformers was good! I was too tired to really enjoy it I think but I was not too tired to enjoy the grossed out look on Delaney's face when she smelled pot for the first time as some idiot decided it'd be a good time to light up hahahaha so funny!

Day 3: When in Rome...

It's weird, but while we were in New York, we felt the need that there were just certain things we had to do. We were in New York so why wouldn't we do this, ya know? So we woke up Saturday morning, and after the gym we walked down to Times Square to buy tickets to a broadway show. Oh and I forgot to talk about the little restaurant by our hotel where we ate breakfast everyday. It was delicious! and right underneath a bridge leading into Grand Central. We couldn't get enough of this place. But anyways, we went to go buy tickets to a show and ended up getting some to Chicago. The actress of Grey's Anatomy that plays "Miranda" was in the show and the singing was pretty impressive. But it was not as visually spectacular as we were all expecting and at some points it was a little risque. But when in Rome...

After the show, my dad made a spur of the moment decision I knew was coming but was dreading so badly...We were heading to the Empire State Building. The whole walk over there I had this pit feeling in my stomach and I couldn't calm down. My "always assume the worst case scenario" mind was definitely turning on me. Not to mention I felt weird because we were walking past the annual lesbian pride parade haha. All the waiting didn't help things either. Ugh it was one line after the other. On the first elevator ride, you go up 86 stories and your ears pop. That was a little disheartening haha. And then we saw the infamous poster. My dad will never stop laughing about this poster:
Tears instantly started forming in my eyes. I turned to my dad who I know was trying to keep from laughing, and asked if we were going to the 102nd floor and he just nodded his head. To be fair, I had no idea what we were going up to. I thought we were going to get off the elevator and walk into this big open room where you could peer over the edge and see how high you were. But when we went up the elevator and walked out we were in a real room with windows, no open air. It was such a relief and I didn't even really think about how we were 1250 feet in the air. Here are some pictures us in line and the amazing view:

After the Empire State Building, Norman and I went off on our own to go on a date. We wanted to make our way to Central Park but we got stopped by a long line of cop cars and fire trucks so instead we walked around trying to find a nice restaurant to go eat at. We made a stop at Tiffany's to look at the jewelry on display. WOW! Haha and then we ended up just walking into possibly the greatest restaurant ever! It was pretty fancy and was also empty so we got all the attention from the waiters. Norman decided we were going to be fancy and so he ordered the cheese platter asking what cheese was on it haha. It was delicious but kind of ridiculous. The food was great and dessert was amazing. The whole time we were eating we kept hearing opera music. We couldn't figure out what it was. So when we finished eating, we went exploring and went upstairs. We found people walking up and singing opera so we went up to who we thought was a waiter to find out what was going on. Turns out he was the owner of the restaurant and was one of the nicest people I've ever met. He had a very thick Italian accent and he was so excited to get to talk to us. Seriously, such a nice guy! He gave us his card and said if we ever came back to New York he would love to see us again. If you're ever in New York, I HIGHLY recommend the Papillon, especially on Saturday nights when they have open mic night.

Day 4: An Interesting Sunday

We had trouble adjusting to the time zone so we were always sleeping very late and it was a struggle to get to breakfast by 11. On Sunday we just skipped breakfast (I think) and made our way down to the ESPN Zone to watch the US v. Brazil soccer game. We walked past the New York gay pride parade. I was nervous the whole time but it was surprisingly tame and we made it to Times Square safe and sound to watch the game. It was fun minus the most annoying Brazilian fans ever! We were so close to winning too! Oh well...And then we went to Central Park in search of the Merry-Go-Round. After a lot of struggling we finally found it!

We went back to the hotel for awhile and then I walked Norman to the bus stop in Times Square to say bye. It was tough saying goodbye to him but everything went alright and we survived everything and just went straight back to texting nonstop and talking all night.

Day 5: Business District

It was time to see some truly incredible things in New York. After our favorite breakfast spot we got in a taxi and headed down to the financial district. We first got in line for the trip to Liberty Island and had fun taking pictures and singing "I'm on a Boat" haha. The Statue of Liberty was amazing! I know it doesn't seem very big but it is huge and we had a blast!

When we got back to the City we went and walked around toward the New York Stock Exchange and then the World Trade Center site. It was amazing! I didn't take any pictures at the memorial but it was one of the most moving and beautiful things I had ever seen and you should all go. Afterward we went to a restaurant right in one of the other World Trade Center buildings and it was so good. But Delaney ordered a mozzarella and tomato salad and was disappointed when that was all that it was...haha no lettuce or anything. JUST mozzarella and tomatoes haha! But it really was so great. There was such a great energy down there. I felt so important walking around. If I had to live in New York I really think I could.

When we got back to our hotel, we went over to Grand Central Station which was literally connected to our hotel. It was amazing! It was so big and there were so many tunnels and trains and people. There were so many restaurants and stores in it too. There's just nothing like it I've ever seen.

Day 6: Last Day

For our last day, we just were honestly trying to fill up our time. Maybe we went to New York for a little bit longer than was necessary but now we know haha. We went to breakfast and then my dad and I made our way over to the UN which was right next to our hotel too. Then we took a taxi to the Intrepid Sea Air and Space Museum. Surprisingly I think we had the most fun there. We just really got a chance to goof off and have fun like us Olivers do. We ended our day with the Guggenheim Museum. We had so much fun in New York! The only downside might have been leaving the Museum right as the rain moved in and we found out how hard it is to find a taxi in New York while its raining. Maybe we would've been fine if Josh and my dad had to go and show off. They decided that they could run around the resevoir in six minutes! Yeah no. They weren't even half way by six minutes. Fools....

Day 7: Time to go home..

We had to wake up ridiculously early and get ready to go. Everything was going fine until it was time to board. Our name wasn't getting called and the plane was filling up. My dad was trying to figure things out and it just wasn't working out. None of this was that big of a deal except my midterm was that night. So at the very last second Bill, Josh, and I got on the plane and they shut the door behind us leaving dad in JFK as we headed to LAX. Ugh! Posters of Kobe everywhere at LAX!!! GRR! But my dad showed up in time for our connection and we made it home and in time for me to take my test which I got the high score on! Woohoo!!!
New York was amazing and such a great time! I can't wait to go back and I can't wait to explore and see the world! It's made life so fun! And I get to share it with such an amazing family and Norman and I love every second of it!
Love you all!!

Quick Update

2009-08-11T11:41:00.000-07:00

Hey friends! Sorry I've been lame about the blogging. I got home form Lake Powell and had my finals and to top it off, work decided to finally give me hours. Great timing...But I'll be getting to New York, the 4th of July and Lake Powell soon. Norman's here so I don't have time to today so I just thought I'd give you all a quick update!
Apparently our life is falling apart...The dryer is starting to fail, my car won't start, the garage door won't open, our computer screen is broken, and my dad is still upset about the missing cushion in the boat. I don't know how we're hanging on...haha! But we got back from Powell and everything was great at my dad's store and my finals went well! I got an A in my business class which was the final I was studying for down there so thanks you guys for all the support! Right now Josh is trying out for the golf team and he is doing great! Just a day or two more of tryouts and he'll be on the team! Delaney is dreading the start of school again and is just trying to enjoy what's left of summer. And Norman says hi to you all!
Love!!

Father's Day

2009-07-02T21:40:00.000-07:00

Fact: I have the greatest dad in the world! He's such a great guy. He does everything he can to make our lives great. He's funny and always keeps us laughing. Not to mention, he's the man! We are so lucky to have him as our dad. I love him so much! I don't know what I would do without him. I had to go to a farewell the morning of Father's day but when I got back it was all about my dad! We spent the day on the golf course and making gourmet burgers! Here's some pictures of our family, Mike's family, and the the greatest dad in the world! I love you!

Memorial Day/Kylan's Birthday

2009-07-02T21:26:00.000-07:00

For Memorial Day we went out to the cemetery to visit Grandma, Grandpa Lee, and Aunt Terry and to clean things up a little bit. But when we got there someone had already done it and placed flowers there. My dad called Debbie saying "Do you know who's messing with our parents' graves?" Haha leave it to my dad to always joke about something he probably shouldn't. Then we went and saw Terminator! It was so good! We all made burgers for Kylan's birthday and I offered to make him an Oliver birthday cake but he decided he wanted pie instead. It was delicious pie but very much went against Oliver tradition. Someone's gonna have to talk to that boy

Rain...Rain...Rain...

2009-07-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

It has rained so much here lately! I don't even know what the deal is but it seemed for about two and half weeks straight it rained for a significant amount of time everyday. It was great at first but I really started to miss the sun haha. Here's our park which flooded one of the days!

Sorry Cindy....Here's a Post for You!!

2009-07-02T20:03:00.000-07:00

Cindy, I must apologize. Life has been quite hectic. Since my last post I have started school at the U and may I say that if I could I would only take two classes at a time. It's relaxing and I am actually able to master the material rather than always scrambling to understand and then cramming for the test. But because I am suddenly so confident in my studies I know longer look to blog as a distraction from my work haha. But here it is, a post of our trip to St. George!! Hope you and enjoy and happy birthday again!!

So it should be no secret that we all love Brian Regan! He's pretty much the funniest guy ever! And he's family friendly so we can all enjoy him rather than the Dane Cook Josh listens too haha. When we found out in February that he was on tour we looked up dates and saw that he was coming to St. George over a weekend in May! My dad called up Cindy and Debbie and we started making plans. Unfortunately but not surprisingly, Debbie couldn't come because the girls had a horse show....It'll be awhile before I think I can forgive the Hoppers...sniff. But we had fun so no worries!

Right after school that Friday we got ready to go. Ken made it clear that he was expecting to see the boys so we loaded them up to and made our way down to St. George! On the drive we realized how long it had actually been since we'd been to see the Harneys and it bummed us out. It won't happen again Cindy! We have such a great time every time we come! And this time was no exception We made it down safe and sound and got to catch up with one of my favorite aunts! And got to meet her new dog Roxy. The boys really liked having someone to play with for about five minutes and then they got annoyed by all the high energy haha. Then we went to see the Wolverine movie! Amazing! I loved it! It was such a great movie and all the good looking guys were a definite plus!
The next day, we were in St. George so of course we had to go bowling! We made a stop at Pizza Factory and then went bowling. Ethan and Connor came along! I love those boys they are so stinking cute and funny! Here are lots of pictures haha

Some lovely grandma grandson bonding

My dad's best score ever!!! He wouldn't shut up about it and probably won't ever again now that I've reminded him

Then we went to Samurai 21 (I think that's what it was called) and it was so good! Chris and Brittany made their big announcement that they're having baby #4! But Chris totally set it up so it sounded like a joke haha ("we may or may not be having a baby") so I guess we didn't really react the way he was hoping haha sorry Chris. Congratulations you guys! It really was exciting hearing something like that firsthand. I'm just going to go ahead and hope it's a boy this time because if it is a girl she'll be stinking spoiled...
Then it was off to the show! The Tuachan is such a beautiful outdoor amphitheater! That in itself was worth seeing. And Brian Regan and his opening act were great! The problem with Brian is his act is everything he does not just his jokes, but his voice, facial expressions, body, timing and so I pretty much died laughing but if I were to try and tell you any of the jokes it just wouldn't sound right. He's a comic genius!

It was such a fun trip! And we're never going that long without going to see you Harney's! Thanks for having us! Love you all!

Birthday Celebration!!

2009-05-14T20:31:00.000-07:00

Delaney is 13! You know what that means? Bom bom BOM!!! She's a teenager! Luckily I think she's going to survive the teenage years and so will my dad. For her birthday, Delaney had us go to Macaroni Grill. Mike came along and it was delicious. Then we came home and ate cake and opened presents. I love Delaney. She is the funniest person I know and she always knows how to make me feel better when I'm having a bad day. She's way smart and nice and we are all so lucky to know her. DELANEY IS THE GREATEST SISTER EVER!!!!!!!!We didn't have a lighter so my dad thought lighting a paper towel would be a great ideaBirthday cinammon rolls made by our awesome cousin Mike!Birthday girl on her birthday day! She's so beautiful!!

Greatest Birthday Present Ever!!!!!

2009-05-11T16:14:00.000-07:00

For my birthday in February, Norman bought me a plane ticket to come see him and two weeks ago I was finally able to go! I am pre-apologizing for the play by play this post is going to be. Just look at the pictures haha. Norman goes to school in a forest and it is gorgeous!

Day 1: We went to the 3rd Jazz game of the Lakers series Thursday night. It was a late game and we didn't get home until almost midnight. My brilliant plan to get around my fear of flying was to just pull an all nighter and sleep on the plane since the flight was at 7. I was able to stay up all night and I got on the plane and slept for probably a half hour. Then the babies started crying...Oh my goodness...They cried the entire time and were sitting right behind me. It's all I listned to for three hours. Ugh...But the flights weren't too bad and I made it to Cornell alive and with my luggage this time!
My itsy bitsy plane!

After dropping off my stuff we went and got pizza for our first date in a month. Everything was going fine but then Norman's friends Doug and Phoebe showed up...These two have been copying our relationship from the beginning! and now they were copying our date. Haha it's ok though we just messed with them the whole time.
Then Norman went and showed me the Chemical Engineering building which he gets access to at all times. It was cool. Kinda. Haha. We went to Norman's friend Eric's frat that night and to get in I claimed to be Eric's sister haha. Oh my gosh...there was this cougar lady there who was ridiculous and gross but it was so funny! It was a good first day!

Day 2: I slept like a baby that night and slept until almost noon haha. I guess Norman was able to finish his presentation for his research while I slept haha. Then we went to the kids science center for his Solar Decathalon (nerd club). He was supposed to work with other people showing how you can use solar energy to bake things and other stuff but Norman and I really just ended up playing with all the toys the whole time. After he built an awesome solar oven.After that fun, we went and met up with his friends and left to go exploring. We made a stop at the Cornell equivalent of BYU's creamery which wasn't as good but they try. Then we kept walking a way long way to where Norman, Doug, and Phoebe had a ran a 5k a few weeks before. It was so pretty over there! And there were these weird statues all throughout the little park area something place we were at.
After all the exploring fun, we all went to dinner and then Norman and I went to the mall to buy our friend Missy her birthday present and to take our traditional photo booth pic. All was going according to plan until we missed the bus and we were stuck at the mall forever......Luckily we bought bubbles to entertain us!
Then we watched the Jazz game. Freakin Kobe Bryant!! Ugh! I hate him! I got so mad watching the game I spilled crystal light all over Norman's stats book haha my bad. Then it was off to bed!

Day 3: Slept in til noon again haha. When I woke up we all walked over to the caf they all went to during freshman year that has good breakfast. It's not necessarily a short walk but it was really pretty.
We then took it easy while Norman did homework and then after dinner we went exploring some more! We just walked around and ended up walking down to this gorge and it was beautiful!!

Day 4: I made the mistake of not going to class with Norman on Monday...I've never been so bored in my life haha. I finished Heart of Darkness which was ok. I've been trying to finish that book forever haha and I was so bored I actually was able to. Norman got back from classes in the afternoon and then went to go do homework with his friend Scuba Steve. He didn't finish until around six...When he was finally done, we went to the Ivy Room and got really yummy quesadillas but right as we were going to throw them away, Norman spilled his plate all over the floor bhahahahaha! It was hysterical. We let the food settle and then we went on a run up by the lake and up to the observatory! It was fun! I turn into a tomato whenever I run hahaha. And then we became awesome used the fan on the floor to fill Norman's dorm with bubbles!!

Day 5: I didn't wanna be bored out of my mind on Tuesday so I went to class with Norman. We went to econ which he has with Doug and then we went to stats and let's just say I was not impressed. I could so go to Cornell no problem...Not! Haha
The weather was weird on Tuesday because it was so hot during the day. We went to go get food and I was dying of heat. We went back to Norman's place and hung out. When we went to go get food though, it was cold and rainy. We ran outside and then straight back inside to grab jackets. Norman was insistent on going to this Indian restaurant. I've never had it before but I was gonna be brave and try something new. And then.......Doug and Phoebe showed up...Jerks! They just had to ruin our date again! It's like they didn't care that Norman picked a dish so spicy he was sweating the whole time while eating it haha. Doug came by and dropped off a note asking us to join them after for smoothies. The nerve...So Norman returned the note with nothing written on it haha. We did end up going with them and then bought an Ithaca is Gorges shirt.

Day 6: I slept in while Norman went to his first two calsses, but then met him up for his material science class. It was Tel Aviv's birthday that day, so we got to see a camel and eat free cupcakes and people were doing hooka. All this is very typical at BYU too haha. I went exploring while Norman went to his section and discovered that while Cornell's buildings are beautiful on the outside, the inside isn't very interesting.
Then Norman found me and we went exploring some more!
Then it was off to Norman's nerd club! They took a group picture and I got to be in it haha. Oh and things got out of hand while we were waiting to take the picture...
After we got some egg drop soup!!!! So good! And downloaded my favorite show, the Biggest Loser haha! It was so much fun!
Day 7: I went to stats again with Norman and then went to the library to read my book while Norman went to section. Then it was time to push my limits and face my fear of heights. We climbed up the clock tower! Kinda scary! haha but it was worth it!
And then we made our way to the view of the Cornell's Museum of art which was designed by an architect I studied in my music civ class hahaDay 8: SLOPE DAY!!!!! Cornell puts on a concert for everyone on the last day of classes and this year Apples and Stereo, Asher Roth, and the Pussycat Dolls came! We went to the two classes Norman had that day then we made our way down to the slope. Apples and Stereo (I think that was their name) were pretty good, Asher Roth is the biggest tool, and Pussycat Dolls were good playing all of their hits and nothing else. I've never heard so much swearing, seen so much drinking, seen so much skin, smelled so much smoke...It's definitely a college experience I wasn't getting at BYU but I guess I had to see how the real world acts at some point. Here are some pictures:

It was the weirdest thing. Slope Day started with it looking like it was going to rain. Then after Asher Roth the sun came out and just beat on everyone and I got one of the worst sunburns of my life. But just as the Pussycat Dolls finished up the clouds rolled in and hurricane rain set in. It was an intense downpour. Back at Norman's dorm, we and all of his friends ordered a pizza and then we went to go get ice cream. When we got back, Norman and I watched the greatest movie ever! Made of Honor!! Hahahaha

Day 9: Time to go....When we were up and ready, Doug and Phoebe came over and we went to go to the cave. This was the ultimate exploring haha. I had to scale a mountain and then we found a really cool waterfall it was gorgeous! After we went to breakfast blowing bubbles along the way, and then it was time to go home.
It was one of the greatest birthday presents I've ever been given! It was so much fun! And the weather was perfect! I can't wait till I get to go back but I did miss my family and the boys! Norman says hi to everyone! I love you all!

Again??

2009-05-03T16:58:00.000-07:00

So I am at Cornell and I get a call my first morning there, "Yo, this is Josh's sister right?" "Yeah." "Does your dad not answer his phone while he's at work?" "I dunno...what's up?" "Josh is hurt real bad." "Really? What happened?" "I dunno it looks like the same thing that happened to his sister..." hahaha poor Josh dislocated his knee cap playing flag football with people from work.

Now I love Delaney but I was much more sad for Josh. I didn't know if this meant he wouldn't be able to play golf and his prom was the next week. Poor guy...But he's had a much quicker recovery and was able to go to his prom no problem. I had seen the doctor about my back the day before I left and he was making fun of our family and how often he had to see us. Pretty sure we see the orthopedic surgeon more than we see our regular doctor. Cross your fingers I don't dislocate my knee cap next haha

GO JAZZ!!!!

2009-05-03T16:45:00.000-07:00

Here are some pictures from game 3 of the Lakers series. Greatest game of my life!!

Easter

2009-05-03T15:51:00.001-07:00

We weren't sure how Easter was going to go this year because bill-bob was injured, and we weren't sure if she would be up for any egg and basket hunting. But when we suggested not doing it she insisted that we do. Delaney and I made the eggs the day before and they were beautiful...sort of...not really...but oh well they still worked.

Every year Josh is a show off and kicks mine and Delaney's butts. Just as I start to feel that I've found plenty of eggs, Josh turns the corner with double the eggs that I have. So my dad decided that to keep things fair, Delaney was going to get a head start. This year though, she had quite the unfair advantage. While she woke up at 8 am fresh and ready to go hunting, Josh and I were practically dead. We laid in my dad's bed while she got her head start and maybe stayed up there a little too long. When we came down there were only like five more eggs to be found. As long as she had fun though right? Then it was time to find the baskets. Josh found the first one in the dryer, where one is hid every year. I don't know why my dad was so shocked he found it so quick haha.

Then I found my basket....it was filled with trash.

That easter bunny thinks he's so funny.... Delaney found hers and my actual basket was behind the desk. They were filled with candy and a DVD for each of us. A perfect holiday. Followed by the feeding frenzy on scones!!! Can't wait to eat them again at Lake Powell!!

Poor Bill-Bob...

2009-04-04T18:30:00.000-07:00

So Delaney basically died about two weeks ago. She was playing dodgeball in gym and she had her body turn one way but her leg turned the other...She dislocated her knee and it was bad. I had her explain her experience to me: "I fell down and I was like aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!!!!! This girl came and asked if I was ok and my teacher came over and pushed me over to the side of the gym and I was like ok ok. Then my teacher had everyone get dressed and go because they couldn't continue class with me there. So then she sent these girls to get a blanket and a glass of water for me and then the paramedics came and gave me an iv. Mom came and they strapped me up on the stretcher and they took me outside and it was freezing cold. We were driving in the ambulance and mom was following behind and then the we drew smiley faces in the window to mom and then they got me inside the hospital. I was at the ER and they set me down and it hurt horribly and the doctor came and said that something like this was normal for this person's age. Then he was ok we're gonna take an x-ray but the girls doing it didn't know how to do it and then they moved my knee and it hurt and then this doctor came and said they were going to put a shot in my knee to numb it but I already had the morphine so he he he....and then he stuck the shot in me knee and I was like 'eh it hurts'. And then he wrapped it so it wouldn't get infected then he snapped my leg straight again and it hurt for a second and then everything was good." I talked to her after I got outta classes and she was still a little doped up on the morphine. Funniest thing of my life! I've never heard her talk so much and she was being so funny! She's been on crutches ever since and after she stopped trying to race everyone on them she started to get around pretty well. She's still getting in trouble with my dad for sneaking around trying to walk but oh well. I know what it's like knowing you can walk but you shouldn't haha. The doctor says she'll be fine and I've been helping her with leg lifts to help strengthen her knee. It's definitely made life interesting haha

Spring Break!!

2009-03-28T21:25:00.000-07:00

BYU doesn't have a spring break but the glory of living at home is that I practically get a spring break when everyone else comes home!! First one of my most favorite people miss Kellie-Ann Yamane came home and distracted me from studying for my physics test which I got a 71 on (thanks a lot Kellie! haha). Then on Friday I got to take her to her first Jazz game ever! I can't believe she'd never been before! We played Denver and while things weren't looking good the first half of the game, the Jazz turned it around and won in stunning fashion! I told Kellie it was one of the best games I'd ever been to and I think she had so much fun!
The next week or two...I forget haha my bff jill Tina came to see me! Unfortunately she was in Chicago for most of her break so I only got to see her for a little bit. She made me a late birthday cake! It was one of the most delicious things of my life and she's so awesome at decorating cakes! I love her! Later that night I went over to my friend JJ's who was in from New York. I got to see her and Saular and a bunch of other people I had never met before haha but it was fun just catching up!
Now for the part you all were waiting for...ok maybe you weren't but I certainly was...My Norman came home! I went to church on Sunday, taught my lesson and young womens then went home, changed, and waited anxiously. Then I got the text telling me to come over! Oh my gosh I was so excited! I got to his house and told him to come outside but when I was putting something away in my car he opened the door and scared the crap out of me haha I screamed so loud! We went outside and hung out and watched the Jazz game for a little bit. When I came over again later that night, we just hung out for a little bit and watched MI3 haha but sadly I'm still in school and had to get up early. The next day I got to his house after school and Norman was chatting with my friend Nate who is on a mission. I'm pretty sure he's not supposed to be doing that but when I called him out on it he basically just made me sad saying this is the first time you've talked to me in how long and your just gonna tell me to get off. Two years is a long time and I guess if he needed to talk to people to survive then that's what he's gotta do. Plus he sent us this picture which is pretty much the cutest thing I've ever seen!

Later that night Norman came over to help me with homework and set up our webcams!! Way fun! I got him a webcame for Valentines day and unfortunately life got a little crazy and I never got around to sending it to him so we got to set them up together which was probably better. Tuesday, Norman came with me to school! Way fun for him...haha. But he got to meet my friends at BYU, Neil and Ryan (otherwise known as the dean's son!) and that was fun. But Norman chickened out and wouldn't ask this kid in front of us how old he was cuz I'm pretty sure he's only 12. After school we went to Yoasis and met up with our friend Alex and they both got to experience the greatness of Yoasis haha. Then we headed home and got ready for the Jazz game!! First we went to Cafe Rio and Norman the awesome person that he is was able to do the impossible and eat a whole cafe rio salad in one sitting!

Riding trax on our way up to the game! There were quite a few characters there haha

Us at the Jazz game! We played the Wizards and were total champs! Since we were awesome and totally winning everyone was leaving early and so I wanted to sneak down and go watch the last few minutes of the game in the lower bowl and take a picture. We started walking down but then a guy stopped us and asked for a tickets so we turned around defeated but then this guy gave us his tickets and we got to go watch the last two minutes of the game on like the 14th row! It was awesome! but then Norman was a baby and would not take a picture for me...oh well. It was so much fun going to the Jazz game with my fool! When we got home we made brownies!!!The next morning Norman and I got up relatively early to make breakfast! It wasn't the greatest thing in the world but it was fun cooking with my fool!So I went to school after breakfast and when I got back I picked up Norman and we headed to my house and picked up Mike's boys, Bill and my dad and went bowling! Here's the one picture I took haha! I also took a video of Trey bowling which is like the funniest thing of my life! But that's on Norman's computer...
After bowling we ate dinner and then Norman picked me up and we did homework haha it was great. Then the next day Norman went to Idaho with his parents and I was left alone...sniff...haha but it was ok because me and Bill had lots of fun hanging out! Friday morning I woke up and got on the bus and was heading down and I left my phone on the bus!! AAAHHHHH!!!!!! I thought my life was over! And poor Norman's driving home from Idaho and has no idea! 3 hours later I was able to borrow Neil's phone and get a hold of Norman but oh it was bad! I went to Norman's house after school and we got ready for a night of awesomeness! First we went to Asian Star and we had that same waitress we had around New Years that tells you her life story anytime you sat down. Haha but it was way good! And then we hurried and drove to the mall to pick up some cheesecake from the Cheesecake factory and take our traditional photobooth pic! Then we went and picked up JJ and drove down to Provo to watch our friend Mark play lacrosse for BYU! He won! It was awesome! After the game, we went back to Norman's and ate the cheesecake and started to watch Casino Royal but then I fell asleep...
Possibly the most attractive picture of us ever...

Right before I fell asleep during the movie.

The next morning Norman picked me up and we went to Mimi's Cafe for breakfast which was amazing! And then we went to the park by my house and walked around before Norman had to head to the airport. I hate saying goodbye but somehow we always get through it and by the time he gets back to school it's never a sad like he was just here sort of thing and whenever he comes home its like he never left. Pretty much it's perfect and I love being able to hang out with Norman when he's here and talk to him every night whenever he's not. He's an amazing guy and I can't wait for you guys to all see him again! He says hi to you all! Sorry for the play-by-play of everything we did, I just don't ever want to forget anything. And my unofficial spring break isn't quite over cuz next week my Missy is coming to see me! EEK! I'm so excited! I love you all! Thanks for bearing with me through this ridiculous post.

Bill's Concert

2009-03-28T21:10:00.000-07:00

So Bill (otherwise known as Delaney) is a wonderful clarinet player! She definitely gives Squidward a run for his money. A few weeks ago she had a concert and here are some pictures from her outstanding performance!

My dad and I hitting up the gym before we go!

The most beautiful clarinet player in the world!!

Josh: "Dad...sniff...I'm not gonna be able to go to her concert...sniff..." (he was really broken up about it)

Delaney about to give the performance of her life!

Birthday Fun!

2009-03-04T21:56:00.000-08:00

Uh...so yeah, I'm twenty. Weird...I'm not sure how I feel about it yet. My youth is pretty much over haha! Well hopefully not. For my last day as a teenager, my mom, my sister, and I went and got pedicures! I always have trouble picking a color because no matter what color I pick it always makes me look so white. But we all picked our colors, sat down, and then Anne (the lady doing Delaney's nails) gave us her life lessons. She begins by telling us about how her parenting strategy was always to let her kids do what they wanted to do and let them learn from their mistakes. Then she went on to tell us how her son was on parole. Delaney was telling us about how a girl in 8th grade got caught with two bottles of vodka (one empty) and then Anne told us of how she caught her daughter drinking at 13. Then she went on to tell us how she was shocked that she was drinking because of how tiny she was. She told her daughter that if she was going to drink she should limit herself to one beer or one shot (her daughter is 13!!!) and she's telling all this to my twelve-year-old sister! My mom was horrified! It was pretty funny!

After pedicures, we went and got ready for dinner: Macaroni Grill!! And one of my best friends Saular came with. Only problem was that Saular was deathly ill. Poor guy barely touched his dinner, but he assured us he would be ok for the Jazz game we were going to after. Well, that ended up being not necessarily true. He could barely watch the game and actually ended up throwing up twice at the game. I felt so bad...I didn't know what to do. It took us about 30 minutes just to walk to down the stairs after the game. But it really was a good game and even though Saular was sick it was still fun to have him there. Afterward, we dropped Saular off at his house and I got to go inside and see my buddies Alex and Mark who I hadn't seen in awhile so that was good. Then I went home and talked to Norman for a very, very long time.

The next morning when I woke up my dad created quite the feast for me. We had omelets and cinnamon rolls! I felt pretty fat, not gonna lie...Then it was time to get ready for church and teach my first lesson in Young Women's. It was on the importance of truth in a virtuous life. I was pretty concerned that my lesson would be too short, and turns out I had good reason to be. I finished 15 minutes early after the girls doodled and talked to each other the whole time. I asked questions and no one would answer them, not even Delaney. But it was fun and a good experience. I came home and took it easy playing guitar hero and such and then we went to Asian Star, my most favorite restaurant in the world! The egg drop soup warms my soul. We dragged Mike along and he seemed to really enjoy it. He told us about how funny Flight of the Conchords, so when we got home we all went and watched an episode. It was pretty funny! We then ate cake and Mike missed it by two seconds! He had Trey on the phone ready to sing to me too! Sorry you guys! We had to light the candles by the stove and the dogs really do not like fire haha but it was one of the best Oliver birthday cakes ever I must say! It was a great birthday and I just want to say how grateful I am and how much I love all of you!!!

Valentine's Day!!!

2009-02-25T20:26:00.000-08:00

Norman gave me flowers for Valentine's and it was the second time in my life I've gotten roses. I love them! I gave Norman permission to give me flowers anytime he wanted haha! Hope you all had a good one too!

Jr. Jazz

2009-02-25T19:58:00.001-08:00

Josh has been playing Jr. Jazz pretty much his whole life! And my dad's been coaching him the entire time. It's been fun watching Josh and his friends grow up around the team but as they get older the game gets a lot more intense. In their last game of the season, Josh got elbowed in the face and got a fat lip out of it. His two sisters on the side line were not pleased. I tried to tale pictures but I didn't want to get yelled at about the flash so they didn't turn out so well...

And then there was the playoff drama...So as far as I understand the events that took place this is what happened: entrance into the playoffs this year was based upon sportsmanship and not record. 32 teams got into the playoffs out of 38 and Josh's team was one of the six that didn't get invited to the playoffs. Well, for some reason Josh's team was given the opportunity to play for a spot in the playoffs. They just had to win two games to get in. Sadly they lost the first one and that team went on to beat the next. But it turns out that the team that beat Josh was playing a player who not only was not only on the team but was not even registered with jr. jazz. So that team was disqualified and the second team was invited into the playoffs. But that's not fair.....and our other coach found out and called them out on it. Josh deserved to be in the playoffs just as much as the other team and after that phone call we were in the playoffs. We played hard but after all the drama of this the boys were unfocused and ended up losing a tough game. But I'm proud of them! They played a great season and it's like Josh said, it's all about church ball now! Go Jazz!

Cornell

2009-02-25T19:43:00.000-08:00

At the end of Norman's Winter Break over Martin Luther King weekend I went back with him to Cornell. It's the second time I've been back there and it is such a beautiful place! Although this time it was ssssoooooooooo cold!!!!!!! You really have no idea! It was so cold it hurt to blink! Oh and they lost our luggage...fun. But despite the cold and lost luggage it was a really fun trip! We watched a bunch of pirated films haha, went to Norman's roommates dress to impress night at his frat, went to Cornell's really cool art museum, and played cards! I had so much fun and I'm so excited to go back in April! Hopefully someday I can bring you all back to the East Coast with me so you can see actual trees haha! You never realize how much Utah really is like a desert until you realize how many more trees there are everywhere else! I didn't take many pictures but here are a few

Sugar Bowl and Utah!!!!!!

2009-02-10T20:11:00.000-08:00

So for any of you that know my brother, it may come as no surprise that us Olivers are pretty big Utah fans. This year has led to some phenomenal football and if there was ever a year for us to get season tickets this was definitely it! My dad and Josh bought two season tickets with Josh's friend Chase and his dad. Due to some luck, Delaney and I were also able to go to the two biggest games of the year! TCU and BYU both of which we beat in heroic fashion!!!!! Brian Johnson is the man! Paul Kruger is a champ! And Louie Sakoda is my hero!! Here are lots of pictures from the season!!

And here it is...what this whole season was leading up to...THE SUGAR BOWL!!!!!!!! Who would have ever guessed that Utah would go undefeated 12-0 and would be on their way to New Orleans to play the Alabama Crimson Tide! And who would have guessed that the Olivers would be on their way to cheer them on! After an exhausting night of buying plane tickets, bowl tickets, and booking hotels...we got everything under control and were officially going! The best part of it was Chase was coming with us but it was a Christmas suprise for him. For two weeks we planned a fake party where we were going to get the game catered and have everyone over, and then on Christmas Chase called telling us he hates us all because of the lie....Bhahahahahaha!!!!!

New Orleans is a beautiful city and so so so so so much fun!! We got in at about 11 o'clock on New Years Eve and there were fireworks going off all over the city! We had difficulty turning the lights on in our rental and Norman got to display his amazing navigation skills....but we made it to the hotel safe and sound about two seconds before they were about to give our room away.

The next day we were able to spend the whole day in New Orleans and we had no plans. We started the morning by walking over to the Riverwalk(?) (I just asked my dad what it was called and he ignored me so that's what I'm going with) and just my luck, the first store we walk into I broke a mardi gras mask and had to pay $40 for it...dang it!

We continued walking down and we ended up running into the tailend of the Alabama pep rally...oops haha but it was still fun! We took pictures with the sugar bowl trophy, got free t-shirts, and watched the kickoff challenge!

Right on the other side of the pep rally was the beginning of the French Quarter and we started making our way down that direction. Chase, Josh, and Norman thought jokes about Bourbon Street were pretty funny. And well...It lived up to its reputation because we were still a few blocks away when we started hearing people shouting inappropriate things and we had to turn around...Strangely, Delaney was the most upset haha not really. Josh and Chase continued jokes about heading down the whole time we were there. They probably did while everyone else was sleeping....We then went to the aquarium (not gonna lie, it may have happened before the French Quarter...I can't remember) and that was a lot of fun! It was a little bit better then the one in Sandy haha. We got to touch sting rays and a shark! And the otters were pretty cool too!

On our way back to the hotel, we ran into our neighbors Dirk and Gentry at the Marriott. They informed us that the Utah team was having a pep rally in an hour so we hurried to the hotel and came back ready to cheer our Utes on with everyone else that came from Utah!! It was so much fun! We ran up to the stage before anything happened and hurried to the side and as the amazingness of the trip continued...we ended up standing right next to where the team walked by to get on stage. I got to see Brian, Paul, Louie, and KYLE right up close and got to hi-5 some of them!! It was so awesome!! The team is amazing!!!!! It was incredible!!

After the rally we went and ate dinner at the silliest restaurant I've ever been to. It seemed like a pretty fancy restuarant, but it was empty so we got all the attention from the waiters...The lettuce wraps were the saltiest things of my life and the excessive use of plastic straws was too funny haha! After dinner, Norman and I went and met our really good friend Tina and her boyfriend Dillon. We walked down to Cafe du Monde to get pretty much the greatest thing in the world...Beignets!! It was so so so so good!!

The next morning we slept in and we slept in pretty late. It was good preparation for the game that night! We went back to Cafe du Monde that morning and stood waiting forever for the delicious beignets, then we went and ate them in this really cool park.

We went back to the hotel and got ready for the game! The superdome is so cool!!! But we got to get worried as we realized just how many more bama fans there were than us. We got to go sit down and guess what?! We had first row seats!! We had no idea and we were in shock! My cute little dad was grinning from ear to ear! He looked like such a little kid! It was so incredible and it did not seem real! The only problem with our seats was that we were surrounded by bama fans....But my dad ended up sitting by some pretty nice ones.

You guys know what happened...31-17! Utes 13-0! The perfect season!

We went back to the Marriott and Chase, Josh, and Norman went on a quest to get as many signatures as they could on their footballs. Norman won with his football covered with signatures! Tina and Dillon came and found us and hung out with us for a bit and that was also fun! We went back to the hotel, packed up our stuff, and headed toward the airport at 3 in the morning haha

It was an incredible trip! With incredible family and friends! I'm so happy I got to go and take part in the greatest Utah season of football! Go Utes! Go Jazz!

The Festivus!!

2009-02-07T22:21:00.000-08:00

So for years we've been planning on getting together between Thanksgiving and Christmas because we were not able to go down to St. George anymore. Needless to say...it never happened. Who knew it would take Shaun joining the army to get people to come up during the holidays?? So Cindy and Shaun came up for a few days and we had a really great time!! I love you guys and I hope you're all doing really well! Enjoy the pictures we took from bowling and dinner!

Winter Adventures!!

2009-02-07T21:38:00.000-08:00

Up in Sandy we really lucked out with a truly white Christmas! This led to a few adventures and some truly beautiful sites to see! Here are some pictures for you guys to look at

Norman and I made dinner! And we made a lot of it...We're fatfats!

Then we went to Temple Square

This is what we have to drive through to get to my friend Larissa's house! It's so beautiful!!!

Norman, Delaney, my really good friend Tina, and I made a snowman after days of snow! Problem was...It wasn't the best packing snow, but due to our amazing photography skills you have no choice but to think that it is a giant snowman! Bhahahaha!!

I woke up one morning way earlier than I was planning, but I saw this...So I hurry and took a picture of it and went back to bed

Love Delaney oh so very much!!

Some of my best friends: Manoj, Adam, Tim, and Norman

My loves: Kellie and Missy

Pictures from Christmas!!

2009-02-07T21:21:00.000-08:00

Here are some pictures from Christmas and all the fun we had with the Hoppers!!

Christmas Morning!! My dad decided to put the floor Santa on top of the tree in case you were wondering what that was haha

Cheesy Christmas photo on the stairs...Love it!

We had a wonderful dinner in which I accidentally made 10 lbs. of mashed potatoes (don't ask...). Norman (my boyfriend) got to know the family a little better and put up with Ron's jokes. Dinner was followed by an exciting game of...Delaney said it was called pickle but I think it was something else. Dad made an outstanding come from behind victory and killed Josh! It was pretty great!! Then we opened our pajamas, took pictures, and the Hoppers were on their way as we all got ready for Santa! We woke up the next morning, opened gifts, ate scones, and went and saw Yes Man!! It was an amazing Christmas!

Apologies...

2009-02-07T21:16:00.000-08:00

So I know I said I was creating the blog to keep the Harneys up to date on our happenings but haven't put anything up since then. Well I don't feel too bad since none of you have looked at it yet haha. So I'm gonna put up individual posts about all the things we've been up to since then. Lame I know...but you guys don't even know you were missing out so I hope you enjoy!!

Merry Christmas!!

2008-12-25T19:04:00.000-08:00

Well Brittany...it's been almost six months in the making but here is our blog!! I hope you enjoy. It is my Christmas present for you. I'm hoping this will help you guys to know about all the exciting things that go on in our lives, like last week, when all I did was study...study...and study some more and my dad worked...worked...and worked some more. It's always exciting like that here around the Oliver household haha!! Well we love you Harneys and hope you all had a safe and fun Christmas! Send everyone our love!
-Mandy