Christmas in Philip

Our Christmas Day is a whirlwind of opening presents in Lead, packing, running through the cabin to make sure we have not forgotten anything. (But we always do! I am expecting a package any day now!)Then drive for two hours to the Smith Ranch for the Olivier Christmas! We wouldn't have it any other way! We have a great time, in fact we had a couple of conversations about others who dread their family's Christmas. Not in this family!

We do the typical gift exchange, but the best fun is to see who has the best shirt that Don and Donna give to all of the boys, young and old. Of course every man lays claim to the best looking shirt, hence proving being the favorite.

The ladies of the family really scored this year! Donna made us all purses that really suited our style and "purse-onalities!" They were all so awesome we could not lay claim to anyone of them as being the best! They were beaddazzled with a grovy pin, I got Mr. Turtle!

We all take a family picture at the Christmas Tree. Austin graduated to his own family picture with Sara, one day they will add wee little babies to the picture!

But who needs kids to be silly!

Camping with the Kids

It's the new year let's hash out some fun stuff that happened last year!

Late this last summer we went camping with the whole family. Steve and I gave Austin and Sara a tent for a wedding present. Their madden camping voyage was in Minnesota at Camden State Park, south of Marshall.

We brought our bikes and rode the trails; one of us got bucked off! The tree came out from no where!!

Fishing and fun were on the menu. I was looking forward to the flyfishing and those great photo ops! Mommas cannot be without their cameras! I actually made it into the pictures a few times!

Everyone Has a different Idea about what is Art!

I thought I would add something that I thought was really kind of cool. In Minnesota things get real cold and a banana peel is something that could be used as "frozen art!" Now remember art is in the eye of the beholder, and Jari you might be the only one with me on this one!!

Austin & Sara

May 31st, 2008 we welcomed Sara Deutscher to the Olivier Family. We love Sara dearly and she truly makes Austin happy! They live in Brookings, SD. Austin is finishing up his masters in Economics. Writing a thesis much better when you have a wife who is working on her masters in English! Austin works for a hometown bank as a market annalist and loves it. Sara is teaching Freshman English while working on her masters! It is wonderful to see how Austin has applied his education to his life, they definitely have their future planned out.

Oh yes, the WEDDING!! What a blast, I am always up for a good party; and when your son is getting married what a bonus!! The colors were 2 shades of orchid purple, yummy brown and mint green. All of the kids were in the wedding party! Faith and Tessa were junior bridesmaids and Levi was a groomsman. Steve, proud papa, sang the theme song from Hope Floats, "To Make You Feel My Love." He made it through with out feeling verklempt. (Talk amonst yourselves! Do you need a topic?) Anyhoo, Stevie nailed it, the whole ceremony was beautiful!

Now we just need grandbabies!!

Catch Up!

Now that we have a blog I have to catch up on all of the things that we have been doing in past few decades!! Well maybe not decades but the past few years!!

Horses are a part of our life. I thought I would never be without one; but here I sit in Minnesota horseless. Now, I have a hockey rink in my back yard which my father insists could very easily support a horse or two! All I would need to do is just add water! I am not quite sure the city of Cold Spring would feel the same!

To keep us grounded in the horse world we travel back to SD to get our kicks!! Every October we round up buffalo in Custer State Park. This is an event that my family has been involved with for decades! I used to think that Steve only married me for the Buffalo Roundup! But he has proved that wrong time and time again! Here are some pictures from previous years, enjoy!

Christmas In Lead, SD

What a wonderful place to have Christmas; surrounded by your family and snow! Levi and his cousin Josh played hard in the snow! Snowmobiling and taking long jaunts in the mule. Tessa and Faith took the little kids, their cousins for rides in the mule as well as sledding down the hill dodging pine trees and rocks!

This is the whole Lantis Crew - Oliviers, Varileks, and Holmes families. At my sister Laura and Rob Varilek's cabin!

Getting Started!

Ok, all of my family seems to have a blog. We have neices that started a family blog and now I am trying to join the fun!

Well we just got back from Christmas in South Dakota. Snow and cold was the theme for the holiday. Here are some pictures of our adventure.