Badger the Black Foot Came to town

We had a wonderful surprise this weekend! Our good friend and loving referred to as our "cousin," Steven "Badger" Davis came to town. He and his good buddy Peter were checking out St. John's University for the weekend. Steven jumped into the car with Peter to help his friend decide if he wanted to go school at SJU. They both thought the university was awesome. Peter would be coming for the basketball program, I understand that the boy has springs in his feet like Tigger! 35" vertical! Impressive!

We had a quick visit with them because they had to be back on the road first thing in the morning so they could be back at school in Billings, Montana Monday.

So say hello to our little friend that came to visit, Steven you are welcome anytime, (that goes for the whole family!)

He even went to Prom to see Levi!

Hurdles, Batons and Spikes!

Yes, it track season! And Tessa is running! This was her second track meet and it was like it was a nasty fall day. The times were slow and they were cold! Tessa improved on her hurdles form her last meet because her daddy worked with her up a the track Sunday night. But he worked a little too hard, he was clearing his third hurdle and he is knee gave way under him, buckles, he hit the asphalt with his left arm, keeping up the momentun he drove his right shoulder into the track. Tessa called in a panic that daddy had hurt himself. I got to the track he was trying to "walk" if off. He did not want to go but we got him into the car and took him kicking and screaming to the hospital for x-rays. Sure enough he has a broken collar bone and a 3rd degree AC separation. Now today his knee is really swollen and hurting him quite a bit. Never a dull moment at the Olivier house!

Anywho! Back to the track meet. I was late because I was making Levi's Birthday cake so I didn't get to see her run her hurdles. But she placed second in her heat, Steve said she kept it low and did good. I was there for the 4x100, Tessa was third leg. We won't know the results for a day or two. Long jump was challenging, they had to run straight into the wind, not fun! We are hoping for better weather next time!

The hand off.

Tessa Bookin' it!

Big Daddy Gimpy! He sacrificed his body (& pride) for his little girl!

Prom Night

Saturday night was Prom for ROCORI High School. Levi took his girlfriend Ashley Lauer. They both looked so nice in their accenting attire. We went over to our friends the Brauns, who have a wonderful Victorian home and took quite a few pictures with all of the boys. I think when I was done with the night I had taken 160 pictures! I feel like I am slacking, I thought I would have shot quite a bit more.

At Brauns, it was a beautiful day.

Levi with the girls in the backyard.

When we went to Grand March, Levi and Ashley were asked to pose for the newspaper in St. Cloud. Then the whole crew was asked to pose; their pictures were on the St. Cloud Times website Sunday morning. I took the same pictures as the newspaper so you can see a sampling. Enjoy!

The girls wanted to line up like the rainbow.

Take me out to the ballgame...

Spring is in the air for Softball season has started for Faith. They had their first game on Thursday. She has really good coaches and could even see some pitching time in the future. The team is made up of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders. Faith will be learning quite a bit from the 6th grade girls, they are very dedicated and work hard to hone their skills. I will keep you posted as her season progresses!

Glovin' up!

Faith played out field and got good little hits each time she was up to bat. As she runs to can see her signature blond ponytail running in the breeze.

Faithie runnin' for her base

Faithie in the outfield

Flying Tessa & Bailey

Spring has almost sprung! And Tessa likes spending her time at the park with her good friend Bailey! They didn't get a sand castle built but they spend time on the swings or should I say flying out of the swings! Note Miss Tessa has on her slippers, I am sure that they were athletic slippers! They caught some good air, enjoy!

The Wall That Is NO MORE!

I can see clearly now the wall is gone! I have moved all obstacles in my way! You know the song, I am sure you were humming along while you read the first few lines. Anywho! After being laid off on Tuesday I found myself with a little extra time on my hands and decided to get busy!!

For those of you who have not been to my home here is a little back ground. I have, I mean, I had a wall between the living room and the dining room with a pocket door. The living room is...was 21 feet long and could spare some square footage. My dining room was about 9 feet long and cramping my style!! We have been talking about doing this for eight years and on March 4th the gloves came off!! (Or went on..... so I didn't get splinters!!) I had pulled the trim off the pocket door Wednesday night and Thursday we hit it with the saws-all as soon as my slave labor, I mean hired man got home from school!


It starts! And My hired man


Now our home was built in 1960 by a mason who believed in rock and mortar! All the interior walls are buffalo board, which is the first generation of sheet rock and then anywhere from 3/8 inch to an full inch of plaster with small aggregate. Needless to say the blades did not last very long on the saws-all!

Even with the bomb shelter challenges we have that puppy ripped out by 8:30pm. Now Steve is on a traveling circuit with Nash right now and was not home to share in the awesome occasion. He was driving back to Cold Spring from Omaha with his VP and got a text message from Levi of me holding the saws-all like an AK47 and full battle gear (protective glasses). Then the next text message he got was a movie of me hitting the wall with the saws-all! What great fun. We got most of the wall out except for the perpendicular connections to the ceiling, walls and floor because all of those connections had expanded metal lath. We had to wait for the big gun to get home!


Making progress.

Put your back into Man!

And your Leg!


Ok, give it all you've got!

We're through! We are really through!

The weekend was spent cleaning up the edges and getting the header that went across for the sliding door. This header was tied all the way back to the main support wall running down the center of the house. Yes, I checked to make sure that I was not screwing with the structure before I hit the wall. But I still look at it every once in awhile to make sure it is not sagging!





My Big Gun! Not the saws-all, Steve!


Look at those bulging muscles!

The open feeling is just incredible I love the connection between the living room and the kitchen area! We hope to have the additional vinyl-wood floor in this weekend and the new carpet laid next week! Then I get to dust and vacuum again! You will all have to stop by and see it, the transformation is stupendous!

Now do you see why I sing, I can see clearly now the wall is gone!

History of Dance, Part II

We hoped you enjoyed the quick little photo tour of Levi and the boys at their dance recital. I think prom this year could be kinda of fun to watch with all of the kids that took dance class.