2021 Oliveto Family
Annual Update to our Friends
A Year's time is so fleeting, yet the wheels of time bring many changes...both individual and collective milestones. Family life is costly for all involved but the rewards are sweet. Scroll down to catch our individually written recaps on the year.
The Boys with their new friend Arrow at a the local Clear Creek Trails
A memorable family day-trip to Orting, WA. Orting became a favorite destination for Stephen when he discovered a quaint town with an old-fashioned feel that sits with Mt. Rainier towering over it and with the large Puyallup River roaring through it.
Oliveto Boys
A shared but unique journey for each of the boys over this past year
ZACH
From Work to stocks to friends to a significant other...Zach is moving onwards and upwards ever so quickly!
CONNOR
Connor and Jordan have become study buddies this past year as they have both embraced homeschooling...not by choice but by necessity.
JORDAN
This year has been so much about a new relationship for Jordan...the kind of relationship with "man's best friend". Arrow came into his life and "everything changed" overnight!
Stephen
What Feels like a year of transition that hasn't finished is where Stephen finds himself at the end of 2021.
Tiffany
From Gardening to exercise to kitchen creations to Covid, Tiffany has had few idle moments this past year...
Arrow
I loved my first family and the transition really was tough, but I'm back to loving life with my new family. I hit my birthday just a few days ago and I can't tell you how wonderful that Costco Rotisserie Chicken was...so looking forward to my next birthday!
Zach's 2021 In Review
A rough start but a great ending...
2021 started off rough for me. I was in the middle of my junior year at Central Kitsap High School. With school going very slow and being very different from last year, nothing felt the same. It went from lots of social interaction to no social interaction. It was the complete opposite of sophomore year. I hated school that year, but it was nice to work constantly. Work was the only thing I looked forward to during those times. Some of the nicest people work at Oak Table. I am a prep cook at the Oak Table Cafe in Silverdale. I wanted to work full time but that didn't happen because of the second shutdown. The second shutdown occurred between November of 2020 and February 2021. Things were slowly getting back to normal. Oak Table was very busy compared to the pre-pandemic 2nd shutdown. I was constantly feeling tired and physically weak due to overworking myself. In April Connor and I went on a mission trip to Mexico. We built a house for a family. That was one of the greatest experiences of my life. It was very eye-opening. "You don't realize how good you have it till you go down there." Summer began a month early with me finishing up school at lightning speed. I was working full time and started trading quite a bit, so wrapping up school fast was very important to me. I traded Cryptocurrencies and stocks. I was mostly holding crypto, but I traded Dogecoin for a while making consistent profit. I was mostly a swing trader during that period of time. My biggest day was being up around 130% on my AMC position. I lost all of that by holding it for too long and making bad decisions using my emotions because I was trading with way too much money. In the summer I didn't do much besides work and trade. I went on a few trips. One of the trips was camping at Lake Cushman and the other one was a trip to Idaho's Silver Mountain resort. I went to Idaho with Faith Fellowship youth group and many other churches. I would describe that trip as different. I didn't know anyone in my group. Meeting new people was great but some of them I didn't like at all. The trip was fun and exhausting. The bus ride there felt like an eternity. But I sat with some of the kindest people ever. The resort was very nice and the water park and gondolas were super fun. SilverWood was a disaster with the insanely long lines for the rides. That trip was evenly balanced, both good and bad. School came around and I was panicking. Working full time and bringing in that money was so nice. Trading on the side was actually very enjoyable even though I was breaking even on all my trades combined. I was learning a lot about trading and these markets. I hope to pursue trading as a full-time career after graduation. School came and lots of things were different. I started a West Sound Tech my second week of school taking their culinary class. There was only one friend in one of my classes. Not seeing anyone's full face was very weird. And the way they handled getting into contact with someone with covid was terrible. They just sent you home for a few days. As school progressed it got so much better. I was connecting with a lot of people. Culinary class was so much fun, a really easy class with lots of funny and brilliant people. That pretty much wraps up my year. Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Get in Touch with Zach!
Connor's 2021 In Review
This year was a big year for Connor. He was very excited to start driving so he saved up for eight months. As soon as he turned 15 he enrolled in drivers ed and got his instruction permit. He loves driving, especially stick shift and looks forward to buying his dad's car when he turns 16 in February. In March he got a job at The Oak Table Café and was a closing dishwasher for about 2 months. He then started picking up day shifts as a dishwasher. He loves it there! Not for the dishes but for the community and how nice everyone is!
In April we got our beloved dog named arrow. We drove all the way to Spokane to get him from the breeder. He has been an amazing dog but still needs training! He loves to run outside and pee on the neighbors bushes and he doesn’t come when you say “arrow come!” but if you have a ball he’ll come to you. Arrow loves us but he also loves balls. He even knows the word ball! He will turn and jump on you if you say the word ball. In April him and Zach went to Mexico for a YWAM mission trip through homes of hope. They left on April 28th and came back on May second. They went to Tijuana, Mexico and helped build a house for a family. They were on the paint crew and helped paint everything on the house. They loved it down there and learned what a third world country looks like. They grew closer to their church family and friends and loved it. Coming back they waited 8 hours in an airport.
In June Connor saved up and bought an ebike. He loves it and uses it to get to and from work each day! In July Connor got a raise and got promoted from a dishwasher to a prep cook. Prep Cook you prepare omelet mixes, Cut up vegetables, and prepare other food. You also run food to the cooks when they call for food, eggs, batters, berries, etc. In August Connor went on a “vacation” to Idaho with the church youth group. Connor said that 9 hours on a school bus full of loud children was not fun. When the school year came we decided to homeschool Connor. Connor enjoys that it’s easier than public school but misses his social life. He misses hanging out with his friends and misses people in general. Thank you for reading this and have a good rest of your day.
Drop Connor a Note!
Sign up for a creative consultationJordan's 2021 In Review
My year started off boring, like really really boring. Nothing to do, just online school. And then…we thought about getting a Dog. And then after a few days we decided we’re getting a puppy. So I researched different breeds and decided on a Border Collie. Nobody else wanted a border collie so I had to write a whole essay on why we should get a Border Collie. And while we were on a walk with Jeanie (resident's dog) we met a guy with a Border Collie. He gave us the contacts to the breeder he got him from so we could talk to the breeder. During the phone call he said he had one dog left that hasn't sold yet because he was a special color. We liked the color so we made a trip to Spokane to get him. The breeder said that he would throw up in the car because he's never been in one before, so we put towels everywhere. During the ride home it smelled bad so we assumed he pooped. We took him out for a bit and while we took him out, he backed out of the collar and ran the way we came. He got scared of the guard dogs barking at him so he ran back to the car for some reason. We put him in the car because the smell was just him letting out a big fart of stress. The rest of the ride he slept and sometimes rolled over for some belly rubs. When we got home he pooped 5 times and peed for a minute straight in the house. We enrolled in a training class where Arrow learned: sit, shake, leave it, stay, lie down, look at me, and come. Arrow's first camping trip: we got there Arrow loved the place, sniffing every blade of grass. At night Arrow kept trying to get out of the tent and since the tent can't fully close I had to hold him down. Eventually I gave up and tied him to a tree where he constantly woke everybody up by barking at raccoons and deers. The second night we went straight to tying him to a tree. I had a fever that night and randomly started crying for some reason. Camping trip with church: trip there sucked. Kids were screaming for no reason, the bus was uncomfortable, and the trip was very very very long. When we got there we waited for an hour on the bus while the adults planned some stuff. After that we went to the resort and our room was filled with food. The next day we went to the water park where there were lots of slides and water cannons. The day after that we went to silverwood which was terrible. The lines were so long, like an hour or two hours for one ride. Then we took another long bus ride which was terrible. When we got home at 11:00 pm Arrow gave us the BODY WAG.
text here.
Send Jordan a Note:
Tiffany's 2021 In Review
Always the accomplisher, Tiffany checks a few more projects off her list this past year!
My year in review …
2021 brought so many unexpected turns but was also full of many blessings…where do I begin? Here we go …
Now that I have more time to myself as the boys are more independent I found myself wanting to cook more and try new recipes to see if there is something interesting to make for the family.
Rice Cauliflower!
Growing up eating lots of white rice so it’s hard to substitute this with anything I eat. I saw people are eating more cauliflower in the form of rice cauliflower so I thought why not give it a try. I tried some store bought cauliflower rice but I didn’t really like the texture so I thought why not make my own. So I found that buying the cauliflower and making it into rice cauliflower is worth the effort :)
Other New Foods
After the pandemic hit, I found myself learning how to make sourdough bread, apple cider vinegar, kombucha, kimchi and other foods I wanted to try but never had the time. After 2 years into the pandemic, I am still making kombucha and kimchi but sourdough bread was hard to keep up with the necessary feeding of the dough starter. I still like to bake but as I aged I found myself watching what I eat. So less baking and do it only when I think it is worth the calories. I tried to substitute more almond flour in my baking so I know that I’m eating something healthier than just white flour.
Summertime
My summer was full of unexpected busyness. I ended up working for the school district for 6 weeks part-time helping out with summer schools. The garden needed some work but I had limited time to invest there. We built 2 raised beds and got another one from our tenant that really helped my garden to produce vegetables for the summer. We got lots of tomatoes, beans, spinach, and cucumbers but somehow zucchini and squash didn’t do well.
Greenhouses & Compost Bins
I always have wanted a greenhouse and out of nowhere we have a neighbor who was getting rid of one so I rejoiced in the blessing! With a greenhouse comes more … veggies!!! Now I just need to find a neighbor who doesn’t want their compost bin. Lol
My Boys are growing up!
As the boys got older, I found more time to myself which was a blessing but I found some loneliness along the way. Zach will be 18 years old in a couple weeks and ready to move on with his life and maybe move out of the house. I can’t believe that I have an adult in our house :( God knows we did the best that we could. We have so much expectations from Zach because being the first-born and needs to set a good example for the other two boys so it’s hard not to want him to succeed in whatever he does.
Connor is the sensitive one and with my strong personality it’s very hard for me to show him love. God continues to give me strength everytime we get into deep conversations. Connor will always have a special place in my heart because he cares deeply and has a very genuine heart.
Jordan is my walking and running partner. We spend so much time together as the older boys have jobs. I found myself wanting more time with him, especially going out for walks together and having conversations with topics such as “which is better? … Tesla or Toyota?” Lol.
My Husband…
Last but not least in 2021 I'm praising God for a wonderful husband. After celebrating 20 years of marriage this past year, I say he is my best friend and an encourager. He has been by my side and unconditionally loves me even when I “wake up on the wrong side of the bed”. His love for the Lord challenges me to do the same. Now we take time to do devotions together. We had our ups and downs (mostly downs) but I know only God will keep us together and do our very best to raise our boys together to love the Lord with all their hearts. I know I can’t do life without this wonderful man beside me.
This is the most I have written in years. I'm a doer not a writer so I hope you find some encouragement in this 2021 review. God bless! You just never know . . . life is full of unexpected!
Blessings to you and yours this upcoming year! :-)
My School District Journey Over this past year!
Another unexpected event in 2021 was related to my employment with the local school district. During the pandemic I was happy to be at home and teaching online. Before the school year of 2019-2020, I requested to transfer back to elementary because I felt that was where my heart was. So the new school year came and my request was granted. I went back to teaching online inside the building even though the kids would not be in the building. Man it was tough to hear the kids through the online environment and waiting and hoping the kids will show up was a constant factor. This went on until beginning January 2020 when the kids came back part-time in person with groups AM and PM and I was to teach in a small group setting. I was excited to see the kids and so happy that the kids came back to the building. Teaching reading with a mask was super tough but I managed to do the best I can. It was a nice schedule just working four full days and only an hour on Wednesdays. The school year ended and I was happy to be back to what I was doing in elementary school the next school year.
Summer came and somehow I felt the Lord asked me to keep watch for other jobs that might open for this coming school year. I applied for a few and got turned down, especially the library clerk positions. Out of the blue, one fine day, I got a phone call for an interview for library clerk at a local middle school. This is the same one that both Zach and Connor attended and is only a few minutes away from our house. I thought the interview went well but you don’t know until you get the phone call if you get the job or not. I did see lots of papers with many applicants so what are my chances of getting the job there? Probably very slim.
Well, unexpectedly I got a phone call from the principal and he offered me the job. All he said “You’re not the school parent anymore but a staff”. I was overjoyed and hopped into the living room and announced the news to the family. I can’t believe what just happened. I thanked the Lord in my heart so many times that day and was so excited for the new adventure.
Well, my first day into the building with the new job was full of surprises. The librarian told me that I got the experience and the personality that fit well with the job. Ha ha, my happy and outgoing personality and experience? I was a library assistant when I was in high school and enjoyed it. I did sub a few times for other clerks with the school district so I think that counts as experience. Well, the job is great and I’m learning a lot and putting my organization skills to use. I think I will stay here at this school for a while and enjoy what the Lord has given me!
Enduring the Dreaded Covid Bug
A story I honestly didn't expect to be telling
Along the lines of the unexpected the family came down with COVID. We don’t need to say who brought into the house (someone with a “special friend”). I didn't know that I got it until the test showed it. The Wednesday before I took the covid test, I felt something come on and as usual I fought with exercise.
Who needs to rest when you know that more moving and staying hydrated will do the trick. Well, I fought back by taking a run with our dog and kept my exercise routine. I kept going until Saturday night without a good night's sleep. Sunday I slept most of the day by night time I thought I shouldn’t go to work the next day with how I was feeling. I put in sick day and didn’t get up until noon the next day. I got a phone call from office manager from the school telling me that I better get covid test.
I went to the local drive-through covid testing unit and took the test. By Monday afternoon, I was feeling fine and thought that for sure it’s just a cold. I have no symptoms but just tired and still have some energy. I made dinner that night and kept checking on the test results. Test came back with a positive covid on Tuesday afternoon and man it was hard to take. Here we go, I had covid.
I isolated myself by staying in our master bedroom. Well, Stephen took the test and came back also positive and by now we had determined Zach had already been through it and Connor was in the middle of it. I was still feeling fine on Tuesday night but it got harder to wake up and get out of bed the next day. Next thing I realized that I couldn’t eat anything and stay hydrated. I lost my taste and smell. I got the chills and body aches. The cough wasn't back. I remembered one night I had problems with taking breaths. And that was the only hardest part. I tried to get outside and did some walking just to get some energy back but walks were hard to get through. I did this most days and just rested. I kept taking my supplements and chicken stock tasted better than water by Friday. By Sunday, I was feeling better and ate a very small amount of food.
I found it funny that being sick with covid included losing ten pounds. I didn't know that you could lose that much weight by not eating for about a week. Easiest diet plan ever! LOL.
After a week with covid I started to feel so much better :) I ate more and got more energy back. My walks got farther and faster that is when I noticed that I felt my body is back but still not 100%. I know that it will take another month or so for me to feel totally normal but I’m glad that I’m on the other side of this sickness.
I know my case is minor and blessed that our family is doing fine and no majority run to the hospital. We gave thanks to our Lord for his healing and strengths of what we experienced. Now we all have had covid and we know that our antibodies level is worth a million bucks :) LOL
Send Tiffany a Message!
If you have a response to Tiffany or an encouraging word or a prayer request, reach out to Tiffany through the following form.
Stephen's 2021 In Review
A Year of Transition with More Transition on the Horizon...
A Great Lesson from 2021
Simple but difficult
As I was perusing my 2021 photos, I immediately came accross this photo I had taken from a church sign. I believe this was one of the major truths that God led me in over this past year. What a humbling and challenging prospect...that the best way to influence others I care about is to change myself...My oh my...that is so much more difficult than asking others to change... "Thank you Father God for getting this message to pierce my heart and begin influencing my actions."
Here are some highlights from 2021 for me personally. As I list these out, I feel challenged to maybe write a bit more about each one in the near future.
- I continue to enjoy "exercising my inheritance" by helping others with their real estate needs.
- Facilitating the acquisition and arrival of our sixth family member was such a joy and privilege. I felt I was partnering with God in his desire to bless our family in a significant way through our first family pet.
- I found myself pressing into the leadership of our local church by attending board meetings. I think I find myself to be a bit weird in that I enjoy meetings...
- I attended the same youth retreat that all three of my boys attended. It was full of suffering, sacrifice and service...all three great things. But God used it in my life to teach me one of my most powerful life lessons... "His heart is my home".
- I established (or God granted or both) a relationship with a "brain coach". Bi-Polar has been a signifiant part of my journey and it continues to be so three years after leaving pharmaceuticals behind.
- I followed by brother into the world of professional driving in August, transporting our nations veterans to their medical appointments all around the puget sound. What a great privilege and what a great introduction to a whole industry...the professional driving industry.
Priorities & Focus
Isn't Life so much about these two challenging words?
I conclude 2021 having been released of (or releasing myself) from so many extraneous activities and responsibilities. I find myself more and more desiring to be faithful to the basics. At some level the basics seem to be "God, Family, Country".
Best to you and yours this new year! I hope that there has been a blessing for you in catching some of the journey of our family over this past year.
Much love from the Oliveto Family.
-Stephen
Stephen's Professional Realtor Headshot...as typical to a real estate agent's photo, they always show us looking way better than we do in real life... lol
Send Stephen a quick hello...
he'll be so thankful. :-)
Arrow's 2021 Year in Review
The past year through the eyes of Arrow, our border collie & sixth member of the family
My year started pretty good, I got some good dad time and mom time. Except my dad was more interested in chasing a ball and giving it back to the humans. It was also fun to play with my siblings because they liked to do the same stuff I did, which was jump on everything and everything.
When I got older, my siblings started to be taken away by humans in big blocks with wheels. I wondered if I would be taken away soon too. With all my siblings gone I had almost no one to play with except watch my dad play with balls, I occasionally got the ball from him when he dropped it to the human.
Then some more puppies were born and I found a new way to play with them: pick them up with my mouth! Haha, it was also hilarious hearing them whine when I picked them up. It was so fun to be the bigger boy and they couldn't do anything to me. I'm surprised my dad didn’t do it to me and my siblings.
More humans came in their block with wheels and I thought they would come to pick up the other puppies since I was so old. But they came for me! I was shy but still trying to sniff them and while I did that they started touching my back which felt really good. They even picked me up! They tried to put me in the block with wheels, and with all my efforts they managed to put me in.
After a little bit the block with wheels started going again, and I felt like throwing up but I managed to not. The humans were giving me lots of encouraging words that sounded so good. After a little while I let out a huge fart, and the humans seemed concerned that I might have pooped.
When I got out of the block with wheels a bunch of big dogs (about the size of my dad) randomly started barking at me for no reason! I got really scared and started running back the way we came (i'm really smart), then i realized that i shouldn’t run away from the humans because they are a lot smarter than me so i ran back to the block with wheels. After they put me in the block with wheels I slept for the rest of the ride.
When the car stopped we arrived at a block with doors and windows (kind of like at the farm) and I went inside. After going inside I was greeted by more humans who rubbed my back. There was some soft stuff inside so I thought it was a designated peeing and pooping ground. After peeing there for a minute and pooping three times they took me outside. When I pooped again (I held my poop for 10 hours okay) they spoke encouraging words so I assumed that the soft stuff in the block wasn't for pooping and peeing.
After being there for a while (a day) I went to a place with a lot of dogs. Most of the dogs barked at me for no apparent reason. Me and a bunch of puppies went inside an enclosed place where there was a human waiting for us. When we got inside we did some stuff with treats. I would do something and I would be rewarded with a treat! Sometimes though I wouldn't get the treat so I figured out how to get the treat the most efficient way: follow where the treat goes and you shall get a treat. When I wasn't following the treat I was sleeping because there was nothing to do! (also i was scared)
When I went on my first walk everything smelled so good!! Every blade of grass smelled so different yet so goooooood. When we went back though, that was a different story. I knew where we were going. I already knew what everything smelled like. So I went fast!! It didn’t feel very fast but I was trying. I think the human behind me was holding me back.
Everything was the same for the rest of the year. I learned new stuff like come, stay, sit, shake, bang, place, down, leave it, heel, and look. I got my first bath (completely evil, like the vacuum except much much worse).
A little bit later in the year, I noticed that being outside was a lot better than being inside. So, when they said come I decided to go the opposite way so i wouldn’t have to go inside! But I went inside when they showed me a juicy ball.
Snow is awesome!! I don’t know if you’ve heard or not, but it's delicious. Sometimes my human (Jordan, I figured it out cause I'm such a big brain) throws it in the air like a ball so i can catch it! It's also really slippery. I slipped while running and it hurt.
Get in Touch with Arrow!
He would love to hear from you and we'll be sure you get a personal reply from our beloved canine family member.
