A birthday cake for President Monson

In December's Friend (an LDS children's magazine) there is a little place where you can give President Monson ( the prophet of the LDS church) a birthday present. In his conference talk, Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said: "When our beloved prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, was asked on his birthday this past August what would bee the ideal gift that members world wide could give him, he said without a moment's hesitation, 'Find someone who is having a hard time,..... and do something for them.'" So the Friend has a place where you can fill out your information and a little story of what you did to serve or help someone and then the Friend will send them to the prophet in August 09 for his birthday. I thought it would be fun and a good experience for Henry (they ask children to be at least three). I told him this morning that soon it would be President Monson's birthday and that all he wanted for his birthday was for us to help someone. I asked him to think of someone he could help. Henry thought for a while and then said, "You Mommy." Of course tears welled up in my eyes and then I asked him what he would like to help me with and Henry said, "I want to help you make a birthday cake for President Monson." "Oh really," I replied, laughing a little. Then Henry said with a light in his eyes, "And I will blow out his candles!" I hope President Monson would be okay with that. :-)

charlie brown tree

So, we got our tree and decorated it a couple of days ago. It is a cute little tree, the biggest one we've had since we've been married. We went to the same place we always go to get out tree, "The real McCoy". It is a family owned corner lot and we just love this family and we love their trees..... they last forever. When ever we go I always feel so bad for the charlie brown trees. What if they never get a home? Even when I little I remember my siblings and I getting the charlie brown trees because we felt sorry for them. So, this is our little tree, excuse my naked daughter..... Jetta is Jetta. I think the diaper and Klompen are a nice touch. Merry Christmas!

Snow Play

We have all been sick for the past week so when the forecast said snow my heart sunk because we would be inside for yet another day. However, that morning I woke up to the excitement of fresh snow and decided I didn't care if we were all still sick we were going out!! We needed the change of scenery so very badly! We had so much fun running, sliding, climbing, angle making, rolling, track making, snow eating, shoveling, and cold noseing. We played for 2 hours. I only took a few pictures and filmed a little, the rest of the time was just enjoyment! I love playing in the snow.


getting ready (side note: my brother, miles, made me this scarf for my mission. Jetta loves it!)


rare sibling love

Photography update

For those of you I have done photography for lately I finally updated my photography blog. Sorry It took me so long. You can click on the link in my side bar or just click here.

Cow Boy Cousins

This is Henry and Jetta and their cousin Jackson. For Christmas my mom got all of the kids cow boy attire. She gave it to them early so they could dress up and play together. That is just what they did. I think there is a little country in all of us especially these three. Thank you Nanna.




Jetta has a little crush on my brother Miles.

Late night!!

I was up until 2:00am trying to finish this. I worked on it during Jetta's nap and then all night. I can't believe it but I finished. Starting over was a pain but I think that Heavenly Father must have been helping me to have fast hands..... :-)

To my Horror!!!

I have been drawing a picture for my sister for Christmas for some time now. I have been trying to finish it before Thanksgiving so that I can take it to Utah when we go for the holiday as we will not be going to Utah for Christmas. I don't trust sending it in the mail....I don't want it to bend. Well, I have been spending most of my nights for the past two weeks trying to get it done. I finished the horses head and felt like I was on the home stretch. I left yesterday afternoon to take some family photos of some friends. When I came home I found this to my absolute horror!!! I just turned around and walked out of the house, sat down on the front step and cried. There is nothing I can do to fix it, I tried many different tricks. My lovely son Henry, pushed so hard on the paper with the pencil that it dented the paper. Even if I got the pencil marks off, which I can't, the integrity of the paper texture is gone. I will simply start over. I am so sad but I also know he just wanted to help.....

Is he really that big?

I can not believe that Henry is big enough to do this. I am so excited for him, riding a bike opens up a whole new world and brings on a whole new level of independence!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Happy Birthday Henry

So for the past month I have been thinking about Henry's birthday. He is turning 4 and is so so excited! When I ask him what kind of a party he wanted he said, "Space". Hummmm, Space......how am I supposed to pull that off? Well, I have been thinking and thinking and looking and finally came up with a starting point, aliens....... From there his party just took off. It was his first real party with friends and such so we decided to go all out. We cleaned out the garage and decorated it like space. We hung christmas lights (stars), paper balloons (planets), a rocket and had all kinds of alien and space games for the kids to play. We had pizza, veggies (Henry's favorite), space cake (Henry's request) and ice cream. It was so fun with all of his little friends. I think every one had a great time. Here are some pics of event.

The New Zoo

A few weeks ago Alex (a friend of ours from church) and Dave decided they wanted to plan a weekend of fun for our families. They wanted to go to Colorado Springs and go to the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo. What a great idea Rachel (Alex's wife) and I thought! We talked about a date and minor details but left the planning up to them........humm. The day before we were to go nothing had been planned or mentioned. Oh men...... :-) Rachel and I got on the phone and finished planning. We packed lunches and looked for coupons and planned a time and when Saturday came we were off. This zoo is so cool!!! It is up on the mountain and the animals habitats are apart of the natural surroundings. The first thing we did was feed the Giraffes. Yes, you can feed and pet the Giraffes!!! It was so cool! I forgot my camera.......blast! But I got some shots on the phone. This zoo has so many fun animals and you can get so close to them. The bears were swimming and catching fish, the porcupines were up in trees, the mountain lions were trying to eat Jetta. She came running out of their den(you could walk in/under it while in enclosed glass) and tripped. One mountain lion came sprinting off the mountain he was on and slammed into the fence trying to get her. Crazy! Good thing the fence was there. We saw moose, wolves, beaver, turkey, wallaby, nile hippo, and so many others. While we were leaving we saw a bunch of wild deer. It was quite the zoo and I think will be going back! We had so much fun!! Thank you Alex, Rachel, and Oliver for going with us.

Bathtime Bliss

Bathtime has always been fun at out house but lately it has been especially exciting. Jetta likes to wear goggles and jump up and down and splash and create a mess. Henry likes to make a mess on Jetta, the wetter he can get her the better! Most of the time she does not like Henry's idea of a good bathtime fun but in the end they end up best friends.

gratitude pt 2

5 things I am grateful for today:

1. good friends who called and wrote concerned comments
2. the most beautiful loaf of homemade bread I have ever seen
3. my husband who picked up some groceries and made dinner
4. priesthood blessings
5. an understanding boss

So, yesterday I thought I was getting better. By 4:00 in the afternoon I had had crackers and sprite and kept them down. I was feeling pretty great. My friend came by with some homemade bread, I had some and still was feeling great. Dave came home with groceries and dinner and I had a little of that and felt great.........my sneaky tummy........what a tricker. 11:30 pm I was full on sick again. All night I was in the bathroom. I got only 4 - 1/2 hour increments of sleep. I was in so much pain. 8:30 am Dave comes in and says he called his boss and is taking a sick day. Thank you Dave's boss. He was downstairs with the kids doing breakfast and playing and had things under control. Thank you Dave. He kindly asks what he can do for me and humbly I ask for a blessing. I was in serious pain. My stomach was swollen and painful to touch....I could not even have elastic bands of clothing around it because it hurt so bad. I have never been one to ask for priesthood blessings often, only when I really think there is nothing else I can do. I should have asked for one sooner. Dave gave me a blessing and I was sick only once after. I was able to stand straight, walk to the bed and slept from 8:30 to 12:30. I am feeling better and want to say thank you again to everyone!!!!

gratitude

5 things I am grateful for today

1. healthy days
2. the short distance from my couch to the bathroom
3. movies
4. kids that watch movies
5. tums

I woke up very early this morning sicker than a dog. I am still sicker than a dog but i a hoping to last the day. It is all I can do to get up off the couch to put in a new movie or get the kids some food. I think I just ate something that didn't agree with me because everyone else in my family is fine. My poor sensitive stomach. I really am thankful for my list mentioned above, however it is days like this and many others that remember how far away I really am from family.

the first Peter & Alecia Richards family reunion

We had a blast in Utah for our family reunion. We went to Heber Valley Girls Camp. It is a beautiful LDS owned and operated camp in the mountains. We camped in cabins, cooked in dutch ovens, did the ropes course, hiked, and got snowed on. Henry and Jetta did great! They loved it, all of it!! We had so much fun with all the family and cousins. Thanks mom and dad for putting this together!!

The Richards Clan.....Awesome sweatshirts made by Candice the graphic designer of the family.

The beautiful leaves at our camp.

On the ropes course. Even Henry loved the ropes course. He scaled the tree no problem.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The cowboy camper

Snow baby


The last day of our reunion we went to a place called Jump On It. It is in Lehi, I think, and it is filled with tons of trampolines. You can jump from wall to wall and off walls and all over the place. It was so fun! My sister McCall was a champ and jumped with my kids for quite some time. Thank you McCall.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

say PIE FIGHT!!!!

Henry watched "The Great Race" a while ago and ever since he has wanted to have a pie fight. When we went to Utah to visit family, my mother-in-law created a pie fight for the kids. It was so fun!!! Dave and his dad were good sports and joined in the fun. If you have never had a pie fight, I strongly recommend it!!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Canning

I've been canning. I think I like it. Is that weird? So, about a month ago I visited my family in Utah and my sister McCall was in the middle of canning peaches, salsa, and jam. I was so impressed and wanted to copy so badly. I went and purchased a steam canner and some jars and then watched for the fruit to go on sale. Went it went on sale I was so excited, I got pears, peaches, and tomatoes. Yes, I canned them, yes, it was an all day process, yes, it was a mess and yes, I liked it. There was something about seeing all my jars sitting on the counter and seeing the "fruits" of my labors. :-) Thank you McCall for the inspiration.

so you want to be a cowboy baby

This past week we went to visit family in Utah. My sister Candice was blessing her baby and my other sister McCall just had a baby, it was time for a visit. While we were there my other sister Cami told me that her good friend Judd would take Henry on a horse ride. Background story.........Henry loves animals and his favorite is horses. He loves to pretend he is a horse and any chance he gets he will ride, pet, and feed anything that resembles a horse (ie burro, mule, donkey). However, he has never been on a real horse. He has seen many and even fed them but never ridden them so...........When I decided to visit I asked Cami if Judd would take Henry. Cami's friend is a cowboy in every sense and cami is a cowgirl in every sense and they ride all the time and said that it would be no problem. Henry and his cousin Jack borrowed hats from my mom and did the cowboy thing all morning. Henry was quite in his element. Jetta would not get on the horse. She was content to waring a cowboy hat and playing with dirt all morning. Since we have gotten home he carried his grey horse around calling him Silver (the name of the horse he rode) and telling me this is the horse he rode. Thank you Cami and Judd!!!!!!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

feed the birds 2 dollars an apple

While we were in Utah we visited Dave's family. Lois took us to Tracy Aviary to see the birds. Henry and Jetta loved it. We were there for a couple of hours and saw all kinds of birds. Henry fed the birds and practiced standing like a flamingo. Jetta played in the puddles and got dirty. In all a very successful outing!

QT'S in the park

Our Labor Day Marathon!!

Dave's sister Crissa, who lives here in Denver, told us about the annual Colorado Springs labor day hot air balloon launch. I think it is the 1st or 2nd largest hot air balloon launch in the nation. We decided this was an opportunity not to be missed. I did some research on the internet to find out what else there was to do in Colorado Springs so that we could make a day of it. We got up at 4:30 am so that we could pick up Crissa at 5:30 so that we could be to Colorado Springs in time for the 7:00 am launch. It was so worth it!!! The sun rise on the way down was so beautiful and the balloons were amazing. The kids loved seeing them being blown up and then taking off. My favorite part was the "splash and dash". There is a lake just south of the park where the balloons were launching and if the wind was right it would take the balloons right over the lake, the pilots would set the balloon basket right down in the lake and then take right off. It was one of the most amazing things I have ever seen!!! We had such a fun and full Labor day. I think it was one of the best Labor days ever!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com