My teenager

Wow, I can't believe I have a teenager. Tomorrow Easton will be 13. Where does the time go? He is such an amazing kid. He is the typical oldest child. He has a lot of responsibility placed on him and a lot is expected of him. He's also our guinea pig. All of our parenting skills are experimented on him first. Easton is such a great big brother and a great example to his younger brother and sister. He loves golf, football and wrestling. We truly couldn't ask for a better kid. We love you Easton. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

Nothing Much Happening

So over the weekend I got crap from two different people about not having updated my blog for about two months now. So here goes. Nothing too exciting is happening in the Richards household. Life is too busy right now for any vacations or trips or anything like that. Ted and I did go to the Rocky Mountain School of Photography Conference a few weeks ago. It was a great weekend and we both learned so much in the two days we were there. Thanks dad for watching our kids while we were there. Here are a couple of samples from what I learned on my part. I took mostly Photoshop classes and Ted took all of the technical camera classes.

We are keeping really busy with our Photography business. The nice thing is being able to do as much or as little as we want depending on how busy our lives are at that point.

Holden started practicing with his Comp Baseball Team last month. The weather hasn't cooperated too much, but they are getting in as much practice as possible. It's hard to believe that games will start in two weeks. I'm pretty sure I'll be wrapped in a blanket with my winter coat on to watch it. He also has a baseball clinic down south over Spring Break. It's only about 20 minutes from Richfield so we'll get to spend the weekend with my family.

Easton's doing great in school. He has been lifting weights 3-4 times a week with all of his football friends in anticipation for the next football season (still over 3 months away). He's getting antsy to get out and start golfing. Hopefully it's nice enough in Richfield over the weekend that grandpa and Uncle Mel can take the boys.

Kinley is getting ready for a dance competition in a couple of weeks with her clogging class. They are so cute to watch. I think she has a little crush on her partner. She likes her tap & ballet classes better, but she's excited to compete in clogging. Christie's told them all about the medals, so Kinley's convinced she will be getting one.

Other than keeping busy with our kids and work, not much else is going on. I'm looking forward to our girl's weekend in St. George next month. Just praying for awesome weather.

Draper Temple

We had a great time today attending the Draper Temple Open House. It is a small but beautiful temple. The Celestial Room was amazing. It was snowing and blowing so much when we got up there. But the church being as prepared as they always are had structures set up to walk through so that you were completely out of the snow. We had a fun day and the kids were grateful for the chance they had to see parts of the temple that they wouldn't otherwise see until they were married or getting ready to go on their missions. Kinley's favorite room was the sealing room. She loved the mirrors in there.

On another note, last week I was released from being our wards Young Women's President. I've had a really hard time with it, not only with the thoughts of missing the girls, but I am really going to miss the leaders that I served with. I have loved serving with these ladies so much. They are all amazing examples to me and the girls. It's going to be a big adjustment, but I know that it's time for someone else to serve these girls.

Merry Christmas!!!

Well, I had good intentions of sending out my Christmas Cards. I designed it the first of November and had them printed by Thanksgiving weekend. With us being in Disneyland and spending the week before that getting ready for Disneyland, I have fallen a little behind on a few things. Sending out cards would be the one thing that was put off until I felt like it was too late to send them. Instead, I'll post it here and we'll wish everyone a Merry Christmas and hope everyone has a Christmas to Remember.

Disneyland

We had an early Christmas this year and just got home from Disneyland. We gave the kids a choice last summer of what they wanted to do for Christmas and they chose Disneyland. Since we didn't want to actually be there during Christmas, we went last week. My whole family (parents, brother, sisters, nieces & nephews) was able to go together. We had a lot of fun and it was a great way to get in the holiday spirit. This was Kinley's first time to Disneyland and she was just mesmerized the whole time. She loved it. It's been a little crazy since we've been back trying to get everything else ready for Christmas. They nice thing though is that since Disneyland was Christmas, it really cut down on my shopping. So here are a few pics from our trip.The whole family minus my brother who had to go to meet clients for the afternoon.

Thankful for my family

I am so thankful for my family. I can't believe how blessed I am to have these amazing kids and such a great husband. I am so grateful for their sense of humor, their kindness, and most of all for the example that they are to me. I learn from them daily. By the way, the reason there are only individual pics of Kinley and not the boys is because they would not have their picture taken again (can you really blame them). I was lucky to get a group one of them. Kinley on the other hand, would pose forever. She loves having her picture taken.

Thanks Dad!

With today being Veteran's Day, I just wanted to tell my dad thanks for the service he has given to our country. He served for 12 months in Iraq and while I'm sure it had it's hardships, I have never heard him complain about it. My dad is such an example to my kids. They have been raised to respect the flag, respect this country and our leaders and to respect those who have served our country. He is such a strength to our family. He is currently the Command Sergeant Major for the state of Utah. This is the job he has worked for all of his career. He has been able to travel to Morraco, Germany, and many other places in the past year. We love our PAPA BRUCE and appreciate all you have done for our family and country.