Christmas is over?!

These are our Christmas pictures to our Christmas cards that I still haven't sent out...Ya...I know...! I am actually surprised that anyone is smiling in these pictures.... :)

Christmas this year was nice... Jonathan worked Christmas Eve and Christmas this year. It wasn't too bad though because he only had one train. So he was home all of Christmas Eve! (Which happens to be my favorite!) It was so nice to give our kids their pjs and then have them sit on the floor and listen while Jonathan reads why we truely have Christmas... My kids were sitting in front of their daddy and listening so intently I just had to take some pictures.

Yes, Christmas morning is fun and exciting and we did have a great one!

We really do have so much to be thankful for...I am sure we all do!

Jonathan and I always go through our year and we say the best things and worst things that happen. It ends up being something we usually end up laughing over. My answers: BEST: Moving into our little house so we can be out of debt soon! :) And of course the obvious...Having my whole family safe and healthy this year! Nothing beats that!

WORST: Not having our cement walkway done before Christmas.( I can't tell you how much dirt we track into the house not having them done) (but I can't be too sad, when they are done they will be beautiful I am sure... All stamped and stained.....Hopefully soon!)(see, I have so much to be thankful for if that is my worst this year!)

Jonathans answers: BEST: Healthy family, good job, actually achieving his goal of getting more fit and not getting me pregnant this year!(that one is a joke...sometimes he has crude humor...we LOVE kids and love being blessed with sweet babies...although four right now is good! :)

WORST: Hiring and Firing (I asked him why hiring....He said it's like having one or two families totally appreciate you and then having a hundred or so families hate you forever...(ya i guess I can see that side) He also did say hiring could be on the BEST too, because it's nice to get to choose who you work with.

And about the firing, It KILLED him to fire someone... Ya that was his worst! He says he will be more careful on the hiring part, so as to erase the latter part of firing! lol...

Pretty much we had a great year....All the bad in the world cannot erase how much good we had this year. I know where all the good comes from and I love my Savior. I love Christmas and I am sad that it is over...Hopefully we can keep the spirit of Christmas and the spirit of giving all year long!

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Jonathan cleared off our computer and put all my pictures on mybook. I am too lazy to hook mybook up and too lazy to go get my SD card, so I will put our Christmas card pictures on later! (which by the way, did not turn out very well...picture four crying kids....one frusterated mom and one husband who hates pictures anyway...not matching clothes...a quick "lets take a picture") ya, not the best moment..but mostly thats our life!
I can't believe Christmas is in four days! Where has the time gone?! You know, Jonathan and I have tried something new this year...We decided not to do any Christmas shopping until the very end. The "very end" ended up being...THE VERY END!!!! We finally went yesterday! As in Monday the 20th! lol... But it is done! It was SO hard not to do any shopping... but, I am glad we did it. It made for a really fun day for Jon and me. Janell watched our kids ALL day and we took Alyvia and went shopping. One thing that makes it easier is we only do the three gifts... sometimes that is so hard, seeing all the fun things they would absolutely LOVE, but I am glad we do. I like having more meaning to Christmas and then we don't feel bad spending a little more to buy nice gifts that will last instead of just buying to buy. IN FACT my kids still have their gifts from last year...they play with them everyday!!
Well, this post was going to be our Christmas letter and pictures... but isn't ... Maybe someday in the next three months I guess! :) Any who, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

GOOD DAY!

This picture cracks me up! :)
Story behind it: J.T. rented Spy Kids 3 D. But, they don't give you glasses for it.... He was so sad and he cried and we told him sorry. THEN his daddy decided to get him these...(Flashlight Filters) AND they worked!!! He was so happy, but his little arms did get tired from holding them up. He looks so funny to me, but I am glad his dad is smart enough to figure things out...Richardson Rigg....It works on everything from cars to 3D movies....lol











I really did have one of the funniest best days the other day! From seeing J.T. wearing those to just having a good day.... So I decided to put up a couple pictures of my good day. There really wasn't anything that special, just one of those days where you are in slow motion and can enjoy every little thing....I Love my husband for making great days that I remember!

My birthday and Alyivia's birthday!!!!

The night before my birthday, I got something in my eye, so I kept rubbing it and rubbing it. And I hadn't realized it, but, I had torn my contact by rubbing it. So, after I took it out, my eye was all red and looked hidious!(at least to me) So the next day, On my BIrthday, It was still red, and I was afraid that I scratched my eye, so I wore my glasses. (not my best looking birthday)

I went with My mom and Megan and Ashley out of town to eat and a movie. Mine and Ashleys birthdays are only a day apart, so we all went to PARTY! lol

When I got home that night, this is what I came home to! They had decorated the house and had cake and presents. It was so fun! I love my good family! So. here is a picture of me being "surprised" at my suprise party! :)

This picture is of my little decorators and me! My decorating husband was taking the picture!

Then we had miss Lyvi's birthday! My baby is ONE! We got her ears pierced a couple days after!

The new addition to our family is "Puzzle" Our new Shih Tzu puppy. Lyvi and Puzzle are best friends. And why do you think they are? Because they eat together!:(

I will find my baby eating dog food ALL THE TIME! It is discusting. Jonathan thinks it is soooo funny. He says she could be eating worse things. Probably true, but on the other hand, I have to nurse little doggy breath! :(

Here she is, the little dog food eater. Jonathan is planting grass and building a fence for our front yard. (which looks amazing!)He says he will take her out while he waters it, and this is what I come to find. Her and puzzle eating together I need to lighten this picture, but I figured my last post was a month ago, so I better just put them on!

This is my Lyvi on her actual birthday! This is her eating her VERY cute cake!(bigger picture on the bottom!)

She had a great day! We let her "dig" in her cake before we cut it, and she wouldn't really do it. She was a little scared to get her hands dirty and didn't know she was supposed to eat it. So her daddy put her fingers in her mouth, which made her cry! She didn't know what it was and it terrified her to have it forced in her mouth!

This is all of us on her birthday! My big little family!

My sweet Alyvia with her first ever "ponytail". I figured since it was her birthday we would try to put her little teeny hairs in a pony tail! :)

This is her cake! It turned out so cute! I absolutely LOVE it. It says Happy 1st BEE day Alyvia!

I wanted her to have a Bee cake so bad and I love it! It had Chocolate cake with banana cream pudding inbetween the layers! I don't know why she was afraid to eat it! lol

We have had sooooo much cake these last months! First, we had Avery's Ice Cream cakes, They turned out cute and each person got one to decorate their own, those were fun! Then we had a Sonic cake for J.T. and then we had the Treasure Chest cake and the Barbie cake. Then a chocolate cake for me and now a Bumble Bee cake for our little "doo". We are definitely full of cake! We need a break from cake! lol...Poor Vannie wants her birthday to come soooo bad! She wants a Minnie and Mickey cake for her's! So when it comes, I will post a picture! Meantime, Evanna says "My birthday is soo soo soo soon!" Poor kid...

My School Kids?!

This is J.T. on his first day of Kindergarten. He was nervous and excited. He didn't want to go at
first... I on the other hand, CRIED all night before he left...lol. I was so sad but so excited as well. So, we all got up early and got ready and headed off to take J.T. to school. When I brought him into his classroom, his teacher was so kind and "excited" to see him..(which helped him a little) When I told him I had to go, he looked at me with the whitest and most sad/terrified face I have ever seen...THE LOOK...The look that said "You are leaving me alone, how could you?" But, I just told him I loved him and I would peek through the window...lol...Then went home with GIRLS?! :) I was a little sad, but... drum roll... No tears at all! I did keep checking the clock every five minutes!!
When we picked him up, I asked him how his day was and he did a little jump and said "I loved it!!" "I love school so much!" So school was a success! He still loves his teacher and looks forward to school every day!
I love this little boy sooooo much! He is so dang smart. He has recently made a friend named Kaiden. So all is well with my J.T.!


(his nervous little face before school!)

(What Avery and Evanna were doing while J.T. was gone) Ya, at least all the paint is now gone. Jonathan about freaked out when he walked in and saw them...lol!

THE REST OF THE STORY!!!

Ok, So J.T. goes to school... Well Avery cries all day, saying she wants to go to school too. I tell her no and surprisingly she says, "Don't you want me to be smart?"

I say yes

She says, "Then I need to go to school!" Well she bugged Jonathan and me all day. ALL DAY! So Jonathan says that she is five and we should send her too and see how it goes. I freak out a little and can't decide. So JOnathan goes and registers her "just in case". Well, I realized how shallow I am, because the main reason that I didn't want her to go was because she didn't have any school clothes....Ya I know! We didn't do a lot for J.T., (it is only kindergarten) But, we let him pick out a couple shirts and let him pick what he wanted to wear for the first day and tried to make it fun for him. So, I run to the store and get her an outfit until I can actually go shopping somewhere nice.

At this point I am crazy in the head. So many "what ifthis and what if that's" I asked everyone and everyone's sister if I should send her, send her to pre-school, homeschool her like I did J.T. last year, let her go to half day kindergarten both years... I am seriously surprised I did not wake up the next morning with wrinkles and grey hair. I figure if that wont do it to me, nothing will...:)

Well, we tell her no, then we tell her yes, then no....So J.T. goes to school agian and I talk to his teacher and she says we should try it! It is only half day she says and we can always pull her out. SHe makes me feel 100% better and like it's ok if she goes. It was an answer to many many prayres and blessing from my wonderful husband! So, I run her home dress her up, do her hair, snap some pictures and we run her to school.. Only 5 minutes late..lol....And she LOVES it as well!

We don't know what we are going to do later or even next month. We will let her go until she does poorly or until the Lord says otherwise. I am so thankful for prayre and for my husbands priesthood!

Jonathan and I did walk away from taking BOTH of them and only leaving with two, a little dumbfounded on what to do with only two kids! lol

I love that my kids love school! And we are getting into the swing of things. We went from homeschooling J.T. again because he is ahead and didn't want him to be bored, to sending him to school, to sending two to school. It has been crazy and exciting!

AND, I do appreciate all the good advise, but in the end I realized I was asking everyone but my intuition and my Heavenly Father. So we ended up just doing what is best for us and not what everyone thought we should do. And it is good!!!! :)

This is Avery with her teacher!

Party and life

ok, so I still don't know how to use my blog. I wrote first then added pictures... So it is all off. Oh well.. The writing is all at the bottom!
Lyvi after dumping her plate on her head a couple times. She finally has gotten to the point that she cries to eat with us and she wants her own plate.

J.T. and Avery earning their keep...lol...I got on a kick last night and washed base boards and walls and my sweet kids don't know to hate doing that yet!!! They were the biggest help!

Evanna today! lol... she was so ready to go swimming! Too bad it stormed so we couldn't go.:(

The vinal Jody printed off for me for J.T.'s room! I am just starting to decorate his room and he wants pirates... This is the start...more pictures when it is done. Thanks Jody!

This is Lyvi at J.T.'s and Avery's party... She snoozed through most of it!

Jon's family at the party!

Some of the kids. Taytum, J.T., Evanna, Avery, Rylee and Connor.

Jacob and his kids Katelyn(?) and Adam were able to come! It was good to see them! Too bad Stephanie and their baby Melanie couldn't come!

Avery and Rylee. Ave LOVES her cousins!

J.T. and his friend Jace. Thanks for the present!

Janell playing with the kids! They LOVE aunt Nelly!

I actually am in a picture! lol... I am almost always taking the pictures! I think I am in like two...lol...I was there and it was fun!

I don't know why but I am LOVING my blog lately! I normally don't get on very often, but lately I have so many good things in my life. And i know I am probably the only one who LOVES my blog, and that's ok, because I am who I do it for!!!:)

First this month my Avery turned FIVE!!! That made me so sad, onlt because when Jonathan tucked her in the night before, he said to her..."Ave, tonight will be the last night EVER that you will be four years old!" That made me so sad to think that seriously never again would this baby of mine be four... I cried and cried and wrote like ten pages in my journal...lol. Jonathan probably wished he hadn't said that, because he had to deal with the after math! I am not an emotional person, but sometimes I even scare myself! lol

Then, we had J.T.'s Birhday! He turned six, and he will be starting school! Now that breaks my heart! Jonathan and I went back and fourth about Homeschooling him or real School and we prayed and prayed and finally had J.T. kneel down with us and we all prayed and we felt ok about letting him go to kindergarten. So here we go!!! Some parents are so excited when their kids can go to school and some are not. I am inbetween somewhere. I love all the stages my kids get into, but I do miss the old ones. I LOVE babies! And mine are growing up too fast. I am not ready for my J.T. to be a school kid. I remember being a school kid!!!

On the up hand about them being a year older, we did have a great party!! I posted cakes on my last post. We went to Chucky Cheese and friends and family came ane it was great not to have to clean up after a party! I posted a lot of pictures! They all had fun...And thank you to everyone who came and it was good to see you all! And thanks to Jody for letting us stay with you and thanks for the vinal for J.T.'s room. It looks awsome!

Lyvi can now WALK! She is everywhere. She has been taking steps for about a month...But now is completely mobile! She is EVERYWHERE! I love this cute stage. She just turned eleven months and is basically running! We seem to have early walkers. Evanna was running at ten months. So at least we held off a month! lol

Football started so life is pretty busy... this may be my last post for a while...lol...life is starting...

CAKE, CAKE and more CAKE!!!

J.T. and Avery had a birthday recently!! Six and five! Where has the time gone? Lacey my sister made J.T. the most awsome Sonic cake my kids and I have ever seen!!! J.T. LOVED it!










And I made the Ice cream cake for Avery's birthday. Not as technical as the Sonic cake...lol... BUT, Avery LOVED it!!!

Then, not on their actual birthdays, we had a super fun party at Chucky Cheese!!! It really was a lot of fun!! These are the cakes that Jonathan and I made. We stayed up until TWO in the morning trying to get them to look good. PIRATES TREASURE CHEST- decorated by Jon! He did a great job. I guess he figured since I started them so late I would need a little help, and he did, and it looked GREAT!

Then we have BARBIE CAKE! This one was not as simple and easy as it looked. I had never done one of these before and if I were to do it again I would totally find room to FREEZE it before decorating and frosting it! But I think they turned out super cute and J.T. and Avery were so happy with them!!! We definitely had a LOT of cake this month!!! :)

TEMPLATES???

Someone HELP me! I cannot get a template to work... I am so freakin confused. My bakcground got deleated somehow...It just was gone...then I couldn't put a new one on until I changed my template... and this is all I can find...
If anyone is an ounce smarter than I am, PLEASE help me!!!

BOB MARLEY?!

Ok, so I never thought my children would absolutely *LOVE* Bob Marley... They know his songs, they know how he died and they know his son Ziggy Marley.
J.T. was the first to convert..."What kind of music is this? I Love it!" "Please can we listen to Bob Marley?" "My favorite music is Reggae!"
And he will sing to everyone..."I need an ammar an ammar an ammor to ammor dem down, I need a runuh a runuh a runuh to run dem down" (the correct lyrics are I need a hammer to hammer them down and a runner to run them down)
He is so dang cute singing it! I need to record him doing it!
Avery was next to convert..."I wanna marry Bob Marley"
me: "You can't Avee, He is dead"\
Avee: "He is alive in heaven"
me: "Yes, but you need to marry someone who is alive here on Earth."
Avee: "No one is as handsom as Bob Marley, I want to marry him!"
me: "Well, I am sorry he died Ave"
Avee:"Well...uh...how did he die?"
me: "I don't know, we will look it up when we get home."
Avee: "Ok" then grumbling quietly "No one is as handsom or sings
as good as he does. I AM going to marry Bob Marley!"
SERIOUSLY???
Ya, no lies, my almost five year old wants and is determined to marry Bob Marley!
You know, I actually like Reggae music, but I never thought my kids would latch on to it like that. Now on our trips, that is what we listen to the WHOLE way!!
Even Evanna sings it...
Jonathan thinks it is hillarious. He has J.T. sing it to everyone we know. And he tells Ave "You know Ave, If he were alive I bet you could marry him, You are definitley pretty enough to marry him!" (That makes her happy as can be)
You know life has thrown us a few surprises, and Bob Marley is one of them...lol
If any of you haven't ever listened to gool ol' Bob, give it a whirl!!!

Happy Father's Day Jon!

I love my husband so much. He is amazing! He does so much for our family, I I need to tell him more.
For this Father's Day, I had no idea what to get him... So, Michelle and Megan and I decided to take our husbands camping for Father's Day. We went out to Lyman lake and camped for Friday and Saturday. And you know what, it was actually kind of fun. (I don't think we will be doing it again anytime soon) lol... It was nice to get together as friends and the kids all had fun. I have pictures but I am so tired and so sunburned that I will have to put them on later.
I just want my good husband to know we love him and I am greateful that he is such a good dad. And the kids can't wait to see you when you get home from work...

This is my BEAUTIFUL sister Lacey! Her and Patrick Gatewood got married last Friday. I was lucky enough to get to take her pictures for her. I LOVE taking pictures! I have a million on my computer...I need a laptop...Or I just need to settle down?! LOL...I have taken some senior pictures and some baby and family pictures, and if I ever had an ounce of time, I would create a blog and put them on! But, life for us Richardson's is pretty busy! Busy with babies, kids, fixing up our yard, almost sinking at Lyman, football camp for Jonathan...this, that, and almost everything in between!

BUT, I love my sister and I loved taking pictures for her! So, here are some random pictures that were taken that night. I was soooooo lucky, the lighting was so great!! I need to go through the other...ya....500....pictures! LOL... I know, I am insane! You wonder why my kids run! Now you know!!! But, I wanted Lacey and Patrick to see some, so I pulled some random pictures and put them on so they can see them on their honey moon!! Love you guys and hope you like them!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JONATHAN!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

(a little late)

Jonathan wont let me take pictures of him... He absolutely hates it! Come to think of it, since I have gotten my new camera, everyone runs when I get it out! lol

So this picture is yesterday when Jon and the kids were out trying to fix Jay and Jody's boat for Roosevelt this year.

It is so sad that I have to sneak pictures! This is my old little camera, so he wouldn't see it! And this is as close as I could get before he could see me...lol... But, this is Jonathan! And I LOVE him and am so greatful for him! Happy Birthday babe!!

Alyvia!!

My baby! She is eight months and man has the time flown by. She is sitting and scooting and laughing and just recently gets up on her hands and knees and can take a few... crawl steps?!
This baby absolutely loves life. She is happy almost all of the time. When she is not she will say "ma ma ma" or "dadada". She loves to be carried everywhere! I am surprised she is as mobile as she is, considering she is carted around either by Jon and I or her brother and sister. She gets her way usually because if I leave her down crying, Avery will pick her up and walk with her. She normally likes this, but as you can tell in the next picture, she sometimes gets mauled!
Everyone loves "miss lyv's" or "lyvi doo" Kisses and hugs, pokes and pats and occasional "bites" (Evanna has learned she cannot do that)... This baby is tough! She makes everyone smile. J.T. acts like her daddy and Avery acts like her mommy, and if Evanna could pick her up without dropping her, she would be her mommy too!
This picture represents life pretty well!







Here is Alyvia being carted around in the doll stroller... yes...this is happening... "wanna go for a ride Miss Lyv doo?" That is Miss Avery speaking.
She is a fun baby... I love to see my kids interacting with each other. Life as a mom is pretty good when all your children love each other. I would not trade a day of this wildly fun life Jonathan and I have created.













This picture just makes me smile to see. I have tons of "nice pictures" of this baby, because she cannot tell me no or run and hide! lol... I just love the everyday ordinary life pictures.
I love Alyvia. She has added another part of our family that we absolutely need. She is so happy, peaceful, bright, smiley and snugglie! She has all of us tied around her little finger.

I am greateful to be a mother. Sometimes it is hard and people stare or make the typical comments "are those all yours?" And I smile and say "yes sir they are"! It is not always roses, but hey, i get to kiss owies, play in the dirt, get wet slobbery kisses, be a "mommy princess", play nintendo, teach letters and sounds, dance my heart out, sing out loud, stop tears, feel chubby little hands and arms around my neck... I get to be everything I want to be. I am lucky that Heavenly Father choose me to raise his beautiful children... I absolutely Love The Life I Live!