Oh ... The Place You'll Go - Oh wait .. We did!

Kellee's 16th Birthday

Kellee turned 16 on September 10.
For her present this year she chose a girls' trip to New York City.
And .... Oh The Places We Went.

Street Fair in Times Square and Madame Tussauds:

Coney Island, New York Aquarium, Prospect Park & Zoo, Central Park & Zoo



We are already tired!!!!
Can you tell?

Rockafeller Center, Empire State Building, Lion King

St. Patrick's Cathedral, FAO Schwarz, M&M World



Add in Dylan's Candy Bar, Hershey Store, New York Pizza, Times Square, Hard Rock, Serendipity, Shrek the Musical, Statue of Liberty, LDS Temple, Natural History Museum, Guggenheim Museum, New York Library, Grand Central Station, shopping on Canal Street, Indian food restaurant.
(I think I might have missed a few things).
I would have to say Kellee might never have another birthday that could possibly top this one.
But that is just my opinion - what do I know?

So Long - Farewell - Summer

I know - don't faint because I finally posted, our lives have been crazy and I've just been lazy.
School starts this week - Kids are not happy - Mom is though (and that's all that really matters, right?).
We are trying to cram in all the last minute school shopping, dental appointments, etc. before Wednesday.

This is also one of the first full summers we have actually spent at home since we moved back here 11 years ago. It has been one really long ..... hot ..... hot ..... did I mention hot ..... summer!
It is also hard adjusting to the withdrawals of not traveling, but we are surviving.

Here's just a few things we actually did this summer.

Girls Camp

I was the ward leader again this year.
Kellee (4th Level and not in my group this year) and I left the day after school got out.
Our theme was Project Runway - Be Your Own Kind of Beautiful.
Our ward had the decade of the 60's, the best girls, the best song, the best skit, and best eating contests. I'm going to miss it.

HIGH ADVENTURE - SCOUTING

The day after Kellee and I got home Jon and Josh left for High Adventure. They went to a to a ranch in Sprucedale (Thanks to Sandy Smith for the pictures since Jon and Josh didn't take any.) They did a lot of horseback riding (surprising since Jon is actually allergic), eating, swimming and relaxing.

UTAH

Jon and Josh both got new motorcycles (old - just new to them) and rode them up to Utah.


Josh stayed there for a few weeks and spent time with his cousins. Kellee flew up and met him there later to spend time with family.

4TH OF JULY - LONG BEACH

We drove to Long Beach to spend the 4th of July with our friends - The Edwards on their boat (yacht). They are in the same marina as the Queen Mary. We spent the weekend with their family and friends on the boat. The yacht club had cooking contest - the Edwards took 1st place in the deviled egg division; dinghy parades (thanks to Jon we had the best one there - viking boat complete with shields and hats); riding wave-runners, and just having a good time. We watched the fireworks from the top deck of the boat and didn't have to deal with any of the crowds. (I don't have a current picture for this one but this is from our Alaska trip with them last summer.)
While we were there we stopped and bought Kellee a motorcycle from Jack Beckman (he is a funny car driver for Valvoline - you can check out his info. here http://www.nhra.com/blog/beckman/)

HAVASUPAI

Josh rode his motorcycle to meet up with his sister Nicole and a bunch of her friends and spend a few days hiking and enjoying Havasupai. It's fun as a parent to see your kids getting older and actually wanting to spend time together!

and WORK, WORK, WORK!

Work has been picking up - we have had quite a bit of press:
Oprah, People Style Watch, Arizona Foothills, People, Cosmopolitan, and next month Shape.
Wish we had a crystal ball to see what's up next!!

All I can say is:
So Long Summer,
Hurry up Fall!

Our Boy Can Fly! Really!

Josh finally got his EAGLE Scout award last week! Hooray!

He's been finished with his project for almost two years.

He might also win the award for taking the longest amount of time to submit his write-up!

I don't know why he was in such a hurry ....
he still has 6 months until he turns 18.


and now.....
he can really fly like an EAGLE,
just check this out if you don't believe me!

We are so proud of our boy.
It's just sad to think it won't be too long before he leaves the nest.

Thanks For The Memories

Apparently I have been feeling a little nostalgic after recently reconnecting with friends from elementary and high school on Facebook.

Here are some of the things that put a smile on my face when I am doing some old-fashioned remembering:

*Riding our awesome Huffy bikes with banana seats from our house on 71st Street to the U-Totem store to get a small brown paper bag full of penny candy.
(That was back when penny candy was actually a penny!)
I'm sure our mom loved this because we were gone for hours.
U-Totem was about a 2 1/2 mile trip one way.

*I remember playing kick-the-can, red rover red rover, hide-and-seek,
and baseball with all of the neighborhood kids.
No one was ever left out,
and no one was ever told that they couldn't play.
I think we lost count on how many times my parents had to replace
our front window from us playing ball in our front yard.

*Birthday parties at Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor:
jawbreakers and candy dots.

*Being excited when we got the new game system - ATARI!!
Pong, Asteroids, and Pac-Man rocked.

*Getting a soft-serve ice cream cone from Smitty's when my mom was
finished with the grocery shopping.

*Actually wanting to buy the school lunch.

*Waiting to hear the music from the ice cream truck to come
down the street on a hot Arizona summer day.

*Never wanting to get up early to get ready for school or to do chores,
but always up at the crack of dawn on Saturday morning for cartoons.

*Some of my favorite shows included:
Huckleberry Hound, Dudley Do Right, Tom & Jerry, The Electric Company,
Sesame Street, The Muppets, The Carol Burnett Show, Mickey Mouse Club,
School House Rock, After School Specials, and
H.R. PufNStuf & Witchie Poo.
Do any of these sound familiar?

*Sleepovers with friends on the trampoline in our back yard.

*Ice Blocking.

*Lite Brites and Easy Bake Ovens.

*Never having to wear a seat belt.

*My dad letting us sit on his lap and steer the car down our street on the way home.

*I'm sure there are plenty of others that I will be able to remember at some other time. Hopefully I can just remember to write them down so I don't forget again.

But for now .... to my friends and family .....
THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES!!

Picture Perfect - Okay, Nearly Perfect!

While searching through some pictures to post to my new Facebook Page,
I came across these pictures from our family picture session last September.
We try to be faithful about taking a family picture every year,
even if it is just the one for our annual Christmas card.
Needless to say, I do not enjoy this yearly ritual,
I usually end up with a migraine by the end of the day.
But what can you do, its tradition?

The ritual usually starts with:
"Why do we have to wear that color?" "I don't like that shirt," etc. etc.,
and then almost always ends with:
"Why did you choose that picture,"
"I don't like that picture,"
"I don't look good in that picture,"
"My hair looks bad in that picture," ...... you get the idea!

(I'm sure no one else ever has to deal with these issues!)

My motherly response is almost always:
(and I'm sure it is always spoken with LOVE and kindness in my voice)
"I arranged for the pictures, I paid for the pictures,
so I get to choose which pictures I want to use."

This is also usually followed by the usual:
"I know, life's not fair, get used to it."

So, I thought I would share with you what poor Stacey gets to go through for a
Richards Family picture taking session.
(Keep in mind this is only a small sampling.)
If nothing else, we get an awesome final picture, and she gets a comedy hour.
She is truly a saint, and a miracle worker!

She starts with a few of these poses from our crazy family:

And with the miracle of technology, but mostly the miracle of her talent,
she can actually get a picture of my family to look like this:

We love Stacey for making us look good!

We almost forget about the pain until the next year when we have to start all over again.
Kind of reminds me of childbirth. I think I'll just stick with taking pictures.

So this post is to:
1. Warn Stacey to prepare herself, and to save her energy for this year, and
2. To warn my children that they need to decide on a color, decide on a location,
and decide be HAPPY and play nice!

Anyone who wants to look as good as we do (or better) needs to call Stacey.
Check her out at staceykayphotography.com

Our One Minute of Fame

My Skins is being highlighted in the East Valley Tribune!!

You can check us out here.

Next week we will be on one of the morning news segments on television.

Look out world, here we come.

When Did I Get So Old?

And, no that does not require a response!

But last week while I was at the MVD (known as the DMV to us older people -- never quite sure why they feel the need to switch the letters around) with Kellee (my baby), sitting and waiting, to get her permit, it occurred to me, after being called "Ma'am" a few times, and having to squint, for the first time that I can remember, to see the print on the forms, that I am just plain getting OLD.

Do you remember when we were young, and we would be talking (you know that thing we used to do before texting and email) about something that had happened, and then someone would ask how old the people were that we were talking about?

The answer would end up being something like this: --
"Oh, you know, they were like, you know, I don't know, OLD, I think they were like 40 or something."

Well, I just have to swallow the giant horse sized reality pill, and accept the fact that I am now in that age group that the younger generation considers "OLD".

That the old lady looking back at me in the mirror is ....... ME!

It seems that in just the blink of an eye, my baby went from this.....

to this....

and I went from this.....

to this.....

But, as my Grandaddy always used to say ..... "it beats the alternative"!

Nature With Nicole

Lions? Tigers? no just BEARS!

For one of Nicole's classes at BYU she was able to do this!!





AND THIS .....

AND .....

Ahhh, aren't they are always so cute when they are little?

And, even when they are all grown up?

I don't remember these kind of classes when we went to the "Y".

Whatever happened to bowling and underwater basket weaving?

Well, at least its nice to see what are tuition money is spent on.