Disneyland 2008

Here are the pics from our Disneyland Trip the week before Thanksgiving. We had a great time. Sarah LOVED the princesses and Johnny is still pretending to ride the Tower of Terror and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad everyday. I was having problems with my camera so I had to wait until I was at my mom's house to get her pictures. Thanks, Mom!

Why I love Usborne books

By now most of you know that I'm a Educational Consultant for Usborne books. I got involved with them 4 years ago when Johnny was a baby because I wanted to build a great home library. I've done home shows on and off since then but mostly, I just order the books for myself and any intersted friends and family. Recently, I've started selling them directly to Libraries and Schools in the Las Vegas Area and I have to say that its helped me get even more excited about them. I swear that I will stop buying them for myself with every order that I submit for someone else but I just can't help it. I love to read to my kids and I love that they love books. At this point, half of our Christmas budget will probably be books, but Oh well...

Above is a picture of what I found one night when John put the kids to bed. Its so sweet I had to post it. He said she kept requesting books to bring to bed with her so she could look at them and this is how it ended up.

Here are some pictures that my mom took of the kids and me while she was out visiting us in October. We went to the Rain Forest Cafe and The Mirage Dolphin Habitat. We also went to the pumking patch and to a few parks. I love spending time with her almost as much as the kids do. One of the perks of living away from family is th Quality time we get to spend when people come to visit. Of course she was the one who remembered the camera so the pictures are of me and the kids. And, like a good daughter, I never got any of her. Oh well, I'll make up for it in Disneyland in a few weeks.

Bryce Canyon - Labor Day 2008

I was feeling guilty earlier in the year that I don't get I feel I should done in a day so I decided that I should blog only as a reward. Well, you can see by my lack of posts how often that works. Anyway, John asked why I don't update it anymore and said that he checks to see it which made me realize that its not just for me, and by not blogging I'm missing out on keeping up with my friends so...I'm back!



I know this post is not very timely but it was a great trip so I want to add it anyway. We went to Bryce with my sisters and their families over Labor day and had a great trip. We had one day of rain but other than that, it was a lot of fun. Johnny LOVED camping with his cousins and Sarah loved playing in the dirt. The views were gorgeous and I would definitely go again.

Hair today, gone tomorrow ...

Here are a couple of shots of our first attempt at piggy tails in Sarah's Hair. I didn't believe she had enough to do it yet but Kata had faith. I know their slightly ridiculous but we've worked 18 long months on growing this hair and we're proud of it. Besides, I think they're pretty adorable.

Long Time NO Post

It's been a crazy summer between the Chicken Pox, Johnny's fractured pelvis, and Sarah's tubes we've frequented a few too many Dr's and Hospitals. But, I think things are finally starting to improve. Here are a few pictures of Johnny and Sarah playing Indiana Jones. He loves pretending to swing from a whip while he runs around. Daddy's the one who got him the cowboy hat and cap gun. Sarah has one as well (with a pink cowgirl holster) but she's much more interested in wearing mom's shoes and jewelry.



As you can see he's running around pretty well for someone who fractured their pelvis in 5 places. You don't get the full Indy effect unless you imagine him singing the theme song at the top of his lungs while he runs, jumps, swings, etc.

Here are a few pictures of a play date that Sarah and Johnny had with their good friends Jake and Adam Rasmussen. We decided to play dress up and as you can see everyone had a good time. The older boys wanted to be super heroes and then the little ones wanted to join in. Little Sarah chased poor Jake around the house trying to give him kisses but he just wasn't sure about it. If this is any indication of things to come then, Anna you should be safe and I should be very worried.

The boys call Sarah "Princess Leah" when she's in her tutu. She loves to walk around in it and patt at all the ruffles.

I Love this picture. My babies play really well together right now so I'll be sure to keep this picture and show it to them when they're teenagers

I had to put this one in because I loved Adam the power rangers face so much. Anna always has such great pictures of my kids (an added benefit of being good friends with a profesional photographer) so I thought I should post this one of her little super heroes.
It appears that Jake may be warming up to the idea of kissing Sarah. Anna might not be so safe after all.

1st Camping Trip

Here are a few pictures from our first camping trip since we've had Johnny and Sarah, We went up to Mount Charleston on April 4th. Anyone who has heard the story already will appreciate the fact that I still want to keep pictures to remember it by. For those of you that haven't, I'll just say that we were very lucky that Johnny didn't end up in the ER with a shish-kabob skewer in his eye and that next time, I'll bring an extra sleeping bag in case one ends up soaked in the middle of the night. The thing that makes it all worth it is how fondly Johnny remembers it. He asks John to tell him the story of Johnny and the Camping trip almost every night before bed. It makes me grateful that my parents took us so many places inspite of broken arms, flat tires, torn up props and outdrives, storms that raged all night, and drives that seem a lot longer now that I spend time behind the wheel.

John's 36th

Hi all, I realize its been far too long since I posted an update of the goings on the Richardson household. The biggest event in march was John's 36th Birthday. Since he's the introverted half of our marriage some of you may not know him that well. So here's a few of the things that I love about him.
He is very, very funny. As a matter of fact he uses that against me any time he's in trouble becuase he knows that if he can get me laughing I won't stay mad as long.
He's tenacious. When he decides to learn about something (whether it be grilling on the BBQ, a church calling or learning an new musical instrument) he's all in. His enthusiasm for whatever he's interested in is one of my favorite qualities.
He's very musical. He's a beautiful guitarist (some of you may know) but because he plays by ear so well, he can also play the piano, banjo (a present for his 35th BDay) and harmonica. As a matter of fact, if you gave him and instrument and 6 months, I think he could probably play just about anything.
He's a great dad. That devotion to whatever he is interested in spills over to his children in a big way. He's very involved and both kids adore him.
Since John is the private half, I won't continue this post any longer as I'm going to spare him the pain of reading any more about himself. but I just wanted do say one more time. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! I love you.

BELIZE with Ease

Hi Everyone! February has been a crazy month so here is a belated post of our fabulous trip to Belize. It took 3 planes and roughly 12 hours to get to Ambergris Caye ( the island where we stayed) but it was well worth it. It was beautiful, layed back, and romantic. We went with my parents (Connie and Charles) who are a lot of fun to travel with. I have to say that they are pretty adventurous and did everything we wanted to including an 85 foot high jungle zip-line and snokeling with nurse sharks and sting rays. We saw beautiful mayan ruins, went reef fishing, SCUBA dived some of the most beautiful and famous dives in the world and ate some really great seafood on a beautiful carribean beach. We would have more pictures from our dives if our new digital dive camera hadn't died on the first dive ! Oh well, we still have the memories and I have to say that they are pretty great. We're waiting on a few dive pictures from a couple we met there so I'll post them when I get them. In the mean time here a few of my favorite pictures of our wonderful adventure.

She's ONE!

That's right. It's been a year since little Sarah joined our family. We love her spunk, smiles and laughter so much. Her daddy says that she's a little spitfire and I have to agree. She can stand and clap her hands (which she proudly does as often as possible) and is very good at making her wants known even though mamma and dadda are her only official words. She's a sweetie and we can't imagine our family without her!

Here are a few pictures of her birthday parties. As you can see Johnny helped her polish off her 1st birthday cake which, judging by her smile was O.K. with her.

I know I'm a month late but I've finally got a chance to post a few pictures of the Christmas Holidays. Little kids make the holidays soooo much fun. Here's Johnny on the "Polar Express" aka Heber Creeper meeting Santa. He got a bell and a candy cane so who could ask for more. I couldn't help thinking as other adults on board that they were missing the key ingredient to the magic ... children.
As you can see, Sarah Couldn't tak her eyes off of Santa. He was wonderful! She loved the candy canes but Johnny thought they were too peppery.

We had a wonderful holiday. Here's a slide show of the rest of the trip which included several family parties, Sledding at Big Cottonwood park and Soldier Hollow as well as an afternoon at Classic Skating!

Here are a few pictures of Johnny and Sarah at a park in Las Vegas. I thought I'd take some pictures to show those who don't live here what a Las Vegas Winter Looks like. They're from before Christmas but I haven't got around to posting anything because Christmas was so hectic this year.
Sometimes it feels like my part time Job is taking the kids to the park. Our pool is great in the summer, but in the winter we don't really have a yard for the kids and they have so much energy. Thank goodness there are a lot of great parks around for us to visit.