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RAINY DAY PEOPLE

Caitlin and Kennedy got stuck inside the house while it rained and it sure didnt stop them! They just opened our costume chest and there was plenty of fun inside.

Happy, Happy Birthday Heather Dear!

{Because it's her birthday I opted for this picture instead one of the incriminating ones I have.  Heather would rather I avoid anything that involves weed whacked hair, spoons or blue leggings.}

I tried to hack into Heather's personal blog in order to post this there, but apparently she changed her password on me.  What the!?

I just had to give a little birthday shout out to my sister.  Today she is 31 years old and for the last 10 or so of those years we have been best of friends.  I wish I could say we were always best friends, but sisters will be sisters and we wasted a lot of time growing up fighting and not getting along.

I am so thankful for Heather for a number of reasons, but one my very favorite reasons is our ability to laugh together.  We laugh constantly together and it always brightens my day.

I love that we are so close and I love that we talk about anything and everything.  Sometimes we call each other just to get a little help with dinner ideas and sometimes we call each other just to vent our frustrations.  Not a day goes by that we don't talk at least once, but usually two or three times.

I am so grateful for her and for the friendship we share.  Happy Birthday H!

Cookin With Judd & Caitlin

Heres a few silly pictures of one of our best meals, Spicy Chicken Sandwiches! YUM they were good

Giving Thanks

I am so glad that I remembered to take a few pictures at our 2010 Richardson Family Thanksgiving dinner. We had a wonderful and delicious dinner. Bethany and her family are in Wisconsin presently so they were the only ones that weren't with us. We missed them but we look forward to another Thanksgiving when we can all be together. We had to set up 3 tables to have enough places to put everyone. As I watched my family enjoying the great food as they laughed and talked, I realized my family is my joy! I appreciate the goodness I see in my children and the loving bond they have for each other. What more could a mom ask for?

The first picture is the table we set for the young ones (6). Next is the table for adults (16). And the last one is the older kids table (4). This didn't include the 2 babies we also had with us. I have a lot to be thankful for and it all starts here!

Horsey Ride

There are some things our sister needs to be a part of.

Bethany, you may have missed our annual Halloween party tonight but Dad wanted to be sure you got to see our crazy brothers in action.

Hyde Russell Hales

"I'm not so sure about all this nonsense."

Hyde Russell Hales. Born on Saturday, October 23, 2010, at 8:18 am. He is 8 lbs. 7 oz.

The Moment We Have All Been Waiting For...

The construction on Edustar Preschool has finally been completed. School begins this Tuesday. What a beautiful classroom! I am so excited to begin teaching my little students about the world around them and giving to them skills they will use all their lives. Take a peek at our hard work:

Here is a corner to corner view

Front of the school

Check the next post for more pictures.

Pictures for Your Viewing

Here are some pictures of Edustar Preschool

Every good preschool classroom has a 32" flat screen TV.

This is half of my work/storage area

This is the other half of my work area
This is my corner of the room. Don't you love the flowers Russ gave me?

This is our group learning area. I love this rug. It was my gift to the school.


Students library. I love books!

Froggy wall. He tells us the weather for the day. He sits right above the reading bench.

Each star will have a picture of a student inside.

I can't help but love this room. It has a really good feeling inside. I am excited to begin teaching my students all about their world and giving them skills they will use for life!

Mercy!

Dad got this card from Flint's dad and thought it might be fun for everyone to see. We all have a pretty good idea of the blood sweat and tears that went in to the MD behind Flint's name. We are proud of Flint and Bethany for their tenacity and willingness to do whatever it takes to stay on the path the Lord has prepared for them.

It's a girl

This morning at 7:09am Kobie and Jared welcomed their third child into their family.  What a sweet and tender baby she is!  Kobie was amazing and truly blessed thru her labor and delivery.  She was amazing in every way.  We are all so pleased to welcome this little angel.  She has yet to receive an official name so we anxiously await.  Kimber and Addie are excited to have a new baby sister.  Way to go Kobie we love you!

Part I --- Preschool Construction Begins

Today is June 28th and it is the first real day of construction on my preschool. The first thing that had to be done was foaming of the roof. Below are some pictures of what took place. Tomorrow workers will be here to pour the floor. They will actually be poring over an existing floor. It is going to be so nice! This is so exciting! Let the fun begin!

This is how it looks up on top of the roof . Below will be my preschool classroom.

Here is a view from the east side.

The two men on the roof are the guys that do the actual foaming. They have a big hose that shoots foam on the roof.

This is the view from the south end of what will be my classroom. Parents will pick their students up from a door that will be located on the southwest end of the room.

Preschool Preparations

It is no secret that I will be opening a preschool (not to be confused with daycare) this fall. There are so many things to do to get ready. Well, today I went preschool shopping. It was so fun! My problem wasn't what to buy, it was what not to buy. I did end up putting a few things back but I am happy with what I purchased. I spent about 1/2 of the money I had set aside. That means another trip to Lakeshore Learning. Now that store is a teachers dream store. It has everything and then some. We will start construction very soon. We have been so blessed! Things have come together better than I could ever have imagined. Let the fun begin!

Happy Birthday Slade!

Sunday May 23rd Slade Russell Evans finally made his appearance into this great big world. He weighed in at 9 lbs. and is 21 and 1/2 inches long. He is adorable. He gave his mom quite a long labor but we are all happy he arrived safely and that he is healthy and strong. Heather was such a trooper. Fortunately, she is also a determined mom and was certain she wanted to have this baby at home. Thank goodness for Mary, her seasoned midwife. Mary knew just what to do and when to do it and after 4 hours of pushing Slade finally came. Doug is a proud dad and Kennedy is a loving big sister. The Richardson's are happy to welcome Slade into our family!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to our Mother!  What a great day to celebrate your wonderfulness and all that you have done and do for our family.  We cherish your example and dedication in all you do.

When I think of being a mother myself I find myself quite often saying  or doing things that I swore I would never do, after all that would be too much like my mother.  But, I have come to find that mother does know best.

I remember quite vividly when I was in fourth grade I had been excluded from a birthday party that the girls in my class had been invited to.  When I arrived home from school that day I remember crying in your arms while you tenderly listened to my aching heart.  I remember that you made me feel so special and that the party wasn't such a big deal after all.  That has always made a lasting impression on me to know just how you valued each of us children.

To this day when I feel that I need to seek the council of my mother or her loving advice I know I can always turn to you and you will offer a listening ear.  I value what you have to offer me when it comes to life experience and how to go about the things I do.

My wish is you have the very happiest Mother's Day and always remember how your 10 chicks love their mother hen.

What a Ride!

Last weekend, dad and I decided to drop everything and take a ride to Safford to see Taylor. We had a great visit as we took a tour of his living quarters. However, the best part of all was the Beast ride Taylor took me on! I have been on more Beast rides than I care to mention but it has been long enough that I had forgotten how rough and bouncy it was. The Beast can really get with it. I am not sure if it is the driver or the engine power that determines the intensity but for what it is worth it took my breath for a moment. There is nothing like a good Beast ride to remind me why I love driving a cushy ol' Suburban! Thanks Taylor!! I had a fun time.

Our New Puppy!

Isn't he cute?

This is Doc our new puppy! Doc is short for Doc Holiday from the movie Tombstone. We don't have the Doc yet, but we'll get him in a couple of weeks after he's grown a little more.

The Way I Create

I've made a blog for all my crafts. Go ahead and check it out! thewayicreate.blogspot.com

Happy Easter!!

This year since Cooper is getting older I decided I wanted to start some traditions. So Friday during the day I got all of our eggs boiled and Cooper and I waited until Travis got home so we could dye Easter eggs as a family. We had lots of fun. I love that Cooper is old enough to participate in things like this!

Here are my two favorite guys! Look how handsome they are!

Cooper L-O-V-E-D dying the eggs

He was so proud of his creations!

Here are all of the wonderfully colored eggs. I boiled WAY too many eggs but I didn't want it to be over in two minutes! Now lets hope I can figure out what to do with all the left over eggs!?!

On Saturday in between sessions of Conference we hosted an Easter egg hunt. I was able to convince Travis to let us have it at our house. (Thanks Honey, I know you had a lot of homework!) So the Easter Bunny hid all the eggs out in the park area by our house and the kids had so much fun! We had Cami, Jeremy, Heather, Doug, Ben, Briana and all of their 12 kids.





After the hunt we had subs, chips and drinks to complete the festivities. We had so much fun. Thanks to everyone for coming!

On Sunday we had a quiet day listening to Conference and teaching Cooper the true meaning of Easter and then we had a good ol' fashion Easter Dinner that I made. This is the first time I have ever made a real ham and rolls (thanks to Mom for teaching me how to make bread!!) and I have to tell you it was really simple and I loved the fact that I was able to make all of it! So even though we had a million left overs I was proud of myself!

I hope every one had a wonderful Easter.

The Fam

Really?

Kennedy loves to draw and is always asking for more paper to draw on. So the other day I got her a pad of paper so she could draw until her heart was content. After a little while she brought me a drawing and said "mom, this is you" I said "really?" She replied with "yes, that is how your hair looks and that is the baby".I guess a child's perspective on looks differs from an adult. For now the photo is kept in her room so she can see it. What a great reminder to do my hair everyday!!

Cousins are so much fun

Last Friday Bethany, Briana and I decided to take the kids to The Arizona Museum of Natural History. Allie was supposed to join us but Cooper was ill. The kids had lots of fun but I admit my favorite part is seeing them all together. Drake's birthday is in June and Devin & Kennedy both celebrate their birthdays in September. Yes, that means those little ones are only months apart from each other in age. How fun to be able to spend time together and have playmates who are not only your same age but belong to your family?
We asked the each of the kids their favorite part of the day and Drake said his was seeing the dinosaurs. Kennedy of course said her favorite part was the gold! They have a small area outside whre you can pan for gold and she thought it was heaven. Devin said he liked the waterfall. Every so often there is a large exhibit that had a waterfall/thunderstorm that would go off and the kids just went crazy for it.

Bethany, Briana and I thought it was so funny to watch the kids on the tv mirror image. They could go behind the screen and become projected into the show that was playing. Thank heaven Bethany didn't get any photos of me behind there.
But, I think the best part was seeing Briana, Bethany and I stand around the crocodile exhibit for 20 minutes trying to determine if the crocodile was real or not. It never moved and it never even blinked it's eyes. As soon as we turned to walk away I saw it move and hollered to Bethany. Of course when she came it inspect it was back to it's frozen state.

For now I just feel lucky Ben has gotten to do a good majority of his medical schooling here. We hope he will be able to continue. As for Flint, its been fun having them here for the past year but it looks like they will be moving again this summer. We will miss them but the fun times we get to spend together make it all worth while.

Before and After

I thought it would be fun to give the world a view of the before and after of Judd and Taylor's bedroom before Judd got married and moved away. The first photo is the room before the move. I don't know what kept the room from being condemned but some how those boys dodged a bullet.

Then Caitlin took on the task of keeping order in Judd's life. Good luck Cailtin! Now for a view of the room after Judd moved out.

Taa Daa! It's like magic. Clean up and a room appears from the rubble. Well, Jordan you may want to choose this over the shop...because the boys have been in there too! Love, Mom