A Day at the Park!!

ManDee, Kris and I took our kiddo's to the Hidden Valley Park, which is the most amazing park I have ever been to. There is the worlds biggest playground and a splashpad. The kids had the most amazing time. Had to promise to take them back next week to get them to leave.

Going in the Water

Kasen, BayLee and J.D.

Spiderman, Spiderman does all the things

that a Spider can!!

Mom, I want to play too!!

King of the Rock

Angel

Just because their cute!!!

Tyson is my buddy. He's such a cute kid. He loves to ride his bike with J.D. Everything that they do is a race, and Tyson tries so hard to keep up. He is my joy!!!!

Here is Piper falling on her tooshie!!! She was dancing when she went down. She loves music and loves to dance. I can hardly believe she is going to be a year old. One week from today. Big party on Suday!! Should be lots of fun.

J.D. and his new bike. He is a bike riding fool. I have a hard time getting him to come into the house to eat. He went to play at Matthews house and had to ride his bike so I followed him down in the car. We will be having a lesson about bike safety!! He was just as happy as a lark, not paying any attention at all. Good thing we live in a small neighborhood.

Kindergarten Graduation

What a day! It's been a long day. We went to Kindergarten graduation and they were all so cute. They sang lots of songs and we got to meet the new teacher. J.D. and BayLee are in diffrent classes :(, but he has a lot of friends in his new class. His new teacher is Mrs. Bartschie.

BayLee and J.D.

Hyperventilating

Hyperventilating!! Trying to catch my breath!

Thanks for making my day Andie!!

J.D. has a pencil fetish!!!

J.D.'s backpack was full today!! Being the last day they sent home everything that was left. I took his pencil box out and was going to combine the few crayons I thought might be in there with our other crayons. I thought, "Man, this things heavy." I opened up the box and found 1 pair of scissors, 5 crayons, and 2 gluesticks. You know what else I found? Pencils, 60 of them to be exact. We counted them.

J.D. has been buying them from the pencil machine all year. I knew he had been, but I didn't realize he's spent about $15.00 on them. That is not including the many pencils he has brought home. They are overtaking our house. Of course I had to get a picture. J.D. is so proud of his "collection" as he called it. The other little boy is Noah, we babysit him and he is in J.D. and BayLee's class. They are in their pajama's because today was pj day!!!

Grass

The Grand Finale

The elders quorem presidency was coming to visit the Richins. When they pulled up Ashly went and got them and told them to come over to our house. They told us we should have called and that they were wearing the wrong clothes!! But Darrina nd Kellie jumped right in and helped lay the last two rows. Going above and beyond the call of duty!!

Eric and Ashly

This is my neighbor and friend Nicole. She was helping me to lay the sod. Her husband Eric was bringing it from the back of the truck into the yard for us.

This poor old truck! You could literally hear the sigh as they put the pallett in the back. That's a tone of grass. You should have seen me toodling through Snow Canyon Park. I was like creeping. J.D. loved the turf farm, when we pulled up he said, "Mom it's so pretty. You could play tag here, like forever."

Chocolate Chip Cookies

One last hurrah before the summer heat arrives in full force, although today it is stinkin' hot. Remind me agian, why do I live in St. George? The kids love to make cookies and I thought we would do it one more time. From the months of June to September, there is no homemade goodies, although we will probably still make bread, in the middle of the night. It's way to hot to do it any other time.

Here they are fighting over who gets a turn to stir.

Not a great picture, but here was Piper under foot and serenading

us with a banging of bread pans throughout the entire process.

YUMMY!!

Another great recipie from Abby over at A Feathered Nest. The girl knows her cookies!

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

1 1/4 c. room temperature butter (the real stuff, not margarine)

3/4 c. brown sugar, packed

1/2 c. sugar

1 egg1

t. vanilla1

1/2 c. flour

1/2 t. salt

1 t. cinnamon

1/8 or 1/4 t. nutmeg (your preference)

1 t. baking soda

3 c. oats

12 oz. chocolate chips

1 c. chopped pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter, sugars, egg and vanilla on low speed. Don't overmix - but make sure it's all blended well. Add the rest of the ingredients until mixed well.Spoon medium-sized cookies onto cookie sheet and bake for approximately 9 minutes. Cookies should be a little gooey and slightly browned around the edges. Let cool for a couple of minutes before trying to take them off of the pan.

Cows

I thought this was funny!! I have a thing about cow's, farms and anything country. It comes from growing up in Marysvale. I also thought my boys would love it.

Check out my new favorite website Pioneer Woman . I am loving her site. This cutie pie is one of the many cows on her farm. It's a good read, I promise

The Prophets have said:

From President Thomas S. Monson, we hear: "Many more people could ride out the storm-tossed waves in their economic lives if they had their year's supply of food . . . and were debt-free. Today we find that many have followed this counsel in reverse: they have at least a year's supply of debt and are food-free."

From President Gordon B. Hinckley, we hear: "The best place to have some food set aside is within our homes. . . "We can begin ever so modestly. We can begin with a one week's food supply and gradually build it to a month, and then to three months . . . I fear that so many feel that a long-term food supply is so far beyond their reach that they make no effort at all.”

For those of you who don't know, I am a nut about food storage. It's only been in the last year that I have gotten really serious about it. Here is Tyson sitting on the pile of my spoils that I got last night from a Food Storage Fair in Hurricane. This is all thanks to my in-laws. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Scott and Becky!!

Here are few links that I visit on a regular basis that are all about food storage and emergency prepardenss.

http://www.allaboutfoodstorage.com/

http://www.myfoodstoragedeals.blogspot.com/

http://blog.totallyready.com/

http://www.providentliving.org/

http://www.simplylivingsmart.com/

http://www.waltonfeed.com/

Picnic in the Park

What a collection of pictures. I was trying to be creative. It turned out kind of messy. Oh well, you get the general idea that we had fun. My brother Austin and his cute fiancee, Larissa came down to spend the day. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

We had hamburgers and hotdogs and let the kids run wild. We took every bike we had in our yard, crazily enough everyone had something to ride. I didn't get a ton of pictures, I was kind of busy.

That's my Josh

For some reason there are not pictures of J.D. He's at an age where he kind of does his own thing. Especially because he is the oldest of all the kids. They all seemed to have a lot of fun. Piper sure has fun eating her pink salad. The weather was nice, the food was yummy, and we had our family with us, can you think of a better day??

I have about a hundred other projects going on right now. I will post pictures later when I have more time. But we have been working like crazy in the yard. I have trees!! We also have a food storage project (continually ongoing) and we bought a new camper that we need to ready for a camping trip!!!

T-BALL

I am going to be a tired old woman! I have about 18 years left of going to soccer, football, basketball and t-ball games. I can't complain though, I love it. I am glad that my boys are into sports. It's something that we all enjoy.

J.D did so good. I wish I had better pictures, check out the Dover blog for more pictures. J.D. and BayLee played their first game agianst each other. J.D. totally let her get on base the first time she hit the ball. He picked it up and just let her keep running to first. Best-buddies, I tell ya. Plus it was freezing!! Is that possible in St. George? I'll post more pictures after his games next week.

J.D. at bat.

You can hardly see her but the catcher is BayLee.

J.D on Third Base

Happy Mothers Day

"Being a mother has never been an easy role. Some of the oldest writings in the world admonish us not to forsake the law of our mother, instruct us that a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother, and warn us not to ignore our mother when she is old. The scriptures also remind us that what we learn from our mothers comprises our very core values"

President Thomas S. Monson

"I remember my mother's prayers and they have always folllowed me. The have clung to me all my life"

Abraham Lincoln

I love being a mom. There is nothing that can compare to it in the world. I love each of my kiddo's a ton and so thankful that Heavenly Father entrusted them to my care. I am truly blessed to have such great kids. I love you guys!!! Thanks for being so great!

Tyson

How do I begin to tell you about Tyson? This kiddo has his momma's heart in the palm of his hand. Tyson is such a sweetie. He loves to dance and he loves movies. To say that he loves Spiderman would be an understatement. He has a little bit of OCD about a lot of things, but boy is he cute. I should have named him Dennis the Menace. He loves to climb and loves candy way to much. He is such a good boy. Just wanted to share a little bit about him. Love you Tootie.

On your mark, get set, go!!

Tyson in his Spiderman sunglasses. He really does

sleep with them on. He's a little OCD.

Vampires

I cannot tell you how excited I am for this movie!!! I watched the trailer and got goosebumps!!! Don't tell Josh but I think I have a crush on Edward! The Edward in my mind is darker than the way Stephanie describes him in the books. To tell the truth he looks a lot like Josh. Josh has the same color butterscotch eyes that Edward does. Josh is my Edward. He's going to die that I wrote this on the blog. He thinks I am silly about all this Twilight buisness.

Robert Pattinson was a good choice for Edward. Loved him as Cedric in Harry Potter. The whole thing was well cast!! I just hope the movie does the books justice. Stephanie Meyers is an amazing author. I read somewhere yesterday that she is being compared to J.K. Rowling! That is quite a tribute, in my opinion. I wish I had an ounce of their creativity and imagination.

Once upon a time I wished I was a wizard and now I kind of think I'd like to be a vampire. A vegan vampire if you will, for those of you who have read the books you will understand.

It's amazing because those of you who know me know that I love Harry Potter. I know that movie #6 is coming in November, but the anticipation for Twilight far out ways my anticipation for Harry Potter. Thank heavens Breaking Dawn will be out in August!!! Pre-ordering it off of Amazon!!!

Check out the new trailer here and enjoy!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xBvOhfL4mYw

Nutella

Ah, Nutella, let me count the ways I love thee. This is my new recent obsession. Have you ever tasted Ntuella??? It's like a little piece of heaven on earth.

I've decieded that European people know how to eat. It seems like everything good in life goes back to the Europeans. Well at least to the European continent. Nutella, Backlava (I don't think that is spelled right)Harry Potter, and Jason Isaacs just to name a select few. Heck, I'd be European if they shaved their legs and armpits, but that is a whole other blog. Plus were talking about food.

If you haven't tried Nutella, go get a bottle!!! I think I paid around $3.50 at Albertsons for my last one. It's so yummy on my homemade bread. It's also yummy right off the spoon. Try it with strawberries, crepes, left over pancakes, just about anything. Heck I'd eat carrots dipped in the stuff. It's that good.

Oh, yeah, for all you health conscious people, don't look at the label, unless you really aren't into enjoying your food. I like to put it on homemade bread because I figure all the whole wheat and flax seed counteract the bad. It's a win win situation!! Try it, love it, eat it!!!

Dale Earnhardt Jr.

My father-in-law works for Bryce Christensen Excavating here in St. George. Bryce is a pretty big name in St. George and he does alot of things within the community. He is also a huge Dale Earnhardt, Jr. fan. He painted one of the dump trucks to look like Dale's car. Anyway, to make a long story short, he had Dale Earnhardt's car at his house for 4 hours on Saturday. We went with Scott out to the house to see it and the kids thought it was pretty cool. I have more pictures, but I am having problems loading them, so I will try agian later.

Fun at the Splashpad with the Winckle Cousins

Our Winckle cousins showed up to spend the day on Friday! Totally unexpected, but so much fun. We went to the splash pad for 20 minutes because it got so windy!!! The kids were glad just to be together. It was so much fun!!! My brother Austin came with them and told us he was engaged!! Craziness.

Crabwalk!

Ashton, Brannigan, and J.D.

Oops!! Right in the face!

Cute Piper! All the effort of going to the splash pad was worth it

just for this picture. Isn't she stinkin' cute!!!

Cute little Riyo!!!

Kool-aid Play Dough

What a weird picture this turned out to be. Anyway, we love to make play dough at our house. It provided a lot of entertainment and a lot of mess. This is the best recipie for play dough that we have. It usually will keep for a couple of weeks and it smells divine.

1 cup flour

1/2 cup salt

1 Tbsp. Cream of Tartar or Oil (preservative)

1 cup water

1 pkg. of Kool-aid

Mix everything together in a heavy saucepan. Stir continuously over medium heat until you cannot stir anymore. I knead it just a little after I get it out of the pan, but be careful, it's hot. I usually let it cool for about 20 minutes before I let the kids play with it. The kids love being able to pick out their own Kool-aid packets.

Random Pictures From Another Crazy Week!!!

Wake up Daddy!!!

I love mornings, because Piper is so happy.

Tyson being carried off the soccer field in tears.

Only one more season and really two more years until he can play.

Poor kid!! It will be even worse when T-ball starts in 2 weeks!!

This puzzle caused so much contention!! Each kiddo grabbed a handful of pieces

and ran in opposite directions. It took a lot of explaining about how we work together!!

Hopefully a lesson learned!!

Cottage Cheese, anyone? How happy

is that face, though? I'd still kiss it!!!

Pancakes

We love pancakes! Tyson could eat pancakes every meal of every day if he could. I got this recipie from Abby of at A Feathered Nest. I swear if Abby lived in St. George we would be friends. I love her idea's.

We have made these quite a few times. It's a healthy version of pancakes. They have oatmeal and wheat germ and the kids don't even know.

Try them, I promise you'll love them. We love to put in chocolate chips!! I love to eat the left overs for lunch with peanut butter and jelly. They are also super good with Nutella (Heaven in a jar). Another ideas I stold from Abby. Anyway's everyone have a good day!!!! Love ya!

The Best Pancakes Ever

1 c. unbleached flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. baking soda
3/4 t. salt
3 T. sugar
1 c. quick oats (or less)
1/2 c. wheat germ

whisk to combine Separately, mix together:

3 1/2 c. milk
1 c. sour cream
4 t. melted butter
2 large eggs, beaten

Combine all ingredients together, without overmixing.

Okay, I do have a few substitutions. I use 1/4 cup sour cream powder in place of the sour cream and I have been substituting the wheat germ with 1/4 cup ground flax. I also grind up the oatmeal so the kids don't notice. I also half the recipie most of the time, because it makes a ton of pancakes.

Worth Watching

Okay, so I have been blog hopping today through the blogs of all my high school friends. It has been so much fun. One of my friends, Candice had these two links on her blog from quite a while back, but I had to share them. The first link is hysterical. It's a comedian singing a song about all the things that a mom says. I had tears of laughter rolling down my face. The second one had me crying my heart out. It's an amazing story of a fathers pure love for his son.

Watch them, I promise you will get your daily laugh and be edified and knowing that Heavenly Father loves all of his children.


http://youtube.com/watch?v=anSpBUxsgAU


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cS596VsNEOE

This is the only way I could get them on the blog. Sorry to all you computer wizzes out there but this girl is technologically challenged.

Facebook

I just found out about an awesome website and most of you probably already know about it, but it is called facebook.com It's kind of like myspace, but it looks like it's a little less well-known and it seems to be a little more regulated. It's free to sign up and it's a great way to network with old friends.

I went on and signed up tonight, because I heard about it from my sister, who heard about it from Malinda, a girl I went to school with. Well anyways, to make a long story short I signed up because my 10-year reunion is coming up and within 5 minutes my friend, Lacy contacted me. So cool!! We played basketball together and I haven't seen her since I graduated. I haven't seen anybody since I graduated, unless they live in Piute County still and I see them on occassion when we go home.

Check it out. It was funny because it automatically showed people who might be in my network area and I saw a ton of familiar faces. I saw you Maggie,Heather, Kim, Eric, and even my little brother Danny was there!!

I am excited about this!!! So cool!

What a Week!!

We have had a full week. And that is an understatement. We have been watching J.D.'s friend Noah and his little brother for a couple of days. The first day we went on a picnic in the park. The next day we went and watched a monster truck and the next day we went to the splashpad!! Whew, I'm tired.



Here is J.D. at the Orchard assignment we went
to last night. We had fun thinning the apricots.

The kids loved throwinng them at each other.