Travis Eagle Court of Honor

March 5th was a BIG day in our family. We started the morning with Jared's baptism and finished the day with Travis' Eagle Court of Honor. What a GREAT day! Travis had his Board of Review on November 18th, but finally got his letter of Recognition at the end of December. Travis wanted to have some family come to his Court of Honor so he planned it while family was here for Jared's baptism.

We are proud of our Eagle Scout! Congratulations Travis!


Having his picture on the cake was a big hit

Travis taking the Eagle Scout oath

Travis played a couple songs on his trumpet

The Richards Scouts

Grandpa, Travis, Randy and Shawn

Jared's Baptism

Jared's baptism was on March 5th. We were blessed to have a lot of family come into town for the big weekend. Jared was so excited and happy to be baptized. We are so proud of him and his decision to be baptized.

Here is Jared and Randy before the big moment
Jared was excited to get his own set of scriptures

Jared started Cub Scouts

Jared was so excited to join Cub Scouts! He feels so grown up in his uniform. He went to his first meeting a couple days after his birthday. He LOVED it!
The next week was the annual Blue & Gold Banquet. They really had a fun night planned for the scouts and Jared knows he will love Scouts.

Jared making noises with his straw. A big hit with all the boys.

Jared and Randy

Jared's 8th Birthday

I know I am way behind in blogging, but hopefully better late than never. Here is Jared on his 8th birthday. He was so excited! Does it show at all in his smile?

Randy had this great idea of making a 3-layer cake. When Jared was 5, he had a chocolate cake, chocolate frosting and chocolate ice cream. When he turned 6 it was a vanilla cake, vanilla frosting and vanilla ice cream. Then at 7 it was strawberry, strawberry and strawberry. So this year they made all 3. It was a big hit! Way to go Randy!

Jared blowing out his candles

Jared was wanting the 3 Ralph & the Motorcycle books. He loves them!

Jared has been asking for a violin for about a year. He was excited to finally get one. He has been excited taking violin lessons for 3 weeks now. It is fun watching his progression.

Jared's Birthday Party

Jared has been so excited for his birthday party. He has been wanting to have a party where they get to make their own pizzas. The thought of having 10 kids make pizzas in our kitchen didn't sound like much fun to me. My aunt told me that my cousin had a party at a pizza place where the kids made their own pizzas. It sounded just perfect!

Here is Jared carefully placing his cheese on his pizza
The whole gang busy at work

Jared's finished product

Everyone enjoying their cake and ice cream

Courtney's 12th Birthday

It's hard to believe that our little girl is now 12! It just seems like a year or two ago when she was born. Where does the time go? She is so happy and lets me know daily that she is no longer a little girl. She is excited to be in Young Women's at church and be with the older girls. It is fun to see the transition.

We had our typical pizza dinner with strawberry cake and rainbow sherbet ice cream. She was so excited to get the Wheel of Fortune wii game. She LOVES Wheel of Fortune!


12 things about Courtney

1 - She loves to laugh!
2 - She is very structured. When the clock says a certain time, she moves on to whatever needs to be done.
3 - She is always on time. She gets up, dressed and ready to go to school without any promptings.
4 - She is very helpful - especially to her mom.
5 - She always asks how everyone else is doing. She is very caring.
6 - She loves babies!
7 - She loves spending one on one time with her mom or dad.
8 - She is very loving. She loves to give hugs.
9 - She loves playing with her brother, Jared. They are best friends.
10 - Even though she is little, she can pack away a ton of food.
11 - Her favorite food is pizza and pretzels.
12 - She will always be our "little girl" - but we will enjoy watching her grow into a beautiful young woman.

Family Nativity

We had the opportunity to go up to Utah the weekend of December 17th & 18th. On the 17th we met up with our friends and went to the Mormon Tabernacle Christmas Concert with David Archuletta. It was so much better than I expected it to be. I loved it but not near as much as Ashley did. She is a true David Achuletta fan! Thanks to the Mortensen's for getting us tickets again. And thanks to my brother-in-law and sister for watching Courtney and Jared. They had a great time at your house!

On the 18th, Randy's brother and sister-in-law planned a Richards Christmas part in their clubhouse. It was alot of fun. Jared got to play out in the snow, which was the one thing he wanted to do while we were in Utah.

After we were all full from all the great food, all the kids put on the nativity play. Jared loved being Joseph with Libby playing Mary.

Jared & Libby
Joseph leading his donkey, Nick, with Mary on his back all the way to Bethlehem. Nick was such a good sport.

The shepards were sore afraid when the angel came to visit them.

All gathered around the manger

Mary tucking her baby in the manger

The whole cast

We had a great weekend! Thanks Kim & Ken for letting us crash your home once again and thanks Shawn & Kristen for the fun afternoon.