Lovely thoughts

I just have to brag a bit on my 10 1/2 year old Maxwell. He gave a 3 minute talk in the general session of Stake Conference on Sunday in front of at least 1,000 people. More in the overflow rooms. 

He stayed on the stand the whole time, so polished and handsome in his suit and tie. He didn't look nervous at all (though later he said he was), and he spoke clearly and strongly into the microphone, pausing at the right moments, looking up and around before down again at his paper just like a seasoned church speaker.

He spoke on growing your faith in Jesus Christ.  This is the boy who was so nervous and shy at 5 years old during the yearly primary program that he flat-out refused to even sit on the stand with the rest of his primary class, let alone say his one line.

So many people have called or texted or left notes to say how much they enjoyed his talk.  We practiced a lot, and videoed it on the phone for him to watch back. It's good to pass my radio reporting experience on. He afterward told me that the other two speakers after him spoke too fast or too soft (I agreed) so he was glad he had practiced so much. 

It's one of the things we listed on last night in our Valentine's Day Family Home Evening. We took turns saying things we loved about each family member and wrote them down on hearts. For Max, I said how brave and confident he is getting.  For Ben, how smart and friendly. Andrew - so energetic and happy. James - so cuddly.  Daddy - sacrificing so much time for our family and church.

The other boys tried to get goofy, saying they loved how snotty-nosed or poopy James can get (6 little ones a day). So I changed that to say, "James doesn't let things like a runny nose or dirty diaper get him down." Gotta find the positive.

We hung the hearts up to see on display all the good things we love about our family.

What, have I not shown you this before? It's just us partying at a church stake big band night last year around this time.  Music, soda fountain, cookies, costumes. I figured a post with a picture is always nice. And I didn't get one of Max on Sunday after Stake Conference to mark the occasion. Next time!

Stapled (again)

Andrew is such an active 5-year-old. He runs, jumps, bounces and hops his way through life. We are constantly telling him not to run in the house, but alas, he cannot do it. Well, actually, the only time he DOES slow down is when we want him to do something, like put on his shoes to go somewhere or get jammies on for bed. Then he is quite the turtle.

Last Wednesday I heard a crash from the hallway by the bedrooms and immediately Andrew was crying. No one saw it, but we think he was running out of his room, slipped on the wood floor and hit the strike plate of the door jam on the side of his head. I put an icepack on it and cuddled him, then when I moved the icepack I saw the blood and the gash.

JB (just like last time with Max's gash) knew it needed staples.  Sweet and concerned Max offered to go to the InstaCare with me to help. I think deep down he was quite curious to see what it looked like to have the staples put in.

We waited something like 45 minutes for the numbing gel to really take effect -- or they forgot about us in that little area behind the screen, which I find doubtful because Andrew chatted away the whole time. Remember the line in Anne of Green Gables about her fall off the roof not affecting her tongue? Yeah. Same thing here.

Then they wrapped him all up in a sheet like a burrito so he wouldn't wiggle -- which he didn't by the way, he was so good -- and he was so cute. He got 8 staples close together on his right temple.

He took the doctor's words very seriously and was super careful all week. If James started to wrestle with him Andrew would yell, "James is trying to hurt my staples!" He also worried about washing his hair.

Yesterday we went back to get them out (another long wait). Max walked over to the side to watch again, and the nurse asked Andrew if he wanted to hold his brother's hand. So all three brothers lined up and held his hands! I melted. Then I grabbed my phone to take pictures.

Ben is closest to the front in red, Max in the middle, and the little blue hood on the end belonging to the tiniest hand is James.

This care for their brother is just the sweetest thing. Boys can be so rough and tumble, but so tender-hearted. The two olders want to make sure he stays safe, because they've had plenty of tattle-tale moments this week making sure the parentals knew "Andrew is running again! Andrew, you will crack your head open again!'

Babymoon - the cruise

I was 13/14 weeks pregnant on the cruise, and feeling overall very good -- except for the first and last sea days, which were rocky. Those days I spent fighting off queasiness by laying around reading and watching movie after movie from 2015 playing on channels on our cabin TV. That made me very happy.

 We just had such a great time relaxing and eating. It was sorely needed in a time of stress through jobs and church jobs and grey January SLC skies.

 The first stop was Cozumel, Mexico, where we rode with random others from the ship in a van to the beach. Most of the others happened to be from Southern Utah. It wasn't too hot, and I saw some fishes in the water without even having to get wet. But most of the time I read an Agatha Christie novel from this hammock.

I also let JB have a turn.

Here we are on the ship.

The second stop was Belize City, Belize. It was overcast and drizzly all day, but that was perfect for what we did. A van driver drove us around the city (he was quite proud of the area and pointed out every school and bank and consulate and food stand), and then he took us out to the Mayan ruins of Altun Ha.

These just fascinated me. To think people lived here so many years ago. We climbed to the top of a couple of them.

Coming down was a little steep for me and the baby peach.

The third and final stop was Roatan Island, Honduras.  We never buy a score excursion on board the ship because they are so expensive; we opt to try for a local driver at the port. We made a deal with a guy to drive us around and show us the area.  He took us to this viewing area up high. That's our ship and another in the port (almost all their economy is tourism based now, he said, from cruise ships).

I'm sure you recognize by now my old white ratty UV Skinz jacket I wore every day to protect my skin from the sun. JB thinks it's time to retire it.

At that area were lots of booths and tables with people selling things.  This 12-year-old boy was such a hoot, and so successful a salesman that JB bought the flute and took a picture with him.

Then our driver took us to West End beach. This was a very nice bay, a beautiful area, not hot, and a nice time.

We said we'd spend about 45 minutes there and the driver said he'd be parked right nearby. We waited 2 1/2 hours, but he never came back.  So we think either he thought we wanted to spend all day there, or he took our money and ran, or he tried to go back to the port and get another fare and miscalculated.  JB asked a lady at a little hotel on the beach to call the company for us, but nothing came of it -- but she was so nice and drove us back to the ship in her car. We told her about the Church and said to look for any missionaries :)

Two days at sea later and it was Saturday morning and we were back to Houston, where Malcolm and Sandy and Greg picked us up, fed us a kolache (I've never seen them before and I love them), then took us to the airport.

When we called the boys they always sounded great and excited ("We've had pizza every night, mom!" "We just had root beer floats, mom!"). Many thanks to Nona and Papa for taking care of them. I know it wasn't easy. For that one Sunday we were gone, we asked how they did in church. The answer: "Well, three out of the four were good." Read: James was a stinker.

Babymoon - Houston

JB and I were able to get a great deal on a cruise (we love cruising. Love it.), and we went last week out of Houston to some Caribbean stops.

And do you know who is in Houston? Texas Richards relatives!  

JB's cousin York picked us up from the airport and took us right to Rudy's Barbecue. Hea-ven. We met Uncle Malcolm and Aunt Sandy there and there was so much good food.  Cousin Greg says they put white chocolate in the creamed corn to make you crave it fortnightly.

Then that night, in true Texas hospitality fashion, Greg and Stacy and their youngest Brock took us to Lupee's for what they called "the best beef fajitas."

Speak on, sweet lips that never told a lie.

York ordered three pounds and the waiter looked us all over as if sizing up our stomachs. Hey, maybe leftovers are a good thing, senor.

Saturday morning Malcolm and Sandy took us around their lovely home, full of incredible things brought back from their world travels. We also had yummy Blue Bell ice cream (very Texas), and they continued the Texas tour with a trip to Buc-ees.  This is the BIGGEST HUGEST MOST TEXAS gas station ever. Look at the ice chests alone:

They dropped us off at the port around noon, and after boarding we were able to go eat in the buffet.  I miss cruising. Future posts coming on our stops.

Ben's Baptism

All of a sudden, our Benny-baby Benji-boy was old enough to be baptized. He was excited about it, and when I asked him if he had any more questions he asked if the water was dangerous or cold. Max promptly responded that "it's really warm, don't worry."

It was just Ben and another girl in our own ward who had the whole stake baptism day, so we were surrounded by friends and neighbors. He had such a cute smile next to her on the stand that I immediately thought of betrothing them.


Afterward we had family and friends over to the church gym for JB's smoked pulled pork and other goodies people brought.

Some of the sweet and supportive crowd:

 

 Bart brought this rocket stomper and the cousins were enthralled. 

 

I like this family picture of us. Our boys are getting so tall and handsome

I think the best part of being baptized at 8 (because I still think they are so young), is that now Ben will have the Holy Ghost as a comforter and a guide for him. The world is getting scarier with temptations and evils aimed at children, and hopefully Ben will feel of the divine help from above.

New Year's Eve 2015

We spent New Year's Eve with our friends the Peters. They are so good to our family, and so much fun to be around. They are so creative -- it was a Star Wars theme, with Chewbaca Burgers, Vader Taters and Yoda Soda and Dark Side Chocolate Cake and Ewok food snacks.

Max was in HEAVEN over the food.

Andrew was in Heaven over Princess Leia, R2D2 and C3P0.

We all wore 2016 glasses but James had a hard time keeping them on.

Roger had a timer. Genius.

The big helium R2D2 balloon came home with us, and spent many an hour being dragged around and around our circle of kitchen-livingroom-hallway-kitchen, with one of the little boys holding it by the string and the other chasing behind wanting to hold the string. Poor R2 got thrashed.


I think we made it until 9:30 or 10, then Roger set off a huge firework and we did poppers and then all went home and crashed into bed. I never make it to midnight anymore and I'm totally fine with that.

Sledding

We got a bunch of snow over the Christmas break. JB was going to take the boys sledding at the park by our house, but Andrew didn't want to leave me. So I gathered myself together and went with them (my plans were to rest on the couch to drool out all my extra saliva on a towel and feel pregnancy-ill while watching a chick flick). It felt great! I forget that exercise does help me feel better.

Stair-stepped boys.

James did great. He loved it. He climbed all the way back up the hill like a boss.

Andrew kept going by himself in one sled, and always veered horizontally to the left.  Max was wishing he'd brought his snowboard.