Richardson Ridge

4th of July

2010-04-26T17:16:00.002-06:00

This must have been a really boring 4th because we don't have many pictures. But the one's we have make me so happy!

Here are my boys watching fireworks! They could see down to Stadium of Fire to the south, straight ahead Thanksgiving Point, and any other random fireworks!

Look at the camera!

Brothers that love each other so much!

Family Festival 2009

2010-04-26T17:04:00.005-06:00

This was the last year we rode in the parade with Eric being on the City Council! I think we need a bigger golf cart!

Lindsey riding the pony!

Maggie's turn!

Go Ben!

Love this picture!

Jake, don't choke on the powdered donut!

Lindsey's smart and went for the chocolate!

Which of these is not like the others?

2010-04-26T16:59:00.003-06:00

Jake in his General Grievous mask!

Lindsey wearing the Queen Amidala mask!

Maggie wearing the Queen Amidala mask!

The only smart one?

The whole silly bunch!

Lagoon 2009

2010-04-26T16:34:00.005-06:00

How cute is this?! Daddy and Ben enjoy the marry-go-round!

Trying to get everyone in the same picture!

Thanks Uncle Doug for coming with us!

Can't tell if anyone is having any fun!

Good thing there are 2 steering wheels!

Maggie makes a friend.

The boys!

The girls!

Brothers.

Lindsey knows she is having fun, not sure if Maggie feels the same!

Zoo (2009)

2010-04-26T16:18:00.012-06:00

School is out, so we headed up to the zoo! The kids were so excited to see all the animals!

Where's Ben? Hope the hungry animals didn't snack on him!

Love this picture of the girls looking at the giraffe!

Cute and crazy bunch of animals! Love that they are mine!

Lindsey turns 6!!!

2010-04-26T15:58:00.011-06:00

I can't believe Lindsey is already 6!! Where did the time go? Lindsey has been so much fun to watch as she grows and learns new things. She loves the color pink and she loves dress-ups, barbies, princesses and pretty much anything that is girly!

This year she got to have her 1st friend party! She invited some neighbor friends and a friend from her kindergarten class. We made stromboli and fruit salad for dinner, then we made necklaces and bracelets with beads, and then we played games before cake and ice cream. She had a lot of fun, even allowing Jake and Maggie to join in!

I am pretty sure someone is getting a little too involved!

Blowing out the candles on her butterfly cake!

Lindsey's haircut

2009-06-04T16:30:00.005-06:00

Thanks to Aunt Anne, Lindsey got a cute haircut. She probably cut off a good 2-4 inches. Here are the before, during, and after pictures. We like it to be long enough for pig-tails, pony-tails, braids, and curlers.

Easter

2009-06-04T16:13:00.014-06:00

Eric took Jake and Lindsey to the city Easter Egg Hunt. I was afraid it might rain and didn't want to deal with a wet Maggie. Then it didn't even rain, oh well! This is the first time we have colored eggs alone. (We usually do it with cousins). Poor Maggie fell asleep and someone had fun "decorating" her!

This is Lindsey. . .

2009-06-04T15:54:00.002-06:00

. . . she likes to put weird outfits together! She has a tutu on her head, doll shoes on her fingers, and mismatched shoes. She gets her fashion sense from her dad!

Ben

2009-03-09T18:24:00.002-06:00

Last week we took the kids to the Draper Temple Open House. It was a fun experience for them to see the inside of the temple. Taking an 18 month old was quite the experience! While in one of the sealing rooms, trying to have a spiritual moment, Ben started "singing" Sunbeam! So I told him to fold his arms. He starts mumbling a "prayer" so I decide to take him out in the hall so everyone else can enjoy the sealing room. Out in the hall there were many people walking past us and Ben being the happy boy that he is, starts waving to everyone. Everyone waves back until 1 man stops to shake his hand and comment on how happy his is. After shaking hands, Ben decides not to wave but to stick his hand out to shake hands with everyone. I would never believe that so many people would want to stop to shake his hand, but it was too funny to watch as even one man went to shake his hand only to have his friend step in front of him. I thought he would walk away and not worry about it, but he didn't, he waited for 2 more people to shake Ben's hand so that he could. Looks like Ben takes after his dad and may turn to politics too! YIKES!!!!!

Living in Lindseyland!

2009-02-23T10:48:00.000-07:00

We often joke that Lindsey has her own world she lives in. Lately she has been visiting there more than ususal. She has been coming up with some of the funniest things. The other night saying the dinner prayer, she prayed that we would be like Heavenly Father and Jesus, (she has been saying this for awhile) and not that mean old guy, Satan. It was a good thing the prayer was almost over because we were all about to lose it! The next morning she came up to me and said, "Mom, I hate to tell you when you look weird sometimes, but the good news is the sink looks clean!" The compliment had to be whispered in my ear, but the looking weird could be shared loud enough for everyone to hear! She also likes to pick out real "cute" outfits all by herself. The more layers the better! We think she is pretty great, especially after she returns from Lindseyland!

Jake's hole in his mouth!

2009-02-05T10:57:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, Jake finally lost his 1st tooth!! His Aunt Anne pulled it and we think he still likes her. After we told him that he could write a letter to the Tooth Fairy and ask her if he could please keep it, since it was his first. That darn Tooth Fairy left his tooth along with 4 quarters. The picture with Lindsey in it cracks us up because she sat and watched her brother be held down and come up with a bloody mouth and was not scared at all. In fact, she is convinced that she will be a Dentist, so I think this was just part of her training!

100th Day of School!!

2009-02-05T09:56:00.002-07:00

Lindsey's 100th day of school is today! She is very excited to bring in this picture of her with lots of her doll things (100 to be exact). She had to pick and count all 100 of them. Then she counted 100 marshmallows to take to school! She is very excited to be in Kindergarten. Last night we met with her teacher, Mrs. Hawkins, for parent/teacher conference. She is doing very well and her teacher says that Lindsey makes her happy and only has to look at Lindsey and Lindsey will smile and giggle back to her! That's our girl!!

Here comes Santa Claus!

2008-12-22T21:34:00.006-07:00

We went to our annual family Christmas party where we ate pizza and watched the nativity rather than act it out this year (hopefully a new tradition) and frosted cookies. The kids had fun playing with cousins and 2nd cousins.
Jake looked the same in every picture. I think they must have been having a good conversation!I wonder if Santa told Lindsey what she was getting for Christmas, or if his beard was tickling her ear.
Maggie was so excited to see Santa! She gets so intense when she is excited. It is so fun to watch her! Ben was not so excited but we HAD to do it!!

Jake plays Rudolph!

2008-12-22T21:26:00.002-07:00

Jake's class put on a "play" about Santa losing his boots on Christmas Eve but couldn't wear his sneakers to deliver the presents, who ever heard of that! Jake played rudolph and came to the rescue and told Santa he left them under his seat on the sleigh! I think he is even more "famous" after finding Santa's boots! Jake did a good job and we had fun watching him. Jake had a quick picture with Mrs. Shepherd and his best friend-girl, Gabbie!

Elves at Gardner Village

2008-12-22T21:19:00.004-07:00

Posing with the elves! We even brought a few with us. Ours are much cuter! The girls looked so cute kissing daddy under the mistle toe!

Family pictures 2008

2008-12-22T21:11:00.006-07:00

We found this location from some friends that went to the same place. The kids can only cooperate for so long! It was cold and we stayed after so Eric could take pictures of the cousins too. Aren't they cute!!

What were they thinking?!!

2008-12-22T21:06:00.005-07:00

This was in November and we had already had one good snow storm. It was by no means warm! The girls got it in their head that they needed to lay out in the back yard. Eric was sure to get a picture of the snow on the roof. They were out there for a good 45 minutes, and even asked for sunscreen because they were getting too warm! The only way Eric got them to come in was by letting them take a shower in our shower in their swimsuits!!

Lindsey takes the stage!!

2008-12-22T20:55:00.004-07:00

Lindsey's class put on "The 3 Piggy Opera". It is the 3 little pigs with lots of songs. Songs that don't leave your head for anything. Songs that you wake up singing, fall asleep singing, always in your head. It was fun to watch her! She did a great job with the songs and all the actions.

Halloween 2008

2008-12-22T20:28:00.005-07:00

The costume parade at the school. Jake was Indiana Jones, Lindsey was duh, a Princess, Maggie was duh, a Princess and Ben was a Skeleton. They had lots of fun trick-or-treating and we were lucky to have Uncle Matt go to hold a sleeping Maggie.

Pumpkin carving

2008-12-22T20:21:00.005-07:00

We haven't always been the best about carving our pumpkins, but we vow to do better. Lindsey really like using a marker to "color" hers. She is quite the artist.

Maggie & Ben discover leaves!

2008-12-22T20:14:00.004-07:00

I think this was the first time that either one of them has played in the leaves. Ben was so funny to watch as he touched them and moved around, Maggie just looked plain cute!

Scarecrow Festival

2008-12-22T20:03:00.004-07:00

We took the kids to the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point. The kids had a fun time going down the giant slides and jumping in the bouncy things. Then we saw the tallest man we have ever seen. We thought it would be fun for Jake to go meet Shawn Bradley. Papa was the only one brave enough to go introduce Jake to Shawn. He was very nice and humored us by shaking Jake's hand.

Lindsey plays soccer!?

2008-12-22T19:33:00.003-07:00

Lindsey played soccer this fall. We weren't sure if she would like it since you don't wear a dress and high heels. We were pleasantly surprised when she would actually go after the ball and even try to kick it! Go Lindsey!

Disney Land Trip

2008-12-22T19:02:00.007-07:00

After Labor Day, we took a trip to Disneyland with the Richardson clan before Heather left on her mission to Dallas. We enjoyed short lines, although the Santa Anna winds made it a bit hotter than we would have liked. Maggie enjoyed her 3rd birthday California style.

The girls loved time with the characters...

Of course Jake was trilled to ride Star Tours again. But could anyone guess how much Lindsey would love it too!

Having fun on the rides!

Space Mountain...

Having fun...

Disney Trip Day 2: California Adventure and stuff

2008-12-22T18:31:00.014-07:00

On the second day, we spent most of our time at California Adventure.

I would like to say that Tower of Terror was Jake and Lindsey's favorite ride, but as they say a picture tells a thousand words.

Sleeping Beauty, clearly a trip highlight for Princess Lindsey and Princess Maggie.

Monsters Inc.

Bugs Life Land -- it felt nice to cool off with the mist jets and fountains. Maggie and her new-found sunglasses!

Soaring Over California.

No surprise that Jake LOVED the Star Wars stuff at the Lego store in Downtown Disney. Why did we waste time with rides and the park???

We went to the Rainforest Cafe' for dinner. It was a nice, welcome break.

Cali trip part three

2008-12-22T18:07:00.011-07:00

We took a jaunt down to Sea World on our last day.

Lindsey and Heather got SOAKED in nice, refreshing sea water by the pilot whale.

Maggie with Uncle Doug. Trying to let us know that she's now three, but having problems getting another finger up.
Feeding the Dolphins. Ben having the time of his life (he was really quite good the whole trip, but everyone needs a moment, right?), and Jake enjoying some last "Heather time."

We stopped by the San Diego Temple on the way back. Covered in sea water and sweat, do we look tired or what???

Spring Break Trip to the Dinosaur Museum

2008-05-21T11:56:00.011-06:00

For Spring Break last month we surpised the kids and took them to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point. We even drove a really goofy way there so they wouldn't guess where we were going. Of course Jake had a good time, but Maggie and Lindsey had a blast too. Here are a view pics taken on my Treo (hence the poor quality)...

FrontRunner Ride

2008-05-21T10:51:00.005-06:00

My sister Katie took these pics of our FrontRunner ride a few weeks back on April 28th. UTA invited all elected officials to take a test ride before they opened the line. Being acquainted with some of the best train systems of Europe, I was impressed by how smooth and fast FrontRunner was, and was excited to take the kids on it.

We were at my folk's place in Woods Cross that day following my Grandma's funeral, so Grandma and Grandpa, Aunts Heather and Katie, and Uncle Doug all came with us. Let's just say that with it being standing room only (if there was that much room!), it wasn't as much fun as I had envisioned. I guess with it being the opening week a lot of other folks had the same idea. But the kids had a good time, and I guess that's what counts most, right?

That was my favorite test ever!

2008-05-08T15:07:00.003-06:00

Yesterday we took Lindsey to Primary Children's Hospital for a follow up EEG. We're suppose to do them every year, but getting it scheduled and done is always a pain! Thankfully, Brooke got her setup and scheduled.

After keeping her up until 11p on Tuesday (poor Brooke...she was alone on that one since I didn't get home from City Council meeting until after 1am), we then had to wake her at at 4am on Wednesday (well, it was suppose to be 4am, but it wound up being closer to 5am). Sleep-deprived kids are always a challenge!

Lindsey was pretty excited until it came to the ride up to SLC. Then she got nervous and upset. But after getting to the hospital, she felt more secure and settled right in. So thinks it is her hospital, so she was eager to point out all of the remolding changes they've made recently. Lindsey loves having her hair done, so attaching the "ribbons" was fun to her.

The test was over in about an hour. Then we took her to an early lunch at Jason's Deli (yum!) at the Gateway before dropping me back off at work. She zonked out shortly after getting back to Cedar Hills. She loves the stuffed rabbit and the froggy blanket she got from the hospital staff for being so brave!

In other late breaking news, Jake asked in last night's prayer, "please bless that all the germs and viruses will stay off my body, and please bless all the little people, that they won't die too soon." So for those who aren't as old as dirt yet, it sounds like you have a least one blessing coming your way!

Do I look like a mom?

2008-04-30T13:47:00.002-06:00

Lindsey is such a doll! She's very much into dressing up and her "looks" -- something that we're always trying to temper with other values. Yesterday, she grabbed her mom's shoes and went traipsing around the house. She even got her "big toe" into the little loop on Brooke's sandals. She was giggling and asking me if she looks like a mom. What do you think?

Ohhh! I miss Winnie and Grandma Choo-Choo so much already!

2008-04-24T16:49:00.002-06:00

As much as we miss Lindsey's Great Grandma Richardson, she was very releived that it wasn't Grandma Choo Choo that passed away yesterday. She was still sad, but I can tell that she really, really loves her Grandma Choo Choo a lot and was glad she can still be spoiled by her on a regular basis!

In other late news, Lindsey moved her Dora portrait from our bedroom wall to the foot of our bed. Now, everytime I go in our room Dora is looking at me! How did I get in this mess...

"Let blessings lay upon him and all the other things like that"

2008-04-08T11:00:00.005-06:00

Jake was so funny on Saturday night. I was in his room with him to put him in bed. As he said his prayer, I had to try hard to keep up straight face. He was so cute! He asked that President Monson would "have fun being the prophet and know that we love him." He then said, "Let blessing lay upon him and all the other things like that for him and the other people who need them."

I wish his mother and I were to "credit" for his sincere, mature prayers. Luckily, he caught enough of General Conference to be able to pick something meaningful up!

Mom, Can We Get Gerblers?

2008-03-09T19:38:00.003-06:00

Lindsey is quite the animal lover! She loves movies about animals. She gives extra-special care to all of her stuffed animals. And she likes to read books about animals.

Her cousins Rachel and Emily have some gerbils. This week she asked Brooke what the "gerblers" were named. I can only imagine Brooke busting up laughing! Brooke asked Lindsey what she thought the names were, and they talked about it for a while. I was just glad she didn't asked to get some "gerblers" of her own!

The kids are having a tent-over

2008-02-29T13:41:00.004-07:00

Jake and Lindsey (and sometimes Maggie too) are on a kick on having what we call tent-overs. That is, they like to pitch the tent upstairs in the play room and pretend like they're camping out. We let them do it on the weekends if they do a good job staying in the beds at night during the week.

They use to all too regularly come downstairs at night and crawl in our bed. It wouldn't be sooo bad except they love to kick and wiggle. Every once in a while would be ok, but when you get woke up every hour or two, it makes for a tough night's rest. So we told them that if they do a good job all week, they can have their tent-over on Friday night.

The first thing Lindsey said to me this morning was to remind me that this is tent night. As long as it works, I'm surely game!

Where exactly is Lindsey Land?

2008-02-27T11:00:00.002-07:00

Sometimes Lindsey just AMAZES me! She's typically very content doing her own thing in her own way. It's not that she doesn't play nice with other kids, its just that she's very happy doing things how she wants to on her own terms. She spends a lot of time daydreaming and pretending -- what we often call Lindsey Land. Sometimes her "blondeness" comes off a bit ditsy. But I'll tell you what! Even when you don't think she's paying attention, she's soaking things up like a sponge.

After getting home from work late Thursday, as I was putting her to bed, we went up to her room to read her new "Take Home Reading" book from preschool. She loves getting a new book each Thursday, and was excited to read it with me. She read the whole book and only got 2 words wrong!

I was pretty amazed, but figured she had read it a few times with Brooke. Our kids are not unlike other kids that quickly memorize things. After tucking Lindsey in bed, I told Brooke how amazed I was that Lindsey had "memorized" the book in one day. I about fell off the sofa when Brooke told me she hadn't read it with her yet! Lindsey has really increased her interest in reading over the past few months, and is doing really well -- esp. for a four year old -- but I had no idea she was doing that well!

Then on Sunday, we were sitting in sacrament meeting when Lindsey grabbed the hymnbook and wanted me to sing a song with her (during the sacrament no less!). Wondering what was going on in her head, I asked her what song it was. She looked at me with a "duh" look and said page 82!

Now I knew she was pretty good with numbers, and kids are suppose to know how to count to 20 before they go to kindergarten (next year for her!), but I didn't expect her to recognize higher numbers. So we kept going, turning the pages as she'd tell me the number...81...91..108...133...181...263...she got them all right! We are in so much trouble with her!!!

Finally, she's shown a real interests in learning how to tell time on an analog clock, which is earlier than Jake cared about it. I guess it could help that she has older brother to help. To say the least, while Jake is often a show-off spouting off about everything he knows about a topic, our quiet Lindsey Land girl is soaking things up like a sponge too! She's different from him in many ways, but is still very special and very sweet!

Celebrity Morph by MyHeritage

2008-02-24T16:28:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Celebrity Morph - Roots - Family history

Celebrity Morph by MyHeritage

2008-02-24T12:44:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities

Richardson Look-alike Meter

2008-02-23T20:22:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Richardson Look-alike Meter

2008-02-23T20:09:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Richardson Look-alike Meter

2008-02-23T20:05:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

Richardson Look-alike Meter

2008-02-23T20:01:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Family tree - Genealogy - Celebrity - Collage - Morph

Richardson Look-alike Meter

2008-02-23T19:57:00.001-07:00

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family tree template - Family search

Timp Cove Park Ribbon Cutting

2007-10-26T09:34:00.000-06:00

Stumbled upon some pics from the ribbon cutting for Cedar Hill's new Timp Cove Park that our friend Jim Perry took. The park is amazing with wonderful views over the whole valley. The kids had fun playing on the new playground equipment. It was a fun evening!

Jake's back from ClubPed

2007-10-25T16:03:00.000-06:00

Today was Jake's first full day back from his pneumonia induced hospital stay aka ClubPed. On Sunday we took Jake in to the ER at AF Hospital. He had had a fever, aches and pains, and a nagging cough for several days and just wasn't getting better. But Sunday he was also very dehydrated, so I took him to the InstaCare. Except InstaCare is not so instant, as it closes at 1pm on Saturdays and all day Sunday. Only in Happy Valley...

Anyhow, we didn't have to wait for long at the ER. Jake looked so pale and miserable that he didn't have to wait long at all. He even went in before the guy that chopped off the end of his finger on the miter saw and the lady complaining of chest pains (who also btw wound up have pneumonia).

After running all the test for influenza, strep, etc., etc. they determined that he had a pretty good case of pneumonia. They had to call staff in to open the pediatrics floor since they didn't have any patients! Once there though he was fully spoiled by all the staff. Evan after a couple of kids were admitted on Monday, Jake continued to rule the roost! Every time he had a chest xray, ultrasound, or other procedure he got a new toy. That place his many visitors including school friends and his teach added to the loot. I guess that means Brooke and I don't have to worry about Christmas now!

Yesterday that nearly made us go to Utah Valley Med Center to have the fluid in his lung cavity drained, but they decided to monitor it outpatient instead. We're glad to have our Jake back, but he took no break from letting Lindsey and Maggie know that he's back in charge now that he's home.

Ben's Birth!

2007-10-25T15:40:00.000-06:00

Well, here we are over a month later, but I thought we could start by posting some "baby 'en" pics from his birth. We were all enjoying the sunset while waiting for him to come. Once it was time, Ben came out expeditiously to the joy of all, but especially Brooke! Born at 8 lbs 2 oz, he continues to grow at a great rate defying all trends set by his older siblings...