Ushering in the Season

We had a great time celebrating the birth of Jesus this year.  The kids participated in their Christmas program at church....

 

 We went to the local Christmas parade to support our friends.

 We went Christmas caroling...

  We decorated the tree...

And all before leaving for Oregon on the 19th.  It was a busy but fun couple of weeks.

A Day at Del Mar

Our family, if you haven't guessed by reading my other blog posts, loves the horse races.  It's a fun way to spend the afternoon out in the sunshine with the family.  So we headed south toward San Diego to meet up with our friend Charlotte and stay with our friend, Quinn.  We had a great time with Charlotte at the horse races (see her in the picture with my kiddos).  Unfortunately, Quinn wasn't home, but her daddy was so we settled for staying with him.  Lucky for us, he lives just a golf ball shot to the ocean so we spent the following day as beach bums.  Life in Southern California can be so rough.

Burning Calories

We went for a hike with my new sister around our lake on Thanksgiving day before heading over to stuff ourselves with turkey.  It was a beautiful day for a walk and the kids made the whole trip, which is about  8 miles total!

Our "Under the Sea" Halloween

 Duh, I'm a jellyfish (and I light up, which was cooler in the dark)

 My little turtle boy (he insisted that the shell I made be able to carry his candy, which it did)

 My sassy little mermaid (she LOVES the colored wigs for some reason)


Our trunk-or-treat decorations.  Unfortunately it was about 4 degrees outside so she and I both froze!

Another Homecoming

Every October, we journey back to our alma mater to visit those with whom we graduated.  This year was no exception.  Afterward we attended the family carnival where there were blow up bounce houses, face painting, a beer/wine garden, balloon sculpting clowns, all the free food you can eat, carnival rides and some really great fish stories.  Here's a shot of Daddy and his little girl, enjoying a trip down a huge inflatable slide.

What Adventures Lie Ahead

You should never underestimate the potential any given night has in becoming memorable.  This was no exception.  We went to some friends' house for a simple barbeque, just a few families enjoying each other's company.  But then....

...the kids came running into the house yelling "We saw a deer!  We saw a deer!"  Oh, did I forget to mention that it was opening day for deer archery hunting?  Oh and did I ALSO forget to mention that one of the dads with us had his bow in the car?  Well, one good shot, some skillful tracking and a few hours later....

A night that none of us will soon forget!

Fall Traditions

Every year we have several fall traditions that we enjoy as a family together.  One of the things is we usually go to Mexico with our paternal side of the family for the week prior to Halloween.  We make an effort to enjoy the season though by carving pumpkins before we leave.  For the first time this year, the kids were allowed to carve their own artwork.  Daddy carved a tuna into his pumpkin, my little prince carved a scary face and my princess carved shapes into hers.

 When we get back (usually on the day of or before Halloween) we do final touches on our costumes and take our pumpkins up to the forest for the woodland creatures to feast upon at night.  They never last more than a couple days, depending on the weather, so something out there enjoys them.  I remember seeing the zoo leaving pumpkins in the cages for the animals to play with in the fall.  We have seen the bears feast on them, the hippos demolish them and the elephants toss them like balls.  That's what I like to think happens to our masterpieces... well, except it's probably not hippos... I hope.

Story about a Duck

Here's a little story about a duck named "feathers"

Imagine a man who works with his hands is outside working and sees a mama duck.  Now imagine that mama duck has a trail of 10 or so baby ducklings behind her (I'm talking BABY baby ducks...itty bitty ones).  Mama duck is walking along a tall wall and sees some stairs so she goes down them.  The baby ducks, still waddling in a line behind each other, stay on the wall, unaware of mom's diversion.  Mom waddles along a bit more, realizes that the babies have not followed her, and calls up to them.  The babies, in angst over their mother's separation, attempt to jump to her.  One after one, the baby ducklings don't survive.  Perhaps only 3 of the ten make the jump safely.  One of them has a hurt foot and cannot keep up as momma duck waddles away with the remaining 3 of the original 10 baby ducks.  All of this is viewed by the man working with his hands outside.  He sees the injured duck and makes his way to it, scoops it up into his hat and nurtures it as he brings it home.  Now image that man has a daughter.  That daughter LOVES animals and quickly comes to the aid of the duck and names it "feathers".  The girl helps her father make a crate for "feathers" and raise it from barely a handful of down to a full grown adult duck.  She feeds it, plays with it, cares for it and eventually realizes that ducks are better off in the wild.  She comes to a hard realization of the love it takes to set something free.  It takes a special kind of heart to make a sacrifice like that.  Imagine this proud mom and dad sniffing and blinking as their daughter releases "feathers" into a lake. 

My Brother Finally Wises Up

 My little ring bearer and my parents

 My 3 gorgeous nieces

 Table #1 at rehearsal dinner

 Table #2 at rehearsal dinner

 The beautiful bride

The church

 Our side of the family

 The flower girls

My littler sister & my bigger brother, all smiles after the ceremony

Ida-who?

We took a little trip up north to visit some dear friends this month.  We had an excellent time playing in the rivers, going bike riding, seeing wildlife, visiting, cooking together, playing on their farm, picking apples and blueberries, getting into shenanigans, going mutton-bustin', and wielding deadly weapons.  It may have been the first trip we took to visit them but it will most likely not be the last.

Oregon Comes to Cali

My best friend from my home town came down to visit us this summer.  She brought her daughter and their friend and we did some sight seeing.  We went to six flags, Hollywood, the Santa Monica Pier, had In n Out and pretty much did the whole "touristy" thing.  I miss those girls a bunch when they're gone but when they come back to visit it's like we never left.  That's the best kind of friend.

Family Picture

The Richardson clan cleans up nice.

Pointers from a Pro

My husband's dear cousin got married right after we got back from Hawaii and my daughter was her flower girl.  Since the bride was very active in ballet growing up and throughout college, she asked my little ballerina to perform some dance moves down the aisle.  Of course, my princess was thrilled to get to perform and especially to get some pointers from the beautiful bride.

Pictures from Our Hawaii Trip

There's just too much to tell in a blog.  Next time you are at my house then ask to see the scrapbook I made of the trip.  It was AWESOME!