THE ERIC AND LINDSAY RICHARDS FAMILY IS HERE!!

They will be here for one more week, but good luck trying to get a hold of them, boy are they busy. Even though their early arrival was for the funeral of our dear Grandma Cook we are sure glad they got to visit longer. It doesn't even seem like Eric and Lindsay have been gone when they are around, they fit right into place and add so much sarcasm, intelligence and fun to all the activities they are at!!

ERIC

Is extremely busy working hard through his first year residency in Portland, Oregon. He is really enjoying it and is trying to decide what is next. There are many options; fellowship? fellowship in Utah? (even though the program isn't as good) no fellowship and move to Utah? Or which purple shirt to buy? He isn't quite sure where he'll end up after these three years are through. Eric has definetely brought some style to Utah. Now we know that he doesn't want to enter the pull up contest because he says he can't do any, but i have secretly spied on him lifting 5 or 10 pounders downstairs with Tiger as his personal trainer so we will see what he can show us up at Woodland over conference weekend.

LINDSAY Ever since Lindsay's arrival she has been on the go. The night she arrived her little brother Nate got his mission call to Paraguay. Her mom had a birthday. She's been to three showers and hosted one. Not to mention she's been taking care of her darling girls, going to the movies and shopping up a storm. Lindsay is crossing her fingers that Eric will do a fellowship in Utah at the end of residency meaning they will move home just in time for Abby to start school. Meanwhile she is constantly working towards some kind of project at home and is a genius when it comes to paper and which purple shirt that Eric should buy.

ABBY JANE

Is just about the cutest three year old. Instead of talking to Lindsay and Eric about Abby I decided to ask Abby some questions. But I must add I was very impressed when Abby knew who I was, Eric and Lindsay are raising her right!. Abbie loves to play, she is definetely a girly girl who loves dress ups and princesses. She's going to school and loves to play and sing there. She loves anything that is sweet and told me she loves chocolate. She also really loves peanuts and cats. I noticed what a great helper and listener Abby is, she is definetely a great big sister. And she is not embarrassed to tell you that she hit someone, but is always saying she is sorry, especially to everyone around when Eric shows off his new purple shirt.

SARAHSarah is Lindsay and Eric's little wiggle worm. She is already getting sick of crawling and starting to walk around using whatever she can as an assistant. She has such a fun personality and laugh. She is such a sweet little girl following in the footsteps of her sister and mom. She is also becoming good friends with Lukey and have staring contests and see who can stare at the orange light longest when someone is taking a picture. She is so cute that even she knows that she looks better in purple than her father.

We love you Great Cookie!

Our Grandma, Great Grandma, and mother Nadine Cook passed away this week. We were sad to see her go but we are so grateful for what a wonderful life she lived.

We are so excited for her to be reunited with her sweet husband, Cal.

To view the obituary click here

http://www.legacy.com/DeseretNews/Obituaries.asp?Page=Lifestory&PersonId=125092993#

Will and Wendy! (sorry it is late!)

Hooray!  How fun! Dave and I got to talk to will and wendy for a bit to catch up on their lives, and update any of you who haven't had the opportunity to talk to them for a little while.  

Willard David:

Will is working really hard in school.  He loves it but it is tiring!  He's got a wonderful family though to help him through.  Yay for families and wonderful people like Wendy! 

We all know how outreaching Will is to the people around him. Right now he's doing his best to get to know as many people as he can in the business/law world.  He's in some leadership positions in a few business clubs! (???help me out wendy!  I'm sorry I'm forgetful...I don't know the names...)  He's getting his name out there.  What a motivated worker.  

Wendy and Will:

Wendy and Will are cub masters!  I bet their little boy scouts think they're pretty cool. They just helped organize the blue and gold dinner?  (That is what it is called, right? I guess I need to study up on boy scouts...) They also got to help the boys do car racing.  Pretty intense stuff.  I hope no parents went away with sad feelings...  :)  I'm sure you guys handled and organized it really well.  

Wendy!  

Wendy only has about 75 or so days left of pregnancy!  Wow!!!  It is getting so close!  You can do it Wendy!  A new boy.  How fun.  Good thing Annie has started becoming their little helper.  Wendy has also been working on a beautiful quilt.  Wendy, can you post a picture of it?  I'm sure we'd all love to see it.  I bet it looks rockin'.  Wendy is also teaching guitar and might start piano lessons.  I know from personal experience that Wendy is an amazing teacher! So motivating and willing to help.  Thanks Wendy for sharing your musical talent with your students, but especially with our family!  Love it.  

Annie Lou (our own little miss bright eyes!)

Like I mentioned a little bit earlier, Annie has become quite the helper!  She likes to take a fork or something, walk over to the table, and then walk back and hand it to you agian (correct me guys if I'm wrong...).  The fork somehow doesn't look the same as when it came out of the dishwasher though...  

Annie also has beautiful curly hair growing in too!  I can't wait to see it in a month.  What a beautiful daughter you guys have.  

Well there you have it!  That is just scratching the surface of Will and Wendy's wonderful lives.  There's much more to be discovered, but I'm grateful I got to catch up with them.  Dave and I love you all and appreciate all of your support and kindness!!  We are so excited to get some time with you this April.  Hooray!!!  

 

The Mother and the Father

So here it is, a long time coming, some of you out there think it has been too long, but nonethless, let the show begin.

So I was looking for pictures of Mom and Dad and came across this great family photo. It is a little old so I will name the people from left to right, we see Eric in the polkadot shirt with his lovely curls, Dad with the green shirt, Mom with the lovely pseudo behive, I don't know where her sleeves went, but you are looking young, and Vida was just finishing cleaning the house and was willing to stand in. Amy died her hair her Junior year of High School and is next to Will who has a really cheesey smile as always. Down in front we see Sam, Anna, and Kim. It was fun to see what we used to look like.

Okay it wasn't as funny as I thought, but we always called ourselves the Brady Bunch.

Mom and Dad have been working hard keeping things going. Dad is excited about his garage blooming in the spring when the ground thaws out. Mom is working hard with Anna to get everything just right for the wedding. She has also been working very hard helping Grandma Cook clean out her appartment.

I asked them a few questions to try and open up their darkest secrets. So here it is.

We asked them what kind of bird they related with and Mom said (Dad said that she was like a dove because she was full of love) a tweety bird.

Dad said that he felt like a Teradactal, because it is bald and weird

Favorite candybar

Mom: Baby Ruth

Dad: Reeces or Snickers or fifth avenue

Can of soup

Mom: Cream of Chicken.

Dad: Chilie without beans.

Favorite Vacation stop

Dad: Bulgaria

Mom: Tie between a warm beach and England.

How often they shower

Mom: Only when its hot.
Dad: When he is at Woodland

Favorite pair of shoes

Mom: Clogs or any shoe that is too big.

Dad : Biking Shoes

Favorite Toothpaste

Dad: None

Mom: She answered for Dad but never answered for herself.

Here comes Santa Claus

Santa came again this year...looking as good as ever!

He always is so sweet and gentle to the ladies. He tells us how wonderful we are. What a man.The grandkids are always fun to watch because you never know how they will react. Ella is old enough that she was excited and didn't seem to be scared. Preston was willing to sit on his lap but wouldn't say a word and had a sort of stone face. It was so great having Will and Wendy and Annie back home. It made things feel right again. Wendy had two to sit on Santa's lap. We can't wait for May!Annie was sure to let Santa know just how she felt. She didn't want anything to do with him and when Will tried to put her on his lap, she held her legs as high as she could so they wouldn't touch him. Next year will be better. Sam wrestled as ususal and thought he won. No one will ever beat Santa!Amanda did the collect the pjs and run routine. It is always so fun to watch the first meeting with Santa. Dave, we're so glad you're here to stay!Anna, no laughing!

Kim the smart one in the family covered up with a huge bath robe to prevent shaving cream on any of her clothes.

(I saw Mommy kissing Santa Claus...What a pair!)

Away in a Manger

Christmas Eve is always very special at the Richards home.

Mom makes a great dinner, and luckily Josh got to come for a little while before he had to go to work for the evening.

Dad always tries to help us remember the "true meaning of Christmas" by presenting a thought or creating a stable in the livingroom. This year we talked a lot about the new year and what it would bring to each person. He called it a "Gift from God". We really are blessed and although there are many trials that we deal with, this year is going to be just that, a gift.

So we had a nativity dramatization. Eric and Lindsay live in Portland and so since they weren't able to be here for Christmas, they were our audience via web cam. Abby, Sarah, Eric and Lindsay were all in attendance.

And it came to pass...Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem on the donkey, Small One, and Mary had her baby, Jesus.

Then the angel appeared to the shepherds and announced that the baby had been born and that they should go and tell everyone.

The wisemen came bearing gifts.

In the meantime, there were angels, wisemen, and shepherds all around the world that decided to come and see the baby. They all gathered together and sang beautiful carols celebrating His birth. What a wonderful event.

HOT DOGS!

Meet Amanda and Sam...or is it Sam and Amanda...or is it the Richards?............... Ahhh I'm not ABC's!

These two carnivores are madly in love and boy does it show?

They have been married now for 5 months. Everyone remember? August 1st right? Polka Dots? It was a smash. So what have these two love birds been up to?

Well, Sam is working on fulfilling his dream of playing for the Utah Jazz. Amanda has been very supportive of this. She even agreed to work overtime nannying her nieces and nephews. Some people have been saying that she floats down from the sky with her umbrella. She is an excellent wife as well. She cooks and cleans and slaves away to keep Sam alive.

They are both studying hard in school even as we speak. Luckily they have lots of ways to burn off some of some steam, like going to the Utah games. Yes Josh, the University of Utah...the team that beat BYU....bad. Thanks, Sam and Amanda for staying true to your Utah roots that your beloved parents instilled in you.

Sam however has been working hard to save our economy. He has been nominated for a position in President-elect Obama's economic revitalization committee. He has been asked to serve as Lead Teller at Wells Fargo Bank to help stabilize our economy. He has two jobs. He delivers packages of bacon to Kim who is lost up in the woods. (Amanda rides in the carriage though, she is scared of wolves). Second, He works day and night handing out stimulus packages to loyal customers who go through his drive-through. The only sad part is then they pull forward from the window sucking on that yummy sucker he has just given them and....oh no!!!!! ram the back of his car .


The last piece of news is that Sam and Amanda are...

excited for Christmas. They will be giving out signed autographed posters of Sam's accident.

Yes, don't you want to know what happened. Well, it is a great story. See, Sam loves Doritos. It is his life-blood, especially with Pace Salsa. Now, one day, he and amanda were at the grocery store. Sam wanted Doritos, Amanda wanted Skittles- her daily sustinence. The got into a little tiff, and well, as they were "hotly" debating which product to buy, all of a sudden, a cat jumped out from the shelf of chips and landed on Amanda's back. Sam new he had to do something. He had promised to love and protect her all the days of his life and so he sacrificed his addiction to save her and grabbed the cat. It freaked. Then Kim ran out from the shelf of chips. She had been hidding eating doritos in the shelf and tried to get the cat off Sam, but it was too late. Kim knew she should never have taken Tiger to the store with her. Tiger was still hungry and knowing that Tiger loves Doritos too, was upset at Amanda for wanting Skittles. So Tiger attacked. Sam's face has been healing, slowly. It will be back to normal some day. They finally decided to get both the Doritos and the Skittles.

Thank goodness they have each other. We are so grateful to have them. We love you both and I would now like to do a post on the 10 things I love most about each of them, but that would be too cheesey and annoying so I won't. Merry Christmas Richardseses.