The Deseret News Marathon!!!

Jon ran the marathon last weekend, and since I forgot my camara, I had to use a disposable one.... I just got the pictures developed onto a disk so here they are!! Jon ran it in 4 hours and 44 minutes!!! So proud of him!!

Lousy Blogger....

Yeah I know I am a lousy blogger and the bad thing is that I have no excuses for my laziness. I am sitting here listening to music all alone in my house everyone is gone. The girls are in Phoenix visiting the grandparents, and Jon is at work, my mother is looking for work and here I sit with my house clean, laundry done and put away, so I thought I'd get caught up on the blog, so here it goes.....

Random activities at school and Megans 14th birthday!

Yet another Twilight cake!! Happy Birthday Megara 14yrs!

Megan had her birthday a week after we got home. Yeah she got a laptop! Spoiled girl, but she earned it! Way to get great grades Meggie!

Here's Hailey coming out of her classroom in the trailer! Yeah too many kids for the school so they had 3 classroom trailers in the back of the school! Sure miss Fort Rucker schools! Don't even get me started....

The 6th grade made masks out of balloons and newspaper... it was for history but I forget what they called them. They looked Egyptian.

Alicia ran the year end school run. She's a bit winded here. We had just gotten back and coming from sea level to 4500 ft, the air was a bit thinner...

Alicia got a Citizenship Award at the end of the year. She was only there a month, but this says a lot about her character. This award is awarded by her peers.

Alicia's class had a poetry reading program. Here she is giving that winning dimple smile of hers!

Days after we got home Emma's kindergarden had a bike rodeo, and here she is being a trooper since her bike as a back flat tire.... I felt like such a looser mom! She had a great attitude though. Go Emma-leigh!

Hailey with her certificate! Here she comes Clark Johnson Jr. High!

Hailey receiving her 6th grade graduation certificate

Megans 8th grade Graduation

Beautiful pic of Megan holding graduation certificate. Here she comes SHS !! (Stansbury High School)

Megan receiving her graduation certificate from 8th Grade

Family camping Trip

Hailey striking a pose while Jon (in the background) is lookin for wood for the fire

Alicia inside the camper

Our friends let us borrow their trailer so we could go camping! It was the Richardson's first successful camping trip ever! Note the little purple tent.... yup, that's the camp toilet tent!

S'mores are awesome!

Megan's double decker S'more!!

Military Day at the Hogle Zoo SLC, Utah

I was in such a rush to post the pics that I didn't have a chance to put any explanations to them. In the pictures of the graduation, there is a picture of Jon with each one of the girls and one with Jon and his parents. Jon gave each one of the girls their own Apache necklace on his graduation as a way of saying thank you for supporting him and helping him get through flight school. I of course got my "PHT"(Pushing Honey Through) award/wings necklace the night of the ball. He also gave his parents their own set of wings as well! The trip back home was long but fast! We did 15 hours the first day, then 14 hours the second day, and about 8 hours the last day! Needless to say we were pretty tired upon arriving at our house! I had some wonderful friends help me unpack and make the beds etc... which was wonderful. Ever since then I have been unpacking our things and purging my house at the same time. My mother lives with us as well, so I am packing her things, so I can make room for mine. It is at times a daughnting task but I will get there someday. The kids are back in school and are making friends and connecting with their old friends as well. Life hasn't slowed down in the least bit, with the school year ending there are so many things to go to and do, and Jon's super busy in his new job! We got here on a Saturday and he was at work that next Monday! Megan just celebrated her 14th birthday! WOW (pictures will come shortly). All in all we are doing well! We love being home, but a part of our hearts will always be in the South!!!

Welcome Home Richardsons!

Moving back to Utah

Graduation!!!!

The Graduation Ball

Random Thoughts...

I am just sitting here, looking at my boxes, and my house in it's cluttered state, and thinking about how quickly time has gone by. It seems like yesterday we were just in the in-processessing stage, and now we are in the out-processing stage. I have loved being here in Alabama so much. When you allow yourself to fully take in all a place has to offer, not only do you have an appreciation for the place and the people you meet, you also get attached and have to say "Goodbye." This part I am not so good at. I will miss so much about the south. I will miss:
The beautiful lush trees, everywhere I look
The closeness to the beach, where we went often
The friendliness of the people
How religious the people are here, whether they are LDS or not
The religious billboards (believe it or not!)
My most awesome friends in the Ozark Ward, and serving in the RS Presidency
All my friends I made on post, and their generosity
Living on Post and all the perks from doing so
All the lessons and activities the Youth Services provided for my children
The Diner
The beautiful Azaleas
The Magnolia trees
Hearing helicopters fly over my house
My friends at the Bus Barn
The free Gym on post
Being around all the soldiers and their families, because we are all in the same boat
Fort Rucker Primary School
Fort Rucker Elementary School
Being in a gated community where I feel very safe
The fun activities that housing and MWR offered to us
The beautiful weather
Paying absolutely nothing for our medications
The very nice gate guards who always had something nice to say and a smile
Thank you to all of you who have made our stay here a time we will never forget. We take with us many wonderful memories and friendships we will treasure for a lifetime. Thank heavens for Facebook and e-mail, and blogs that allow us to keep in touch in our busy lives!!! If anyone ends up in Utah for any reason, I hope you will call us so we can get together!

This program was out of this world! The children were so well behaved, and sung beautifully. They had hand motions and facial expressions, and looked like they were having a great time! I was so proud of Emma! She is growing up so quickly....She's so cute!!

Emma's Kindergarden Singing Program 2009 Fort Rucker Primary School

Emma's Birthday Party!!! She's 6!!!!

Family Day Apaches!!

My B-Day Present!

This is the newest member of the Richardson Family! His name is Jack~Rucker Richardson! He was born on November 17,2008, Jon gave him to me for my birthday!

Day on the Trampoline!

Facebook...

So I have neglected my blog, since I have now found facebook..... it's fun to reconnect with old friends and long lost family. But I still like my blog. Not much happening here lately except that Jon is still in the "BAG" and should hopefully check out of the bag today... keep your fingers crossed, since it didn't happen yesterday either. Then we are onto nights! It's been "Butt-chappin" cold here lately, so we are bundling up, and thanks to an awesome friend lending us her car, Jon isn't freezing on his motorcycle.

Emma is sick, but should be going back to school tomorrow. She felt nausious at school yesterday and on the way to the nurses office she nearly passed out, so I got her home, and she slept for a long, long time, and then she was fine, although she still gets sluggish and is a bit tempramental, I think she will be alright. The Dr. said to watch her today (so I get the afternoon off from work) , and tomorrow she will go back to school. They took her blood, which she didn't like to much... who does anyway.... then she had to pee in a cup, in which she had this to say.... "Mom,.... that's just not normal" he, he, he So we wait to see if anything comes of the tests. But for right now, I get mom and Emma time. I'm lovin that!

Hair 911

Ok, so my hair was damaged when I got here 1 1/2 years ago, and so, I got it cut, and now somehow it is much shorter than I ever wanted it to be.... so, here is my dilema. I want to re grow my hair out, but am frustrated with the inbetween stages!!!!! I really want some bangs but everytime I go to a hairdresser, they talk me out of it..... I also have too much hair (thick), and ununiformly wavy/curly hair....., so I'd like it thinned out, but have no idea of what kind of haircut would meet my critieria without shortening my already short hair. I am in need of a good hairstyle that would grow out nicely as well as look nice in the process!!!!!!!!!! Any ideas for me???? I am not good with hair!

We had a great time together this year at our timeshare in Orlando! The weather was great we got to go to 3 awesome places, had a pink tree and a cake from 7-Eleven! We couldn't have asked for a better vacation. The Kingston resort was beautiful, the weather was 80 degrees and the pools were awesome! Swimming on Christmas was something I thought I'd never do, but there we were swimming and having a great time. Yes we had a pink tree, only because that is all we could find. It started to grow on me after a while and didn't look that bad. The cake.... well we were going to get one from Publix on our way home from Busch Gardens, but can you believe the stores close early on Christmas Eve???? he, he, he,..... well we tried everywhere, Walmart (which was also closed), CVS Pharmacy, Walgreens, even an international store... so our last attempt was 7-Eleven, and wouldn't you know they had an 8 inch holiday decorated cake!!! It was even pretty good too!! We cooked all our meals in the condo, and preferred eating there instead of out all the time. It was awesome because everyone kicked in and helped. Jon and I had our own section of the condo, and the kids were on the other side with 2 double beds, their own bathroom, and little kitchenette with fridge, microwave, and sink! Needless to say we didn't want the fun to end. Now we are back to reality taking away with us some really awesome memories. I love travling with my family we have so much fun together! The girls travel really well together, which is the best! The mililtary has afforded us so many opportunities to see the country and see things we wouln't have been able to otherwise. I love being in the south and seeing all beauties it has to offer. I am going to miss this place a TON!!!!

Christmas in Orlando!!!

Third Stop.... Busch Gardens!!!

Second Stop.... Downtown Disney!!!

First Stop... Kenney Space Center

Youth Temple Trip in Atlanta Georgia

Saturday we went to the temple with the Youth, and we had the BEST Day! It was so nice to be in the temple with 2 out of my 4 daughters. Both Jon and I went with them. It will be a day we never forget. It was wonderful for me as their mother to see their testimonies grow right before my eyes, and to listen tell me of their feelings that they had in the temple made me so happy for them. They are growing up so quickly, but I do know that they have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and that brings a lot of peace to my mind and soul. I love my girls so much each one of them and look forward to the day when we can all attend the temple together!

After the we were done at the temple we went to the church home storage center and picked up some supplies for canning, and then we went over to PF Changs for dinner, we were all starving. The Wikles and the Spencers went with us. It was awesome, and then we drove home. Everyone seemed to get along really well and there were no fights! Thanks to the Wikles for helping with Emma and Alicia while we were in the temple!! We couldn't have had that great experience without your help. You are good friends! We owe ya one!

Hailey celebrated her birthday with her friends and had a really good time. It was a "Twilight" party! They just hung out and watched a "Chick Flick" and then had pizza and then cake and ice-cream. Turns out they all had a great time and liked the fact that it was low key. It was definately easy on the budget! I'm really glad Hailey's made such good friends here. It will be hard when we all go our separate ways, but they are lifetime friends for sure! Happy Birthday Hailey!

Hailey Turns "12" !!!!!

Thanksgiving

I know I am extremely slow at posting these pictures, but better late than never. We had a great Thanksgiving. We started out the day at the Turkey Bowl, and then headed over to the Magonigals house for dinner! It was really good, and the turkey was so moist and Stacey made the BEST cranberry sauce, to die for, really it was so good. The kids played and we adults visited and it was so nice and low key.

Any Ideas?????

So if you look at the picture below, you will see my house as I left it about 2 years ago.... It needs some vegitation badly!!! Any ideas as to what I should plant when I get back??? It faces North, so it doesn't get alot of sun..... I know I want to put a couple of trees in the mow strip, but that's about it..... HELP!!!

This is My House in Utah.......

Yesterday Felt Weird....

Ok, so it is a tradition of mine to go out on Black Friday and grab all the deals. It's part of the holiday season for me to get up before the crack of dawn and get to the stores and wait in line to get in. But this year, we did our shopping about 3 weeks ago.... so we are totally DONE!! With a few minor exeptions, so we stayed home all day long watching Smallville's 7th Season on DVD. We were total bums all day long, stayed in our jammies and everything and ate a ton of left over pie and turkey! We are going to Orlando this Christmas so we didn't buy a bunch of stuff, the vacation is our big thing this year. If any of you know of any fun spots to hit in Orlando let us know, we have a whole week to fill! At any rate, Happy Holidays to everyone!!!!