Goodbye Richardsons!

Its depressing, but true-our dear friends the Richardsons have official moved to Iowa. I've lost my soul sister and hate it already!

End of Summer Fun!

Although Greg was still in Dallas and wouldn't be able to join us, Rachel, Erin and I decided we needed one last trip before summer band started. We decided to pack our bags and head to Utah with the goal of hanging with the northern Utah cousins. We had originally planned on flying out on Thursday, but once again flights didn't cooperate. So we had to leave a day early. After getting someone to pick up my shift at work, and a very kind offer from my sister-in-law Michelle to pick us up at the airport at midnight--we were on our way.

We spent Thursday at Kevin and Michelle's house. We spent our first day at Kevin and Michelle's. Kevin is out of town, but got to spend a lot of time with Catherine and some with Michelle, and Grandma and briefly with Grandpa and Nick.

Rachel and Erin really wanted to spend time with their little cousins, so we arranged to pick up Jenna and Garret Friday morning and spend the day with them. While doing some research on possible activities I discovered that our membership to the Houston Zoo would get us free admission to the Hogle Zoo, so the decision was made to spend the day at the zoo. Jenna and Garrett were so much fun, and ran out of steam just before it was time to leave. Randy and Becca both got hung up at work, so we drove to their house and waited for them to be able to slip away. Once they were home, we all went out to dinner--which was a great ending to a very fun day.







We rode the carousel











and the train















We saw lots of animals. We loved the giraffes...


















... and Jenna loved the snakes








Jenna and Garrett both needed their own map and Garret was better at reading it then we were.












Garrett tried bagels and cream cheese--and was surprised he liked it!










After we left dinner, the girls and I headed up to Provo. We had made arrangements to spend the night at Amanda Robinson's grandparents house for the night. Amanda is currently living with them for the summer while she attends BYU. And her grandparents were out of town so she was thrilled to have some company. We had also contacted Clarissa McLemore and Tiffany Pyper in hopes that we could all go see a movie together. Clarissa made it, but Tiff was swamped and didn't see the message until Saturday. The Dark Knight opened that night and we had hoped to go see it--but Amanda and Clarissa weren't able to buy tickets in advance and by the time we started hitting theatres it was sold out everywhere. So instead we opted for Wall-E. It was pretty cute and we had a great time hanging with the girls.






The girls and I hanging at the mall












Rachel & Clarissa













Amanda & Rachel















Sweat treats before the movie








We got up Saturday morning and headed to Brett and Tonia's. Randy and Becca came up too and we all went hiking to Stewart Falls. I had never heard of this waterfall before this month, but before we left for Utah I saw photos of a trip that Cindy Richardson took to see it while visiting her daughter Melissa. It looked pretty cool, so I talked everyone into going--making sure they understood that they were going to have to be patient with hiking with an old, out of shape woman who lives at sea level. It was a pretty intense hike (especially for us oxygen deprived Houstonians) and very dusty, but it was so worth it. It was a beautiful hike and a great photo op with the waterfall. After we finished the hike, we cleaned off the dirt as best we could and went out for Mexican food. We then returned to Bret and Tonia's and hung out the rest of the day. It was Brett & Tonia's anniversary and we had told them to cancel their babysitter and we would play with their boys while they celebrated. Randy and Becca stayed the rest of the day too--so we all had a great time.






Start of the hike














Sam, Cobe and Erin
















Becca and Randy














Cousins
















Rachel and Jenna enjoy a rest at the top














Stewart Falls




































Two tired hikers














On the way down--check out the dirt on my legs













On Sunday we went to church with Tonia and the boys (Brett had to work), and after lunch went back to Kevin & Michelle's. Michelle had friends in from out of town and had a big game night. So we were able to spend a little more time with the Stays and enjoy some serious gaming. We flew home the day after lunch at Carl Jr's with Michelle, Nick and Catherine. It was great end of summer trip!






Lunch with Michelle, Nick and Catherine

Totally Creepy!

We had a creepy experience last night. Cindy and Jessica Richardson had been over for pizza and a game of Taboo--which is a lot of fun and not the creepy part (we are trying to get a lot of partying done before they leave for Iowa). About 30 minutes after they left, Cindy came back looking for her phone. I let Dakota out of the front door to run around a bit. She is actually getting better at coming back inside when we are done, so I give her a little more freedom at times. But last night she wasn't finished exploring when I was ready to go in, so I left her out (she now comes and scratches the front door when she is ready to come in--which is an ok system as long as she stays away from the cars). Anyway, I was upstairs when she scratched, so Erin let her in. I came downstairs to get my phone, and could hear Dakota chewing on something. Dakota loves to rip appart stuffed animals and I thought she had popped an eye out of one them and was chewing on it. So I went over to her to check it out and I could take it away whatever she had so she didn't choke on it. She was lying on the carpet in front of the TV. I walked up to her and said "what are you chewing on girl?" and looked down. Then I totally freaked out. She had a rather large mouse (or small rat--not that it matters which) that she had chewed the face off of. I screamed and jumped back by my bedroom door. Erin, who was at the computer, asked what was wrong so I told her that Dakota had a mouse. She yelled and jumped over by me. I am not sure why it creeped me out so much, but we are talking really loud and fast about what we are going to do--Erin suggest calling Cindy Richardson to come back and take care of it, but she was on her way to the airport to pick up their cousin. So I called Greg, who was in Dallas for work, and told him about it. This conversation was done in a rather loud and slightly hysterical manner. I strongly complained that he wasn't here to take care of it because I didn't want to do it! I finally calmed down, put on a rubber glove, and put the mouse in a grocery bag that I then walked out the trash on the curb. It really was disgusting, but once again I am not exactly sure why I freaked out like that. It is really too bad we weren't being video taped, because I am sure it was hilarious! Probably could have made some serious money with that tape! You would have been laughing your head off!

Dakota loves to chew on things....

...but this time it wasn't a cute photo oportunity!

Eat More Chikin!

Today was Cow Appreication Day at Chick-fil-A. This is described as "an unofficial – yet nationally recognized holiday" where a free combo meal is given to any customer who comes to one of the chain’s restaurants fully dressed as a cow. Since the girls love Chick-fil-A, they got together with Cory Martin, and Justin and Logan Pyper to create costumes and get their free food. They got pretty creative with paper, scissors, socks, sweats, gloves and markers and made themselves some great outfits--including udders that were inspired by Bishop Martin. When they got to Chick-fil-A, they had the best costumes of anyone one. Turns out, dressing "Head to Toe" didn't mean you had to be quite this elaborate with your costume. But the kids had a great time creating their cow looks and made a fun summer memory!

A 4th of July for two

This year Greg and I were on our own for the 4th of July. I had the day off, so we didn't have to worry about work. We spent the morning at the ward's annual pancake breakfast. Greg went earlier than I did because the bishopric had to cook and I wanted to sleep, but we did get to have a few minutes together at the breakfast. Afterwards we came home, made a flag cake and watched a movie together. Later, we went over to the Martins for dinner and fireworks with the Ferris, Greenwood and VanMonfrons families. It was strange celebrating without any kids, but there were plenty of kids to keep us entertained. It was a very fun 4th of July.

EFY

The girls were able to go to Especially For Youth in San Antonio again this year. I love sending the kids to EFY because they always come home with such strengthened testimonies. It truly is an amazing program.

I can't believe that Erin is old enough to go this year. She was so excited that she couldn’t stop talking about it for days, and had EFY packing piles all over her room. She roomed with Jessica Richardson and also was able to spend time with Juliana Stewart who came from Australia to attend with them. Rachel roomed with Lauren Kennington again this year and they had a great time.

This year I was driving up to EFY and the Kenningtons were bringing the girls back home. As always, when it was time to load the cars we had way more luggage than I thiought we should. Luckily, we had two cars going up with 6 girls, so their was plenty of room for all their stuff. I drove Rachel, and Lauren and Lindsey Kennington in our van and Erin, Jessica and Juliana rode with Juliana's mom, Barbara. I think I definately got the better end of that deal. My girls were relatively calm and quiet, and all of them slept at least part of the way. Barbara wasn't so lucky, although she said she enjoyed the girls company so it was all good. Monday was a very long day. We had at 3 1/2 hr drive to San Antonio and then had to go through the check-in process. Next we went to the three different buildings the girls were in (Rachel and Lauren were in one building, Erin, Jessica and Juliana in another, and Lindsey in a third) and dropped their things into their rooms. By this time we were starving, so we headed out to find a place for lunch. It is always difficult to find my way around Trinity College and discover a place to eat, but this time we stumbled across a great one--Cheesy Janes, where the girls enjoyed yummy burgers and shakes, and I had an order of nachos. Cheesy Janes didn't sound appealing to Juliana, but luckily there was a subway next door--so Barbara, Juliana and Erin went and had lunch there.

After we were done eating, it was back to the dorms, where the girls had to rush to change into their EFY shirts and get to the opening activities. I said goodbye to Barbara, and then met up with Elena Robinson. We had planned to get together and have lunch, but the drop offs had taken so long we didn't have time for anything but a quick stop at McDonalds in a local Walmart. This was a bummer, as I had looked forward to spending time with my friend, but we made the best of the time we had and enjoyed catching up with each other. After eating, I had to hit WalMart for the things the girls had forgotten--pillows and cheesecake jello for Rachel and batteries for Erin, then it was back to the dorms to drop them off in Rachel's room. I finally got back on the road around 4, and made it back to Houston around 7:30. It was a very long day--but definately worth it. EFY is worth any sacrifice!

The girls came home today on a spiritual high. I loved hearing about their experience and also listening to their new EFY CD--one of the best parts of the week. These are such good CDs that Erin had promised Joe before he left on his mission that she would mail hers to him once she got home--and when I told him I was sending it, he said he flet like a nerd being so excited about getting a CD for an EFY he never attended. Too funny! I am so grateful that the girls were able to have this experience. EFY is a great blessing in our lives!

Jessica, Rachel, Juliana and Erin

Erin's group

Lauren and Rachel

Rachel's group