The Ricks Family

My birthday is coming up. Just sayin'.

2012-01-13T17:54:00.001-08:00

"Cheeeese"

2011-12-21T14:16:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I forgot to post our new family pictures and Jocelyn's 1 year pictures. A friend in our ward took them all and she did great. We split them into two sessions so Jocelyn would last and she did okay for the family ones. It was cold and windy. She did lots better for her 1 year shots. It wasn't as cold and she had more entertainment. So here are some of my favorite shots.

Family Shoot:

1 Year Shoot:

Hope you enjoyed them as much as we did!

Jocelyn's First Birthday Party

2011-12-10T13:26:00.000-08:00

We went to Dave's dad's house for Jocelyn's birthday party. We had dinner and then the real fun began. Jocey's great-grandpa, uncle, aunt, and cousins joineds us for cake and present opening. She was a little too polite with the cake. I wanted her to tear into it and get chocolate all over her face but instead she just prodded it for a little bit.

Once we cut the cake for her she started eating it more.

She got a bunch of super cute clothes and some fun toys.

And here are the decorations I made (and bought) and the super cute cakes a friend in our ward made just for Jocey. She did such a great job.

My Baby is 1!

2011-12-09T13:43:00.000-08:00

Jocelyn just had her first birthday on Wednesday. It's hard to believe a year has already passed. And harder to believe that she has grown from this:

to this:

So here are a few things about Jocelyn. She has been walking for about 2 months now. She loves to read and play with her stuffed animals.

She can say "mama" and "dada" though I don't think she has completely associated them with Dave and I. She can sign "more" so that I give her food and she loves to feed herself.

She loves to dance. She can make sounds like a puppy and train. She can clap, give high-fives, wave bye-bye or night-night, and click her tongue. And above all she can be so cute. Jocelyn has brought so much joy to our lives and I can't imagine life without her. Happy Birthday Jocelyn! We love you!

Here are her stats from her 1 Year Check-Up:

Weight-18lbs (7%)

Height-30 3/4 in (93%)

Head Circumference- 18 in (85%)

Pizza, Pumpkin Carving, and Sugar Cookies

2011-11-08T10:38:00.000-08:00

We met up with our friends, the Hudsons, the week before Halloween to do some serious pumpkin carving. But first we ate some delicious pizza and then we got down to business. The boys carved open the tops and cleaned out the pumpkins and then us ladies cut out the awesome faces.

Knives kind of scare me.

Our pumpkin is the bottom one. I wanted eye lashes. Yeah, I know. I'm a really good carver.

The girls.

After pumpkin carving we had some sugar cookies that were so carefully decorated by the men. Some were booby trapped but we still enjoyed them. We always have such a fun time with the Hudsons. It's nice to catch up on life and just have some fun. And thanks Marianne for taking pictures, these pictures.

S.W.A.P.

2011-10-27T09:51:00.001-07:00

There are So Many Awesome Posts (S.W.A.P.) below. Enjoy!

The Spookiest Halloween Party Ever!

2011-10-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

Our friends had a Halloween Party last weekend. It was pretty awesome. They had amazing decorations, amazing costumes, and amazing food. We had a good time, though I was really tired by the end because I was still on Kansas time. So here are some pictures of the awesomeness.

My mummy cupcakes.

This is what happens when you add dry ice to hot apple cider.

The hosts, Luna Lovegood and Harry Potter.

Ghostbuster Dave and 70's chick.

And sorry for the lined pictures. Something happened to our camera between the time I left Kansas and the time we got home. Anyone know how to fix that?

Another Room

2011-10-27T09:50:00.000-07:00

So here is a picture of the kitchen/dining area in our apartmnet. My theme is green apples. It's now completely finished but I'm stilling thinking and looking for more ideas. I can't believe I can't find green apple dish towels. Really? Anyway, here you go.

Where the heck is Derby, Kansas?

2011-10-27T09:49:00.000-07:00

My sister lives in Derby just outside Wichita and I went there with Jocelyn for 10 days. We had a blast. It was low key for the most part (I read 4 books but I got to meet the author of one of the books, Heather Cashman and she signed my book which was so COOL!) but it was very nice. Here are some of the other things we did.

We went to the zoo.

We got there just in time to see the elephants do their tricks.

It was so cool to see the gorillas so up close and personal.

This giraffe has figured how to get down in the moat so it can get really close to the fence. Awesome.

We went to several activities for a program called Parents as Teachers. We had a little Halloween shin dig, Cookie Bookie, where a book is read, a craft is made, and a cookie is decorated, and then we went to Music and Movement. I wish we had something like that here.

The girls played together. Jocelyn didn't take to well to her cousin, Ivy. She would cry anytime Ivy screamed and we think Ivy started to figure that out. They would play nice sometimes but for the most part we kept the two youngest away from each other. Jocey did like her older cousins and they were really sweet to her. Here is a picture where Ivy and Jocey are both happy.

And here are Ivy and Jocey in their cute Halloween pjs grandma sent.

And most importantly, we celebrated my sister's birthday. We went out to lunch to Applebees and did cheese fondue for dinner. YUMMY! And we add a Thin Mint Ice-Cream cake. EXTRA YUMMY!!

Jenn's mouth is already watering.

Jocelyn approved of the cake.

We also went shopping, we went to a chili cook off, we watched all 3 of the Twilight movies, I went to Book Club, we ate amazing homemade meals (thanks Jenn!), and played. It went by too fast but I'm glad I went and I'm already thinking of when I can make another visit.

Dad's Birthday and Fam Fun Day

2011-10-27T09:45:00.000-07:00

Well it's that time of year again. The fall and winter months are busy in the Ricks/Brough family with lots of birthdays. Dave's dad, Matt, Jenn, and Dave's mom are all in October. And I got to celebrate 2 of them (I'll tell about Jenn's in the next post). First is Dave's dad's birthday. We had a lovely steak dinner provided by Mike and then played games, ate cake, and opened presents.

Yummy cake!

He got a large clock, a new bicycle maintenance book, and pistachios (they only lasted that night).

A couple days later we had a Family Fun Day. We started out with bowling.

The boys.

The scoreboard after two rounds. Yes, I got second place! And yes, that means I beat 3 of the boys. Bwahahaha!

Next, we went and played miniature golf. Sadly I didn't win. I think I got last place but it was fun because they decorated the course for Halloween. After golf, the boys went to the go-cart course. It was fun watching them.

We had lunch at Red Robin and headed home after the fun where we played X-Box. Jocelyn tried to play too.

The end.

Our Growing Girl

2011-10-27T09:44:00.000-07:00

Jocelyn is learning new tricks. She can now give high fives, give kisses (which she is very selective about and she actually only leans in toward you so you can give her kisses), and she can clap.

And within the last month she has gone from this:

to this within the last couple of days:

Yes, she is getting very close to walking big time and she can stand up by herself now. She doesn't do it often but she can do it.

And here are some pictures of her lately. I can't believe how fast she is growing.

Jocey loves to read her books.

She also loves to hold onto our legs while we walk.

Her first pony tail.

What a cutie in that nightgown!

She loves lasagna.

ATTITUDE

2011-09-18T17:53:00.000-07:00

I just have to make a quick post about Jocelyn. She is really starting to show some more personality. She is getting some attitude. She has this little high pitched scream when ever I take away something she shouldn't play with or move her away from the stairs or other things she shouldn't be doing. It's kinda cute but also annoying and it feels like she is heading straight for the temper tantrum stage.

It's crazy how quickly they change. I know EVERYONE tells you have fast they grow up but it's different actually witnessing it first hand. She really is this tiny adorable little PERSON. Though she is showing some attitude, she is still so sweet and incredibly cute.

Giants and Planes and Babies, OH MY!

2011-09-12T12:03:00.000-07:00

We had a very fun filled weekend. So here we go.

Giants: We went to a San Francisco Giants game on Friday night. We drove down with Mitch and Christa in their new Prius. That's a fancy car. We met up with Matt and Meagan, Jeff and Kelly, and Jensen and Erika. Dave went to school with all the boys so it was fun to catch up with them. We were on the second highest row and at such an angle that we couldn't see the Jumbotron and we lost but we still had a good time. After the game we went to Jensen and Erika's place and ate donuts. They were delicious and they have an amazing view. They live on the 24th floor in the middle of downtown and one side of their apartment is all windows. It was so cool. We left late and got home at 2 am. We had left Jocelyn with Grandpa and her uncles and so we stayed the night there too.

Welcome.

I zoomed in.

Proof that we were actually there.

Planes: The next morning we took it slow since we were so tired but eventually made our way home and brought Mike with us. We freshened up since neither Dave and I had remembered a change of clothes or even a toothbrush for the night before. Then we headed to the California Capital Airshow. It was hot and loud (for Jocelyn). We just strolled around and walked in some big planes. Dave and Mike even got to sit in a smaller plane but then got kicked out but not before we got some pictures. First of all, other people were climbing in it, and a lady told us we could get in and it wasn't roped off like every other plane so I blame the airshow. :) Anyway, we watched some fly shows and then headed back to our house for some refreshing smoothies. Then we went to El Dorado Hills and watched the BYU football game. Sadly, we lost.

Future pilot? Probably not.

This is how much Jocelyn loved it.

Babies: And just because I can, here are some cute pictures of Jocelyn and what she's been up to.

She loves to climb.

We don't have a gate up yet so we just put the carseat in front of the gap but Jocelyn found a way around that. Smarty pants.

Life Lately

2011-09-06T16:56:00.000-07:00

So besides all of the trips we've taken lately, we've moved into our new apartment. Dave actually got to move in all by himself while Jocelyn and I were in Utah. Lucky guy. We are now in a 2 bedroom apartment and 1 1/2 bath. We are in the same complex and it's a townhouse style. I love it. There is so much more room. I've loved putting rooms together and decorating. Here is a picture of the half bath. I love polka dots and I was really in an orange mood. Luckily the polka dots helped to simmer down the bright orange. You can't see the bright orange rug or toilet seat cover and there are more towels behind the door. I'll post more pictures when I finish more rooms.

Jocelyn is getting more curious and mischievious. She found the candy dish and decided she wanted to try some Riesens. Luckily I caught her before she got through the wrapper.

Jocelyn is also becoming quite the little faker. The picture below shows the face she makes when she is fake crying or whining. I think it is so funny. She didn't like when I laughed at her. She just made this face even more.

Monterey Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-06T16:33:00.000-07:00

We headed to Monterey this past weekend to visit our friends, Jordan and Sunshine. They blessed their baby Ames on Sunday so we went to be a part of their special day. We headed down on Saturday and spent the day at their place just hanging out and talking with Jordan's family. That night we went to the beach and had a bonfire and roasted hot dogs and ate s'mores.

Jocelyn fell asleep in the car on the way home. She looked so cute and ganster in her hoodie.

On Sunday, we went to church and Dave got to be a part of the blessing circle. Jordan did a great job. After church, Dave, Jocelyn, and I went down to our favorite wharf that is usually full of sea lions. They did not disappoint. It was smellier than we remembered but we still really enjoyed it. And on our way back we saw a huge pelican just chillng on the fence.

Remember in Jurassic Park 3 when the Pteradactyl turns to look at the people, well this picture reminds me of that. I feel like it is going to attack us any second. Have I mentioned that Jurassic Park is my favorite movie?

After the wharf we headed back to Jordan and Sunshine's and ate a wonderful meal. The tri-tip was delicious. Then we decided to head home and miss the holiday traffic. It was a great weekend!

Utah, This Is The Place

2011-09-06T12:58:00.000-07:00

This is the place I call home. Just a couple days after we got back from Hawaii, Jocelyn and I flew to Utah for two weeks. Jocelyn was a great little traveler. The weekend after we arrived we headed up to Farmington to Lagoon. As long as I can remember, we've gone to Lagoon when we come to Utah. We went to the water park first and then on to the amusement park. My brother and his family were in Utah as well as my sister-in-law and her kids that have been in Japan for a couple of years. It was so fun to get to see all of them. Here are some pictures of Lagoon.

This is for you Brad.

Jocelyn and her cousin Joshua. People thought they were twins. They're about 3 months apart.

On our way back home, Jocelyn fell asleep with her mouth on the caterpillar's antennae. It made me laugh.

Once back at my parent's house, in good ol' Enoch, we just played with cousins and friends. We went to Cedar's new aquatic center which Jocelyn loved. She played in the bubbles for most of the time.

She loved the warm water.

We had FHE while we were there and learned the song, "Once There Was A Flower," sung to "Once There Was A Snowman." Clearly the adults loved it just as much as the kids.

And I think Lilia loved dessert.

Jocelyn loved Bella, our cousin's dog.

Lilia and Max, loved playing together.

After Dave and Melanie and their kids left, things got quiet around the house. Jocelyn and I went back up north to Provo to visit family and some of my friends for a day.

We met up with Jacob, Josh, and Tara. They were really happy to see us.

Okay, they really were happy.

We went to dinner with some of my old roommates. It's always so great to see them.

And to goof off with them.

After our short trip, we just had fun bonding with Grandma and Grandpa.

And Jocelyn has developed a love for playing the piano.

The day before we left we went to Beaver and visited some cousins that I haven't seen for years. Jocelyn met Hagan who is 2 weeks younger but several pounds larger. I love the chub.

We had such a wonderful time in Utah and can't wait to go back. But we sure missed daddy and loved coming home to him and our new apartment.

ALOHA!

2011-09-02T21:55:00.000-07:00

This is long so beware. The end of July, Dave's dad treated all his posterity with a trip to Hawaii, the BIG ISLAND!! It was amazing. We were there for an entire week. Here's what we did. Sunday was just a low key day. We went to church and then had lunch at Denny's owned by a member of the church who gave us a discount. That's when we learned just how expensive everything in Hawaii is, even with discounts. It was still nice of him though. Then we went grocery shopping. Yes, we broke the sabbath. Deal with it. We didn't have any food.

The next day the real adventures began. We stayed in a private home in Captain Cook that was beautiful and hidden in what seemed like a jungle. Here's a view from the lanai.

The silly Ricks boys tried out the pool. It was cool with infinity waterfalls. The boys enjoyed competing with one another in such things as who could float the farthest and who could make the biggest splash.

Then we headed north to a ride called Flumin' da Ditch. It was a kayak ride down the old sugar cane canals that are no longer used. It was pretty sweet and our guide said we were the most rambunctious and fun group she'd ever had. We only went a few miles but it took a couple hours. We went through awesome tunnels (even sang in one) and over some amazing sights of the landscape. Mostly it turned into a huge water fight. On our way back we rode through a Macadamia orchard. Grandpa stayed behind since he'd already done it before so he could spend some quality time with Jocelyn even though she slept most of the time.

Show me the SHAKA! On our ride to the canal with our guide Hula.

Later that day we stopped at the beach. It was a little chillier than I expected but still very nice and had real sand, none of that rocky stuff.

Tuesday, we went parasailing. We were split into two groups since there were so many of us. Josh, Tara, Dave and I were on the same boat along with some random couple. We all decided to do the dip, which means on our way back down they drop us low enough to get our feet wet in the water. I was a little nervous about going up but it was really fun. I expected a huge rush off the boat but we slowly rose into the air. Once up, we realized just how quiet it was out in the ocean. We had a great view of the island. Unfortunately, we didn't see anything cool while up there though Josh and Tara saw a shark (YIKES!) and the other group saw dolphins.

After that we went to the beach and went snorkeling. It is one of my new favorite things. It took a few seconds to figure out the whole breathing through your mouth thing but once I got the hang of it, I loved it. I saw some bright fish and a turtle. After I was finished I bought some shaved ice. I got a large so I could share with everyone. And when they say large, they mean large. Tara and I ended up eating most of it because the boys took way too long playing in the ocean. It was tasty.

Oh and Tuesday was Josh's birthday. We celebrated that evening with cake and ice-cream. Tara brought decorations so it would be more fancy and that it was.

Wednesday, we headed east to the volcano. On our way we stopped at the Black Sand Beach for lunch. It really had black sand. I guess they named it well.

Then we went to the volcano. We hiked around and then down through a huge crater. We didn't see any lava which I was bummed about but it was still really cool. And Jocelyn was amazing. She loved being outside and smiled the entire time. Once we made it back up the crater we went through a lava tube. Crazy how those things are made.

The boys plus Jocelyn.

She was in heaven.

We just walked across that crater behind us.

Lava tube.

Thursday, we got up nice and early and went swimming with dolphins. It was so AWESOME! We weren't allowed to touch them, not that we got that close but we were close. We just swam around in the deep open ocean for several hours. That was the day we all got sunburned. But it was worth it. It was so fun. On our way back to shore we saw Pilot Whales too, which are actually dolphins. And just FYI, dolphins are conscious breathers so they never actually sleep. Half of their brains are always on. They were in their resting state when we saw them.

No, I didn't take this picture. I sadly took no pictures of our dolphin experience but this is what Spinner Dolphins look like, the kind we swam with.

After swimming with dolphins we went to the beach to do some boogie boarding. That was really fun as well. We didn't stay long because we were all burnt out. No pun intended. Okay it was kinda intended.

Friday, we went to another beach. Everyone went snorkeling again except me. I was done being in the sun. We ate lunch and then headed over to the Place of Refuge. I stayed in the car while Jocelyn napped. She needed it. Then we headed back to the house and just took it easy and started packing up. We headed home on Saturday. And just so you know, Jocelyn is a great little traveler.

We had such a wonderful week. I had always wanted to go to Hawaii and now I can say I've been. Thanks dad for taking us all. We had a BLAST!

Bib Hater

2011-08-27T09:15:00.000-07:00

I have a lot to catch up on such as our Hawaii trip and my Utah trip but for now let this satisfy your Ricks family withdrawals.

Jocelyn doesn't like wearing her bib. I'm pretty sure she hates it. Don't believe me? See for yourself.

The end.

"Here We Are Now. Entertain Us."

2011-07-25T13:41:00.000-07:00

Jocelyn continues to entertain us. She has learned so much in such a short amount of time. She is very curious about everything especially the things we don't want her to get into. But that comes with the territory. She mostly loves to pull herself up onto everything: her bed, her chair, our tables, the TV stand etc. Here are pictures because I know how much we all love to see this little jem.

Yep, she climbed in and up her chair all by herself.

She makes a better door than a window.

Sundays wipe her out.

Thankfully this is not the trash, just the recycling.

So now that we've got our Jocelyn withdrawal taken care of (because I know you go through it), let's move on. Dave turned 28. Woah! Shut the front door! Yes, he's getting closer and closer to the big 3-0. But not yet. We celebrated like this. I made him cinnamon rolls for breakfast on his birthday. And by made, I mean I bought them pre-made and put them in the oven to bake. They are really good though. We opened up presents. I got him water guns so we can have a water fight, a dress shirt for work, and soccer socks. That night we left Jocelyn with a sitter and went to dinner at Red Robin and then we saw Harry Potter 7 Part 2. I have to say I have been waiting a long time to see this movie and we finally got to. It was great. That night we stayed at Dave's dad's house. Jacob, one of Dave's brothers came in to town for the weekend. We just hung out at the house and then after going to the Stake Pioneer Day Celebration for dinner and some entertainment, we came back and played some games and ate cake. That was pretty much it. I'm pretty sure he had a great birthday but you'll have to ask him about it. HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAVE!

I force him to take pictures like this. But I don't have to push too hard.

Boys being boys.

Mitch and Krista came for games and cake.

I did put 28 candles on their and some were only about an inch long by the time they were all lit and we sang.

And last, we are finally moving. We've known we were moving but weren't sure when because they had to replace the carpet. We are staying in the same complex but are upgrading to a town house (2 floors, 2 bedrooms, and 1 1/2 bath). We get to start moving in on August 8th, just after Hawaii but just before I leave for Utah for 2 weeks. So Dave pretty much gets to move and clean all by himself. A part of me is nervous about this but mostly I'm glad I don't have to face the hastle. So there you have it. This could be the last post for about a month since I am going to be gone for most of August but maybe I'll do some blogging in Utah. You'll just have to wait and see. Until then. Word to your mother.

WE LEAVE FOR HAWAII IN 10 DAYS!

2011-07-20T19:42:00.001-07:00

Jocelyn, the Crawler and Dave is Getting Old

2011-07-18T07:46:00.000-07:00

Well Jocelyn is now a crawler. She made her first moves on the 4th of July and then didn't do anything for a few days. Then she moved like four feet and this past week she really got it down good. I can't believe it. It is so awesome and I love that she follows me around from room to room now. But crawling has also brought the boo-boo phase. She face plants it sometimes and doesn't like that much. Who does? See the picture below for her first shiner. She can also go from a crawling position to a sitting up position. And she can also pull herself up on things. She has learned so much in such a short time. It is so crazy how fast they grow and learn. I love it! Here are some pictures of other things we've learned about Jocelyn lately.

Here is a picture of her first bruise. Poor baby. It's not very big so you might have to enlarge the picture to see it. Looking at her, it's under the left eye (her right eye.)

She loves boxes and apparently wants to learn how to do handstands.

She also likes shoes. What girl doesn't?

I don't know how I feel about this but she likes to watch a good show now and then.

We've also learned that Jocelyn has a foot fetish. This isn't particularly new but I thought I would explain why I'm using my feet in this next video to get Jocelyn to crawl. And I apologize for it being so long.

So next up is Dave's 10 Year High School Reunion. Yeah, he's that old. But that makes me feel old too because that means mine is only 2 years away. Weird. Anyway, it was last Saturday night and Dave had a great time getting reacquainted with classmates and I enjoyed meeting people I'd heard about. I was a little apprehensive about going because I wasn't going to know a lot of these people but it was fun and time flew by fast. There was a much nicer dinner than we expected and then they gave away some prizes and then it was just dancing and talking the rest of the evening. Not many people actually danced and we more shouting at each other than talking because the music was blaring but it was still a good time. So here's to the Class of 2001!

And yes, most of them still have not grown up.

There's Not A Good Title Because There Are Too Many Things To Blog About In This One Post

2011-07-09T11:47:00.000-07:00

So as you can see from the title, I have some catch up work to do. First, I got a haircut. I love it. Michelle in my ward did it and I'm really happy with it. I wanted it short so I do have to straighten it a lot but it actually doesn't look bad curly so I do have the option. Lucky!

Straight Hair.

Curly Hair.

Next, was our June Obscure Holiday Celebration with the Hudsons. June 20th is National Ice-Cream Float Day. Again there was sickness so we postponed it a week. We had a BBQ and then you guessed it, ice-cream floats. We had orange soda floats which were sublime and we also had rootbeer. It was so fun to get together and I'm glad we make it happen every month. It's fun to see the girls together too. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of the actual BBQ or floats but just of the girls. You can also see a video on Facebook of their Dance Off.

Preparing for a Dance Off.

Next, Jocelyn is a thug.

Next, Jocelyn went in a pool for the first time. It was a little cold but other than that she had no reaction. I guess that's a good thing.

All suited up.

I just want to eat her up, she's so cute.

Next, was our 4th of July Celebration. We got up and went to our Stake Pancake Breakfast. It was good and we made some new friends. Then we went to the parade. We watched it with the Walkers. Unfortunately we missed half of the parade. It was weird how they set it up. They had the first part of the parade line up in a parking lot just before us so we saw them. Then the rest of the parade was lined up in a parking lot just after us so we missed them. Boo, but oh well. Jocelyn did surprisingly well considering she needed a nap. Luckily the fire trucks were kind with their loud horns.

The Walkers

My little firecracker.

After the parade we went to El Dorado Hills and spent the rest of the day with Dave's family. We went to a BBQ that night at the Harrisons and then set off some of our own fireworks. Again, Jocelyn did surprisingly well. We covered her ears and she watched intently and didn't make a peep the entire time. On our way back home, we were also able to see some big ones that Rancho was putting off. It was a great day.

This is Jocelyn at the parade but this is pretty much what she looked like all during the fireworks.

Next, Mike and Megan came over to bring Jocelyn a gift. They got her a super cute skirt. She played with Uncle Mike's hat and posed for many pictures. What a trooper.

She's gonna ride bikes some day.

Megan and Jocelyn excited about the new skirt.

Mike was also very excited about it.

Lastly, are just a couple random pictures of Jocelyn and things she is learning.

She wants to play the piano like daddy.

And she wants to type on the computer like daddy.

Our Mischievious Little MoNsTeR

2011-06-24T15:24:00.000-07:00

Well Jocelyn continues to entertain us. She is getting so smart and cuter if that is even possible but clearly it is. Here is just an update of her progress and shenanigans.

We discovered that Jocelyn enjoys a good massage. This can come in handy during Sacrament Meeting. It calms her down.

We also learned that Jocelyn enjoys writing utensils. I often give Jocelyn pens to play with. They are a perfect fit for her little hands and she loves to hold them and move them around. I like to call them her wands. Expelliarmus! Well recently she discovered how to take the caps off. It was probably more out of chance that she got them off but she did it nonetheless. Here is what I found.

You might have to enlarge the picture to see the ink on her cheek. Clever girl.

Jocelyn is also able to sit up on her own. She can last for several minutes and then usually topples over or moves to a new position.

With that being said, Jocelyn is getting really close to crawling. It's crazy. This past weekend she figured out how to get on her hands and knees and I nearly burst into tears. I figure within a week she'll have it. She has also learned how to growl like a monster. You will see both in this next video.

Sorry this is so long. Don't feel the need to watch to the end.

And lastly comes a silly picture from this morning. Jocelyn discovered her little frog friend on the back of her chair. And yes, she has learned to turn herself around in her chair. I guess we'll need to actually start using the straps. And in other news, we will be lowering her bassinet seeing as she can now get up on her hands and knees in her bed. Yikes, she is getting too big, too fast.

"I'm So Glad When Daddy Comes Home"

2011-06-20T19:44:00.000-07:00

I have some pretty awesome men in my life. My dad, father-in-law, and husband are seriously amazing.

First, my dad. He is always someone I can go to for guidance. He has an incredible testimony and I love learning from him. He is very generous and you if you haven't ever met him, you are missing out. He is extremely funny.

Next, is my father-in-law who has gone through a lot this past year but I have seen him not only grow stronger but also strengthen his family. He is very supportive of his boys and he is a very hard worker. He also has a witty sense of humor.

And last, but not least is my husband. He also has a great sense of humor. Are you seeing a pattern here? Clearly I like being around people that can make me laugh. Dave is also very smart and though I hate to admit it, has proven me wrong multiple times. He puts up with me and my shenanigans and is a super dad to our little girl. He loves trying to make her smile no matter how ridiculous he looks in the process. He works hard to take care of our little family and loves the gospel.

These are just a few things about the men in my life. The lists really could go on and on and on. And I have to say they are the best there is. I couldn't have asked for better. They have all shown me love and welcomed me into their lives whether I was their new baby girl, first daughter-in-law, or eternal companion. Thank you and Happy Father's Day!

New Sleeping Position

2011-06-15T21:19:00.000-07:00

Jocelyn has always been a great sleeper and continues to sleep through the night. Occasionally when we come in to the room to grab something, we find her in new positions. She sometimes moves a lot so we'll find her head where her feet were when we put her down or she'll be laying sideways. She can now sleep on her sides so that's new too. But the pictures below show a very unique position. Apparently sleep stretching is the new craze.

She makes me laugh every day. I love this little girl so much.

Done Much Lately?

2011-06-15T21:03:00.000-07:00

So this past weekend was a very busy one. It started Friday morning with Kara's 8th Grade Graduation. Kara is one of the Young Women in my ward I used to teach until she graduated to the older class. Anyway, Angie (another Young Women leader) and I went to cheer her on and had a lot of fun in the process. I was really impressed with the student speakers. They were so confident and the singers were amazing. Kara was beaming and I was so proud of her. After the graduation we went to Kara's house for a little party. The food was delectable and the company great! Congrats Kara!

The cheering section with the graduate.

The super awesome Green family.

In case you didn't know, Kara Rocks!

So moving on. After the graduation party I went home and took a nap. Then I headed to the Young Women sleepover. We did some food prep for the fundraiser and then partied like it's 1999. We roasted hot dogs and made s'mores. We jumped on the trampoline, played at the park, played telephone like there's no tomorrow and some other games, and ended the night watching Tangled. I have to say that our Young Women are so totally tubular. They are so much fun and I love being around them. Now, prepare for picture overload because I love so many of these pictures and couldn't decide which to put up so therefore I am putting up a lot.

Child labor.

Making s'mores. S'more of what?

Tag turned to a game called Pile on Kara.

I love this lady.

Kathryn, who spells her name right. The marshmallows were ginormous.

You try playing chubby bunny cross-eyed.

Jenn, I don't think you have enough food in this picture.

Get your groove on.

Watching Tangled.

The sleepers.

Morning trampoline jumping. Sorry neighbors if the girls woke you up.

After the sleepover, I went home and slept and then headed to the church for the Young Women fundraiser. We did a lot more food prep and then in an hour all the orders were picked up and enjoyed by our very supportive Ward family. So that's that. It was a very crazy weekend but also a very great weekend. The end.

P.S. How do I make a collage of photos instead of just putting them up one by one?

6 Months and Counting...

2011-06-07T13:47:00.000-07:00

I can't believe Jocelyn is 6 months old today. Seriously, it's weird that she has been here that long. But I love her so much and I'm glad she joined our family. I would never change any of it. So here are her stats:

Weight: 14 lb 8 oz (22%)
Height: 27 1/2 in (97 %)
Head Circumference: 42.5 cm (53%)

So she is tall and lean but very healthy and doing great! I am amazed every day by how smart she is getting and how much she can do. It really seems just like yesterday that she was this little girl:

And now she is this big little girl:

She is ready to crawl but still figuring out the basic hand/leg coordination. She jabbers all the time. She has so many expressions and is starting to show different emotions. I love it. It just keeps getting better and better. We'll see what happens in the next 6 months!

Sleepy Little Girl

2011-06-04T15:42:00.000-07:00

So I've got a few videos of Jocelyn sleeping and just wanted to share because she is the most adorable girl ever. No, it's not us just staring at her. She is doing something in them or just looking absolutely precious.

She doesn't usually snore but I'm glad we caught it on tape the one time she did. She must have been exhausted.

She falls asleep on daddy like this quite often at the computer, though this was the first I've ever seen it. Apparently she didn't find the finale of The Event as intriguing as Dave and I.

Finished Project

2011-06-04T15:29:00.000-07:00

So now that I have received word from my family that they have received their gifts, I can now publish this post. Probably about a month ago or longer I was feeling really crafty and so I decided to make name signs for all my nieces and nephews like the one I made for Jocelyn seen below.

And I finally finished them about a month later. They were made to match their rooms. And now that they have been delivered I can share them with all of you! Sorry some of the pictures are a little too bright to see the names clearly.

Ashley and Sara

Rebecca and Joshua

Lilia and Max

Ivy, Abigail, and Rachel

Post Overload

2011-05-27T19:25:00.000-07:00

I did 4 posts today. So make sure you keep scrolling down. Sorry for the overload but these are things I want to remember. You may not care but as a new mother I want to remember every little thing. ENJOY!

Good Eatins'

2011-05-27T19:20:00.000-07:00

Jocelyn is really enjoying rice cereal now. She just wants more and more. This comes as a relief to me because I was worried she would never like it. But she does. So we'll keep at it for a little longer and then start introducing a variety of baby foods to her. We've already tried a couple of things but she was not ready yet but now that she likes the rice cereal we'll start trying new flavors. I can't wait.

I love how she sucks on her lips after she gets more rice cereal. Love this girl.

Baby's First Haircut

2011-05-27T19:10:00.000-07:00

Jocelyn has had a mohawk almost since she was born and it was getting pretty long in the front. So last night I decided it was time for a little trim. Here are some before and after shots.

Before: Some of her hairs went down to her eyebrows.

During: She did great though Dave had to hold her head straight in the end because she gets so curious and wants to look everywhere.

After: I think it looks much better and less wild and crazy. She does however, look like a little boy in this picture.

My Rollie Pollie

2011-05-27T19:08:00.000-07:00

A couple nights ago, Jocelyn spent about 20 minutes just rolling all over the bed. Since she can now roll every which way, she can really go places. She really wore herself out and ended up in tears because she was exhausted and ready for bed. Here is a video of her in action.

And this is what happens when you grab your blanket and then roll over. Such a silly girl.

Lazy Day, Play Day

2011-05-27T09:26:00.000-07:00

Dave has been working some longer days and so he was able to take off a day this week, so he wouldn't go over time, which he is not allowed to do. Anyway, he took Wednesday off and we were going to explore downtown Sacramento. But wouldn't ya know? It decided to rain. So instead we stayed home and played. Dave and I played it nerdy on the computer. We downloaded a really fun game that's all about figuring out puzzles etc. I won't reveal the name lest you realize exactly just how nerdy we are. But enjoy some pictures from the day.

Jocelyn loves her daddy and sittting up like a big girl.

Yes, I stayed in my pjs all day. My favorite part about this picture is that right before we took it, Jocelyn was trying to squirm away but then gave a huge sigh and gave into my overload of affection.

Jocelyn was tuckered out by all the nerdiness going on at our house. I love how her head is angled up because she is right up against the edge and her bum is sticking up.

~Veinti-tres de Mayo~

2011-05-24T21:28:00.000-07:00

So we finally celebrated another obscure holiday with our friends, the Hudsons, last night. We had a Cinco de Mayo dinner planned but we had to postpone it a couple of times due to work and illness but it finally happened. So I guess really it was a Veinti-tres de Mayo celebration. We had nachos and beer (of the root) and then played Scattergories. It was so fun to see them again and we can't wait for the next get-together. June doesn't have that many options in the way of obscure holidays though. I'm thinking maybe a party celebrating the first day of summer. We'll see.

Rootbeer is muy delicioso. You see what I did there? I wrote some spanish to make our celebration more authentic or maybe I should say authentico.

The girls getting reacquainted with each other.

Such big girls.

A Few New Things

2011-05-22T20:25:00.000-07:00

So Jocelyn has done it again. She has done something new. She can now roll from her back to her belly and back to her back. She is talented. She has also discovered my hair and wants to play with it, though our ideas of play are not quite the same. In other news, she has been more difficult with her naps. She is tired but fights it so today we put her on her back and it was much better so she may be a back sleeper now. Her eating habits have also changed. She's not eating as much at least not all at once. It's driving me a little crazy. But she is liking rice cereal more so that's fun. Well that's it for now. And because we all love pictures of this adorable little bundle of fun, here are some random shots of her lately.

Her little candy outfit.

All wrapped up after bath time.

iFest

2011-05-19T19:05:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Dave and I went to Rancho Cordova's International Festival. We've never been but I wanted to do something in our community. I was a little worried that it was going to be lame. It wasn't though. They did have lots of booths that I didn't care about except the food ones. I tried Russian Piroshki for the first time. They are like scones with stuff inside. We had beef and potato in ours. The entertainment was well, entertaining. They had belly dancers (yikes), bagpipe players and scottish dancers, Indian (from India) dancers, and other performances that we didn't stay for, though I would have liked to but Jocelyn wasn't digging the loud music or cold wind.

Piroshki.

All bundled up.

This last picture is just a random one of Dave and Jocelyn in a staring contest. Jocelyn can rock anyone, anytime. And I like her flower bum.

"Mother, I love you; Mother, I do."

2011-05-10T16:19:00.000-07:00

This was my first Mother's Day as an actual mother. It was great. My parents sent me a book which I read in a day (it wasn't super long but great). Dave made me breakfast (french toast and eggs), and he basically took care of Jocelyn all day (gave her a bath, fed her, and put her to sleep). We got candy at church (which can never be a bad thing), and to top off the day we went to El Dorado Hills and had dinner (lasagna) with the Ricks and McCaffree families. But enough about me. Let's talk about the really important mothers out there. These two lovely ladies:

These are the greatest moms in the world. I am so grateful to them both for all that they have done for me and my family. My mom has taught me and continues to teach me so much. She is a great support in my life and is always there for me. I don't know what I would do without her. I love you!

Mama Ricks so warmly welcomed me into her family. I'm so grateful for the time I got to spend with her and the love she poored out and the example she was. I miss you so much and I love you!

I hope you all had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Work It!

2011-05-08T11:21:00.000-07:00

Jocelyn is very photogenic. She really knows how to work the camera and her good sides. ;) I took her up to Dave's dad's house last Monday to take some nice pictures of her to send to my mom for Mother's Day (hence the reason I didn't share them with you earlier; I didn't want to ruin the surprise). So here are some of my favorite pictures of her. She's such a doll.

Love those little piggies.

All smiles.

Look at those bright blue eyes!

Soakin' in the sun.

Yo. What's up?

I can almost sit up by myself.

Who doesn't love a crying picture here and there?

Introduction to Food and Other Good Stuff

2011-05-06T11:05:00.000-07:00

We introduced Jocelyn to rice cereal last night. Frankly, I was a little tired of her eating habits. She is just so distracted these days so sometimes we take it in increments which I'm not a fan of. Anyway, she wasn't that thrilled about the rice cereal and I can't blame her. I tasted it and it is disgusting! It tasted like cardboard. No wonder she spit it out. Now you may be wondering why I tasted it. I don't know but I thought I would see what I was making my child eat. And I should be punished. Anyway, here are some pictures of her first taste of not milk.

Mama's little piggy.

What is this strange stuff?

Yep, not a fan.

I'm hoping it is more of the texture thing and not the taste, though I understand if it is. We'll try again tonight.

In other news. We received a package a few days ago from my sister. She made me a French Memory Board for Jocelyn. It turned out super cute and she also sent some cute onesies along with it. My sister has her own site on Etsy called, It Seamed Good To Me, if you are interested in the board or other things she makes. Anyway, here are some more pictures.

A onesie my sister sent. She obviously loves my rediculously cute baby.

In her Bumbo with a mohawk. Sometimes it's fun to style her hair.

Ze French Memory Board. Isn't it cute?

May Already?

2011-05-02T08:07:00.000-07:00

Where do the days go? I can't believe it is May. That means Jocelyn is almost 5 months old. Anyway, nothing too exciting going on around here but I thought I'd share some photos because we all love photos!

This is Jocelyn trying to roll over on her play pad. Just not enough room, but does that stop her? Never!

This is one of my new favorite faces. We were at a BBQ and it was really windy. She was not super happy.

Daddy/ Daughter time outside. How cute!

Jocelyn was in a giggling mood last night and we caught some of it on tape. I love her laugh. Sorry that it's a little dark. In other news, she rolled over the other way yesterday. She can normally only roll to her right but she did it to the left. WOOHOO!!

Easter Weekend

2011-04-26T13:03:00.000-07:00

This weekend, our neighbors, the Hudsons, moved away. But not without a slumber party for Jocelyn and Sienna first. Okay, so it wasn't really a slumber party but they did take naps together. Sienna came over since her crib had already been moved and took a little nap. Both Jocelyn and Sienna were very happy when they woke up.

We will miss you Hudson Family! Glad you are not too far away though.

Next came wonderful Easter Sunday. Jocelyn had a super cute dress that someone gave her and she looked so adorable in it. She got some books, toy rings, and a play set, while Dave and I stuck with the candy. YUM!

So pretty!

Easter Goodies!

She likes her new play set.

We went over to EDH and had Easter dinner with Dave's family. His aunt fed us well. It was so good. We stayed the night so we could play all day Monday with the family too. It was a great weekend and we hope you all had a wonderful Easter and remembered our Savior who gave us the greatest gift of all.

Editing Problems

2011-04-22T09:04:00.000-07:00

In the last few posts I've done, there are tons of extra spaces. No matter how many times I go back and delete them, when I save and view my blog, those extra spaces keep popping up. Does anyone know how to get rid of them and make my blog look normal?

Jocelyn or Rosie?

2011-04-22T08:28:00.000-07:00

So here is a random post. Jocelyn has a bow that when placed in the middle of her head reminds me of Rosie the Riveter or at least women of that era. What do you think?

She's got her hair pulled back and ready to get her hands dirty.

Okay so now that I see them next to each other maybe not. But Jocelyn sure is cute with that grin and her ears sticking out.

Lil' Champ is a CHAMP!

2011-04-19T15:08:00.001-07:00

She did it! Jocelyn rolled over today. I was recording and stopped because she wasn't doing anything but luckily I turned it back on just in time to catch her rolling over. Don't blink or you'll miss it. Here is our champ showing us her new moves.

I'm pretty sure she rolled over today because I spiked her mohawk. She was feeling hardcore so had to do something hardcore. I put some gel in her hair and it stood up for a little bit but has since become a little more curly. Maybe she'll have mommy's curly hair. What do you think of the hairdo?

Side view. I'm diggin' it.

I get the feeling Jocelyn might not like it.

So Close

2011-04-18T11:43:00.000-07:00

Jocelyn is so close to rolling over. She just has to figure out how to bring her leg over and she'll have it. I try and push it over to show her but she just rolls back. She clearly doesn't want any help from mom.

In other news. I took a couple of videos of Jocelyn a few weeks ago so here they are. Jocelyn is usually really happy when she wakes up in the morning and from naps. Here is a video of her after a nap. This is also after she learned to make her new face as seen in the video in the last post I wrote.

This next video is of Jocelyn giggling. This isn't her hearty laugh but it's still good. We still have yet to get her to laugh again but her giggles are good enough for now.

Lil' Cutie Patootie!

2011-04-10T12:27:00.000-07:00

Dave and I just can't get enough of this little girl. She is developing such a personality and is learning new things everyday. This video for example shows a new face she just started doing last night. We love it.

We just love watching her and seeing the funny things she does. She has discovered her hands and her feet and sometimes just stares at them. She had her 4 month check up this last Friday. She is now 12 lbs, 10 oz (28%) and 25 inches long (78%). She is tall and lean though she looks so chubby. I can't believe how fast she is growing.

Here are some pictures of her lately.

Jocelyn is still deciding whether or not she enjoys her swing.

She loves being attended to in the bath. "Just a little more to the right dad."

This past week I had a little too much fun playing dress up with Jocelyn but she was a good sport and gave me lots to work with. I have these really cute onesies that are springy colors so I wanted to take pictures of Jocelyn in them since it's spring and also because she is going to grow out of them very soon. We also got a super cute bum cover and matching hair bow so we had fun with that too. She really knows how to work the camera.

She is "smizing." Tyra Banks would be so proud.

A little bit sassy.

She will be a great singer.

This is her "I'm done with all the pictures mom" face.

This is the cute little bum cover. It says, "Don't smell the daisies."

So cute though the bow is bit too much.

"Top of the Mornin' to Ya!"

2011-03-17T19:04:00.001-07:00

This year for St. Patrick's Day, I started the day off right with a bowl of Lucky Charms. Yum. Then I made up some delicious Cupcake Pops. We had dinner with our friends, the Hudsons who made Corned Beef and Cabbage. It was fantastic! It was Dave and I's first timing trying it and we approve. We have decided that we will be celebrating all obscure holidays with the Hudson family (seeing as we have now celebrated Valentine's Day and St. Patrick's Day with them). So we will see you, Hudson's, for a fiesta at our house on Cinco de Mayo. Anyway, here are some shots of our Irish day.

My little Irish charm. Her shirt says "Shamrocker."

I wanted to see what this necklace would look like as a headband. I think Jocelyn's face says it all.

St. Patrick's Day Cupcake Pops!

So stinkin' cute.

Full of Surprises

2011-03-13T18:07:00.000-07:00

Jocelyn is getting closer to laughing. Dave and I are constantly trying to get her to laugh. Here is a video of us trying (she was making more noises before I turned the camera on) but things turned out a little bit differently then planned.

Here is a still shot so you can see just how close the spit up was to going directly into Dave's mouth.

Jocelyn Lately

2011-03-07T11:24:00.000-08:00

Well nothing too exciting has been going on around here. Jocelyn turned 3 months today. I can't believe it. We aren't doing anything special obviously, it's just another month, but she is wearing jeans for the first time today and I must say she can work them. She is also jibber-jabbering up a storm lately. She has so much to say. So here are some pictures of my little girl lately. Oh I did want to say what a great sleeper she has been. As previously mentioned, she started sleeping through the night when she was just 4 or 5 weeks old. She is still at it, so I've included some sleeping pictures too though these are just naps not actual night sleeping. So here they are for your viewing pleasure.

Here are her new jeans. They make her belly even more prominent. And when she laughs, "it jiggles like a bowl full of jelly."

Tummy time.

Suited up for a walk.

Notice where her eyes are directed. She loves looking at Dave's hair.

Tubby time.

And now here are her sleeping pictures. She is so stinkin' cute.

"Love Is In The Air"

2011-02-15T13:22:00.000-08:00

We had a very wonderful Valentine's Day. Dave woke up to a card and See's candy (he was a little disappointed about the candy because he was going to get me the same thing so he had to change his plans.) Then he went to work. Once Jocelyn and I woke up, we spent the day cleaning and getting ready for the fun evening events. We had a nice dinner with a roast, baked potatoes, and veggies. I had set up the table all nice and romantic-like with fake candles since we aren't allowed to have open flames in the apartment. Dave bought me a dozen white roses which are BEAUTIFUL and said he had something else but he has to make it since as already mentioned, he had to change his plans at the last minute since we had the same idea. Then we headed over to our neighbors, the Hudson's, for a fondue party and movie night (we watched "When In Rome." It was so much fun. Here are some pictures.

I could hardly wait to dress up Jocelyn on Valentine's Day because she had the cutest outfit. I love it! And I love the look she gave me.

Partay! Fondue style.

Jocelyn and her best friend, Sienna. They had matching onesies made by Robin in our ward.

The Ricks'

The Hudson's

Wow How Time Flies!

2011-02-09T19:59:00.001-08:00

Jocelyn is now 2 months old. So let's get to the details. She now weighs 10lbs. 11 oz. (48%), is 23 1/2 in. long (90%), and has a head circumference of 15 1/2 in. (51%). So our little girl is pretty average in most areas but tall.

We've had a low key time since getting back from Utah for Christmas and New Years. We celebrated my 26th Birthday and Jocelyn's Blessing. I'm not going to go into too many details because our days are pretty uneventful. I just love watching Jocelyn grow. She has the most beautiful smile that just makes me laugh every time I see it because she opens her mouth so wide. She is so easy going and happy unless she is tired or hungry (or just got her immunizations, sad day). She started sleeping through the night at about 4 weeks old and is still going strong. And we aren't talking 7 or 8 hours straight. We're talking 10 hours straight. She takes 2 good naps during the day and some little power naps here and there to get through the evening until bedtime and then she is out at about 10. She eats about every 2 hours to make up for the lack of feedings during the night which I am just fine with. She is so good on car rides and often falls asleep. She also enjoys her bath time. I love this little girl and she has brought so much happiness to our life. Here are some pictures of the last little while. Enjoy!

I learned quickly to take off bows during nap times.

Reading with daddy is so exhausting.

She even has an adorable sad face.

We celebrated my birthday on Dave's half-birthday so we had to get a shot of him with "his" cake.

Happy 26th Birthday to me!

She has double cheeks and a double chin.

This is her serious face. Or she is surprised.

We blessed Jocelyn the same day as our neighbors blessed their little Sienna. They are BFF's.

Grandpa Larry, Grandma Joy, Mom, Jocelyn, Dad, and Great-Auntie Angela.

Great-Grandpa Artel, Grandpa Ray, Mom, Jocelyn, Dad, and Uncle Matt.

This is her in her blessing dress. I was also blessed in it.

I love her chubby cheeks.

We went to the zoo with our friends and saw lions...

and giraffes.

"Please no pictures."

Such a happy little girl.

Jocelyn Update

2011-01-09T21:00:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone, Dave here. I don't think you really care how Kathryn and I are--you just want to hear about Jocelyn and see pictures of her rediculous attractiveness. But unfortunately for you, I don't care what you want, so you're going to hear about us first: Kathryn and I are doing well.

Now, on to Jocelyn. We had a really "fun" Christmas break involving Kathryn and I getting a 24-hour flu which simply drained us (literally and figuratively), then Kathryn getting strep throat, then Jocelyn getting both strep throat and an ear infection. Needless to say, I've had better holidays. It was fun seeing Kathryn's family though and all the nieces that are way bigger now than they should be, in my opinion. But despite being so sick, Lil' Champ handled it like an all-star. She hardly fussed, and it only helped her sleep better (she sleeps 6-8 hours straight at night!) So not only is she the cuttest baby in the world, but apparently she's one of the most mellow (insert your jealousy here). We're pretty lucky.

Okay, I don't feel like writing anything else about this. Just look at pictures and gawk.

Yes, she is sticking her finger in her eye. And?

Post-bath cool-down. I think this might be after she pooed all over the bath tub.

Thug life

Four generations

I love it when she sleeps like this

She's planning something, and it makes me nervous.

If you have access to my facebook page, then check that, since I put more pictures there because it's faster and more user-friendly than this thing. I'm done.

Meet Jocelyn Focha Ricks

2010-12-10T19:54:00.000-08:00

Jocelyn is finally here! I'll write more about the experience later but I wanted to put up some pictures for those who don't have Facebook. Jocelyn was born Tuesday, December 7 at 10:27pm. She weighed 7 lbs 8 oz and was 20 in. long. We are all doing great and are just glad to be home with baby and that Grandma could be here to help out so much while we get used to this new life. Anyway, without further adeau, here is Jocelyn.

Don't worry. There will be more to come!

"Babies Everywhere!"

2010-12-03T13:20:00.000-08:00

So our little bundle of joy has decided she isn't ready for the world. Her due date was yesterday and at my doctor's appointment they said I was still only dilated to 1cm (like the week before). They also wouldn't be able to strip my membranes because I was still in a posterior position and my doctor said if she tried, I would be in tears. So we are waiting for another week. I am scheduled to be induced next Thursday, Dec. 9th. I'm hoping she still comes earlier than that but apparently she has her own time frame. I guess she'll come when she is ready. The good news about waiting a few extra days is that I'm able to get over a cold so I can fully enjoy her when she does decide to join us.

Anyway, here are some pictures of her little corner in our room. I painted the "J" and made the name sign. I got the idea from a friend. Enjoy and pray that little Jocelyn comes before next Thursday. It would be much appreciated. :)

Halloween Parties and Cupcakes

2010-11-22T21:29:00.000-08:00

So I was finally able to get the pictures uploaded for this post. It took for ever. Anyway, here you go.

We had 3 Halloween parties in 2 days and I have to admit I was a little partied out before Halloween ever came. I had two on a Friday, one at work and the other at a friend's house later that night. Dave wasn't able to make it to the work party so I had two different costumes because one would be more cool with Dave's costume. So for work, I was a bag of Jelly Bellies. I was really pleased with the way it turned out. When I was younger I saw a little kid as a bag of Jelly Beans and thought it was a really cool costume, so I copied it. We found a clear trash bag and cut out leg holes and then tied the top of the bag around my arms and filled it with little balloons. I printed off the Jelly Belly logo and taped it to the front of the bag. It was awesome. I only wore it for the party and not all of work because it was hard to move around in and sit in without having to move balloons away from my butt so I wouldn't sit on them and pop them.

My Jelly Belly.

This is Annie and Jeff/ Cop and Robber.

Franco slept in so he didn't have time to get dressed. :)

Meet Denae and Danielle/ the coolest girls ever/ Slash and Axl Rose.

This is Bill and his family/ Pinocchio characters.

Then that night, we went to a party at a friend's house. I was a ghost and Dave was a Ghost Buster. His costume was sweet and mine worked very nicely with a big belly. All of the other couples at the party had great costumes too. Here are just a few pictures.

Who you gonna call?

Snow White and Prince Charming.

Fred and Wilma.

Indians. Aren't they intense?

Patrick and Mr. Krabs.

Even Richard Simons came for the party.

Then Saturday, we had our ward Halloween party. We went as a ghost and Ghost Buster again. The activities committee did an awesome job. We had dinner and then they had crafts, games, and a haunted room for the little kids. Since it was raining, they moved the Trunk or Treat inside. So everyone lined the halls or went in classrooms and handed out candy. It was a great night. On actual Halloween we went to Dave's dad's house and helped them pass out candy and played games.

Here is a picture of the cupcakes I made for my work party. They were pretty cool if I do say so myself.

Anyway, I hope you all had a HaPpY HaLlOwEeN!

Birthdays and Baby Showers

2010-11-22T21:16:00.001-08:00

I've been meaning to post this for a long time. I wrote a couple of posts at work a month ago and was waiting to get home to add pictures and it never happened because of laziness and because our computer died. So now that we have a new computer, I'm going to catch up.

October is a very busy birthday month in Dave and I's families. Dave's dad, brother, Matt, mom, sister-in-law, Tara, and my sister, Jenn, all have birthdays. There is a lot of singing and eating of cake but what's not to love about that? Here are some pictures of the birthdays we were able to take part in.

Jacob and Michael surprised Dad by driving all the way to CA from UT. It was a fun day. We went out to lunch, played miniature golf, went out to dinner, and then opened presents and ate cake.

Matt taught himself how to play the harmonica and now with the cool head piece, he can play it at the same time he plays the piano. It's pretty cool.

Matt turned the big 16 this year!

Also, in the month of October, I had 2 1/2 more baby showers. Remember how I already had one in Utah back in August? I had one in my ward, another from Dave's home ward/work, and then the young women in our ward threw one for both myself and my friend Marianne. Needless to say, our baby girl is all set. Here are some pictures.

This is at my ward baby shower. Thanks Kim and Joylynn for putting it together. You're the best!

This is from Dave's home ward/work baby shower. Thanks Natalee!

Thank you everyone for your generosity, love, and support. We are very excited to meet our little girl, Jocelyn!

This is who I married.

2010-10-03T09:18:00.001-07:00

If you know Dave, my husband, then you know he can be quite the goofball. Here's proof.

This is how he prepped his hair for a haircut. I sure do love this guy. He always makes me laugh. And he sweats a lot (this was after he worked out.)

Getting Crafty

2010-10-03T09:02:00.000-07:00

So since we're having a baby girl and she will have her own little corner in our bedroom, I thought she definitely needed a little bit of something to make it all her own. So I went to Michaels and picked up a wood letter, some paint, ribbon, and stencils. I made it harder than it needed to be because it took me a little bit to figure out the technique for making the dots just right. By the last couple of dots, I finally figured out the easiest way to do it and I really like how it turned out. I first painted the letter green and then painted the pink dots using a stencil. I sealed it will Modge Podge and then glued on the ribbon. It is hanging over the changing table. You'll have pictures soon of her area. Anyway, here's the finished project. In case you don't know, we're naming our baby girl, Jocelyn, hence the "J." And I love polka dots so that's the theme and the colors are green, pink, and purple to match the canvas drawers on the baby changing table.

In Loving Memory of Kathleen Hardy Ricks

2010-10-02T18:58:00.000-07:00

In the middle of August, Dave's mom passed away. She had been battling breast cancer for six years. It all happened very quickly, which is a blessing, but also took us by surprise. The weekend I headed to Utah to visit family and for Josh and Tara's wedding, she took a turn for the worse. She went to the hospital and to make a long story short, her liver had started to fail and they put a time frame on her life. They said she only had a couple of days or weeks to live. I wish that I could have been there but I did get to talk to her for a little bit on the phone a couple of days before she passed away. Dave, all five of his brothers, Tara, and Dad were all by her side when she passed. I'm glad they were all there. I know that's how she would have wanted it.

Her funeral was on August 21st. There were so many family members and friends that came. It was a very beautiful ceremony and burial service. She was a wonderful lady and I learned so many things from her. Thankfully through most of her cancer years she was able to maintain a normal lifestyle and never had to slow down much but was able to keep up with her busy life. I'm grateful that I got to spend so much time with and know her for as long as I did. I love her and will miss her a lot.

Friends and a Wedding

2010-09-06T13:39:00.000-07:00

After a few days at home, I headed up north to Provo for a wedding but before I get to that, I did get to meet up with a couple friends, Lindsay and Kaelynn, that I hadn't seen for a while. We met up for dinner and got to catch up. It was a lot of fun and a very tasty dinner. Also on my way back down to Enoch, Dave and I had breakfast with our friend, Kassie, and then stopped in Beaver to visit my grandma and my friend Alicia. It was great to me able to meet up with so many friends.

Me, Kaelynn, and Lindsay at Shoots.

So now to the wedding. Dave’s brother Josh got married to Tara. They got married up in Orem in the Mt. Timpanogos Temple. It was a very nice day. We had a luncheon at BYU with some very tasty food. After the luncheon, we just hung out for a few hours because the wedding wasn’t until 4:00pm. The wedding ceremony was also very nice and extra special because of the circumstances. Dave’s mom passed away the day before the wedding and so it was really nice to be able to go to the temple where I believe she was able to attend her son’s wedding, which she wouldn’t have been able to do otherwise since she had gotten so sick the days leading up to it. It also allowed Dave’s dad to make it too. It was so peaceful inside and it was great to have so many family members there. Josh and Tara looked so happy and beautiful and I’m very excited to have another girl in the family.

Josh and Tara, the newlyweds.

Just the kids.

Boys will be boys.

Josh and Tara with Dad.

They had the reception that night outside their chapel in a pavilion. It was beautiful. Weddings are such happy events. I love seeing two families come together. Congratulations Josh and Tara!

Utah Baby Shower

2010-09-06T13:11:00.000-07:00

Well it’s time to catch up. A couple of weeks ago, I flew out to visit my family for a few days in southern Utah before I headed up north for a wedding (that post will be later). While I was home, I got some of my first maternity clothes. My mom spoiled me but it sure does feel good to actually fit in clothes again. I also had my first Baby Shower while there. It was most of the family that lives near by along with some of my best friends. I also had a joint Baby Shower with my cousin Kaela, who is due with her first in October. She’s having a boy and I’m having girl. It was a lot of fun to get so many new things, mostly clothes. When I told Dave that we got a lot of clothes, he told me we were going to have to get a storage unit. We had already started a collection of clothes that friends had handed down to us, so Dave was a little worried but I assured him, it will all work out. We just had our baby changing table delivered which has shelf space to start storing clothes and I bought some hanging shelves for the closet. I’m super excited to start organizing. Anyway, here are a couple of pictures of the Baby Shower.

Me and my cousin Kaela, with some cute clothes.

This is a super cute diaper cake that my friend gave me.

MUCHOS Celebrations!

2010-08-01T16:55:00.001-07:00

The next few days after Dave's birthday were busy with other celebrations. One of Dave's brothers, Jacob, got home from his mission to Veracruz, Mexico. The whole family was able to make it to the airport to welcome him home. Even the McCaffree clan, Grandpa Ricks, and cousin Brian made it.

What a welcoming group! I made the sign.

Welcome Home JACOB!

I took several more pictures but most of them were of Jacob hugging everyone, mom crying, and us standing around while his suitcase situation got taken care of. One of his suitcases didn't make it all the way. Someone from the airport did show up the next morning with it. It must have been on a later flight. Just glad he got it.

The next day was Pioneer Day. We went to a park for the big celebration and ate good food and listened to music. Then we went home to finish off the celebrations. We celebrated Dave's birthday, Jacob's homecoming, and Josh & Tara's engagement. And yes, we did sing for each person.

For Dave we sang some rendition of "Happy Birthday."

For Jacob, we sang our own special version of "We're so glad when Jacob comes home" (sung to the tune of "I'm so glad when Daddy comes home").

For Josh and Tara we sang, "Josh and Tara sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G...."

This is a Sam's Club cake. It is super tasty. I put the writing on it. In case you can't read it, it says, "Welcome Home," "Happy B-day", and "Congrats."

Then a couple of days later, we celebrated Grandpa Ricks' 90th Birthday. We had a scrumptious dinner, opened presents, listened to Grandpa recite poetry, and ate more cake. It was a very busy week but it was a lot of fun to see and spend so much time with family.

27 and Counting

2010-08-01T16:40:00.000-07:00

Yep, that's right, Dave turned 27 this year. He's still got the good looks too! Anyway, his birthday was in the middle of the week so we didn't do anything too wild and crazy. Being the good wife that I am, I got up and made him breakfast and then he opened up his presents. I only took one picture that morning because he wasn't too thrilled about pictures that early in the morning. I gave him 2 movies (National Treasure 2 and Night At The Museum 2) and two new work shirts. He's a sexy man.

After work we made tacos and then got ready for his birthday party. We invited a few friends over and the night was spent chit-chatting and eating junk food, mmm my favorite. Happy Birthday Dave! I love you!

Dave blowing out the candles. April's daughter helped me put the candles on. She was super excited about the cake.

Dave with Ben, Josh, and Jeremy. This isn't everyone that came but I didn't take very many pictures that night. But thanks to everyone who came!

It's a...GIRL?!

2010-07-18T18:47:00.000-07:00

Dave here. As many of you have already heard, Kathryn and I found out this last week that she is going to be giving birth to a real live human girl on December 4 (ish), 2010. All I have to say about this is, huh? It took quite a while for the sonographer to identify the gender, because besides being a thumb sucker, our little kiddo is also a leg-crosser. While looking at the ultrasound pictures that were coming up, two thoughts went through my head: "Wow, this is really quite voyeuristic," and "That totally looks like a dude's head." Here's a shot from our ultrasound:

As you can see, it's all good. (Actual ultrasound shots will come later--we forgot to scan them when we were at my parents' house.)

I have five younger brothers, so I am used to growing up around young, immature boys. I can handle little boys, and I know how they behave (and misbehave). Therefore, the news that we were having a girl came somewhat as a shock to me (and to Kathryn, who was practially telling everyone that we were going to have a boy). My reaction echos that of my father's, who, when he heard the news, said, "What?! What went wrong?" I'm still trying to wrap my mind around it. I mean, all that...pink! The dolls, the dress-up, princesses, ponies...I know nothing about this stuff! I'm hoping I can convince her to get into GI Joes so that I can play too, but I don't know if I can handle tea parties (or, in our case, juice parties). This is going to introduce me to a whole new world in which I am a complete alien (I come in peace...usually). As if being a first time father wasn't enough! And now with my brother Josh getting married next month, the estrogen levels in the Ricks family are on the rise, and I'm starting to get defensive (we will still outnumber them 7-4 though, but we're losing ground).

This is not to say that I'm not excited about having a daughter. I am. I'm also really excited that this totally gets me out of the "birds and the bees" talk (it's never too early to be aprehensive about that piece of awkwardness). But this does mean that training bras and slumber parties of giggling girls are on the horizon (although I, fortunately, will have nothing to do with the training bras either).

You may be thinking to yourself, "Dave, you're the most macho of all macho men that I know. How does this feminocity bode for your manliness?" Good question, thoughtful reader. Let me tell you: it will only increase it, because I will have to become an even greater protector than I naturally am. Everyone knows that all girls are wimpy and fragile and cry incessantly. They need a pillar of strength that they can rely on, with rippling muscles and possibly a battle axe (mine is coming through FedEx). I can be, and am, that man. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine.

If you're wondering how Kathryn feels, the answer can be summed up in one word: really excited. She has already bought the baby's first pair of clothes, but we are waiting (at my request) to buy the bigger stuff. We're both just excited that the baby (whose name shall be Jocelyn Focha Ricks) appears to be healthy so far.

Thanks to everyone for your support. We (Kathryn) will keep you updated.

Lots of Posts

2010-07-11T21:06:00.000-07:00

I just caught up. There are 5 new posts below so make sure you scroll all the way down. Enjoy!

"Girl's Just Wanna Have Fun"

2010-07-11T20:32:00.000-07:00

The day after we got back from the family reunion, I had a Young Women's sleepover. I am the Beehive Advisor. The girls are so much fun. We had a dinner and then we played lots of games like these:

The Skittles Game. You were only allowed to chew the Skittles in your mouth if you guessed the right color you drew out of the bag.

There was freeze tag and tunnel tag. Myself, along with 2 other leaders didn't play because we are all pregnant and due within about a week of each other.

This is the Fruit game. You couldn't show your teeth or you were out.

We tried to teach the girls some useful skills such as lock picking.

There were mud masks and toenail and fingernail painting.

We played other games and talked alot and the night ended with "The Princess Bride." Then it was sleepy time.

Hardy Family Reunion

2010-07-11T19:46:00.000-07:00

This past week was spent in Aberdeen, Idaho. We had the Hardy Family Reunion (that's Dave's mom's side of the family). I have to be honest. I was a little apprehensive about going because I don't know very many of the family members on that side but I was pleasantly surprised at how awesome they are. I had a blast. We drove all day Saturday and then left the next Thursday. Since we traveled on July 3rd, we missed most of the Independence Day celebrations. We did catch some fireworks from the nearby town but on Sunday we had a BBQ to make up for it. There weren't too many people there when we first arrived because the reunion didn't officially start until Monday. We headed there a few days early so we could meet the future sis-in-law, Tara (Josh's fiancee.) We all approve.

Anyway, the rest of the days were spent playing and getting to know each other better. I do have to tell a funny story. The first night there we hadn't set up our tents yet so we were sleeping inside Uncle Archie and Aunt Carolyn's house. Uncle Dean and his family were also staying in the house. Can I just tell you, I have never heard someone snore so LOUD. I hadn't met Uncle Dean yet but I asked Dave in the middle of the night if it would be rude to wake him up and tell him to turn on his side. But he was already lying on his side. I also thought about throwing things at him but again, I didn't know him yet. Dan was the first to go upstairs, then Matt who was also starring a mouse in the face. After that, I couldn't sleep because of the snoring and the thought of a mouse running over me, so Dave and I moved upstairs too. Needless to say, we all slept better. Dave and I slept inside the rest of the time too. We set up our tent but the first night the wind was so loud we couldn't sleep and the air mattress felt much better on my pregnant body.

So here are some pictures of the events throughout the week.

We played alot of the marble game (which Mom and I finally beat Dad and Dave at). Here is Matt, Dave, Josh, and Tara playing.

We were also in charge of the horseshoe tournament. This is Dan and Matt showing their mad skills.

We had a talent show. Both Matt and Dave played the piano. Dave is Matt's teacher.

We played Hardy bingo. These sheets had pictures of all the family members on them.

We visited Grandpa and Grandma Hardy's graves and did a service project which consisted of pulling weeds at the cemetery.

This is part of Rock City. Dave said it reminded him of the Easter Island head in Night at the Museum. "Hey Dum Dum. Me want Gum Gum."

Our last excursion was to the hot springs. They had 3 different pools and all different temperatures. This was the coolest which I could go in. I did dip my feet in the burning hot pool and it looked like I got sunburned when I took them out.

In addition to the above activities we also napped, watched movies, ate alot, had a birthday party with white elephant gifts for everyone, watched a slide show, and some went to caves . After the hot springs, we said our goodbyes and headed to a hotel and then drove home the next day. It really was a great reunion and I can't wait for the next one.

"I'm a Yankee Doodle Dandee"

2010-07-11T16:54:00.000-07:00

I just realized I don't have a clue what that song even means. What the heck is a Yankee Doodle Dandee? I get the Yankee part but what about the rest? Anyway, this is about the 4th of July. We were actually traveling on the 3rd when most places were celebrating but we did celebrate on the 4th but that will be included in with the family reunion post. This post is about my work party on the 2nd. We closed down for two hours while we partied like it's 1999. We had an incredible BBQ with lots and lots of food.

Meet Bill, I mean Uncle Sam. I work with him and he takes holidays very seriously.

My brother-in-law, Mike won a game of Connect Four. It doesn't happen very often so I had to document it.

After the BBQ, as is tradition apparently, we had a watermelon seed spitting contest. There were 3 different divisions: children, girls, and boys. I got 4th in the girls but there were only about 6 of us so that's not that cool but I was pretty impressed with my skills. I didn't know I spit so far.

Mine is the one the arrow is pointing to. I spit it from where Uncle Sam is standing. Impressive, I know.

Then we had a water balloon throwing contest. Mike (my brother-in-law who I work with) and I were partners. We didn't win but got 2nd place which is AMAZING. You can congratulate me when you see me. Our boss is incredibly generous and gave $2 bills to winners/participants of the games. And the winners of the seed spitting contest get like $25. Jealous? I was. Anway, it was a super fun party and then we actually got to leave early that day so it made it even better. Hope you all had a very fun 4th of July!

Some BIG News!

2010-07-11T16:06:00.002-07:00

This is probably not news to most of you because I've either called you or you've seen the announcement on Facebook, but I'm PREGNANT! I'm currently 19 weeks along and the baby is the size of an heirloom tomato. Check Facebook weekly for updates and to see which fruit the baby will be. Dave and I are very excited. We don't care if it's a girl or boy, just a healthy baby. I have a feeling it will be a boy and I've had two dreams already. Obviously, that doesn't mean anything but we'll see. We find out this Friday what the gender is, so check back next week to see.

I'm feeling pretty good. The nausea is gone but I occasionally have the minor aches and pains that come with pregnancy and yes, I know it only gets worse. It still doesn't seem real yet but I know it will when my belly gets bigger. I have started to feel the baby. At first I wasn't sure and people were always like, yeah you can't tell if it is gas or the baby. My doctor however, put it quite nicely. Basically she said, if there is no product of the "gas" (meaning a burp or fart), then it's the baby. I've felt the baby alot.

It was really cool to see the baby move and hear its heartbeat on the ultrasounds I've had. Right now I have appointments about once a month so that's always something to look forward to. I also get an email weekly from babycenter.com. That's where the fruit comparison comes from and they also tell me the new growth and cool things the baby can do now. As of now, the due date is December 4th though I'm shooting for a November birthday (don't ask me why because I don't have a reason.)

Anyway, here is a picture of our first ultrasound. The baby was very wiggly and the doctor had to keep poking it to get it to turn the right direction so she could get the measurements. The baby already has a mind of its own. Also, on my last visit, they checked the heart beat and the doctor had to push on the upper left corner of my stomach to trap the baby down in the lower right corner just to get the heart beat. It really likes to move apparently. Can't wait until those movements are more noticeable.

New York, New York

2010-07-11T16:06:00.001-07:00

I realized I never wrote about my trip to New York, so here it is. Last May for work, I got to go to New York City for a week. We had a booth at the National Stationery Show. It went by extremely fast but I had a lot of fun. We flew out on a red eye on a Thursday night and the next morning after getting to NY, we started to set up for the trade show. The show didn't start until Sunday, so we had the rest of Friday and Saturday to see NY. We went to Time Square (holy bright lights), Central Park (longest walk of my life), Rockefeller Center (didn't know what that was until we stumbled upon it), took the subway (you can easily get lost), ate ALOT (we had 3 guys with us), saw the Empire State Building (we didn't go inside but could see it from our hotel), and did some shopping (there are some great deals). I did enjoy visiting NY but I would be okay if I never went back and I could never live there. It is so busy (endless people) and dirty (everyone smokes) and noisy (everyone and their dog honks their horns). Once the show started it was mostly just work and then we would go to dinner afterwards and then I would go to bed. The night life isn't exactly for me and especially since I am pregnant. But again, it was a great experience and I'm glad I can say I've been to New York.

Me standing in front of Time Square.

Me at the M&M Factory.

Right across from the M&M factory is the Hershey Factory. For those of you who don't know, Hershey is my favorite type of chocolate. I didn't buy anything because let's face it, you can buy Hershey's anywhere, but it was pure bliss to be surrounded by so much goodness.

Me at Central Park.

This is where the Trade Show was located. And it did stretch the entire length of the building. It was ginormous.

This is our booth. I work for a company called ClearBags. Visit our website at www.clearbags.com. We have really cool stuff.

Mother's Day

2010-05-22T11:55:00.000-07:00

We went to Dave's parents to celebrate Mother's Day. It was a nice and relaxing afternoon. Only two of the brothers were missing and Grandpa Ricks came over too for dinner. Here are a couple pictures of the day.

Mom Ricks opening up her gifts. Many of them brought tears to her eyes.

With all the boys.

Happy Mother's Day to my moms! I love you!

Enoch Easter

2010-05-08T11:58:00.000-07:00

I flew out to Utah for Easter this year since 1) Dave was going to be gone for 2 weeks on a work trip and 2) Dave, Mel, and Lilia were going to Utah too. We flew in the same day and just played a lot. I left a few days before them so I wouldn't miss too much of work. Anyway, here are some pictures of what I was up to in the great City of Enoch.

During the Saturday Conference sessions, I went to my friend Holly's house to visit her, her baby, and our friend Zoie who we hadn't seen in years. We had lunch and then just visited for awhile. Then a few days later Holly came to my house so my family could see her and her baby.

My mom and Melanie who is getting practice with a baby boy. She is due at the end of May with her first boy.

After the afternoon session of Conference, we hid eggs outside for Lilia to find. She soon discovered that there was candy inside and so we had to start opening all the eggs.

We had an attempt at a photo shoot with Lilia in her new easter dress. She is so funny and adorable.

After Conference on Sunday we went to visit my Grandma Brough who I hadn't seen in several years. She loves seeing her great-grandbabies.

Lilia was tired of pictures.

The last night there, we had a baby shower for Melanie. Her sister and nieces came down. Here are the girls.

Me and my niece Lilia.

My mom and Lilia. She loves her granddaughters.

Here's everyone at the babyshower. Kaela, Mom, and Aunt Carol.

Stacy, Grandma, and Melinda.

Melanie and Me with all her presents. Her boy won't be naked that's for sure.

Family Fun Day

2010-05-08T11:24:00.000-07:00

The weekend Matt started his Sprink Break, Mom Ricks decided to have a Family Fun Day. So we started with bowling. It was a lot of fun. I won the first game and lost the next one. Matt and Dave played a third but the rest of us were too tired. Take a look at our incredible form below.

This is the only picture of me at bowling. Don't you like the shoes?

Good technique.

I feel like he is getting ready to do a long jump. Hey whatever works, right?

Trying to coax his ball to go the right way.

Look at the air on that ball.

After bowling, we went to a park and had a scrumptious picnic lunch. Then we walked down to the tennis courts and I played tennis for the first time ever. It was fun but I'm not very good. I hit several balls over the fences. So after awhile and when Dave started to get his stomach pains, I watched while Dad and Matt continued playing. Mom watched us play and took a nap.

Anyone for tennis?

Take your position.

Look of defeat.

Look at Dave's stance. Pretty serious.

I love Dave's face in this one.

After tennis we went home and took it easy until dinner time. We went out to eat and brought Grandpa Ricks along.

Grandpa Ricks, Mom, and Dad

Matt, Me, and Dave

It was a great day and I can't wait for our next Family Fun Day!

St. Patrick's Day

2010-03-21T17:21:00.000-07:00

We invited Dave's family over for St. Patty's Day this year. Matt couldn't make it but they brought Grandpa Ricks to replace him. We didn't do anything too wild and crazy, we just had dinner. But when I get a chance to change the color of my food, I spring on the idea. That's why St. Patrick's Day is becoming one of my favorite celebrations and you get to wear a specific color to avoid being pinched. You have to admit, it is kinda fun. Anyway, we had roast and potatoes (dyed green), green caesar salad, green jello, green punch, and for dessert, rainbow cupcakes. It was a scrumptious meal, if I do say so myself, and it was nice to spend time with family. Here's some pictures of the night. Hope you had a Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I had some balloons but that's all I did in the way of extra decorations, unless you include Dave who has an outstanding ability to pose.

Here is our lovely green meal. Ymmmm.

I didn't tell anyone I was taking a picture. I love the candid type.

Here is the inside of the rainbow cupcake. I was really happy with the way they turned out. They do take longer than regular ones but they're still pretty easy. Just make a regular white cake mix, separate it into six bowls, add food coloring, add a layer of each color to a cupcake baking cup, and cook. Voila!

Look What I Made

2010-03-07T16:00:00.000-08:00

I've been getting a little crafty lately. No I don't come up with the ideas myself but I make the crafts. My source of brilliance is Natalee. She comes up with the ideas and gives me most of the materials and then I get to make it. She has tons of cute ideas. Visit her site at http://www.nataleeallendesigns.com/. Natalee is in Dave's parent's ward and I work with her too. I love that she has this business and makes it so easy and affordable to make cute decorations. Thanks Natalee!

Too bad I didn't finish this until yesterday. I guess I have to wait until next year to display it.

Happy St. Pat's Day!

Monterey Weekend

2010-03-05T19:41:00.000-08:00

For those of you that don't know, Dave and I lived in Monterey for a year and a half. We still have some friends down there so we decided to visit them last weekend. We stayed with our friends, the Gieslers. They're really awesome and they just moved into a new apartment so we had to check it out.

We got there late Friday but stayed up talking and watching the Olympics. Next morning we moved pretty slow but finally got ready and headed to the Wharf for lunch. I really wanted Clam Chowder. Every restaurant on the wharf claims they have the best. I have now eaten at 3 different places and they all taste great and basically the same. After that we headed to Point Lobos to do some hiking. When we got there however, it was closed because of a Tsunami Warning. Apparently the quakes in Chile were a threat to Monterey. Bummer, but we headed down the road and hung out on the beach. It was a beautiful day but a little chilly. We didn't get washed away either from a Tsunami. Crazy.

This is us doing the little hiking we got to. We are leaving Point Lobos.

Dave built a mini rock wall to protect Sunshine from the Tsumani and Jordan dug a hole so all the water from the Tsunami would go in the hole and completely miss him. Yeah, we had a few laughs about the Tsunami warning.

After that we headed to the mall and did a little bit of shopping. Then we went and saw the movie, Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightening Thief. It was enjoyable but I don't think it was a favorite of anyone. Afterwards we got some Cold Stone Ice Cream. Delish! We just hung out at the apartment the rest of the night.

Sunday we went to our old ward which has totally changed. The turnover rate is huge. There is a lot of military so people don't stay very long. Only a few of our friends are left. We went to our friend's the Homas for lunch. It was really fun to see David and Sonja, who is very pregnant. I can't wait for them to have their first baby. Then we did some visiting with other friends and had dinner at the Yoder's. I feel like we ate a lot on this trip. We didn't stay too long because we had to get back on the road to face the 3 hour drive home. It was a really great weekend and it was fun to see so many people. I even ran into Jonathan who I used to work with at the Recreation Department. We sure do miss Monterey!

(Sorry for the journal-like entry.)

Valentine's Day and Other Good Stuff

2010-02-23T21:09:00.000-08:00

This year Dave and I celebrated V-day early since it was on a Sunday. I got a gift certificate from work to Olive Garden, so we decided to use it for V-day. We went on the Thursday before V-day to beat the love day rush. It was delicious and we got extra bread sticks. Heaven. It was a nice night and the rest of the weekend we stayed at Dave's parent's house because we were having internet issues at home and Dave was finishing up a translation. It was relaxing.

Dave and I outside Olive Garden

Anyway, on Sunday we made a nice dinner and Dave wrote me a sweet note that made me cry. He's a great husband. Normally when he writes love notes he makes jokes or is goofy but this was pure seriousness. It was lovely. Don't get me wrong, I love his goofy notes but this was a pleasant surprise.

Our fancy dinner

I gave Dave a shirt I designed, but couldn't wait until V-day to give it to him so he got it about a week before. If you look at the picture below you will see he has two of the same one. I made one last summer for his birthday with one of those iron-on patches, but as you can see, they don't do well in the wash. So I decided to go pro. I googled "how to make a shirt" and this company popped up, spreadshirt.com. It's super easy and a lot cheaper than I thought. As you're designing it, it shows the price increase depending on how much you add, etc. For designing and having them make just one shirt, it was under $20 and that included shipping too. It was awesome!

The good and the bad

So that was Valentine's Day in a nutshell. In other news, Dave and I are developing our puzzle making skills. Here are some of the puzzles we've made lately.

A Few Good Posts

2010-01-26T16:32:00.001-08:00

I put up 3 new posts. Scroll down because I finally caught up with all that's been going on. Enjoy!

A Quarter of a Century

2010-01-26T15:32:00.000-08:00

That's how old I turned this year. It does sound kinda old to me but I don't feel any different. Just another birthday. However, my birthday was pretty awesome this year. I have always wanted to do a murder mystery party and so I got online and downloaded one. They're pretty easy to put together which is good because I had short notice. Dave's parents, little brother, and cousin came over for the party. It was a 50's theme, called "Greased at the Diner." Everyone dressed up and we had salad, pizza, bread sticks, and of course birthday cake. We didn't do the whole 5 course meal thing throughout the murder mystery but just ate and then played it out. It was pretty cool and if you are ever looking to do one I would recommend it. Here is a good site I found: http://www.red-herring-games.co.uk/. They give you ratings so you can get clean ones too. We had fun and after the murder was solved we played a card game and then everyone went home.

This is the outline of Dino who was found dead.

These are my really cool decorations. You can stop applauding.

Dave- Poora Moore (he volunteered to be a girl because all the mysteries had even female to male ratios)

Dad- Arthur "Bronzie" Bronzerelli

Brian- Buddy Folly

Matt- Maynard G. Wayout

Mom-Pinkie LaRue

Me- Peggy Sousa

Blowing out the candles. Dave was in every picture. Sneaky little devil.

The whole gang.

The next day, which was my actual birthday, Dave made me breakfast. Eggs and toast = YUMMY! Dave had gotten me LOST Season 5 so we spent most of the morning watching it. Then we went to a baptism and had Stake Conference that evening. That's why we celebrated the evening before because we already had a busy day. But it was great and I got Lost Season 5, as already mentioned, A Knight's Tale, a sweater, and a digital photo frame. It was a super birthday. No complaints here and thanks everyone for the birthday calls and wishes.

NeW YeArS!

2010-01-26T13:46:00.000-08:00

Well this New Year's Eve was a fun one. The day was pretty low key. The evening, however, was wild. Well maybe not wild but we did go over to Grandpa Ricks' house and ate pizza, drank a lot (non-alcoholic beverages that is), and played games. We started with a Bunco tournament and then played lots of card games. Midnight came and went pretty uneventfully. We did watch the ball drop and everyone wished each other Happy New Year and then most everyone went home. But for those of us who stayed up, we sat around and talked for a long time. It was a good day and we're excited to see what this year brings. Happy New Year!

Playing one of my favorite games (note the sarcasm in my writing), Shadows Over Camelot.

The adults playing the train game.

Some heavy duty card playing.

Counting down. Doesn't everyone look so enthusiastic?

Dave could hardly contain his excitement in taking this picture.

The Last Eagle

2010-01-26T11:59:00.001-08:00

As most of you know, Dave is the oldest of 6 boys. His dad, he, and 4 of his brothers have all become Eagle Scouts and during the holidays, the youngest, Matt, joined them. Isn't that incredible? All 6 boys are Eagle Scouts. What a great tradition! Matt had his Eagle Court a few days after Christmas. A lot of family was there including all the brothers, minus Jacob, who's on a mission. It was pretty cool to see him become the final Eagle in the family and I know his mom and dad are super proud and probably relieved to be done with all the projects, merit badges, etc. Here are a few pictures from the evening.

A picture of all the Eagle Scouts in Dave's family: his dad, himself, and his 5 brothers.

The Ricks' minus one.

All the family that was in town. Good turn out.

Boys will be boys. Especially the Ricks' boys.

It's All About Me

2010-01-18T09:08:00.000-08:00

You may think this title sounds selfish, but my birthday IS this Saturday. So this background is in honor of me. You may now start wishing me "Happy Birthday".

What's new wid chew?

2010-01-17T13:11:00.000-08:00

Hello there, my peeps. Dave here. I want to tell you about some stuff that has happened in our lives lately, and possibly in more detail than you care to know.

First, I've finally started working a lot more recently. I've got two big translation projects that I'm working on, one is a huge report about the status of the Russian nuclear icebreaker fleet, and the other is a back-translation of some standardized math tests for New York from Russian into English. What that means is that the state had the tests translated into Russian, and now I'm translating it back into English so that the test-makers know that the translation is correct. It's pretty fun, but I'm having to remember what the heck quadracepts and decagons are. (Be afraid 3rd graders, be very afraid!) The jobs both pay really well and are keeping me really busy, especially since I'm still interpreting at hospitals too. I'm so awesome!

Next, Kathryn and I have either bought or been given about 12 movies in the last month, the most expensive of them only being about $5 (well, of the ones we bought). And we just bought a DVD/VCR player last night, so I think we are now officially upper-class. We are super rich, unless you actually factor in how much I owe for my student loans, in which case we have a lot of negative money. But still, we actually have been pretty blessed financially lately, especially since we don't have any of those money-holes living with us, otherwise known as "children." (Disclaimer: I don't hate children. Yet.)

Hmmm, what else? Kathryn is sleeping right now, it's raining, I'm wearing manly slippers (yes, that's possible), and there is permanently a funky smell coming from our walk-in closet because of all our shoes (especially Kathryn's, since her shoes do not always require socks). In short, life is good. Amen.

Anniversary Celebration

2009-12-27T10:56:00.001-08:00

Well I said I would write about our real anniversary celebration when it actually took place. As mentioned 2 posts ago we were busy with other things on our anniversary so we didn't get to celebrate. The day after we did do something. We went out to dinner. We decided to try this place by our apartment. It's called Rosie's Country Kitchen. It's a Denny's style diner but older and family owned and operated. It's run by people from India which kind of surprised us. Most of the food was American but they did have a little section on their menu of Indian food. We ate the American food. It was really good. We enjoyed it and it was nice to get away to celebrate our 2 years of marriage. We didn't just go out to dinner. Again, as already mentioned in the previous post, we went to the zoo a month ago as part of our anniversary. So the celebrating is over but every day is a celebration that we have survived each other this long. Just kidding. It's been a great 2 years!

Christmas 2009

2009-12-27T10:22:00.000-08:00

Well Christmas came and went way too fast. I always get a little sad after Christmas. It means we wait for a whole year again before we get to celebrate. Yeah the presents are great, but I love how the famly gets together and we get to play, and there is Christmas music, lots of food and candy, and just the whole Christmas spirit. I know I'll be seeing family throughout the year, but there is just something special about coming together at Christmas. Anyway, I'm not trying to be depressing, I love Christmas time but it's sad that it has to end.

We did have a wonderful Christmas. We spent it with Dave's family this year. I'll start with Christmas Eve. We had a very large and delicious dinner, like Thanksgiving. Then we loaded into the car to look at lights, sing carols, and deliver goodies to friends. When we got back, we all shared a spiritual/inspirational Christmas story. It was great to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. Then we watched a video called, Joy to the World, which is the nativity story. Then we went to bed.

We woke up at 8:00 and waited at the stairs for the annual picture taking on the balcony. Then we got to come downstairs and look in our stockings. All the presents are passed out and then starting from youngest to oldest we open a present each until they are all opened. Then we ate cinnamon style goodies for breakfast and then we started playing with toys and games. We took it pretty easy all day. I even snuck in a nap. I called and skyped with all my family and then before you knew it it was bedtime again. I sure do love Christmas. Here's what Dave and I got for Christmas: clothes and some jewelry, movies, games, money, a handmixer, reading books, songbooks, a webcam, candy, a Leatherman, decorations, and few other little things. It was a wonderful day and I hope the spirit of Christmas found you this year too! Merry Christmas!

Mom finishing up the chocolate covered candies.

Waiting for storytime.

"Oh Christmas Tree."

This is Dave trying out his new Leatherman.

Playing on the new Wii.

2 YEARS OF BLISS

2009-12-22T21:56:00.000-08:00

Today is Dave and I's 2 year anniversary. Dave went to breakfast with his friends. I had to work. Then tonight, we had a party at his parent's house with lots of family and friends to watch the BYU Bowl Game. BYU won! I know what you're thinking. That is the coolest anniversary ever. Right? Well maybe you weren't thinking that. It's not exactly what I had in mind but we are going to celebrate tomorrow when neither one of us has things going on. Celebrating your anniversary is hard when it is in the middle of the week and especially during the holidays. We actually did a little bit of celebrating about a month ago. We went to the zoo. We did it early so that it would be warmer. It was a really nice day and we enjoyed ourselves. Tomorrow we are going out to dinner. It'll be great. So here are some pics of our real day but I'll post more later when we actually celebrate it.

Dave having breakfast with our friends the Smiths and Harrisons. They're not in town very long so I'm glad Dave got to see them while they were around.

We had a full house for the BYU Bowl Game. There were almost 30 people there watching the game, eating, or playing games. It was a really fun night.

I'm so grateful for Dave. I'm glad we get to spend eternity together. He is a wonderful husband and is so good to me. He has such a strong testimony and helps me to be a better person. He is very patient and has a great sense of humor. He makes me so happy. I'm very blessed. I love you Dave and Happy Anniversary!

Photo Shoot

2009-12-17T21:40:00.000-08:00

I was getting bored of our pictures and decided Dave and I needed a Christmas picture. The setting is our apartment. Here are a couple we took.

This is one of my favorites. I was getting mad at Dave for not being serious in the picture.

This is us reenacting an engagement picture.

We were testing the camera. I was thinking of using the pillow as a prop, but that has a high dork factor.

Another picture. The end.

Thanksgiving Break

2009-12-06T12:13:00.001-08:00

Dave and I went to Utah for Thanksgiving. On our way down to Enoch, we first met up with some of my old roommates. We went to Thanksgiving Point and visited, ate some great ice-cream, and goofed off at the store. It was great to see Alicia and Betsy. I miss those girls and my other old roommates. We sure had a great time when we were living together and so it was really fun to meet up. Here are some pics.

Here we are strategically posing in front of a Christmas tree.

Poor Dave is forced to do whatever we want when us girls get together.

Dave does what we want because we are so hard core. Don't mess.

After we were done goofing off, we drove down to Enoch. Thanksgiving morning was a blast. We had a Turkey bowl with all the cousins. We had been challenged by the Richey clan. Catherine Richey is one of my best friends and it was all her family we played with and against. We didn't divide teams by family, we did it by birthdays, the beginning of the year vs. the end of the year. Luckily this way made it so I wasn't chosen last. It was really fun. As many of you know, I'm not a huge football fan, but playing is different from watching. It was touch football, and then someone had flags and so we changed it up a bit. The game was a tie at the end though some think otherwise, but a tie sounds good to me. It was great. Sadly, I don't have any photos of the glorious game. After working up a sweat, we cleaned up and headed next door to my aunt's house for the magnificent feast. So yummy.

Lots of the family, lining up to get some grub.

Poor boys, don't know how to handle the feast.

The day after Thanksgiving, we have our family Christmas party. We eat pizza, make some kind of craft, dip candies in chocolate, do some service project, and have fun.

Dipping chocolates. Mmm Mmm Good.

Of course the boys were by the TV.

We left Saturday night to head back up north and this is the weather we had for about 30 minutes, but then it cleared up. At least I had some what of a white Christmas before heading back to California.

I Am Thankful For...

2009-11-22T17:53:00.000-08:00

These People...

Meet Dave, the love of my life.

These are my parents. They taught me everything I know.

This is my oldest brother and his family.

This is my other brother and his family.

This is my sister and her family.

These are my adorable nieces.

These are my other parents. I'm glad we live close to them.

These boys are my brother-in-laws (and my husband). They're pretty cool and crazy, but I sure do love them.

My family is what I am most thankful for and I'm glad we get to be together for eternity. I'm also grateful for a loving Heavenly Father and Mother and my savior, Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for the gospel, the scriptures, a living prophet, and all those who paved the way so that I can worship freely and enjoy all that I have today. I'm grateful for my friends and all they do for me and the fun we have together. I'm grateful for food. Mmmmm good. I'm grateful for a job, a roof over my head, and transportation. I'm grateful for this wonderful country. I'm thankful for beautiful scenery, colors, music and other sounds. I'm grateful for my body and my health. I have so much to be thankful for and I'm glad we have this time of year to think about and remember all that we have been blessed with. Happy THANKSgiving!

Sacramento Zoo

2009-11-15T17:36:00.000-08:00

Dave and I went to the zoo yesterday and it was great. I got so excited once we stepped through the gate. I felt like a kid again. It has been many years since I've been to a zoo. It wasn't huge but it was good enough for me. It only took us a couple of hours to walk through the whole zoo but that was enough time especially since we both got hungry. Here are a couple of pictures of some of our favorite animals.

Flamingos are such unique and pretty birds.

This was some kind of horned-billed bird. He sort of played shy and ran away but then would come back and run back and forth in front of you for awhile.

This little guy is one of my new favorites. The Red Panda. Cool. That's all I have to say.

Dave made the comment, "That's how I used to do my hair." If you can't tell from the picture, the Emu has his hair parted straight down the middle and kind of slicked down. It made me laugh, especially since I've seen pictures of Dave with his hair like that.

It wouldn't be a trip to the zoo without a tiger. Scary.

One of the other cool animals we saw, was the parrot who could talk. Some of his phrases were, "Hello!," "How are you?," "Pretty bird.," and "Was up?" He even mimicked a lady's laugh. I was really impressed. Anyway, we had a great time and I can't wait to go the zoo again!

I (Dave) feel like writing something

2009-11-12T21:42:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. I haven't written for a while, but that's because I've been way too busy lately playing video games and pumping iron. I admit that part of me is embarassed to admit that I still play video games when I'm 26, but why should I be? Why do people always mock video games, but encourage reading Harry Potter and (ugh!) Twilight? Those books are not educational, no matter what my wife says. At least video games increase my hand eye coordination (some games) and make me feel a sense of accomplishment when I save the world from marauding minotaurs or North Koreans. Or both. And most games have a storyline in them that makes it just like a book, except you get to take part in the action instead of simply sidelining it. It's like a "Choose Your Own Adventure." (I loved those, but I kept getting sucked out to outter space and have my head explode or fall into a black hole in my space ship book...) The moral of the story is that Twilight is stupid, and Harry Potter could never take on a North Korean-minotaur hybrid.

In other news, I'm weighing in at about 153 these days. That's legit.

I played tennis today for about 3 hours with my friend Chris Pritchett. It was intense. It would have gone much faster (we only played 3 sets), but we almost always botched our first serve. No, I didn't wear the little tennis skirt. Since you were wondering, yes, I won.

I wish I had something important to write, but Kathryn always covers all of the "practical" stuff, and we don't have any kids to laugh at.

I've been doing a lot of medical interpreting, and I've been talking to a lot of old people about their potty habits. Why do the old men always feel the need to show me the catheter bag with their pee in it? Is that really necessary? (the answer is YES!)

The end. Thank you for your time and patience.

I LOVE SKYPE WITH WEB CAMS! THE END.

2009-11-08T23:22:00.001-08:00

Dave, the Groomsman

2009-11-07T22:22:00.000-08:00

One of Dave's good friends from high school got married yesterday. Dave was a groomsmen, the only groomsman. The past few days, he's been getting ready for the big day. He had a rehearsal on Thursday, and then Friday, the wedding day, he had to be there 3 hours early to take pictures. Needless to say, his mom and I met him there later. It was a very nice ceremony, short, sweet, and to the point. After the ceremony, they had a dinner and reception full of all the traditional wedding must-dos: cutting the cake, speeches, the bouquet and garter throwing, and dancing. I've met Zach (the groom) a couple of times and him and his bride Jennifer came over during the summer for Dave's birthday. They're a great couple and we are very happy for them both. Congratulations Zach and Jenn!

Dave and I just before the wedding.

Dave and his mom.

Dave, escorting a bridesmaid.

Dave, the Groom-Zach, and Chris (another school friend)

When Dave and I weren't dancing, he was posing. Lookin' good.

A Different Halloween

2009-11-07T21:45:00.000-08:00

Well Halloween was a little differnt this year since Dave's grandma passed away and her funeral was on Halloween. We did have a lot of family in town so it was really nice but there was a lot less "Halloween" and lot more talking, eating, and playing games. Don't think we're insensitive, we are sad that Grandma is gone but she would want us to be happy, and really we are happy for her because she is in a better place and Ricks ARE known for loving games. Anyway, first to start off Halloween, my work had a party the Friday before Halloween. My boss is awesome. We closed the business for a full 2 hours to party. There was tons of food, a pumpkin carving contest, and a pinata. It was pretty fun.

Grumpy, Snow White, and a little princess.

A nerd and a 70's chick.

Mr. T- "I pity the fool."

A 50's chick, bat girl, and a witch.

Then on Halloween, as already mentioned, it was Grandma Ricks' funeral. It was a very nice funeral. A lot of family and friends came and they had great memories to share. That night we had a big dinner and some of the younger kids did do a little Trick or Treating. Mostly we just hung out and played together. It was a fun time though we met under sad circumstances, but it is nice to have the gospel in our lives because we understand that families are forever.

Some of the pallbearers.

Some of the many family members who filled the house.

The hair is kind of hiding the face, but Brandon was a Zombie.

In Memory of Focha Black Ricks

2009-11-07T21:41:00.000-08:00

Monday, October 26th, Dave's Grandma passed away. She was almost 91 years old. She was a sweet ol' gal and I'm glad for the little time I got to spend with her. For the past few months, I've been doing "Grandma Duty", along with Mom Ricks and Aunt Rosanne. Grandma was in a wheel chair so she needed help getting in and out of bed, using the bathroom, taking her pills and eating. Grandma Ricks was not a woman of many words, at least how I knew her. She was very kind and would always smile. I will miss her but she is in a better place now.

The last week of her life they had decided to put her under hospice care when her already failing health got worse. She was no longer eating or drinking anything and most of her time was spent in bed. So it really was a good thing for her to move on with her next great adventure. She went peacefully. Her funeral was a week ago, Halloween day. It was sad but at the same time, everyone was very happy for her because they know that she is in a much better place, with other family members who love her. I was glad to hear more stories of how Grandma really was when she still had energy and spunk in her. We will miss her, but her legacy still lives on with her family.

OcToBeR BiRtHdAyS

2009-10-25T11:09:00.000-07:00

Well, October is a busy birthday month in my family. October 6- Dad Ricks, October 13- Matt, October 17- Jenn, and October 23- Mom Ricks. I've been slacking on my picture taking because I've been forgetting the camera. But this past Friday, Mom Ricks' birthday, Dave remembered the camera. So I have some pictures! We did celebrate everyone else's birthday but don't have any pictures to show for it. Sorry Dad, Matt, and Jenn (you live far away, so I wouldn't have pictures anyway), it doesn't mean I don't love you. So here are some pictures from Mom's birthday. We went out to dinner, then came home and opened presents and ate cake. Dave and I stayed the night so he could watch the disappointing BYU football game. It makes me laugh how emotionally and mentally attached boys are to sports. Anyway, here are some pictures.

The web cam for Skype so now she can talk to and see her boys.

New soft sweater. It has fur on the inside.

Mom and Dad Ricks.

Blowing out the candles.

Catch Up

2009-10-19T18:55:00.001-07:00

Well Dave and I have been in our new apartment for over two weeks now. We've got most everything together and clean. There are a few things we still would like to get but that will take some time and more money. I'll post pictures soon. We haven't gone to our new ward yet because we've been going to our previous ward since we were both in the primary and the primary program was yesterday and we didn't want to bail out on them (we're both teachers and Dave was the pianist). So we have yet to see what our ward is like. This Sunday will be our first time going to our ward. I'm sure it will be great.

It's nice to be in our own place and have all of our things again, but at the same time, I'm glad we still live close to family. Here are a few things we've been up to the last few weeks, besides moving in and getting settled.

We rediscovered the awesomeness of our Nerf Guns. Dave's brother gave the guns to us for Christmas a couple of years ago and had only used them once because we didn't have a lot of space in our studio apartment. So now that we have multiple rooms to hide in, we decided to try them out again. It was super fun but we got tired pretty quick. We also discovered that we don't have very good aim.

Also, I went to Enrichment with Dave's mom last week and made some cute Halloween decorations. Here's the finished product.

As already mentioned, yesterday was our last Sunday in our old ward. Here is a picture of our primary class, ages 7-8. Mostly girls, but they were all great and we are going to miss them.

And to catch you up to today, for our FHE activity, Dave and I went to See's Candy. Grandpa Ricks gave us a coupon. It's not a pre-packaged box. We got to pick our favorites and experiment with new flavors. This makes me happy to be able to choose my own candy. So needless to say, I'm in heaven. That's the way to go.

So that's about it around here. We are busy with work and getting things to finish up the apartment. OH! I almost forgot. We just got a TV. Dave's mom found one at a garage sale for $30 and it's in great shape. We discovered that my portable DVD player can plug into it, so we can watch movies. And then Dave's parents gave us their TV stand since they are buying an entertainment center. That's another great thing about living close to family. We get first dibs on all the things they don't want anymore. We also got a desk and are getting some bookshelves from them too. Dave and I also just purchased some tables to put in our living room. We found out about them from some friends. It's great to have family and friends looking out for you.