Friends and a Wedding

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

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!

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

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?!

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

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"

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.