Someone's getting tall.

 And clever.

Addie Turns Six!

Or should I say 16?  She's really one of those girls that lives up to that saying.  I wasn't very diligent about taking pictures but I think she still deserves a little recognition.

It's only fair to list a few things about Addie:

She's my right-hand man...I mean girl.  She's the biggest help and I am so glad!

She has an amazing memory.  Jared recently told her that she has a memory like a steel trap.  She reminded me about that by saying "I have a trap like a bear."

She loves to organize.

She still wears those glasses!

She is a great student and has never missed a day of reading or been late with her homework.

She's very honest.  Which can be painful if she doesn't like your outfit.

She loves accessories.  She wears big earrings, lots of bracelets and chunky necklaces.

She worships her Aunt Annie and adores her Grandpa Richardson.


She loves to have girl talk.

She loves to dress nice.  She likes to always look her best.

On the flip side, she loves to put on a pair of comfy pants to lounge in.

She is doing a great job learning to read.

She loves to cook and bake.

She loves Church and never forgets to take her Book of Mormon.

She has killer blue eyes.

She loves loves loves her Dad.

She has a crush on two boys.  One named Raleigh.  They've loved each other for about 4 years now.  No joke.  The other is named Tyson and he's 18.  He's the nicest kid who works for Aunt Jeanie and loves to tease Addie.

She loves Three Stooges and Tom and Jerry.

A Rare Opportunity

I know many of you are Mormon and already know the "logistics" of  how the Church stays organized and meets the needs of it's members, so I wanted to break it down for those of you that aren't Mormon.

In our Church we have a group of men we call General Authorities.   Since we number about 14 million members it is just not humanly possible for our Prophet, his counselors and the 12 apostles to be everywhere trying to meet the needs of members throughout the world.  We believe that "Jesus Christ is the head of the Church. Under His direction, General Authorities and local leaders lead and teach Church members throughout the world."

General Authorities are assigned to different areas throughout the world and "travel frequently within the assigned area to teach and encourage local leaders and members of the Church..."

Because of my Dad's calling as Stake President he has the opportunity to meet several of these men and even host some of them in my parent's home.  It's been a real pleasure to for us to also meet some of these men.  A few weeks ago they hosted Elder David F. Evans.

My girls and I had the opportunity to meet him.  I'll never forget an experience we had at breakfast with him.  We were talking about the meeting from the night before and my mom told him that she really enjoyed hearing his stories about President Monson.  She said it made him seem so real.  It was a lighthearted conversation but he stopped, pointed his finger and with every serious fiber of his being said "he IS real."  Of course we believe he a real prophet, called of God, but to hear his firm testimony of it was pretty remarkable.  Lucy was sick the weekend we were there and was able to have a blessing by my Dad and Elder Evans.  What a neat experience.

Like in Christs' time we also have 12 apostles.  Twelve men we sustain as Prophets, Seers, and Revelators.  We respect, honor and love them and since there are so many members and just 12 of them, getting the chance to meet one is a very rare opportunity.

Today we had the opportunity to meet Quentin L. Cook.

He attended our Stake Conference, along with Elder Micheal Pickard of the Seventy.  It was a great conference and meeting Elder Cook was the icing on the cake!  Normally I wouldn't wait around to see anyone, I'm just not that kind of person, but someone like this was worth waiting for. He first talked with Addie, complimented Lucy on being a beautiful baby and then talked with Kimber.  He then told me and Jared that it wasn't fair that one family should have three such cute girls.

It will probably be a very long time before we ever have an opportunity like that again so I want my girls to be able to look back and know that they were able to shake the hand of a Special Witness of Christ.

To those that are not members of our Church this may seem a bit insignificant, but to me it's rare and it's special.  My religion and belief in Jesus Christ is what defines me.  It makes me who I am.  It makes me happy.  It makes my life worth living.  There are so many wonderful Churches that do so much good in the world and bring peace and joy to so many people. No matter what you may have heard from your Church about ours or what you may have heard from other people, please take it from me, a member of the Mormon Church, we are just happy that you have found happiness and joy.  I am glad you have a Church that is the right fit for you.  If you are truly happy then I am truly happy for you.

I knew it was coming

I figured it was just a matter of time before she found the toilet.  I've been warning my girls for weeks now to make sure they shut the lid after using the toilet.  And they've done pretty good job.  That was until this morning.

I was doing my thing when I suddenly heard a little splish-splash coming from the bathroom.  I ran in to find this little stinker having a great time playing in the toilet.

Is this the face of guilt or what?

Sweet Little Lucy has mastered the famous "Hatch Fit".  She also has the strawberry blonde from the Hatch side.  I'll take the strawberry blonde and pass on the fits. 

Shooting with Dad

Today is Addie's sixth birthday.  About a month ago she requested to go shooting with Jared.  I have no idea where this came from but she's been looking forward to it ever since.  I think he was equally excited.  Right before they left Addie came running in the house to tell me that he told her that she could shoot his .22.  She doesn't know a BB Gun from a .22 but it was like she knew something was different between the two.

 They had a great time while I stayed home to get ready for her party.  Apparently Kimber has pretty good aim!  You go girl!

I don't know, do you think she's sick of having a camera in her face all the time?

While playing in my Mom's Preschool Addie found a stethoscope and loved playing with it.  At one point my Mom came in and she said "Grandma, guess what?  My heart has been beating all day."

It's a dang good thing!

I recently spent a few days at my parent's house and snapped this picture.  I forgot I took it until I came across it tonight.  I am so over winter and ready for the blossoms!

When I saw this smudge on the window this morning I grabbed the Windex and started cleaning the smudge all while wondering who had given the window a big wet kiss.  When it didn't come off I looked a little harder and realized it was on the outside.  Then my heart skipped a beat when I realized what it was.  A bird!  I hate those things!  Can you see the eyes?  The beak?  A wing?  The feathers? 

I would have hated to be that bird.  It must have been a hard hit!

Putting it in Perspective

I love my kids but lately I have felt like nothing else gets done because I either have to pick up Lucy, stop to help Addie and Kimber clean their room the right way, play Memory with Kimber, help Addie with homework, hold a fussy baby while I try to cook dinner, you know the story.

Last night I was starting to feel like the chaos was taking over.  If I ever want my house to get completely cleaned up, if I ever want to catch up on the laundry, if I ever want to get my kitchen painted, then I need a little time to myself.

Then I came across this quote this morning:

“My whole life I have been complaining that my work was constantly interrupted, until I discovered the interruptions were my work.” 
--Henri Nouwen

That's all I'm tryin' to say.

Birthday Girl

On Monday Kimbie turned 4.  Really, where does time go?  Just yesterday she was a tiny little baby in my arms and today she's a big girl who loves her independence.

She got to choose each meal today.  For breakfast it was Cheerios, lunch it was pizza and dinner it was biscuits and gravy.  She's so easy to please.

She also got to have a little party with a few girlfriends.  They had lunch, decorated princess crowns, played lots of games and kept my running like crazy.

After dinner she got another little party with us.  She was so excited to open her presents.  It's always so fun to watch your kids get excited about little things like a giant pencil or a box of Lego's.

I could tell she felt special all day.  Remember when birthdays were like that? 

Kimber is such a fun little girl.  Here are a few things about her:

She loves her little dolls.  She has a set of twin baby dolls and to her they are real!  She takes such good care of them.

She is very stubborn!

She loves her little sister.  Sometimes a little too much.

She's a daredevil.  There isn't much that scares her.

She loves to be with her Dad.

She loves books.

She loves to eat spaghetti and pizza.

She still comes to our bed a few times a week.  I thought we had this problem taken care of when I promised her a trip to the dollar store is she would stay in her own bed for one week.  It took about of month of starting over, she finally did it for a week, went to the dollar store and got right back in our bed.

She is very good at entertaining herself.  If ever I can't find her I know she's in her closet with the door shut playing with her toys.

She loves to wear dresses and tennis shoes.  Thankfully not at the same time.

She doesn't like beef and will eat just about any vegetable she can get her hands on.

She is very loving.  She's all about the hugs and kisses.

We've learned that we have to talk very gently to her when she does something wrong.  She's very sensitive to anger.

She would stay in the bath all day if I would let her.

She loves to color.

She writes her name over and over and over again.  This girls gets her doodling habit from her mother.

She loves No Bake Cookies.

And we love her!