Another Saturday at Cedar Ranch

Saturday there was another work day out at my Grandparent's ranch. My Dad and all of his brothers headed up to help put in a bathroom in the house where my Grandparent's stay. You see, they had a house, bathroom and all, but one night they showed up and the house was gone! It had burned to the ground, quite literally. All that was left were ashes, nothing could be salvaged.

But, my Grandma and Grandpa made the best of the situation and moved into the pump house. My Grandma has fixed it up to look just like a little house, minus the kitchen and bathroom. Each time they go there to visit they cook on a camping stove and use an outhouse. No joke! (That is exactly why my Grandma is a better person than me!) But, my Grandma is getting older and more fragile so my uncles decided that it was time to put in a bathroom as well as a kitchenette.

My Uncles, brother, Jared, cousins and Grandpa worked very hard yesterday and got the bathroom framed up, dug a septic line, ran water and installed the toilet. It was really a miracle. I know it sounds funny but we got a downpour yesterday and if my Grandma had to walk to the out house in the middle of the night, it could have been very dangerous.

So, while the guys were busy working my sister and I spent some valuable time with Grandma. Bethany gave her a pedicure, we played Rummikub (her favorite game! And she is dang good!), talked and laughed.

I also got to take my girls to Dizzy Land to play for a while. Let me explain Dizzy Land. My Grandpa is very innovative and came up with the funnest and most creative playground ever. He also has a nickname for everyone and comes up with catchy little phrases for everyday things, i.e., Church clothes are called "glad rags," a bathroom is the "potty house, " a V10 (as in an engine) is called a "forked 10." There is much more! My little white car I used to have was called the "little white horse."

There's bowling:

There's a merry-go-round:

There's a slide: (Don't let this picture deceive you. This slid is actually at least 9 feet high!)

There's croquet:

There's teeter-totters:

There's tether ball:

There's a swing set:

There's also golf, ping-pong, volleyball and much more.

Now I have a funny story. Thankfully my sister doesn't know how to get on a private blog, so I know that she won't be reading it anytime soon.

The road was really muddy and we were afraid that we would get stuck, but we decided to keep driving because we knew eventually someone would find us. My sister doesn't have 4-wheel drive on her suburban so we were really taking our chances on the roads. She was trying to drive so carefully but it didn't stop us from fish-tailing and sliding all over. She was yelling, "I'm pushing so hard (on the pedal). Oh my gosh! We are gonna get stuck!" We finally made it through that mess and got to the gate. I hopped out to open it up and covered my shoes in mud. I got back in the suburban and we started to go. She was gunning it and we were not moving! She yelled, "we're stuck!.....oh, wait. I'm still in park."

I just love my sister!

Another Saturday at Cedar Ranch

Saturday there was another work day out at my Grandparent's ranch. My Dad and all of his brothers headed up to help put in a bathroom in the house where my Grandparent's stay. You see, they had a house, bathroom and all, but one night they showed up and the house was gone! It had burned to the ground, quite literally. All that was left were ashes, nothing could be salvaged.

But, my Grandma and Grandpa made the best of the situation and moved into the pump house. My Grandma has fixed it up to look just like a little house, minus the kitchen and bathroom. Each time they go there to visit they cook on a camping stove and use an outhouse. No joke! (That is exactly why my Grandma is a better person than me!) But, my Grandma is getting older and more fragile so my uncles decided that it was time to put in a bathroom as well as a kitchenette.

My Uncles, brother, Jared, cousins and Grandpa worked very hard yesterday and got the bathroom framed up, dug a septic line, ran water and installed the toilet. It was really a miracle. I know it sounds funny but we got a downpour yesterday and if my Grandma had to walk to the out house in the middle of the night, it could have been very dangerous.

So, while the guys were busy working my sister and I spent some valuable time with Grandma. Bethany gave her a pedicure, we played Rummikub (her favorite game! And she is dang good!), talked and laughed.

I also got to take my girls to Dizzy Land to play for a while. Let me explain Dizzy Land. My Grandpa is very innovative and came up with the funnest and most creative playground ever. He also has a nickname for everyone and comes up with catchy little phrases for everyday things, i.e., Church clothes are called "glad rags," a bathroom is the "potty house, " a V10 (as in an engine) is called a "forked 10." There is much more! My little white car I used to have was called the "little white horse."

There's bowling:

There's a merry-go-round:

There's a slide: (Don't let this picture deceive you. This slid is actually at least 9 feet high!)

There's croquet:

There's teeter-totters:

There's tether ball:

There's a swing set:

There's also golf, ping-pong, volleyball and much more.

Now I have a funny story. Thankfully my sister doesn't know how to get on a private blog, so I know that she won't be reading it anytime soon.

The road was really muddy and we were afraid that we would get stuck, but we decided to keep driving because we knew eventually someone would find us. My sister doesn't have 4-wheel drive on her suburban so we were really taking our chances on the roads. She was trying to drive so carefully but it didn't stop us from fish-tailing and sliding all over. She was yelling, "I'm pushing so hard (on the pedal). Oh my gosh! We are gonna get stuck!" We finally made it through that mess and got to the gate. I hopped out to open it up and covered my shoes in mud. I got back in the suburban and we started to go. She was gunning it and we were not moving! She yelled, "we're stuck!.....oh, wait. I'm still in park."

I just love my sister!

Snack and Story Time

After the museum we threw together a batch of homemade brownies. I grew up on homemade and never touched a brownie made from the box until my teenage years. Addie is on a brownie kick and we had a great time making them.


After we had the eggs, sugar and butter mixed together my friend Traci stopped by so I took a quick break to help her with a super cute project she is working on. I left the girls alone for a few minutes and when I got back I saw that Kimber had been licking the spatula...with the raw eggs, dipping her fingers in it, and had butter all over her jeans.


We got back to the project and needless to say, Addie and Kimber are the only ones that are enjoying the brownies.
We ended the afternoon by watching Jared mow the lawn. We sat on the swinging chair and I told the girls stories from when I was little. I told them about our house on Javalina Circle, about how it was two stories, how we had a merry-go-round in the backyard, about my friends in the neighborhood and more.

Addie is really into hearing stories from my childhood whenever we are doing something. If we are eating dinner she wants me to tell her a story. I usually tell her about how Uncle Ben used to eat SO MUCH food and managed to stay super skinny (thank goodness for those Richardson genes!), how he used to eat a hamburger everyday after school and how much he loves onions.

She has asked to hear stories about my brothers and sisters when they were little and about the friends that I had when I was younger. Yesterday I also told her about my friends Monica and Gina and how much fun we used to have. I have actually really enjoyed it because it makes me think and brings back so many happy memories.

Snack and Story Time

After the museum we threw together a batch of homemade brownies. I grew up on homemade and never touched a brownie made from the box until my teenage years. Addie is on a brownie kick and we had a great time making them.


After we had the eggs, sugar and butter mixed together my friend Traci stopped by so I took a quick break to help her with a super cute project she is working on. I left the girls alone for a few minutes and when I got back I saw that Kimber had been licking the spatula...with the raw eggs, dipping her fingers in it, and had butter all over her jeans.


We got back to the project and needless to say, Addie and Kimber are the only ones that are enjoying the brownies.
We ended the afternoon by watching Jared mow the lawn. We sat on the swinging chair and I told the girls stories from when I was little. I told them about our house on Javalina Circle, about how it was two stories, how we had a merry-go-round in the backyard, about my friends in the neighborhood and more.

Addie is really into hearing stories from my childhood whenever we are doing something. If we are eating dinner she wants me to tell her a story. I usually tell her about how Uncle Ben used to eat SO MUCH food and managed to stay super skinny (thank goodness for those Richardson genes!), how he used to eat a hamburger everyday after school and how much he loves onions.

She has asked to hear stories about my brothers and sisters when they were little and about the friends that I had when I was younger. Yesterday I also told her about my friends Monica and Gina and how much fun we used to have. I have actually really enjoyed it because it makes me think and brings back so many happy memories.

Museum Trip

Am I the only one who feels tired and like I am in a slump? It's been this way all week. Yesterday I realized that it must be the weather. I was talking to my sister this morning and we agreed that the clouds were making us tired and hungry. Hopefully the sun will be back in full force soon.

But meanwhile, we are trying to stay busy. I have been racking my brain trying to come up with fun things to do with my girls so yesterday we headed down the street to the museum. The museum is actually located in an old general store that was once owned by Jared's Grandparent's and they passed it on to his Aunt Mildred and Uncle Lloyd. It is filled with pieces from the town's history, art from local artists and more.

Addie was little scared to put her arm around her faceless friend.

In 1978, the town asked each family to provide a square for a quilt they were putting together. This is the square from Jared's grandparents.
Addie was drawn to the dolls, of course!

Museum Trip

Am I the only one who feels tired and like I am in a slump? It's been this way all week. Yesterday I realized that it must be the weather. I was talking to my sister this morning and we agreed that the clouds were making us tired and hungry. Hopefully the sun will be back in full force soon.

But meanwhile, we are trying to stay busy. I have been racking my brain trying to come up with fun things to do with my girls so yesterday we headed down the street to the museum. The museum is actually located in an old general store that was once owned by Jared's Grandparent's and they passed it on to his Aunt Mildred and Uncle Lloyd. It is filled with pieces from the town's history, art from local artists and more.

Addie was little scared to put her arm around her faceless friend.

In 1978, the town asked each family to provide a square for a quilt they were putting together. This is the square from Jared's grandparents.
Addie was drawn to the dolls, of course!

Achievement Days

Today for Achievement Days we took our girls to the local fire station for a tour. It was so fun! The girls had lots of questions, and stories of course. The head EMT is our ward Executive Secretary and since he was familiar with us (his daughter is also one of my girls) he gave us a great tour! All of the girls got to slide down the pole, get in an ambulance and look around, hold (or at least attempt to) the jaws of life and more.

When Brother Burden wanted to show everyone how they load people into the ambulance he volunteered me to be the patient. I jumped on and the girls buckled me up. They made me laugh so hard. They were all saying things like "don't cry, it'll be okay" and "don't go towards the light" as they would gently pat my legs or hold my hand.

I have four callings but this is by far my favorite! My friend Jenn is the leader of the 8-9 year old girls and I am over the 10-11 year olds. We deicded to combine them because about a year ago when we she got called bceause we didn't have a lot of girls. This summer we will be up to 18. The Primary President asked us how we feel about splitting them up and Jenn and I both agree that we would be really sad. We are attactched to both groups and fee like we have a good relationship with all of them. I feel like the girls really enjoy coming and with the exception of the last two activies we usually have every girl and them some. I love these girls and I really do learn a lot from them.