1st Annual Reed Rodeo

We had our First Annual Reed Rodeo on April 23, the day before Easter.  We started the day off with a yummy breakfast.  And then the festivities began.  We had a whole line up of fun stuff to do.  

Dummy Roping

3 Legged Race

Wheelbarrow Race

Water Balloon Toss

Egg Toss

Rawhide Race 

and the Chicken Chase to name a few.

Everyone had so much fun and the weather was perfect!  After the morning events, we had lunch and then a Easter Egg hunt.  The whole day was so much fun and we are glad that Aunt Sharla's family joined in on all the fun!

Carson, Briley, Caleb and Devin reading the line up of events.

Ashton broke his arm the week before and was sad he couldn't participate in everything.

Lacey loved that little stick horse!

But it is kind of hard to ride it the right way, but a whole lot easier to carry it!

What a cute line up of a bunch a little cowgirls!

Ashton was able to do the dummy roping.

He has it down pretty good...

And caught the steer on the first throw!

Off to the Wheelbarrow racing...

You had to run to the other side of the field and back to the other side.

Lacey had to go and get her brother's hat that flew off in the race.

On your mark, get set, GOOOO!

The funnest part was watching the adults do the Wheelbarrow race!  We were all laughing so hard!  The sisters pushed the brothers in the wheelbarrow.  (On a side note, James will attempt to reach his hand out of the wheelbarrow and grab the person next to him to pull them over!)  We also had husbands and wives compete!  We can't wait to do it again next year!

Easter Egg Hunt

The Town of Queen Creek has a giant Easter Egg Hunt every year.  So we decided to attend!  Everyone had so much fun and gathered a TON of eggs!

Everyone waiting for the festivities to begin.  The baseball field was full of eggs!

Lacey munching on candy before the hunt begins.

To this day, Lacey is still scared of the Easter Bunny because he made an appearance here.

Daisy was a trooper, but by this time, she had enough!

Lacey wanted to open every egg before putting it in the basket.

She was finally getting the hang of it.

On your mark, get set, GOOO!

I guess it isn't much of a hunt when there are this many eggs!

Devin loved it!

Is Calvin to cool to pick up the eggs?

Almost, but not quite.  :)

Ashton collected a lot of eggs too!

Caleb and Carson were too old to participate in the egg hunt.  But they enjoyed all the other activities and the other boys shared their eggs with them.  We have loved going the the QC Egg Hunt every year and had to do it one last time before the big move to Texas!

Miss Lacey's Birthday!!!

Lacey Jane had her 2nd Birthday on April 8th.  She was so excited and quickly got into the swing of things.  She would open presents left and right and then ask for the next one.  Although she did stop long enough to open various treats and share one with everyone.  And she had to make sure everyone ate their "treats".

She loved the bracelets and necklaces!

Waiting patiently for the candles to be lit.

She loves the baby that Grandma Reed gave her. (She calls all of her dolls "baby").

It was really late when we had the festivities because we had a fundraiser that we went to that evening.  That is why you see boys wrapped up in blankets.  :)

White Coat

This white coat has gone through a whole lot.  Four years ago, Ben attending the first White Coat Ceremony of A.T. Still University - School of Osteopathic Medicine in Arizona (SOMA).  

And since then, he has worn this coat to many different offices, trying all sorts of specialties.  This coat has been washed, ironed, hemmed, lost buttons, restitched and still did it's job.  It has held important tools like stethoscopes, little books, badges, name tags, pens, electronic tools and possibly even food. It has been hauled to and fro, and dropped on the ground many times.  

It has been there through the questions and answers and tests.  It has been there to surgeries and routine visits.  And most importantly, it has been there as Ben figured out what specialty he wanted to go into: OB/GYN.

It's permanent residence was on a hanger in Ben's truck, always there when it was needed.  Now it hangs in the closet.  It's job is done and will soon be replaced with another.

Ben is officially done with all his rotations!  What a strange feeling to be done and to have accomplished so much: a lifelong goal.  It has been a long road, but now this one is coming to an end.  He's not completely done yet.  He still has a few odds and ends that he needs to finish up, but the white coat is being retired.  We are looking forward to Graduation Day - June 3, and then Ben will be officially Dr. Richardson!  

Just an average, typical day

Sometimes life seems to go by quickly and the typical daily activities just get passed by the wayside.  Days turn into weeks and then months and, well, you get the picture.  Since we are going to be moving next month, we have been reflecting on the past four years of living here and how much we have loved it!  

Just recently one of my aunts asked me what are some of my favorite memories of my childhood.  I immediately thought of the little things that my parents probably thought were insignificant, but they are the things that I treasure the most.  The first thing that comes to mind is one time when we dug up our garden and before we turned it into rows, Dad hid gummy worms under the big dirt clods.  I still remember him running into the house and telling us that he found something outside in the dirt.  We were all so excited and ran outside as fast as we could!  And we all thought we scored the biggest treasure in the world!  

Or when Dad put the sprinkler under one of the trees during a winter freeze and when we woke up that morning to a tree full of icicles!

Or camping for that one week up on the rim and immediately following it with the Ward campout.  Boy, were we dirty!  And I will have to say that us girls were pretty fast with that .22 single shot.  You brothers better watch out we were pretty competitive!   

So with that being said, Ben and I often talk about what our kids will remember from their childhood. Hopefully, they remember the good stuff.  :)  I decided to take a few pictures of our normal activities.

Our neighbors will probably be the first to tell you that we have a noisy house!  With a houseful of kids, that's probably a given.  But I am one of those "mean" moms that make their kids practice music.  Our piano is playing beautiful music all the time.  (Or maybe it's only beautiful in our minds.)    There is always someone practicing the piano, so that means that the other instruments have to practice in the other rooms.  Both Caleb and Carson are in the advanced orchestras at their schools.  Caleb plays violin and Carson plays cello.  Their dream is to have a Richardson quartet and play at weddings and other events.  They already have music picked out for my unmarried brothers weddings.

Caleb practicing his violin.

All of our boys faithfully do their homework.  There are those time that they slack off and want to play instead.  So I just tell them that they don't have to do it and for them to tell their teacher what their decision was.  Then they beg me let them do their homework early in the morning.  Funny kids.  But I will have to say that they take pride in their work.  When they have a project due, they want to do it good.  They even get out my stamp pads and paper and make it fancy!

Calvin doing homework.

Ashton doing his homework.

After school just wouldn't be fun without something to eat!  Don't you remember how hungry you were when you got home from school?  Well, as soon as the boys walk through the door, they tell me how hungry they are!  So even Little Lacey takes advantage of the good food!

Lacey eating her sandwich.

Not very often is Ben home in the afternoons, but he was this day!  And when he is home, he always feels the need to work on something, or fix something.  I personally think that he just wants to get his tools out.  :) 

Dad working hard.

And the boys follow right in his footsteps.  Ben should be proud!
The boys are always wanting Ben to make them something.  It's usually a wooden sword, or a guitar, or a rabbit cage.  The list goes on and on.

Caleb helping Devin sand down his sword.

Devin working on it himself.

You have to use tools to cut up junk to throw in the dumpster.
Isn't that what you do?

Manly tools = lots of sparks

There is always some kind of rough housing.  It's all meant to be fun and games...but there are those times when it gets a little too rough.  Well, to be honest, it usually always gets to rough and someone ends up getting hurt or crying.  Some phrases you will always hear me say are:

"Boys, it's getting too rough." or 

"Settle down boys!" or

"You know that every time you don't listen to me, someone always gets hurt!"

Carson and Caleb sword fighting.

Sometimes, a few of us take naps.  And it's usually not me.  :)  Although I can dream, right?  Ahh!  The silence! 

Sweet Daisy sleeping away.

And then we can't forget to eat some more!  Did I mention that we go through a lot of food?  Well, we do and I don't think it will slow down any time soon.  :)

Caleb eating some more.

Watch out El Paso!

The Richardson's are heading to El Paso in June!  Ben was accepted into the OB/GYN residency program in El Paso.  We are excited for our next adventure, but sad that we are leaving our friends and family in QC.  Ben received the email telling us where he matched on St. Patrick's Day (note the green outfits).  We were all excited!  He actually got his first choice!  We are so proud of Ben and all his hard work! 

Daisy's Blessing

On March 6th, Ben had the opportunity to give Daisy a name and a blessing.  So many of our friends and family were there.  Ben gave a beautiful blessing.  It was such a great day.  After church we had a lunch for our families.  We are so blessed to have such wonderful people in our lives.  Thanks to all who came to show their love and support.  We love you all!

Our family before Church.

Beautiful Daisy

I made her blessing dress, and finished it the night before (thank goodness!).

Pinewood Derby

Devin, Ashton, Calvin, Caleb and Carson

Caleb, Carson and Calvin all participated in the Pinewood Derby in January.  They all worked really hard on their cars.  They came up with the designs, helped cut them, sanded them and then painted them.  All of the cars did really well.  Caleb's car won 3rd Place!  Ashton and Devin made cars as well and they had "Richardson Races" after the scouts finished their races.  They all had a great time!

Moments like this...

Daisy - one week old

I love watching a baby sleep.  Little Daisy is no different.  She is perfection and beauty all rolled into one.  Don't you just love newborns?