Calvin-all grown up

Calvin was recently baptized.  Here are a few pictures taken before the big day.  I can't believe how big he is.  He is such a good boy and so helpful.  Everyone loves Calvin!

Our Miracle

I truly believe that miracles happen everyday.  Sometimes they are little and sometimes they are earth moving.  The other day I witnessed a miracle!  It was one of my busy Mondays.  I did about 10 loads of laundry and cleaned the house and a bunch of other stuff.  I was busy!  The boys were going to be getting off the bus in a few minutes and I was getting ready to pick them up at the bus stop.  I only pick them up on Mondays because right after school they have piano lessons at my Mom's house.  Anyways, Devin and Lacey walked outside to get in the car.  I was right behind them with the piano books.  Devin climbed into the car and didn't know Lacey was following him.  The door shut right before she could climb in.  I heard her scream and I went running.  Her poor little hand was shut halfway in the door and the door was shut all the way!  I ran and opened the door.  I swear I thought that she broke every bone in her little hand.  It makes me sick just thinking about it.  Her hand was literally bent in half!  I ran into the house and held her as I sat on the stairs.  I prayed hard to know what to do.  Devin came in the house and when he saw her hand, he looked like he would throw up!  He was heart broken.  He wanted to help do something, so I asked him what he thought he should do.  He said that he wanted to say a prayer for her.  We knelt down at the bottom of the stairs.  It was the most touching thing.  I held Lacey, who was still crying, while Devin said the sweetest, most simple prayer.   He asked that her hand would feel better and that she would be OK.  He said this little prayer through tears and sobs of his own.  After he said "Amen" is when the miracle happened.  Immediately after the prayer, Lacey stopped crying and I literally watched her hand go back to normal.  It was amazing! There was only a small bruise line across her hand.  I couldn't believe it!  We offered a prayer of thanks and went on our way.  Lacey used her hand as if nothing ever happened!  It was truly a miracle!  I know that our Heavenly Father watches over us constantly and is aware of everything we need.  I am so thankful for a quick answer to our prayers.

Happy Mother's Day Briana!

Thank you for all you do for us...We love you!

Ben, Caleb, Carson, Calvin, Ashton, Devin, & Lacey

Lehi Days Rodeo

The beginning of March we went to the Lehi Day's Rodeo.  Some of my brothers and sisters went along with their kids.  So we did an impromptu shot of the cousins.  We are missing a few of them, but it was fun.  The kids did the greased pig race and chicken catch.  And Colton actually caught a little chick!  My brothers, James and Jared did the grocery race and that was fun to watch!  We were definitely exhausted by the end of the day! 

Hiking at Pickett Post

Back in February we took a day trip to a few places.  The first place we went to I didn't get any pictures of, but it is an amazing cemetery near Florence.  There is a little ghost town named Adamsville.  The cemetry there is so old!  The gravestones date back to the Civil War era.  We may be a weird family, but we love walking around cemeteries.  There are so many untold stories that it fasinates us.  And there is always such a peaceful feeling there.  Anyway, this cemetry is not maintained by anyone, with one exception.  There was a lady there that comes down and works for 4 to 6 hours a day cleaning and trimming trees and putting flowers on the gravestones.  We were able to talk with her and she said she has been doing this for about a year!  What a sweet, giving lady! 

After the Adamsville cemetry, we drove to Pickett Post, just outside of Superior and went on a hike and had a campfire.  We had such a fun day, and just about wore ourselves out!  Here are a few pictures of the hike...

Happy 70th Anniversary!!!

Last month, Ben's Grandparents celebrated their 70th Anniversary!  We had a huge lunch with all his Aunts and Uncles and cousins.  It's always a lot of fun getting together!  Grandma and Grandpa Richardson are amazing!  Grandma is always smiling and happy.  Grandpa has such a gift that he can make you feel as if you are the most important person in the world.  We love them so much!

 Here are Grandma and Grandpa with their kids.  (Ben's dad is in the blue shirt.) 

Preschool-Sight Lesson

Devin loves going to preschool!  Here are a few pictures of his "Sight Lesson".  I thought the whole "eye" thing was really clever.  He was so excited to show all his brothers when they got home!

The Natural Bridge

Back in January all the boys and Ben had the day off from school so we decided to take a last minute trip to the Natural Bridge just outside of Payson.  It is going to be closed here soon due to budget cuts so we decided we better go quickly and enjoy it while we can.  It was beautiful and wasn't very crowded, probably because it was raining.  But we loved it!  Pictures don't do it justice!  After we hiked down to the bottom and across all the rocks (which was a challenge while holding Lacey because the rain made it slippery) we decided to find some snow.  So we drove to Pine and caught the beginning of a snow storm.  It wasn't a lot of snow, but it was fun!  After a short while, they all decided it was cold and wanted back in the car.  We are definitely used to the heat!  On our way back home we stopped in Payson and ate at Denny's!  Then we headed over to Ben's parent's house for Family Home Evening around the bonfire!

Our snowball fight  and Calvin's snowman.  He worked so hard on that little guy!

Cute Lacey

I was just talking to Brooke and she pointed out that I haven't posted anything for awhile, so here some pictures of Lacey way back in December.  She is 8 months old in these pictures.  She will be 1 in April!

Christmas Day!!!

Now that Christmas has come and gone...I better post some pictures!  :)

We had a wonderful Christmas!  Every year we give the boys (and Lacey now) pajamas on Christmas Eve.  I usually make them, but sometimes things just don't work out, so you go with plan B which is to buy them. :)  Every year all the kids sleep in the same room on Christmas Eve.  The rule is: you are not allowed to wake up anyone Christmas morning.  I don't know if any one followed that rule or not, but we try.  We all have to eat breakfast before any one can leave the room (unless it's a bathroom break of course).  We eat homemade cinnamon rolls, navel oranges, and deviled eggs.  We all look forward to that!  Then we all go to the front room together and Ben hands out the presents to everyone one at a time.  All day we keep busy visiting family.  This year we talked to 2 missionaries: my brother, John, and Ben's brother, Jordan.  Christmas is definitely my favorite time of the year.  I love everything about it, the christmas lights, songs, treats, but most especially the feelings of peace and celebration of our Savior's birth.  What a wonderful time of year!

Christmas Eve Animal Attack!!!

Well, I've heard of people being "heart attacked", but never "animal attacked"!  Christmas Eve we heard a knock on our door and when we opened it up we saw that we had stuffed animals everywhere in our front lawn, on our cars, and even one on our roof!  Our good friends surprised us with goodies and animals.  They boys LOVED it!  They kept saying how this was the best Christmas ever!  Even though Christmas didn't officially begin yet!  What a fun idea!  Thank you for making such a fun night for us!!!

Nativity with the Bears

I know that I am really late on posting this, but that is how life has been for me lately.

Every year, all the Bear's get together before Christmas and act out the Nativity.  Aunt Betty made some wonderful costumes and the kids did great!  Caleb was Joseph, Carson was a shepherd, Calvin, Ashton, and Devin were angels.  The rest of the pictures are of my cousins and my neices and nephews.