Christmas 2008

Santa has come and now is gone. I wished for a chinook on Christmas afternoon, but I didn't get what I wanted! It was nice to have snow for Christmas, but it's over now, so the snow can leave!

Christmas at the Richardson house was nice and modest. The girls both got new PJ's and some clothes. Madisen got the Rip Stick that she asked for and also an On the Go Crayola Glow Station. Riley got the talking baby doll she requested and some new Barbies.

All in all, everything was great!

Madisen w/Rip Stick

Riley w/baby

Madisen w/Glow Station

Riley w/Barbie Car

Cookie Decorating Pictures

Ryan
Madisen

Cookie Decorating Pictures

Nora

Audrey

Audrey

Riley

Riley and Audrey

Cookie Decorating

We had a great time with the girls on Christmas Eve. This marked our 3rd year inviting the "girl cousins" over to decorate Christmas cookies. We had a total of 10 girls over this year: Ali, Cassidee, Haley, Kennady, Megan, Ryan, Nora, Audrey, Madisen and Riley. I believe that everyone had a good time. I seem to have been less needed than in years past. The most amusing part of the gathering was Ali's phone which never stopped vibrating, she's one popular girl! Sorry Megan, somehow I didn't get a picture of you =(

Ali

Cassidee

Haley

Kennady

A big THANK YOU to Alicia for helping me make 12+ dozen butter cookies for this event.

Snow

Yesterday we woke up to our first snow of the season. The girls were very excited to put on their gear and get out in it.








Riley got too cold after about 10 minutes, but Madisen stayed out for a while. They both enjoyed throwing snowballs at Matt while he shoveled the patio.

Madisen went back out in it later with her cousin Cassidee.(They're both a little crazy in my opinion, they were out there for almost 2 hours last night!)

School has been delayed for the elementary school kids, and both preschool and kindergarten have been canceled because of the temperature (12 degrees, -15 if you factor in the wind chill) and the accumulation of about 2 more inches of snow last night as we slept. Needless to say, my house will be full of energetic kids all day, begging to get out in the snow.

Quilts

I've recently finished my 3rd quilt, which I'm actually giving away today. I thought I'd post pictures of it.

I haven't posted pictures of my 2nd quilt, which I made for Baby Robinson (Aaron and Megan's baby). They haven't received the quilt yet. I'll post pictures of it soon.

I'm giving this quilt to one of my daycare families who is expecting a baby girl in January.

I'm in the middle of my 4th quilt, sooner or later I'll probably lose count, which I'm making for my best friend Lori.

Family Photos

As most of you now know, we recently took some family photos.

I just thought I'd post a few here for all to see.

Riley and Madisen

Family

Family

Girls attacking Matt

Silly Picture

Turkey Trot

I'm sorry that I haven't posted for a while.

We had a great Thanksgiving. We started out our day by participating in the 5th Annual Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot. We only did the 1 mile but we all had fun.



The next "run" we participate in, we will not bring a stroller. Riley never got out of the stroller.


After the run, we came home, relaxed, cooked some food and met up with the Morgan clan for dinner. Everyone seemed to have a good time, and we had great food.

Even more pics.......

I've got even more, just can't post them all at the same time:

1st picture: Jeff

2nd picture: Syndie

3rd & 4th pictures: Ethin

More pictures.....

More pictures from this weekend's visits:

1st picture: Sarah

2nd picture: Ethin, upside down

3rd picture: Ethin, with Syndie and Riley in the background

4th picture: Sarah and Ali

Family Visits

This past weekend we were able to visit with family, both local and from "far reaching" places (like Seattle, WA and Redding, CA).

Madisen, Sarah, Ali, and Ethin

Matt's sister, Sarah, and her boyfriend, Jeff, were able to take a small break from their Seattle lives to visit for a day. Although it was a brief visit, it was great to see them. My girls, and my niece Ali, all love Sarah lots! They never leave her alone.

Riley, Aunt Nora, and Madisen

Madisen, Nana, and Riley

Matt's aunt, Nora, and his Nana also came to visit. It's always great to see them both. Aunt Nora shared secrets with the girls (Madisen, Megan, and Ryan) about Cat's Cradle. Now it's all Maddie wants to do. It was nice just to be able to hug Nana whenever the mood struck, you can never get enough grandma love.

It was nice to see everyone. We wish all of the family that's traveling for Thanksgiving happy trails and Happy Thanksgiving. For those we will see, we are excited to share this holiday with you. And Pam, I love you. I hope your Thanksgiving is fabulous!

No school

Madisen loves no school days. It gives her a chance to come up with some great creations using her fabrics and sewing machine.

This one is her overalls apron.

These are pillows that she made for Matt and myself.

She's very creative.

Project

This morning I took some pictures of the girls as a get well project for their Grammie. She's currently in the hospital, and the kids aren't allowed to visit right now. Just thought I'd post the pictures for all to see.

Riley wasn't very cooperative at first, but then she finally smiled for a few.

We

Love

You

Pictures

Riley and Madisen recently took Riley's camera around the house and took some pictures. Mostly they are of their art work. But I thought that I'd post some of the pictures for all to enjoy. (Riley got a Fisher Price Kid Tough Digital camera for her 4th birthday.)

Triangle Turkey-Riley

Apple-Riley

Texture Robot-Madisen

Name spread-Madisen

Painting-Riley