Ta da !!

Well, it's been ONE YEAR since I have had a carbonated beverage, aka pop, soda, etc. My drink of choice was the dreaded DIET COKE. Last year at a New Year's Eve party with friends, I put my hand to the square, and swore that I would NEVER have another pop as long as I lived. They got it on video !! If that isn't enough to make you live up to your commitment, I don't know what is.

After about a month of headaches, and feeling like crud..............and another few months of CRAVINGS................ I no longer even think about or consider having one. Roger comes home from work almost daily with a Pepsi in a cup, full of ice, and it doesn't even make me break a sweat. When we go out to eat - it's WATER FOR ME. I've probably had about 4-5 bottles of Country Time Lemonade over the past year (which I don't count) and also at two parties there was homemade rootbeer (which I don't count) and then there was the dreaded FLU episode in November, when I lived on soda crackers and FLAT SPRITE for 3 days (which I don't count).

I had actually forgotten that today was the 1 YEAR anniversary. My co-workers reminded me. They are PROUD !! So am I :)

The Many Faces of Christmas at the Rich's

Christmas so far...........

Cam and Manda are HERE !!

Tagg's Happy !

Uh......maybe not :)

I know Treyson - he looks pretty sketchy to me too !

I spy......... Apples.......Pupplies........Candycanes..........Rain boots........

Cam wouldn't got near Santa, until Treyson took her by the hand and helped her. Also, she could barely get a word in........because Treyson wouldn't stop talking. Thanks Santa !!

Making and frosting sugar cookies

Plowing the snow.........Cam lasted about 5 minutes. Must be that Arizona blood in her veins :)

Check out the neat Alpaca Hat that Landon sent home.
Treyson thought he'd try it out.

Snowy Day

Well, the weather outside has ruined my plans for the day. You can't tell by the picture, but it is snowing lightly. I was going to head down to SLC with mom on Front Runner, to see my niece, Tiana, perform with her high school show choir at the Joseph Smith Building. I've been listening to KSL radio all morning, and the roads are a MESS !! Including a multi-vehicle accident at the mouth of Weber Canyon where I-84 meets Highway 89. I'm such a BABY on the roads since my accident last year, so I guess we won't be going. I would have to be back by 4pm for a dentist appointment anyway, and it would be cutting it close.

I guess I'll just stay home and bake. Last night I finished the caramels and sugar cookie dough, so far this morning I've done fudge and slush, now I will work on carmeled popcorn and chicken noodle soup (for tomorrow), and broccoli salad. I'll save the funeral potatoes, and spinach dip, and rolls and ham till Christmas day.

Manda and Cam fly into SLC tomorrow morning at 10:30 am. We can hardly wait !! The weather is supposed to be better, and Roger will be driving, so I should be okay :) We will stop at Vanessa's store, El Inka Market, to pick up a package that Landon sent from Peru, and then head home. Santa will be making an appearance at our home about 4pm to see the kids.

This morning at 5:20 am, I was awakened by the phone..............numbers were 51.51........... PERU !!! First words out of his mouth.... "Hi mama!" I just love that boy!! He thought Roger would still be home, but unfortunately he had already left for work. It was a short sweet conversation, and he let me know that his Christmas call will be on Christmas night at 6pm - so any of you reading this who would like to drop in and say HI to Elder Rich, come on over !! We'll have food aplenty for all.

In case I don't get back to posting anytime soon - Merry Christmas everyone ! We love you !

The Whole Fam Dam

Back: Linda, Lynette, Kelly, Layne
Front: Joni, LuAnn, Ben, Roger

Whoops !

What happens when you delete a bunch of pictures from your camera.........without checking to make sure they transferred to your computer correctly? THEY ARE GONE FOREVER !! WITHOUT ANY HOPE OF RECOVERY !!

So here I end up posting a couple of old pics......... AND a newly scanned picture.
Oh Joni.......... thank goodness we took the most IMPORTANT picture with YOUR camera........ anytime girl..........anytime........ :)

Someone help me pull my FOOT out of my MOUTH - Please !

So, I'm sitting at Amie's (my hairdresser), waiting my turn. I recognize the woman in the chair, it's the (Insert last name here) lady. They are talking about new babies, and names, etc. etc. The name Nora comes up, which I personally would not choose.......but like all of the "older" names, i.e. Hannah, Olivia, Maisie, has come back in vogue.

I say to the woman {SOMEONE STOP ME NOW}, "Can you IMAGINE someone OUR age, having a name like NORA when WE were in school? THAT would have been a death sentence!"

There was an UNCOMFORTABLE pause.......... my hairdresser looks stricken..........I'm thinking, "What the heck did I say?" I start wracking my brain........what was her name? Something......... (insert last name here)?? Something (insert last name here)...............??? OH - ya, right......... NORMA!

Please, someone get a crowbar......it doesn't get much worse than that :0

Something New

Yesterday I did something I’ve never done before. Dun Dun Dun…… I joined with some friends and put together some “freezer” meals. We all met at Teresa’s house and brought our meat and ingredients. Jill Melle showed us how to put them together, and added some of her secret recipe spices.

Some of the new meals we will be having: Italian Mozzarella Meatloaf, Chicken Pot Pie, Cilantro Citrus Chicken, Sticky Chicken, Garlic Basil Chicken, Taco Soup w/ Chicken, Western Meal, Cheesy Mexican Chicken, Mexican Cornbread Casserole, Cranberry Pork Roast, Asian Pork Tenderloin, Teriyaki Pork Chops. These yummy meals will be pulled out of the freezer, and put in a crock pot for the day. When Roger and I get home at 6pm – Voila !! Supper is ready :)



Here's the final "stash", in the freezer. I can hardly wait to try them out. Now the only thing I need to do is convince Roger that the pork (shhh!!) is chicken, and that the diced tomatoes and green chilies are good for him :) Wish me luck. Who knows?..... I may be sending meals over to Zac and CJ’s, and home with Manda after Christmas.

**PS - I put the Taco Soup w/Chicken in the crock pot a noon, and at 9pm when we got home from the wrestles, it was ready to eat, and Roger's pronouncement? "Pretty Good" - even though he picked out all of the diced tomatoes, and green chilies. What a guy :)

Tagg and the Tree

Woah......... What is THIS ????

I think I'm going to LIKE it !!

I'm going in.......

Gotcha !


What? You got a problem with this ??

Come What May and Love It

One of my favorite talks from last conference was by Elder Wirthlin. I felt inspired to share it during November when we went visiting teaching, and as I studied it, and prepared the message, I felt it had such meaning in my own life. Elder Wirthlin passed away a few days ago. He will be missed.

Another Christmas Tag !

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Both (I recycle the gift bags for sure !)
2. Real tree or artificial? Artificial, since 1993 (when we moved into our new home)
3. When do you put up the tree? Depends........This year, Roger brought it up out of the basement on the day after Thanksgiving. I take the ornaments off every year, but the tree stays INTACT, with the lights on it. So there it sits... Haven't decorated it yet.
4. When do you take the tree down? Sometime in January (see above - it's not too hard)
5. Do you like eggnog? It's okay - Maybe a little IF it's homemade by my mom....and COLD !
6. Favorite gift received as a child? Maybe my Chrissy Doll, whose hair grew?
7. Do you have a Nativity scene? Yes - I have Grandma Tonks' old one (nothing fancy, but just sentimental), and I'm going to see if Landon can get me one from Peru.
8. Hardest person to buy for? Roger's parents.
9. Easiest person to buy for? Grandkids
10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Can't remember. I don't think I've ever gotten anything I hated.
11. Mail or e-mail Christmas cards? Mail
12. Favorite Christmas Movie? A Christmas Story. Camryn watched it the other day, and was telling Roger about the part where there Santa was mean to Ralphie and pushed him down the slide. Hope it didn't scar her, because Bruce R. aka Santa, is coming to our house on Christmas Eve.
13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? First part of December, although I started on the "I SPY" quilts earlier this year.........like about FALL of 2007....
14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Probably, I don't remember.
15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Mom's waffles on Christmas morning. Mom? hint, hint, hint??
16. Clear lights or colored on the tree? Either.
17. Favorite Christmas song? Oh Holy Night
18 Travel at Christmas or stay home? Either - just as long as my family is together. Manda and Cam are coming home THIS YEAR........but next will be a different story :(
19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Of course
20. Angel on the tree top or a star? Angel.
21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? Christmas morning.
22. Most annoying thing about this time of year? Crowds
23. Favorite Christmas tradition? From my childhood, would be Christmas Eve at Grandma Dicksons for sure. For a few years (late 90's, early 00's) we took the boys snowmobiling.
24. Up early or sleeping in? Our kids were NEVER the early early birds. 6-7 was usually the norm.
25. Who hands out the gifts? Me.
26. Does Santa wrap your gifts? Sometimes.
27. Do you tell the Christmas story? I read it.
28. Do you leave cookies for Santa? Nope.

Saturday Savior

I forgot to blog about this - and it's important ! On Saturday, November 22nd, I was able to take my Sunday School class to see Savior of the World. It was wonderful. We had a great time. These young men and women are SUCH a great group. I love them.

Mindy (mom) with Austin and Hans

A brother and sister who actually get along ! Tim and Deborah (home from college)

Riley and Colton, entertaining Karen

Havala, Tiffany, Deborah, with Karen in front.

"Wonder" ful tour director :)

A certain "bakery" man that I know will probably want to "murder" me for posting this.........but oh well :) You've got to do, what you've got to do !
Erika and two of her boys traveled to Ogden, via Front Runner a couple of months ago, and Rog took them on a tour of the bakery. What a great guy !!

Yesterday was Great !!

Thanksgiving 2008

Happy Thanksgiving

Mom and Dad sent me this cute cartoon EARLY this morning. I guess they are up getting things ready for Thanksgiving Dinner at their new home. I can hardly wait !

Are you ready for the Big Day?

Click here for a fun Thanksgiving Quiz.

My Memories of Flaming Gorge

My dad liked to fish, and I guess mom did too. Probably she mostly just herded kids. My siblings and I were always up for an adventure in camping. We drove to Flaming Gorge at least once every summer. The ride was sooooooooooo long and terrible, and from Lone Tree on, it was just a terribly bumpy gravel road for about 30 miles, which seemed to last forever. I just hated that part. I don’t really remember the fishing all that much, but I do recall a few things.
Many times we went with Grandpa and Grandma Tonks. Once, I vaguely remember a small hotel room, but we usually stayed in our canvas tent. Our sleeping bags were these huge affairs (with ducks and geese on the flannel interior) that kept us so warm. Mom and Dad zipped them together, and we all climbed inside. The lantern would hang from the top of the tent, and the mantels would glow dimmer and dimmer after the gas was turned off. I loved to look at them as I fell asleep, and Dad would always tell us stories, and scratch our backs.

There was a place called Echo Canyon, or something like that, where if you hollered, your echo would come back at you. There was an area downstream from the dam, where a big flash flood occurred in the 60’s. A few people were killed there in a campground. I believe the flood happened at night while they were sleeping. We took pictures, with us kids standing down in the big gullies and washes that were made when it flooded. You could only see our heads poking up, level with the asphalt in the road. I felt scared, and I worried that another flood would come and get us.

Another memory which stands out, is after we had been playing in the water, Grandma Tonks took our picture and I was posing (as usual). She made a comment about how I NEVER took a serious picture, and I always had to pose and ruin the picture, and she was so disgusted. I don’t know why I remember that, but I do. (See picture below)



We didn’t have a boat; we just fished from the shore, but one time in the summer between my 7th & 8th grade year, we went with one of Dad’s friends, Newell Cutler, on his boat. That was a fun day. I caught the first fish of the day, then absolutely NOTHING the rest of the day while others were catching them right and left. Mr. Cutler let me steer the boat for a little bit in some of the side canyons. This was a BIG thing for me and Mark and Erika, because we had NEVER been on a boat before.



After the trip with Newell Cutler and his boat in 1973, I didn’t see the Flaming Gorge area again, until 2008. Wow……..35 years !! Roger and I swung by there this past summer, on our way back from Rock Springs. As we drove through the little town of Manila, we only saw the reservoir from a distance, and didn’t even get a glimpse of the dam. During the drive from Manila (on a fully paved asphalt road) to Lone Tree and Fort Bridger, I kept trying to "catch a glimpse" of my childhood, but the scenery and green tinged mountains barely stirred a distant memory.

Cam's fun day at the Arizona State Fair

We are getting so anxious to see Cam and Manda for Christmas.
I think we will be amazed at how much she has grown up since Labor Day, both physically and mentally. Last night she called Roger, just a bawling........ Roger re-counted the whole conversation for me. Apparently she and her mom were driving somewhere, and something must have triggered a memory, and she asked Manda, "When are we going to drive "Up the Canyon" again?" Manda told her "the canyon" was "back in Utah". That was all it took - and the waterworks started !! By the time they got Grandpa Roger on the phone, Cam could hardly talk for the hiccuping sobs :( It's a good think Grandpa Roger is such a comforting influence on the phone. He had her settled down in no time, and before the conversation was over, she was telling Grandpa that "Anytime he needed to talk to "Barkley" (her dog), that Barkley was RIGHT HERE, and he should just call......." Too cute ! !.........or maybe you just have to be a Grandparent.