Dancing at the bowling lane and E-I-E-I-O

Bowling with the kids

Once again, Richard is so funny!

Today I was giving Richard a hug and said, "I love you my little pooper."

Richard responded, "I'm not a little pooper, I'm a big pooper."

Oh! That still makes me laugh! :) Ha, Ha!

Then we made a cake today, he says it is his birthday cake. So he tried a piece and said, with finger guns pointed, "Mom, my cake it totally awesome!"

Hannah's snow dance...

Birthday lunch with Grandma Kia and Gr. Grandma T.

Mom and Grandma came up to take Richard to lunch for his birthday. The waiter ever brought him apple pie al a mode with a candle. He had a lot of fun. My mom said she had a surprise for Richard and he asked, "Is it spinach?!" Too funny! I love this kid! He has had a fun weekend of celebrations!

Slumber Party...

The kids had a pretend slumber party last night while we watched TinkerBell. The both snored and pretended to be asleep. So fun!

Cake face...

Hannah had a piece of Richard's chocolate b-day cake and this is how it turned out. Chocolate everywhere! She is SO CUTE!!!

Last night Chris had a catering so I watched TinkerBell with the kids. Hannah laughed and giggled through it. She is so funny! It was a lot of fun to watch her.

Happy Birthday to my Richard!!!

Four years ago my little Richard was born 3 months premature. It was a very scary day for all of us. But he is happy, healthy, strong, smart, and growing! We are so blessed to have this angel boy in our lives. Richard is truly so special. He makes me laugh all throughout the day. He is adventurous and loves to learn new things. Richard adores being around his cousins, but he also loves his baby sister and takes good care of her. He loves to sing, play sports, cuddle with Mommy at night [when I'm home :(], go fishing with Daddy, and he LOVES his super hero friends! I love you so much, Richard and we hope you have had a wonderful birthday!!!

Happy Birthday Brandon!

This is my baby brother Brandon. Although he is certainly not a baby anymore, he is still the baby of the family, with 2 babies of his own. Brandon has always been a great brother. I don't get to see him very much since currently he and his cute family live in Georgia, but I'm sure he is enjoying being a husband and father. Brandon is very intelligent and talented. He is a great man! Hope you have an excellent birthday Brandon! We love you!!!

Last night Chris's parents had us over for an excellent dinner for Richard's birthday and he got majorly spoiled! He had tons of fun. Hannah was just happy to play with the balloons! She is so funny.

Thank you Bryce and Donnell for the wonderful dinner, company, and great gifts for Richard. He is having so much fun playing with everything today. He woke up early to play with his new toys! I don't know how many times I've been a patient. :)

And I'm sorry I wasn't the best of company last night. I'm feeling much better today. :)

The following slideshow is from the pics I took last night.

Richard's birthday with Grandma and Grandpa Taggart

Hannah the hoarder...

I went to change Hannah a few hours ago and found something in her pjs. I kept digging and this is what I found...3 Nerf darts, 2 puzzle pieces, 1 Batman bullet, 2 Candyland pieces, 2 parts of the Chutes and Ladders spinner, 1 foam heart-shaped sticker, and 1/2 a peanut. What a funny girl! That is a lot of loot!

Happy Birthday Mark!

Just wanted to let Mark know that we are thinking about him today. I hope you have a wonderful birthday! Mark is such a wonderful and supportive son, brother, dad, husband, and friend. He will do anything for anyone and is always so positive. He is an inspiration to all of our family and we are blessed to have him with us. We love you!

I'm totally copying this from my friend Meisha. Thanks for the great idea!

Instructions: Take the following list and BOLD the items you HAVE completed or experienced.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted (a caricature)
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been on television
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in movie
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business (does Real Estate count?)
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job (once)
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone (collar bone, I was 3)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle (I love 'em but they scare me, too!)
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car (just a few months ago)
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House (does walking past it count?)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating - I leave that all up to my husband!
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person (Many times, I love it. It was in my mission!)
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone's blog to your own

Beautiful play day...

Richard has been begging me for days to let him go out and play in the garden. He loves to dig and pretend to plant seeds. Well, I finally let him today. I asked him to cover up the few veggies we left in there before all the big snow storms.

Hannah had fun throwing a small acorn squash.

Then Richard found his basket ball and started shooting hoops. He has gotten really good at his dribbling and aim. He almost had a lot of shots in. I was really impressed. And Hannah had fun playing too. She loves to be right in the action!

Happy Birthday Brittany (13th)

I have a crazy busy day tomorrow, so I thought I'd sneak this in tonight. :)

Brittany (my niece) and I have always had a close connection. Paul let me hold her very first when she was born and I've adored her ever since. Now I cannot believe she is 16!!! Brit is an amazing girl! She is so spiritual, a super star Cheerleader, and such a great example. She is always happy and upbeat. Brittany I love you and hope you have an amazing 16th birthday!

Happy Birthday Justin! (11th)

Justin is my nephew, but this is a little unfair because I have never met him. He is so adorable. He looks just like his Daddy! Justin is 1 tomorrow and we hope he has a great first birthday. I look forward to meeting him some day and hope that he is a blessed.

The following slide show are pics from my camera phone throughout 2008. Sorry that some are blurry!

I decided today that I would copy Lisa's BRILLIANT (that one is for Chris) idea to spotlight family members on birthdays. Well, even though we are only 8 days into the year, I am behind by 2 birthdays already. So my following posts are to make up for those b-days! Thanks for the great idea Lis!

Happy Birthday Bo!

I "borrowed" these photos from Heidi's blog! Thank you! :) I love the one of Bo with Riley, Paul, and Rocky on Mom's piano!

Bo (nephew) is one tough little guy! He has to be with 5 older brothers and sisters. He is a great cousin to Richard. Bo turned 5 yesterday and I hope he had a wonderful day!!! We love you bud!

Happy Birthday Brielle!

I cannot believe Brielle is 6 already! She was just over a year when I met Chris and now Brie is in kindergarten. Richard always has so much fun with Brie. She is silly and friendly and always makes the kids laugh. Hope you had a wonderful birthday, Brie!

Richard got so into giving and receiving presents this Christmas that he takes paper and cuts it up, then wraps a normal household item and tapes it up then brings it to me and wishes me a "Merry Christmas, Mom!" It has been so funny.

Then he will wrap one for himself and say, "I wonder what my present is, Mom?" And he acts so excited when he finds out what it is. So funny.

I wish I had more photos or funny stories of Hannah, but she has been very ill this last week and has either slept or snuggled with me or Daddy. I'm hoping this week she is feeling better and we can do some things!

The faith of a child...

The kids have been quite ill this week. Richard has mostly just had a terrible cough, but bad enough to gag him and make him throw-up. In any case, he was coughing so bad that he could barely speak, but asked me to say a prayer that he and Hannah would be brave and that they would be able to stop coughing.

I was so impressed by that. He is so young, but what great faith. I hope that he will continue with that powerful, impressive faith throughout his life. Needless to say, he is still coughing, but it is not as bad as it was BEFORE we had a prayer.

Brand New Year, Same Funny Richard...

The last couple of days Richard has been so funny! Tonight I asked him to put his toys in his room and he responded, "No can do, sweetie!"

And earlier today we were playing with cars. He told me he wanted to talk to the people in the cars, so he pulled the Escalade up next to the Ford F-150 and said, "Hey baby, what ya doin'?" I have no idea where he came up with this stuff!

Last night I woke him up for some cough medicine before I went to bed. As he awakened he asked, "Is it fishin' time?" He was so out of it, but it was so cute to hear him ask.

Yesterday I was getting out of the bath, getting ready for work. Richard came in to go potty {love having only one bathroom :(} and he looked at me funny then said, "How do we get your boobs bigger, Mom?" I asked, "What?!" Richard responded, "They aren't very big, we need to make them bigger." When we told Chris about it Richard said, "I just like them big." Oh boy! We are in trouble!!!

And the other day I said, "Richard! I love you! Do you love me?" Richard said, "Of course I love you, honey." I do love him so much. He and Hannah bring me such joy. They are so much fun!