Our 2010 family pictures

This is what Corb thought of us kissing!  :)

Pat and Anna-Lisa were so kind to take our pictures this year.  I think he did a pretty good job!  :)  At any rate...at least we're current right?!  :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thankgiving!  This year was the Rich's turn to host the dinner.  We switch off every year between the Rich's the Burton's...aka The Larson's!  :)  This year we were missing our Bobby and Sara and little Dunkers.  But have NO fear, leave it to Joanne to come up with some sort of activity for the whole family to play during dinner.  This year she made up little sayings and placed them on everyone's plate.  My saying was "These mashed potatoes is SO CREAMY..." from While you were sleeping.  (on a side note...Joanne and I ALWAYS say this to each other even if we're NOT eating mashed potatoes!)  So, the way the game worked was, that everyone's saying was linked to each other and cued the other people to say their little saying.  I hope that makes sense...  But, it was a riot to hear everyone go on and on!  It was hilarious!  

 

Here's my little Jadesy baby.  I love this hat my mom bought for him.  And he loves it too!  He will keep it on all day and actually try to put it on himself.  This kid actually Loves hats.  We can't pass the hat section in Target without having to stop and try on a few.  It's really cute!

OOOOh, I love that baby!

Here's Cobe and I and Ben and Whit at dinner.  I made those sweet yams - NO MARSHMALLOW, but they may as well have been a dessert because it's mostly brown sugar with a side of yams!  :) 

And then it was off to Lanae's house.  I LOVE this girl!  I look forward to seeing every single week and Thanksgiving is NO exception!  :) 

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This year was the first year without my sweet Grandma Burton.  We miss her so much.  But my Grandpa surely must struggle the most without his sweetheart by his side.  He told me that he sets the table for one and he cries.  Then he eats alone and he cries.  Then he washes his dish and he cries.  It breaks my heart every time I think about it.  I'm sure he wishes his time is short so they won't have to be apart so long.  I know I do...but only for that reason.  

This year my aunts on my dad's side of the family decided to come up and get Grandpa so he wouldn't be alone for the holidays.  He had his 98 year old sister with him and aside from a little hard of hearing, she was a sharp as a tack!  :)  I'm glad he has his sister there for company.  I'm sure the longing for my Grandma will never go away, but I hope that being surrounded by family will help ease the pain a bit.

I am so thankful so so many things!  I have much to be grateful for.  I am most grateful for our loving Heavenly Father and for the gift of his Son.  For without that, I'd never have the hope of holding my sweet Jack again.  What a blessing it is to have the gospel in my life and in the life of my family.  To know for a surety that we are an eternal family and have the opportunity to be together forever...such a gift is greater than any I could ever imagine.  I'm thankful for my sweet WONDERFUL Coby.  He is my rock and without I don't know how I could function...how I did function before I met him.  He is by far the greatest thing that has every happened to me.  And worth every single second of sadness and grief if I got to call him mine.  I love him more than anything.  I am grateful for my boys.  They teach me something every single day and make me want to be a better person.  Corbin constantly shows me to look at things in a more simple way.  He teaches me that it's okay to be silly and it's okay to cry...but more fun to be silly.  He's such a smartie...obviously from Coby!  Jack...what can I say about Jack that hasn't already been said.  He's one of the three reason I drag myself out of bed every single day.  I know he's busy being a missionary and doing the work that needed to be done by someone so innocent and pure.  I know that he's working on our heavenly and eternal mansion and to him I am grateful that I had the opportunity, though brief to be called his mom.  Jades, that little boy gets more and more fun every single day.  He makes me giggle and want to get on the floor and play on his level.  He has definitely been teaching me to have patience...that's for sure!  I love him and his sweet beautiful smile and contagious laugh!  I love my family and my in laws.  They do more for me than I will ever be able to thank them for.  They are loving and caring, never judgemental and always ready with a warm hug and listening ear.  I could write a novel on everyone in the family and how they have touched my life for good, but I'll save it for another day.  I'm thankful for good friends who have stood by me through our darkest hours and continue to hold us up.  We love you.  We are thankful for you....all of you.  My heart is full as I write this and I know that the Lord truly has been generous.  Very Generous!

That cute face just about sums it up....

It's been a tough couple of weeks here in the Rich household. We've been sick...and keep getting more and more sick. NO RELIEF! We didn't go to church today and today feels like the longest. day. EVER!


We thought we'd get a headstart and decided to start putting up a few of the Christmas Decorations. Since we were fortunate enough to keep Jack's tree from the Festival of Trees, we saran wrap it up every year so as to not undo all the hard work and effort that went into making it so pretty. Coby brought up the tree and and the Christmas bin and I started putting things out. We even turned on the movie Elf.


I should be happy and in the Christmas spirit...but I'm not. I keep seeing those big blue eyes looking at me and all I want to do is cry. I want to throw a fit like Jack is in picture above. (I really don't know why he's crying there or why I thought I should take that picture.....). But maybe it's because Jades is grumpy right now and needs to go to bed. Or because I made this super yummy banana bread that is so moist, you'd swear it wasn't cooked all the way through, and Corbin decided to eat bunch of the top of the bread off. Or maybe I'm sick and need more Nyquil.


I have MUCH to be grateful for, but tonight...I'm just not feeling grateful for all that I should be. Maybe after I have a good cry and a good nights sleep, things will look different to me in the morning. So, I'm raising my medicine cap of Nyquil to you all and saying....Here's to tomorrow!

When Aunt Sommy come for a visit

 

It's always such a treat with Aunt Sommy comes over.  As you can see, the boys just love her.  We don't get to see her as much as we used to because of her busy work schedule, but are always so excited for the times we are able to spend.  The other day I overheard Corbin talking to his Aunt Ambie..."Oh, Ambie...it would make my WHOLE WORLD if you were here."  I thought it was pretty sweet!  We have so many amazing aunts on both mine and Coby's sides of the family.  They are spectacular and I wouldn't trade them for the world!  :) 

Halloween 2010

Last year as I was making my way through Thrift Town (the BEST thrift store EVER), I came upon a sweet little Fireman costume just perfect for Corbin the following year.  So, all year I've been crossing my fingers that he'd go for the bait and "choose" to be a fireman on his own.  I talked it up quite a bit...and lo and behold...he took the bait.  This year for Halloween the boys were a firefighter and a firehouse dalmation.  They were soooo cute!  As soon as Jaden got his hands on his little trick or treat pumpkin...there was no prying it out of them.  HE LOVED getting the candy.  In fact, it's been a little detrimental!   He wakes up every morning and points to the cabinet where the candy....maybe we'll be paying Dr. Tarbet a visit sooner than we thought!  :)

Lanae hosted a SWEET little...well, not so little Halloween party this year.  I wish I had my camera, because it looked awesome!  So much time and energy went into making it quite magical!  They had a bunch of different things to do from face painting all the way to watching "Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin."  It was a blast.  There were more people than I even know there and still that cute girl in the witch's hat was calm and collected....SO LANAE!  :)  Love this girl!  We had a BALL!

After Trick-or-Treating in our neighborhood (Thanks Mom for handing out candy...we LOVE you), we headed over to Honey and Poppy's...I mean the hip ole' granny and the Jimmy McRich's house for a treat.  They always have hot cider and donuts.  It was so fun!  Love Ben's homemade costume.  He's holding his head in a cheese ball container!  :)  VERY RICH like!  :)




Jaden had a few donuts....maybe more!  :)


It was a GREAT Halloween!  Missed our other little fire fighter, but I guess he had bigger "fires" to put out up there.  We miss ya Jackie Joo!

Dentist Picture Update

A couple months ago....Corbin got his first Cavity filled.  I can't believe he's only five and has a cavity!  I don't think I got my first cavity before I was in college.  Don't get me wrong, I ate my fair share of candy...but I guess I never had an interest in gummy candy...the kind that gets stuck in your teeth forever.  Let's hope this is his last!  Probably not...but I can always hope right??!!

Here he is watching Lelo and Stitch.

Dr. Tarbet is AWESOME!  He was soooo great with Corbin.  Corbin wasn't scared at all.  We love our dentist!  They have an awesome office, massaging chairs and you can even watch a movie while you're there!  It's pretty sweet!

 
SO...if you are ever in need of an AWESOME, AMAZING, SPECTACULAR Dentist, go check him out here.  Also...he has the BEST staff I have ever met.   Maybe they'll send me some movie tickets!  Just kidding!  But seriously, they really are the best...for proof...have you noticed my smile??!!  ALL Dr. Tarbet!  Thanks, I love my smile!

Jack's 2nd "heavenly" birthday

 
 

Jack's 2nd "heavenly" birthday (or our 2 year out mark) happened a little over a month ago (9-23).  It was a pretty somber day and as we expected.  We always head to the cemetery for certain dates of the year.  I wish September 23rd was just any random day still.  But now it will always be the day that our whole world turned upside down and our sweet Jack returned home.  I have often thought about what it would have been like for him.  I've been told that he would have been welcomed back home more joyously than any welcome we could have given him here.  I hope so.  I hope that they had a HUGE party with lots of jack's favorite foods. 
 

When we got to the cemetery, Lanae and her cute family  had already beat us there and left a vase of flowers, balloons and a cute little teddy bear.  I think Jordan even left a family of 5 pinecones too.  It was really cute and soo sweet!  Have I ever mentioned that I JUST LOVE THIS GIRL??!! 







We sent the balloons off to Jack.





Cobe, Jadesy and Som watching the balloons go up to Heaven.

Earlier that day Lanae and Camille took me out for Sushi at Yoshi's.  Yummy.  Love these girls!

 

Kayden was so sad and tired, Lanae just held him in the restaurant and rocked and sang him to sleep.  He was sooo cute!

 

My Cute cousin Mel took me for a little pedicure.  She's soooo wonderful.  I love her to death!


 
My cute friend Melissa always goes to great lengths to show her thoughtfulness.  This year in memory of Jack, she had an artist draw all three boys together.  It is beautiful and I hold it so dear to my heart.  (I think Jack was only about 10 mos in the photo drawn and still going through a pretty "awkward" phase)  But that's our fat Jack.  A smile so big, his eyes were almost closed.  Crazy, wispy hair and even the strongest of gels couldn't hold down.  And only 4 little chompers!  :)  OH how I miss that boy.  But what a gift it is to see all three of my beautiful boys sitting together laughing.  Someday...someday I'll really get to see that, but for now this will work just great!  Thanks Melissa!


For family home evening a few days before, we made these fun little memorial candles.  We were supposed to take them with us to the cemetery, but must have forgotten.  They are really neat because when you light them, Jack's face glows.  It was a good hands on project to do with Corb.


I can't wait for the day that I'll get to hold him.  I miss him more than I could ever describe.  But...in the words of Tom Hanks, "Well, I'm gonna get out of bed every morning...breathe in and out all day long. Then, after a while I won't have to remind myself to get out of bed every morning and breath in and out....and, then after a while, I won't have to think about how great and perfect I had it once ~ Sleepless in Seattle