Tea Party

Today was our 2nd annual Tea Party put on by my incredibly creative and amazing mother. It's a girls only party and every girl in our entire family was there! My mom slaved to cook all kinds of delicious tea party foods that tasted just as good as they looked. We played bingo, did pedicures and had just plain good fun. Thanks mom for such a fun party and for all your hours, days and even months of hard work! I can't wait to continue this tradition with my own girls. Here's pics of the magnificent food and fun.

Allie and Emma

Kara in her not-so-English hat

fruit kabobs

cream puffs

cucumber sandwiches on homemade wheat bread

ribbon sandwiches

pinwheel cookies

Our place settings. My mom gave all the grand daughters journals.

Karly, Katie, Mia, Anna and Kara

Just a picture of Kara I thought was cute, messy face and all

Elisha doing Jen's toes- you're a good woman Elisha (no offence Jen)

Kara's painted toes, also painted by Elisha

To Die For

What kinds of things and how many, could you label, "to die for?" Because I'm a little over-dramatic sometimes, maybe I use this label too loosely, but I thought I'd share a dish that absolutely deserves it. It's my grandmother's potatoes and peas. Every year, I plant half my garden in peas and anxiously await their harvest, solely for the purpose of making this dish. This year I planted in February and barely got peas last week! There were times I wondered if this spring would be potatoes and peas-less. What a sad spring that would be. Anyway, it can only be made with fresh peas (alright, I suppose you could put frozen in, therefore completely stripping it of any appeal) and really, it is something else. Pair it with some grilled salmon and oh, man, there are no words to describe. I do wonder, however, does it really taste that delicious or have I been conditioned to feel the nostalgia and comfort I felt when at my grandmas and eating just one of her many country, made-from-scratch dishes? I don't really care, all I know is, it's to die for.

Easily Entertained

Here is what we get to see right outside our kitchen window

This bird's nest has been a great source of entertainment for us this summer. The nest is visited by Colby and Kara's curious little eyes several times a day, beginning back when there were only eggs. Soon the eggs hatched and all we could see was the mother feeding the babies worms and hear their tiny little hungry chirps. Now we can see all three birdies and their little beaks outstretched above the nest most of the day. Much better entertainment than Lagoon, and a lot cheaper too.

Here is another view of the birdies. We'll be sad when they get old enough to take off and we have to find something else to entertain us this summer!

Alexander 2008

Every year we have a reunion with my mom's side of the family. It's usually at Alexander Reservoir in Soda Springs, Idaho. My mom grew up waterskiing on this reservoir and I used to think my cousins owned it since their house was next to it. It's the best little body of water tucked behind some mountains and perfectly shielded from the wind, resulting in ideal waterski water. It used to be the best kept secret until it was discovered, and now this tiny reservoir is pretty popular, usually dotted with several boats every Saturday. Nevertheless, we still LOVE to have our family reunion there...we just have to reserve it January 1st, early in the morning. Aside from the pleasures of boating and playing in the sand, our reunion has more than just the obvious draws. My mom's side of the family are the BEST cooks around. My immediate family all share the same passion for food and most of us are also crazy about waterskiing, so it takes something big to miss this event. Here's a run down of the food we enjoyed last week:

fruit pizza

cake with fruit and whipped cream topping

snickerdoodles

brownies
rhubarb pie

runaways

chicken salad sandwiches with croissants

layered green salad

pasta salad

chinese chicken salad

multiple fruit salads

all kinds of chips

I know I'm missing a ton, but this is all I can remember. Not bad huh? Baby blessings and farewells? Just as good. I love my family!

Colby and Mia on the paddle boat with Katrina and Rich

Kara couldn't get enough of the water and sand. Well, that's not entirely true. The water and sand came in a close second behind eating dessert after dessert.

Colby was brave and rode on the tube behind the boat! He loved it!

The four-year-old cousins bragging that they're gonna jump in the water. They were all talk because it never happened.

Sadly, waterskiing didn't take place this year (for me anyway) because the water was ice cold. Really, it was pure ice- I swear I saw glacier chunks floating around. And I guess it's fair to say that I've officially lost my "die hard" reputation for skiiing in any kind of water. I relinquish my title to my crazy sister who was the only one who got in. She really is crazy because not only was she skiing amongst ice chunks without a wetsuit, but the water was really rough! Cold water+rough water= insanity. And yes, I'll give my brother Mark some credit as well. I'm sure he would have been right there with Stef, just to say he did, if he had been there. I'm just glad I didn't have to endure his crap about me being wimpy this time.

The Big Apple

"New York City is called 'The Big Apple' because everyone wants to take a bite out of it."

-David Letterman

We made it to New York! (uh, 2 weeks ago- I'm really bad at blogging trips right after we get back). We both made our flights with no problem and had the best time! Thanks Matt and Elisha for inviting us and letting us crash your trip- we had a blast! We did A LOT in the few days we were there. This trip made me feel old because of how tired I got after walking even just a few hours. We decided after the first full day of walking that the Subway was our best friend. Here are a few pictures of stuff we saw.

St. Patrick's Cathedral. Wow, I've never been in a Cathedral before. It was breathtaking

Our first and only famous person sighting. You know, that one girl from the Today Show. Dang-it! If only it could have been Matt Lauer (sp?).

At the Letterman Show. This was really fun. We had great seats near the front- did you see us for that split second they scanned the audience? The guests were Julianne Moore, Billy Crystal and is pony and the guy who wrote Super Size Me.

We made it to Central Park this time (we didn't make it there on our first trip to New York). We saw only the tiniest bit of it- it's gigantic.

A view of the city from Central Park

This is the mostly eaten dessert we had at Stardust Diner. We had a fun dinner there where the servers sang Broadway tunes all night. Apparently, the servers are singers/actors who really are trying to make it on Broadway- they were really good! I think our waitress had a crush on Cameron.

One of the highlights of the trip is that Cameron and I won Wicked lottery tickets! Out of at least 100 people, Cameron's name was called and we got second row tickets for $25!!! I wanted to pee my pants I was so excited. It was incredible to see the show that close up. Sometimes I felt like a dancer was going to fall on top of me if he made one wrong move.

We got to see a Yankees game also. It sprinkled rain most of the time we were there so we put on our ponchos to make Matt and Elisha jealous that they didn't buy one.

Battery Park with the Statue of Liberty in the distance (in case you couldn't tell).

This is a picture of what's left of the globe that was damaged during 9/11.

This is a church near ground zero which holds a memorial to 9/11. Many of the firefighters and other volunteers recieved hot meals, first aid and a bed to sleep in here.


And, by far, the highlight of Cameron's trip was eating at this little Korean restaurant we found the last day we were there. I've never seen him so giddy. He was so excited to find a Korean dish with a little Chinese flare that he loved so much while he was in Korea.

A few other things we did was ate cupcakes and banana pudding at Magnolia's Bakery, haggled our way to a few cute Gucci and Coach knock-off purses in China Town, and tried the famous Grey's Papaya hot dogs. I think that's about it. Thanks to all who watched our kids so we could go- Rachel, my mom, Katrina and Karen. You are the best!

Happy Father's Day... Part 2

Dear Daddy,

Thanks for being the best dad in the world. Thanks for always taking good care of us. We love it when you take us to Walmart and let us ride on the horsie, and even better, when you take us to Grandpa's house and let us ride the real horsies and the tractor. You are so patient with us when we are stinkers and you are so nice to let mom have a break when she needs one. We know we will always have enough because you work so hard and we know you miss us a lot when you are away. We think you're cool because you sneak us bites of pop tarts and root beer when mom's not looking. We want to be just like you when we grow up. Happy Father's Day daddy!!

Love,
Colby and Kara

Happy Fathers Day!

MY DAD

I couldn't find a picture of my dad, so you'll have to imagine him, except that he's about 50+ pounds lighter. My dad has gone through A LOT in the past year-and-half. From a heart attack to completely changing his life in becoming more healthy, to back surgery, he's had his fair share of life experience in a short amount of time. And that's exactly what I love most about my dad. I love going to him for advice and falling back on his wealth of knowledge and wisdom. He always seems to have all the right answers and is quick to ease any fears that I have. He's a no-nonsense kind of person with incredible drive, ambition and dedication to whatever he is involved in whether it's work, the church or gardening. He is very loving and very good at showing his love. I can always count on him to compliment me on the very thing I happen to be struggling with at the time. He is a great example to me and I'm so thankful for the values and standards that I was taught while in his home and still today. I love you dad!

New Phase

Monday we started what I've called the "Richins Spring Cleaning" week which consists of deep cleaning our entire house and going through a major de-junk. I'm baffled at the amount of crap we've accumulated in the short 2 1/2 years we've lived in this house. Part of the week included moving Kara into Colby's room (since she sleeps on his floor every night anyway) moving the office into her room and making the office a play room. But, I'm having a really hard time taking this step. Yes, I'm sad that Kara is old enough to move out of her crib, but mostly it's because I think her room is cute and I don't want to turn it into an office. So, to make myself feel better, I'm posting pictures of her room so that I can show off my favorite room in the house. What am I doing? I'm having second thoughts about our plan as I'm typing this.

8.8.08

Two short months, I can hardly wait

the games begin, 8.8.08

Flips and jumps, strength beyond measure

The most dynamic sport, no doubt a real treasure

Just Summer Olympics can satiate

my need and hunger for a sport so great

Takes place in Beijing, two weeks of pure bliss

The summer games I'd rather die than miss

I thought I'd introduce my new countdown with a quick poem (inspired by Mrs. Evelyn L. Ryan from the book I just recently finished called The Prize Winner of Defiance Ohio. I highly recommend this read). If the Olympics were holding a contest, do you think I'd win?

I guess you could say that I am crazy obsessed with the Summer Olympics. Pretty sure tears have been shed over missing the beginning of an Olympic gymnastics competition and traffic laws have definitely been broken by trying to get to a place that had decent television reception. For two weeks I put my life on hold and I am consumed with the competition. Why do I love it so much? I don't really know. Surely it has to do with the fact that I once thought I had a real shot at the 1996 Summer Olympics myself. At least as a twelve-year-old girl, that was what I was working for, four hours a day, five days a week.

I am obviously partial to the gymnastics, but I also can't get enough swimming, diving or track. Just typing about this is getting me gitty. The good news this year is that I get to enjoy the Olympics with a DVR! No longer do I have to neglect any and all responsibility to see who conquers the gold. No longer will I stress and fret about what event I may be missing or if my VCR is really recording. Thank you DVR, for my Olympic experience in 2008 will be that much sweeter. And maybe the Summer Olympics won't be quite as dreaded by my husband...



P.S. Pictures from New York to come soon