Grandparents

I have a very special relationship with my grandparents. None like any other. They are wonderful, adventurous, sarcastic, funny, talented, caring, loving, family oriented, hard core, hard working, determined and un-afraid of challenges. Right now they are on a mission. I am really starting to dislike these mission things. I am so family oriented that when one of these callings takes my family away from me, it breaks me into pieces. I keep most my emotions buried deep, hidden away, so that no one really knows what I am feeling and going through. It drives Brian insane. Absolutely insane. But I don’t like to cause trouble and burden others with things, so I just bury it. My grandparents have a skill that not even my parents can do. They bring those out. They allow me to share my feelings and have compassion for my trials and always, always are interested in what I have to say. They have lots’ of grandchildren. 27 I believe, but when you are with them, you feel like you are the only one and all they care about is what is going on in your life. So to say I have missed them while they have been serving at Martin’s Cove is a big understatement. When we got to our camp spot this weekend at the cove, they were there waiting for us and I leapt out of the car and ran into my grandma and grandpa’s open arms. I couldn’t give them enough hugs and wanted them to know how much I missed them. But the thing that hit me was the next day, when we were all getting ready to venture out to Annabelle’s baptism. My grandpa pulled me aside, talked to me about a few things, mentioned how he was feeling about a few things and of course I am crying as he is saying things because he just knows what was going on in my life. I hadn’t told him, no one had mentioned the things I was feeling, he just understood and saw “the obvious” as he worded it and he wasn’t even around to see it. I couldn’t believe the understanding and the love he shared with me. Knowing that I have his and my grandma’s full support in all that I do and that they recognize my accomplishments and share their pride with me gives me so much bliss. But I think the biggest thing they both do that I can’t praise enough, has been their full and complete support of Brian and the love they immediately shared with him. There was no question, he was a part of our family and he was treated exactly that way. Teased, mocked, joked around with and sarcastic. But never left out. It was never, “this is my granddaughter Sarah”. It was “this is my granddaughter Sarah and her husband Brian.” It’s funny. It’s just one simple saying, but that one inclusion of being introduced truly makes you feel welcomed and loved.
My grandma is the most resilient women I know. She is tough as nails, and will do anything to avoid attention when she has trials. While we were at Martin’s Cove, she was the only women out of 5 of us, to cross the chest high river, without being carried across! Yeah she is amazingly strong. She did this, after hiking 6 miles, and then continued to finish the next 2 miles afterwards. She thinks of her grandkids and loves them with every ounce in her blood. I love calling her and talking to her, because she is so enthralled with what is going on in your life, and remembers what’s important. It’s not the toys, the gifts or the adventures, but just the relationship. That’s what’s important.
My grandpa. Wow. I don’t know where to start. He is a tough man. Reminds me of John Wayne. Don’t ask me why. I just have always seen my grandpa when I hear or see John Wayne. For years, he was a hard, strict man, but then something happened and I think it was more me than him. He became a softy. A softy to me. Everything he does, he does for others. And he has this un-wavering care for you. I am 7 months pregnant right now, and while hiking 8 miles in the Wyoming heat, I felt his watchful eye and care for me the whole time. He would periodically ask me how I was doing, offer me a ride in a handcart and tell me to not be a hero, even though I know he knew I could handle the hike. He is a protector, and yet if you need a sincere hug and to be told “I love you” he will give it to you. His understanding ear, compassionate understanding and teasing personality is something I cannot even try to put into words. He is such an example to me and I can’t wait for Zach to get to know his great grandpa because he really is great.
Basically what it all comes down to, is I love my grandparents, love them more than anything and can’t wait to have them home again. They do so much for me, and understand my emotions, trials and way of being without me even having to say something and will always lend me their shoulder and their ear when I need it.

Annabelle's Baptism

This weekend was full of surprises and adventures. First off, we added a new member to our family. COOPER!!!! He is going to be our house dog and I am not allergic to him! Our hope is that it will help Zach not have allergies like me, and also act as his older sibling and make him patient. Who knows if it will help. We picked up cute Cooper on Wednesday and he was nameless for two days. It’s a scary feeling not having a name. You don’t exist till you have a name.  Cooper is a Shih Tzu Mini Dachshund mix and is 6 weeks old. He is going to be no more than 8-10 lbs and is the sleepiest puppy ever! He will sleep anywhere. We took him up to Martin’s Cove this weekend and he was a trooper! He is going to be such a wonderful dog. Speaking of Martin’s Cove, we ventured that way on Friday because my super cute cousin Annabelle was getting baptized up there on Saturday and we wanted to spend a few nights camping up there. My more than incredible grandparents are serving a mission aswell at the Cove so it gave us a great excuse to go camping, hangout with my cool cousins and see my grandparents.

Ok now on to the adventure. Brian and I were contemplating on whether we wanted to spend the night up at Martin’s Cove or just drive up Sat because of the new pup. Well he did such a wonderful job Thursday night that we decided to leave Friday after I got off at work at 2 and go. Because we weren’t sure what we were going to do, we had to hurriedly pack after I got off work and go get edible items to help our appetites while in the middle of now where. By the time we got on the freeway and headed out, it was about 4:30 in the afternoon. Martin’s cove is 5 hours away. We had headlamps and figured we could just set up the tent in the pitch dark. Well the drive was great. Brian and I had a lot of fun. It’s a lot more fun when you take a 5 hour trip with your best friend. Cooper did great. He sat in our laps most of the time and slept about 4 of the 5 hours. Our trusty  GPS lead us perfectly. Perfectly that is until 9:56 rolled around. It was dark. Very dark. And we were in Wyoming. Yippee. So we followed the GPS to where Martin’s Cove address was listed and guess where we pulled into….DUMBELL RANCH?!?! What do these missionaries do? Lift weights? Well we figured we needed to turn around due to the fact that we had passed signs that had said “Martin’s Cove Visiting Center here”. So we did, and what did we find? No missionaries or camp sites! By this time, the humor was dwinding in the situation. It was 10:30 and our butts hurt and we wanted to sleep. I was having illusions of having to park on the side of the middle of nowhere road and having an axe murder kill us and burying our bodies in the Wyoming desert. Thanks Martha. I attribute these illusions to your crazy creepy movies you have me watch. Anyway, we drove around the center for what seemed like hours and noticed a house with it’s lights on. So we pulled up and Brian went to talk to the owners. Luckily, he was a missionary. How did we know? Not the name tag no, but he opened the door in his garment top. That made me giggle. Anyway, we explained our situation and that we were here for the baptism in the morning and were looking for the Richards camp spot. They gave us directions that consisted of, “turn back the way you came, travel 10 miles and look for a sign and flag that said, Missionary Camp site. Awesome. This should be fun to find…

So we are puttin along in our 40 mpg corolla (yeah that’s right, we got 40 mpg) and pulled into this drive way area. There was a white car sitting there. GRANDPA!!!! He stayed up and waited for us so that we wouldn’t get lost! What a wonderful man. We followed him to the campsite we would be sharing with Michele and Troy and their awesome kido’s and Martha and Shad and their off spring. The tent was set up, cot’s up, air mattress blown, and sleeping bags laid out. Time for bed. And Cooped didn’t make a peep all night long! What a good boy. After saying our good nights and many hugs given to the best grandparents in the world after not getting one for 3 months, we were out.

The next day was the baptism and can I just say, if you get baptized outside, church attire should not be mandatory. Yet it was and we obeyed. Before we went to the river, we toured the visitors center with my grandparents telling us stories and showing all the exhibits to us. It was incredible. I am so glad I was born during this era, because I doubt I would have survived then. What took us 5 hours took them 17 days. Incredible. We ate a quick lunch and then headed to the river. It was a beautiful day, perfect for Annabelle! Pictures were taken, and kids were entertained. Tylor, the crazy outdoorsman he is, caught a frog that no one else could catch and all he did was scoop his hand down, snatch it and show it off. It was now 2 in the afternoon and we came to the conclusion that we all should hike Martin’s Cove. The trip was supposed to be 3 miles round trip, but we are Richards! We don’t skimp on the adventure part when it comes to escapades. So we packed the water, two hand carts, set the kidos in them and took off. 6 hours later we had hiked up to the cove, went around a mountain, took the long way home, crossed a river in hand carts and by walking and then arrived back at the center. It was fun, we all did it, and no one skimped out. I was amazed at how different it was hiking the whole time, which yes, came to be 8 miles, while prego. Everyone kept offering to pull me in a handcart or this buggy type thing, but I walked the entire time. I figured if they could do it 150 years ago without Nike’s, water bottles, spray bottles and mapped trails, I most certainly could walk 8 miles. Anyway, we all survived and the kids had a blast. I didn’t take my camera with me though, sad day. Figured we might get wet and I didn’t want to sacrifice the camera. 

After our hike, to say we were hungry is more than an understatement, we were starving. Thank goodness for Martha’s cooking. We had pulled pork sandwiches, chips, jello salad and green salad. Delish. We just sat, chatted and enjoyed one another’s company. I had a good talk with my grandpa and he brought me to tears. I love that man. After dinner, some yummy cobbler was devoured with n minutes and a fire was created. There is something so incredible about sitting around a campfire with your family and not saying a word. What a special day. Brian and I got up on Sunday, packed up, and headed home. It was a wonderful, short get away and such a fun time to spend with our families. 

Favorite!

Sleeping again! 

He would climb Brian's shoulder and
 sleep behind his neck. Crazy.

I thought this was funny.
As i took the picture, Brock was slapping
Scotty in the face and Trevor
is just posing for the camera. 

Annabelle getting ready for the plunge.
 Look at that awesome hair.

I promise, he does play. He just likes to sleep a lot.

Just sleeping on Brian's neck.

Cutie Pie!

Brian and Thatchor. Together as always.

Tylor just being Tylor.

Emily was kicking butt in Arizona
clogging her feet off as usual
and so she and my mom missed out.

This is suppose to be scary face,
 but Treagor just thinks Max
has a huge head and is extra creepy.

Frog captured!

Mr. Cool.

Girls Night

Well enough time had passed that a much needed Girl’s Night was required! We headed over to Chandra’s house where her chef of a husband Charles, made us Rachel Ray burgers. They were delish beyond delish. Then we did what all girls do, talk. We talked and talked for a while , then someone, “cough” Kelsey mentioned jumping off the roof and on to the trampoline….Wonderful! Hence the pictures of Jill on top of the roof.  The next half hour was spent trying to convince Jill no to jump, and sounding as if we were trying to prevent a suicide. Chandra and I got on the tramp, thinking it might prevent Jill from leaping, but after minutes and minutes, she decided she was going to do it, and we got off. Then Sarah decided if she laid on the tramp, she could at least absorb some of the spring, so Jill didn’t fly into the phone lines. Well all the sudden, she jumped. And survived. It was scary beyond belief. I sure hope my children aren’t as crazy. 

Begging her to get off.

The neighbors were concerned. I stopped
 watching and begging and just turned around. 

Denise's cool trick. Awesome.

Where she lived and we can laugh about it now. Nice Chandra.

Showing her tumbling skills.

Wave, and put  your shoe on.

Our gracious host! Thanks for a fun night.

Hit me. Like a ton of Bricks.

They couldn’t find the heart like they wanted. So we went for a second. My new favorite thing, targeted ultrasounds. I have always been a pretty blessed individual in the gene section. No major health issues, lots of hair on my head, and thankfully a fast metabolism. I never had to worry about my weight. I guess I still don’t but I swear, and I am not saying this to sound conceded, the worst part of pregnancy for me is seeing that number go up. I have never weighed this much and it’s been extremely difficult to deal with not fitting into my favorite jeans, having to make new holes in my belts, and seeing my full face. Brian keeps telling me to not worry, it will come off quickly and that it’s good to gain weight right now. I am gaining it only in my stomach, nothing else is growing but my tolerance of mirrors is now maxed. Yet those feelings came to an abrupt halt this morning. My first targeted ultra sound was about two months ago and it was good. Not great. He was wiggly, the tech was boring and fast and she couldn’t get a good shot of the heart. I wasn’t feeling his movements yet, it wasn’t real. Now, Zach and I have pushing contests. He pushes against my stomach, makes it bulge, and I push him back. He kicks like he is swimming and rolls like he is on a rollercoaster. He is there. It’s real. But this morning….wow. I am just going to attempt to describe it. Attempt, which may end in failure because it was so incredible.

His head is down, and feet are up. Up on the right side kicking a lot. He is biting his umbilical cord and drinking his own urine. All good signs. His extremities consist of two hands, two feet and ten phalanges on each. Two eyes, one nose and one mouth. He has the perfect heart, pumping as it should and all the ribs to protect his vitals. His brain is perfect, no concerns, just sitting there inside is tiny skull. He is 15 inches long and 2.5 lbs. Our due date is right on. October 13th, 2011. Doesn’t seem like that exciting does it? Except for the fact that it’s utterly and completely amazing that we created a human life.
Two things really strengthened in me this morning; I am growing a child, that in every way is perfect and I need to stop being so selfish, and the other, HOLY CRAP THE CHURCH IS TRUE. It’s not just enough to argue that science is sufficient to defend the creation of life. It’s too complicated. Too thought out. Too involved and to miraculous. Science doesn’t go to the depth of survival and mechanics like having the child swimming in a fluid that he urinates in, then drinks, takes practice breathes and lives in for months at a time, in order to prepare for the world out of his protective bubble. I scoff at science and those that don’t believe in the creation. Scoff I say. How can you not believe? No way is it possible that from monkey’s we were formed. Doesn’t make sense, again I scoff. I stopped worrying about my weight, about what I was going to do after he is born and truly realized that in a few short months, I was going to hold my baby boy in my arms. I have done a lot in my life, and my siblings and I have accomplished various undertakings. I have graduated high school top of my class, was seminary vice president, had/still have the best group of friends a teenager could ask for, paid my way through college, married a returned, wonderfully supportive, respective missionary, graduated college, have the best relationship with my siblings in the world, stayed out of debt, and so on. And this list is embarrassing to some of the accomplishments my siblings have done. Yet I hold this pride, this above all feeling that this is the biggest achievement out of them all, mine and Brian’s private little triumph of doing things right, in the right way at the right time. It’s nothing we flaunt, and billions of people have done it before us, but to me, it’s bigger than anything I have seen in my 23 years on this earth.
So what was my favorite part about this morning beside the fact that I can actually tell what my little boy is going to look like? We saw his femur. I don’t know why, and it might be silly, but his legs are so defined and strong that we saw, bright as day, his cute little femur. It couldn’t have been more than 2 inches long, but it was surrounded by muscle, veins, skin and blood. He is growing and I think that his cute, strong femur really set that in stone for me. I have a healthy baby boy. Also his nose. He has Brian’s nose no doubt. Short, cute and perfect. I hope he gets a lot of Brian’s attributes. His face is flawless, arms are strong and his personality is calm but active. He moves when we need him to move and he is calm when we need him to be calm. I haven’t been over protective this pregnancy; I have lived like I have always lived. A few alterations in my diet, (heating up my lunch meat sucks) but other than that, I want him to get use to life the way it will be out of the womb. I don’t know if you can tell how your child will behave outside, but he is going to be a wonderful boy. He has Brian’s personality already. Strong, determined and mindful of others needs. See you soon Zachy.

July 4th

For the fourth this year, we were split between familias. On saturday we spent all day with the George clan so thought that we would be fair and spend all day on Monday with the Wisers. It was a fun, relaxing day. There was a parade and a party thing at the park at 8 in the morning, but Brian and I slept in, and then Brian couldn't get his window rolled up so of course, he had to fix it before we did anything else. ;) So we missed the parade and the party. That was just fine though, I took an allergy medicine in the morning and was knocked out by 10 anyway. Thrilling? When everyone else came home, the window was fixed, we just hung out, made some delish sandwhiches and watched Saints and Soilders.
Brian and his dad usually compete in a 4wheel derby, but this year, they decided just to watch. Good thing too, because when we got over there, the boys and their toys were covered in mud. It was much gooyer than in years past. We headed home and Janelle and Jon ventured to a movie which left the rest of us up for a Zeppes run! Love that place. I need to remind myself, as tempting as the large may be, it's always difficult to get it down. After Zeppes, it was off to the BBQ. Brian loves fire and is in charge of getting the grill ready. We had burgers and hot dogs with jello, pototoe salad and bbq chips. Why is it that bbq chips are ONLY good in the summer. You will not catch me eating them in the winter. It's just wrong. After our food was eaten, we just hung around out side and chatted, let the dogs play and blew some bubbles. It was quite an enjoyable day.
Wisers have the perfect spot to watch fireworks also. Their backyard backs Fremont high, where the fireworks are shot, and we don't have to deal with crowds. It's perfect. Rylie wasn't such a fan of the fireworks. She wasn't scared, but protective. She kept pokin her head up, when a boom would go off, let out a small bark when Brian wasn't there and browse the scene. Maggie on the other hand was shivering the whole time with out letting out a peep. It's funny to see the differences. 

Brian's face looks a little to
 enthralled with the idea and his
 ablitiy to create fire.

Rylie and Maggie playing.

Brian playing with Rylie.

Urniating on the burgers to add flavor.

Wendy doing the "manly" duties.

This is just the most adorable picture.

Kraig being a goof.

Mom and Son.

Don't look at me, just focus
 on Brian. Ha is making a hilarious
 face that was entirely unintended. BWAHAHA

Rylie and Janelle playing with bubbles.

Truthful Tuesdays

My lovely sista Emily blogged about ten truths about herself and I thought I would do the same. She called it Ten Truths Tuesdays or something like that. So here we go.

1. I am absolutely terrible at video games.
2. I would rather spend my free time reading a good book, than playing on the computer, TV or mp3 player.
3. Porous things freak me out. I.E. volcanic rocks or ocean rocks. One time my brother max gave me a pancake that was super smooth on one side and porous on the other and it weirded me out and he kept telling me I was afraid of a pancake.
4. Soccer is my passion.
5. My best friends are my siblings.
6. I love the mountains with every ounce of love I have in my bones.
7. Phase ten, balderdash and scrabble are the shiz.
8. I own a wicked cool compound bow, an incredible Taurus .22 handgun, a 3 foot blo-gun, a unicycle and a cute puppet named Kenny.
9. I put cheese on everything.
10. I could eat cold cereal for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Grandpa George's 80th Birthday Party

My Grandpa George turned 80 on June 30th of this year and of course that meant we had to party like it's 2011. Because my aunt and uncle are movie maniacs, they were gracious enough to allow 4 generations of George's to invade their small, quaint little cabin they own in Oakley. By the pictures, you wouldn't know that there were others there because the six of us, (Tyler included) just hung out because we see most of the side of the fam about once or twice a year. Some of them we haven't seen in 8 years! But it's always good to get together with them. We ate food, laughed, Eric pee'd in a millionaires toilet, and made lots of silly faces. It's always a good time when we get together. We variously get comments and questions on how we as siblings can get a long so well and why. Well we are each other's best friends. That's it. 

We don't often take normal pictures,
 but there were a few that we were
 able to sneak in

Em and I on there way there.
We JAMMED to Joseph and the Amazing
 Technicolor  Coat. Oh the  joys of our
 childhood. Sorry Brian. Ironically he
 is the only one who can sing
 and we were making his poor ears
bleed so badly that he had to whip out
the trusty iPod and tune us out.

We were trying to teach Max how to do the
 floppy mouth technique for pictures and he
 constantly closed one eye in  his meager attempts
 so we tried to imitate him, yet the
bar was set atrociously high, hence his height.

This is what we mean by his meager attempt,
 yet amazingly his ability to control his
right eye subconsciously.
If you need a comparison, Brian and Em have
the floppy mouth perfected to a T.

The master at work.

Just had to get this cute picture.

I find it amazing that we take hideous
pictures and they all consist of contorting
our faces, putting phalanges in our
 noses and often trying to eat someone.

Emily's lips are extremely weird
 and creepy. Quack.

There is a bird hanging from Emily's
 ears and I had to contain my self
from pulling it from her.

Eric's shirt is so HP, I love it. 

Man, I can't wait for my face to
not look so overly bloated.