Dreams really do come true. Ours came wrapped in Baby Blue!

Today Ricky is 9 years old.

I remember the day he was born like it was yesterday. We were so excited to be having a boy. Knowing that this might be the last baby, and having two girls, we were excited to be blessed with this wonderful baby boy.

Ricky is such a great kid. He is thoughtful and kind. He is strong. He knows that his Heavenly Father loves him. He is a great brother and friend. We are so blessed to have him in our family. We enjoy his enthusiasm for life. Every day is wonderful in his eyes, and even the simple things are exciting to him. He loves to make all things a fun game. He smiles all the time and we can't help but smile with him.

Yesterday we had a party for him with 7 of his good buddies. Of course he wanted it to be a football party. So I went to Oriental Trading company (love it) and we found a couple of games to start the party off with. Then we had a good old fashioned two hand touch football game in our backyard. It was a really great time. This morning he is up early putting together a lego gift he got from his friends (who are brothers) Dallin and Chris Bunker. He can't wait to go shopping and spend the money Grandma Susie sent him.

He is truly spoiled. But what really was special to him was how much everyone around him cared about him. He was so excited to read Grandma's card. It was a Looney Tunes card and he loved that. He read the words inside and smiled so big. He feels so loved by those around him, and I thank you for being such an import part in his life.

We love you Ricky!

Nobody else like him, he's unique - - this one. How fortunate we are that he is our son.

Building bug

All three kids started an Inventions class last week and came home with the building bug. Ricky and Taylor have been in the basement building this TeePee. It has a kitchen with a "fire". I love that they want to use their imaginations and build. They used the spare wood that was in the basement. The put boxes down so it has a floor. They didn't use any nails. They got it to stand up on its own.

Soldier Hollow cross country skiing

Well I have tried to teach my kids to always be willing to try new things. So when the opportunity came for us to try cross country skiing...off we went.

To quote Ricky, "Cross country skiing is a lot different than down hill skiing."

We had different ideas about it. Ricky hated it. He said it was to much work. Taylor thought it was alright. I thought if we had some lessons it might have gone better. Shelby went out with some of her friends, and even though she wasn't as good as they were, she didn't quit and had a good time of it.

Blue and Gold Banquet

Our ward held their Blue and Gold Banquet for the Cub Scouts last night. They did such a great job decorating the gym. We had such a great turn out.

Ricky received another silver arrow and he earned his "Leave No Trace" badge. We are so proud of him. He loves Scouts.(Ricky likes to make funny faces for pictures)

Rick can't wait to get started on his Bear requirements. But Ricky won't do anything until next week "when he is officially a Bear". He takes the honesty thing seriously. XXXOOO

Friday night Hockey games!

Grandpa K had tickets to a Hockey game in SLC and took Rick, Taylor, and Ricky. (Shelby was babysitting instead). The game was fun. Ricky and Taylor wanted to see a famous Hockey Fight, but no luck. They even chanted "Fight, Fight, Fight" at one point hoping to see something.

They learned that here in Utah the refs. don't let the players fight. They break it up and/or give penalties. They announced that there were scouts there watching the players.

It was a lot of fun to go with Grandpa. They can't wait for the next adventure.

Valentine activities

This year was a lot of fun. It started off with our Stakes Daddy Daughter Dance. Rick and Shelby had a great time. Rick wanted there to be more daddy daughter dancing, but still enjoyed the time with Shelby.

Thursday at Keystone the kids handed out Valentines to their good friends.

Friday we went Skating at Classic Skate with about 200 hundred other homeschoolers. We decorated boxes to collect our Valentines in. That was fun for the kids. (I hate arts and crafts) They picked out paper from my scrapbook collection and clued it to their boxes. They looked spectacular. (Sorry...slacking in the picture department). They came home with their boxes full of Valentines. They love to go to Skating Parties. It was fun to see them skating around with friends, making chains, winning games, etc. Brought back a lot of memories of my childhood. Rick skated in that same rink when he was a kid.

Rick took me out to dinner Friday night. It was so wonderful. We love to go to the Chef's Table in Orem. We got a table right by the window in the back. It was perfect.

There She Blows!!

Aunt Kimmy gave Ricky a volcano kit for Christmas and we spent this week putting it together, painting it, and today we erupted it. You can see where they mixed paints to make orange and brown.

Ricky and Taylor put the mold together. I mixed the plaster and poured it into the mold. They all spent time painting it to make it look "real". It was a lot of fun. The snow/rain has been coming down on and off for about a week. It was a great activity to put together in the house.

Thanks Aunt Kimmy! It was a lot of fun! Now we want to do lap books on Volcanoes next.