Cindy & Joel Ricks

Just Standing

2012-01-29T18:00:00.002-07:00

Last Week Joel was watching a movie and Orin pulled himself up on the couch next to him. He has started pulling himself up to stand a lot and he lets go of the couch just stands there.
This is right after church.

My favorite big smile!

He is pretty proud that he pulled himself up just standing there. I was lucky the camera was sitting next to him. He is crawling backwards but not forwards and standing lots. Daycare said he pulls himself up to stand every chance he gets.

Orin is a lot of fun and so happy. We are so grateful for such a great baby!

Going Everywhere

2012-01-23T06:00:00.000-07:00

Orin hasn't crawled forward yet. He can get up on all fours and push himself backwards. He also can get anywhere on his bum. He can reach anything and cruise all around the room. In this picture below he was sitting in front of me then decided he wanted to get me. He loves to grab both sides of my face/or hair and give me a big wide mouth kiss. He is coming in for one in this picture. He has the look of I am going to get you mom.

Orin likes to sit at my feet while I make dinner. He was sitting by me but moved over to the stools. Orin loves to play with the stools. Luckily Joel put some things on the bottom of the stools so they won't slide anywhere.

Here Orin is pushing himself backwards. I love the little car on his bum.

Orin is not so sure he wanted to be set down on the floor.

Just a bit tired in this picture.

Orin started on the rug in the living room.

Before I knew it he was on the wood floor by the downstairs...scary.

So we put up a gate...but since we have big trim the gate has a big space on the bottom and Orin has learned to slide his little body under it.

I am not so sure the gate really is helpful. But his head is too big to fit though.
He does love being sneaky.

Orin can get into anything and he does. He isn't even crawling yet. I don't know what I am going to do when he starts crawling. I just can't resist that little grin of his though.

My Helper

2012-01-21T22:13:00.002-07:00

Orin is my little helper. He loves to help me with everything and he likes to be my center of attention. Today he sat in the laundry basket and helped me with laundry. (Don't worry I never left his side.)

Here is later on after his bath and getting dressed.

He just loves to sit in the basket.

Sleeping in the highchair

2012-01-19T22:29:00.000-07:00

Only a few times Orin has fallen asleep in his highchair. It is so adorable when it happens. I think both times we had guests. This time Sarah was over for dinner.

This was the day Loc and his wife were over for dinner.

I wish that I sat in a comfortable reclining chair for dinner somedays.

Three Years!!

2012-01-02T17:01:00.004-07:00

Today is our 3 year Anniversary! It has been the best three years of my life! Today has been really nice we both stayed home and spent the day together and we went to Mcgrath's for lunch which was delicious!

We were looking at pictures of when we first got married...they are pretty funny but a little too embarrasing. Here are some pictures.

Our engagements
Wow we look so young!

Our wedding picture.

Our sealing picture.

This is us when we lived in Salem.

Wow how things change in just 3 years! Joel has a new job and we moved and live in Lehi and have an adorable little boy.

Here we are now!

Orin's Hair

2012-01-02T16:54:00.002-07:00

Orin's hair is just growing! I am not complaining cuz I love it but we have given him a haircut already and he is only 7 months old. We cut off 2 inches off the top and 1/2 in off each side by the ears. It was difficult to cut his hair by the ears. That boy can not stay still at all.

In these pictures it is right after his bath and I usually brush his hair straight but today I let it go crazy.

We love his hair. We have noticed that people think he is older because well he is so long and has such long hair. They always say "so much hair for a blonde!"

Orin and Oreo

2012-01-02T16:48:00.003-07:00

Orin loves Oreo! Oreo is not so sure about Orin.

Usually Oreo runs when Orin is near, but today Oreo was too tired and let Orin get him.

Orin just loves those ears! He is always reaching for them- just like his daddy does.

That poor kitty thinks its bad now...just wait till Orin can crawl or walk after him.

Christmas

2012-01-02T11:22:00.005-07:00

We usually spend Christmas with both parents since they live only 20 min apart. This Christmas we spent at my parents house. Joel's parents were at his sister's house. Joel is excited that next year he gets to spend it with his parents. I am really excited that I don't have to make the Danish roll next year :)

Here is a picture of my Dad and Orin.

Scott and Becca came and brought their dogs Jasper and Henna. I thought Orin would be scared of them since they were so big. He loved them! He was so excited when ever they got close to him. Uncle Scott even let Orin ride one of them. We didn't get a picture of it though.

We open presents on Christmas Eve after dinner. This year we decided to open them early about three since Scott and Becca were only there for the day. We enjoyed it. Here is Uncle Scott and Orin by the tree trying to get Orin to open his present before dinner.

Here Orin is playing in his new outfit from Melanie and Ben. Thanks Mel and Ben!

Tasia and Orin trying to open Orin's present without looking too obvious. This was Orin's favorite spot at Grandma's house. He just would sit by the tree and be perfectly happy until you picked him up. He LOVES the tree! If he was upset and you put him in front of the tree he would calm down and laugh and smile at the tree. In this picture he is talking.

This is us Christmas morning. I was making breakfast (the Danish Roll) and Orin was getting very excited to go see what Santa had brought him.

Here is what Santa brought. He was very excited to play with his toys. His stocking was full of baby food. He had some baby yogurt for breakfast.

Here Orin is in his favorite spot by the tree.

This is us after church in our new church clothes from Santa. Orin was not enjoying the pictures he wanted to be by the tree and get out of his clothes.

This is my parents after church.

Orin and Grandma. Grandma is showing Orin that the snowman dances and sings. Orin loved that snowman.

This is him watching it dance and sing on the table. He kept getting closer to it.

Tasia and Orin playing with his present from Santa.

We had a great Christmas! We hope everyone else enjoyed Christmas like we did. By the way sorry it took so long to post this Joel's computer is not working so every time I try to post something Joel is on my computer.

6 Months Old

2011-11-20T16:52:00.004-07:00

Today Orin turns 6 months old! I can't believe my baby is half a year old! It still feels like yesterday I had him. I thought I would put some pictures up of our cute boy.

He has gotten so good at sitting up on his own. The only time he falls over is when kitty walks by and he over reaches to the side or looks too far to see where the kitty went. I am kind of nervous for kitty when Orin starts crawling.

In this picture he was doing his new favorite thing- putting his lips together and making a noise like a -well I can't explain it. but it is pretty funny.

Here he was telling me he was done with picture and sometimes I love the sad pictures. I love his little bottom lip sticking out. It is adorable. Also you can see how his hair is getting so long and is pretty curly.

Orin is now 28.75 inches long which is the 98% and 19 lbs 8 oz which is 75% and his head well don't know the measurement but is exactly 50% which is great! So far he is still really tall and solid. He kind of has a thing with ears. He pulls on his all the time and I was worried he had an earache. Nope! Just like his Dad - likes to play with ears. I actually have a picture of him grabbing his cousin Avery's ear. Avery didn't even mind that he was touching it. I think they will be good friends if she lets him rub her ears. Here it is.

Orin is loving his baths still. Today he sat up in the bath and did not want to sit down. His rubber ducky has become a good friend that I have taught him to catch him with his legs. He has now started to love when I do his hair sticking up (and then when it dries it curls). He gets to sit in front of the mirror and play with all the things in the bathroom which means he throws all of Dad's stuff in the sink.

Orin is still loving eating. He loves food so much that sometimes he doesn't want the bottle just food and wants to drink out of my cup. He will stare you down while you drink from a cup.

Here is another picture .

Sleeping

2011-11-19T14:13:00.004-07:00

I don't know what it is about sleeping but Joel loves to take pictures if your asleep. Here are a few since we had Orin. I rarely take a picture of him sleeping but that might change as I notice how many there are of me.

Here Orin and I am the week we moved in to our new house...so tired.

I took this one because that kid is so dang cute!

Joel took this one. After becoming a mom I am tired a lot more then I used to be so tired I don't even realize that the kitty takes naps on my back while I am sleeping.

This was one night I couldn't get Orin to sleep upstairs and Joel was up playing games so we fell asleep watching dad play games.

Grandpa Jubeck while rocking Orin- looks like Orin isn't the only one being put to sleep.

Orin and Joel after a long night of being up because of an earache.

This is Orin and me during conference. So tired.....

Orin and Joel at the family reunion. Joel is just pretending but they sure are cute together.

Orin and me after watching an episode of bones.

My Little Monkey

2011-11-02T20:35:00.002-06:00

Orin was a monkey. Here are some pictures.

In this picture he is eating his banana (which is his toothbrush)

Another picture of the banana. His gums have been hurting so that brush feels nice on them and massages them.

He was just sitting on the couch being so good.

Here is a picture of his cute little tail and puffy bum.

Here Orin is with Aunt Becky (my sister).

We only went to my brother Shawn's house for Halloween. They gave him a sweet bag with candy in it for Joel and I and some licorice for Orin. By the way he loves licorice.

Orin Loves Food and his highchair

2011-11-02T18:29:00.003-06:00

We started feeding Orin baby food and He loves it! He eats every last bite. Here is a picture of me feeding him before we had a highchair. I just had him on my lap. He did a good job but I figured a highchair was a must so I can do stuff while feeding him.

Joel mentioned how I open my mouth also when feeding him. I try not to now but it is just a habit.

The night we got the highchair Orin sat and watched me put it together and was so excited he kept grunting cuz he wanted it. I think he understood it was his. Here he is sitting in it the first night.

Another picture of Orin just loving dinner time.

I should of took a picture of the actual chair but I decided to just take picture of Orin :)

Kitchen

2011-10-25T20:59:00.003-06:00

I had some friends from work wanting me to post some pictures of my kitchen. Here they are. By the way I love my kitchen! It is huge! Especially compared to my last kitchen. There is so much counter space it is wonderful when making dinner or having a party. (Not that we have parties often at least not yet :)

This picture is of the dining area. We have the playpen behind the table so Orin can lay in there while we eat. Also is Orin's highchair. I will post about that later...

Here is the island and stove and fridge.

Another view of the island with the cupboards above the stove. I haven't quite finished decorating it. Well that is my kitchen!

And here is my handsome boy! I did his hair with gel and let the curls take over. It looks like he is about to come crawl over to me.

Rolling Over

2011-10-22T12:09:00.005-06:00

Orin has been trying to roll over for sometime now. He rolled over from the tummy to the back for the first time August 31 but got sick and didn't even like being on his tummy for a week or so. He now loves to roll over. His little arm gets stuck sometimes but he is getting the hang of it. I put him in the middle of the blanket look away and he is off the blanket. He is ADORABLE!! Here are some pictures of rolling over.

These are from September.

This one he is on my bed...notice the drool mark.

This picture is from last week

Also Orin is loving his little feet. He grabs those things and rolls over. It is his new favorite thing. I got him some socks with colored toes and he loves them the most always trying to grab those toes.

The thing Orin loves to roll over for is his toys. Here he is playing with 2 of them.

Here is our handsome boy! He has pretty blue eyes like his daddy!

Ernie and Jessica's Wedding

2011-09-29T20:18:00.003-06:00

On Sept 17, Ernie and Jessica got married. Ernie is one of Joel's best friends from high school. They got married at Shoshone Falls in Idaho. It was a nice wedding-even the weather was pretty nice. Joel was the best man and he was so handsome!!

Here is a picture of Loren and Joel the groomsmen.

The Bride and Groom with Orin.

This is Loren and his wife Bree

A nice family picture for us.

We had a good time - we even got to decorate their car :)

Aquarium

2011-09-12T16:50:00.008-06:00

On labor day weekend, we went to the aquarium in Sandy. We went with my brother Shawn and his 3 boys, my parents, and 2 of Joel's friends from work. It was pretty fun. They all touched the sting rays. (except my parents, Orin and me) My nephews said we should take Orin's socks off so he could touch them with his feet since his arms aren't long enough. This aquarium isn't huge but it was pretty nice. I got to see a big sea turtle. I loved it!

Here is Joel, Orin and me (the face peaking between us is his friend Loc)

Here is my Dad and Orin.

Here my nephews are riding the big frog.

The boys playing in the cave.

They are sitting in the canoe.

Joel is showing that Orin is taller then the Penguin with the spiky hair. (Joel would know what kind it is.)

This picture Joel is touching a sting ray.

Peyton touching the sting ray.

Casen touching the sting ray. The boys loved it the were wet all the way up their arms.

We went to my favorite pizza place afterwards. The PIE in West Jordan! It has the best pizza! It was delicious- we had Hawaiian (my favorite), Chicken Bacon Ranch (also my favorite), and Combo (I am allergic to). It was amazing we found out that we only live 16 miles from the PIE and I am so glad!!! It is definitely worth the move hahaha.

Here is my Mom holding Orin, my brother Shawn and nephew Casen and the wonderful Hawaiian pizza. :)

This is Peyton- he was giving Joel a big grin.

Joel having a good time...LOL if you notice he has his hand on Peyton's head.

Aidan and Orin when we were giving hugs and saying goodbye.

Visiting with Cousins

2011-08-27T18:56:00.003-06:00

We went to Idaho to visit for the fair. We had a good time since Joel only works every other Friday we were able to spend Friday with Joel's parents and Mike and Mj and kids. We spent Friday night with Joel's buddies at the fair and went to a movie while Grandma and Grandpa Jubeck watched Orin. We spent most of Saturday with my parents and my nephew Kaleb. We then had dinner at Grandma Dayley's house with some cousins from the Dayley side.

Here are some pictures from our weekend in Idaho. This is Joel and Orin Friday morning. Orin was trying to wake his dad up.

This is Kaleb and Orin. Kaleb was really good with Orin. He made Orin smile a lot and he helped Grandma and Grandpa Jubeck watch Orin.

These are the pictures we took at Mike and Mj's house. Abby and Austin love when I pull out the camera. They like their picture taken and they like Orin. They always call him my baby. It is cute. Eli was asleep so he didn't get to join in the fun...maybe next time.

Here is Abby holding Orin. He wasn't sure he liked it.

Austin holding Orin- if he wasn't sure about Abby he definitely didn't want Austin to hold him afterwards.

Joel is reading the kids a story.

Here they were showing how nice they could be. They were so cute.

Here they are and Abby was talking to Orin. She was making him laugh.

Another picture of them just chilling.

Here is a picture of Abby. She is such a cute girl.

Bath Time

2011-08-23T20:47:00.002-06:00

Orin loves to be in the bath. He loves to kick and splash water everywhere. I used to bathe him on the counter but it was getting so wet everywhere that now we do it in the bathtub. He just doesn't really like getting changed. He is starting to like it more as long as you talk to him and smile. Then he does the same back to you.

This picture the flash took him by surprise.

Now he is all done and just drying off in his towel/robe.

Here is getting dressed and hanging out with his buddy Mr. Elefante. Mr Elefante is one of his favorite toys. He loves him cuz he plays music.

11 weeks old

2011-08-11T16:18:00.006-06:00

This last week Uncle David came and stayed with us when he was on leave from the Navy. He is stationed on the Enterprise in Norfolk, Virginia. We enjoyed having him stay. He made Orin smile and laugh. It is always fun to have family visit. Here is a picture of Uncle David feeding Orin and petting kitty at the same time.

As everyone knows Joel loves playing games. He doesn't like to hold Orin while playing but occasionally I can get him to hold him for a min. Here is the picture of the two of them. Orin is usually staring at the screen. I think all the bright colors and flashing on the game attracts him.

I try to give Orin a lot of tummy time and a lot of attention when I am not working since I have to take him to daycare I am not sure he gets any tummy time there. Here we are after some tummy time.

Here Orin is starting to smile for his Dad.

Joel got him to give such a big smile he stuck out his tongue.

We are very grateful for our beautiful, happy baby. He is such a pleasure to have around.

Baby Blessing

2011-07-29T12:34:00.004-06:00

On July 3 was Orin's baby blessing. We had a great time and lots of family and friends come visit. It was a great celebration. Joel gave Orin a really good blessing. We didn't get any pictures taken of Orin that day because when we got home from church he had an accident and had to change his clothes....so I took some pictures on Sunday in his blessing clothes.

Joel and Orin had matching ties and the white blanket is from Grandma Dayley. Here he is smiling.

Here is Orin in an afgan that my Mom made for Orin.

Here is a picture of Orin with a satin blanket that my cousins gave us at the baby shower. I had quite a few blankets to decide from for him to wear to the blessing. I have decided that I will just use them on Sundays.

So in the next picture is the outfit Joel was blessed in and the blanket (both were made by Grandma Dayley).

Orin is a pretty happy baby...here is another picture of him smiling. We figure this is pretty close to how Joel looked when he was blessed since the two of them look so much alike.

Here is Orin in his church clothes last Sunday down for his afternoon nap.

Sunday Afternoon

2011-07-25T18:40:00.004-06:00

Here is a picture of Orin doing his favorite thing watching the turtles in his playpen. You can see he is laughing and smiling.

Here is Daddy and Orin just after church.

Here is Orin and me.

Daddy and Orin

Orin and me

Orin just a week old

2011-07-21T20:40:00.003-06:00

Now that we are moved in and mostly unpacked I have some time to actually post some pictures. Here are some of him about a week old.

In this picture it looks like he is praying.

Just sleeping...like he always did when he was little.

Here he is with his grandparents. They stayed the first week with us.

Orin and his Uncle James and soon to be Aunt RaTray.

Daycare

2011-07-19T12:44:00.003-06:00

I took Orin to daycare yesterday for the first time. It was really hard to leave him. I cried so hard while I drove to work. I thought it would be difficult and well it was. The day seemed like it just dragged on. I work ten hours day and it took forever for 5 pm to finally come along. Today doesn't seem as bad...I guess it will just take time. The one thing is I am jealous of the lady because she gets to spend all day with my baby. She gets to enjoy his happy smiles and laughs. I will just have to live for the weekends. I can't wait till Friday...I am glad I don't work on Fridays.

The good news is he was really good for them. They were excited to see him again today. Also all the kids at the daycare seem to love him. (Which how could they not -he is adorable!!!)

2 Months

2011-07-13T09:56:00.003-06:00

Orin will be two months old on Friday...wow how time flies. He is doing well and is an adorable boy. We took him for his two month check up the other day and he had to get his shots. It was sad when he got his shots. I know probably every mom feels this way when they get their shots but it made me want to cry and hold him and protect him from any pain.

He is growing so much. He now weighs 11 lbs and 8 ozs and is 23.75 inches long. I love when the doctor tells us his percentiles. So this time he is in the 60 percentile on weight and 90 percentile on length. This is true I was putting some of his 0-3 month pajamas on and his little legs were too long to fit they were just scrunched up in them. It looks like we might have a tall boy.

Here are some pictures of the little guy. In the first one, he looks so adorable sleeping. I could just stare at him all day while he sleeps....oh wait that is what I do sometimes.

He loves mobiles. Here he is in his playpen and when you are twisting the mobile he gets so excited cuz he knows he gets music so he starts smiling...this is when I hide the camera and take his picture.

I couldn't get the smile to stay. I need a camera that shoots the picture really fast and that takes one after another quickly.

Here is Joel and Orin doing Joel's favorite thing to do...sleep.

I also get a smile from Orin right after I change his diaper...it makes the task not too bad. It is like he is telling me thank you. In this picture he was laughing and smiling for me.

Orin Joel Ricks

2011-05-23T19:16:00.002-06:00

Orin Joel Ricks was born May 20, 2011 weighed 7 lbs 8 ozs and is 19 inches long. Here are a few pictures for now. I will add more later.

Pictures of 36 weeks

2011-04-29T20:36:00.002-06:00

Here is the picture of my baby belly at 36 weeks.

36 weeks

2011-04-29T10:09:00.002-06:00

So this week we are 36 weeks far along...just 4 weeks left or less. We went to the doctor last night and everything is looking good. The baby is getting bigger ...thus so is the belly. The doctor did an exam and told us I am in labor now and dilated to a 1 1/2 but he said it could take a week or even a month to progress. I don't know if that is normal to be starting at 36 weeks but it is really exciting for us. I don't feel any pain yet so I am guessing it is going to be a while before this little guy is ready. He had mostly dropped and is positioned right ready for the big day. Just wanted to give an update and I will get a picture up later after Joel gets home.

Pregnancy Dreams

2011-04-22T09:56:00.003-06:00

So being pregnant, Dreams are more vivid. Well for me they are really vivid. I can't watch anything scary before bed or I can't sleep because I am scared of my dreams. So lately we just have been watching funny shows which for me is great cuz I love comedy. I did marry Joel and he has some of the best jokes and tells the best stories. He makes me laugh all the time. I love that about him.

So the show we are watching right now is My Name is Earl. It is a pretty funny show sometimes. Randy (Earl's brother) is afraid of birds any kind and it is hilarious when he sees one. So after an episode about that the next night or so I had a dream. In my dream, we were in labor and when they brought the baby to show me it was a beautiful baby then it became a bird and it had a beak. I turned to Joel and was like "Is he supposed to look like this?" Joel says to me, "Yes, they all look like this." I turn to the bird/baby and say "but it has a beak." Joel says "just give it a kiss." I turn to give the bird a kiss...and I wake up. LOL I was so glad I didn't have t0 kiss the bird.

Another dream I had that was kind of funny was just the other night. I went through labor and it wasn't too bad (wishful thinking) and then they give me the baby and he isn't doing anything or even look like he is alive. I turn to Joel and the nurse and ask, "Is he ok?" They both say, "Yes but you forgot to turn on the power." I look at them like they are crazy. They tell me it is on the top of the head. Sure enough there is a red button saying power on top...so I press it and suddenly the baby is screaming and crying. Then I wake up.

Then also I have had a couple dreams of Joel delivering the baby...he doesn't like those dreams.
I have had a lot more but can't remember them as well anymore. It is crazy because my dreams seem so real. I wake up and expect it to be happening. I am just glad that I can sleep all night besides a few bathroom trips.

Zermatt Resort

2011-03-31T20:17:00.003-06:00

This last weekend my work had some rooms at the Zermatt Resort in Midway that they weren't using but had already paid for so we went and had a night away. I know we don't really have anything to get away from but it is nice to go to a h0tel and enjoy yourself and not have to worry about cleaning up or anything. It is especially nice if it is free!! I forgot my camera so I got some pictures off line to show. Here is one it looked like this but the snow had melted...but it snowed a little the night we were there.

This resort is a Swiss get-a-way hidden in Midway just about an hour away from our house. I didn't think I would have a problem with the hour but I have bladder problems and always have since I was a baby and had surgery on my bladder. So for the hour drive I went before we left we had to stop for a bathroom break and then got there and had to go immediately...LOL It mostly is the bumps in the road that seem to make it worse and well I am pregnant. We finally got there and I was grateful it wasn't too far away.

This picture is what it looks like in the summer.

This is the picture I took from our room window.

There was a place outside that had the life size chess game. So we played chess and well...Joel won. It was a fun game though. We also walked around the grounds of the hotel and there was a little pond with a ton of big goldfish. There was also a carousel but it was closed for the season.

They had some strange food at the hotel. We had a hard time deciding what we wanted to eat but we finally decided and it was delicious. We had a BLT Pizza (which sounded gross to me at first but it was soooooo good.) I would go back just for that pizza. We also got an appetizer that was called Perogi (or something like that) it sounded good but when we got it...it had so much bacon it was too strong and had a cooked red cabbage. It was not very good.

We had a good time on our get-a-way what I loved is that there were no games to interrupt our time together. :)

Color of Festival

2011-03-29T19:37:00.004-06:00

This last Saturday was the Color Festival at the Krishna Temple near our house. We have wanted to go every year since we moved to Salem but we always end up being out of town. Luckily, this year we were in town. Since I am pregnant we didn't want to risk anything since it can be hard to breath with all the chalk in the air so I wore a breathing mask. It worked wonderful I didn't taste the chalk at all...I can't say the same for Joel and Sarah.

Here I am with my mask at the beginning of the festival.

If you notice I only have a little bit of color in the picture above...it all changes. Here is a picture of Joel tossing some chalk on me.

The festival is to celebrate the ending of winter and beginning of spring. Here is a picture of Joel. He was loving throwing the chalk at everyone around him. Everyone was loving throwing it back at him.

Here we both are :) We had a great time!

Here is a picture of Sarah (my friend) and me. I was posing to show off my baby belly. Everyone kept throwing the chalk in Sarah's face so she was covered.

Here are the three of us :)

We had such a good time throwing the chalk. Sometimes it is so much fun to get dirty...I understand why kids want to play in the mud. I had a lot of fun but by the time we went home I was exhausted. We walked up the hill to the temple and then stood on the hill and then walked home. By the time we got home I was so tired.

Decorating the Baby's Room

2011-03-20T19:53:00.004-06:00

So we decided that we are going to start getting the baby's room ready since we will probably still be in this house when we have him unless something happens and it goes quickly. Which I am still hoping!

So this weekend we put up the curtains in his room.

I also made some blocks with his name. I think they turned out pretty cute. I used my new cricut that I got for Christmas (which I love!)
We plan on naming him Orin after Joel's Grandpa Ricks. We actually decided his name before we even got pregnant. So his name will be Orin Joel Ricks.

I know we have put up pictures of the crib before, but here is one with the mobile.

I want to put something on the wall but I haven't decided what yet. Also I was planning on putting up some kind of cute border like a saying I was thinking maybe twinkle twinkle little star but Joel said I couldn't do that till we move to a new house and know we will be there for a long while. So I am not sure when I will get to do that.
So just 9 weeks left....it is crazy how fast that can come. I am definitely ready. I am starting to feel off balance. It is starting to get difficult to get off our couch. I can't close the recliner so I end up just sliding down the recliner (luckily its leather) until my feet hit the ground and I can get up.
It makes Joel laugh. I also like to grab Joel's pants as he gets up so he pulls me up too. :) He is very helpful and kind especially since I have been really moody lately. I think the nesting is definitely hitting me lately all I want to do is get ready because I never know when Orin will actually decide to make his appearance. I am not sure if this is how others feel but I definitely want to be ready.

Who will he look like?

2011-03-12T11:31:00.004-07:00

As Joel and I talk about the baby and what he will look like we wonder who will he look more like or will it be just a mix. Joel says for sure he will look like him and I really hope so because he was a cute baby. So I decided to get some pictures of the two of us when we were babies and look at them. So here they are...hope you enjoy them! I know I do. :)

Here are we are as babies.

Here we are a little older...look how blonde Joel's hair is and how much red mine has.
I wonder what our babies color will be or it could be brown because both of us have brunettes in our family.

Here we are a little older...I think not really sure. I have been thinking I would love our baby to look and be like us in many ways but there is one way I don't want him to be like us...birth weight. We both were bigger babies. I weighed 8 lbs and 10 oz and Joel weighed 9 lbs something I know he was bigger then me maybe almost 10 lbs. If anyone knows for sure please let me know.

Here we are even older. I love this picture of Joel playing games because he still gets that same look when he is playing games.

Well no matter what he looks like we will love him! Just very excited to meet him....counting down as a matter of fact.

House Shopping

2011-03-11T07:07:00.003-07:00

We have been looking at tons of houses and found some good ones and found some not so good ones. We had offers on three but all fell through...something about not wanting to wait till we sell our house so they won't accept our offer. It is Lame!! So on Wednesday we went and looked at 4 more houses and we liked 2. Its nice that we get along great with our Realtor Rich so it is pretty laid back and we say what we truly think about the house in front of him. He also tells us what he thinks about the house - by now he has an idea of what we are looking for.

So we were looking at the kitchen of this one house that was sweet! I loved it! Joel gets this idea and asks me if I can reach the cupboard above the fridge. I am pretty tall so not even thinking I said yes probably so I reach up to touch the cupboard and my baby belly hits the fridge no way could I touch the cupboard. Then Joel opens the fridge and says how about now...Yes my belly sticks in the fridge and I can touch the cupboard. Joel and Rich were laughing so hard! It was pretty funny.

So we are in the process of putting offers on 2 houses that we both like. Hopefully soon someone buys our house. I would like to be moved and settled in when we bring home the new baby. So we have about 11 weeks left to get it sold and moved. Wish us luck because we need it!

28 Weeks

2011-03-04T07:40:00.003-07:00

This week we are 28 weeks along. Just 12 weeks left - everyone tells me that it will go fast...honestly I hope so! I can't wait to hold our little baby:)

Here is the picture of 26 weeks

These next two are 28 weeks.

When taking these pictures I never know what to do with my hands.

The baby moves all the time I love it! It makes me giggle sometimes Joel said I sound like the pillsbury dough boy when I do. I think my one favorite thing is when the baby is moving and I stand so my belly is against Joel's back and he can feel the baby moving its like he is kicking Joel. Also when Oreo (our kitty) is laying on my tummy and baby starts moving Oreo starts giving me dirty looks like just stay still if it keeps happening he gets annoyed at me and runs off.

Dyno-bite Krispies

2011-02-27T08:00:00.001-07:00

The other night I went to bed early because I was feeling sick...actually lately I am so tired by seven pm that I am ready for bed it is very similar to how I felt the first three months of the pregnancy. So the other night when Joel came to bed a couple hours later, I was deep in sleep but I hear him and always want to talk to him so I start mumbling stuff to him...in my mind we are having a full conversation but to him he has no clue what I am saying just certain words. This happens quite often lately... Joel loves it and tells me about it the next morning. So this night I had a craving...dyno-bite Krispies. That is what I was talking about and that was all Joel could understand. The next day I bought some dyno-bites and made some...they are delicious! If you don't know what they are they are just like rice krispies but you use the cereal dyno-bites or fruity pebbles.

Before we were married, Joel would come to my apartment (since we were neighbors) and ask to use my pan so he could make them. In return of lending my pan, I would get to eat them with him. I loved that deal! I haven't had them or even thought about them since we were dating. But they are so good and easy to make.

Stars, Moons, and Teddy Bears

2011-02-16T19:39:00.002-07:00

After searching the internet for different pattern ideas and emailing them to Joel to get approval...we decided on a crib set. Which this is the one I liked from the very beginning but I kept finding more and more so I kept emailing him the pictures. This is the one Joel liked.

I got a mattress for the crib today on my lunch and we made the baby's crib today. We haven't done anything else to the baby's room just in case we move...which hopefully we do soon! These are the colors of the baby's room.

As for an update on the house searching...we had two we liked but one was put under contract on Monday so we are now down to only one. The one we put an offer on is good but there is a lot of work to be done on it. We are still keeping our eyes open for more houses to look at - we decided that we would maybe even look in Draper to give us a bigger selection.

Baby's Profile

2011-02-08T19:31:00.003-07:00

Tonight was another doctor's appointment. The doctor did another ultrasound because last time the baby was being stubborn and wouldn't turn around so we couldn't get a good look at his face but this time the baby was awake and moving around so...here is a picture of the little guy.

The doctor said he looks like a healthy baby. For those who can't see it the head is on the right side. Before the doctor took this picture, we saw the baby yawn...it was a big yawn. It was adorable! Everything is going good with the pregnancy. I am getting so big it is crazy to look down and see my belly sticking out. This is week 25 ... so just 15 more to go.

Yesterday it snowed so hard the power went out for about 2 hours at five pm. Which is when I am driving home from work and Joel makes dinner sometimes. Since the power was out we had hamburgers from the grill by kerosene lamp. It was fun. Then we played yahtzee till the power came back on. It was fun to be able to have a good time even without the power.

New Job

2011-01-30T16:53:00.004-07:00

This picture is the most recent picture from my nephew's gymnastic meet. I felt like I needed a picture since the last couple posts haven't had any...and I love pictures no matter how strange we look.

This past week was Joel's first week at his new job at ITT Corp. He seems to like it a lot. He gets to sleep in more now but gets home later. Not sure how much he likes the schedule but he will get used to it. Now all we need is to sell our house...then he will only have to drive a half hour instead of an hour and ten minutes. Everyday when he drives past Lehi he tells me just think right now I would be getting home. This job is a good move this company has a future and some security for our family. I am really proud of Joel for getting this job. Now we don't have to worry about him being laid off in July like when he was working at Klune.

So our house is up for sale and we have put a bid on a house in Lehi. So now we just wait and pray that something will happen soon. We would love to be moved in to a new house before the baby comes but you never know what will happen-especially in the housing market these days.

Something exciting -yesterday was the first day that Joel was able to fill the baby moving. It was pretty amazing. When Joel would put his hand on the belly the baby started moving around. Also we put up the crib...just because I wanted to see it. I know that if we move soon then we will just have to move it and it now takes up more space....but its nice to go in the baby's room and have it actually look like a baby's room.

Moving

2011-01-14T21:36:00.002-07:00

Today I felt the baby move:) Everytime I go to the doctor he asks felt the baby move? and I sadly say no...but today when I was watching a movie I felt a strange feeling in my belly...then a little bit later same thing but it had moved a tiny bit to the right. I am positive it is the baby. I was so excited! Just wanted to share.

It's a.....

2011-01-11T19:01:00.002-07:00

IT'S A BOY!!! We are very excited to have a little boy. We went to the doctor today and got a dvd of the ultrasound but we have a very stubborn baby and he would not show us his face. The doctor said the baby looks good. His back was toward us most of the time-good thing he has a good backbone and no spina bifida (spelled wrong probably). We saw the heart and it looks good. The doctor had certain parts he wanted to see on the baby to make sure all is well. He couldn't see the stomach or the face so next time we go we will have a little ultrasound to make sure those are doing well. Sorry no ultrasound pictures because we just have 2 that show the gender.

I am so excited to be able to start shopping for our baby! I made a quilt last year and it is blue and green...like I had a gut instinct.

Baby Bump Progress

2011-01-09T09:24:00.000-07:00

I have had people ask for some pictures of the baby bump...So here they are. This is when I was 10 weeks.

This is 15 weeks

This is 19 Weeks
In this picture David and I were seeing who was bigger. I had the black fridge to blend into.

In this picture we were making dinner and were wearing aprons since Joel spilled peanut oil all over his shirt. The red apron definitely shows my baby bump better.

This is 20 weeks-5 Months

Joel had me pose for 6 pictures to see which pose shows the baby the most. So here is another one.

Our doctors appointment is on Tuesday...and we find out what it is :) We are so excited!

Where do you buy Scratch?

2011-01-08T09:42:00.003-07:00

This is just a little story Joel found that made me think of when we first got married...
Its called "Where do you buy Scratch?" Author Unknown

My mother never let me help in the kitchen. As a result, my cooking ability was practically non-existent when I got married. But I did remember mother mentioning to her friends that she's made cakes, pies, and other things from scratch.
With mother's delicious cakes in mind, my first trip to the supermarket was to buy some "scratch." I found the aisle that read "baking items" and spent a good fifteen minutes looking at everything from vegetable oil, sugar, flour, and chocolate without ever seeing a sign of "scratch." I asked a clerk if they carried "scratch." He looked at me kind of funny and finally said,"You'll have to go to the store on the corner." When I got there, it turned out to be a feed store. I thought it rather strange, but I decided cakes were feed. "Do you have 'scratch'?" I asked the clerk. He asked me how much I wanted. I suggested a pound or two. His reply was "how many chickens do you have? It only comes in 20 lb bags." I really didn't understand why he mentioned chickens, but I heard my mother say she made chicken casserole from scratch, so I bought 20 lbs. and hurried home.
My next problem was finding a recipe that called for scratch. I went through every single page of my lovely cookbook. There I was with 20 lbs of scratch and no recipe. When I opened the "scratch," I had doubts that beautiful fluffy cake would ever result from such a hard ingredient. I hoped that with the addition of liquids and heat, the results would be successful. I had no need to mention my problem t0 my husband as he suggested early in our marriage that he liked to cook and would gladly take over.
One day, he made a pie. I told him how good it was, he said he made it from scratch. That assured me it could be done. Being a new bride is scary and when I found out he made pies, cakes, and even lemon pudding from scratch...well, if he made all these things from scratch, I was sure he had 20 lbs also. But I couldn't find where he stored it! I checked my supply; it was still full. At this point, I was ready to give up because all the people knew about "scratch" except me.
I decided to try a different approach. One day when my husband was not doing anything, I said, "Honey, I wish you would bake a cake." He got out the flour, sugar, eggs, milk and shortening, but not a sign of "scratch." I watched him blend it all together, pour it in the pan, and slide it in the oven to bake. An hour later as we were eating the cake, I looked at him and smiled and said, "Honey, why don't we raise a few chickens?"

I read this story and I loved it instantly! My mom would let me in the kitchen I just never enjoyed it so I was a little lacking with my skill in the kitchen. I knew what scratch was but I do understand the concept of being unsure in the kitchen. I hope you enjoy this story as much as Joel and I did.

2nd Year Anniversary

2011-01-02T20:14:00.003-07:00

Today is our 2nd Anniversary. We mostly celebrated yesterday since today is a Sunday. We went to PF Changs. It was delicious but made Joel sick. So our original plans got changed. We were going to go to the conference center in Salt Lake and go to the program Savior of the World. Instead we came home and watched a couple movies. It really didn't matter what we did it was just nice to be able to spend some time together.

Today we went to church and taught our new primary class which hopefully will be a little calmer than our last one. They seemed pretty good...but we will have to wait and see. We then went to my friend's baby's blessing. Babies are so cute in their little white outfits. It made me pretty excited that later on in this year Joel will be blessing our baby:)

I made a special cheesecake for our anniversary. I had never made it but it was delicious.

Here is a picture of it before I had finished it. It is Lime-Coconut Cheesecake. I found it on one of my favorite food blogs called Our Best Bites.

Joel wanted to show me how well coconut burns. So I put some cream in the center and here are our 2 candles for our 2nd Anniversary. We blew them out just like it was our birthday.

This is what we decided to get for our anniversary.
It is called "The Lord is My Shepherd" by Simon Dewey.

I told Joel I wanted a picture and he picked this one out. I love it!
It has been a wonderful Anniversary. We spent all weekend together...my favorite kind of weekend. We even stayed up late on New Year's Eve. We made Divinity and other Christmas treats since we didn't before Christmas. Joel has been loving the divinity!

Snow

2010-12-18T20:00:00.003-07:00

Salem has had lots of snow this year....in one day we got all of this. It was crazy! I got stuck three times driving to work...it was an experience I would not like to repeat. But I did get to go home early from work for the doctors appt...which by the way went really well...so now we just have to wait till January 11 to find out what it is. It is difficult being patient (which is definitely not one of my strong points).

This is our front yard. I think it was just under 2 feet.

This is the picture on our deck.

Baby Ultrasound

2010-11-12T05:49:00.002-07:00

We are having a baby!!! We are so excited!

On October 25, we went to our first doctors appointment. That is when we got this ultrasound. It is kind of difficult to see but if you look closely at the top middle the black is just fluid and there is a little one right under the black there. The doctor said at this time the baby is about the size of a cinnamon bear. In the picture it looks like its arm is up by the side of the head. The Doctor also said everything looks great. We got to hear the heart beat it was beating so fast-it was 179 beats per minute.

So we are due May 25. Right now I am 3 months along...which is nice because almost all my morning sickness has disappeared. Joel says we are having a boy that will look just like him...he will be surprised if we have a boy that has red hair...like I had.

BYU Game

2010-11-07T18:39:00.003-07:00

We went to the BYU game with Candace and Aaron and family this weekend.
Here is the picture of Joel and I when we first got to the game outside the gate waiting to meet up with Candace and Aaron.

Here are two shots from the game...

In this one they are getting close to making a touchdown....

Here they just made it!

From our seats we had a good view of the Provo temple.

We didn't actually get a picture of all of us because our camera's battery died. Aaron did get one though. Here they are watching the game.

Here is a picture of Hailey and me. It was a beautiful day for a game.
We had the sun on us the most of the time.

Here is the last picture before the camera died...you can see the bunny ears from Hailey and Bryce :)

We had a great time and it was definitely a good game to go to.
BYU 55 to UNLV 7

Colonel Sanders and Wendy :)

2010-10-30T10:29:00.003-06:00

Halloween is Joel's favorite time of the year to grow facial hair. So he hasn't shaved for a little over a month and then we decided what he can be with the facial hair that he grows.
This year it was Colonel Sanders from KFC. So I am Wendy from Wendy's.
Here is the final picture.

We have some friends that invite us to a Halloween party every year so we look forward to dressing up. This year was a little more difficult to get the costume together.
We looked all over for a white jacket at DI and Savers...nothing. So Joel decided I was going to make him one. That was the most frustrating and difficult thing I have ever made... Also I will never make another. I only had a week to make it. I also made the black tie...but that was easy. He looked really good! He also glowed all night at the party cuz of the black light.

My costume was really easy compared to Joel's. We love DI for great costumes.

We ran out of the white on Joel's hair so we had to run to Wal-mart in the middle so we could dye his mustache and chin. Here is the picture before we got more dye.

Joel loved being an old man...he acted the part really well. I didn't know a man his age had such sweet dance moves...but he showed me at the party.

We had a great time together getting ready and being at the party.

Pig Races

2010-08-25T19:18:00.000-06:00

We went to the Burley fair this weekend. We had a great time! We walked around looking at the booths and they even gave us a free book inside the art building from the book club I think. I got a serendipity book called Maynerd's Mermaid. It is a cute story. I read it to the family later that evening.

We also went to the carnival...which is my favorite part of the fair! I rode on the Gravitron with my nephew Kaleb...it was crazy! I could barely walk straight afterwards but it was definitely fun. Then I went on the Tilt-a-wheel (I think that is what the name is) with my Dad and my niece Tasia. That one was a blast!! It is the kind where you can make it go really fast or slow depending on how you lean. Luckily my Dad and Tasia love it to go fast so we had a great time!

Also this year they had a new attraction at the carnival...the PIG RACES!!! Ever since I was little I loved pigs! They were one of my favorite animals growing up...we had a pig named Olga and she was my favorite. I would go and see her almost every day and she would let me feed her with my hand and she never bit me or even tried. She would let me feed her eggs by just tossing them into her big mouth. I also would give her water right from the hose when she was thirsty. Those are some good memories.... Anyways back to the pig races.

So we all got a ticket for the pig we thought would win. There were 4 (yellow, green, blue, and red). I picked green-my favorite color. So waiting for the race to start we just discussed what pig would win. Joel was sure it was going to be yellow his choice since it was on the inside lane.

The pigs were set loose...it was a close race! Green won!!! I was so excited! We were all cheering for our pigs. I loved it! Then they had another race....and Green won again!! This time they picked a raffle for someone to win a free shirt. I won the shirt. I was so excited!

Here is a picture of me and my new shirt....which is green and white!

Then on Saturday afternoon Joel and I went to the horse races.... I never knew Burley had horse races. But they do!! We spent most of our afternoon at the horse races. We had fun. Instead of betting and losing money we bet against each other on what horse we thought would win. 2 of my horses won 1st place! So now Joel owes me a massage and he has to mow the lawn this week. :)

Baby Horse

2010-08-22T20:44:00.004-06:00

My parents horse Princess had a baby a couple weeks ago. I have wanted to go home to see it ever since it was born but I had to wait till the Burley fair...which was this weekend.
Here is a picture of the colt.

He is very energetic. My parents haven't quite decided his name but I think it will be Prince Charming since his mom's name is Princess. He is so beautiful!!

Here is a picture of my niece Tasia and I feeding the Star and Princess carrots. They LOVE carrots! So I brought a bag full for a snack for our drive and we only ate half of it and the horses ate the rest :)

Here is charming after he had ran around the yard... now resting.

Here he is again running around Star and Princess while they ate. He was running from me. I was brushing Star while she ate and Prince Charming was starring me down...it was cute.

The Saturday morning I woke up early and Joel wanted to sleep in so I got up and helped my Dad with the morning feeding. It was fun...It definitely made me miss the farm. It has been a while since we have been to Idaho and even longer since we have went out and helped with the animals. Joel really isn't a fan of it-especially of the horses. I will always be the farm girl that loves to work out with the animals.

Friday the 13th Surprise

2010-08-13T20:25:00.003-06:00

When Mike and Mj came and visited they went to Ashley's Furniture store and got a great deal on couches. I told Joel we needed some nice couches in our living room. So we decided to go see what Ashley's had to offer. They showed us all their couches on sale and I loved these ones instantly. They looked nice and were really comfortable. They are actually the same ones Mike and Mj bought.

Here is a picture of the sofa.

So they were delivering our couches on Friday the 13th. As I was waiting for them to be delivered...there was a a knock on the door and I was excited thinking it was the couch guys. I open the door and there is a big flat box on the porch. It was this beautiful picture of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple!!! Mom and Dad Ricks gave us this picture for Joel's graduation and our sealing. Thanks Mom and Dad Ricks!! We love it!
Here is a close up of the picture.

Here is the combination of the sofa and love seat.

Joel's Graduation and Bat

2010-08-06T16:48:00.011-06:00

Joel graduated from Mountainland Applied Technical College (MATC) this Thursday. We both were very excited!! Joel had been going to school there for the past 13 months every Mon-Thurs from 6 pm to 9 pm. This has made for a long year of seeing each other very little. He received his Composite Technician Certificate. He has been studying the same thing that he does at work. Here is a picture of him right before it started.

Here is another picture of him with his famous smile. :) He is holding his paper with his name on.

This is us just waiting.....

During the ceremony, I took a picture but it didn't turn out the lighting was so bad.
Here is Joel afterwards with his certificate holder. (He receives the actual certificate next week.)

Here we both are!! We were so glad to be done with this class...no more drives to American Fork everyday. Except we decided to celebrate and we went to Texas Roadhouse for dinner (which is in Lehi.) It was delicious!!!

For Joel's class his final project was something he could make that would be useful in his life and that looked good. I always told Joel I want a bat to protect myself for if someone broke into our house. So he decided to make a bat. Here is a picture of the bat he made.

The bat looks amazing!! It is made of carbon fiber and weighs about 20 ounces. I am really impressed how Joel decides he is going to make something and then he makes it happen.
Here is a picture of Joel with his bat.

After he graduated and his bat was graded we decided that we were going to see how well it works. Luckily we live right next to a baseball field. So we went and tried it out. Here Joel is ready for the ball...too bad I can't throw very well.

Here we both are...very excited that the bat works perfect!

Here is the video of the first hit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6VhjqvkFI6w

Mike and Mj Visit

2010-08-03T18:32:00.003-06:00

Mike and Mj came down and visited us this last weekend. We watched the kids while they went to Mj's cousin's wedding in South Jordan. We had a good time. I had to pull out all of my kids movies- which is only 6. We watched most of them through out the whole weekend. I discovered the kids love to try on hats. Here is a picture of Austin wearing Joel's hat.

He really liked wearing it. Here is a picture of Abby wearing the hat. If you look closely she has a big grin on her face. But when I bent down to take a better picture she took it off.

Then they found this hat from one of my porcelain dolls. Austin laughed really hard when he put it on...then was shy and took it off.

Abby looks pretty cute with it on...too bad she wouldn't smile with it on. Since we watched them they started to get pretty comfortable with me. Abby let me pick her up a lot (usually I never get to pick her up with out a dirty look.) She actually insisted for me to pick her up.
It was really cute.

Saturday afternoon we went on a drive up to Devil's Kitchen for a little hike. Here is one of the look out points over the valley.

The pictures are really dark because it was cloudy and started to rain. Here is Joel and I in front of the Devil's kitchen.

Here is Mike, Mj, Eli, Austin and Abby. They are such a cute little family.

Here is Abby and I. She was happy I was holding her just not about Joel taking the picture. She tends to give Joel that look a lot...it is hilarious! Also it was raining on us in this picture.

Here we are hiding under the tree and tickling Abby.

After we finished the 5 min hike, we stopped to eat our lunch. Sandwiches and watermelon and carrots. It started to rain more so we hid by the big tree. Which was probably not that smart because then it started to thunder. I don't remember seeing any lightning. We all finished our lunch except Abby who insisted on holding her lunch. Here she is holding it all so she can finish it before we left.

We had a great visit with Mike and Mj. Joel and Mike played games later that night and Mj and me went to the fabric store and sat around chatting. We got some black out material to make some black out curtains...so maybe when I finish those I will post it.

Camping

2010-07-28T12:23:00.005-06:00

This weekend we went camping up Springville Canyon by Hobble Creek. We had a really good time it was a nice get away for the two of us since we had been so busy the last couple of weeks.

We went to the same place we went last year. I thought it would get a lot cooler up in the mountains which I guess it did since in Salem it was nearly 100 degrees and in the mountains it was about 75 degrees. It felt really nice but almost too warm to have a fire but we did anyways. We had some good food. We had tin foil dinners and raspberry cobbler for dinner. Joel made a log cabin with the briquettes. Here is a picture of it.

While we were waiting for the briquettes to heat up we were roasting starbursts...which are DELICIOUS!!

It was my first time to roast them and they were so good! Here is a picture right after Joel popped one in his mouth...they are so juicy!

Then later on in the evening we roasted marshmallows. Joel taught me how to make it golden and delicious. On our drive up I realized I forgot the flashlight...which I will never do again. So in the middle of the night I had to use our cellphones for light-which didn't work very well at all! We had some bacon and eggs in the dutch oven for breakfast. It was pretty good but, I think I need to practice cooking in the dutch oven more though. It was good to get away and spend sometime together ;)

Together Forever!!!

2010-07-07T11:40:00.012-06:00

On July 2, 2010 Joel and I were sealed in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple. We have been asked why this temple...well there are a couple of reasons.

When we went to the Draper Temple open house the directions paper said there would be a temple over by the Bangerter Highway. It said the temple would be called Ogre Mountain. We thought that was funny and definitely unique-which put it in the ranking for our sealing. Then when the open house for that temple finally came we found out someone had just misspelled it (which wouldn't be hard to do). It was the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.

We went there one day and walked around before it was open and decided that we loved it. We took a lot of pictures. I think this is when we decided for sure it was where we wanted to be sealed.

Also when we went to the Oquirrh Mt. open house it was gorgeous inside. It has chandeliers in the shapes of stars (which are my favorite). It is considered the ring and star temple. This just helped reinforce that it was the temple for us to be sealed in.

This was a great experience and we loved having the family come. We missed the family that couldn't be there. We want them to be able to enjoy our experience also. So here are some pictures. The wind was blowing so hard we had to hide by the temple and couldn't go to far from it because it would blow my veil and dress. Thus there are lots of shadows on the pictures.

A picture in black and white.

We stood up on this ledge so you could see the beautiful yellow flowers.

A great example of how strong the wind was...it blew my veil up straight every time but usually the other person in the picture had to hold it down for me.

A picture with my parents.

A picture with Joel's parents.

Amazing Skills

2010-05-23T18:19:00.002-06:00

We went to Red Robin for lunch after the zoo. There was a game in the corner -like the quarter games where you win the stuff animal but different. This game you had to stack the blocks and reach the top and you win (like the opposite of Tetris). The prizes were $240 gift certificate to best buy, a Wii, $200 visa gift certificate. Well Joel was watching and just wanted to play cuz the prizes were such big items so it was going to be a challenge.

So Joel plays first time and gets like four blocks off from winning. Next time he gets same. Next time he gets like 2 from winning. Then he gave up and we were walking out and Joel was like five me five more trys and I can win. I told him I had three dollars and so he could have three more tries but if he wins it we split it and if he loses he makes dinner.

Well first dollar...he got all the way to the top just had one more.

Then next dollar.......HE WON!!!!

Here he is with his prize $240 to best buy. (which I get half)
Here are the two of us.

Here are Ernie, Joel, and Jessica.

I guess all that game playing pays off sometimes. He was really good at the game I was so impressed. We decided next time we go to the zoo we are stopping there and he is playing again.

Hogle Zoo

2010-05-23T17:16:00.006-06:00

This weekend we had Ernie and Jessica come and visit. We had a good time sitting around listening to Joel and Ernie reminisce about when they were younger and all the crazy things they did. We decided we wanted to go to the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City.

Here is a picture of Joel and me. My sunglasses are actually the ones Joel bought for himself on steep and cheap and then realized they were the color pearl and look kind of feminine. So I got a new pair of glasses :)

Here are the Elephants...with the baby its name is Zuri. It was so cute!!

Here is another where they were coming closer to us.

We also saw the rhinos. We got to feel a replica of the rhino skin and it felt so rubbery.

Here Joel, Ernie and Jessica are watching some animals.

They were watching the kangaroo...

and the black swans. We also saw a white swan that they had food that we could feed. Ernie fed it out of his had and it nibbled on his finger.

Ernie and Jessica.

It started to rain and here is a picture of the leopard hiding from the rain.

Joel and me.

Here is a picture of the tiger licking his paws...it reminds me of a kitty licking his paws.

The giraffes...I always love them with their spots. We noticed all the giraffes had horrible kinks in their necks...they need to go to the chiro bad!

This one was looking right at me.

We got tickets to ride the carousel... I LOVE CAROUSELS!!!! In this picture I was staring at all the different animals I could choose to ride and I couldn't decide...I was in awe. Then Joel took the picture.

Ernie, Jessica, and I decided to ride the carousel... Joel doesn't like spinning rides (even though it doesn't go fast the spinning was making him sick just watching us. So he took pictures.

I am on the Turkey...cuz I love turkeys! Ernie is on the praying mantis and Jessica is on the black bear.

We also rode on the train around the zoo. It was fun a little cold but definitely not long enough.

We did see the bison on the train ride though.
They are huge!

We had a really good time at the zoo and with Ernie and Jessica. :)

Blocks and Turtles

2010-05-19T21:04:00.002-06:00

Last year about August maybe it was July I got this great idea I wanted to make these blocks and decorate the top of the cupboards in the kitchen. So I get distracted sometimes and it has taken me a bit longer then I anticipated...I finished a couple weeks ago. Here is a picture of the first cupboard. For the longest time it only said LIV.

Here are the rest of them. We have the ivy and lights behind them so we can light it up at night. It took me about two and a half months to get up the motivation to finish the last letter...so it said
LIVE LAUGH LOV
Everyone would ask if the E had fell or something...haha nope I just didn't feel up to making it.
The lettering is not vinyl. It is painted on with stencils. So I had to sand them, paint-wait to dry, paint on letter-wait to dry again, take off stencil, then touch it up because I am kind of messy.

Here is the complete picture.

My brother David that lives in Virgina bought us this cute little turtle set.
He was at the beach and was walking around the shops and this thing made him laugh and he decided to pass it on...so he sent it to Joel and me. It is a bobble head set of turtles made out of sea shells.

The turtles have little straw hats on and some have glasses...they are cute!

The pictures don't do the turtles justice...they always make me smile though. =)

The Snuggie

2010-04-30T18:44:00.003-06:00

I got a snuggie for Christmas this last year. I used it mostly when playing rock band since our basement is always freezing. But lately when I go downstairs I find Joel wearing it while he plays games. He looks so official in the white head phones and the beautiful blue snuggie.

The Snuggie really brings out his beautiful blue eyes ;)

My First Fish!!

2010-04-17T18:14:00.003-06:00

We went fishing today after Joel got off work. We went to the Salem Pond. Last year we went a couple of times but never caught anything.

Today I caught a FISH!!!
I was so excited! We had only been at the pond for about half an hour. It was my first time to catch one. I reeled it in till it got close then it was so big and I didn't have a clue what to do so Joel took over. We put it in the cooler...then the cooler kept moving it was crazy!!
Here is a picture of me with my first fish!

Here is the picture of me when Joel first told me how I was supposed to hold it...I was struggling at first putting my fingers in the gills...it was so gross!!

Here is Joel right before he started teaching me how to clean the fish.

Here is the fish in the sink...it is so big fills the whole thing!

Final weight...3 lbs!!

Now we are going to grill it on the cedar plank with some lemon pepper...mm mmm delicious!!

Nimitz Homecoming!!

2010-04-05T18:53:00.005-06:00

My little brother, Danny is in the Navy and has been out on deployment since July 2009. He is stationed in San Deigo on the USS Nimitz. This March they came home!! I was very excited! I have been counting down since January... since the family decided we would make the trip to San Deigo and watch his ship come in!

This is a picture of the HUGE bridge we had to cross to get to Coronado where the Naval base is. It was such a busy bridge that morning of the homecoming.

Here a couple of us are waiting for the ship to dock. We made signs and had flags and they even gave us pom poms :).

Here is a picture of a part of the ship...it was so huge I couldn't fit it in my camera. The men and women on the ship stood on the top of the waving and saluting. There were so many- about 5,000 people on it. They look so tiny in the picture...funny thing is we were near the front of the crowd. As we were waiting I felt so much emotion and joy that he was home. I kept getting tears in my eyes especially seeing all the families around us greeting their sailor. It was difficult to wait for Danny to finally walk off the ship...he was almost the last.

Here is a picture of Becky (my sis), Danny, and me.

Here is a picture of three of my brothers...Scott, Danny, and David.
Scott is in the Air Force and Danny and David are in the Navy.

Here are the bunch of us...my Dad is taking the picture.

Danny gave us a tour of the ship.... Here are Joel and me on top of the deck of the ship.

Here is Becky by the gun...she was loving it!

Here is Joel and David...just being their normal selves =) they get along great! I think they were even drooling...

Here is the middle of the ship.

This is a set up they had so we could get a picture by the wheel.

Joel in Danny's bed...pretty tight quarters.

We also went to the ocean and just spent time together...I had a great time! Here is a picture of the La Jolla Beach. It was beautiful! Also the weather was perfect...then we came home to snow in Utah.

Jazz Game

2010-03-16T14:18:00.002-06:00

Joel won tickets from work for the Jazz vs. Wizards game last night. We had a great time! This is the second Jazz game I have been to- both were with Joel and because he won the tickets...so hopefully it becomes a tradition and next year we win some again. It was a pretty close game at the beginning. Jazz won the Wizards with the score of 112-89.

Quilting Frame

2010-02-26T21:37:00.002-07:00

So I was told I could pin my quilt to the floor but it sounded kind of annoying and like a pain. I looked it up online and wow it must take forever to do it that way. I have no patience for anything like that. But since Joel can make anything he said he would make me a frame.
Here it is!

So the only problem is finding those darn tacks for it. I ended up getting little ones that are miserable! I keep bending them and they are driving me crazy! So next time I am in Idaho we will have to pick some up. We went everywhere today looking for them...even craft stores didn't have any. We have probably looked at 7 stores. I am grateful for this wonderful frame and a wonderful husband that always is surprising me and impressing me how he can fix anything. Another example, he fixed the door to our garage just yesterday. :)

My Distraction During Games

2010-01-24T10:52:00.002-07:00

A couple of weeks ago my niece Tasia and I went to the store and bought some fabric for a little quilt. Since Joel and Kaleb were playing games we decided we were going to do crafty stuff. We made some rock magnets with her name and flowers for her locker at school.

So now whenever Joel is playing games I work on my quilt. It is a nice distraction since I can't stand to just sit around and watch him play his fairy princess game.This is the first start of my quilt. I liked deciding what design goes where. Since it is my first pieced quilt it is just a small one. Maybe someday I will make a bigger one.

I have now finished the front part of the quilt. Here it is!

It is not perfect. I don't cut as straight as I would like and I don't really sew that straight...it must just take practice. I told Joel now I need to finish it but we don't have frame. So he is going to make one then he can play lots more games. In the meantime we got more fabric to make another little one while waiting for the frame. I think I will try and do the next one more precise.

The Shelf is done!!!!!!!

2010-01-21T19:38:00.004-07:00

In the fall, we went to Burley on one of our many visits there we brought back the shadow box of all Joel's scout badges and scout stuff. So I found a place to hang it. Then we decided since we were putting it up and there was lots of space on the wall next to it we should hang up the eagle blanket his Mom made him. So I was going to see if I could find one to buy and Joel said he would make one. It has taken a couple of months but it is now done....and it looks amazing!!
Here it is with the eagle blanket!!

Here is an up close picture of the shelf. It matches the bookshelf that Joel made us. It has a nice big top that I can put pictures of Joel on. I love to have pictures around :) All I need is to find some pictures of him from when he was in scouts. I have two from when he was pretty young. I am hoping to get a couple more. So if anyone has one I would love to scan it and get a copy.

Here is a picture of the complete wall. Joel did a beautiful job. I love it!!

Ice Skating

2009-12-18T20:34:00.004-07:00

Joel and I went ice skating with some friends of ours, Sarah and Troy.

Here is a picture of me skating. I was really cautious at first. I was bundled up in six layers with my ballet tights to keep me warm. It was so nice to be warm.

Here is Joel skating. He is only wearing a light jacket and a t-shirt.

Joel got really good. He was even able to skate backwards...he has some skills on ice.

Joel got really confident on the ice...he even raced Sarah.

That was the outcome of the race.... Then he stood up really fast and I was making sure he was okay. He started to black out cuz he got up too fast. So I had to hurry and get him to the seat. I definitely could not have caught him. He was all of a sudden going really pale.

Joel after he has sat for a little while. Starting to get some color back...

It was a pretty fun night. Plus it was free =)

Stockings

2009-12-10T20:40:00.003-07:00

We looked all over for stockings that we liked....we didn't find anything. So Joel had this great idea that I could make us some. So I attempted it. The first one I made I actually sewed the top shut. The second one I made looked ok but was smaller then I had pictured it. I hate when I forget to count the seams when I am cutting the material. Then I had figured out how I wanted to make them.
Joel said he wanted a yeti-which I had no clue what that was.
So here is the yeti!

I love snowmen so I made mine a snowman. I just need to find something orange to make the carrot nose. Here is mine.

Bows and Arrows

2009-12-09T07:35:00.002-07:00

The last time we went home our nephew Kaleb wanted to shoot bows and arrows. So Joel and I joined him. He shot with the blue arrow because it was sharp and I definitely could not because I would shoot someone with it....or so that is what he said. Here is a picture of him shooting.

Joel was next to shoot and he couldn't shoot with the blue arrow either. Here is a picture of him having just let fly.

Here is the result of those shots. They made it pretty close to the apples.

Next is my turn:) They all ran like ten feet behind me afraid that I was going to shoot them. Silly boys! It did take me a while to get the arrow to actually go somewhere but I definitely had good results.

Here is the picture of my second arrow shot...the yellow one is mine (cuz its not sharp of course.)
But if you notice it is a lot closer to the apple:)

We had a great time shooting arrows...except they did freak out everytime I went to shoot. I did shoot it once over the straw stack...good thing nothing is behind it but the barn. I am thinking maybe I should get a bow and arrow set...hahahaha

Pumpkins and Costumes

2009-10-25T19:06:00.004-06:00

My favorite thing about October is the carving of pumpkins. Joel and I carved pumpkins this weekend. Joel does not touch the insides with his hands. I love to clean out all the seeds and guts with my hands. So when we are done my fingers are all stained orange and Joel's hands are perfectly clean. Here are our pumpkins lit up.

Joel and his pumpkin :)

My pumpkin and me :)

Afterward we cleaned the seeds and roasted them...also my favorite!

We had a Halloween party on Saturday.
Joel was the lumber jack and I was little red riding hood.

So we looked all over at the stores for an ax that Joel liked...no luck.
Ten minutes before we left for the party Joel decided that he wanted an ax. I told him I could make him one...he had little faith. So I got out some scrapbook paper and drew the top of the ax and made him one. He was amazed!! It actually looked like one.

We all had a good time at the party. It was the first time Joel and I had been to a dance party together. I never knew Joel was such a party animal. He was dancing the whole time....so much that in the middle of the night his ankle hurt. He sure does have some pretty sweet moves. ;)

Here is a picture of us with Lance.

This was the last picture for the night.....

Fall

2009-10-22T20:32:00.011-06:00

It has been a while since our last post. We have had a few things change.
Joel grew a beard and I dyed my hair brown.

Here is an up close picture of Joel;) I took it when he was least expecting it.
Joel had to grow the beard for his Halloween costume. He is going to be a lumber jack. I was surprised but he grows a nice beard. It looks really good when he trims it.

We took this picture when we were waiting in the car....this was like the six one we took.
I think it looks good.

We have been painting the trim and doors in our house. A couple of weeks ago we painted all the doors in our house brown...there were 22. I never realized how many doors a house had. It was a lot of work. I took almost all of them down. It was my first time using the electric drill. I learned I could take them down fine but putting them back up is a real challenge. Here is a picture of our front door with some nice pumpkins from our parents. Which we are going to carve tonight...I am so excited!!

So for my birthday, I wanted a center piece for the kitchen table. Joel took me to the store Tai Pan Trading...it is awesome! It is so huge and we found some great deals. The picture is hard to see but there are 3 glass holders and 3 pumpkin spice candles in them with the leaves surrounding. I can change the candles and surroundings for each holiday :)

We also found these cute ghosts and a big black pumpkin.

Joel's Bridge

2009-08-27T18:42:00.005-06:00

Joel has free time in the mornings at work and this past week he has been very productive. He is learning so much in his classes about composites and thinks about them all the time. He is always coming up with things he can build. He is very creative! So he decided he was going to build a bridge. Here is the final bridge. I think the bridge looks amazing!!!

It looks so good! Joel keeps telling me that he wants to put it in the kitchen or the living room. LOL I don't really know if it will look that good in either room but we might work something out. This isn't a fragile bridge...which I thought it would be but here is a picture of it holding a bucket that is almost 50 lbs.

Now that is impressive! It weighs like 0.8 lbs and can hold up to 50 lbs. I bet it can hold more that is just the most that Joel has tested on it.

The Cake

2009-08-07T20:56:00.005-06:00

Joel goes to school at six pm which is when I get off work. So we just barely miss each other...it gets really boring at our house without Joel. If I am not at the gym then I am at home trying to make something new. This Thursday I made a cake. Here it is!

I was trying to make star decorations on it but it turned out more like a sun but I still like how it turned out.
It tasted delicious!!

It was my first time making frosting. It was so good! I couldn't stop eating it. I think I might have beat it a little to long it started to get thick. It was white chocolate...and did I mention it was sooooo good!!!

Here is Joel eating the cake...he seemed to like it. Not as much as me but then again it had white chocolate frosting and Joel isn't too much of a chocolate fan. He loved it with milk and a bowl just like his Papa.

I also made tapioca. It was not very good. LOL I must have cooked it too long. Joel still ate a lot of it though...probably so he wouldn't hurt my feelings. He is a great husband! He is very thoughtful and loving. I am one lucky woman!!

Hiking

2009-08-03T21:02:00.005-06:00

Joel and I went hiking up by Payson Lakes this weekend. We had a good time...It was so nice up in the mountains. We hiked up by a waterfall- the Grotto. This is the view from the top of the waterfall.

We then drove like twenty more miles up the mountain to a site called Devil's Kitchen. They call it the little Bryce Canyon. It was a pretty cool outlook. The only problem we couldn't go down and actually hike around the rock formations. It was fenced off.

We had a picnic then were on our way back down the mountain....here is a picture of Joel right before. It is the famous Joel look. =) I have like a million pictures of him making this face...I just love it!

On our drive down the mountain, we saw cows everywhere...even on the road. It felt like we were back in Idaho.

2009-07-25T19:00:00.003-06:00

Joel finished his bookshelf this week when Mom and Dad Ricks and Melanie came to visit us. I think it turned out great!! It really looks good. It is a darker wood that matches the table in our kitchen that Joel refinished. So Joel finished it and we got it half way down the stairs and it got stuck....so we had to flip it. But we did get it down the stairs as for when we have to bring it back up that will be a challenge. I finished filling it with stuff last night...so here it is finished!

2009-07-07T18:59:00.002-06:00

Joel's Friend Loren got married...and Joel was a groomsman. He looks amazing in a tux!! These were the few pictures we actually took with our camera. Joel took a ton of pictures with the cameras off the table...most of which are of people eating and not watching =) We had a good time though. We got to catch up with Joel's friends from high school. It is hilarious to listen to them all reminisce about the good 'ol days.

2009-06-03T12:21:00.002-06:00

So this is my first post...I really have no clue what i am doing. So here it goes. This is a picture of Joel and me on the ferry ride to Seattle at the Ricks Family Reunion. It was so pretty and green in Washington.