It's been 258 days.....

It's been so long since my last post....I've thought about it but it's been a pretty tough year for me and I couldn't get to my happy place!!! If you can't say something nice than don't say anything at all! I didn't want to be one of those people that complains and can't find anything positive to say. Instead of blogging about it, I called my close friends and let them listen to me!!! (I'd like to give a shout-out to my friends for listening to all my issues!!!!)

Here are some updates of what has gone on with our family... in no particular order--

• We've moved again and again! (can you say GYPSY?!)

The situation we were in last year was not good which is why I have been in such a funk! So Josh told me to find a place to move--I found the first place that was for sale and I jumped on it. It was so much better than our situation we were in currently that I didn't see it for what it really was and it was a HUGE mistake! I've learned my lesson and I am not even going to discuss the place that we moved into for a month and half since it was such a bad situation. Needless to say we moved out to a home and we LOVE it. All the kids have their own rooms. So after all this time I'm finally getting my groove back and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

• I'm a Nanny!!

I started watching my friends three kids at her house. I LOVE it. I actually watched her little girl, McCoy, years ago when Jessica was a baby so it really feels like I've come full circle. Jessica and McCoy are best friends and we've missed her!! It also great that I can still be with my kids and not have to send them to daycare. All the kids all get along so well and being around kids all day it's hard not to have fun. I have Karson (7), Jessica (7), McCoy (6), Tori (3) and Ryker (1). This really has saved my sanity (as crazy as it seems) and I love doing it! My new nickname is Nanny Annie!

• Jessica started first grade

She started a new school and has made new friends. Her new teacher is Mrs. Alozian, she really focuses on having fun while learning. Jessica really loves school and oh course her favorite subject is LUNCH! She wasn't even nervous about starting a new school and having to make new friends....she is such a well adapted kid and can find the positive in every situation. I'm so thankful for her! She also turned 7 and had a spa party! It was so much fun and she and all her friends got makeovers! She also got her ears pierced--she's getting too old for my liking!

• Jayden started high school

Being in the house we're at now we're also closer to his mom's so the commute is easier and he spends a week with us and a week with her. His school is right down the street from us. He's taking french, guitar, and all the other normal classes.

• Tori is off the bottle and potty trained

I admit it was all due to my HATRED of public bathrooms that I put it off for as long as I did. Tori brings so much joy to our lives and seriously is the funniest kid.

• We a new kitty and a new puppy!

This is by far something me and the girls needed so bad!!! Josh did not want a cat (he's just not a cat person) so I did what I knew was best and hid it from him until Tori and I were so attached he would've had to break our hearts getting rid of him!! (I know, that wasn't the right thing to do but he was such a cute kitty!!) I can't tell you how many times I've done this to Josh in the 14 years I've been with him....I think 5 different times!!! I was honestly surprised he didn't see it coming but I can tell he loves the cat (not really--but he loves how much Tori loves the cat) Josh even named the cat, Lincoln, after his favorite car!!!

Jessica got a 6 week old Basset Hound for her birthday. We named him Gus after Josh's dad. He is the CUTEST thing I've seen. We are all absolutely obsessed with him. Potty training hasn't been the funnest thing but his cuteness makes up for it. I'll apologize in advance for how many pictures you'll see of him!

So Lincoln the cat is Tori's and Gus the dog is Jessica's! We love both of them so much.

A few other highlights.....

• Josh and I celebrated our 13th wedding anniversary
• Josh and I both had birthdays! I know they come around every year!
• Josh and I got a weekend to ourselves in Las Vegas--We did the zip line on Fremont St. and visited the Hoover Dam. (I told so many dam jokes it was pretty dam funny!!!)
• I'm no longer blonde....I'm dark brown and I LURVE it. I might never go back!

In closing I would like to thank all my friends that listened to my problems and gave me the support and patience that I needed! We are a much happier family than this time last year. We are still planning on building our house on our property in the mountains but we realize how important being happy is. If anyone needs or wants my address email me (annelucas577@hotmail.com) and I'll send it to ya! I will also be posting more pictures on this blog so look for regular updates.

I am also going to be working on the Richards Blog and posting some recipes on there. So in the next week or so look for that!

Much Love--Anne

A Very Extensive Update

It has been a very hectic (to say the least) 3 weeks for our family.....we've moved, Jessica started Kindergarten and also turned 6, Jayden (my step-son) is now living with us full time, we had to SADLY find a new home for Barnes.

We have moved back to Salt Lake (yeah!). I forgot how much I missed being around all our family and friends......oh, and the shopping!! As much as I loved Tooele the only real shopping is Wal-mart (I hate going to Wal-mart). I will miss my friends that I made in Tooele and I vow to return and keep in touch!

We are living with Josh's parents.............in a 37 foot trailer, in their backyard...............................

with a TWO-YEAR old and SIX-YEAR old LITTLE GIRLS! Are we crazy?!? YES, I believe that anyone that has been around me for this move could have me committed (and probably should). We do have a goal of building our own house on our property (I'll post more about this later) and being debt-free. We have been thinking about this for a VERY VERY long time and we know that we can do it but it's going to be crazy for a while.

Jessica started Kindergarten. Her first official day of school was actually the second day of school. This is my very bad mom moment.....She was so excited to start school we were waiting and waiting for 11:30 to come. I'd been prepping her for the things she needed to know....where to hang her bag, where the potty was and her teacher's name. 11:30 came and we went over to her school with all the other mom's and all the other kindergarteners. We waited for her teacher to open the door and Jessica was the first one in! She was SOOOO excited. I took Tori to the office to hand in the rest of her registration papers (because we were moving what I would've already had done before the first day of school was done at the very last minute). When the person at the office looked over her immunization records she was not current. (She had gotten all her shots but only missed her very last couple needed to start school.) They told me I had to pull her out of her class until I got everything up to date. I was feeling like such a bad mom at this point. I had to get Jessica out of class and explain to her instead of school she had to get shots!!! (I tried to make this sound fun and exciting but she didn't believe me! I wonder why?!?) She was sobbing in the back of the car because she wanted to stay in school! I could not have felt any worse than I did at that moment! We rushed over to the health department (her dr. was a week out with appointments) and she ended up getting 3 shots that day!!! What a trooper she was though, she knew that she had to get the shots in order to go to school and was so brave! I called her teacher and explained what happened and how bad Jessica felt about missing school. Her teacher, Mrs. Rizer, was so nice and saved everything for her!

One of her homework assignments was to draw a picture of her first day of school. She ended up drawing her at the doctor getting shots! At least she will remember this for the rest of her life!

Jessica turned 6 going on 16! She has always been independent, she is no longer my little 4 lb. 12 oz. baby. Where does time go? We had a BBQ and she got to the Lion King with Amber.

Some fun things about Jessica.......

Her favorite food-Panda Express

Her favorite color-Purple

Her favorite thing to do-Planting flowers in her garden and playing with her Koala and Panda Bears.

Her favorite animal-Koala Bear and Panda Bear

Her favorite T.V. Show-Kai Lan (it has a koala bear in it)

Her favorite flower-Sunflower

Her favorite bug-Ladybugs

She is always busy, loves to learn, she loves loves to garden, she also wants to build things with her dad she even has a couple treehouses designed for her and her koala bears! She always tries to make us laugh by telling jokes and being funny! She is a wonderful older sister to Tori and wonderful daughter, I love love love being her mom!

Jayden is now living with us full time and is in the 9th grade. That's been an adjustment from having no kids in school to having to register 2 kids this year. He's going to be starting karate soon. It's been nice to have him around more!

We had to find a new home for Barnes! This was probably the most stressful of all. Barnes was a good dog and I wanted him to go to a good home where someone would appreciate him as much as we did! I put an ad out for him and the people that took him were so nice and were really excited to get him. Barnes also took to them right away which made me feel better. I was very happy that he went to a good home! That was extremely hard for me to do and unfortunately it didn't work out as well as all of us were hoping for. He will be very missed!

Family Picture Time!!

These are the finished results of the family pictures we had taken before my brother left on his mission. My dad wanted formal pictures so we dressed up for those and then changed into another outfit for my family pictures...I love, love, love, love how those turned out! Josh isn't a dress up kind of guy in case you're wondering why he's not lookin' like the rest of us. He was the one that had the right idea--I hate dressing up too. Anyway, they were done at the State Capital-it was beautiful there.

Enough of the formal crap....onto something more casual!!

Ahh--the whole family! Love It!