Christmas Day

Wow, what a whirlwind of a day!! Jax woke up at 6:00 a.m. and Shade woke up around 6:30 and they started yelling at us to come and get them. Zach went in and hung out with them until 7:00 getting them all crazy and way to excited. I don't know how they stayed in bed that long. They came running out and were very excited to see everything. Shade ran around the house looking for Santa. He was a little sad Santa had to go home. They started opening everything and of course were looking for their Ben 10 Omnitrix watches. That is all they have been talking about for months. Well, Santa was very good to them and they got them and about 6 different Ben 10 action figures. They got all kinds of good stuff, learning systems, clothes, books, transformers, WWF wrestling belts, light sabers...I could go on a long time. By the time they had opened everything Aynslee decided to wake up. Her favorite gift was her My little pony that Zach got her. I was excited that she got a Popple(remember those?). The very best part of Christmas morning was when I acted like I was taking the trash out and came back in to show the boys what Santa could not fit in the house. They ran out to see what it was and about fell over. They got a John Deere Gator power wheels. They both jumped right in and took it for a spin. I love to see their faces so happy. We are truly a spoiled rotten family. We have been blessed so much. We had a great day hanging out and playing with all of our stuff. The boys ran the battery out on the Gator and Ayns loved to chew on Minty (the pony). Now, we are just trying to clean everything up and find a home for it all. It will take a while, but we had a great time making the mess. Thank you to all of our family for the great gifts and money. We really missed you all on Christmas day, but thought of you often. We love you all!!!

Sugar Cookies

Christmas is almost here and I had a sudden panic attack this morning when I realized that this will be the first year that I would not have my Grandma Leaks mouth watering sugar cookies. I have gone home every year for Christmas and have always had at least one (usually 20). I even made them to send to Zach last year while he was deployed. I didn't want him to miss out. Well, I hate to make sugar cookies. They take way to long and for some reason they never turn out right. I had to try this year. I have to brag a little, they were good. Not Grandma Leak good, but not bad for Rikki good. I also had to send a picture of the cookies because Courtney and Sonnie told me last year that I was the worst froster they had ever met. I thought these looked dang good!! Good enough to eat sisters!! We took a plate to Jacksons friend Gavin and his family. Then a couple of plates to our neighbors. We love Christmas time and love the opportunity to share. We hope you all have a very Merry Christmas and I hope your mouths are watering for these Grandma Leak sugar cookies. They are the best. Frosting his cookie for Gavin (For those of you who saw our Christmas card, he has the same look on his face. Like why are you making me do this.)
Shades cookie got LOTS of frosting on his

Aynslee was such a good girl. She hung out in her bouncer the whole time

My wonderful frosting job

Not bad Courtney and Sonnie!!

Getting one of the plates ready

Here is our tree and stockings. We are quickly adding to our stocking collection

Our newest addition

Last week Zachs parents flew down here for a visit, and we had a great time. Whenever Zach and his dad get together they always seem to find a project to do. Since we are trying to get our yard landscaped they decided that we needed a flag pole in our front yard. I have to admit that I was a little skeptical at first when they told me they were going to put it together from scratch. They thought the one at Lowes was to crappy for our yard. Go figure. They went to Lowes and looked around for about an hour grabbing things here and there that they thought would make a great flag pole. A few black poles, the top of a bed post, some silver spray paint, and various other weird things, 37 pieces to be exact. Well, with as unsure about it as I was, it actually turned out very well. I have to give them both props for there vision and putting it together the way they thought it would go. It also gave them something to keep them busy. Good job guys. We are now the most patriotic home on Wolfe Road. God bless America. The infamous flag pole ( sorry it is dark, they worked all day)
Our Christmas lights.

Shade rockin' like a true southerner. We are thinking of changing his name to Bubba

Zach, Jax and Rich. Checking out our property. This is a weekly ride for the boys. They love it.

Oh Christmas Tree

We, unlike most of the United States have waited until December to start celebrating Christmas. Today we decided that it would be ok to get our tree. We drove to a little tree farm not that far from our home. When we got there, we were reminded that this is not the west and we are in Mississippi. Not prime christmas tree country. There were about 50 little trees that cost about double what they were worth. It was a lot of fun though. The kids loved looking at all the trees and fire ants around the trees. Shade is a fire ant magnet, he can trip into one anytime. Jax has an eye for calling them out and Shade will come running to see it and trip right on it. We love our boys. Anyway, back to the tree, we found a great tree and cut it down and they wrapped it up and tied it on our car for us. The past few years we have gone in the great Black Hills of South Dakota to find our tree, but this was just about as fun. It was cold, but a lot less cold and not as much wind as South Dakota, and no snow. Grandpa and Grandma Stewart are here for a week and they got to come with us. It was a great day. I will post pictures of the decorated tree later. Trying to decide if this was the one. It was not.
It took 3 strong boys to cut down this monster

What a scary picture. Jax and Shade with saws!!!

Jax, Shade, Zach, Grandma, Grandpa, and Aynslee

Same picture, just me instead of Zach

Our family and our tree 2007

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving....what a day!!!! Let me first start out with letting you know who was here. Zachs brother Jed flew in from Logan, Zachs friend Walter from high school took the train from Virginia, and Zachs cousin Chris and Stephanie and their VERY cute boy Ben came from Alabama!! I can't even begin to tell you how much fun we had. It was the best It is so great that we are so far from home, and this is one of the biggest Thanksgiving dinners we have had. We had great food, Turkey, cornbread stuffing (thanks mema for the cornmeal!!), spinach salad, sweet potato souffle (don't know how to spell that), mashed potatoes, rolls and pumpkin pie, coconut cream pie, and banana pudding!! It was the best. This was my fourth time doing the turkey, and of course it always takes longer than planned, so we ended up eating 2 hours after we wanted. Don't worry, there was plenty to eat before the dinner. Jax, Shade and Ben had a great time playing outside in the freezing cold (cold for Mississippi, it was in the 40's). Walter bought us a great gamecube game that we couldn't stop playing. That may have contributed to dinner being a little late. The boys got to sleep on the floor in our closet while Jed and Walter got the bunk beds. They loved it. They thought it was the best party ever!!
I promised I would add a quote of the day. Here is my favorite quote from Thanksgiving dinner.
" Holy cats, I wish I was a vampire".... Stephanie I still laugh every time I think of that.
"Ben is playing in the potty, I went pee pee in it....Shade.
Lots of tums were consumed, plenty of snoring on the couch(Walter) and great memories made. Thanksgiving 2007 in the dirty south.

Jed and Zach rocking in the rockers
Shades gingerbread man

Jacksons Ben 10 gingerbread man

The boys sleeping in our closet

Thanksgiving dinner 2007
Shade, Ben and Aynslee were asleep, it was greatBefore dinner

Hanging out before dinner

Tagged

I was tagged last month from Cathie, and I am finally getting around to it. Enjoy...

For those of you who don't know how this works, here are the rules:
A: Each player lists 6 facts/habits about themselves.
B: At the end of the post, the player then tags people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog for these rules.

1. Everyone always asks me how I can move around so much. I have to admit that I love it!! I don't know what I would do if I wasn't moving around. After about 1 year somewhere I start to get ready to move again. I love to make new friends and see new places and new cultures. I have learned so much moving around and I am thankful that I can. I know, alot of you are shocked that I would like it, but I really do. Promise!!

2. I finally like the person I am. I have always been shy and needed someone to lead the way, but I think that I have finally become who I have wanted to be for a long time. I am a wife and mother, and I love that. I have become A LOT more independent and enjoy it. The old quiet, shy Rikki is gone. Look out!!!

3. I have a very strong urge to can and freeze food. I hear people canning and freezing and want to do it so bad, but I don't know where to start. Now that I am in a home for a few years, I think I might try this summer. If you have any tips I would love to have them.

4. I am 26 years old and this is the first year that I will not have snow for the holidays and I am so sad. I am trying to get my kids to be sad with me, but no one cares but me. I might have to make some fake snow for our yard. I love you cold Idaho weather!!

5. I love shoes. I have a very bad habit of going to any store and looking at shoes. If I only have 10 minutes to get something I spend 5 of them in the shoe department. I have so many they are overflowing my closet. I can't help myself, I buy them and sometimes never wear them. This is something that will probably never change.

6. I love to read. I love to sit down with a good book in a dark cozy room and ignore my kids, husband and house and read until I fall asleep or the book is done. I have a bad habit of getting a book from the library and reading it that day and returing it the next for a new one. I get into the story so much that I can't stop. Poor Zach has to take over my duties while I read. I love it and crave it. I have had to limit myself from reading so much so I can get something done. Is that bad? I thought reading was good?

Ok, those are finally done. Sorry Cathie that it took so long. I am now tagging Courtney, Mary, Boedee, and Barbara. I can't wait to read them. Don't take as long as I did.

Our little missy is growing up

Our Aynslee Lyn is 6 months old. I can't believe how fast time flies!! When I think of all the nights that I have been awake it seems like she has been here forever, but when I look at her smiling at me I can't believe that it has been 6 months since I held her in my arms for the first time and saw how beautiful my baby girl was. We are so lucky to have her in our family and can't believe that we even lived without her. She is such a fun little girl and we are so lucky to be able to watch her change and see her fun personality grow. We love you Ayns. Happy 6 month birthday.!!!

Aynslee at 6 months

Eating Sweet Potatoes

This is our backyard. We are so lucky to have such a pretty view

More pictures of our backyard

Tomorrow (November 5th) is Zach's 31st birthday. I just wanted to dedicate this blog to him. He is the best husband, father and best friend that I could ever have. Last year he was deployed for his birthday and all the really important holidays. He was gone defending our country and our families, and missed out on a lot of things. We all know that it was something that had to be done, and are very proud of him. I am glad though that this year is different and he is able to be home and celebrate with us. There won't be much of a party with just the five of us, but we want you to know that we love you Zach and want you to have a very happy birthday.

p.s. You are not that old, just older than me!!!!!

Happy Halloween!!!

Here are some pictures of Halloween 2007. The kids had a great time trick-or-treating and got enough candy to last them until Christmas. As you can see Jax was Spiderman, Shade was a Cowboy riding his horse, and Aynslee was a little Kitty. Aynslee's first candy. She loved it of course

Our little Kitty

He kept saying "Howdy" to everyone like it was what he always said.

I finally broke down and let him be Spiderman. He loved it so it was worth it.

The Boys

This was at our ward Halloween party. I think it is funny to see Jax hold Aynslee like that. That is how he always does it so I guess it fits.

Home Sweet Home

I don't know why it is underlining everything. Sorry.

We made it!! We are here in our new home and we are loving it. We left San Antonio last Wednesday morning and made it to Baton Rouge, LA. We then drove most of Thursday and made it to Columbus and to our new home. It was a fairly good trip. Zach drove the Expedition and pulled the trailer. He had Jax and Shade with him. I drove our truck with Aynslee. I have to admit that before this drive I was not very fond of our truck, but driving in that truck makes you appreciate the scenery a lot more since it does not have any air conditioning and you have to have your window down. It makes you notice the rocks flying at your face, or the hair whipping around, or the people staring at you wondering why you and a baby are in a truck like that. It was kind of fun. The only problem was a very bad blowout….Aynslee’s diaper. It was bad. (Zach wanted me to make sure you all knew he is not a bad husband to make me drive his truck, I would not pull the trailer. I was ok with it I promise.) We hung out in our empty home until Monday when they brought our stuff that had been in storage for 5 months. I wish I could tell you how many boxes we had, but the house was so packed that they had to start putting them in the garage and then that got packed. It was ridiculous. As they were trying to get us to sign the paper work I noticed that a lot of stuff was missing, like our refrigerator, treadmill, half of the boys bunk beds, my dresser, and lots of boxes of toys, and all the legs to our tables. Needless to say, they made a trip back to the warehouse and found another crate they had forgotten. It was pretty ugly for a while. Poor Zach had to listen to me complain that they better have my stuff or else for 2 hours while they were gone. We have unpacked A LOT of boxes and are now down to the “I don’t know what to do with that stuff, why don’t you do that one” boxes. They may take a while.
The kids are loving their new yard and “own” tv room. Zach starts work on Monday and life gets started again. We will see how it goes.

Our great cars that helped us get here. We love them!!!

Our family in front of our home

The kids

Home Sweet Home

One of Zach's new purchases. His other one was a riding lawn mower.

I threw this one in as a bonus, pretty cute.

On the road again...

We are on the move again!!! Zach did a great job at pilot instructor training and passed all of his checkrides with flying colors. Yesterday he had a very hard day of drilling his knowledge of the plane and maneuvers and then had 2 flights that he was tested on how well he could instruct a student. It started at 7:00 and ended around 5:30. You can all sleep well tonight knowing that the Air Force does a very good job training their pilots and keeping them up to date. He passed everything and they gave him the go ahead to move to Mississippi. As soon as he told me he passed I started to pack and clean up this place. We are so excited to move and are leaving tomorrow. We should get there sometime on Thursday. We won't have the internet for a while, but I will let you all know how it is going as soon as we get it. On the road again......

Happy Columbus Day!!

Happy Columbus Day!! After a very LONG week for both of us, we have never loved Columbus Day as much as we do today!! We decided that for a long weekend we would do something fun. We drove to Canyon Lake about 1 hour from here. We went for a long walk by the lake and let the boys throw about 100 rocks each into the water. It is so funny to see them. As soon as they see any water they are looking for something to throw into it. Then, we went and had a picnic. It is nice to still have 90 degree weather when you want to have a picnic, but we already miss the changing seasons. We better get used to it though. We are getting close to moving to Mississippi. Hopefully next week sometime. We are looking forward to that. Here is a very funny story that happened Saturday. Jax was looking for something to do so I told him to line his crayons in a row to make a path. He looked at me like I was crazy. I told him it would be fun, and then left the room to be with Aynslee. About 10 minutes later he came around the corner and was making a line in the carpet. I thought it was the line he was going to line his crayons on . Well, I was wrong. He was making a line with his crayons by coloring a line on the carpet!!! I asked his what he was doing and he looked shocked and said that I told him to. I couldn't get mad at him because I guess I had. I now know why he looked at me crazy. I showed him I wanted to line the actual crayons up on the floor to make a line and he looked at me and said"Oh". I guess that when it comes to things like that I better show him instead of telling him. I have to remember he is 4 not 14. Anyway, I thought that was funny.

Jax looking for rocks to throw

Shade looking for the perfect rock



Still throwing rocks

My cute kids

Growing up

I took Aynslee to her 4 month (even though she is 5 months) well baby check yesterday. She is doing well and growing up so fast. She now weighs 12.4 pounds and is 23.5 inches. The doctor said she looks great. The boys came with me and Shade was so scared for her when they took her pulse. They took it from her finger with a wrap that looked like a band-aid. He kept telling the doctor to take it off and stop hurting her. He is a very protective brother. Anyway, just thought I keep you all up to date on our Aynslee Lyn.

Primary Program

This Sunday was a very big day in our home. Jax had his first Sacrament Primary Program. He was SO CUTE!! I had to hold back tears when the first song started. He looked so big and I can't believe that he can go up there now. It seems like yesterday he was asking when he would be big enough to go up there and sing. He has grown up so fast. He did a great job. There was not much singing, a lot of swaying back and forth and a few thumbs us and one teacher telling him to be quiet as he pushed his fellow Sunbeams out of his personal space, but all in all it was very good. Shade wanted to be up there with him, but was very proud of his big brother waving at him. Aynslee did not care for the

program and Zach had to take her out.

Shade got this new hat and will not take it off

Jax and Shade are best friends

You can tell they are buddies.

Aynslee is now in the "I want everything

you are eating" stage. Don't worry the

smoothie was gone.

A day at the BEACH!!!

Another great Saturday in Texas. We drove almost 3 hours to Mustang Island in Corpus Christi to the BEACH. We had a great time. We met Zachs cousins Bill and Brooksie and Chris and Carrie and there families for a VERY fun day. There were many fun things that happened, but one highlight was when Jax got caught in a wave and came up coughing and ended up puking his chucky cheese pizza in the water and as luck would have it the wave caught it and brought it right into my legs. I almost added my own to his. It was so gross.

We thought it would be a good idea to buy a nice $40 dome tent with screens so we wouldn't get burnt, well, it was only used one time. So much for trying to be good parents. We all got burnt anyway. There were lots of shells found, but no treasure. The boys were pretty upset about that. Almost 2 pounds of sour patch kids eaten and not enough water drank. It was a day that couldn't have been better. We are so lucky to be close to family even in Texas and have all these fun things to do. Aynslee always in style, even at the beach

Mom and Aynslee
Our nice tent

Looking for someone to throw this dirt on

Jax spent many hours looking for treasure

Dad and Aynslee, getting burnt

Shade loved to run away from the waves

Going for a quick run