The LeDuc Litter

Happiness is a Gift

2011-03-07T10:23:00.000-08:00

So I haven't blogged for awhile....but I am going to try and get back in the habit. Since the move things have been crazy and with 4 little boys running around things are always busy. But I watched my absolute favorite movie for the probably 100th time this weekend and I just can't stop thinking about it. There has been a peace in my life for the past few year that I haven't really been sure why. I know where it comes from but not really sure why I needed it. I have realized that we all have crazy families. My family might just be the craziest! But as I taught my lesson on Family Unity in YW this past week I realized that no matter what may come my immediate family that I have created with my best friend as well as my loving family that raised me....are the people in this life that I always want to be found worthy of being with. While my brothers and older sisters are quite older than me, I have been able to bond and grow close to them in the past 10 years of my life. I admire my older brothers for their good character, for their compassion, for their hard work ethic, for the wonderful women that they have been lucky enough to "catch" somehow. I look at my older sisters and I am amazed at their beauty on the inside and at the way they magnify being the best mothers, the best wives, the best sisters, and the best women. I look at my younger brother who has always been great to me. He has always had the heart of a saint and the loyalty of a King. I have the most wonderful family here on earth....and they truly are so good to me. I am blessed with so many nieces and nephews who are so strong and valiant! I am grateful for the most wonderful parents. They aren't perfect and they won't ever be in this life. But my parents have sacrificed so much for me. I see some people around me disregard and throw their parents away because "they didn't do a good enough job" or becasue some counselor somewhere down their road told them they didn't need "negative people" in their lives. My parents have stuck with me through thick and thin...they have given it all so that I could have it better than they did. My parents are imperfect but they are diligent...they are courageous...and they have always done the best that they know how and that is enough for me. I can never repay my parents and as I see them get older in life....it makes me more angry for people who walk out on their parents when they need them the very most becasue they didn't do it perfect. All the good that I admire in my siblings I see was planted by my parents. I have been blessed enough in this life to be married to the best man that ever was made. He is truly my other half. There is no one.....and the more I meet other peoples husbands and men.....I really mean no one that I would rather work alongside, bleed for, or build a family with than my sweet husband Richard. As I was watching Charles Dickes "Nicholas Nickeby" (my most favorite Charles Dickens book and movie) my faovorite quote stood out to me again. Mr. Cummings (a great character in the movie) says:

"in every life, no matter how full or empty one's purse, there is tragedy. It is the one promise life always fulfills. Thus, happiness is a gift and the trick is not to expect it but to delight in it when it comes. And to add to other peoples store of it. What happens if too early we lose a parent, that party on whom we rely for only everything? What did these people do when their families shrank? They cried their tears but then they did the vital thing. They built a new family, person by person. They came to see that family needs not be defined merely as though with whom we share blood, but as for whom we would give our blood."

There have been people in my extended family who share my blood but who have chosen the ways of the world...greed, pride, lying, and carelessness to exclude me and other members of my family from feeling included in the "blood line".

But I have found that like is said in Nicholas Nickeby that I have started to do the vital thing in the past 6 years. I have built a new family, person by person. I have truly found that blood is not defined by our genelogical lines or roots but that for me it is defined on who I would give my blood for and who I know would give their for me. The tragedy in life is that these people who have chosen the world are missing out on something so fantastic. The tragedy is that they will only see what they have missed in the life to come when it is truly too late. My happiness is a gift and I have found the peace and the gift of happiness....the trick is that I do not expect it any more than I expect apologies or for people to change....but I delight in what I do have. The worlds most amazing husband, father and priesthood holder. The universes most adorable and fantastic 4 children. The most wonderful family growing up that I could ever have chosen. Amazing parents, the best siblings.......and on top of that I have adopted aunts and uncles (like Bonnie and Joe Tague) who have stepped in to fill a void, adopted grandmas who help me remember my wonderful grandma......and more "true" friends that I could ever be able to count. My happiness is a gift and I am truly very grateful for it. To all of you who are apart of the family I am building in this life....I appreciate you...I love you....and I am grateful for the happiness that you bring into my life!

2010-07-16T17:41:00.000-07:00

The LeDuc Boys

Here are a few of my favorites so far! We love our little boys! Click on the collage to see them up close!

2010-07-16T17:38:00.000-07:00

Busy from Son up to Son down! Here are a few pics from our little photo shoot yesterday. Pretty good for do it yourself huh? Angie is amazing and we are so glad she could take pictures for us. They turned out so great and we hope you like them.

2010-06-27T18:33:00.000-07:00

Funny Stories about Andrew!

Here are two stories about Andrew that are priceless!

So for their last field trip of the year we got to go down to the Hogle Zoo. I was in charge of a group of four kids and we had a blast. It just so happened that Andrew's "girlfriend", Allison (bright pink jacket with brown hair) was in our group. I pretty much spent most of the day keeping the two of them apart because Allison wanted to hold his hands "in case she got scared by any of the large animals". Thats another topic for a day I shall revisit in the future about 10 years from now. So the last day of school came around and after school we went to a nearby park to have a pizza party with some kids from Andrews school and their moms. It was a lot of fun and after an hour and a hlaf I was pooped so I took the three littlest ones home and a friends mom invited Andrew to stay and play and she would bring him home. So around 6 that night they came home and I went out to thank them for keeping and bringing Andrew home. She told me she had a funny story to tell me. So apparently Allison decided to dump Andrew on the last day of school. She told him that they couldn't be boyfriend and girlfriend anymore because...and I quote...."(to Andrew), you are half ninja, and I am half Avatar...and I just don't think it will work out". Andrew was crushed and cried, she was crushed because it just couldn't work out and so she cried and so this mom is sitting there with two kindergartners who are crying because one is wishing he could be a little bit more Avatar....and the other just doesn't want to waste her time in life with a Ninja. I haven't laughed so hard in sometime and so my advice to Andrew is......there is always going to be some pretty girl who is half avatar who doesn't think she wants to waste her time with a Ninja....but don't you worry because someday your gonna meet an amazing girl who knows the secret to life.......Avatars are just a bunch of politically correct blue creatures with a liberal agenda.....but ninjas are just bad ass and like Chuch Norris know how to kill people with nothing more than secret ninja moves.....and she will be more than happy to be with someone who is half ninja....hang in there kid!

The second story occured just this last weekend and it melts my heart just talking about it. Andrew has alwasy been a little more sensetive and different. He reminds me a lot of Richard and he always is looking for other people to love and to help. So we were on a family walk in the complex where we live and we saw some little boys throwing rocks. As you can already guess one of those rocks went through a window and the boys had to go to the door and tell the people what happened. The houses happened to belong to one of our Home teachers family. As we were walking home we used that incident to teach the boys that it may seem fun to throw rocks but accidents happen and can cost lots of money. We were trying to show them that those boys were going to have to work realy hard to earn lots of money to pay for the Kotter's window and that if they hadn't been throwing rocks they wouldn't have to worry about the consequences. So we got home and I got the babies to bed and went for a run. As I came back I found Richard and Rigdon playing a video game and Andrew was in the living room with a plethera of toys and cloths spread out on the ottoman. Each item had a yellow sticky note on it with a money amount on it. Some were $1 while others were $2 or $5. As I was taking my shoes off I asked what he was doing. His response was something to the effect..."Well mom, I was feeling bad for those boys who broke the Kotter's window and so I gathered together some of the shirts that don't fit me and toys I don't play with and I am having a yard sale tomorrow to raise some money to give them to help with the cost of the window. We have an extra steering wheel for mario kart and i bet I could get a lot for that". I almost started crying as I saw the love in his eyes and heart for kids we don't even know. I explained that while this was a nice thing to do, we really shouldn't sell our toys and clothes. Instead I asked him if he thought maybe we could bake something and have a bake sale instead. He got really excited and sat down and prepared his own grocery list. he decided to make cupcakes and so the next moring bright and early we took his list to the store. We got the mix and the frosting and the cupcake liners. We came home and with supervision he made the best orange cupcakes with dinosaur and butterfly sprinkles I had ever seen. He worked very hard and was so proud of his product. We loaded up the kids and started going to our friends and neighbors. As we approached the first house I was getting ready for him to chicken out of clam up...but with courage and determination he went to the first door. He explained what he was doing and the price of the cupcakes. And so we went from door to door until we had sold all three trays of cupcakes. The pride and joy in his eyes were amazing to see and as he came home and counted his money he could hardly contain himself with the results. he had made $21.65 which ti a kid could have been a million. He subtracted the amount we had spent on supplies and put the rest in an envelope with his name and the amount and a note that said To the Kotters...to help with the broken window. We walked it over to their house and as he proudly gave them the envelope full of quarters, dimes and a few bills....i couldn't keep myself from crying. This child, who cares more about making life easier for kids he doesn't know, can teach me a lot. He loves all people...no matter their age, their color, their religion, their familiarity, or their problems. He is always forst thinking of how he can help to make someones load lighter or to make someones day brighter. For a minute that day and many minutes since I have reflected back on why Christ loves the little children......and since that day I am one step closer to seeing why....because they really get what this life is all about. And with Andrews help and example, I hope that somehow I will be able to put off the natural man instinct to be judgemental, critical, scared, and proud....and instead be like a meek child...who just wants to sell a few things in order to earn an envelope full of quarters to pay for a window he didn't even break. WOW....this was definetly one of those Mom moments for me....I have a lot to learn at the feet of my children. May we all love more, judge less, care deeper, and serve more willingly! I love you Andrew!

2010-06-16T12:30:00.000-07:00

So I have finally ended the procrastination...and finally created my own personal blogspot...just for me. I love having our family blog as a journal that I can add pages to our family book each new entry....but I have been inspired by my friend Angie who has the cutest blog where she just shows things that she makes and ideas that she finds. I have had this blog for a long time...but I just haven't "found the time" to get it up and going. It is still under construction but in time I think it might be good enough to be a follower on Angies blog page. Hope you enjoy it!

www.masondaisy.blogspot.com

Thanks
Becky LeDuc

LeDuc Learning Challenge

2010-04-30T09:27:00.000-07:00

Well I finally got the photos off the camera to put on. A couple other fun things we have been up too. We had our annual Easter party with some friends at one of our favorite parks. It was a fun barbeque and we had some silly games and fun Easter hunt with good friends. We missed some of our friends who couldn't make it....but hopefully next year. The boys and I made some fun zipper piggy banks out of pop bottles.....they are pretty cute as you can see. Rigdon made a penguin and Andrew made a dog. We had a FHE scripture chase through the neighborhood and at the end the last clue led the boys to our backyard and buried inside our turtle sand box were brand new scriptures with their names on them. They are very excited because they have been needing them for primary and it was lots of fun. Grandma LeDuc was nice enough to sew some scripture bags for them. We went to JoAnns and I told them to pick out whatever fabric they wanted, but I cautioned them to look at everything before they made a decision about one fabric. Rigdon fell in love with some solar system fabric and Andrew....of course...picked scouting fabric. Just so you readers know....scouting runs deep in the Wilson genes. My dad has a closet full of crooked walking sticks, boxes of scout information, and just about any book on scouting that has ever been written...not to mention any scouting uniform you could imagine. My brothers are probably some of the best scouts in the world, all offspring of my dad. Anyways, Andrew got his heart set on scouting fabric. I brought it home and Richard was like..."are you serious...out of all the fabric you could have picked....you picked scouting". He didn't deter Andrew who was beaming and loves his scouting scripture bag more than anything. Thanks Grandma for making it for them. They turned out great. We were in charge of decorating the Art teachers board at Andrews school. it was lots of fun for Andrew and I to do together. He did the paint cans and I did the words. It turned out great. I put a picture on because my mom wanted to see how it turned out. Thanks mom for always having better ideas than I do. last but not least, Richard has been teaching the boys about setting goals and being rewarded when they meet them. About a month ago, we had a FHE and the boys set goals and picked rewards. andrew wanted a new bike and Rigdon wanted a new big lego set. Richard challenged Andrew to read 100 books by himself and Rigdon had 100 pages of letters, numbers, math, and his name to complete. The funny thing is that as soon as Richard challenged Andrew, he was off and running. He read 12 books the first day and then wanted me to help him figure out how many books he had to read in order to be done in 2 weeks. He started reading and was spending time each day on his challenge. Richard came down 4 days into the competition and saw that Andrew had already read 33 books and he about died. At first he accused me of cheating, and then he was mad because he had projected this to take a couple months and not a couple weeks. He said to me..."What the Hell, I thought this would take him at least 2 months......I didn't even know he could read that well ". He soon came to realize that not only could he read very well, but that he was bound and determined to get that bike before May 1st. We got Andrews report card in the middle of all this and in the special notes, his teacher had commented..."Andrew shows a hard work ethic and has exceptional reading skills. He is testing at nearly a 2nd grade reading level and I am usually borrowing books from other teachers to keep him busy". Richard laughed out loud when he read that and said..."that would have been good information to have before we issued this challenge". Anyways long story short....we are going to buy a bike today...Andrew has been done for a week and a half. Rigdon however is working down to the wire. He has three more pages of writing to 100 and he is working like mad to meet todays 3:00 deadline. You will have to check back to see if we come home with a bike and a lego set...or perhaps just a bike.

LeDuc Update!

2010-04-22T18:34:00.000-07:00

As you can see, I am not doing such a great job keeping up with this old blog of ours. I have neglected it the most out of everything. In the past few months it has been kind of hectic around our house, then hotel, then house again. I guess I should cut myself some slack...I may not have been good at updating the blog..but at least I have been remembering to wear pants before I leave the house. For those of you laughing and saying to yourself...she's so funny.....I am serious. That is about as crazy as it has been around here. Things are finally starting to normalize out a little and I am getting back in the groove of getting things done. A quick recap of fun things we have done since our last post:

We had a Family Home Evening Olympic games...complete with flag ceremony and medal stand. It ended up being really fun. We had an outdoor obstacle course, along with three indoor event which included a Mr. potato Head assembly contest, a gum chewing bubble blowing contest, and my personal favorite...the dance off. We have dance competitions around here quite frequently. We crank some good music and we dance it all out. Richard is a very good dancer, almost as good as the Mrs. It was a fun night and a memorable time together.

We packed up everything and sold the house. We signed the papers and after taking a hefty check to closing we were able to let go our little cement adobe in Clearfield once and for all. It was a very bittersweet thing. You think you hate something so much until it isn't yours anymore...and then a part of you misses the familiar things you had grown so used to. We had one last Family Home Evening there the night we closed on it. We cried a little, remembered good times there, and said a prayer that the people who lived in it would always be as happy and fortunate as we were while living there.

We had a strange visitor from some leprechauns on St. Patty's Day. They ran muddy foot prints all over our walls but did have the courtesy to leave us lots of goodies and treats, so we didn't mind. Andrew and Rigdon spent the day trying to create a trap for next year to catch the little boogers.

We've moved into our temporary residence in our good...I should say awesome.... friends townhouse. They might just be the kindest, nicest, greatest people ever. We love it here. We can walk to the grocery store and a lot of our good friends live a few doors down. The kids are loving being able to play with so many kids their age which is something they didn't have in our old neighborhood. It is a great place for us right now. We are enjoying the peace from moving and haven't gotten up the courage to even discuss looking for another house. We plan on staying here until Brian suddenly changes the locks and arranges a police escort off the premises.

Andrew got a perfect report card at school and in grand tradition (which we just started) we all went out to celebrate at a new ice cream cafe here. It was lots of fun and we are so proud of Andrew.

Grandma LeDuc came and stayed for a couple weeks so that I could go on a little R&R trip with Richard to the great escape of.....Omaha Nebraska. Lame, I know...but actually it turned out to be one of the most fun trips ever. I slept in till 10...took two hour naps, ordered room service, watched fun movies, and walked around Omaha. It is a very nice place, I even decided I would live there.....maybe.

Grandma LeDuc was here and it was so much fun. We went to St. George and took Grandma. It was a blast. We went hiking, shopping, eating fun places, shopping, sightseeing, shopping, swimming, and did I say shopping. I was able to buy some great clothes and Grandma got some cute things also. It was a nice get away from all of the busy-crazy life we have been living lately.

Like I said we are settling really nicely. I love where we are and I am excited to see where the wind in our sails take us. Richard is applying for some new positions and so who knows....these Idaho bumpkins may end up somewhere great and new.....or maybe just in Omaha Nebraska!

2010-03-05T10:33:00.000-08:00

Well we are almost out. We are living like Nomads on the floor with one tote of clothes per person (I however get three because of the crazy shoe collection...and accessories....etc.) We just have the cleaning to do and they are coming to do carpets tomorrow and then we will close the doors and lock up till Monday when we sign the papers. We are going to be rocking the "Suite life of Zack and Cody" life for a few days-living in the Marriott Hotel so my kids don't barf or spill red kool aid on the clean carpets....even though there is no red kool aid within 1 mile of this house...they will inevitabely find some somewhere and then spill it just to give me one more stress. So we are moving to the Marriott where we will let the maid and roomservice deal with the kool aid fiasco. It has been a very busy week for us, but I am the luckiest girl ever. I have some of the best friends in this world. Whether it is babysitting my four kids for days at a time so I can move, dropping by with a plate of treats, offering to take my kids to the park for playtime, driving for school, bringing us dinner every night (since all of our dishes and silverware are packed) or just calling to say hi......I have some of the greatest friends ever and I will never be able to repay them for all they have done for me these past few crazy weeks. For those of you calling and texting with no reply......we still love you and would love to talk but there is so much to do and so little time left. We will catch up with you on the flip side! A special shout out to GG.....we are alive and well...we love you....and my mom thinks you are one of the sweetest ladies on the planet. Thanks for checking up on us! Made us feel extra loved to know you want make sure we are okay! I promise we will call you when it calms down a little. We love you lots GG! And everyone else......we don't deserve so many nice family, friends, and people in our lives...if you ever need anything you let us know...but not until after Monday....we are a little busy till then! Just FYI our new address until we get a hosue built or purchased is as follows:
P.O. Box 6072
Clearfield, Utah
84089

and our landline will be shut off on Tuesday...but our cell phones will still work! Thanks!

2010-02-21T19:17:00.000-08:00

Things have been hectic as usual...but these past weeks have been CRAZY with a capital C. we put our house on the market and within in a week and a half we were under contract with buyers. Needless to say with Richard working so much, I am in charge of the mass production of moving a family of 6 and a home office in a few weeks. We got our garage cleaned out and into storage. Now I have the task of getting everything into storage this week so next week we can do repairs and get everything cleaned and ready to hand over the keys.

Its funny now that the time is finally here....a part of me is a little sad. SHHH dont tell our Bishop. His family is friends with us, they were the first friends we had here really and he is bummed out that we are moving. I have hime convinced that I hate it in Clearfield...but a small part of me is a little nostalgic. I had two of my children here...not literally here in this house...but I brought them home here. Richard and I took a crappy looking house in Clearfield...and turned it into a pretty nice addition to the world. I think of all the blood,sweat, tears, and money...did I say money that we pumped into this little house....and boy does it look good. I just knew that some other female would see this house and fall in love with it. As I was sitting with some friends today in our living room and saw our buyers pull up with their whole family and extended family in cars behind. They all got out and were on our front yard smiling and pointing at things, laughing and I could see the excitment in their eyes at owning their very first home. I thought back to nearly 4 years ago when I was that excited woman with her two kids in tow deciding what colors I would paint the exterior...where I would put rocks and plants...and what hideous things I would be removing. Sure enough I painted the house, landscaped the yard...well Richard did most of that....and pulled out those two huge bushes with our onda Civic...shhhhh don't tell richard! Hondas are amazing...they can do anything!

As I am packing up boxes of this and that....I am kind of putting away some very fond memories that go with all the this and that. I hope I have taken enough pictures and kept track of enough memories....like the Richard falling down the stairs with a tupperware bowl full of cereal which we refer to as the "make your own damn toast" memory. Or the time Andrew had been camping with us and on the Saturday when we got back we were landscaping the the yard and we look over and he had his pants pulled down and he was peeing on the neighbors tree...."the Im peeing on a tree like we did camping" memory.

There are lots more tucked away in this house. Some happy, a few sad..but mostly just a lot of memories of spending time with a house full of dear friends or making cookies with the neighbor kids. There has been so much love and protection in this little cement adobe in Clearfield and while I am excited for our new adventure somewhere else in the world......a part of me will always be here in this house that my sweet husband and I created together...one can of paint and sheet of drywall at a time. SHHHH, don't tell the Bishop, but I am already missing #74 and I havent even left it yet.......and if our appraisal doesn't come back good....then we may never get too! Anyone who tells him....is dead! I don't need an "I knew it" from him just yet!

2010-01-14T12:26:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR....to one and all. We had a wonderful Christmas here at home this past December. The boys had a fun filled December with lots of fun activities to keep us busy. I did my annual craft bazaar with some friends and it was really fun and turned out great! Thanks for every ones support. We celebrated Parkers 2nd Birthday and had a fun but cold night on Temple Square-seeing the lights! We had our best Hanukkah party to date (we are really going to try and sweeten up GG Higdon to be our "Distinguished guest"....(hopefully she will overlook me serving ketchup with the latkes...I'm sorry GG.....it just tastes better than applesauce!). We were able to do some very fun service...which I love because it is what our kids look forward to each year...even more than Santas visit....I am glad I have done at least one thing right so far as a parent. We got together with 6 families and went caroling to some widows in our neighborhood and took them some fun giving baskets full of treats and goodies. And then we had the best Christmas to date. Not because of the gifts, but because of the happiness we felt being with each other and the joy of helping others.

I think I have hit menopause or something because I feel different. Oh, not in that hot flash and hormone mix up kind of way...but something inside of me has changed. Let me explain.

I've always loved helping and doing things for others. Luckily I married a man who puts me to shame....seriously, I think he might be too trusting and giving to people...he gets taken advantage of a lot and it pisses me off! But he holds no grudges and sure enough the very next minute, he would do it again. I guess I learned it from my parents, who learned it from theirs and so on. My dad would wake up very early, 4:30 for prime cow milking time and if there was ever any skiff of snow anywhere, there he would go down the lane with his shovel over his shoulder, and lickety split he would have the elderly and the widows drives cleared and sidewalks ready for the sun to come up. He never waits around to be asked to help out, he just digs in and does the work. My mother is a whole other level of crazy. Most of my memories growing up are of her int he kitchen. She spent my life in there. I would play and help bake along side of her. I usually fell asleep under the counter on the floor...but she never napped. She was up with us before school making treats and still at it when we came home. It was usually a full spread of dinner for a neighbor or friend who was sick or just down. It was hot loafs of bread for the missionaries with homemade butter and fresh milk. She has spent her life baking, cooking, working, and serving her way into Heaven. I have just grown up with parents who love serving. Richards parents are much the same. They worked hard to teach their children to be hard workers....and Richard is a shining example of charity to others.

The reason I say all of this is because I have been feeling funny lately. Much more sensitive to things....more weepy. Don't worry I took the pregnancy test...and not the dollar store kind this time(which I must say are very reliable). I went for the $8.00 just to make sure I wasn't on the road to 5 kids in 6 years. Back to the story. We sat down for our first family night and set our goals for 2010. Some of Richards include reading the Book of Mormon 12 times (mine is trying to get it done at least once....pray for me), reading 50 books (again I am working on just the one), and lots of other good things. We have family goals and each of us has individual goals. I sat and pondered one night what I wanted to accomplish this year, what difference I wanted to make. While I am limited in what I can do....I can't go built house in Guatemala or do drinking water in Africa....but there are lots of things I can do around my neighborhood, community, and so on. This funny feeling started after I found an amazing quote a friend gave me. It says, "Unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives". This quote by Thomas S. Monson, has really stuck with me, always in the back of my mind. Each day as I am driving my kids to school and I see the older Chinese woman walking miles along the highway from one place to the next, or when someone is struggling with a door. This quote and feeling has started instantly coming into my head. Menopause I am sure of it. A strange thing happened yesterday which is why I am blubbering on my blog like a puddle.

Here in Utah we have quite a bit of snow. Nothing new for awhile, so it is very hard and icy and there are large embankments on the sides of the roads thick with exhaust from cars and such. As I was sitting at the stop light by my house, the near by Junior High let out a few minutes earlier and hoards of kids were walking home for the day. As I sat there waiting my turn, I noticed a boy in a wheelchair walking himself one foot length at a time through the slush, struggling immensely. Kids came in large groups and in small pairs and each of them walked AROUND this struggling boy. Some kicking slush into his wheels on purpose, some not even noticing he existed on their road home. I was so "pissed" at these spoiled, rotten, new generation of kids...I was about to give them a piece of my mind (I have officially become that old person who yells at young people). It was then that I noticed something magical. The boy was only about 10 feet away from the crosswalk and it turned green for him to cross....although there was no way he was going to hit this light or the next. Suddenly came a young girl and her friend. She was in deep conversation telling a very important story (from what I guessed from her hand motions). She walked past the boy in the wheelchair, struggling to get over a large encrusted embankment, when suddenly as if something told her to stop and go back....she stopped talked turned around grabbed the boys wheelchair from behind and with a dazzling smile.....gave it her all to get him over that hill. It took her 4 tries to get him over it, and then instead of just leaving him there to face more embankments ahead.....she motioned her friend to come back, and together they pushed him through the cross walk and on his way home. I of course was overtaken with the menopause at this moment and was crying like a baby with colic. I had just witnessed a little miracle. I don't know anything about these people, other than that Young prissy, lazy, good for nothing youth of the younger generation.....turned out to be something I didn't think exists. As I pondered the situation and thought about the quote that started this whole mess....I realized. Miracles are happening everywhere....and how many of them involve me.....let me tell you not many. I get caught up in the laundry, and the dishes, and the homework, and the this and that.......so when that little voice inside says...stop and go back, help that kid over that embankment....get him home safe in his wheelchair....I can't hear it because I'm too busy in a large group of "things" kicking more slush in front of the wheelchair wheels. So aside from all these goals I have set, to be the greatest mom ever this year, yell less and love more......there are only really two goals that I need to meet. The first being that I need to become someone who listens to that voice inside and that I help create the little miracles that change people day and lives. May I be able to be a better disciple of Christ and a better friend to man...as I look for opportunities for myself and my family to change the world....one icy embankment at a time. The second goal I need to reach....is figuring out what the hell has happened to my hormones....I am a mess! My dad didn't raise cry babies...but he did raise children who serve other people...so I guess I have to take the one with the other. Who knows maybe today I can pick up that older Chinese woman and together we can cry in my warm car on our way over those icy embankments along the highway.

2010-01-08T14:44:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have been calling for updates...I figured a blog post would help the most. Parker got released from the hospital yesterday afternoon. He is doing much better today and we are watching him like a hawk. The seizure he had was pretty severe but after all the testing they have ruled out Epilepsy, Diabetes, and all other seizure related and seizure induced health problems. For now they are releasing him with a Febrile Seizure which is related to body temperature regulation. They will do so more tests and lab work next week unless something else happens. I am so thankful for all of my wonderful friends and family who came to the rescue (Emily and Lisa....you are lifesavers). I made one frantic call to a friend and within 20 minutes we had meals, babysitters a priesthood blessing from the Bishop (on his day off to boot), and just about everything else we could ask for. We are all doing much better today after some much needed rest. Richard got back last night so we are all together and we just wanted to say thank you and express how grateful we are for your prayers and support while we were going through this crisis. Richard looks at the glass half full that he was able to watch the game last night with us, I am looking at it half empty that for the third straight year we will meet our deductible by January 7th. Parker is smiling and happy today and if anything I am sorry he wasn't coherent for the ambulance ride...he would have loved it....but the good news is that when Richard opens the bill from this emergency outing.....we will have to call another ambulance and maybe then Parker will get to enjoy not being the patient. Love you all! Thanks so much again!

2009-12-19T16:57:00.000-08:00

Well...the LeDucs have been busy, busy, busy. But here is a quick recap of our celebrations so far. For those of you who don't know, Richards mom was raised Jewish. His Grandmother is Jewish as well as many other people in Richards extended family. Recently, after we were first married, Richard started wondering about where he was from. My family is very Scottish and my mom does a ton of genealogy. We have volumes of books with ancestors stories and such, while Richard has very little. While Richard has always loved being known as "The Super Jewish Mormon Missionary" or "The Mormon Jew" with his friends it wasn't until his Grandmother came and stayed with us for a week a year or so ago that he really peeked his interest. He got lots of good info out of his Grandma and from then on he has been spending time researching his family. Where they came from, where they settled, stories about them, and all kinds of good treasures. Little by little his link to his ancestors has grown. As a family we decided we would like to honor our ancestors by learning more about their beliefs, customs, traditions, etc. As we have celebrated Jewish holidays in little ways, we decided that we wanted our kids to experience Hanukkah and so each year we have put on some fun Hanukkah festivities. This year was our best so far, and our little party has grown from a hand full of people to over 45 this year. While we may not be practicing Judaism or living in Scotland, we like to honor and remember those who have gone before us...who have given all they had in order for us to have all that we have. We have felt a deep connection with those in our family and we are so grateful that Families are Forever. That someday we will be able to embrace our ancestors in love and hopefully they will appreciate our Hanukkah parties and family history work we have done in their behalf. May those of you reading this who haven't searched your own family history or gone out of your way to remember them, see how fun and easy, how rewarding and bonding it can be to remember all the people in our families, living or dead...whatever their religion whatever the circumstance. And by the way we hope everyone had a Happy Hanukkah and that everyone has a Merry Christmas.

First of all just a word of caution. I am not Jewish. In Yiddish I believe the word I am is Shiksa. I am as gentile as it gets-so my spelling of Jewish things is most likely completely wrong. I have a hard enough time spelling English words I have been writing since I was 4......forget this Yiddish, Jewish stuff. Second of all...the Jewish food I prepared is the equivalent of eating Dollar store baked beans. They taste nothing like real baked beans, but presentation is what counts.

Richard went to both Andrew and Rigdons schools and did a presentation on Hanukkah. He explained the holiday and why it is celebrated. He gave each kid a paper dreidel to color and make as well as bags of gold coins to play the game. All the kids loved it and it was fun to see something different for a change.

We celebrated Hanukkah for each of the 8 nights. The kids took turns lighting the Menorah (Thanks to GG for sending us hers. It is beautiful and really makes the tradition more fun knowing we have something that belonged to our children's great-grandma). We have a menorah in our window which takes bulbs. Each night at sunset the boys would listen to the Hanukkah prayer while lighting the candles and then we would let them burn while we had dinner and played games. Each night they got to open a family gift, which is their favorite part. We got lots of good family games and it was a nice time spending each night together. We tried to eat lots of food fried in oil which isn't a far stretch considered most of the food we eat is fried in oil......maybe I am a little more Jewish than I thought.

We had our party at our church in the cultural hall. It was a lot of work but lots of fun and it was a relief that we didn't have to fit everyone in our house (which in turn means I got out of cleaning the toilets for a few more days!). We started by Richard giving a brief explanation of what Hanukkah was. He lit the Menorah while we listened to the prayer. Then we settled in and ate potato Latkes and noodle kuegel. We had jelly doughnuts as well. After we ate we played a fun game Richard made called, "Win, Lose, or Jewish". It was a slideshow presentation and everyone had to guess if the famous person was Jewish or not. It was fun to see peoples answers just based on last names and guesses. We were quite surprised to see who was Jewish and who wasn't. Then we set up a table for the kids to color their paper dreidels. Richard made each family a dreidel kit complete with gold chocolate coins and dreidels with instructions. While the kids did that the adults had a gift exchange game which was fun.....we ended up with a new toilet seat which we actually needed....funny huh? Then to top it all off we let the kids take a swing at the dreidel pinata.....I know that is a Mexican tradition....but the dreidel pinata looked so cute we couldn't pass it up. We filled it with gifts and candy for the kids and it was lots of fun. All in all it was a great party......and those of you who know us know we love having fun parties.

We are so grateful to Great Grandma Higdon for not only her help but her heritage. It is a fun memory for our kids and has become a new permanent tradition for our family. Happy Hanukkah!

2009-12-11T11:01:00.001-08:00

I have had some dear friends of mine going through some REALLY tough situations lately. It feels like there seems to be so much of it around lately. My sister, JaLae is the toughest, most awesome person I know. For those of you who have lost children, miscarried, or suffered similar things to this....I wanted to tell you about my sister. She has so lovingly posted her story on her blog...and I know that she won't mind me passing this on. Because if her story can help someone who is at the beginning of their sorrow filled journey....then it will be worth it to her. She has lots of links to different organization for mothers who have lost children and babies and I hope that by posting this, some of you who I know are at the beginning of your journey can take strength in someone who is a few feet in front of you.

her blog is

www.mrthompsonandme.blogspot.com

Love
Becky

FALL RECAP

2009-12-02T12:38:00.000-08:00

Well...things are crazy, crazy, crazy...but like we say around here....if you leave the house each morning with pants on...then its a good day-and we have had lots of good days!

A recap of our events and things going on since our last post (which I believe was during the Nixon years)...

Andrew turned 6 on October 6th. It was a great birthday. Instead of birthday cake, even trying to entice him with DQ ice cream cake, he wanted my homemade pumpkin pie. So I made him 4 pumpkin pies...he was nice enough to give us each a slice......and when i say one slice i mean it....he hoarded the pies! He had a great birthday and we all are still trying to figure out where 6 years have gone....and also trying to figure out what we would do without Andrew...he is the best kid ever and we are so lucky to have him in our family.

We took the kids and some friends to Frightmares at Lagoon (thanks Aunt J for the great tickets....you rock). The weather was overcast and no one was there.....we had a ball and the kids had a blast. We are so lucky to have such awesome friends!

Halloween was a fun time for us. We of course went homemade on the costumes to keep up tradition. This year our family costumes were of, "Wii" are family! Daddy was Bowser, Mommy was Princess Peach, Andrew was Mario, Rigdon was Luigi, Parker was Toad, and Max was Yoshi. Due to Parker being sick...yet again....Daddy missed out on the festivities since he was home doing barf duty, mostly for himself..he got the swine flu! We had a fun time and our costumes turned out better than I thought. We love halloween!

My sweet friend Emily, and her also sweet mother, made me some beautiful aprons. They are so adorable and Emily is so talented. She made dish towels that match the aprons.....absolutely adorable....again I am so lucky to have such great friends who love me and my crazy family!

Max is growing growing and doing more growing. He is only 6 months and weighs over 20 pounds. HE like the other LeDucs before him is a big boy! He is sitting up (with help), loves rolling over and over and over, and is teething..just broke his first through! He is the light of our family...and he has already found his best friend in Parker. They love each other so much! It is hard having 4 kids in 5 years..but boy is it worth it...already paying off! I love that they have each other to get through this crazy life!

I went home for a few days to help my mom with some things and was gone for a week. When the boys and I got home, Richard was in Denver for work. I came home to our whole house covered in a trail of pink papers. On the papers Richard had printed my favorite poem...the same one he proposed with. it took him four hours to individually print and hang them all up...and when I came home I was reminded again that when you go to those girly movies and there is that handsome hunk who could write books on romance and you go home wishing that men were like that in real like.....those men really do exist....and I was lucky enough to marry the best of them. Richard is the most wonderful thing that ever happened to me...and I am reminded every day that I probably don't deserve him...but boy am I happy to have him! So any men who read this blog, take a page from Richards play book...he has the answers to your happiness and ideas to make your wife's dreams come true!

We finally got our dress up trunk done...and I know what you are all thinking...don't they have boys? Well boys need imaginations too and my mom had a killer costume box growing up and my brothers are all the manliest men I know...so my boys have a great dress up trunk! We love to play dress ups and built castles out of blankets. Richard is worried....Rigdon loves pink, my shoe collection and wouldn't let him change the TV channel the other day because he was watching figure skating.....uh oh....I might be in trouble!

Rigdon had his Halloween and Thanksgiving program for school and so did Andrew. As head room mother I get to go and help at the school and all I can say is that Kindergarten teachers have a special place in heaven reserved for them. I don't know why they aren't all alcoholics! It was fun to eat lunch with Andrew and his class...and let me say this...school lunch has come a long way from Greenhurst Elementary.....a long way!

I had my annual Open House Bazaar and we raised enough money to do two families for Christmas this year. Thanks to my family and friends who always make this a success every year. It is so fun for me to be able to craft and make things and then to sell them. My kids love going to buy the gifts for the families and then watching Richard deliver the gifts and almost break his ankle every year.....another good memory for the memory box!

My brother Craig came for Thanksgiving...his first one back in Idaho for like a century or something like that. You will notice the pictures of him in a too-too, prancing around my living room.....If things go south for Rigdon and he follows a life of figure skating....I blame my brother Craig.....100% blame Craig!

We went home for Thanksgiving and our week was filled with Parker and Max having Pneumonia. It was crappy all week, but thanks to some great docs and some better antibiotics, everyone is healthy and happy! We had fun at Poppa and Grandma Wilsons with Uncle Craig and Uncle Bart...and the whole family....all 8 brothers and sisters and their spouses....(except for Craigs wife and kids.....he not only likes dressing in women's clothes...but is too cheap to bring out the fam.....I like giving him a hard time....luckily he is a good sport and will still remember to call me on my birthday next year). It was so much fun to be with all my brothers and sisters. My boys got to play with their cousins....especially Jared, which if you know Andrew is like his idol. We had lots of good food (nice job on the yams again this year) and good laughs.......personal favorite was the "go elf yourself" and Uncle Bart pole dancing on a gut bucket. I missed the latter one but just hearing it made me pee my pants. I have the best family-both the one I grew up with and the one I have been blessed to create! We have so much fun together and it really is true....a family who plays together....stays together...that goes for laughing together too! I am so happy and thankful for the families Heavenly Father has given to me. This Thanksgiving season has made me realize how lucky I am...and how grateful I am that I get to have these people forever!

We came home from Idaho and Richard spent his day off hanging our outside lights while I put up the trees. We had our special family night on Monday. We decorated the house while we watched Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. We had a pizza party and topped it off with a DQ run for dilley bars! I love the memories we are creating with our kids and the traditions that will last our whole lives.

Last night Richard had a shorter night at Bishopric meeting and was home by 9. I got the kids up and we all laid under the Christmas tree with pillows and blankets and listened to Christmas music when Richard got home. It was so simple, so fun.....and so wonderful to take a few quiet moments as a family to just lay around together and talk about Christmas. May I always remember that little moment under the Christmas tree....when I am old and my kids are gone and it is just me and the old man under that Christmas tree. I hope to remember the feeling of our crazy life together, taking a little time and spending it together under a lighted tree.

2009-10-08T20:05:00.000-07:00

Things are quite hectic at our house. Between school, church, and canning...there hasn't been much time for blogging. We did want to share our pictures from our amazing and well needed vacation back east to visit my brother and his family. It was such a great vacation and we appreciate grandma for coming and surviving 3 crazy boys for a week.....and also for the abundance of great friends who helped out. I am so grateful to have such wonderful friends and family who made it possible for me to get a little break and spend some quality time with my fantastic hubby!

Since there is way to much to recap.....Richard and I came up with our top twelve list of things we did while back east. There is are 3 different slide show of all our fun pictures for all of you to see.

Again I want to thank Craig, Jacqueline, Jack, and Ben for the best vacation ever. We enjoyed so much, spending time with you at your new house and we are so glad that you moved across an ocean just to be closer to your awesome Aunt Becky and Uncle Richard.
2. Saw the Bush Family Compound in Kennybunkport Maine........freaking awesome. Those people know how to rock a land outlet.....beautiful place, great seafood, and wonderful ride. Highly recommended.
11. Our hotel in NYC was at the Marriott Marquise on Times Square. It was incredible and boy do I love Richard getting hotel points at the Marriott. We could never afford that hotel suite.......but looking out on times square was incredible and seeing the city from that view was breathtaking.
10. Driving in New York City in the Diamond District and seeing all the Jewish people. Along with that was Richard driving and getting honked at all over the place for being too cautious of a driver. Those streets are a crazy. Instead of getting all uptight...Richard just decided if you can't beat them...join them and so when cabs would honk at him....he would honk back. It was very funny.
9. Going Body Boarding in the New Hampshire Ocean. We may have been the only ones on the beach that day...but my brother was right...once you are in....your body goes numb and you can't feel how cold it is. Like a real Wilson....it only took my three times before I got the hang of body boarding and man was it awesome. For Richard....it took a little longer....like about an hour...but he finally got the hang of it. It was a real blast....I especially enjoyed playing Fox and the Geese with my brother and nephew Ben in the sand. What a great day with some of my favorite people.
8.We went to Portland Maine...which is beautiful. When I was a kid...I loved watching Pete's Dragon...and it has always been a dream of mine to go and see a real lighthouse. My brother really came through and not only took us to a lighthouse...but the most awesome lighthouse ever. I have decided that as soon as my kids are grown and gone....my dream is to live in a lighthouse and write books......it was one of the most beautiful and serene places I have ever been....and there was just something about it that really hit home with me. I can't wait to write a book in my very own lighthouse....someday!!!
7. Walking around New York City was amazing. The diversity there is amazing...and a complete contrast from New Hampshire. We went to all the places like the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Walls Street, Empire State Building (shhh Craig don't tell), and lots more fun stuff. It was fun to find Richard's great grandmothers name on Ellis Island and quite a spiritual place. Our favorite was the crazy French mom who was yelling at her twin boys in french while the dad lounged on the boat and took pictures oblivious to his family....very funny. No matter what language you speak.....same story...mom doing all the work while the dad is looking at the view! This Chinese man was doing very funny and inappropriate things to the Bull on Wall Street…..I love tourists!
6. BROADWAY...BROADWAY....BROADWAY. My brother babysat Max, while we got to see Phantom of the Opera in the Majestic Theatre. It was amazing. We were completely blown away by it and it was an awesome date night. Richard had the playbill and rose dried and put in a shadow box with our tickets for my birthday so I can have a keepsake to always remember it. We also got to go see the Manhattan Temple which is amazing! We got to see a lot of cool things but probably our most favorite part of NYC was Central Park. I would live there if I could….Literary Walk was our favorite. I would recommend this place to anyone. We loved it. We also liked the New York Zoo….I was seriously waiting for the penguins to come jumping out like on Madagascar. We also liked Grand Central Station. We almost pooed in our pants when a full swat team….about 15 of them came into Grand Central Station and started sweeping everything. I felt guilty of something and I hadn’t done anything….very scarey….but made us feel much better.
5. Eating Seafood Chowda in Maine, Eating Sea Urchin and Eel at an authentic Japanese restaurant with Craig who speaks fluent Japanese......very fun, eating...eating...eating. We have decided that our favorite thing to do when visiting places is eating authentic food from those places. Eating a Dawg at Fenway Park, or chowda in Maine. Especially liked driving through New Haven Conneticut to some hole in the wall place Richard knew about for New Haven Style pizza. We got lost at Yale University (a very dumpy place if you ask me......very scary) for awhile but eventually found our pizza place and then devoured the pizza in the car while driving home from New York. The pizza was so big it took up my the whole front seat....my brother was draped in pizza....very fun. The food was fantastic and we loved the curry my sister-in-law made for dinner. We officially love curry....almost as much as her wrapped pork dinner......she is an amazing cook. Richard got very spoiled....back to boxed coupon food we go upon arrival at home....Sorry Richard!
4. Seeing the Sox play at Fenway Park. It was quite an experience. It was so fun to be somewhere you have always seen on tv. The green monster is awesome....the food is crazy expensive and the seats are good no matter where you sit. It was so fun....thanks Craig for taking us. We also walked around Harvard and got Richard some official gear. He has always dreamed of going to Harvard because his dad served his mission there and so he went and talked to the admissions office and has decided that if he does good enough on his GMAT, he is gonna apply there for his MBA....what the heck....we only live once....and then maybe I can afford to rent my lighthouse and write an awesome book........aim high right?
3. Roasting marshmallows on the porch in back of my brothers house. We can't wait to come back when the pool is all the way in, the hot tub is ready and the Japanese tea house has been constructed. We are going to be the annoying family who is always coming into town....like Cousin Eddy on National Lampoons....break out the rubber sheets kids-we are going to visit Uncle Craig. We really enjoyed making Smores and talking. Richard liked it so much he asked if we could do it before we got on the plane to come home. Now he is looking to buy a similar patio set so we can do it with our boys. My brother lives in the middle of a freaking forest. Seriously his back yard.....thickest forest I have ever seen. I was waiting the whole time for Red Coats as I referred to them while there...to come running out of the forest with their rifles. It was cool to see so much history all around.
2. Loved the Boston Day and doing the Red Line tour through the city. Such an amazing feeling to be in the places where this country was established so long ago. It was really a spiritual experience at times to see and read about people who dedicated their whole lives and fortunes to give me the freedom to worship where I want, read and write what I want, be what I want......and even have this silly blog. It is sad to know there are many places where women can't do things like this. Makes me really love and appreciate the men and women who have gone before me and who have sacrificed so much so that I can have freedom.
1. Joseph Smiths Birth Place. Vermont is beautiful...the syrup is great. I would recommend this stopping place to everyone. It is an amazing place and it was one of our top places of visiting. Loved the golf cart ride....thanks Jack! The best part was finding out that the place where Joseph Smith has his leg surgery when he was a boy...is now a Kentucky Fried Chicken...s.o of course Richard had to search it out for a photo....too good to pass up. It was Sunday so we couldn't eat...but Richard has made a date to go back and eat a chicken leg at that KFC or perhaps a bean burrito at the combined Taco Bell.
These are just a few high notes to our trip. We had so much fun it is hard to write it all down. The pictures do a pretty good job telling how much fun we had. Can't wait to go back. We are planning our next trip to take the boys so they can see all these fun things too.
Thanks everyone again. So glad to have gotten a chance to see our family and spend some good time together without the day to day tasks of having four boys and the craziness that sometimes is overwhelming.

And just a personal note. This little picture was taken down the road from my brothers house. It is a cute little pond with Adirondack chairs by it. It was such a fun little place for me. I made Richard drive by it on purpose so I could see it a lot. It reminded me of being a little girl and just made me happy. I took a picture and thanks to its inspiration….It helped me start a fun book I have always wanted to write…but this little picture was just what I needed to get started. I think the trip was well worth it......I can't wait to have a pond and chairs just like this.

2009-09-03T11:57:00.000-07:00

Well its time for a lengthy recap of our summer. I know it has taken me forever to get our blog updated, but hopefully with two kids in school now and 2 babies who nap at the same time each day....I will have enough time to not only replace my "deodorant shower" with a real one and update my blog more. Fall is our favorite time of year and we have lots of fun things coming up. Here is a recap of some fun things we did this summer.....the rest of the pics from my camera will be in slideshow form at the bottom.

We started with Andrew graduating from Learning Station Preschool with his cute little friend Malia (we are hoping to finish dowry payments to her parents sometime in 2012 to ensure their future nuptuals)

Our wonderful friends invited us to Bear Lake for a great day away from worldly cares. We rode 4 wheelers, swam in Bear Lake, played at the greatest KOA ever, and had some yummy pizza together. It was so much for and was just what we needed. Thanks to the Carvers for reminding us how wonderful our friends are and how much we love hanging out together.

Every year since we moved here....we have attended the Clearfield 4th of July Parade (except when we were in D.C.). This year was a special treat because Clearfield delivered some home grown heroes......most parades have old tractors or classic car clubs with Porsche's and Ferrari's...Clearfield had a car club......only difference is there was more rust than restoration and more honda civics than coupe devilles.....We have never been to a parade where a group of old hondas, toyotas, and mustangs were trying to burn up some rubber in front a parade crowd. While dodge children trying to collect candy and as they pissed of parade goes by smelling their crappy cars fumes....I realized with a whole heart......I really love Clearfield!

We had a great idea to have a Family Home Evening up a canyon with some friends. We packed the BBQ and with Richard as our own personal Brigham Young.....we followed our leader into the mountains...only difference is Brigham Young was a real prophet.....Richard is just a freak with a garmin. We ended up driving up Farmington Canyon on the steepest cliff I have ever driven on....and trust me if you know my dad I have been on every dangerous cliff in the great state of Idaho. I was hyperventilating and Richard was laughing because he was on the inside of the cliff. We had a great FHE with all the kids and good food and great friends......and just so you know on the way down as Richard was driving....he was crying like a little girl, driving his truck so close to the inside wall the mirror almost came off. He got to feel my fear as he was on the cliff side going down....it was a lot of fun but we took a poll afterwards and it is unanimous....Richard is banned for leading us anywhere.....period.

We have a had so many fun play dates with our friends it is hard to blog them all. We really enjoy our friends, and our kids are lucky enough to have awesome friends that they get to do fun things with. We have had many slip n slide parties as we have tried to kill Richards new grass, we have played games, had movie nights, and even started our kids craft which we do monthly. This month we made fun sock puppets. Friends are great....and we are lucky to have lots!The boys have had some really fun times just being boys and playing with their awesome dad. The boys love nothing more than wrestling with Richard. They literally set the timer on the microwave and wait for it to ring ....signaling it is time for work to be done. They adore Richard and I am so grateful that I have such a wonderful husband who takes time away from his interests and likes to do things the boys like. After a long day at work, I am sure the last ting Richard wants to do is play ball, or slip n slide, or read books....but he does it because he loves his boys and he is a world class dad! And we love him!

We had a surprise 30th Birthday party for Richard. We had to have it a little early this year which worked to our advantage because he was totally surprised. Richards best friend Gerrit made a special trip from Colorado and did a lot of work to make his party the best ever. We had a catered dinner from Cafe Rio, and despite some injuries and problems-we spread the festivities over two days. We had some yummy cake, he opened some hilarious gifts, and watched a special 30 year tribute about Richard that Gerrit made. I would post it on our blog....but I think it might be safer if I don't! We love you Richard and you are such an amazing and wonderful person, friend, dad, husband, and all in all we are all glad you are around!

To cut back on time I will just list a few of the other things we did. You can see them in the slide show! We went on summer field trips every friday through the summer. Our favorite was the state capital and the I Am A Child of God exhibit at Temple Square. We went to our ward campout which was great.....Max and I along with our friends stayed at the Marriott nearby....definitely the way to camp. We of course had the best 8th anniversary ever. You can read about it in a past blog but the pictures are in the slide shows now. Our garden is doing so great. I had a group of friends come over and we set up a canning center outside and did over 100 jars of sweet n sour sauce. We are going to do it again....not only does it not make a mess in your house but by doing it all on camp chefs outside it doesn't heat up your house. We went and visited the Disney Train as it came through. We waited three hours in line but the kids loved it. There are some pictures of Max...he is growing like a weed. We all love to hold him and cuddle him and he still has that new baby smell. Yummy! We got to go home to Idaho for a week and a half and spend some great time with Poppa Wilson, Nana Wilson, and Uncle Cody. It was so much fun. The boys got to drive tractors, dig with back hoes, water the crops, play with the animals, have a sleep out on the tramp with Uncle Cody and their favorite part was helping herd the cattle in from the field. They both thought they were in a real life stampede......to which Rigdon said, "but mom, we are cowboys without horses..what will we do". It was very funny and reminded me of growing up , in the middle of nowhere, having fun, and just getting dirty and being a country kid. I really wish I could give that to my kids right now....but hopefully in the future that is something we will be able to do. We also had a LeDuc family reunion which was so much fun, and thanks to Uncle Charlie and his family for all their hard work. We can't wait for the next one.

WHEW! This is the bad part of not blogging more often...playing catch up is always fun! As of right now, Andrew and Rigdon have both started school. They both love it (notice Parker in both pictures...he doesn't like to be far away from his big brothers). I don't know what to do with the three hours a day when I have time to myself. With Parker and Max napping, I can actually do things I haven't been able to do in years. Richard is busy with work, this is usually his busiest time. I am loving my garden and really have learned to love canning. I am excited for Fall and love the weather and the holidays. I am so glad that we have had a relatively healthy summer and hope that our winter is as mild. We want you all to know that we love you and are glad you stay in touch through our blog. Enjoy the slide shows!

2009-07-26T11:00:00.000-07:00

Well don't everyone die of a stroke or a heartattack just yet....yes I am updating my blog! Unfortunetly, Richard has my connection cable so I can't update any pictures today but I can tel you some of the fun things we have been up to since Max was born.

First let me say...that my husband is the best in the world. I am the luckiest girl alive and I am so greatful that I have Richard as my partner (in a non lesbian way) to get through life! He is truly the best Heaven had to offer and how I scored him...is beyond me. For our 8th anniversary I thought we were just going to go to dinner. Well Max got pretty sick and I thought we were going to have to postpone a night out but Richard was very set on going. He arranged for a babysitter and invited some of our dearest friend to go to dinner with us. In true Richard fashion.....he made arrangements for CHUCKORAMA (great wedding story.....remind me to tell you if you havent heard it). He thought it would be sentimental (and cheaper) if we hit the old time buffet for the night. As an addedd bonus....he said we should dress up like when we met...like in high school. I though he was kidding, but sure enough when the Hunts came to pick us up in their "limo" service....Richard came upstairs in a western button shirt with a serene horse stampede pattern and a silk winie the pooh tie. I laughed so hard I almost peed my pants. he was serious about dressing up. Then the Hunts came, dressed up and so I threw on a hat thinking it would look "blossomish" (Richard always says the Joey line from Blossom..."hey" when I wear my hats). We went to dinner at the old time buffet and had a great time. We love spending time with our friends and we are lucky to have some of the best. After dinner we decided to hit a movie. I really wanted to see "The proposal" and we were a little late, as we were passing the churchhouse, Richard said "hey i'm sorry we have to stop by the church and make sure the fifth ward set up for the Stake meeting tomorrow...the bishop asked me to check". I got a little hot under the collar because we were late...and I remember saying something to the effect of..."well if the Bishop wants to make sure it is done.....mayeb he should get of his rear and come check it" (sorry Bishop Monson......I have the upmost respect for you...I was just mad we were late to my movie...I'll make an appointment with nathan for Tuesday so I can formally apologize. Richard and Brian went into the church and came back and said they weren't set up and we would have to hurry and do it. At this point I may have said some other words about the fifth ward that I will leave out......again I am going in Tuesday to repent. So I hauled Max in, and as I entered I heard music playing...pretty soon I got to the Gym door and there decorated at the top was a sign saying "Nampa South Stake Dance". My sweet husband had invited 12 couples who we are dear friends with here in Clearfield....asked them to dress in 90's dress and come to a re-inactment of a stake dance when we were young. Brian DJed with music from our high school days....and it was complete with decorations (mormon ads everywhere), horrible generic cookies and punch, and some great outfits. It was complete with dance recommened from our bishop and on top of it all of our friends had name tags with names of our friends from high school. My best friend Lynsee and Cindy were there, my ex-boyfriends all made an appearance and even my old Bishop Overall came. Everyone was such good sports and I had two favorite things.......a very pregnant Alicen getting the bible put between her and her date for dancing too close by the bishop.....and Richards ex girlfriend Lynette came and brought a yummy ice cream cake which she gave to me.....another hilarious story....ask us sometime to tell. We all danced and I found out the reason Richard did all this elaborate planning..was because he never got to dance with my at a stake dance and he always wanted to...so he re-created it for us. It was the sweetest thing anyone has ever done for me and I won't forget it as long as I live. We then played The Newleywed Game which was hilarious...and very revealing about some (THE PLOTTS...wow) Everyone rallied at the end to pull us from the bottom of the tank to win the game and then Richard brought out a huge sheet cake and candles with our poem on it. He then told how he proposed and tried to repeat our poem before he got all choked up and so there we were...two kids in love...remembering back to when life was simpler....when things werent crazy with four kids....and it was there in a gymnasium in Clearfield surrounded by most of our closest friends that I fell deeper in love with the man of my dreams. He is truly something to marvel at and I am thankful everyday that God gave him to me.

Thanks Richard for a great anniversary....I look forward to an eternity more with you.

Thank You!!!!

2009-06-01T14:05:00.000-07:00

WHEW....week three is down and everyone is still accounted for. We all are still breathing, everyone has all their limbs and extremities (barely).....we will survive....I think.

While the last three weeks have been something that would put reality shows to shame...it sure has been something to remember. While most of my blogs are pointless, boring, and to most people...TMI, I wanted to take just a quick minute and use my blog to give gratitude to people who have helped the most these past few weeks. First and most important...to my mother...my 64 year old mother, who bless her heart came for two weeks and helped me through some of the hardest days I have yet had. Like a trooper and a saint, she came down and helped my sister take care of my three crazy children for a week while Richard and I traveled from Hospital to hospital trying to find one to deliever me (long story..still too mad to blog about it). It was so nice to be able to come home with Max and spend some time with just the three of us before we opened up the corral gates and let the wild ponies in with the new baby. My mom, while she may be getting old and her health pretty much sucks most of the time, like her pioneer ancestors who braved the winters of wyoming in the Martin/Willey Handcart companies....she knows when to dig in her spurs and han gon for the ride. She is an amazing woman and I am so grateful that she was able to not only be here for my boys who love and adore her....but that she was here for me...and that means the world.

I would also like to say a big thank you to Richards mom for coming and helping out with the boys as well. I had a few days of some pretty bad circumstances and I was pretty much out of commission. She dug in and tried to chase these crazy boys around as best as she could. They are enough to break just about anybody, but she hung on and did a great job. Just keeping up with the laundry demands of our family would send anyone packing..but she stuck through it and my laundry hasn't smelled that good pretty much ever. Thanks also to Dan for sacrificing at home so that Debbie could help us out. We appreciate it.

As for other little angels in my life, I am withholding names so I don't embarrass or give big heads to people. Starting with my dear friend previously of MInnesota...but now of Texas-who remembers every birthday, every aniversary, every detail of my life and always puts a smilye on my face with her silly and fun personailty. She lost her mother recently..but the mother and friend that she has become is something her mother smiles down on....and I am glad she is my friend.
I have always hated Utah....it is inbred into us in grade school in Idaho...they actually have an elective class titled...."Why we hate Utah". I got an A in it every time and I will admit I wasn't excited to move here...at all. It took a good year of me pouting and whining before I had an epiphany. If I wanted to have good friends, I needed to be a good friend. I met my first "utah" friend at an elders quorom social which no one else showed up to except for Richard and our family and this cute little family who had also just moved in. This "cute utah friend" has turned into being the greatest thing Heaven could have given me at this point in my life. She is everything I aspire to be in life. She is a true lady and an even truer friend. She would give anything to anyone and her countenance lights up everything. She has taken my kids in the middle of the night, last minute, for days at a time it seems like when ever tragedy occurs. She has always been willing to be there for me and for my kids. I can never repay this amazing women and I wish I could find a way to tell her how amazing she is and how much I admire her. The way she loves her husband, the way she cares for her children and others....is something I will spend the rest of my life trying to achieve. And I can only hope that when I am old and my children have moved away with families of their own....I can hope that me and this wonderful women will be vacationing in St. George or maybe even somewhere exotic-working on our tans (hopefully by then her metabolism has slowed down and I don't have to be the chunky one anymore)
Another little angel has always been around since I moved here. Her husband served our family days at a time when Richard was out of town and I had a new baby. She is always the first at my door in tragedies and in triumphs. We talk on the phone every day and see each other as often. She is a true example of a good mother. She doesn't complain about her husbands work and church schedule-and she always offers everything she has especially a listening ear for my rants and complaints in life. I hope to have her as a friend forever and would adopt her as a sister if I could.

As for another little gem of a friend-all I can say is..WOW. This woman with her three boys is so amazing to me. She has the patience of Job, and she has the personality of the coolest girl in town. She shows up after working all day...just shows up at my door and asks for my children. Her and her husband make the best salsa ever and she walks a bowl of it over to our house just because. She cuts the lettuce out of her garden and brings a bag by because mine isn't growing worth a darn and she just has extra. I am convinced that there isn't much that this angel can't or wouldn't do. The mother and wife that she is to her husband and family-makes me feel like I have a long way to go-to get to where she is. She motivates me to take challenges that are placed in front of me, and embrace them with a smile. I love spending time with her and her adorable family and I am so glad that being in this ward has put our paths in each others way.

There areot her angels who flitter in and out of my days like hummingbirds. They take me couponing with them (and usually give me coupons I forgot to clip), they invite my kids to play, they drop by cookies just because "they baked too many". They allow their husbands to spend hours at my house putting up fences, installing sprinkler lines, doing church callings, etc. without a complaint. They invite us for dinner and bring us dinner when Richard is traveling. I could spend time with these girls any day of the week and be the luckiest girl alive. They are all fun, kind, wonderful, magnificient women in my eyes and because of these women and their examples-I try to be a better mother, friend, and women just to keep up with them.

I have an over abundance of wonderful friends here. I am amazed at how Heavenly Father has blessed me and my family with such wonderful friends and so many. I have really realized it this week as I am getting ready for Max's blessing and I was getting the list together for our blessing dinner. The names just kept adding and when I was finally done I was overwhelmed by how many people we have here that love us. I am so grateful to each and everyone of you, many of you read this blog. I want you to know that there have been many "bad" days that your smiles and kind gestures have turned into "great" days. I am so far in debt to you all and I am so glad that coming to Utah, meant meeting some of the great people on earth. Thanks for helping me through this crazy time in my life and I look forward to many more years of fun times ahead.

2009-05-08T17:33:00.000-07:00

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY EARLY! Maxwell Charles LeDuc joined our LeDuc Litter yesterday May 7, 2009 at 5:19 pm. As you can see he has a full head of black hair (Richard is thinking he might have some Pawnee or Shoshone in him-must be a LeDuc thing-us Wilsons are Scotish!) He was our easiest delivery and Mom is feeling fantastic. He was 7 pounds and 11 ounces, our smallest LeDuc delivery to date and 20 1/2 inches long also our shortest length....but as we have come to find out-what they lack on their birthday they make up for in their first 5 years...using Andrew as our growth chart. He is a delightful baby....who hasn't yet cried. He is very mellow and such a good little baby. We call him Max for short and his name is a combination of three very great men in our families lives. Maxwell is taken from one of Richards favorite Apostles, Neil A. Maxwell. Charles is after his Uncle Charlie in Colorado who both Richard and I really admire as well as his Great Uncle Chuck who was a temple president, a mission president, and an all around great guy! Richard really admires both his Great Uncle Chuck and his Uncle Charlie-and considers both of them very pivotal men in his life who have helped shape him into the wonderful Man, Father, and Husband. Max has a lot to live up to but after spending the past 24 hours with him, Richard and I are both confident that he will be up to the task. We get to go home tomorrow and then the real fun starts. We have been lucky to have Auntie Lynny and Nana Wilson helping us this whole week-and they have been troopers. The boys came to see Max last night after he was born and they all were fighting to hold him....especially Parker who we think just wants to eat him. As I am sure you have all already figured out.....we are going to have our hands full-but to tell you the truth there is nothing Richard and I would rather have our hands full with than these four delightful boys who to us are perfect and priceless. Enjoy the pics! Thanks to everyone who has texted, called, sent flowers and gifts, and who have shared in this wonderful joy with us. We love you.

WHEW...I'm pooped!

2009-03-05T17:34:00.000-08:00

Well, as the phrase goes....the old gray mare she ain't what she used to be......I have become the old gray mare and most of the time I feel like I am ready for the glue factory!

As you've noticed, we haven't updated in awhile...there are many reasons-too great to number or blog about! Life seems to pick up speed every day and with #4 on the way it doesn't look to be slowing down. As I was in church the other day with my three little munchkins...I had a minor freak" out as I tried to figure out what in the heck I am going to do with a newborn, a one and a half year old, a 4 year old, and a 5 year old...while my husband sits on the stand in a cushioned chair running the microphone up and down reading his scriptures, actually being able to sing while holding the hymn book up, and probably getting something good out of church! As I thought about this minor snag (that I didn't previously think about) I had a little panic attack. After I calmed down, I realized......no matter the cost or the headache it is worth every crazy moment of this life. This realization has come to me in small and simple moments-some good, some bad, and some very funny. For example, the other night I was dead asleep and I felt like someone was watching me. I opened my eyes to see my sweet Rigdon right at eye level with me quietly watching me sleep. As I startled a little, he said...."Hi Sweet Mommy, I was a little hungry and was just waiting for you to wake up so I could get a little snack. Aside from wetting myself from being scared, it was such a cute moment and I took a little picture of him there in his superman pajamas with cape and all...because someday he won't be at the side of my bed asking for a snack calling me sweet mommy. Another moment came when Andrew and I went to the grocery store and as I had parked the car and was looking for a certain coupon in my folder, he came around the truck and opened my door. He said, "Dad said we should always open the door for ladies, and I know you are dad's lady so I came to open it for you". I started crying....it got me. And then with Parker. Every morning he wakes up and lays in his bed (with a very nasty stinky dirty diaper might I add) saying "mama" "dada" and when I go into get him he starts jumping and screetching as I reach for him....obviously glad I am there to get him. It is these moments in life that I realize that being a mom....and not just a mom but a crazy mom with 4 kids under the age of 5.....is the only thing I would ever want to do. No degree, No career, no amount of money, or no amount of jewels and fancy cars or houses would ever make me feel as happy and as content as I do being a mom and a wife. There are plenty of times I want to pull the covers over my head and hit the snooze button on motherhood.....but who doesn't eventually want to get up and face a new day of hugs, snuggles, kisses, adorable moments, poopy pants, barfing, fighting, breaking things, chaos, fighting, loveys, funny lines, and most of all the unpredictable. I love that every day is a new one. I don't know what my kids will do, what they will say, what they will be like...but I do know one thing.....they will wake up loving me, opening doors for me, and watching me sleep, waiting for me to wake so they can call me "sweet mommy".....at least for now and nothing in this world is more valuable than any of this. To my four sons and my wonderful husband..........life just ain't living without loving you!

Happy Happy Birthday Rigdon Dear!

2009-02-11T08:37:00.000-08:00

HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY TO RIGDON!

We took a vote and it was unanimous that Rigdon had the best birthday ever. Here are a few things we did on his big day!

First Dad took Rigdon to Krispy Kreme for a box of sprinkle donuts......his favorite and some yummy hot chocolate. Andrew, Parker, and mommy decorated the house with lots of signs and banners to sup rise him when he woke up. While Andrew was at school, we played Rigdons favorite wii game, Mario Party 8. He ended up winning which was a good start to a 4th birthday

When Andrew got home from school, we took a lunch and went to McDonalds and had Happy meals and played on the best McDonalds equipment we have found to date (they have an indoor basketball court)

We spent almost an hour and a half playing and it was great because there were toys for Parker there as well. The boys had lots of fun sliding down the tube slide together. Next we went and picked out Rigdons favorite.....a DQ ice cream cake! He chose butterfinger (I am pretty sure Dad had something to do with that choice). We also picked up Madagascar 2 to watch for Movie night. The best part for Rigdon, if you ask him, is that we got to take our best friends Dallin and Emma to Chuck E Cheese. It has kind of become a tradition for birthdays since we have become friends with The Hunts so we met them at Mr. Cheeses and blew threw dozens of coins in no time. We ended up with almost 400 tickets so everyone get to get two special prizes and Rigdon got an extra one since it was his big day.

Parker had a great time getting into everything. He roamed around pretty much wherever he wanted. Richard commented that we sure missed Nana Wilson who came when we went to Chuck E Cheese for Andrews Birthday, because she was able to keep Parker occupied and happy sitting at the table while we managed the other children. It was chaos trying to keep Parker off the toys and from crawling up the bowling alley. But we had fun...but next year.....Nana is a must-especially with another baby.

Andrew was glued to the racing game (which got us no tickets....thanks Andrew)
Rigdon hit the jackpot on this game and got 50 tickets in one hit.
Happy Birthday!
Parker loved this ride which just vibrates fast and slow....he was giggling and his chubby cheeks where just vibrating so fast...it was hilarious!

We came back home after an hour and a half at Chuck E Cheeses, enjoyed some pizza, got bathed and ready for bed. Then the Hunts came over to celebrate presents and cake with us. Rigdon got spoiled rotten with Playmobils this year he got 3 sets and a carrying case set as well as money from GG Higdon and the Hunts. Sis got him Horton Hears a Who and he loves the little elephant that came with the DVD (has been sleeping with it and freaking out when he can't find Horton).

We had fun just hanging out and playing with the Hunts. They make birthdays so much more fun, especially for the kids. We are glad to have such great friends here in Utah.

After our friends left, we let the boys stay up late and watch Madagascar 2. Rigdon fell asleep about 10 minutes into the movie and they had a slumber party on the couch downstairs. It was a fun day, full of lots of great memories.

I usually do a tribute to my kids on their birthday. Rigdon was a very exciting addition to our family. We were so happy to add another boy to our first boy, and especially so close-because we knew they would be close. Richard has some cousins, Jimmy and Brian who are close and we wanted that same kind of bond between our kids. When Rigdon was born, we had some trauma going on because Andrew had a seizure while I was delivering Rigdon, so Richard left me to finish having Rigdon and met his mom in the ER with Andrew. It was very chaotic but it was nice to have some special time with my new baby. Richard ended up taking Andrew home and staying with him while he was sick, and I was at the hospital with Rigdon. The funny thing about Rigdon is his name. We had talked about Rigdon, naming him after my Dad, Don. We had some others we were batting around, and hadn't really decided on anything yet. We wanted to name him Don...but sorry dad that is an old man name! So we liked the version of Rigdon which included Don in it. We found out it was Scottish and it is a short name for Richard. Richard came up to the hospital and they had him fill out the papers while I was asleep so he just decided on Rigdon after my dad and J after my little brother. Needless to say, I woke up to find out I was left out of the final decision-but in the end his name fits him...unique, spunky, one of a kind, and named after a great man that Richard and I will admire our whole lives.

Rigdon, like Andrew, was the best baby ever. He never got sick, hardly cried and smiled all the time. A funny story about Rigdon is that people used to ask us all the time if he was "special" or "handicapped" because he was so smiley and happy that it kind of caught people off guard to see a baby so happy and smiley all the time. It was funny every time people would say things because you could see the confusion in their eyes.....that in fact there are babies that just laugh and giggle all the time. He has had a way with ladies his whole life. His good looks, his charming personality, and his spunky nature are all combos for trouble. We are sure we are going to have problems in the future...but for now we are enjoying his energy and his happiness which makes our family a great place to be.

Rigdon loves his brothers. He especially loves to tend to Parker and his needs. His newest thing is dragging him down the stairs on a blanket which Parker loves. (I can't get mad my brother and I used to do the same thing). Rigdon is a very smart kid and loves to learn new things. He loves to talk, and has named the baby for us. He has chosen "Cracker James"...we will see!

Rigdons favorite color is blue, his favorite food is pretty much anything that is considered a fruit. He can eat an entire box of oranges, strawberries, and grapes in one sitting. His favorite song is the Spongebob theme song and he LOVES to play wii with Dad and Andrew. He is excited to start preschool in the fall and has been so cute in Joy School. We love having Rigdon as a part of our family.....a big part and couldn't imagine life without him. We love you Rigdon and hope you had a great birthday.

Love

Dad, Mom, Andrew, Parker, and "Cracker James"

We're finally Back on the Blog Block

2009-02-04T16:27:00.000-08:00

Whew, its been a hectic month. We've been going in all different directions. Richard has been really busy with work, so the boys and have taken on some fun projects. Like I said Richard is working working working-trying to keep his business going strong to keep his sales numbers up and growing. He has been really busy with his church calling-thus not leaving a lot of Tiger Woods golf time, which is a bummer, but well worth the sacrifice for the blessings we have been receiving.

I have been busy luring my brother, Cody-from Idaho to come and finally turn my manufactured home kitchen into a somewhat normal kitchen with an actual pantry and space. With a truck load full of Pepsi and good skiing at Alta, he agreed to come and we had a lot of fun while Richard was away. I didn't tell Richard what we were doing-so he came home to a new kitchen! We had a lot of fun demoing my kitchen-I probably had more excitement than Cody. We worked hard and it is beautiful. I have a kitchen that feels three times the size and a pantry that holds all of my food and has lots more room. After we were done I drove Cody home and spent some much needed time with my mom and dad. The boys had a great time getting to know their cousins better and their Nana and Poppa Wilson. They played outside, helped Cody feed the animals ever day, and got to spend time with some of their favorite cousins, The Chandlers. I was able to get some good couponing in with my mom, some good quilting advice, and just hanging out with my family which I haven't gotten to do for awhile. The best part of my trip was that my wonderful Dad, and my awesome Brother Cody stayed up into the wee hours of the night and morning-freezing their giblets off in the shop, crafting me the perfect breakfast bench for my kitchen. It is pretty much the best piece of furniture I own to date, and I will keep it forever since two of my favorite people made it. It is 7 and 1/2 feet long and has a lift up lid that holds 7 of my food storage buckets and my bulk items from Costco which opens up lots of room in my kitchen and storage. It is one of the nicest things anyone has ever done for me and the fact that they stayed up in the freezing cold all night making it so I could bring it home Sat. morning-tells you some things about my dad and brother-they love others more than anything in this world, they love serving people no matter the cost to themselves, and they are two people I like having on my side during tough economical times-I would have been just fine crossing those plains-all my family would need is my dad, my brother, a pocket knife, and a dutch oven! other than the remodel, I have been busy getting things pulled together for baby number 4. It is amazing how many things there are to wash, and fold, and put away-furniture to dig out of the garage, and the list goes on. We are really excited for this little bundle! Not as much as the boys however! They have decided on two names: Rigdon wants Cracker James and Andrew wants Crack J. Yikes!

Andrew is just busy loving school. They got to go on a field trip with their preschool to Red Robin where they learned about germs and washing hands properly. They got to met "Red" the Robin and have some lemonade and mozzarella sticks. You would have thought that Andrew had gone to the moon or something. He loves school, and his friends, and now he loves Red the Robin (about as much as his dad loves "Red's" legs as you can see in the photos he took! Andrew is growing every month, we can't keep up with him hardly. I am glad we have a chart that goes to 7 feet we may end up needing it. Here is a funny story about Andrew. He is so smart and very thoughtful about things. Lately I have been struggling to get the laundry done in one day. I have been washing it all on one day and then folding it and putting it away the next-leaving it on the family room couch until that gets done. Well the boys like to play wee and it usually happens that they scatter my clean clothes all over the family room amidst their playing and then Richard or I come in and yell at them for making a mess with the clothes-and around and around we have been going. Well the other day as I was bringing a big load of dried clothes out to put on the couch-my sweet Andrew said the following and he was as sincere and serious as possible (like he had just figured out how to cure cancer). He said, "Mom-I've been thinking about the laundry and I have a great idea. If instead of just piling the laundry up on the couch and leaving it, you could fold it and put it away as soon as you take it out of the dryer, that way it isn't on the couch where we will get into it and you won't have to get mad at us when it is scattered". I was so taken aback because I would expect that to come from Richard in a sarcastic, funny, chiding way-but Andrew was really trying to make everyone happy and peaceful and he came up with a great solution.....and guess what-he was right! I have since made an effort to fold and put away immediately after washing....and it has completely changed the feeling in our home. We aren't getting mad at them anymore like we were and they are much happier getting to play without having to worry about the laundry! Kids say the darndest things.....and it really sucks when a 5 year old can figure things out before a 27 year old.

Rigdon is probably the cutest kid (aside from Andrew and Rigdon) on the planet. He is in love with playmobil toys and could spend hours playing with his. Grandma LeDuc was nice enough to let him bring a new set home to play with, and aside from dumping it on the car ride home he has been in heaven with all these playmobils. He is getting a pirate ship set for his birthday and will be so surprised. He loves helping me cook. We made some homemade blueberry muffins for the old folks home where we did Family Home Evening as a family with them. We played Book of Mormon Bingo and it was a very fun night. He also helped me make homemade noodles for chicken noodle soup to take to a lady in our ward who had a baby. It turned out to be the best Chicken noodle soup Richard had ever had, and I think it is because Rigdon did most of it. He is excited to be having his fourth birthday in a few days and loves his new primary class where he doesn't have to go play with the babies in nursery but gets to be a big boy like Andrew in the primary.

Parker has had a very rough winter. This is his second and I think it might be a pattern for what is to come. We are looking into getting tubes in his ears to help with ear pressure problems and reoccurring ear aches. Other than that he has been the happiest little one year old ever. He is still growing bigger every day and is quite a bundle to pack around....especially being pregnant. He is saying a few words and loves to give "Huggies" and do the "shiver" dance for us.

All in all we are all glad to be over the sicknesses for now. We are looking forward to the sunshine coming out more and the snow coming less. Spring is just around the corner...and whenever we get down on ourselves...we think of our poor friends who live in Minnesota where it is permanently below zero I think forever...hang in there Michelle and Adrian! Love to everyone and hope you have a great beginning of Feb.

Love the LeDucs

Just FYI

2009-01-03T14:37:00.000-08:00

So pay attention to the couple songs I put on the blog this time. I came home from the store the other day and my husband...Richard Andrew LeDuc was washing dishes and cleaning the kitchen with his his music pumping. I caught him singing openly to the Taylor Swift song and dancing to the Britney Spears song. Not sure what to make of this...just wanted to pass on the info in case anything strange starts happening.

Our December Recap

2008-12-30T17:56:00.000-08:00

Well things got pretty hectic so here is a run down on our December.

For Family Home evening on Parkers birthday we took some friends to Temple square in Salt Lake to see all the beautiful lights. We ate sugar cookies that the boys helped make for Parker and hot yummy hot chocolate. It was a very fun time and in our trusty red ryder wagon everyone had sufficient transportation without getting tired from all the walking. The boys said their favorite part was seeing the life size talking nativity and eating the cookies and "warm cocoa" as they call it. We had a fun time and thanks to our friends who made Parkers birthday celebration all the better.

Richard got a fun little boys trip this month. Richard and his good friend Gerrit went to Washington D.C. to a fun Christmas Dinner at the Secretary of the Interiors again. We are all pretty sure that they forgot to delete us from their invite list from the 4th of July party but that didn't stop Richard. They had the invite and so they bummed around D.C. for a couple days staying up till who knows when playing video games, eating fast food like they were in college....and well you get the idea. Richard said his highlights included going to the Holocaust museum which he says is a must for everyone, seeing D.C. and the White House at Christmas time, and his first encounter with someone who legitimately wears a monocle. We are about 99.9% sure that due to the upcoming political change in D.C. that our name will be taken from the guest list of Secretary Kempthorne and burned once...then burned again to make sure that it was burned the first time by the "eco-friendly" Secretary that is sure to fill the opening in the next administration.

Our ward Chirstmas party was a lot of fun, with very good food (thank you Rochelle Plot and the activities committee). Richard read a really fun Christmas story to all the kids and tried to keep it together as one little boy took off his pants and was scratching himself while Richard read the story. Very funny!

We had some pretty awesome sledding adventures with Dad. Pretty much everyday the boys would be watching the clock, waiting for the little hand to be on the 5 and the big hand to be on the 12 so they could ask Dad to take them sledding. We are very lucky to have the best sledding hill ever only 3 blocks from our house. The three musketeers have spent many a night and Saturday on those sled runs, having a blast until they got to cold and then come home to have some "warm cocoa" and treats afterwards. They have had fun making good memories together and I have had not so much fun with the daily drying out snow clothes, mopping up melted snow deposits, and keeping the supply of warm cocoa stocked and ready.

As a family we got to got to Idaho for a little trip. Richard worked the whole time but the kids and I were able to spend some time with both our grandparents and aunts and uncles. We had a fun time and it was good to see our adorable little niece Halli who is growing and so cute (and no she doesn't look like the girl version of Diddy Kong).

We got invited by some friends to go us to Blacksmith Canyon in Cache Valley to Harware Ranch to see all the elk and feed them from a sleigh. Despite being a hellish drive through a near white out blizzard through Sardine canyon getting to Logan, it was the most magical and beauitful drive through Blacksmith canyon. We listened to Christmas music as we drove the winding roads with all the trees covered in white. It was so peaceful and wonderful that we are making it a tradition for all of our Christmas' here in Utah. We were thrilled to see all the elk gathered and everyone had a fun time sledding (especially Andrew until he got these strange white and red circles on his cheeks...which we are guessing might be the first step to frostbite?). We finished it off by drinking hot chocolate (or warm cocoa as my kids call it) and eating donuts. The boys were all three asleep but the time we hit the entrance to the elk reserve and slept the whole way home. We had a really fun day and thanks to our friends for inviting us to go.

We did a lot of fun Christmas traditons this year, but different from our usual things-we decided to celebrate Richard's Jewish Heritage and host a Hanukkah party for our friends here in Clearfield. With a lot of help from Great Grandma Higdon we were able to pull off, in our opinions, the best party we have had to date. Richard did a lot of research and planning and i did a lot of praying for help making some Jewish dishes. Great Grandma was a big help answering all of my recipe questions and clarifying all of Richards jewish questions. We had a little candle lighting ceremony with the jewish prayer, then we had delicious potato latkes with some other really fun jewish pastries and foods, we did a jewish word matching game where our friends had to take jewish and yiddish words and try to match them with their english translations (one guest gotr 7 out of 9 right...but he cheated by asking his employee at work who is jewish the answers). We had a little lesson from Richard on the history if Hanukkah and then we had a white elephant gift exchange which had nothing to do with jewish, but we did put on the invite that for the white elephant gift exchange to bring a "Jewish, aka cheap or thrifty" gift. We had a lot of fun and with 30 people we had a houseful. Everyone loved it so much that we are going to do it again next year but this time we are going to rent the Junior high or somewhere so we aren't packed in like sardines. Again I just want to say thank to everyone who helped out and especially to Great Grandma Higdon for answering her phone and emails to help us make this a really fun and great experience. We are all very glad to see Richard connecting with his ancestry and he is already planning a trip with his Grandma out to see his Great Uncle Jerry in New Jersey.

Our Christmas was to us..perfect! We had a really fun time this year. With all of our gifts purchased and wrapped before Halloween we decorated and were ready. It was so nice to not have to brave the shoppers or the storms in the holiday rush this year and we are planning on doing it like this every year. The boys had a lot of fun making treats, decorating the house, and trying to keep their fingers off the gifts under the tree. We found that by putting the meaning of Christmas back where it should be, we had a much more relaxed, enjoyable, and happy spirited Christmas. We were glad to have taken the focus on what gifts we received but to look at giving as an even more fun thing. We had fun doing the 12 days of Christmas and taking fun Lime Rickey packages around to friends of ours. We had a fun Christmas day and a nice dinner, watching movies all day, relaxing and getting ready for Santa. We had a very nice Christmas evening about Jesus' birth and the reason we celebrate Christmas. Unfortunately Santa was left to his own work that night because Mrs. Claus must have taken an Ambien and went to bed at 8:30. Santa worked very hard getting everything just right before he was off to the next house. According to our alarm system he was up till 2:30 doing some projects, but sure enough he finished in time, ate all the cookies we left and even had to time to feed his 8 reindeer the treat the boys made just for them. He left some straw out front of our house, he must have had to pit stop at our house to feed the reindeer. Speaking of reindeer-they left their own special treat for us in the front yard if you know what I mean. Next year with our letters to Santa- we are going to send him some pooper scooper bags to carry with his sleigh-right under the tire chains and fix-a-flat. Christmas day was great. The boys didn't wake up till 7:00 which was nice. As you can see, Dad was really tired for some strange reason. But the boys wasted no time ripping open packages and squealing in delight. Santa was good enough to bring the boys a new learning station computer of their very own filled with games, learning activities, and lots of school helpers and that is where they have been ever since. We got them a desk for their room and so they now have their own learning station where they can practice their typing, letters, numbers, telling time, etc. They got swords......I am sure Mrs. Claus was against the manufacturing of these.....which they love to fight with .....including Parker who does pretty well holding his own. They all got some much needed clothes, the regular underwear, socks, winter gloves, etc. and too much sugar. They got some very nice gifts from their grandparents and all in all everyone had a nice Christmas. Parker got a ride-along train that he has just barely gotten to play with because his brothers seem to like to also. Daddy got some much needed clothes, some church books, the usual Christmas ties, and his pride and joy.....the complete collection of Sherlock Holmes mysteries. He is really into them and wanted it very badly. As for Mrs. LeDuc, she was very good and Santa in his wisdom bought her a new camera...he must have seen Richard drop her camera off the drop in Seattle which broke it to bits. She was very excited to have a brand new digital camera so she can blog good pictures. She also got a big box of Kotex tampons with a picture of Florida taped to it. Richard felt bad that she didn't have much under the tree so he grabbed something out of our food storage and turned it into a decorative picture frame (I guess he hasn't gotten the memo that she hasn't needed tampons since about 2002 due to being pregnant or nursing...but what a thoughtful gift). Uncle Craig and Aunt Jacqueline spoiled us this year and sent our entire family authentic English soccer uniforms. The boys came complete with the shirt shorts and tall socks. The boys were absolutely thrilled and Andrew insisted on going and putting his soccer cleats on at once. They slept in them that night so thanks to The Wilson Family of England for getting us ready for another year of David Beckham fever in our new gear. All in all the LeDuc's did very well this year and despite our efforts to keep Christmas at a minimal there were still way to many boxes and wrapping and gifts on Christmas morning.
We spent the morning and day, lounging around in our pajamas, eating leftovers, watching more movies. Richard took the boys sledding with some friends and we had what we think was our best day to date as a family.

Now that the holidays are over...we are getting ready for the upcoming year. We are so grateful for the blessings that 2008 gave us and look forward to what 2009 holds for us and our little family. We hope your holidays have been memorable as ours have and that 2009 is as promising as it possible could be. We just sent out our family card (a little late.....blame Richard-it is more of a Happy New Years message) and we love hearing from all of you. Thanks for reading our blog and stay in touch.

Happy New Year-
Love
The LeDuc Litter

Parker Turns 1 Today!

2008-12-08T10:37:00.000-08:00

Parker Browning LeDuc was born on a very snowy day. As we woke up this morning we were suprised to see a day just like the day Parker was born one year ago. With the snow coming down, parker woke up as usual at 7:00 on the dot with a hungry appetite for a "bobba" of milk and a full diaper of crap....which he welcomes us to every morning first thing. Nothing is better than having to immediately wake up to a nasty poopy diaper but even with Parkers happy smile...we don't mind it too much. This morning was no exception. We got up early while the other kids slept, changed his diaper, got him a nice cold bobba and laid in bed, just Mom, Dad, and Parker talking about our favorite and most memorable memories from the past year. One by one Andrew and Rigdon joined us and came up with their own favorite things of Parker. We Sang Happy Birthday who knows how many times and now we were ready to think back about the past year with our little "George" as Poppa Wilson calls him. Parker has alwasy been such a joy in our lives. From the moment he was born, his calm nature and patience had been unbelievable. Soon after being born, about 4 weeks, Parker got very sick and we tried everything to get him better. Our sweet doctor saw him mostly every day for a week and things only got worse. We soon found out that Parker had RSV, which is a simple cold to an adult but to a baby it is sometimes fatal, especially newborns. Richard was in Florida for work, I was trying to take care of Parker and theboys, Richards parents were here to help me (thank goodness) and so at about 9:30 one Sunday night I was so scared for Parker because he stopped breathing a lot and was really struggling. He was getting lathargic and all the things the doctors had told me weren't working. I took him into our doctor (who is around 24 hours a day thank goodness) and found out things were very bad and that Parker had to be immediately put on oxygen and in a hospital. The only problem was that there was absolutely no room in the Hospital here by us and after trying to find somewhere to go, a special room was made at MCKay Dee Hospital which in normal weather is about 20 minutes away. There were no ambulances available for transport and a raging snow storm was happening. After one prayer of many that night, I knew that Heavenly Father would help me drive Parker to MCKay Dee in the bad snow storm. They set us up as best they could and sent us into the most horrible snow storm I had ever driven in. I couldn't see Parker in the back seat behind me and among the driving on bad roads I was forced to listen and make sure I heard his gasps for air to make sure he was still breathing. I got lost in the snow drifts 3 times ending up on dead end roads with Richard on the phone trying to give me directions in places he has never driven. With the frustration and fear almost more than I could handle we made it too the hospital after 2 hours and 35 minutes. So many miracles happened that night for Parker and Me. The freeway was shut down 20 minutes after I arrived, which would have made it impossible to get to McKay Dee or Primary Childrens. There had been no rooms available at any hosiptal and the best chance I had was drive to SLC (in the snowstorm) and go to Primary childrens hosiptal and see if they by chance could fit us in. If not it would be onto Provo and further south if needed. By some miracle our Doctor called and by chance, after sending others to Primary Childrens and Provo, we were admitted over the phone to McKay Dee and they had people waiting for us when we got there. Another miracle for Parker was that for some reason the on call doctor didn't attach his oxygen for the trip, but waited for us to get to McKay Dee. Our physician who treated Parker upon arrival said we were very blessed and "lucky" if we believe in luck that we made it with no oxygen for 2 and 1/2 hours. He said in those road conditions, Parker wouldn't have made it very much longer without first losing brain function and then expiring after lack of oxygen. I remember how relived I was once we were put in our own private room, Parker was on oxygen, the nurses had him taking in fluids through an IV (which took about an hour because his veins had collapsed from dehydration) and his oxygen level went for a very dangerous 38 up to a 92. As I was there all a lone with Parker in his "cage" with wires, tubes, suctions, etc. coming from every part of his body.....he didn't cry. I remember sitting and listening to dozens of screaming children (which is what I imagine Hell is like) who were suffering and in pain, and Parker just laid there looking at me through his cage bars. We spent 8 very long days in the specail NRSV unit where Parker was the youngest they had, and all the nurses kind of fell in love with him-bringing him toys and stuffed animals, and cards. Things were very rough for about 5 days and then things started improving little by little. Parker was having Albuteral treatments about every half hour with a suction tube being put down his nose and throat 4 times an hour to suck out mucus as well as being vacumed through the nose as often. He was on full oxygen for most of the days and got so used to the suction and vacumn that after the first day he didnt cry or move when they did it. I thinkhe thought that was just part of what you do when you get to Earth. So many miracles happened to us both in the hospital and after we left. I know that it is through the prayers, thoughts, wishes, cards, and fasting of all our friends, family, and strangers. It has been a whole year since Parker was born. We are so thankful for his little spirit in our family and couldn't imagine life without it.

Parker Browning LeDuc is an adorable little, burst full of energy. He is very patient, very calm mannered, and a very deep thinker. He is the only child Richard and I have seen who not only understand the word "No" but listens when we say it-we get a lot of comments from others abouth this also. We haven't had to move any of our fragile items in the house, and we decorated the whole tree this year (which is unusal because Andrew had that tree torn down 5 or 6 times at Parkers age). He stays away from the tree without touching. He will go up and look at the little twinkling lights but he never touches. He looks at other things that we have told him not to touch and he has never touched them, just likes to look at them. He is very patient and only cries when he has a poopy diaper that isn't getting attention or when he is hungry and no one is getting the clue. When he goes down for naps and to bed, he doesn't usually cry at all. As soon as I turn on his lullaby CD, he lays his head on our shoulder and closes his eyes. We lay him in his bed and he pulls his blanket up and turns over. Not even a peep. He is so mellow and so charming. He flirts with all the ladies wherever we go and he loves to wrestle with his dad and brothers. Parker is such a joy to have around and we are glad to honor him today on his very 1st Birthday.

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY PARKER!!! WE LOVE YOU!

Feel free to leave comments about your favorite memory or thing about Parker. I print these off and put in their baby books so he might like to look back and see what some of you thought about him after 1 whole year. I will include a blog update later this week with our fun birthday festivities and pictures!

Thanksgiving Thankful List

2008-11-30T13:44:00.000-08:00

TEN THINGS WE ARE THANKFUL FOR:
10. Thankful for our family all over the country and world who we love and who love us.
9. Thankful for our house, our cars, and for all the luxuries we are blessed with in life.
8. Thankful for the wonderful country we live in that allows us to be free
7. Thankful for our food and water which we so often take for granted.
6. Thankful for our friends who laugh around us, cry with us, and pray for us.
5. Thankful for good health-our family has been so blessed and are healthy and happy
4. Thankful for each of our family members, Dad, Mom, Andrew, Rigdon, Parker....each one makes our fmaily special
3. Thankful for a wonderful husband and father who sings to his kids, who rocks them when they are sick or tired, who plays with them till he either gets kicked in the "tenders" or till something gets broken. For a husband who has always been an equal partner and a great dad. He has changed thousands of diapers, stayed up at night so I could sleep, spent time doing things his kids love, always had a good attitude about life and about our family. I am thankful for a husband who has never complained about helping and who works hard and makes us laugh. The boys said thy are glad to have a dad who is "probably their best friend".
2. We are thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ in our lives. For our church callings and the ability to serve others.
1. We are thankful for the Atonement of Jesus Christ and for the love he has for all of us!

November Recap

2008-11-30T12:58:00.001-08:00

Well it is about time for an update....it as only been a month since our last one. We have sure been busy this month. Here are a few things we did this past month. I just put the pictures all in a slideshow to save on space.

-We got all of our Christmas shopping done and even got the gifts wrapped and ready to go under the tree!
-Richard and a few friends came and chipped out our old driveway entrance and poured a new cement one that is so nice and smooth. It is amazing!
-the boys and I had some fun making some crafts this month. We made adorable stick horses to give to some kids this Christmas out of jeans that are so cute...we named them "Levi".
-We did a fun project out of Family Fun magazine. It is hard to keep all the art projects the boys do...our fridge is only so big so we painted some frames and made an art showcase for all their artwork which we can change out. We put the pictures and art up in the frame and then take pictures of it on the wall, then we scrapbook the picture with a description of what it is and how/when/why they made it and put it in an art portfolio. That way we don't have boxes of artwork (we keep some of it) but we have pictures of all of it, and the boys really get excited to hang it on their art wall after they make it.
-I made a homemade quilt for my brother and sister-in-law for Christmas. I hand sewed around the whole thing and had to do it fast so I could get it in the mail to England before Christmas. It was hard but beautiful when I was finished. I hope they love it.
-We had a fun little get away to Southern Idaho...boy was it fun! Room service, Red Box, and lots of wii fun!
-Andrew had his school program and it was adorable! He was a pilrgrim and did so well on his speaking part. He did a great job singing and his sweet little adorable friend Malia (who I hope he grows up to marry) was so cute and she sang so loud. I am trying to peel Richard away from football to put a snippet of his program on the blog.
-Rigdon got to go on a special trip with Mommy to Salt Lake City...it was very fun to just have the two of us.
-I had 4 really successful craft boutiques for the holidays and although it was a lot of work it was well worth it and I am glad there is a whole year until next years.
-We got to go to Idaho for a week this Thanksgiving weekend to be with family. We helped Nana Wilson do some of the finishing work on her brand new house remodel.....boy does it look great! Nice job Uncle Cody.
-We had an AMAZING dinner at Poppa and Nana Wilsons with all of our cousins and aunts and uncles (except the foreigners which we really missed!) The best part of dinner was the great thanksgiving program that all the cousins put on with the help of Poppa who told us a story of the first Thanksgiving (which I think he might just be old enough to remember....whew is his memory going south!). The other highlight other than being with so many people we love-was the delicious yams my mom made. I know yams and delicious should not be in the same paragraph.....but somehow my Mom turned water into wine...or actually she took nasty, gross, bland yams and made them take like a party in your mouth! It seriously tasted like you were eating a bag of sugar candy...and to think it was a vegetable. Richard liked them so much he wanted me to make some when we got home...but only if I got the recipe EXACTLY the way it was prepared. He hates yams, as do I-but i would have eaten those yams till the end of time! Thanks Poppa and Nana for the great Thanksgiving.
-We got to spend some fun time with Poppa and Grandma LeDuc. Grandma bought the boys a train that moves and a bag full of dinosaurs which Richard and I have found really hurt when you step on them. They had a lot of fun and it was a nice Thanksgiving!
-Our highlight of the trip was stopping in Burley on Friday on the way home after Thanksgiving and having lunch with Aunt Sara, Uncle Eric, and their cute little Halli. It was probably the most fun of the whole trip and it is always fun to see that cute little family!
-We got to see some of our friends who were visiting from out of town. Richard stayed up till very late...i won't say how late...but suffice it to say late playing video games and hanging out like old times.
-We had a really nice night on Friday night with one of our favorite cousins, Lauren and we got to meet her fiance Taylor. We had dinner and lots of laughs and we are so excited for Lauren and Taylor (my kids are especially excited for her when they found out her wedding was the reason we get to go to Disneyland in February).
-Saturday we got out the Christmas lights and all the fun decorations and got our house all trimmed for the season. Daddy conquered his fear once again of heights and strung the whole house in beautiful white lights, then we deocrated our tree and our inside and hung our stockings. A funny story you will have to ask Richard about is the fact that I bought a beautiful $400 fake Christmas tree after Christmas last year for only $75.00....the only problem we ran into was the following math.....our ceilings are 7 and a half foot high......the fake tree is a nine foot...GINORMOUS tree. Good story but Richard has to tell it. I included his ward newsletter bishopric message because it is funny but also a nice reminder of what Christmas really is.
-Monday night we are taking the boys to get a real tree for their room which they get to decorate however they want-so they can sleep next to their own tree every night. (I have turned into my mother...having a beautiful tree that i am in charge of a kid tree that the kids get to do whatever they want....that way my OCD is happy and the boys are too). We will update with pics from Family night on Monday so you can see how it all turned out.
-We got all our presents under the tree, our shopping is complete, and we are excited for the wonderful upcoming Christmas season.
-I have been playing Christmas music since the day after Halloween so Richard is finally glad that tomorrow is Dec. 1st so he doesn't have to be Grinchy about it anymore.

Happy Halloween

2008-10-31T13:20:00.000-07:00

What an eventful couple weeks for the LeDuc family. It feels like we have been running around with our pumpkins cut off.....Richard says that sounds weird...now that I think about it, he is probably right. Here are a few things we have done:

Parker was introduced to WWF wrestling at our house. Let it suffice to say that he handled it like a champ and was ultimately awarded the big buckled belt and title for the evening. He is tough as nails!

A cute little story that happened from our child, Rigdon who...how do we say this...sometimes it is hard for him to be nice. I was doing my third sink full of dishes after a dinner party with some friends. I had been in doing dishes listening to some Christmas music and sweet little Rigdon came in and pushed a chair up to the sink next to me and said, "Mom I bet your little toes are hurting from standing here doing these dishes. You go sit down at the table and I will wash the dishes". Aside from having a heart attack A) because Rigdon is usually telling me "No" and hitting me when he is mad and B) because LeDuc men don't really do dishes-I pushed aside the OCD in me that would have said "no its okay Rigdon I need to get these dishes done"....I listened to the quiet voice in my head that said "go sit down and let him help out". I sat down and watched as my three year old happily washed dishes (very thoroughly might I add, taking about 5 minutes and 4 gallons of water per dish) as he sang Halloween songs and primary hymns that he has learned in nursery. It was such a sweet experience and As Richard listened to the whole exchange from the Living Room, he came in and told Rigdon how proud he was of him for helping mommy and for being so aware of helping others. It was a very nice moment in a life where sometimes it feels like those kind of moments never happen. Rigdon is a very sweet boy and a very happy and sweet addition to our family.

We had a fun weekend as Richard took me and Parker with him on a business trip to Idaho. We left Andrew and Rigdon to have a two night sleepover with their good friends Dallin and Emma. Thanks to the Hunts for being so willing to add our two to their family for a couple days. It was a very fun, relaxing couple days. Sleeping in, taking naps, room service, the whole nine yards....a girl can really get used to a life like this!

We had a fun spooky Halloween breakfast this week. The boys and I made black widow spider eggs and pumpkin cakes for breakfast. Then for joy school Rigdon and I made some delicious mummy cookies that are the cutest cookies I have ever seen. We took the mummy cookies to Andrews school for his Halloween Program and got to listen to him sing some fun Halloween songs and all of the things he has learned. He got a great book of colors which he has been working on since he started preschool and is very proud of it. Rigdon really loved the mummy cookies and Andrew thought they were very fun. A big thumbs up to Aunt J for that great recipe. We had a fun day at school and Andrew was very excited to get to dress up like Indiana Jones three days in a row (although we are really dressing up in it pretty much every day since he got the Wii game Indiana Jones) Rigdon and Andrew like to run around either A) playing Indiana Jones or B) "taming the badlands" like Bear Grylls on Man vs. Wild. Kids are so funny and imaginative.

As you can see Halloween was about adventure seekers here at the LeDucs this year. Andrew made a great Indiana Jones complete with a whip that makes whip noises and the theme song and Rigdon was a fantastic Pirate complete with eye patch and treasure chest full of chocolate gold coins (which mysteriously disappeared very rapidly). Parker was a pumpkin as you can see. The outfit is supposed to be for ages 24-36 months.....he is only 11 months and that pumpkin couldn't fit much more. We couldn't even do up the back of it. I guess Chinese 24-36 month olds are similar to LeDuc 11 month olds-go figure.

We grew our own pumpkins this year but they didn't get too awfully big and they stayed yellow. We will have to consult with Farmer Cliff (aka Poppa) to see what we did wrong to correct for next year. But we did have fun making a witch, a Frankenstein, a mummy, and a pig monster. Andrew did the mummy, Rigdon did the pig monster (by themselves) and mommy did the witch while daddy did the Frankenstein....kind of. Dad is giving the witch a bad time telling her that she looked like a pilgrim and inviting her to our Thanksgiving feast if she brings the corn. Funny!

We had a really fun time at our ward trunk-or-treat. It was so crazy I didn't take any pictures. We had a chili/soup cook-off which the Leducs did not win ( i guess Paula Dean needs to cook Paula Dean chili in order for it to taste like Paula Dean chili.....actually it was quite tasty). Then they had a costume contest which for the kid portion Andrew was awarded one of the best costume award. He has been on cloud nine since this occurred. Then they had a trunk-or-treat in the parking lot where the kids got way too much candy and the adults got to have fun decorating their trunks. Any guesses on what our trunk looked like.........it was a nice display of Microflex gloves complete with a tablecloth with company logo and a variety of latex and nitrile gloves. Richard is always working, even when he is supposed to be having fun and vice versa he is always having fun when he is working. It was a lot of fun and someone even brought a hearse with a coffin in it. Very fun. Our ward is so much fun and Halloween is probably the most fun we have as a ward year round. Just so everyone knows I was Cowgirl barbie and Richard was our bishops 401K. I will take a picture of his costume and post it later as he is under the weather.

After the party we came home and got to bed. At about 2 AM Parker woke up with a high fever and the shakes, Andrew got up at 3 because his "brain" hurts, and Rigdon slept in till 10 because he felt achey. Richard has been sick for a couple days now, which he attributes to his friend Brian Hunt, and I have yet to be plagued with anything except for lack of sleep from being up since 1 AM. We are going to spend the day and night of Halloween with our porch light off and all of us snuggled down watching Indiana Jones together having some yummy Carmel popcorn and hot cider...unless people are throwing up and then we will be capping the movie off with Pepto Bismol and Tylenol. The boys are a little disappointed not to go trick or treating with their friends but they got a pumpkin full of candy to last them quite a while.

As we spend Halloween fending off sickness, we hope you all have a fun Hallows Eve getting candy, smashing pumpkins, or drinking hot cider with good friends-whatever you do be safe and Happy Halloween from the LeDuc's.

Fall Weather means Fun Together!

2008-10-19T19:19:00.000-07:00

The LeDuc's are sure enjoying this beautiful weather! It has been around 70 degrees most of this past week and we have had such a fun time playing tackle football in the front yard; walking to the park; and even clearing out our garden and getting it ready to roto-till next weekend.

Andrew got his first goal at the last soccer game of the year (thanks Hunts for the fun) and earned $5 whole dollars from his Nana Wilson who awards such a large bill for first soccer goals. He has already plotted what he is going to do with $5 whole dollars! He is having a blast with his preschool and got to go to an awesome Fire Station this past week with his whole Preschool. It was a pretty fun day and Rigdon was excited to tag along.

Richard has been working a lot, this is his busy time of the year it seems-both last year and this year but it is still nice having him work here at home so we can have lunch together most every day. He has been pretty busy watching football. He is saddened by the loss...I should say "shelacking" (sorry about the spelling) that BYU took this past weekend but is grateful to still have his Alma Mater going strong. Go Broncos!

Rigdon is having a great time with Joy School. He is writing so well at such a young age. He is very studious and picks up on things really quickly. I though Andrew was fast, but Rigdon seems to be like lightning. Rigdon has come up with a new dance he calls the "crazy chicken" and I am trying to catch it on video to share with the world because it is hilarious. He sings all the time and loves to wrestle with Parker (I think they are in the same weight class).

Parker is such a joy to have as an addition to our family. He is happy all the time and hardly ever cries. He takes two naps every day at the same time and all I have to do is lay him in his crib and he grabs his silky blanket and closes his eyes....not a whimper! Same routine for bedtime. I am thinking that he loves to sleep and that he just waits for the time to come every day. He is taking steps here and there but prefers to get places fast and resorts to crawling. We took him in and for the first time in his life he is only in the 99th percentile in height and moved down to the 75th percentile for weight. He is leaning out now that he is moving more...but has a long way to catch up with those long legs......another Andrew we are sure of it.

As for me, I have been trying to run around behind 3 kids...make that 4...Richard counts keeping as much of my sanity as possible. I now gauge my day a success if I end up leaving the house with pants on......I am usually pleasantly surprised when I look down while waiting in line at "the big and spacious building" (Walmart for those of you non-mormons and non Zion dwellers) and find myself fully clothed with pants and everything. I am elated to see that things match, aren't dirty, and after a quick smell test I see that deodorant was a part of my morning routine! Thanks to a friend, I put up 24 quarts of grape juice which I am very excited about! Thanks Jamie for letting me take your whole day and kitchen. I am currently getting ready for my big fall/winter open house this weekend. It is a lot of work but I am excited with some of the things I have made and will have for the holidays. It will be a fun me project and the boys can have a fun day with Dad going to see Madagascar 2 or something. Other than my usual routine I haven't done much. I have been working on a Christmas present for my brother in England which I am trying to have mailed by November 15th......wish me luck it is quite an undertaking. On top of that I am making halloween costumes and listening to a lot of Christmas music! I love Christmas! My very very exciting news that I have been waiting to share, I am finally ready to tell......

As some of you know one of my dreams in life has been to write children's books. Well, I finally finished my first final draft of my very first children's book. I still have a long way to go and a long shot, but I am sending my first final draft off to have it reviewed and critiqued and hopefully somewhere down the road I will have even better news that my first book made it to print. Like I said we are a long way away from that but I am jumping in head first because life is worth living to the fullest and I never want to look back and say, " I wish I would have done that". My kids love my stories and if for nothing else it is a reminder to them of me when I am gone...then my life dream was fulfilled. I had a professor in college names Hilde Fronske and she said something that has stuck with me all these years. She said, "Publish or perish....if you want to leave a mark in life, if you want to be remembered long after you are gone, publish your stories, publish your dreams, publish your life". Well Hilde, I finally did it. Here's to a dream that is already coming true, even if I only have one copy of my little book-at least I have one copy of one of my life's dream. I can check it off my bucket list!

Love to all!

2008-10-05T19:17:00.000-07:00

A tribute to our Andrew on his special day!

So I will try to do this entire blog without crying.....but it isn't looking good!

All I ever wanted to do was grow up someday and do two things....make mud pies in a little corner shop made out of hay bails....and have a family. I had such an amazing childhood with two parents who not only loved me more than life...but who made life magical. My Dad was (and still is) not only the hardest working man but he loves his kids more than anything. He loved to teach us things and show us God's creations. He never was in a hurry to get places but is always on time. Which means he always accounts for extra time to take us kids to new places. We never drove on paved freeways unless we had too. We took every back road to any place to see what places and treasures we could find. His sense of adventure is out of this world and his quiet love for nature and children is what made growing up fun and made us all fight to go wherever he was going. My mom is altogether a magnificent creature. While we have had our ups and downs like most mothers and daughters do, I am finally coming to appreciate how lucky I am to not only have been born to such a awesome dad, but to be blessed to come to such a wonderful mother. My mother has given everything in her life to her family. She has sacrificed nice clothes, expensive jewelry, "time to herself" (I still try to figure out what that means as a mother), a palatial estate, treasures, high careers, and pretty much everything.....so she could have 8 beautiful children who are all pretty fantastic if I do say so myself. My mom is brilliant. She hand sewed dresses for baptisms, weddings, blessings, halloween costumes, you name it she sewed it. She home cooked fabulous healthy meals for oodles of people, she baked homemade bread everyday. She took a chance on a handsome country boy from Nampa Idaho.....and that is what made all the difference. I look at my parents as they are aging and I am so filled with gratitude for their sacrifices and for their love and devotion to me. My mom and dad are what Nephi meant when he talked about being born to goodly parents. These are reasons why I wanted to be a mom so much....so I could have adventures with my own kids and boy have we had some adventures...

So back to my original dreams......making mudd pies and having a family. The mudd pies didn't quite work out-not a lot of demand, who knew? But having a family has been the most amazing, most challenging, most fulfilling, most heavenly, most hellish, most wonderful, and most rewarding thing I have ever done. And as my oldest child turns 5 tomorrow, I want to take a minute and do a blog tribute to my little "Duke".

We had been trying for a couple months to start our family when I found out I was pregnant for the first time. Richard and I were broke, both in college, and far from home. We decided to we wanted to change a few things, so I finished school, we moved home to Boise to be closer to family, and we stayed broke while Richard finished school at Boise State. Richard was so excited when we found out we were pregnant, but I will never forget that ultrasound that told us we were having a boy. He hugged the tech, he jumped around the room, and he talked about what sports events he was going to do the whole way home. We had a lot of fun preparing for Andrew, the anticipation killed us. It was October 5, 2003 and it was Conference weekend. Richard had major testing the whole next week and informed me that I needed to go another week before having Andrew or it was going to cause problems. After being in labor all through Saturday and Sunday, Richard pushed me out the door and told me to go walk around Walmart (mostly because he was in charge of getting my hospital bag and hadn't done it because of school and there were things I needed) and hopefully things would calm down. His mom and I "hobbled" around Walmart because I had to stop every 10 steps to have a contraction until his mom finally took me home and told Richard...."you either take her to the hospital to have this baby or I will". Richard and I went to St. Lukes and were admitted because I was contracting but not dilating and it was putting stress on the baby. That next day I will never forget what happened. I was exhausted. I hadn't slept in 2 days because I was miserable, I was starving, I was anxious, and most of all I was excited for Andrew to come. We already knew his name because Richard always wanted to have a son named after him. If I sit quietly for a few minutes by myself sometimes I can still feel the same emotion I felt when I was pushing Andrew out. I have never in my life felt such emotions of love before. I was sobbing uncontrollably as was Richard and when our amazing doctor laid that beautiful, perfect little boy on my chest I knew that love would never be the same again. As we held Andrew and listened to his little noises, Richard and I were so overcome with such a strong spirit. We knew that Andrew would be special, but I don't think we knew that his life and his spirit would change us for the better-making our family stronger and better than we could have even imagined.

Richard Andrew LeDuc, Jr. has been a pleasure being parents too. He has been a sweet angel from the beginning and teaches us so much every day. Here are some of our favorite things and memories of Andrew as we recognize him on this his 5th birthday.

Andrew has always made us laugh. From the time he spoke he has had very funny things to say every where he goes. His laughter and easy going nature are what I imagine Richard was like as a boy.

Andrew is so thoughtful to others. I remember when he was turning 4, we saw a boy in a wheelchair with some severe disabilities. Andrew saw the boy and said to Richard and I, "Mommy why is that boy like that", we told him that Heavenly Father makes us all different and that we are all special in our own ways. He told us in front of all the people, and the little boy in the wheelchair, "Mommy, I wish Heavenly Father made me special like him". As a small child he saw through impairment and pain and saw another little boy who he wanted to be like while as adults our first reaction was being uncomfortable or to feel sorry. What a lesson.

Andrew is so sensitive and sweet. If Richard and I are to get mad at him or if one of our tempers raises, he with either go in his room crying and tell us that we scared him, or more recently he will come to us and tell us that it makes him feel sad inside when we are mad or angry. He is such a good communicator and so close to the spirit.

Andrew is thoughtful and kind. He always makes sure Rigdon and Parker have some of what he has. In the morning when I come into get him, he sings to me the songs my dad used to sing to me....."Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning, it's time to rise and shine, Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning, I hope you're feeling fine"...or "Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning to you, Good Morning, Good MOrning, How do you do?.

Andrew loves to sing, especially Primary Songs. We were so proud to see him stand in the Primary program and sing his heart out. He sings himself to sleep, he sings when we are cleaning, he sings when we are in the car, and he loves to sing to Parker. He is currently trying to get Richard to take him and Rigdon to a Jonahs Brothers concert. ...Hilarious!

Andrew has such a sweet heart. Everyday no matter what time it is, he always lets us know if we have forgotten to give him a "huggle snuggle and a kiss". He will say, "Hey mom, where is my Huggle Snuggle and kiss....I think you forgot". Never fails, everyday.

Andrew loves learning. He has been itching to go to school since he could talk. He loves other children and you can see his mind work as he learns things and tries to figure them out.

Andrew is strong. Andrew is so perceptive of what is right and wrong. He listens to the spirit like no one I know. He is very good to have around Rigdon who can be mischievous and stubborn. They really help each other be the best they can be.

And since I could make this blog go on forever...I will end with my favorite thing. Every night after we kneel down and say family prayers, he runs to his bed and kneels down for his own prayers in which he asks for certain wii games, good weather, and other important personal issues. And then as he is climbing in bed, he wraps his arms around our necks and whispers in our ears...."Mom, I love you more than everything".

I though I loved mudd pies more than anything, but as I have grown I find that I love my family more than everything...and that is what had made all the difference in my life.

HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY ANDREW...."I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, as long as I'm living my baby you'll be!

September Fun

2008-09-21T19:08:00.000-07:00

First let me say...I do love Miley Cyrus and I am dedicating this first song on our playlist to Ricardo, who I miss! As Miley Cyrus says so well.... "I can't wait to see you again!"

The LeDuc's have had a busy couple weeks since our last blog. I've included a few things we have done with some pictures and then a slide show at the bottom if you want to see more pics!

Richard took me and Parker, along with our good pals The Hunts to beautiful Washington for a fabulous weekend full of Ken Jennings from Jeopardy friendship building time to BYU football to eating in motion. We had a great time and it was good to just relax and hang out with some fun friends without worrying about work, kids (well except Parker he got to tag along), or any other day to day responsibilities. We walked around the famous Pike Street Market where they throw fish, ate on top of the Space Needle (which we highly recommend to everyone. It seems expensive but when you are paying $16 just to ride to the top or you can pay $26 for a great meal including your ride up) it is a no brainer! It was fun because the restaurant moves in a complete circle while you eat so you get a view of everything. It was very fun...and thanks to Brian and Laura for talking my cheap skate husband into going for it!

As you can see Parker had a great time and even survived this run in with a bear! Isn't he adorable!

We were able to go see the Yankees play the Mariners. It was great...Richard was in heaven. The Yankees are his favorite team and it was great being there with him watching them get their rears handed to them by the Mariners. We also were able to sit right next to the one and only Ken Jennings-you may remember him from Jeopardy! I haven't seen Richard that excited since they put 7 layer nachos back on the menu at Taco Bell (which they have since removed again!) He was giddy...if you don't believe me...ask the Hunts who I believe have documented the picture of Richard texting his friend Gerritt that he was sitting next to Ken Jennings with Ken in the picture! Remind me to never take Richard to Hollywood. Heaven forbid we see another celebrity and have to buy them a nacho and a cotton candy! We rode the ferry out to an island near Seattle and saw a naval destroyer and some enormous starfish (no Sara I didn't take a live one home to kill and keep). It was a beautiful drive and like I said we had a lot of fun laughing and making good friendships along the way.

For those of you who don't know that I am obsessed with couponing....I had some really great deals these past couple weeks. After doing my inventory, I have completed a years supply of food for my entire family. I haven't been doing it for very long and so now I am going to start working on my sister JaLaes food storage because I need an excuse to keep doing it and if I tell Richard it is to help out the Thompsons then he will allow me to continue. What you see in the picture above I only paid $21.54 for. That includes 9 boxes of electrasol tabs for the dishwasher, 20 yoplait yogurts, 3 cases of Juicy Juice juice boxes, 18 boxes of Quaker Granola Bars, 40 packages of kool aid, and 18 bottles of Powerade (which they actually paid me for!). Couponing may be the greatest thing ever....and with all the money I am saving each month I get to save up for House projects for my brother Cody to do. It is a win win situation....unless you are Cody that is! If you are interested in Couponing, my good friend Emily Forsgren is actually a Coupon instructor (yes there are such people) and she can teach you for coupon...its free you just have to buy the papers to get the coupons. You can call her at 801-318-5039!

Richard took the boys on a paddle boat for the first time.

They loved it and were big helpers in turning those huge

water wheels.....NOT! Richard was sweating
to death before they even pulled out of the caution zone. Mom and Parker had a good laugh walking along the bank videoing Dad swearing, sweating, and praying for the strength to get them around the loop and back to the dock before he A) died or B) was charged for more than a half an hour. They were giggling and laughing so much it was quite fun!

Since I just seem to have so much time on my hands....I decided to do a little canning. Since I have never done this before myself...I spent a lot of time on the phone with my mom asking silly questions and laughing with each other. After canning 192 quarts of Peaches, Peach pie filling, Peach syrup, Peach jam, Stewed Tomatoes, Dill pickles, Pizza Sauce, and green chilies-I am pooped! As you can see I am very proud that I A) didn't blow up the house B) that I did it myself (only with technical help from Grandma to iron out the glitches) and C) that Richard was so proud of me he helped me mop up the kitchen which was covered in all kinds of sticky things. I thought growing your own food was fantastic...but canning the food that you grow is even better. I think I might be turning the corner in becoming a really Betty Crocker....minus the whole cooking thing. Baby steps! I am gearing up for doing grape juice, apple relish, and sweet and sour sauce. I am waiting on my tomatoes to keep on producing....they are doing a fantastic job!

Finally-we celebrated the last birthday of our wonderful Dad before he has to start putting a 3 in front of the other number. That is right, the big 29. Richard was special this year and actually got a whole week of birthday festivities. Since he had work and church things all week we got to spread all the fun out over a whole week. For his birthday the boys and I gave Richard tickets to see his all time favorite band, Weezer, in concert in October. We have a silly tradition we started where the birthday boy or girl gets a hand made birthday hat to wear. The crazier the hat the better....this year Richards hat was a little big and fit his shoulders instead of his head (he seems to think it would have fit Poppa LeDuc's head.....Richard claims he has a large melon!) His cake was a funny story in itself. The boys and I ran into Dairy Queen to get a ice cream cake. I ran out to ask if he wanted Mint or Chocolate Crunch and he pleaded to have a clearance cake. He wanted the cheapest one they had....(are we seeing a cheapness theme about Richard's life). So the boys and I went back in and low and behold the only clearance cake they had was a heart shaped one with pink frosting. So we did it right and had them write a message fit for our King. It said...."Happy Birthday Princess". We all had a good laugh and then some great cake (which I might add tasted exactly like the other ones that were $20 more dollars). We had a lot of fun together and the boys had fun hanging a huge banner on our house so everyone would know it was Richard's special day.

We have been doing lots between Andrew's school, Rigdon's Joy school, Parker teething, Mom canning, Dad working.......but my mom keeps telling me that someday I will look back on all of this and my house will be empty...and might I add CLEAN.....and I will sometimes wish that I had spent more time enjoying the madness.

I hope you don't mind our crazy blog, but since Richard and I are such sporadic journal keepers we have started printing out our blog entries and keeping them in a nice family journal notebook. So someday when we are old, Richard can't hear me, and I have upgraded Huggies size 5 diapers to the ones that will fit Richard-The two of us can look back and see how much joy is filling our lives right now and how wonderful it is to be the parents of such amazingly perfect little creatures!

Finally an update!

2008-09-08T19:42:00.000-07:00

Things have been a little hectic to say the least. Here is what we have been up too.....

Andrews 1st day of Preschool at Learning Station Preschool. He got a great spiderman backpack and some pretty cool sneakers. He would love to tell anyone and everyone all about it...so if you are bored and need some good laughs call Andrew and ask about Preschool.

Rigdon started Joy School. I am teaching it here at home and trying to get some more kids involved to make it more fun. We are learning the joy of the earth right now and we went out and learned about worms and made mud pies.....we are thankful to Heavenly Father for giving us such beautiful things in our world to enjoy. We also did cloud watching and created cloud posters out of shaving cream...what a mess!

Becky took on a home improvement project that has been an eye sore to our front house for some time. It is actually the cities responsibility...but waiting for someone in Clearfield to come and fix it is like expecting your dentist not to hurt you when he drills your teeth....Each time you are optomistic, but then sadly disapointed when you leave his office. There is no longer cement filling our front sidewalk flower bed....now we just have to figure out what to put in there other than sticker weeds. OUr neighbors did red rocks that look just like dog food...classy!

We grew our first watermelon. It ended up being huge. We were all very proud, especially Richard who likes to think he had something to do with it. Other than nagging Becky about the garden taking too much of her time......he did nothing! We also are on our 4th bushel of tomatoes with lots more to go....yikes! Help we are drowning in tomatoes! Parker loves to eat tomatoes whole. He mungs them to death and sucks the juice out of them. Very cute I must say!

We went and stayed at Nana Wilsons for a week to help Uncle Cody start the demo of her remodel. It was very fun and the boys enjoyed being Cody's little helpers. He is so good with children and takes time to teach them things and gives them responsibilty like knocking down a whole wall with one hammer and a bulls eye. They did a great job and we had fun helping Nana get one step closer to her dream house!

And we had to throw a cute picture of Elmer fudd in there. Parker looks just like elmer fudd in this hat and we had a good laugh.

We are keeping busy with canning, church, now school, and still fitting in time to take a fun trip to Seattle to see a Yankee's Game and see a BYU game. That will be in our next update. UNtil then.......

P.S. Richard wanted me to let everyone know that The Office is back on September 25th!

Just a Side Note

2008-08-19T14:44:00.000-07:00

Richard and I went to see Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband last night with our friends the Monsons. We had such a great time and I just want everyone to know that Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband are probably the most talented musicians and do not get half the credit they deserve. They have a song called The Corndog song and my kids love it to death. They are going around the house singing it at the top of their lungs. So google Ryan Shupe and the Rubberband and fall in love with Bluegrass. Richard is now a member of their fan club and wants to go and buy their CD from the store....not download it off ITunes...that means he loves it. We added some of their music to our playlist here on the website if you want to hear a little.......Bluegrass is different....but give it a chance, it is the best music in the world if you ask me and my family....but we are hicks from the sticks!

Catchin' Up with the LeDuc Clan

2008-08-18T20:51:00.000-07:00

Things have been pretty hectic for the LeDuc Clan. It feels like we have been going, and going, and going, and going. Here is a list of fun things we have been doing since our Washington D.C. trip with the slideshow that goes along with it!

1-Richard and I took the boys along with some friends to a driving range and let them hit a few balls. Noting has changed much, Becky still out drives Richard every time....but another new development...Andrew actually out drives Richard also!
2-Andrew and Rigdon got to go on a tour of the North Ogden Fire Station with Scouts.
3-I braved taking all three boys to a rodeo in Ogden. They were so cute in their hats, boots, wrnagles, and of course their cap guns and holsters. We had a lot of fun and ate a lot of expensive rodeo food. Shhh don't tell dad!
4-We went camping with a few families in our ward. It was great to get to know some of them better and we had a gorgeous campsite and lots of yummy food and tons of fun with our friends. We went on a bear hunt, roasted marshmallows, and somehow mommy forgot to pack the poles to our 15 man tent so we had to go to a nearby convienience store and bought the only tent they had which claimed to be 7 feet long. Richard layed down in it and it cut him off just below the knee caps. Very funny you have to see the picture of this!
5-Got the first produce out of our garden. We are drowning in lettuce, our tomatoes are turning red and they taste delicious, we have lots of jalapenos, green peppers, and the cucumbers are over taking our house. We are making dill pickles for the first time thanks to help from Auntie Lynny and a watermelon which is already bigger than a basketball. YEAH YEAH YEAH....we are very excited and the boys love helping in the garden...how long will that last?
6-We grew baby dinosaurs from eggs we got at the Smithsonian.
7-I canned my very first batch of Apricot Jam and made it all by myself...no help from Grandma (after Auntie Lynny helped me do the practice). The jam turned out delicious and I was afraid Richard wouldn't like it but he loves it and has already devoured 2 bottles himself...not to mention how many loafs of bread for toast. It was the most fun I think I have ever had and it makes me feel so happy to see it sitting on my shelf and to know I did it myself. Rigdon had such a good time helping me. His favorite part was cranking the Victorio for me and licking the spoon. I love this so much I have requested from Richard that I get canning supplies for my birthday since I don't have any.....I have officially turned into my mother...crap!
8-Since mid life crisis happens at different times for everyone...I decided to have my own midlife crisis at 26 and so I cut 15 inches off of my hair and dyed it bright red on top and black on the bottom. I was so scared that I hid at our Bishops house until Richard came looking for me because I figured the Bishop could talk Richard out of killing me! But it turns out he loved my hair and was happy with how it looked. It was very red at first but has since faded to a nice auburn color which I love. The cut is fabulous and so easy to take care of and manage. It took some getting used to with the bangs but I love it overall!
9-Andrew and Rigdon started Swimming lessons and they are offically fish! They love the pool and they are doing so fantastic! It is a lot of fun to see them doing new things and learning new swimming things. They can't wait everday for noon to get here so they can go to the pool. Richard gives all credit to Michael Phelps!
10-Andrew had his first friend sleepover. Our friend Dallan came over and stayed the night. We set up the boys tent that GG gave Rigdon for his birthdya a couple years ago and then laid in their sleeping bags and watched Spongebob square pants and drank Spiderman Lemonade. They had a great time and it was fun to have Dallan over.
11-We had our yearly Wilson Famliy Reunion...that is the Cliff Wilson family reunion! It was Angies year so we went to one of our favorite swimming holes at Nat-Soo-pah by Twin Falls. It was so fun. We were able to go and tour the Twin Falls temple on Saturday as a family and it was so wonderful and the spirit was so strong. Andrews favorite part was the "Cabelas painting" which had a mural with animals and mountains, and Rigdon's favorite was the "swimming pool held up by Mooses" (the baptismal font). It was very beautiful and we had a fantastic time. You'll notice that the boys are wearing t-shirts with suits......that was not on purpose we forgot their dress shirts-but Uncle Aaron pointed out that it was very Abercrombie and Fitch looking. We went swimming after the temple and then had skit night. We are trying to figure out how to download our families skit which Richard wrote and here are some other pictures of skits our family did. Very funny! We had to come home Saturday night because Richard had church responsabilities, but the rest of the family spent Sunday after church with Bart, Anna Mae, and Kindee at their house. We missed out some as always fabulous Dutch Oven dinner, good fiddlin' and fun with all the farm animals! It was a great Family reuinion and Angie you did a spectacular job!
12-Richard had his 10 year High School reunion. We had such a good time and it was great to see everyone there. Everyone who planned and worked so hard on making it a success did such a wonderful job! We can't wait till the 20 but we hope to see everyone before then.

The week ahead is looking jam packed with lots of fun stuff. Andrew is starting school in two weeks so we have to get some school stuff and he is also starting piano lessons soon. Rigdon is starting Joy School and is excited to get a new backpack. Richard is working really hard as usual and Becky can usually be found feeding Parker some type of food. Parker is enormous and is wearing 2 and 3 T clothing.....Yikes! Gotta love the large LeDuc genes!

We hope everyone is doing well. We are excited to spend some time in Idaho coming upand hope to see some of you that we missed on the last trip.

There are some other pics of Parker falling asleep in random places as well as the boys getting goodies out of the garden.

Washington DC Trip

2008-07-29T19:09:00.000-07:00

Sorry it has taken us 2 weeks to get this updated. We kept having problems with our slide show and finally decided to just make two separate slide shows. Here is a short blog about each day of our trip:

Wednesday: We had a long day of flying and arrived about 3 pm in Baltimore. Upon exiting the plane we were welcomed by a used contraceptive on the plane ramp. Richard informed the bystanders that Baltimore actually has the highest STDs per ca pita in the nation....but that was one less statistic in our eyes. We took the MARC train into DC and after a little confusion on our part (and ending up on the wrong Rhode Island street...the scary part..we got back on and found our hotel downtown just a few blocks from the White House. We went out for a walk a tried to get dinner although everything closes downtown at 5 pm....weird! We witnessed a homeless man die in the park. Quite sad and it wasn't a very good start to our vacation. We ended up going back and getting settled and ready for the next big day.

Thursday: We woke up and met Drew and his family for our tour of DC sites. Ranger John was amazing and made me want to go and get my history degree. He seemed to know everthing. We were able to see the Jefferson, Lincoln, Washington, WW2, Vietnam. Korean, and the White House in one day thanks to our own personal shuttle and a fantastic tour guide. We went out to eat with the Myklegards at a fun brewery and then Richard and I went to the Supreme Court, Senate offices, Capital Hill, and got to see President Bush land in his Air Force One helicopter on the Lawn of the White House after his Fourth of July speech across the "pond" and the DC people call it and watched a sunset together over the Mall.

Friday: We had the day to go and see the Smithsonians. We were able to see all 4 of the ones open (History one was closed for renovations). We saw the Hope Diamond and tons of really cool historical items that were amazing. We had a fun day going through the different buildings and our favorite was definitely the Dinosaur exhibit and the Hope Diamond. We went back to the hotel and got ready (had to take the 2nd shower of the day due to the humidity...Richard had diaper rash the entire trip...I know TMI) We walked over to the Secretary of the Interiors office which overlooks the Mall. We had a great time meeting some really cool people like Justice Same Alito, Senator Larry Craig, Mort Kondrake (Richards favorite political commentator on the Brit Hume Show), the director of the CIA, and lots of other really cool people. It was so nice of Drew and Heather to include us on this amazing experience and thanks also to Secretary and Mrs. Kempthorne. They are they nicest down to earth people ever. Drew's family was a lot of fun and now we know why Drew is as funny as he is. We went out on the private balcony and watched the most amazing firework display we will probably ever see. We were so close I swear I could have reached out and touched the fireworks. Every time they launched the fireworks you could feel the blast go through your body...that is how close we were. It was a fun night. We were going to go out to Georgetown with Drew and his family and friends but I had to get back to the "hometel" (as Andrew and Rigdon call it) to pump since I am still nursing....I know TMI again!

Saturday: Because we were out late Friday night we slept in a little bit and then equipped with our camel backs (Brian...seriously greatest advice we have ever had in prep for a trip...we had ice water all day everyday at our disposal) we went out to Arlington Cemetery and did the tour then came back into Downtown and did the Holocaust Museum which was very amazing and quite emotional. We wandered through different buildings just getting in every last thing we could. We then went over to the Marina and met up with Drew, Heather, Drew's family and friends and the Kempthornes for dinner and then dessert on the Kempthornes boat. It was a lot of fun and we had a really nice end to our trip with them all.

Sunday we got up early and rode the Amtrak back to Baltimore to catch our flight home. We arrived in Boise about 5:30 and then went and picked up our kids from Grandma Wilsons and headed home. We stayed the night in Burley and then went on home Monday morning.

We had such a great trip and in true LeDuc fashion had lots of crazy stories and fun events to talk about. I am sure most of you have either heard or will hear all about the fine details. The highlights of our trip were of course the Washington monument, the fireworks, and the very best was the changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier in Arlington Cemetery. It made us really appreciate all that service men and women have done and continue to do for us each and every day by giving us the freedom to not only have a pointless blog...but for you to be able to make the choice to read it.

HAPPY 4th OF JULY!

"Feeling HOT HOT HOT"

2008-06-24T19:11:00.000-07:00

Well another week is closing and we can't even believe that it is the end of June already. We had a fun, but busy week and the weather has been REALLY hot, but we are enjoying watching our garden grow. Our pumpkins are practically taking over the entire neighborhood and our tomatoes are starting to get their blossoms. We had a fun yard sale this past weekend at Auntie Lynnies and it was a great success in our eyes! The boys have enjoyed the past week playing at some friends houses and slip n' sliding. Our friends took us out to dinner last night which was really nice since we didn't have kids running around the restaurant like monkeys. We hauled in the dirt to make our sloping side yard and are getting things ready for sod in a few weeks and a sprinkler system.

For those of you interested at all-my big "little" brother in England is doing the most crazy, amazing, stupid, awesome, did I say crazy, spectacular, thing I have even seen. He is running across the country of England where he lives to raise money for Alzheimer's. If you have a second please take a look at his website and if you feel like donating to the U.S. link for Alzheimer's I know it would not only mean a lot to my brother Craig...but also to our Great Uncle Ray who is struggling with Dementia.
Uncle Ray is an amazing man who has done amazing things....my brother is also an amazing man who is currently doing in my world, crazy things but living life to the fullest. I hope to be like my brother and look back and not wish that I had run marathons but that I actually got off my big butt, turned off the TV, stopped eating the whole bag of oreos, and started doing something I always wanted to. The link is below...check it out:

www.runforyourlives.net

This week is looking busy as we are getting ready for the big trip to Washington D.C. for the 4th. We have our house sitters arranged and I am doing laundry like it is the end of the world so I can get the boys packed for their fun week at Grandma and Poppa Wilsons with Auntie Lynnie. We won't be updating our blog till we get back but I promise to have great pics and video of our once in a lifetime experience in the nations capitol. We can hardly wait.

Happy Father's Day

2008-06-17T15:43:00.000-07:00

To the worlds greatest Dad, Richard...and universes greatest Grandpas (Wilson and LeDuc)! We sure love ya! Life wouldn't be very much fun without you in our lives! We have had a lot of fun...another busy week for us in Zion.

We spent a lot of the week getting our spring cleaning...which we have now titled "get it done whatever season we can" cleaning, done. We cleaned out our house and our garage and we have finally purged the last of our junk. I swore to Richard I wouldn't buy any more crap since we got rid of so much, but then we made a trip to walmart and they had some cute summer water toys and I couldn't resist! Suffice it to say that it is only the 17th of the month and my cash reserves are running out. We are on a cash only system and somehow I am always out of money way to fast! Yikes!

We suprised dad on Saturday and instead of cleaning out the garage on his day off, the boys and I planned a hiking trip to North of Huntsville Utah. We invited some good friends and away we went for a day of fun in the sun on the mountains. It was a beautiful summer day..not too hot and not too cold...just right. We hiked for the afternoon and then came home with some nice tanned faces and relaxed for the evening. It is amazing how much the sun takes out of you! We had a Wii tournament and of course Andrew won. It was a perfect family Saturday.

Sunday was nice. Richard didn't have bishopric meetings for the first time in a long time. We enjoyed a nice sleep in (now that Parker is sleeping through the night life is glorious). Then we had a nice breakfast together. I made homemade rolls before church and then we had a nice Sabbath at church. Andrew made Richard a quite fabulous tie in Primary. They collected men's old ties and then let the kids glue feathers, jewels, and all kinds of other fun things on them. Andrew was so excited and has insisted that Richard wears it to church next Sunday. That should be fun since Richard is conducting church and it should give our ward a good laugh-especially because it has so many of Richards favorite colored feathers on it...pink, purple, sunshine yellow. Richard said he hopes there isn't a gay pride parade in Clearfield that day because he might get taken away. We had our good friends the Hunts over for dinner and after a nice dinner we took a walk around the neighborhood to deliver some rolls. We played and wrestled in the yard on Dad's beautiful green grass that he fertilizes just about every Saturday and then put the kids to bed and enjoyed some adult time playing games and just chatting.

We cleaned out the garage as I mentioned and took 2 trips to the dump. If anyone is interested in some latex and nitrile gloves, Richard has cases and cases of older ones that he can't use for work and we would love to give them to people who would sue them rather than just throw them away. My dad says he uses them all the time, to change the oil in the cars and mixing chemicals. So if you want some email or call us and we will save you some.

To top off the week, we met the Hunts at a nearby pond and fished for a little while. Some other kids there caught some gigantic catfish...we weren't so lucky. Andrew was disapointed because his Poppa LeDuc takes him to the fish farm when he comes and you can catch bucket fulls in no time. As soon as you put your line in you have 20 fishing fighting for a piece of leather. Andrew had a hard lesson today that fishing isn't usually that easy...but we still had fun.

Richard is at a Youth Conference for the day and we are hanging out here at home practicing our letters for the week and cleaning toilets....two of my favorite thinsg to do. We hope you had a great Father's Day and hope your next week is full of summer fun.

Love
The LeDucs

There's No Place Like Home

2008-06-13T19:42:00.000-07:00

Well in the words of my Bishop, "Why do you even come here? Just to get clean clothes between vacations. I need you to stay here more so my wife has someone to talk to". It does feel like we have been going mach 3 with our underpants on fire lately. But....WHEW....we are finally home...for now.

The kids and I had a fun filled adventure with our favorite Aunties.....JJ, Lynnie, Angie and G (as we call her) putting together one heck of a party for my mom's big 65!!! Man Alive our Grannies 65.....Yikes how old was she when she had me....mom how old were you when you had me! I am struggling to keep my head above water with 3 kids and I am only 26 years old....my mom had 8 kids and baked bread every day....until Lynda learned the talent and continued on from there.....anyways I digress!

We had a great surprise party. We enjoyed staying at Uncle Clays for a big slumber party where he kept us stashed away so no one knew we were there. He treated us to Wii fun and good home cooked breakfast. The party was a hit and boy was Nana surprised to see us all!

We ended up staying for an extended weekend and got to have Auntie Lynnie stay with us! We got to cram another surprise birthday for Poppa LeDuc in as well as getting our Honda Civic all primed up and ready to take on the high gas prices. Pretty much we will be putting the Nissan to pasture in the driveway where it will get a weekly shine up-but that is about it. We are moving to the Honda until our damn government can start figuring our how the heck they are going to get us out of this pickle they got us into......don't mind the swearing...Richard says that when gas prices are above $2.50 per gallon swearing is fair game. We had a great time and thanks to Uncles Cody for being pretty much the greatest car mechanic in the world. As a side note if anyone knows the most fabulous girl in the world....send her our way...we are saving my fantastic little brother for just the right girl. We had fun playing with our cousins, eating Nana's good food and Poppa Wilson's out of this world dutch oven dinner! I love parties.....when is the next one?

We are back home and Richard sure missed us. He said it was fun for like a day and then he had to try and figure out where his clean underwear and socks were and things got bad very fast. I have had a lot of laundry to do to catch us all up but we are currently on the last load and I am organizing all my coupons for another kick butt week of couponing tonight.

This week has been pretty laid back. We working the yard and tore down a retaining wall and we are leveling it into one big yard that isn't separated. It was a lot of work but coming along nicely. We hauled in 3 truckloads of fill dirt today and have about 5 more on Monday to do. You'll notice the pictures of Richard and Neil (a friend) with hairspray and matches. The boys needed to exercise their testosterone and decided to kill the 4 black widow spiders we found in our retaining wall with homemade torches. I think Richard lost only one eyebrow and Neil may or may not need some skin grafted from his caboose.

As for gardens....let me just say that growing your own food might be the most exciting and gratifying thing you will do in this life (aside from marriage and children of course). I got home and we took a family trip to the garden to see how things were and there to our amazement we had beans sprouting, 3 pumpkin plants, 2 watermelon plants, amazing lettuce coming up and the tops of carrots sprouting through. It is quite amazing. I give all credit to my children who fervently are praying for this garden and like to include "please help mommy to not give the garden too much water". I believe greatly in the many past prophetic counsels on growing gardens and having faith. Our garden is growing, despite my many attempts to kill it in so many accidental ways.

We are planning on cleaning out the garage tomorrow and pressure washing the house and then spending the day together at the park feeding the ducks and flying kites (pray for wind). We have a real hum dinger of a Father's Day planned for Richard and will be sure to include pictures on our next blog.

There's no place like home....and there is way too much laundry to wash after taking three kids on a trip anywhere.

How Does Your Garden Grow

2008-06-03T19:54:00.000-07:00

Well another busy week is in full swing. I have decided that we will update our blog each Tuesday night because that is when Richard has Bishopric meetings all night and after I get the boys in bed at 7:30 I have the evening to myself to get some quiet things done(Richard forbids me to do projects that require power tools like it bothers the neighbors or something like that)

Here is our past week:

Tuesday we had a lot of cleaning to catch up on...and lots of laundry. It is amazing how much stuff piles up when Mom takes two weeks off to build and play with GG. It took me all day Tuesday but we were able to get all our chores done and had fun playing as well.

Wednesday we went to story time at the library. We do that every week and the boys have a great time. Rigdon has found his imagination and each morning we wake up to hear his beautiful butterfly stories which usually have red butterflies (cause they are mommies favorites) and a daddy butterfly who likes to have glove fights and play Wii.

Thursday we were busy, busy. busy getting things ready for our garden. We went out and bought a lot of our garden plants and planned things out. We worked outside all day and the boys liked the nice weather and sunshine. After a long winter of sickness....getting out was just what we needed.

Friday we rented a hydraulic roto-tiller and Richard spent 5 straight hours ripping out our old backyard and getting ready for the new sprinklers, sod, and garden. It was a grueling day for both of us. I worked on getting the garden raked and leveled and full of cow crap while he tilled. Andrew and Rigdon sipped Lemonade from their little oasis in the shade where they each earned $1.00 for babysitting Parker and making him laugh and keeping his toys in reach. ($1.00...how long can I bribe my children for so little) We are growing 3 kinds of tomatoes, sweet peppers, cucumbers, potatoes, green onions, lettuce, walla walla onions, squash, red bell peppers, yellow peppers, jalapenos, cilantro, sweet basil, oregano, parsley, carrots, pole beans, watermelon, pumpkin, raspberries, and strawberries. We got most of the garden put in. It took a long time but for our first garden I am pretty impressed.....keep our little garden in your prayers...it needs all the help it can get!

Saturday we finished the garden and tried to enjoy the day together. I love having Richard home so much even though he does travel we get to spend a lot of fun time together. Saturday evening we went to our friends house and used their new pressure washer to polish the truck up really nice. Boys and new trucks go well together...those two "boys" were practically polishing the thing with a diaper. The kids had fun playing in the water and then we came home and put the kids to bed and Richard and I watched Richards new favorite movie..."P.S. I Love You" (Yes he teared up...such a baby!)

Sunday was a busy day. I woke up to a Pit Bull in my tomatoes and lets just say the owner no longer needs to take the thing in for a procedure to keep him from reproducing. I didn't know I would be so protective of a few tomato plants. The neighbors fence fell down in a wind storm so until they fix it we have roaming animals in our yard. Richard has a shotgun but bee bee guns work much better. After dealing with the pit bull in my pajamas...I came in the house to find Andrew and Rigdon watching a Pay Per View Cage Fight on TV. To answer your next questions, yes Andrew figured out how to purchase Pay Per View...the cage fight costs us $49.99 plus tax. Richard will be thrilled. After I calmed my blood pressure I put locks on ordering pay per view and decided for Family Home Evening we would be enjoying a thrilling cage fight......just to make sure we got some value out of the $49.99 plus tax. Church was fun and then afterwards we went over to our great friends The Forsgrens where we were treated to homemade gourmet pizzas and homemade chocolate Cake. Emily FOrsgren might just be the great person we know.....I really think she should change her name to Betty or Martha or something. Emily you make the rest of us look like the amateurs that we are.

MOnday was a fun day doing laundry and gearing up for Family Night. We went to the Aquatic Center and went swimming with The Hunts and their 3 kids. We ordered pizza and played for a couple hours in the nice clean water (no poop virus here...we hope). We came home and put the boys t bed. I fell asleep about 2 minutes into the cage fighting. Richard said that it ended up being pretty interesting...we are just glad Andrew didn't get something else on Pay Per View...if you know what I mean. Richard said either way we were getting our money out of it......whew.....when compared with porn or rated X...cage fighting is spectacular in my book!

Today we did some work around the house and some errands we had. We got some raspberry bushes to add to our garden and then when we got home Richard captured all three boys and handed me a roll of cash and some gift cards to go shopping....BY MYSELF!!!! I didn't even know what to do with myself. After sitting in the quiet truck for about 30 minutes enjoying the peace, I got right back into the swing of shopping. Although a little rusty I was able to do some damage and ended up with some really great summer clothes to wear in Washington D.C. when we go in a couple weeks. When I got home we ate dinner, got Richard off to Bishopric meetings, and then we went to the library for a puppet theatre. The boys enjoyed it very much and then we came home and after baths, playing with friends outside, we called it a night and the boys are sound asleep. I am enjoying catching up on Dr. Phill and Oprah's before Richard so kindly deletes them.

2008-05-28T22:22:00.001-07:00

After we spent a week in Idaho, we brought Uncle Cody to Utah for some good old fashioned R & R. Not really, we lured him here with the promise of good food and pepsi flowing like the Mighty Mississippi....only to put him to work immediately extracting all the slave labor we could. He came and gutted most of our basement and turned a useless waste of 900 square feet into a new master bedroom with attached bathroom, a new family room, and a normal laundry room which we were lacking. Those of you who have been to our house pre-demo will be suprised at all we accomplished in 4 short days. Cody did so much work and made our house a wonderful place to be...and who knows, we might just stay in Clearfield a little longer now that we have a fantastic hous

We were in a little rush to get the demo done and finished before GG Higdon (Great Grandma Higdon) got here to stay for a week. We finished just in time and boy do we love the new basement.

On Monday GG arrived from Arizona leaving behind the 105 degree weather for our much colder 67 degree weather. We picked her up and had a great week. Here is what we did.

Monday-We went shopping at IKEA (the greatest store in the world) and then for Family Night we went for a ride on the new train that goes from North Ogden to SLC. It was fun and as you can see from the pictures....the boys loved it.

Tuesday-We hung around the house and did some errands here and there. We had fun playing Wii, watching TV, and eating out...all things GG likes to do.

Wednesday-was a rain day. GG had fun playing with the boys, especially getting Parker to roll over for the first times while I did some projects around the house, assembling furniture and putting some things away. Richard had to go to Denver so we had some fun Girl time while he was gone.

Thursday & Friday we tried to keep GG's blood temperature at somewhat normal levels as she was freezing in our Utah Spring weather (it snowed a bit on Thursday..she about died).

Saturday we spent the entire day at Temple Square with GG. We did the tour and it was sa great time. It had been a long time since I did the tours and it was fun to see it after such a long time. GG enjoyed it and so did we. Daddy took us to lunch at the top of the Joseph Smith Building. It was a great meal and a real treat. I like having GG come, we get to eat at really nice restaurants!

Sunday-We woke up early and I drove GG to Temple Square to see the Music & The Spoken Word with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It was spectacular and a GG says a highlight to ther trip here. We came home and went to church and then came home and I tried my hand at some Jewish Cooking. Richard had a great time with GG learning much more about the Jewish culture and his heritage. He is planning on going back east with GG to meet some of his Jewish relatives sometime next year. We had fun looking through Jewish cookbooks and I didn't do too bad on my chocolate pecan torte.

Monday was a rainy memorial day and so we took GG to the airport and then went to Aunt JJ and Uncle Aarons new house for a Wendy's style barbeque and lots of Wii due to the bad weather. After a long day of playing Wii, eating, playing with the puppy, and eating some more, we drove home and crashed.

This week we are getting our first garden in. We are planting tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, squash, onions, lettuce, watermelon, pumpkins, green beans, and herbs. This is our first garden and I think Richard is more excited than I am. We have gotten our plants and are getting the ground tilled so we can plant away.

We have had three very busy weeks behind us. We are looking forward to a relaxing weekend ahead (although I am sure something will come up). Richard is in charge of our next post so until next time........

2008-05-28T22:09:00.000-07:00

We are trying to get the hang of this new blog and the possibilites are endless. We have added some music for you to listen to while you read our blog. We will try to update it regularly, at least once a week. This is a much easier way for us to stay updated. Over the past 3 weeks we have done a lot. Here is a sneak peak.

At the beginning of May, Richard had some work in Boise and so the whole family tagged along. We got to spend a week with Grandma Wilson and we dry pack canned almost 1000 pounds of food (those crazy Mormons and their hoarding food). We had a great time and from the pictures you can see we had our hands full. There was so much to do and so little time. While we were in Idaho Richard had some work in California so I went down with him for a little get away and had a great time in Southern California with Richard's Uncle Jim, Aunt Laurie, and cousin Makenzie.

2008-05-06T22:26:00.000-07:00

We got tagged on our blog which means we answer these questions and then tag someone else. We hope you will leave posts on our blog for us to read and enjoy about us. I am tagging Amy Heath since she is on eof our only friends we know of who has a blog so far. The rest of you need to get a blog....let me know when you get it. It is easy and fun! (go to blogspot.com...its free and easy)

1. Typically what time do you wake up? When the wiggles are over and I have to get out of bed to change the tv to Super Why (yeah I am up for a nomination of Mother of the Year). Richard gets up at 7 am to start working and day trading. Andrew and Rigdon are up at about 8:00 and Parker sleeps in till about 9!

2. On a good night what time are your kids in bed? We have a pretty strict bedtime schedule at our house….kids in bed by 7:30. Parker is the best, we feed, bathe, and dress him. If he isn’t in his bed by 7:30 HE FREAKS OUT. He doesn’t want to be held or snuggled, just laid in his bed where he immediately sucks his thumb and goes to sleep.

3. How long have you been a mom? 4 long, yet incredible years

4. How old were you when you became a mom? I became a mom on June 16, 2001 when I married Richard. Then I had Andrew when I was 22. (Richard’s diapers are way worse than any of the boys and he won’t take a bottle…..prefers the real thing I guess)

5. What is your favorite kid TV show/movie? I love Super Why….it is educational and lots of fun! I also like to watch Reading Rainbow with the boys. I used to watch it when I was little…we just watched a fascinating on about germs!

6. What is your least favorite kid TV show? BARNEY…hands down. It is banned from our house. We have never watched it and will never watch it!

7. What is your favorite chore? Everyone who knows me knows I have ADD and I am obsessive compulsive. I like cleaning-all types.

8. What is your favorite meal to cook? I love to bake anything with sugar…I am obsessed with sugar-cooking not so much….I let the professionals at Burger King, McDonalds, and Wendy’s do that kind of stuff. Do you ask your OB GYN to change the oil in your car? Enough said!

9. What is the meal you cook most often? If you ask Richard he would say that our stove hasn’t been used for anything other than storing empty dutch ovens for cooking purposes, but I do cook a few things rather well. He loves my asparagus rolls and he loves when I cook white chili!

10. What is your kid’s favorite meal? Quesadillas-just like Napoleon.

11. What is your favorite thing your husband does with your kids? He reads to them and tells them elaborate stories. He loves reading books and making up stories for bedtime. It is a sweet thing to pass by in the hallway and see the three of them crammed on a bottom bunkbed reading about adventures and creating stories with their imaginations-laughing and making memories.

12. What are 5 things that make you smile when you're being a mom? 1-When I hear my children’s prayers to their Heavenly Father: They are so sweet and touching. 2-The way my children hug me and kiss me when I have been away for awhile…even just nap time! It makes me feel special. 3- When they make a good choice on their own. 4- When they tell me that I am the “bestest, prettiest, most special mommy in the whole world” 5- when they come crawl up on my lap or in my arms and want to cuddle.

13. If you could take your kids anywhere where would it be? Disneyland and the beach…..they would love it!

14. When was the last time you went out without your kids? I just got back from 5 days in California with Richard. We slept in, went to movies, shopped, and had a great little vacation. (I only go about 2 days before I start to miss the boys!)

15. What is your favorite past time/activity to do with your kids? We love to read books, do our puppet theatre, and have glove fights with daddy as a family.

16. Name 1 thing you said you'd never do as a mom. I used to look at my sisters cars/vans and say “my car will never look like that”….guess what-it does (actually is worse). I also said I would never share a drink with my kids like my sisters would do with floaties and unidentified objects in from backwash…I findf myself doing this sometimes…..I get too thirsty to not…and Richard is too cheap buy my another drink.

17. What is your favorite quality that your mom has? My mom has a big heart and a giving spirit. She would do anything for me or my siblings. She is so selfless and doesn’t put physical things above peoples worth. She sees the best in people and didn’t drowned or kill me in my teenage years!

18. What is your advice for new moms? Your clothes will always be dirty…forget trying to beat it, just give in and try your damndest to make spit up and banana plums look the best they can with cashmere and high heels.

19. What is the scariest or most heartbreaking moment as a mom? When Parker was in the PICU for 8 days and pretty much almost lost him. I have never been more scared in my life. I was humbled like I have never been before and I have since tried to change my life in ways that God would want me to do better in.

20. What is your most joyful moment of being a mom? The moment after you have a baby and they lay this amazing miracle on your tummy and you fall in love….again. (also the most joyful is when the drugs are still working from the delivery and you can’t feel the stitching that is taking place)

21. When was the last time you were told 'I Love You' by one of your kids? When I just laid down with the boys after being in California for 5 days and they both wanted to snuggle me and as they drifted off to sleep Andrew said, “I love you mommy” and Rigdon added, “me too mommy, I love you too”.

2008-05-06T14:49:00.000-07:00

April Showers Bring May Flowers......if it snows one more time in utah we are moving! It has been a while since we updated our family website. It usually takes about 3 hours for us to get our old website up and running each month because we basically have to rebuild it ever time. We have been introduced to this new style of family blogging and really enjoy not only how fun and interactive it is, but also how easy it is to update. As long as Becky is on her proper medication there is even a chance she could update this each week.

2008-05-06T09:36:00.000-07:00