Hurricane in Utah

OK, not really. But last night and this morning were very reminiscent of hurricane season in Puerto Rico. The gusts of wind, the trees swaying, the smell fresh air forced through the house, the sound of the rustling leaves, large objects being hurled through the streets without regard... oh wait, that last one only happened in Puerto Rico.

Anyway, Shanda was mentioning how much she didn't like the wind and I found it interesting that while she dislikes the wind, how much I love it. There is something very soothing about the wind, I find it really relaxes me. By morning I feel I've had the best nights sleep I've had in a very long time. I love to sit and watch the trees sway and move by the wind. Imagine the strength of the wind, to move these massive tree limbs about.

Matthew's Condition has taken a turn for the worse

After the swelling went down in his face and ear, he seemed normal for a day or two. Then this evening his eyeballs and tounge have swollen beyond anything we have ever seen! If anyone has any suggestions, the doctors are baffled. Please let us know... a picture of the swelling can be seen below.



As you can see in the background, Maleah is clearly frightened.

Winward Family Reunion

The treasured "get away" up at Aspen Circle was the site of this year's Blair Larsen Winward family reunion. We had 100% attendance at the reunion and I think everyone enjoyed themselves. We spent the time visiting, shooting BB guns, canoeing, hiking and eating.

Grandpa and Grandma entertained the children with a dancing wooden puppet, singing and lollipops as the reunion ended. Grandpa shared some geneology stories with the group and I was pleased to see Grandma spend time alone reading, and I REALLY hoped that she had a good vacation/break.

Shelli and Brent weren't able to join us the first night, but came up on Day 2 to join in with the group. We are all impressed with how their kids lead the grandkids in growing up. I just can't imagine seeing Joseph and Matthew as big as Siliva and Gabriella. It was fun to hear about their experiences as they are growing up. The entire Smith clan is a very good looking group and enjoyable to be around.

Sam and Aleena joined us the morning of Day 2 as they were also unable to break away on the first day. Their twins, which were recently found to be identical, really are growing fast. Bridger was a real treat to be around. He is very smart and very polite.

Spencer and Miranda were admirable in their efforts to keep the meals; preparation and clean-up moving forward. Spencer is a real talent on the dutch oven, and Miranda has a special knack for keeping babies happy and resolving disputes. Spencer's girls were very fun to be around, even though Leini is still in that "how come this?" or "how come that?" stage.

Shae and Nate were able to be there the entire time. We were pleased that Nate was able to join us as he spent the last few weeks in Texas which was obvoiusly difficult on Shae. Nobody will ever forget Micah was at the reunion, to his credit he is very persistant and is really very intelligent. It was fun to watch him think through different situations. Poor Mariah found herself below the dog on the pecking order, as Katie quickly established herself above Mariah by barking and charging her, making her cry. I'm not very happy about this behavior and will try to correct it in the days to come.

All in all, we had a good time and were mostly safe. We had a small medical issue that we hope doesn't balloon into anything more serious. Matthew woke up Saturday morning with the right side of his face and head swollen. We took him to the doctor and they are running some tests to rule out Lyme's Disease. Chances are he had an allergic reaction, though there is a slight possibility that he may need additional treatment.

Micah, Joseph and Logan

Leini and Andrew with the BB Guns

Maleah with "this one" or "that one"

Lots of Grandkids

Cliff Jumping

Winward Reunion at the Richey cabin we made a few trips down to the dam. The first trip Shae, Nate, Micah, Maleah and Andrew. The second trip featured, Sam, Aleena, Bridger, Leini and Matthew.

We had fun jumping from lower distances and slowly worked up to higher heights. I finally worked up the courage to jump approximately 35 ft. I went up with Shae and Nate the first time, and made a couple 20 - 25 ft jumps, but didn't attempt this one till later. Returning to the same site with Sam and Aleena a couple of hours later and I was brave (or dumb) enough to try it again... two times. The landing was pretty painful, and I think that deterred Sam enough that he went with the lower jump. Still he went off a 25 ft jump. I actually have some pretty impressive bruises today as evidence of my bravery... uh, er... lack of forethought.

New Family Member

I'm at work on Monday and I get a call from Joseph, "Dad, you won't believe it! We saw a dog today and Mom actually wants to get it! Can we get it? Please, please, please, please..." For those of you who know Shanda you know that she isn't much of a dog lover, especially an indoor dog. You could say that Shanda tolerates Ginger to certain extent, which I think is really saying something. Ginger is a good dog, but just to big for our house (and Ginger is a mid-size dog). Anyway, I figured this had to be some dog for Shanda to actually want to get the dog. I wasn't able to break away from work to go look at the dog, so Shanda and the kids brought the little pooch to me.

When they got to my office, I mentioned how the markings reminded me of my Dad's dog Katie from when I was a kid. Apparently the kids took that as my naming the dog, and have begun calling her Katie.

Katie is a Cocker Spaniel, Poodle, Shitzu. Just don't try to abreviate it an you'll be ok. She is unbelievably patient and good with the kids. We aren't sure if she knows how to walk at this point as she is constantly being held by one of the kids. Ginger seems to accept her though last night as I was working with Katie, Ginger seemed to say with her glances "how about some attention over here?"

Speaking of last night, I found it interesting that while I was up with the crying puppy everyone else slept peacefully. Ahh... the joys of training a new puppy. It is probably more about training the people than it is about training the puppy.

Sisters being silly

The other night we were taking pictures of Maleah and Brooklyn. All of a sudden Maleah thought it would be funny to start pulling faces...

Joseph the Ballplayer

Joseph is in his element here dressed in his Angel's uniform. During his league play this year he has really shown improvement. He and I can now go out and have a catch and I don't have to worry too much about throwing softly to him. He has developed his swing and can crank the ball regularly now.


Here Joseph is with his team prior to a game Wednesday, May 21, 2008 (5th from the left)

Yesterday the Salt Lake Bees invited the members of the "Knothole Club" down to the park for a free baseball clinic. Joseph and I were especially excited to interact with some great ball-players; David Austen, Coby Smith, Freddy Sandoval, Bobby Wilson, Gary Patchett, and Adam Pavkovich.

The clinic gave the kids the chance to pitch in the bull-pen, take some grounders on the infield, catch a fly ball, hit in the batting cages, and tour the locker room and home team facilities. They were able to ask the players questions and take a glimpse into the life of a professional baseball player. It was really fun to watch Joseph and be able to experience a little window of what the ballplayers do each day.


Finally, each kid was given a new baseball and the players stayed after to autograph the balls. Here Joseph stands with his new Bees baseball and his A-Rod ball from a few years back.

Andrew Graduates from Preschool

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Andrew is now done with Pre-School. He is so excited to start regular school with his brothers. We are so proud of the little guy. It was fun to see him in "his" element during the graduation. We always thought he was so shy, but he was a little ham on the stage.

Andrew is coming around

Andrew wasn't thrilled with the idea of a little sister. In fact, when the baby was born Andrew didn't want anything to do with Brooklyn. When neighbors offered to take the little princess off our hands, Andrew's face would light up and he'd exclaim that it was a great idea.

Little by little, curiosity seemed to get the best of Andrew and we'd see him inconspicously show interest in the new little girl. When called on it, he would deny any interest in his sister, and renew his position in wanting a new brother.

Yesterday morning, Shanda asked if Andrew wanted to hold Brooklyn after thinking about it for a minute and then stated "not today, maybe tomorrow." Later that day, Andrew finally relented and asked if he could hold his sister. In addition, I've noticed his increased defensiveness toward any and all who pose a threat to "the little sister."

This picture is just too cute not to post... Picture taken by budding photographer, Andrew Richey

1st Annual Richey Boys Campout

With Shanda's mother visiting to help Shanda with the new baby, we decided it was a perfect opportunity to escape the (mother-in-law) uh, er... I mean escape the first heat wave of the season and head for the hills. Just kidding about that mother-in-law bit... I really do love my mother-in-law... I really have the best one around. Anyway, returning to the story; Joseph, Matthew, Andrew and I loaded up the canoe and the camping gear and drove to Causey Dam. We had decided weeks earlier that the weekend after the baby came to go on this trip. Shanda agreed especially because her mom would be in town to help with the baby.

The idea for the trip was to canoe across the dam to a lesser known camp site, make camp and spend the night. Despite the foreboading warnings of too cold weather by others, we enjoyed ourselves immensly.

The boys were great the entire time. I tried to be as patient as I could while ensuring they were safe. It was fun to watch them experience certain aspects of camping for the first time. In addition there was something really fun about being so completely away from everything. For example, we were a 30 minute canoe ride away from vehicles, and that by itself gave the camping experience a different feel.

After getting camp setup and dinner out of the way, we canoed up the right fork to see how full the right fork river was. I was amazed at the amount of water that was pouring into the resevour, and though the dam wasn't completely full yet, I suspected that by morning it would be. Upon returning to camp we ate a few more s'mores and then started telling camp fire stories. The boys were very excited about scary stories until it started getting dark. Their brave attitude to being scared quickly changed to... what's that noise? And can we go in the tent now? Once in the tent and a few "regular stories" later, we were all sleeping restfully.

Morning came early, especially after sleeping on the hard ground all night, and sure enough the dam was now full. We enjoyed our breakfast especially the hot chocolate and bacon. Then we went for a hike in the hills above where we camped. It was fun to watch the boys hike and be curious about everything. After about 30 minutes we stopped and had a snack. After returning to camp, we broke camp, loaded up the canoe and returned home. Thankfully all the time on the water was uneventful, and very peaceful.

Sisters...

Brooklyn


Maleah


Brooklyn


Maleah


It took me a couple of days to do this, but take a look at these pictures of Maleah and Brooklyn. We've always felt that each of our children has used his/her siblings mold, but the resemblance here is remarkable.

Brooklyn Richey

Born May 12th 2008, at 1:29am Brooklyn made her way into our lives. She weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces and is 20 1/2 inches long. She is a beauty just like her mother and big sister. She's been kind of quiet but we are so happy that she is finally here. Shanda is glad to have her finally on the outside and is happy to have her organs back in their normal places.

Both Mom and baby are doing great. We are a little tired, but can't seem to put ourselves to bed.