Hockey Fan

Growing up, I never thought that I would watch, enjoy, or attend a hockey game in my life. Infact, until the Olympics came to Utah, I never even really thought about hockey. So that just goes to show you that when someone you love and care about gets involved in something, your views and opinions can change very quickly. Now that my brother is playing hockey, I have to say that it is actually a really exciting sport! I would never want to play (I can barely stand up on ice skates) but it is really fun to watch. Especially when Nelson makes an awesome save!

Nelson is playing for the Salem Hills Skyhawks team

Here are some sweet awesome photos provided by yours truly.

Way to go TREVOR!

Go Skyhawks!

A Scary Update!

Well, not really....
How scary could this little angel be?

For Halloween, we Hannah dressed up as a little Kitty. Thanks to the costume that Gigi found - THANKS!
We went trick-or-treating all day. To start out, we went to the Main Street trick-or-treat with our cousin Lauren and aunt Emily. We even went through the haunted house and Hannah really enjoyed that part.  After that, we rested at Grandma Hill's house and played with Lauren and Reese until it was time for our next adventure.

Ok, so most of these pictures, especially the ones of Reese are posted for Aunt Netty, hope you enjoy them. Love you - Miss you!
So, our next adventure was the trunk-or-treat at the church. We had quite a crew with us. Hannah was very excited and so shocked that she could just walk up to people, take their candy, and keep it for herself!

The Candy Crew

Reese was less than excited to gather candy. But still very cute!

The next adventure took us Northward to AF, where we trick-or-treated with Gigi and had a party at Grandma Richards. Hannah has lots of cousins her age, it will make growing up so much fun!

Ok, so some of these pictures I took to practice my photography skills... let me know what you think!

And after all of that, we relaxed by visiting and reading stories with Grandpa and Grandma J.

WHAT A FUN AND EXCITING DAY!!

Address Update

I am going to try to keep everyone updated with Elder Nelson's current address. At Der's farewell we gave out the MTC address and the Mission Home address, while those address will always work to get mail to him, he will also have address that are more direct to exactly where he is. So in the MTC, this is his most current address:

Elder Devin K Nelson

Missao Brasil Sao Paulo Leste

Rua Caa-Acu 229

03171-020-Belenzinho

Sao Paulo-SP-BRASIL

Final Moments with our Der

My brother Der (Devin) left for his mission on Tuesday, August 11. We took him to the airport because he reported to the MTC in Brazil on Wednesday. He will be serving in the Brazil Sao Paulo East mission for the next 24 months. I will sure miss his smiling face and always happy and friendly personality, but I want him to know that I am very happy that he has made this decision to serve a mission for our Lord. I know that he will be eternally blessed for this decision, as will the lucky people in Sao Paulo that will be taught by him!

Below are our final moments with as a family prior to Der's plane taking off.

Party at the Cabin!

Der invited some of his friends to our cabin up Spanish Fork canyon for fun and celebrating. We had a great time. We played Raving Rabbids on the Wii, fixed tin foil dinners, and enjoyed the company of family and friends. It was really funny to watch everyone play Raving Rabbids! Thanks to everyone who came and had a good time with us!

Friends & Farewells....

On Sunday morning Der gave a very moving and thoughtful talk in our Sacrament meeting about one of his heros, Joseph Smith. There were many of his friends and our family who came to support him and give him their love and best wishes. After the meeting, we went to the Sports Park in Spanish Fork and enjoyed eachother's company and ate delicious food. There were tons of people there. It was really a comfort to me to see all of the people who love and will be praying for my Der while he is away. I am very thankful for the support and love of our family and friends.

Some of Der's friends

My Grandma & Grandpa Hill

My brother Brady and his beautiful wife Kimberly

Grandma & Grandpa Nelson

More of Der's friends

At the Sports Park there is a great play ground for the kids, this is where most of them spent their time. My darling girl loves the swing, and that is where she spent the entire day. We had to keep trading people to push her in the swing, because the second she had to get out of the swing, she would start to cry.

These next few pictures I have posted especially for my aunt Jnet. We love you Net, and I know that your love and prayers are always with us!

My aunt Rachelle's new little girl Reece. She is a very beautiful and sweet little girl!

This is my cousin Whitney's little boy Brixton. You may not be able to see this in the picture, but he is laughing so hard! Aunt Emily was making faces at him and he was loving it!

Where much is given, much is required.

This is our family just outside the Stake Office after our Der became Elder Nelson. It was a very beautiful little meeting. The Spirit really testified to me that Devin has been called to serve the Lord and he will be protected while in the service of our father.

Packing Up and Heading Out

From Sunday night to Tuesday morning, the time just flew by. We all gathered at my mom's house for breakfast at 8:30; dad make eggs, pancakes, sausage, and juice. It was very delicious.

Everyone helped Der with his final packing, and then, out the door we went. I snapped a few pictures along the way.

This is one of the most precious pictures to me. Hannah really loves her uncles! Der is reading Five Little Monkeys to Hannah and they are making monkey noises at eachother.

Getting things squared away at the airport. Thanks to aunt Jolene for making everything run smoothly!

Last moments together, final words, and last hugs.

And before we knew it, we were standing across the street watching the airplane back away from the terminal, taxi down the runway and...

Off it went. We will see you in two years Der!

Good Luck! We will be praying for you and writing you letters all the time!

Love YOU!!

Lots of News...

Goodness sakes it has been a long time since I have blogged and there have been so many fun things happening in our life that I really want to share them!

Tut... Tut... It looks like rain.

We bought Hannah the Original Winnie the Pooh movie a couple of weeks ago, the movie with the famous "Tut... Tut... it looks like rain" scene. Well the other day is started to rain and I thought it would be fun to take Hannah outside and play in the rain. We took our shoes off and splashed in the puddles because the rain didn't last very long - it never does in Utah.

Riding Ponies

A couple of weeks ago, my dad and I went for a horse ride. We went for a ride "up the gas line" in Payson canyon. We had a great time. I usually start sneezing, itching, coughing, my eyes start watering after about 1 hour, because I am very allergic to horses, but I took a Clariton prior to leaving and it worked GREAT! We went all the way up the mountain and enjoyed a fire and hot dogs together. These are some of the photos I snapped along the way.

Sugar Baby, the Old Man, Morning Dew

Work Party at Seven Peaks

Dave works for Ancestry.com and they had their annual employee & family party at Seven Peaks. We really enjoyed the evening. We took Hannah on a tube slide, in the lazy river, to the wave pool, and play in the kiddie pools. She had a great time in the water! Her favorite part was the bouncy castle. I took some photos of her bouncing around. It really was a great night of fun, water, and family fun. They provided dinner, bouncy games for the kids, and at the end of the night they played a movie on a giant screen. I can't wait for the party next year! WHAT A BLAST!!

Grandpa J's 80th Birthday Party

Our Richards Family

My darling baby! Now who couldn't love that face?

He is such an awesome guy!!

Our Family with the birthday boy, Grandpa J, and his finance Pat.

Welcome to our family Pat, we love you!

On August 8, we had a birthday party for Grandpa J. It was his 80th birthday in July! He has lived an awesome life filled with friends, family, and many successes. Happy Birthday Grandpa J! Here's to 80 more years!

August 8 was also my Old Man's birthday. Happiest Birthday Pop! I love you!!

Grandma & Grandpa Richards celebration for 50 years of Marriage!

On Saturday August 1, we had a celebration up American Fork Canyon to celebrate Grandma & Grandpa's 50th wedding anniversary. It was a very nice cool evening filled with friends & family.

Dave's aunt Mellissa found a baby kitty close to their house and brought it to the party. Hannah loved to see the little baby! She was so gentle and delicate with the gray little puff ball that it softened my heart and for just one small moment, I really wanted to buy a kitty for my little princess. Then I realized I don't like cats. Lucky for me she doesn't know how to beg yet....

The whole RICHARDS CLAN

We are a beautiful family!

My little rock-climber extraordinaire, always looking for adventure!

LOVE YOU GRANDMA & GRANDPA! CONGRATULATIONS!!

The Bean Museum at BYU

One random day, when I was bored, and we were doing some errands in Provo, I asked Dave if we could go the the "Bean Museum" at BYU. He said sure and then asked me what the "Bean Museum" was. I told him that it was full of all kinds of stuffed animals. After I said that, Dave was kind of hesitant to go and kept asking me if I REALLY wanted to go. Since I really wanted to go, we parked the car and went into the museum. When we walked in, Dave was pleased to see that the museum was full of taxidermied animals and not stuffed teddy bears, ie. BEANY BABIES... Bean Museum. Next time I will try to communicate a little better.

Hannah sure enjoyed herself!

Good old July 24th...

Since July 24th is when Spanish Fork holds the Fiesta Days celebration, there is always a lot of celebrating to do. We went to the parade that morning, had a picnic at canyon view park with my family, stopped by the carnival and booths at the city park, and went to the Rodeo. Hannah was a great little gal and really enjoyed all of the fun.

Hannah loved the rodeo. She loved horses and excitement!

But after awhile, she was really tired and didn't understand why we couldn't just go home and relax in bed.

Look at her darling belt buckle! She has darling pink boots that match. She loves her boots and always wants to wear them. Thanks aunt Mellissa and Maya for sharing them with us! It really made the rodeo fun!