It looks like once again I have put the blog on hold for quite awhile. What can I say, It’s the Holidays! Of course it’s long but that is the beauty of blogging, you don’t have to read it if you don’t want to! Here’s a little about our life as of late:
Starting with Thanksgiving; I drove up to Rexburg with the kids to join my family for my Grandpa Perkes’ 80th birthday party the Saturday before. Boyd joined us the following week for Thanksgiving. It was fun to see lots of relatives (especially cousins) that I had not seen in a long time. The kids loved playing with all their cousins (funny how I think I see my brother’s family more now since they moved to Guatemala than when they lived in Arkansas). We filled the vacation with laser tag, sledding, ice fishing (only Makenna fell in – her entire leg that is, thank goodness not more than that!), numerous crafts, movie nights, fully coordinated “divide and conquer” shopping the day after Thanksgiving, making pies, candy making for Christmas, swimming at Green Canyon Hot springs, night drives to view the Christmas lights, and eating lots of food. We spent Thanksgiving with Boyd’s family and enjoyed making gingerbread houses with all the kids. It was a fun filled vacation for us all.
December flew by with something on the Calendar nearly EVERY morning, afternoon, and evening. Evening parties and lunches with friends, Pre-school Christmas party, Jarom and Makenna’s school Christmas musical program, Caldwell’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony, Boyd’s work party at Tucanos Brazilian Grill (YUM!), Christmas crafts at Michael’s, our Church Christmas party, Relief Society Christmas party, the Christmas night light parade, and Young Womens’ Christmas party. It was actually all a ton of fun and I found myself not feeling worn out by it all, but looking forward to the next fun thing on the list. I also scheduled an end of the year art show for my art class that I've been teaching in my home for the past semester. It was fun to see all that the kids have created over the past few months and see how they progressed in their skills and creativity. I also wanted to find something for the Young Women to do that would be different this year to help them feel the Christmas spirit more by serving others. After numerous calls to all different places and charities we decided to volunteer for Toys for Tots at the Marine Base by the Boise Airport. They were practically the only place that could accommodate our 30+ girls on a Wednesday evening. It was AWESOME! We all loved it so much and plan to make it an annual event. They really needed the help too. They had a room filled with toys, books and games and handed us order forms from families in need. The order forms included how many kids were in the family, their ages, and sex. We got to “shop” around the room and pick out stuff for what we thought the kids would like to get, stuff it all in a bag, staple the order form to it and start on another form. It was such a great experience that Boyd and I wanted our kids to participate too so we returned to the Base for Family Home Evening the following Monday with some other families to help out. I had no idea how much in need this charity was for more toys than ever and also in great need of volunteers. Their donations were down a lot this year and they worried about being able to fill all the orders. It made me want to donate all the more and be super grateful for our warm home and good job! We are so blessed.
Boyd got off early Christmas Eve and we spent the evening with our usual traditions that the kids have been looking forward to all week. Our Bethlehem dinner on the front room carpet complete with fish, nuts to crack, cheese, bread and honey, olives, apple and orange slices, etc. I don’t know if they had any or all of that stuff in Bethlehem but it’s our version that we like that stemmed from one of the kids primary songs that talks about how Jesus ate fish and honeycomb. It all started a few years ago when the kids asked if they could have a meal like Jesus would have eaten and referenced that song. We acted out the Christmas story with my glass nativity scene, what was I thinking? One of the figurines suffered a broken hand as a result and I’m still wondering why I didn’t remember to use the stuffed cloth nativity scene “for kids!” Christmas morning was fun. Lots of fun stuff, but the Wii has been the main entertainer ever since. Jarom has already mastered his rip-stick, Saryn has nearly worn out her new dress up dresses, Makenna is enjoying her new clothes and Littlest pet shops, and Aubree, though blessed with her own smaller kitty continues to claim ownership to Saryn’s animatronic kitty. We finally had no where to go and nothing else to do so we played all day, watched movies, and ate. The next day we went to the dollar theater and saw Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and thought it was pretty clever and funny. We topped the day off with pizza and McDonalds and their new awesome play place. (No, McDonalds is not serving pizza now, shhhhhh, but we couldn’t bare to order McDonald’s food again since we got sick the last time we ate there. We picked the pizza up on the way home
For New Years Eve we celebrated McGary style and continued with my family’s tradition of eating Chinese food. The Golden Dragon appeared happy to welcome us but put us in the over flow room all by ourselves which made us wonder what they worried about more, the promised mess they’d soon have to clean up or the noise level which always accompany a family of 6. We had a blast though and it was super YUMMY! We picked up a favorite babysitter on the way home and left the kids to party, which they were more than excited to do so (until 9:30pm – our kids are not night owls and REALLY need their sleep), while Boyd and I went over to some friends for games and appetizers (which we just admired from the table since we were still so stuffed from the dinner buffet). The next day we were supposed to drive to Salt Lake City to meet up with my family returning from Guatemala (visiting my brother for Christmas), attend our nephews baptism, see the Temple Square lights, and meet up with some other friends as well. Well the roads were “difficult” from all the snow and freezing rain according to the internet so we held off going and had mostly decided not to go. By 7pm though we were wanting to go so we finished packing and a half hour later we were on the road and headed to SLC. We arrived late and safe and enjoyed a fun quick trip there and back and still accomplished mostly all we had planned within the next 2 days.
I got lazy when it came to Christmas cards this year and mostly mailed them to people who sent us one If you really want to see what I said read the following, but note such changes that have occurred since I wrote it. Aubree has since learned to climb out of her crib which resulted in a spontaneous room change and a new bed for Makenna. Saryn and Aubree now share a room and Makenna is enjoying her own room, for at least until the baby comes. Boyd received a new calling at church and no longer is serving in Primary but in the Elder Quorum as a secretary. He’s not been able to play much basketball lately either since his second ankle sprain with in a month.
Christmas letter 2009:
Makenna is 9 ½ years old now and loves school. She’s is the co-pilot for their space ship mission and is excited about their giant “bubble” space ship that they “ride in” to explore and learn about the solar system. In school Makenna has learned how to play “Amazing Grace” on the recorder among other songs and has enjoyed her cake decorating and inventing machines clubs. She had a successful soccer season and has really enjoyed and picked up on piano. She’s just about mastered “I am a child of God” with both hands and loves to flip through the church’s hymn book and pick out songs to play and practice.
Jarom is 7 ½ years old and also enjoys school. Although he does really well academically I mostly hear about all the excitement of all the sports and games he plays at recess with his friends. He too had a successful soccer season and is looking forward to basketball season. He’s always shooting hoops in our living room or kicking or throwing balls against the wall to himself. Jarom is also learning piano and enjoys picking out tunes with Makenna to favorite Christmas, Church, or movie theme songs.
Saryn is our 4 ½ year old who is getting ready to enter kindergarten next year! She attends a co-op preschool twice a week that I and 5 other mothers participate in. We’ve visited the pumpkin patch and Krispy Kreme doughnuts (YUM!) on field trips so far this year. Saryn is also loving her ballet class and is looking forward to her indoor soccer season again. Saryn also has an amazing imagination. Three fourth the time I can never figure out what they REALLY did at dance class or preschool because from what Saryn explains they could make the hour experience into a smash hit adventure movie!
Aubree turned 2 in October and is so cute. She talks a ton at home but is hard to get a word out of anywhere else. She loves to sing songs and even will sing along to the CD’s I play in the car. She also loves to paint and draw. Aubree has a thing for puppies. She loves to play with her stuffed animal puppies and also pretend she is one. She’s an acrobat like the others were and climbs and hangs from most everything in the house, but thankfully hasn’t figured out how to climb out of her crib yet.
Boyd is busy with work and really enjoys his profession. He also plays early morning basketball, coached Jarom’s soccer team, and teaches the 9 year olds in primary at Church. He picked up a new hobby/sport this year when a patient of his introduced him to bow hunting. He loves it and got all the gear and practice necessary for his first hunting trip. The elk were successful in avoiding him this year but there’s always next year, or so I’ve been reminded!
I, Melissa, have been busy with a few things as well. I’ve enjoyed teaching an art class on Tuesdays in my home (mostly to home schooled grade students). I’ve done a few painting commissions as well that are always good to help me keep and stretch my skills. There’s always a lot to do with my calling in Young Women’s, but I enjoy it. It was fun to attend girl’s camp this year and also take the youth to Salt Lake for few days for General Conference. I coached Makenna’s soccer team again this year but I will be taking a break next season since we will be having another baby come May 4th.
For more frequent news on our family you can always check out family blog at bmricksfam.blogspot.com. I try to keep up with it every now and then.
We hope all is well for you and yours!
Love,
Boyd, Melissa, Makenna, Jarom,
Saryn, & Aubree Ricks
