First Day of her last year...

My last child to start her last year...how did my kids get so old so fast??

Katie might have a broken leg...

but she can still make an awesome welcome home sign! (with the help of a friend)

I finally took it down this afternoon after our little party. Everyone was tired of ducking under it when they had to go up or down the stairs.

This is what 500 bucks can buy at Costco...

That was just the first trip I made with mom on Tuesday (day before Brian came home). The second trip was only 290. I am going to try and stay away from Costco for a couple weeks.

My Internet Was DOWN!

Well, yes Brian is home! Mom beat me to the post because when I went to blog Wednesday night we discovered the internet was down and had to wait until the next day for the repair man to come. Isn't it always something?

So, back to the homecoming...

it was awesome, emotional (I have to say that I did not shed a tear, a little teary eyed but no official tears!) and everything I had been looking forward to.it was so exciting waiting to see the plane finally come into sight and watch it land!
Can you see him coming down the stairs? I am pretty sure he was the last one off the plane, he probably did that on purpose :)

almost to the front doors of the airport where we can finally hug him!

through the doors

picture came out a little dark but I wanted to post it anyway

enjoying just visiting after getting his luggage

Brian gets to meet Sean finally, he really liked the name tag!

loved this picture of Sean!

So since he has got home it has been a whirlwind of cooking, cleaning, doing dishes, washing towels, ha and then start over again! It has been great and Brian seems like himself but just a little more mature and humble.

Hopefully, more posts soon...

WE ARE CRAZY!!

This is the ultimate lesson in procrastination. For some reason little projects that could of been done anytime were put off until about a week ago. Now we are all (well mainly Bob and I) literally losing our minds!

These pictures will just give you a little taste of the chaos:I am posting this picture of Kyle not to show he is lazy playing video games but to show the mess that is our family room. Almost all the furniture in the entire upstairs is crammed in this room so we can re-carpet. The only room that still has carpet is Katie's, which will come out tomorrow I think. Notice that he did somehow manage to find a little spot for his bed and TV. our empty rooms...

The other main project going on right now is trying to complete the guest bathroom. Bob is working on it frantically, it will be interesting to see what it looks like by next Wednesday.

The toilet is sitting outside on the edge of our driveway, isn't that nice?

That way if any of the worker's need to use the bathroom it's very convenient.

The dump trailer full of the old carpet and pad. Kyle along with 2 fellows that we hired were the lucky ones to get to remove it.

I did have one more picture downloaded of the front of the house which is currently being prepped for stucco. Another mess.

I think all of us will just sleep next Thursday!

Lesson: don't bite off more than you can chew ;)

Dear Richardson Family...

Today I got the email I have been waiting for. It was the email with Brian's flight information. I know he is coming home next week but I just wanted to see in black and white, in writing, the details.
Here they are...
Leaves Belem August 24th at 940am, arrives in Sao Paulo at 350pm
Leaves Sao Paulo at 855pm and arrives in Atlanta, Georgia at 550am (Aug. 25th)
Leaves Atlanta at 935am and arrives in Seattle, Wa at 1203pm
Leaves Seattle at 430pm and arrives in Wenatchee at 510pm
5:15 (ish) surrounded by family with lots of smiles, hugs and maybe a few tears ;)

I have to say I am surprised at myself. It has been a very weird time. I can hardly wait for him to be home but every so often, at random times like walking or driving somewhere, always when I'm by myself I get a little emotional and even a little tearful. I don't know why, are they tears of joy, or tears of relief, or tears of sadness as I know that this experience is almost over for him. Am I crazy?
Well anyway, I am super excited, don't get me wrong but it is confusing thinking about the fact that when he left I had so many emotions (happy, sad, anxious, stressed etc) and now he is almost home and I just can't put into words the way I feel. I guess I feel he has been protected and watched over as he served Heavenly Father's children each and every day for 2 years and now he has to come home to the real world. You know, the real world that can kinda stink sometimes!
Along with his flight info I got this message from his mission president. Now I know it is probably some form letter that they write to every departing missionaries family but I am just going to believe that his MP is writing a little note that is specifically for us.
I will share that too and again I couldn't help myself, got a little teary when I read it as well...
it says:
Dear Richardson family,
Elder Richardson is about to complete a very successful mission in the Brazil Belem Mission. He will be leaving the mission on August 24th, 2010. He will be leaving a country and a people with whom he has developed a strong love.
Brian has been instrumental in bringing the gospel to many people while serving here. He has strong testimony of the gospel of JC and a deep conviction of the atonement of the Savior. He was blessed with an outstanding command of the Portuguese Language. He has served in many areas of the mission and has had an impact on the lives of fellow missionaries, members, and investigators. He has served as Senior companion, Trainer, and Zone Leader. He has demonstrated strong leadership qualities throughout the mission and has been an excellent example of the Christ-like attributes necessary to be a leader. We will certainly miss Elder Richardson. he has learned many things here that will help him throughout his life. Thank you for helping to prepare such a wonderful young man to serve this very successful mission.
Sincerely,
Mission president-

One bright spot for Katie last week was she went to the BSB concert with Bronte and a couple other friends from church. They had a blast and now Katie wants every CD!
the girls got together before the concert to make t-shirts

a fun time!

Katie said "THEY CAN DANCE!" and would love to go again, maybe I can go with her next time.

It's August...

Beware:

Pictures ahead may not be suitable for viewers with weak stomachs :)

This is Katie crazy on Morphine!

On the day of discharge we had to stop at WalMart to get pills. Katie got to ride the scooter.


We have a handi-cap person in the house now.


Outer ankle incision.

Inner leg staples.

Getting all fixed up.

Phase one of getting cast on.

almost done

I'm not sure Katie is all that impressed but at least it's hot pink!

You can definitely say that I am behind. In everything. As far as the computer goes I have had nothing but trouble for the past month. I will not go into detail but the computer that I was using (Brian's) crashed twice. It is still not working and that is ANOTHER project Bob has before Brian gets home (16 days btw). Then he had to finally reprogram an older computer he had and of course I lost all my passwords etc so it has just been a nightmare for a someone like me who gets frustrated in about 2 seconds.