My girls!

SO a request has been made for more pics. Funny thing is this was on the to do list for yesterday.
So we're all doing great. I'm tired but doing well. I feel 100 times better than the first time we tried this parenthood thing.
I'm honestly loving having two little girls. They are so sweet. Ella is a doll who barely makes a noise and Nali is the funniest little girl.
Yesterday her butt crack was hanging out. I said "Nali what's this?" pointing to her bum. Her reply..."Crack Kills!" Thanks to Uncle Eric.
A few days ago I said "Ahhh pickles!" Nali said "No it's Oh SNAP!" She keeps me in line.


Nali giving her sister loves!

Nali enjoys cuddling with Ella.We've told her 100 times not to move her but mysteriously Ella has moved when we return to the room.

Sam enjoying the moment.

A little Sunday night cuddle session while watching the Amazing Race!!

Anyways, I hope that you guys enjoy the pic's. Thanks for all of the well wishes that we've received over the past few weeks. We love and miss all of you and can't wait till our paths cross again!

Baby Ella

So here are a few more pictures and details of our Valentines Day. We went to the hospital a little early, I was having contractions and wasn't feeling the baby move so we thought better safe than sorry. I was scheduled for a c-section at 10:20. They did 3 Stress tests on the baby and everything was fine so I waited for our appointment. Of course they were running behind so we didn't go up to the O.R. until about 11:30. They prepped me for surgery. It was amazingly calm compared to the previous emergency c-section I had.
They asked Sam if he wanted to watch the birth. He declined until I asked him to please watch, someone needed to see the birth of our child. So as they were ready to get the head out the told Sam to look. I've never seen Sam's eyes so big. Well he watched them work her out. All I remember hearing was a cry and Sam saying "It's Ella!" As I heard her cry I started to cry. It's the most amazing thing to here that first sound. The took her and cleaned her up beside me. They have a special nurse that just does planned c-sections. She was amazing. She held her so I could see the whole time then let me hold her. Then Sam held her as they were stitching me up. With Nali everything was so rushed. I barely got to see her before they ran out the door with her. This was really nice to spend some time with Sam and her before they needed to go.
I only spent about 45 minutes in the recovery room compared to 2 hours last time which was also nice. It's kind of funny they keep on checking you to see how much the freezing goes down. They say "Does this feel normal?" I said, I don't even remember what normal feels like!
Anyways, They took me to my room, I had to wait a bit for Sam and Ella to return from the nursery. All I can say is that she was amazing. Sam stayed with me 3 nights. It was nice to have him there since it's difficult for me to get in and out of bed. Ella stayed in our room the whole time which was also a nice treat. The first night she slept beside me in my bed.
As you can see below Nali took to her instantly. She told everyone who'd come and visit that this was her baby sister Ella Renee. She was also very protective of her. She didn't like other people to hold her and would often say"Uh...I think that she needs her mom."
Sam went to work for a bit Thursday and most of Friday. My mom and dad watched Nali. Nali loved being at the hospital though. She spent about 9 hours there with me on Thursday. She just couldn't get enough!
So as you can tell this was a MUCH more pleasant experience. Ella had been an angel...It's really been a delight. Maybe because there wasn't as much unknown and I didn't have a traumatic birth but it's been nice.
We feel so overwhelmingly grateful for all that we've been given. To have 2 healthy girls, Sams job, our house, our country, etc. etc.

Yes, tis is my glam shot...this was about 3 hours after she was born.
Our little girls!
Dad with his girls!
She loves her!

Ella Renee Richards is here!!!!

We're home and all is well!

2 WEEKS TO GO!

Well here you go...all of you people wanting to see the new larger version of Renee. This was taken 5 minutes ago...No wonder I put off taking a picture for so long. 2 weeks to go. I look forward to the baby coming and getting on with life. As much as I hate being pregnant tere are really amazing things about it. It is a miracle. I love it when Nali comes and randomly hugs my belly and talks to the baby. At night when we all lay on the bed and watch tv she'll pull up my shirt and pat my tummy. It's really quite endearing. She's also helped me with some of the not fun things of pregnancy like dry skin. Especially this winter. She'll rub my legs and tummy with lotion. She also reminds me at night that I need to lotion up.
So yes 2 weeks. We do have names Carthew Joseph boy, Ella Renee Girl. We were thinking Chloe but about a month ago I mentioned Ella and Sam really liked it. As most of you know Nali was named after a girl on my mission. Well her oldest sisters name is Ella. So that would be kind of neat.
Other than that we've torn apart the bathroom and hopefully will have it done in the next week. I'll post some pic's when there done

Happy New Year!

So below are a few random pictures from the past month. I deeply apologize that there are none of me...I really have no idea how that happened. But rest assured Bess I'll get some on for you.
So the coffee table was built by Sam over the past month. He had a good time making it and it's a nice addition to our living room.
This is our official first full size Christmas tree. I think that it was officially a fire hazard the day we got it in the house. What a pain to clean. I think that it shed every needle on the way out to the trash last week.
The framed picture will be familiar to some of you. It was a gift from some of the girls in Provo when we moved. I finally got pictures in it and put it up.
The picture of Nali looking a little cold was taken last week. We took her toboganing for the first time. She LOVED it. She's a nut. She was freezing cold and didn't want to come home. When we did come home she played in the backyard for another 15 minutes.
So a few quick updates. The baby is coming officially on February 14th, 2007. I will have a c-section on that day. I feel good about it and can't wait to get this over with. 6 weeks from today and our family will be 4.
Sam and I celebrated our 6 year aniversary on December 29th. We went to Calgary ate some East Indian food and went to the Flames LA Kings game. It was the second year we've gone to a flames game on our aniversary. We had a good time. The next day we went to IKEA before we left the city. Ok, what a store. I had no "IKEA" how big or diverse it was. It was insane, definately home furnishing overload.
About mid-December we took Nali to a Lethbridge Hurricanes Hockey game. It was their annual Teddy Bear Toss which means when the 'Canes score their first goal everyone in attendance throws a Teddy Bear/Stuffed animal onto the ice. The next 15 minutes are spent picking up the 3000+ animals. They are then donated through out the year to various groups. Anyways, it's a GREAT time. And a spectacle to see that many animals flying through the air.
Other than that not much is new. Nali had a great Christmas, she lives on her spring horse. Sam got a new set of Cleveland Golf clubs. He was very happy and suprised to receive them.
I just wanted to thank everyone who sent us Christmas cards. It was such a treat to get the updates and pictures from everyone from all over the USA. We are grateful to have such friends and share such great memories with them.

Nali's 4th Birthday

So for those of you who are worried that I'm not putting on the pounds the below picture should put you at ease. So yes, into the 29th week and the scale keeps on moving. I really hate really really hate being pregnant. I'm grateful that I can but it's not something I in the least enjoy, my back kills, I don't sleep and night and I hate looking in the mirror.
Anyways, the other pic's are Nali's 4th birthday. Hard to belive. Some of you have been there for all of her parties. We missed you and hopefully see you again. She had a great time. The little girl helping her with her presents is her cousin. The are so cute together.
Anyways, I'll write more soon...

Things I LOVE about Canada or at least find humorous!

So, about 2 weeks ago Sam, Nali and I went on a little road trip. Sam had to do an inspection in Glenwood and since he gets reimbursed for gas we thought that we might as well join him and see some sights. Below is our favorite beach in Waterton, there's snow in the mountains. It was a pretty nice day other than the Gale Force winds. It was unbelievable. Nali couldn't even walk into it. Water was being blown off the lake about 20-30 feet it was really quite entertaining. Notice the waves in the pictures, remember this is a lake...


In all my years of living in Southren Alberta, I've NEVER come across a cattle drive. So on this little roadtrip we took we ran into 3! YES 3!!!! Seriously the first one kind amusing, the second one a litle irritating and then the thirs one was "Are your freaking kidding me!" Well the pictures below are of the third one. The funny thing is the ranchers/cowboys doing the cattle drive look at you like you shouldn't be on the road. Seriously...the kind of eye you like "HOW DARE YOU DRIVE YOUR CAR ON THE ROAD!"

What would you do if you saw this coming at you down the road...

So Southren Alberta can be windy. You either love it and appreciate that because of the wind we have the mildest winter climate in Canada and no smog/pollution. Or you absolutely hate it and curse it. So this is a common sight driving around, rows upon rows of windmills. It's great, I love it, I think it not only adds to the scenery but shows us that people are thinking of alternate fuel resources.

The last picture is my most favorite. We pass this sign every time we go to Castle Mountain to go snowboarding and it always makes us laugh. It is seriously in the middle of no where. You can see that it used to say "1.7 km straight ahead." Well there was nothing ever 1.7 km ahead. I would really love to see this so if any of you make it up this way I will be sure to call the First People's consulting and set up a show.
I hope that all of you enjoyed the pictures from our little sight seeing trip in Southren Alberta. It really is a beautiful place and I love the diversity it offers.

HALLOWEEN PIC's....finally!

Well I finally got around to putting our Halloween pic's on the computer. After much tribulation about Nali not being a horse for Halloween she was very excited to be a dinosaur. We called her a "Nali-Saurus-Rex". We had a great time trick-or-treating with her. I think we only hit about 15 houses but they loaded her up. Our neighbors were great and would make a big deal about her. It's weird but it made us feel even more like this is our home.


The snow pic's are from the day before halloween. It's almost a tradition that Halloween is cold here. Next week will probably be really mild and nice again. But this week was freezing

A quick story, Monday morning I was sleeping in Nali's bed as she was watching TV in our room. I heard her get socks out of her drawer and then I kind of blanked out. A few minutes later I hear the back door close. I pop up and look out the window. There was nali in her little summer coat and a pair of gum boots playing in the snow with her pj's on. So I went and told her to come in and said that later in the morning I'd get her ready to play in the snow. It shocked me that she could get out of the house. And it suprised me how ambitious and old she is getting.

So Nali had an issue with Halloween. She's been hounding us about it for weeks. Last week she woke up at 2:30 AM and yelled from her room "NOW IS IT HALLOWEEN???" I yelled back "NO!" a few minutes later "NOOWWWWWWWWWWWW????!!!" Anyways, that's been our life well after since the snow fall she doesn't believe that it's halloween because there's snow. What a kid....

Nali's loot! The first time she's collected Canadian Chocolate bars. Notice the Coffee Crisps in the pic. They are to die for!!

Bedroom Reno's

Well, we finally did it. We got our bedroom done. Below are some random before and after pic's. We're very happy with the results. It finally feels like our bedroom. Anyways Enjoy

O Canada, Hockey, Thanksgiving and such...

Well, it's Canadian Thanksgiving this weekend. So what does that mean. Well for starters it's not the shopping frenzy that is is in the USA. Not at all...we get Monday off as a holiday, yes we eat turkey, yes we watch football (It's the CFL though, Canadian Football League 3 downs not 4, shorter/wider field and huge endzone). It'll be nice to here though for the first time in 4 years.
So the NHL has officially started (why do they call it the National Hockey League when 2 countries are involved, shouldn't it be the international hockey league. And why do they call the NFL, NBA, MLB World Champions when they're only in 1 or 2 countries). So tonight is the battle of Alberta Edmonton Oilers versus my favorite the Calgary Flames. How exciting. Hockey night in Canada, have I already said it, it's good to be home.
So being in Canada the news is somewhat diferent then the US news. For example one of tonights headlines is where our Prime Ministers hockey alleigance is. Last night the Ottawa Senators played the Toronto Maple Leafs. When Toronto scored Prime Minister Stephen (not Steve as George W. Bush likes to call him) Harper raised his hands in a somewhat jubilant motion speculation started on is he a Leafs fan? Heaven forbid the PM who was born in Toronto likes the Leafs. How incredibly funny. It just shows you how big hockey is in this country. Ya gotta love it.
So just so you all know I'm going to the Dixie Chicks on November 6th. I'm SO excited. I never thought that I'd be a "Chicks" fan but I've really grown to love them. I think their last album "Home" is amazing. Check it out.
Lets see I'm 20 weeks now, things are going well. We're excited to have the baby come but dang I'm a little nervous as well. It's going to be a big change going back to the infant stage.

Thoughts and a few random pic's

Ok, I don't have anything really new to post. Above is one of my favorite pictures of Nali ever. I just thought that I would post it to give you all something to look at.
So tonight at dinner a bird few into our dining room window *SMACK* Holy crap. Serious...Sam thought it flew away but nope, it was dead on a car mat that I had been cleaning outside. Nali looked out the window and was quickly tramautized. So I told her that it's just sleeping and will wake up and fly away. Well I distracted her as Sam went outside to take care of business. Nali was much relieved when later the bird was gone.
So, whats new with us. We had our ultra sound last week. Everything is good. We didn't find out what we were having...maybe we will later...maybe we won't.
We are enjoying the new season of wonderful TV shows. How would we get through the cold and dark winter without them. The Amazing Race is amazing. We love it and would love to one day be on it. Survivior...hmmm...I've watched every episode since it's conception 6 years ago. I think that we watch it more out of habit then really enjoyment. I think that doing the "race" tribes was boring. If they had been people straight from Mexico, Asia, America and Africa then you would've seen cultural differences. They were all Americans and thus behaved so. I found it interesting though that other than their race all the tribe members where unique and different thus killing any real stereotypes that you wanted to have. Like the Heavy Metal Latino guy. I had NO idea. So in that aspect I believe it was a sucess. I don't think that the race concept would work well with "The Amazing Race". Just imagine...which "race" is amazing?!
I have a new calling. I'm now in the Primary Presidency. I was rather nervous/skeptical at first but 3 weeks in I'm loving it. We have about 40-45 kids. I love how primary is going back to the basics. These kids really are amazing. It's one of the coolest things to here them sing at the top of there lungs "Scripture Power". What a treat.
Ok, so below is a picture of my little (I have to stop saying that, she's nearly 20) so my younger sister Heather. She ran a Half Marathon on September 9th. She placed a suprising first. It was great to watch her run. She did great. I'm proud of her. This picture was taken at one of the water stops.
Anyways, I could ramble on a little more but I have a meeting to attend.

My Belly, Skater Girl and Throwing Rocks

Ok, Ginny this shot is for you. I'm sure in the coming weeks there will be more to show but this is it at 17 weeks. What a wonderful self-portrait

My little skater girl. She LOVES skateboarding with her dad.
Ok, I promise that this wasn't planned. She is a skater underwear hanging out and all.
Sam and Nali throwing rocks in the river bottom. We hiked down there one night. They had a great time throwing rocks while I do my typical photo taking.

Well

Whoop Up Days and The ReAl Madrid

So here's a few random pic's. I don't have any of my belly yet (sorry Ginny). Below is Sam and I at the Real Madrid ReAl Salt Lake soccer game. I got Sam tickets for his birthday. Some people were suprised that we would drive that far for a soccer game. We would respond that it's a lot closer than Spain. We had a good time and were glad that we went. Nali stayed in Canada with Grandma.
David Beckham...when he'd touch the ball the whole stadium would light up with flashes.
Nali sharing her ice-cream cone with her cousin Hailey. We were at the Whoop-Up Days parade with my 2 brothers, sister-in-law, her parents and sister and cousin Hailey.
Nali just chilling before the parade started.

Nali's Room done....well almost!

So we FINALLY got Nali's room semi-done...it's painted carpeted and looking cute. We still have the shelving to do, closet doors, window coverings and a bed. But it's nice to have a room that's just for her.

Before:


After: