Asilomar

Last weekend, Stephen got everyone together in Monterrey for a family reunion . Family is so important to me. I loved getting to know Stephen's kids better and strengthening the relationships we already had.We stayed at Asilomar Conference Center. Stephen said Ronna used to love to go there. As soon as we checked in, we could see why. The rooms were cute and old fashioned with wooden floors and old pictures. Ashlyn thought it was great to be in the same room with everyone, but we couldn't get her to sleep! She was up long after the other kids were asleep.Jason finally took her out to the RV to sleep so she wouldn't keep everyone up. (Justin and Danale were in the room to our left and Linda and Angie were in the room to our right.)

On Saturday, we all went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. The kids had so much fun playing together!

I love the relationship that Ashlyn and Austin have. He is so sweet with her. Here she is looking out the window with Austin on the other side looking in.

Later, he saw Colton watching the birds and brought Ashlyn over to watch too. To see more really cute pictures of Colton, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/jason.rickards and look in the Asilomar folder.

Linda, Angie, Danale, and Colton

On Saturday night, we went down to the beach. I love being near the ocean! I love the smell, the sound of the roaring waves, the cold wind on my cheeks... I wish I could explain the feeling it gives me, but I've never been very good at describing my feelings. I'll try because it is a big part of me. When I am that close to God's creations, it quiets my inner soul. I feel a deep sense of peace and steadiness. I feel still and reflective. Grateful for all I have and reassured that He is aware of me.

As I looked around in what little moon light there was, I thought of Ronna. I know she loved the ocean too. I could almost feel her watching us. Linda looks so much like Ronna. She is one of the sweetest people I know. As she was fussing over Ashlyn, I was so grateful for the love she has for her. It made me miss Ronna so much. I know how much she loved Ashlyn and would have loved to have been there with us. I was sad for Ashlyn. She will grow up without the physical presents of her Grandma's love. I feel like Linda carries her sister's love for our family. It brought tears to my eyes and I had to turn my face to the wind to quickly dry them.

We spent Sunday morning at the beach. It was such a beautiful day! The kids played chicken with the waves... Shared more tender moments...I saw a quote on Heidi's blog that I have thought about quite a bit and have felt in my own life. It came back to me as I saw Skyler sitting alone on the beach watching the waves and looking very peaceful.Sometimes God calms the storm. Sometimes He lets the storm rage and calms His child.

We saw a sea lion on the shore...It looked like it may be injured, but of course we thought it was really cool and all wanted our picture taken with it.It was so fun to hang out on the beach with everyone.

We are looking forward to our next reunion!

Tagged Again!

I was tagged by my friend Lindsay. I know I just posted a long "get to know me" post, but this one made me think a little more.

3 Joys:
1. My husband Jason. I love being married to a man who is my partner, my friend and still acts like my boyfriend!

2. Being a mom to my kids. I love my kids! They are each so different and wonderful.
3. Feeling loved!

3 Fears:

1. Sometimes I am afraid of being in a horrible situation and not being able to protect all of my kids.

2. Dying before I'm old and wrinkled.

3. hmmm. I'm not afraid of much else...

3 Obsessions:

1. Preserving memories- Scrapbooking, Blogging, Heritage Books. Here is a link to a book that I just started. I only have a few pages done so you'll have to check back later to see the final project. http://www.heritagemakers.com/?event=projectBrowse&projectId=8b4ed6e2-3048-32c2-acda-b316c6a58554&productId=59&projectSponsor=304969

I'm also working on a Life Story of Jason's mom, Ronna Skarda. If anyone has pictures or stories they would like to submit, send them to TaraM22@gmail.com. I'll post a link when I finish it.

2. My ipod that works with my running shoes!

3. Late night snacks that I can't seem to give up! (keeping my ipod and running shoes one step higher on my list.)

3 Surprising Facts:

1. I'm studying to get my Real Estate License

2. I love to ride quads!

3. I volunteered with LDS Family Services for several years.

8 Things I am passionate about:

1. Relationships

2. Family

3. Traditions

4. The great out doors

5. Friends

6. Social work

7. Marriage

8. My kids

8 Words or Phrases I say often:

1. Seriously? This is usually said with wrinkled brow and a bit of a defeated/irritated but not surprised tone. Most commonly heard when I walk into a room of creative chaos or upon finding a child not doing whatever it was I asked them to do.

2. Is your homework done? This one is said at least 4-6 times an evening. ( I have 3 school aged children who are easily distracted.)

3. I love you. Probably the most commonly used phrase in my vocabulary. It's used often when I say goodbye to the kids as they jump out of the car, every morning to Jason before he leaves for work, almost always as we are getting off the phone during the day, a million times to my sweet baby who keeps me company during the day, to my kids randomly during the day or before bed, occasionally to my friends who are there for me over and over again, occasionally to my family who really should hear it more often, to my assistant who makes my life manageable and adores my baby!

4. Hurry! Sadly, this is also high on the list. No matter how well I think I planned out my time, the kids seem to get slower and slower as it gets closer to the time to leave for school or soccer or church.

5. What happened? To Ashlyn after emptying one of my cupboards,

to loud, unseen noises down stairs, to the crying child, to the angry child...

6. Can you babysit at... This one is usually in the form of a text message on Friday or Saturday night to my favorite babysitter Riley. 7& 8. I got stuck, so I just asked Austin to tell me a few things I say a lot. He said that I say, "Do your homework, get in the shower and did you put on deodorant?" Haha! I love that kid!

8 Things I Want To Do Before I Die:

1. Take a photography class

2. Run a marathon

3. Lean to play the piano

4. Learn to speak Spanish

5. Travel the world

6. Go on a church mission

7. Learn how to decorate beautiful cakes

8. Get back into my skinny jeans!

I know it only asked for 8, but I have a very long list! Don't worry, I'll stop at 10.

9. Decorate an entire room all at once- furniture, rugs, wall decor, curtains, etc. ( I always decorate one piece at a time or as my budget allows. By the time the room is done, I'm ready for a change.

10. Learn how to sing. I'm a rock star in my car, but when I sing at church, I afraid it is actually disrespectful because I am so off tune! :-)


8 Things I Pray For:

1. Good health

2. The safety of my family

3. For peace and comfort

4. To love those who have hurt me

5. Forgiveness

6. To understand things I don't

7. Direction in raising my children

8. For my friends and family

8 Things I've Learned:

1. Two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different.

2. Failing to forgive someone is failing to accept the atonement.

3. Holding a grudge only hurts the person who is holding it.

4. There isn't always a tomorrow.

5. The biggest mistake a person can make is not learning from it.

6. Happiness comes from within.

7. We are all unique, but we all have a story that makes us who we are. We all have heart ache, fears, and trials that lurk behind the smiles we wear.

8. There is something to love in everyone. Find it and your life will be better because of it.


8 People I Tag:

Janelle, Alisa, Jen, Danale, Terri, Heidi, Devon and Lisa Marie! ;-)

Ashlyn 1st Birthday

I can't believe it has really been a year! Ashlyn has changed our lives in so many ways! We had fun celebrating her birthday. We watched our family video journal that showed the day she was born. It was fun to remember. You can watch that by clicking on the link. http://rickardsfamily.blogspot.com/2008/08/rickards-family-video-journal.html

She loves to climb, so we bought her this little Kangaroo Climber with a slide. (Yes, I have fall decoration out and it is still 90 degress outside!) She loves to climb on it, but isn't too sure about the slide.

After her nap, we went to the zoo. She loved it! It was so funny to watch her reactions to the animals! I love this picture of us in front of the elephants! We are are looking at the camera, but Ashlyn couldn't take her eyes off the elephant!

Me (Tara), Ashlyn, Austin, and Jason

This was a pretty common reaction and constantly had us laughing!

Ashlyn and Grandma (DaNae)

Here are a few of my favorite pctures from the zoo. Jessican and KylieBilly, Britta and JenBilly and Britta and Tara and Ashlyn in the petting zoo

Jason, Ashlyn and Tara

Ashlyn and Lauren
As usual, you can see the rest of our pictures if you click on the link to the left that says Rickards Family Photos

Later that night, we sang happy birthday and let her open a few presents.

Life's Moments...

I try to live my life, not for the days, but for the moments. Jason happened to capture this one...

Conversation

Each week, Lauren brings home a Character Counts chart for us to sign and send back to school. It keeps us up to date with their classroom behavior. Every day is color coded. Green means they had a great day. Yellow means they had a warning. And Red means they had a bad day or got in trouble for misbehaving.

Yesterday she brought home her behavior chart and had one yellow day. Here is the conversation that followed:

Jason: Honey, that's not good. Why did you get yellow? Were you talking to Kyle? If you keeping talking to Kyle during class time, he's not going to be able to come over and play.

Lauren: No! Jason, I wasn't talking to Kyle! It was some other dude.

Jason: (trying not to laugh) What did you say? Who were you talking to?

Lauren: I said it was some other dude named Spencer.

Jason: (still holding back his laugh) Some other dude huh?

Ta-Da!

Okay, so I finally did it! I chopped off my hair! It went from this in June...

To ...

I can get ready in about the half the time! I'm not sure how to get it into a pony tail though...

Get To Know Me

Danale sent me this Get to Know Your Friends Survey a couple of weeks ago. I always love to read what people wrote because you find out little things you didn't know. I thought it might be fun to post mine. Who knows, maybe you will learn something new about me.

Okay, so when I went to my email I found a few of these surveys. I think it is so funny to read back through them and remember my life at those times! I'm going to post two just for fun!

1. What time did you get up this morning? 6:00am (yes, I'm back to the gym!)

2. Diamonds or pearls? Diamonds

3. What was the last film you saw at the cinema? Batman

4. What is your favorite TV show? There is nothing on right now!! The Hills just started up again and that is entertaining.

5. What do you usually have for breakfast? Slim Fast

6. What is your middle name? Michelle

7. What food do you dislike? I love food! (That is why I have been drinking Slim Fast for breakfast!)

8. What is your favorite CD at the moment? I don't think it is my favorite, but it is in my CD player and I listen to it every time i get in the car...Learn to Speak in a Week- Spanish!

9. What kind of car do you drive? Tahoe

10. Favorite sandwich? Turkey and Cheese

11. What characteristic do you despise in people? hypocrisy

12. Favorite item of clothing? Jason's T-shirts to lounge around the house in.

13. If you could go anywhere in the world on vacation, where would you go? Back to Italy or to France. I really want to go to Paris

14 . What is your favorite way to pass the time of day? Hmmm... I've been so crazy busy lately, but probably doing some video editing or working on a Heritage Book. I'm trying to preserve as many memories as I can. You never know when any one of us will have our time here run out.

15. What was your most memorable birthday? Memorable Birthday?!?!? I barely know how old I am!
16. Morning person or a night person? Night Owl! Mornings hurt and always come way too fast!

17. What is your shoe size? 7 1/2

18. Pets? None

19. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Jason got his brokers license and we are starting a new business!

20. What did you want to be when you were little? A mom!

21. How are you today? I'm good. That's for asking!

22. What is your favorite flower? Red Roses

23. What is a day on the calendar you are looking forward to? October 1st- Ashlyn's first birthday

24. What are you listening to right now? Peace and quiet. The kids are at school. Jason is at work and Ashlyn is asleep. Ahhhh....

25. What was the last thing you ate? Slim Fast. Wow- I'm boring huh?

26. Do you wish on stars? I used to... I don't think I could wish for any else in my life right now.

27. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Purple

28. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Jason on his way to work. I don't know how we don't get sick of each other! :-)

29. What is your favorite soft drink? Diet Coke Plus

30. Favorite restaurant? Hula Grill in Maui. Nice answer Danale! Love that place! If I had to give a different answer, this could take all day. I think it makes Jason crazy because I can never decide. I love food. He'll ask where I want to go and I'll say anywhere that has food or surprise me. Every once in a while I want a good Burger and then I want to go to Red Robin.

31. Hair color? Brown, but I'm toying with a change. Jason has always said he loves my hair the way it is, but he finally agreed I could highlight it. I cut bangs about 6 months ago and I'm over it now. They look awful as I am trying to grow them out. So, why bother changing my hair if I'm not going to love it anyway? I think I might chop it off too! We'll see....

32. What was your favorite toy as a child? My Cabbage Patch Kids. My best friend Lindsay and I would play for hours!

33. When was the last time you cried? Last Wednesday when I had surgery.

34. What did you do last night? Went to Austin's football meeting, got the kids ready for bed, and finished my video journal

35. Are you afraid of Death? No, I'm just not ready to go yet. I would be sad for my kids. They need me and I think it would kill Jason.

36. Salty or sweet? Sweet! Sweet! Sweet! Salt? Sure I'll have some of that too! Any thing else?

37. How many keys on your key ring? 3. My house, the mail key, & the car key.

38. How many years at your current job? 6 1/2

39. Favorite day of the week? Friday

40. Do you make friends easily? Yeah. I love people. We are all so different and the so much the same in so many ways.

41. How many people will you send this to? I don't know. Maybe I will post it on my blog. :-)

42. How many will respond? Who ever thinks it's interesting to read...

43. Do you like finding out all this stuff about your friends? Yes! Love it!

44. Summer or winter? Spring!

45. Chocolate or Vanilla? Both! But Vanilla ice cream on warm brownies is THE BEST!


Okay here is #2. The date is 2/12/07

1. What time is it? 9:45

2. What is your full name? Tara Michelle Rickards

3. What are you most afraid of? One of my kids dying

4. Seen a ghost? yep

5. Where were you born? Sacramento, California

6. Ever been to Alaska? Not yet

7. Ever been toilet papering? More times than I could count.

8. Loved someone so much it made you cry? Of course

9. Been in a car accident ? 3 times but never the driver, always the passenger

10. Croutons or bacon bits: Yummy! Both!

11. Favorite day of the week: Saturday!

12. Favorite Restaurant: Za-za's in Florence, Italy ( this was put in by my dad, but he is absolutely right! It was fabulous!)

13. Favorite Flower: Roses! Different colors depending on my mood and the feelings they bring. They are just so romantic!

14: favorite drink: Sobe No Fear. Wow! That will really get you going! (sugar free)

15. Favorite ice cream: Ben and Jerry's Chubby Hubby

16. Favorite fast food restaurant? Does Arsenios count as fast food? It is a great Mexican restaurant with a 24 hour drive through. Jason and I are regulars!

17. What color is your bedroom carpet? Neutral Beige

18. How many times have you failed your driver's test? Once!!! I made a right hand turn on a yellow light and the crusty lady said it turned red. I think she was just grouchy!

19. Before this one, from whom did you get your last mail? Jen Bohn. She sent me a funny clip about nails salons that Janelle sent her.

20. What do you do most often when you are bored? Bored? What is that? I wish I had time to be bored! That would be great!

21. Bedtime? Hmmm. I try to set a bed time goal but never make it. When I wake up in the morning, I always say I am going to go to bed tonight at 10:30. Never happens. Usually around 12 midnight.

22. Who will respond to this e-mail the quickest? Not sure anyone will.

23. Who is the person you sent this to that is least likely to respond? Jason ;-)

24. Who is the person that you are most curious to see their answers? Everyone or I wouldn't send it! Haha!

25. Best Job you every had? The one I have now.

26. Ford or Chevy? Hmmm. Tough call. Chevy.

27. What are you listening to right now? Lauren playing make believe with her ponies.

29. How many tattoos do you have? None . .

30. How many pets do you have? Jessica has a hamster and we time share a cat with our neighbors. (The best way to have a cat!)

31. Which came first the chicken or the egg? The Chicken.

32. What would you like to accomplish before you die? My brain is still fuzzy before noon. That question requires thought. You'll have to ask me in the evening. Something great though.

33. How many people are you sending this e-mail to? just a couple.

34. What age was your favorite? And Why? Probably 18. Life was a new adventure. Going off to college, meeting new people. It was the only time in my life I didn't really have a plan.

35. What was your happiest time in your life? Right now! I just got home from my honeymoon!!! It was the best! Seriously!

36. What was the worst? About 4 years ago.

37. What was the biggest mistake you made and wish you could change it? Oh common now. Do we really need to broadcast our mistakes?! Haha! Sometimes I think I would change a million things but I am so happy with where I am now. I love the quote "It doesn't matter where you came from, It only matter where you are going." I love where I am going. I'm so excited about my future. I'm with an amazing man and I couldn't be happier about it!

39. Is there one place that makes you feel safe? In Jason's arms. Cheesy but true.

.40. If you could go anywhere in the world ,where would you go, and with who? I would love to travel everywhere! I think the next place I will go will probably be England when Sam gets off his mission. I'm looking forward to that.

That was fun, huh?! Okay, so I want to hear your answers! You can post them in the comments or email me!

Busy Weekend

This weekend was so busy! Travis came to visit the kids before he leaves next week to Iraq. The timing couldn't have been better. Friday morning, the school had their annual fund raiser called Donuts with Dad. An hour before school starts, the kids get to have donuts and juice with their dads and visit with their friends. We bought tickets earlier in the week. The kids were excited to leave when Travis picked them up for school.

I gave him a sheet of paper with the kids' schedule for the weekend. Jessica had her first soccer tournament on Saturday and was playing in two games. I laughed when he asked if she had to be at both games. "Yep!" Welcome to soccer season! At least Lauren's games haven't started yet.

Austin had his first real football game later that afternoon. We were all a little disappointed that he didn't get very much playing time. He really wanted his dad to be able to see him play. It was still fun to watch though. Austin looks so grown up in his uniform and I finally got to see who Kyles' mom is.

Explanation

Lauren had been dying for her friend, Kyle, to come over and play. I told her I didn't know Kyle's mom, so I wasn't sure she would let him come over. She insisted I knew his mom, but she couldn't remember their last name. This went on for a couple of weeks. She did bring home his phone number one day, but we were too busy to have friends over. Anyway, while we were sitting in the bleachers, Lauren bounced over to us. "Mom! Mom! You can finally see who Kyle's mom is! You have to come over here quick!" I laughed and took her hand while she dragged me over to "see" who she was. Lauren was right. I did know her. Her daughter played on Jessica's soccer team last year. Jason and I chatted with them for a few minutes before we left. Lauren is thrilled that Kyle can come over and play very soon! Oh, my little Lauren...

Saturday morning, Jessica had her first soccer tournament. Jessica

She woke up with a sore throat and wasn't feeling very well. It didn't seem to slow her down very much. After she got over grumbling about the position she was playing, she had a great time!

Jessica and Travis

Jason and I took advantage of having a free Saturday! We went to lunch and then to the driving range to hit some golf balls. We went to an RV show- we are always half hearted, looking for an upgrade. Then, we browsed for a new car, but didn't find anything we were ready to jump into a payment for, so we headed down to the outlets to do a little clothes shopping.

Check out this cute sweater we picked up for Ashlyn!

It was such a nice weekend!