Glow in the dark Golf

Another one of our favorite family outings is visiting Two T's miniature golf course near our home.  They used to only have 9 holes of indoor glow in the dark miniature golf.  They recently added 9 more holes to make it an even better experience for us regulars.  The art was done by Disney artists and I must say I have just as much fun looking at the art on the walls as I do hitting the balls in the holes.

This is the hole with sharks surrounding us.  Doesn't it look realistic?  What an amazing talent to have to paint like that!

Our Shark-man.  Uh oh, don't look behind you, it just might bite!

This was another part of the ocean scene.

Reid was a fan of the dinosaur hole.  Reid, be careful not to get too close to the dinosaur's feet.

And the final hole!  Reid got a hole in one and received a free game!  Rock on!

After all our outings we spent a little snuggle time at home.  We were watching some music videos of one of my new favorite artists Alessia Cara.  There's nothing better that cuddles with my littles.

Oh my! Oh my! Oh my Dinosaurs!

One of the boys Christmas presents were tickets to go to the Franklin Institute and see the Jurassic Park Dinosaur exhibit, the Robotics exhibit, and anything else we had time for in this ginormous museum.  We visited the museum with our good friends the Oringdulphs.

This exhibit was not like the Natural History Museums we have been to.  It was on a whole new level.  Instead of seeing huge displays of dinosaurs in their bone form, this exhibit had life-sized robotic dinosaurs.  These dinosaurs were brought to life!  We went through the exhibit as if we were tourists visiting the Jurassic Park.

This was the first dinosaur that we saw.  Just imagine all of our eyes looking upward and our jaws dropping to see the massiveness and the realistic nature of this prehistoric animal.  Reid was beside himself with shock and amazement and how real they looked.  After all, he is my dinosaur lover.

There were interactive videos along our way to learn all sorts of things about each dinosaur.

Triceratops.  These creature were so massive and really don't need an introduction.  Their presence speaks for itself.  Powerful and in charge.

Cye and Gavin....they're not scared!

T-Rex, the king of the dinosaurs and Reid's favorite, at least from afar.  He ROARED, he stomped, and he even pushed over a truck.  No one and nothing gets in his way!

After we saw all the life-sized dinosaurs we played some interactive activities to help the kids learn even more about these colossal creatures.

I'd say the boys were completely engaged and interested in everything they saw, read, and heard.  This was definitely a popular activity that our boys could have done over and over and over again.  

Reid and Cye taking a little rest before moving on to the next exhibit.

Xavier wrote a current event article about the robotics exhibit a couple months ago and has been begging to see it since he learned about it.  It was nice for him and the rest of the boys to see how there are all sorts of robots today that help us with so many things.  There are robots that play sports, robots that are made to be a companion to someone, robots that can go into dangerous situations so that people's lives are preserved, some robots sweep and perform other household chores, there are robots that entertain (one played tic tac toe with us!), and so many more.  I had no idea that robots could do so many things.  Maybe Xavier will invent a robot that could wash, fold, and put away the laundry in the future.  Now I'd pay money for that one!

We were only able to explore a few exhibits at the Franklin Institute that day!  Luckily we got an annual membership so we can go again and again and see some other things we didn't have time for during this visit.  Plus, the temple is a block away, so we can even do both activities when we visit Philly!  

Dinosaurs, robots, and everything science oh my!  It was a super day of learning all about times long ago and the possibilities for the future.

Davinci Science Center

Christmas Break may be a break from school, but it's not a break from learning and lots of family time.  We took a trip to the DaVinci Science Center for some Mad Science fun!

Gavin built with the Keva blocks for a good chunk of our time.  He kept trying to make his tower taller and taller and taller.  It was almost as tall as him!

The boys spent a lot of time building here and using their imaginations to fly, drive, and create super hero scenarios.

Reid is a speedy race car driver.

Gavin and Ashton are on their own secret mission in their secret spy car.

There was a very intricate train exhibit to observe.

Justin, Gavin, Ashton, Xavier, and Reid 

Even though the museum had all sorts of cold weather activities, there wasn't any snow outside.  We are still waiting for a really good snowstorm to come.

Two smart boys, best buds, and science aficionados.  Cheers to science!

Christmas Day

Santa sure left some nice surprises under the tree!

The boys couldn't wait to go down the stairs and explore the surprises.

No matter what the presents are under the tree, these three boys are the best presents I could have ever asked for!  They fill my heart and soul and give my life meaning and purpose.  I love them every day and hope they know how grateful I am to my Heavenly Father for creating a plan where I could come to Earth and experience a small tidbit of what being a parent is all about.  These boys are little pieces of my heart walking around outside my body and I treasure the happy moments and the learning moments we share together.  Okay, enough of the sappy stuff and onto the Christmas morning chaos.

The boys were thrilled with their gifts.  Reid hugged his fleece Pokemon blanket as if his life depended on it and if he's not looking I might take it.  It is seriously the softest blanket on the planet.

The boys are posing for a picture with their gifts from Grandma and Grandpa Richardson.  Flying monkey's, magic trax, rocket, and a wooden tool box.  Grandma and Grandpa always know what will be a hit with our boys.

Can I go back to bed now?  Soooooooo tired.

Xavier sporting his new sweatshirt.

Gavin too.

Reid excited to try out his new "big" cars.

We have a Bulls fan in the house.  Which is kind of cool because that was one of my favorite teams growing up.  I watched them during the time of Jordan, but my favorite was Scotty Pippin.  We also have a Cavaliers fan.  Their college team is still the Spartans.

Since basketball has been a huge part of our lives this year and the boys have shown a lot of interest in it as far as watching it and playing it, we decided to get them a basketball hoop for Christmas.  (I think that was also a gift Tim wanted for himself.....)  And now that we have our own house and a big enough driveway it was the perfect thing for our family.  The boys and our neighbors play on it all the time.

The final gift and surprise we gave the boys this year was this box.  In it was a special message.......

that baby Richardson #4 would be arriving in July.  The boys were definitely surprised and super excited to have another sibling in the house.  Xavier thinks it will be another boy.  Gavin wants a sister to torment Xavier.  Xavier thinks having a sister would ruin his t.v. choices and he'd have to start watching My Little Pony and other girlie shows.  Gavin loves the idea of that happening and tormenting Xavier.  Oh, little brother love!  Reid has asked for a baby sister for a few months now. Time will tell whose wish comes true.  We asked the boys to keep this a secret from our friends for a little bit longer, but it sure was a special Christmas and one that will be a favorite in my book for years to come.  This time next year I'll be able to say that I have FOUR of the best presents I could have ever asked for, my gems, my kids!

Merry Christmas and I hope everyone can count the many blessings they have in their lives.  I know that my list is quite long and my heart is infinitely grateful for those blessings each day.

Christmas Eve

To finish off our Christmas traditions this year I had a day dedicated to baking.  This year I decided to cook my three favorite cookies to share with our neighbors and friends.  I made red velvet cookies with a cream cheese filling and white chocolate drizzled on top, I made white chocolate chip craisin oatmeal cookies, and the king of all cookies, the Neiman Marcus chocolate chip cookie.

When all the cookies were baked, I assembled them into boxes, tins, and plates for various sized families we love!  I took the boys on our annual cookie delivery quest and surprised our friends all over the Easton, Phillipsburg, and Bethlehem area.  It's so fun to see everyone's smiles when they see a yummy plate full of cookies.  It warms my heart to spread some holiday cheer with my boys by sharing our yummy treats baked with love.

Christmas Eve, for us, is always a little different.  Sometimes we spend it with friends and other times it's a night just our family.  This year was one of those years that was a little more mellow and quiet.  Tim picked up some delicious tamales from a local Mexican restaurant that recently opened and we enjoyed a non-traditional Christmas Eve dinner of tamales.  They were oh so divine.  Tim was probably the most excited!

Then we read from Luke II together and talked about the birth of our Savior.  

Each of us found a comfortable spot in the family room to feel the warmth of the fire and listen to the words from the scriptures.  After recounting the wonderful and humble story of how our Savior came the the Earth we opened our Christmas pajamas.

Reid was excited to put on his cozy Santa jammies.

Xavier was ecstatic to get Christmas shark pajamas tangled in holiday lights.

I couldn't help but stroke the silky smooth pajamas I got.  They were lovely.

Gavin was stoked about his fleece buffalo plaid jams.  And for some reason I don't seem to have a picture of Tim with his new basketball shorts (aka Dad pajamas).

The boys immediately took their day clothes off and jumped right into their warm and festive pajamas that they would comfortably snooze in Christmas Eve.  All that's left is to convince the boys it's time for bed so that Santa can do his work!  Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

It's Party Time!

This year we seemed to have an abundance of Christmas festivities!  

The Young Women I serve wanted to have their own Christmas pajama party.  I hosted the party at my house and we had soooo much fun.  Tim took Xavier and Reid out for the night so the home could be a girl domain (plus Reid) that evening.

We made sugar cookies and decorated them.

Some of the girls creations.  We enjoyed Bianca's Mexican hot chocolate that was amazing!  It had some chili powder in it (a Mexican twist) so it was different from regular hot chocolate but so yummy!  We also ordered pizza.

After we ate we decorated our own Christmas ornaments.  They filled them with all sorts of things and decorated the outside with glitter, pens, and sparkle glue.

Reid dove right in the middle of all the fun.

Bianca working to make her ornaments beautiful!

Some finished products.  Everyone did such a great job making their ornaments uniquely their own. We then did a gift exchange by reading a "Left and Right Christmas story" and passing the gifts around until we got to the end of the story and received our gift.

After our crafting session we headed to the couch to snuggle under some blankets and watch How the Grinch Stole Christmas. We had a ton of fun laughing, talking, and hanging out.  I'm looking forward to doing another YW Christmas party next year.

The next fun night we had was our traditional Gingerbread house making with Karina and Sebastian. We made a minion house and Sebastian and Karina made a train.

I sure love this lady!  Our friendship has grown so much over 6 years and she has grown so much in her testimony!  She's amazing and I love having her in my life.

After taking this photo I realized how Tim and I don't take a lot of pictures together, but we need to do more of it.  Love him to pieces.  

Gingerbread house making round 2 with all the scouts and their families.  Wence and Cheri had the best selection of materials to use in decorating the houses.  It was great to see all the boys create unique houses.

Peter and Oliver starting their houses.

Lining all of the finished products up for some photo taking.

The architects and designers with their creations.

Here's a view of the gingerbread houses up close.

This was Xavier's.

Poor Hayden's had a hard time staying together, but at least he ate the candy before it completely collapsed.  

Everyone did such a great job!

Gavin was so proud of his house that he brought it home and insisted we keep it forever.  That didn't happend, but we'll have this picture of it forever.

At the end of the activity the boys did a gift exchange by playing  a "left and right Christmas story" game to receive a small white elephant gift.  

Having so many get togethers this time of year always reminds me of how many wonderful people are a part of our life and how lucky we are to have so many great friends!  This is definitely the time of year to be with those you love and we did just that!