Too Cute!

OK this was too cute not to post......this is Haven's horse balloon she ordered for her birthday

She was pretty proud of it.....the night after her party, we caught her like this.....

She had the horse (balloon) covered up and lying down beside her in the floor, just talking away to it!! So cute!!!

We had our first snow last week

It's gone now......(.temporarily!)

VSL Party

I'm not a fan of Halloween, but we let our kids dress up to go to the Vallecito Service League Kid's Party so this is for the grandparents to see.....our little Cowgirl, Landon is an alien, and Mason was....well....Mason!

Haven running over to the party from our house.....

Interesting food.....

This is Haven's friend Brady who is a boy but dressed up as Tinkerbell as a joke! He sure was a pretty Tinker! And he won the funniest costume award!

Haven's "Cowboy Swim" Party

Haven's request for a party this year was a Cowboy Swim Party. This meant she wanted cowboy plates and cake at the Durango Rec Center. I prayed for nice weather and her birthday being in November, you never know what the weather will be like. But God answered my prayers the way I needed Him to and it was a nice day, except for a little wind. So we started the party out on the playground next to the Rec Center.

Mrs. Joy Brooks from our church made Haven's cake again this year and didn't she do a great job!! It was so cute!!

The kids had a blast at the playground......below is Haven with friends Brady and Maddie Mae

More friends...Gwennie and Tommie Jane...

Haven had 9 friends at the party....aren't they all sooooo cute!

Present time!!!

After cake and presents, we all went inside the Durango Rec Center for a little swim....

Below is Annie, Alaina, Haven and Maddie in the fun kiddie pool

Jack, Gabbie, and Annie

The boys had a blast as well because many of the siblings of Haven's friends came along. Here they are playing some water basketball...

They have a rope swing that looks like so much fun....



I'll be the first to admit that I am not good at hosting a birthday party. It was a little hectic but Haven thought it was the greatest ever. It was such a blessing that everyone invited was able to come. When your family is not around to come to a birthday party, I tend to worry that no one will come and I worry about inconveniencing people. But despite my worries (which helped nothing!), people came out and it made us feel loved and I thank them for that. Haven's friends are so special to her and she really cherishes time with each one of them. I felt so blessed that we had that many to invite. So my little pumpkin is 5 now and I've got one birthday party down and 2 to go in the next 2 months! Thanks to all who came out to share Haven's special day with us!

Ask, Seek, Knock

There have been many aspects of living in Colorado that have made it a tough transition, but I'll have to say that the hardest part is when a family member is sick. The distance is just so far, and trying to determine whether to try to be there or not is heart wrenching! I felt this way when my Aunt Gail was dying back in January, when my mom was in hospital recently, and this weekend when my Dad was facing an amputation. Last minute tickets from here to there are $700 per person or more. I struggled with wanting to be there for my daddy for this surgery. He was told that they would try to get the infection under control and talk Monday about the surgery. Therefore, we didn't know when the surgery would be. I had planned Haven's birthday party for today, Sunday the 7th so I knew I could not go on Sunday because the only flights out of Durango on Sundays are early morning flights. So then, if I flew in on Monday, what if they did the surgery on Monday and I totally missed it anyway. My fear was that he might not make it through this, that the infection would take over and I'd be 24 hours away. So I had to just turn it over to God, and ask Him to make it very clear to me what I should do.......

When I got out of church this morning, there was a message on my phone from my Daddy's wife, saying that he came through the surgery fine. What???!!!! They had already performed the surgery? Indeed they had because Daddy had been in so much pain last night. What a relief to know he had come through it fine. Then I realized that God clearly answered my prayer. The surgery had already happened and Daddy did well. Praise God!

Matthew 7:7-8 "Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened."

He plainly tells us to ask, seek, and knock and His will will be revealed. Daddy has a long road to recovery and will go through the process of grieving the loss of his leg. He does not have diabetes but a poor circulation problem that caused this so please continue to remember him in your prayers. Love to you all!

Lori

Prayer for my Dad

This is my dad, James Richardson. Over the past 6 months or so, he has had 3 surgeries on one of his legs. His circulation is poor and they have replaced veins to improve that. Unfortunately, he continues to have problems and a severe infection has formed, causing the need for amputation from the knee down. He will be facing this at the beginning of next week. Please pray for him, that the infection will be contained, that one day he will be able to walk again, and that the joy of the Lord will strengthen him and prevent depression. Thanks you!

Happy 5th Birthday to Sweet Haven!

Today my baby turns 5! Happy Birthday to Haven who was an answer to prayer because God knew the desire of my heart to have a little girl! And she got her new "Hello Kitty" bike because she loves cats and changed her mind on what kind she wanted!

And she can go fast!

We made cupcakes with sprinkles this morning to celebrate.....

And her party will be a "Cowboy Swim" party at the Durango Rec Center on Sunday (Yeah, we planned this around a football and basketball game on Saturday and then they called Monday to say that the football game had been changed to 1 pm on Sunday...oh well...Haven comes first on this one!)

Landon's Basketball

Basketball for the Bayfield Rec has begun for Landon and his Dad is his coach! He wasn't going to play this year because he didn't like his coach from last year so Mike gladly volunteer to coach a team this year and this made Landon soooooo HAPPY!

We played our first game Saturday and you could just see the self-confidence oozing out of Landon like never before. He played 100% better than ever before. What a difference a coach can make!

We lost by 2 points and Landon was the high scorer on our team. While he has never really enjoyed sports like Mason, he is LOVING it this year so I hope his confidence continues to build and he can really feel good about the effort he is putting forth!

They got to dress up at school last Wednesday and Landon was "Struck by Lightening"....so funny!