OH the lessons we learn!

Back in March we went down to St.George to watch Alyssa play in a softball tournament and Eric wanted to take some friends so we let him take the Honda and 3 friends down. We were about an hour behind them and just as we were leaving we get a phone call from Eric. "I just got pulled over and got a ticket." "How fast were you going?" I asked. Eric said "well he said I was going 100mph but i think i was only going 90 (in a 75 mph zone). Needless to say i wasn't real happy and let him know. I told him it would be an expensive ticket. Well we found out it was $232 and so Yvonne and I decided that being the responsible parent we are, and always trying to find ways to teach our kids about life, that we thought it would be good to fight the ticket, so that Eric could see how the judicial system works. Eric swears he wasn't going 100mph, and so if he could convince the judge of that, the ticket would drop to $150 plus we heard that most times the officers won't show up and the judge will rule in your favor if you put forth the effort to come in so we thought it would be a great experience. So we requested a time before the judge. When they finally gave us the date that we had to be in Nephi it was during graduation so we postponed it a couple of weeks to June 4th. At about 11pm that night after Eric came home he said "When was I suppose to go to court?" WOW we had completely spaced it. We couldn't believe that all 3 of us had completely forgotten about it. I called down to the court and they said since we didn't show up the judge charged him guilty and assessed the fine of $332 but if we paid in a week they would drop it to $232 which was the original amount. (so much for him having much of his first paycheck left) (Not to make a short story long BUT) we thought it was all over at that point but he received a notice from the DMV to come down and meet with them, so yesterday we went down and found out that he has to many points on his driving record now and his options were to have his license revoked for a month or go on probation for 1 year and if he doesn't get any more tickets his points will cut in half and then after 2 years of clean driving his points will be at zero. So we are hoping that he has learned a valuable lesson. I know we have!

For the Beauty of the Earth

Yvonne and I had a great time this past week with Eric and a few of his friends in St. George for Eric's Senior Trip. We went down Weds night and came back yesterday. It was hot (well maybe not to the Vegas Muaina's) but to me 108 is hot. One of the highlights of the trip was Friday when we went to Zion National Park. It has been a while since I have been there and boy it is a beautiful part of the earth. It was so much fun hiking and enjoying the beautiful canyons. What fabulous colors in the rock. We hiked up to the Upper Pools which is an area of water about the size of Dicks pond, only much cleaner. It was so refreshing to get in and cool off. The highlight was when I about got in a fight with a stranger who was butting into our business. The sign there said "warning no swimming", well i think that meant that there could be hazards if you swim NOT that you couldn't swim. So Eric and his friends were in the water messing around along with other people we didn't know, but Eric's group was IN the water where the others were knee deep. Well some well meaning (I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt) environmentalist came over and said, "Can't you guys read?" and I said, "whats the problem?" to which he replied, "The sign says not to swim, can't you read?" I said, "they aren't swimming, they are just messing around in the water" (they technically weren't swimming) He said," you know what it means" and I said,"does it say anywhere that they can't get in the water?" In which he replied " don't be a smart ___, you know what it means" I said "does it say anywhere not to get in the water, if you want them out then you better tell everyone else that is in the water to get out too" He said "well maybe I should" and I replied "then maybe you should stay up here all day so that you can patrol the water", at which point he called me a smart ___ again and walked toward me like he wanted a fight. Being the cool head that I am I walked away before anymore happened. All the other people there thanked me for what I did, so I don't feel to bad about being a smart ___!
After that experience we went up and hiked the narrows for a while. We hiked up the river for a ways and it was spectacular. For those that haven't done it you need to go. One suggestion though, hike early!
Stephanie is going down this week to Havasupai AZ. I don't know if any of you have been there but i understand it is amazing. It is not far from Kingman AZ and it is by an Indian village where there is no automobile service. So the Indians have their supplies either sent in by helicopter or brought in by mules. From there you hike about 8 miles into an area that is lush with water and vegetation and beautiful waterfalls with blue water. There are about 3 or 4 different waterfalls within a few miles of each other. I am excited to have her tells us about it and see her pics

Mr. Mom

Well this has been a very interesting week. Yvonne went down to Las Vegas to help Rachel with her little boy Aaron while Rachel spent time at the hospital with Olivia. So that left the rest of us to fend for ourselves. There have been other times in our marriage when Yvonne has left for days at a time but this time it has caused me to really appreciate having a spouse to share things with, whether it be housework, yardwork, meals, church or going to the kids ballgames and activities. I don't know how single parents do it. Having to work all day and then come home to take care of everything that needs to be done, plus be involved with the kids, it isn't easy. Even with older kids that can take care of themselves it is still stressful. I am extremely glad that I don't have to do this more. (i hope Yvonne doesn't see this as she will think she can never leave again) Even though things don't go as smoothly as it does when Yvonne is in charge, I think we are still do okay. Nobody goes hungry, usually, the laundry gets done, kind of, the kids get where they need to, most the time, and we seem to know where each other is, nearly always! AND we celebrated Jeff's 25th bday sunday. I can't believe it has been that long. It seems like yesterday that we were living in the house on the hill in Provo when we blessed Jeff. Boy a lot has happened in that amount of time and he has turned out to be a great man with a bright future.
Today we are taking Eric and some of his friends down to St. George for a senior trip. Should be fun. Will tell you more when we get back

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME

As far as I'm concerned any time spent at the baseball field is time well spent and yesterday was no exception. What a fun day. On Thursday Jeff asked Stephanie, Eric and Alyssa if they wanted to play in a celebrity softball game. Someone that Jeff knows works for a company that was a sponsor for this game. It was a fund raiser for the American Red Cross. Jeff couldn't play but the other 3 wanted too, not knowing what to expect. Stepanie and Eric ended up on the winning team playing with Dane Iorg, who played on the 1982 and 1984 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals and Scott Nielsen who pitched for the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees along with Kim Nelson who played BYU and is the head baseball coach of Timpanogos High School, the current 5A state champions. Alyssa played with Vernon Law, 1960 Cy Young winner for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Gary Cooper who also played in the Cardinal orginazation, and with Vance Law. It was so fun to see the kids playing with, talking to and having so much fun with these baseball players. We didn't know what to expect but it turned out to be so much fun for them. I even got to go down after the game and hit, or I should say, TRY to hit off of Vernon Law. 4 of us got to see who could get the farthest hit. After swinging and missing and ending up on the ground, I got up brushed myself off and promptly hit a "shot" that trickled through the infield. I guess my glory days are way behind me. Earlier I had commented to Yvonne, Dane Iorg used to coach me in 9th grade but he would never remember me. AFter the game i went down and talked to him and asked if he remembered me and he said "yea in fact when Eric told me his name I said, i knew a Richins kid once that I coached". I can't believe he remembered me but it was fun to visit with him for few minutes. Eric and Stephanie both really enjoyed him and Alyssa and Stephanie had a great time joking with Gary Cooper as well. And to top it off in this mornings DAily Herald on the front page is a picture of Alyssa with Vernon Law. How fun that was to see. Anyway a great time was had by all of us.
On another topic, we got very encouraging news about Olivia last night, she is finally showing a little progress. She is off of dialasis (sp?) and th ey are trying to get her off of the ventilator. They got the bone marrow test results and they showed that the leukemia is still in remission, which was a big relief. She is still very sick but it is great to see some improvement.
Randy

I Am Blessed

As we continue to get updates on Olivia it has caused me to reflect on my life and how blessed I have been with good health and strength. As well as my family. We have had most of the normal health concerns and some major concerns (especially Katie) but all in all we have been so blessed. I have had 25 wonderful years of marriage to Yvonne, who I love dearly and has been the stabilizing factor in our family. She has put up with my nonsense for all these years and still continues to love me. As our family gets older and we get to spend more time together it is a wonderful time in our lives. Maybe for some couples they want time apart but I think we could spend a lot of time together before we got tired of each other.
We have been blessed with 5 wonderful kids, although each has had his/her normal problems in life, they have each gained strong testimonies of the gospel and have lived great lives. They are so much further ahead in life than I was at their age. We look forward to see their lives continue to develop
As we went to the cemetary Monday it was wonderful to see the gravesites of Grandma and Grandpa Richins. It again made me reflect of the great heritage I have. We (me and my siblings) have been brought up by wonderful parents who love the Lord and have taught us to love Him as well. I am grateful to them for all they do for all of us
Randy

A New Week

What a eventful last few days. After my last blog which gave us such wonderful hope for Olivia, she has had a huge turn of events. On friday we found out that she was put back in the hospital with possible kidney, liver and heart failure. After testing they found out that she has pancreatitis (sp?) which was caused by 2 shots of chemo she had a couple of weeks ago. In very rare cases they have a reaction to these chemos and she had the reaction. It is causing the pancreas to eat away at itself which in turn causes the kidney's and liver to start to shut down. Needless to say she is in bad shape right now. Our prayers and thoughts are constantly with them. Yvonne is going down this Friday to help out in anyway she can. This has been extremely hard on Rachel since Christine is not around since her passing in December
On a lighter note. This pass weekend Jeff and Eric went to an all night softball tournament in Delta. Stephanie went down to watch and I went down to umpire the tournament and was able to see them play a little. They ended up taking 3rd place and did very well. They were excited. It is a very tiring tournament for them and me. I ended up umpiring games at 10 & 11pm, 1 & 2am and games at 5,6,7,8,9 & 11 am. So not much rest that night, but it was fun--cold but fun.
Yesterday was my Uncle Delberts funeral. It was very very nice. Sunday night at the viewing was crazy. They had people come from 6pm to 10pm. It was suppose to go til 8pm. They had the chapel completely full all night and would take 1-2 rows at a time into the RS room. What a wonderful tribute to him to have that many people show their respects. I didn't realize how many people he had impacted in his life.
On Friday and Saturday Alyssa was able to go to Youth Conference. They went down by Scofield and had a service project which was both fulfilling and exhausting for them. They helped the Forest Service take down a bridge. Doesn't sound too hard except they had to haul it out in pieces. Doesn't sound too hard except they had to take the pieces out 1 mile and then hike back in a mile to the bridge. They probably made at least 7 trips each. Good experience though.
Yvonne and Katie stayed home while we were all gone. They were able to shop and just spend time together and get some things done.
To end the day we (me, yvonne, eric and stephanie) went out to Thanksgiving Point and watched the Stihl Lumberjack competition. It was really cool. I have seen these on ESPN before and it was great to see it in person. The competitions were amazing. Great athletes and really cool things to see

THE GOOD AND BAD

--We have had some wonderful news and sad news over the past couple of days. The good news is that Olivia's leukemia is in remission which is wonderful news for all of us but especially Bill and Rachel and their little family. I am sure that they will have trials still ahead but with how this could have turned out, this is wonderful news. It is so wonderful to see the goodness of God in their lives. We wish them the best.
--The sad news is the my Uncle Delbert passed away last night. He has been very close to me and my own family. I have many very fond memories of time spent with him and his family as their kids and me and my siblings are all about the same age. I spent a lot of time out in Henefer during the summers and especially during the deer hunts each year. He even would come hunting with us until the last few years. Even though his health wouldn't allow him to hunt he would always drive up and sit with my dad on the ridgetop watching, encouraging and heckling when we couldn't hit a deer. He and my Dad have been extremely close over the years and I am sure it is hard on Dad right now as well. My own family has become close to him over the years as Yvonne and my kids have come out and hunted and spent time there with Delbert and Eilene. We will miss him greatly. He was a great man!

A new start

Hi,
I thought I would start a blog for our family. I think this will be great way to keep each of our family and friends up to date on things going on in our family.
I will tell a little about each of us and what we are doing currently then we can keep updating the blog.
-I am still working for Alpine Gas Fireplaces as a sales/marketing rep and also umpires softball to keep some extra money coming in the doors. Umpiring gives me a chance to be at the ballpark with the kids and watch them play as I umpire there games.(sometimes)
-Yvonne is working at Heritage Church Organs as a secretary. She would much rather be at home than working but has done a great job there and they wouldn't know what to do without her. She is working only a couple of days a week this summer so that she can stay caught up on things at home and spend more time with Alyssa and Eric as this will be Erics last summer before his mission
-Jeff is working this summer full time and also trying to finish up school at UVSC so that he can graduate in December 08. He will get his degree in Pschology and still hasn't decided what he would like to go into for a profession. He loves softball and plays twice a week. He has put together a competitive team that he loves playing on along with Eric
-Stephanie is still attending UVSC and is going into Physical Education/teaching as has wanted to be a Health teacher and coach, however she recently got a job as a dental assistant and loves it so she is trying to decide her future. She also loves softball and watches a lot of games each week and plays on a co-ed team each friday. Her biggest highlight recently is the purchase of her new car, a 2006 mazda 3 which she loves and is really nice, especially when you compare it to the beat up Ford Explorer she has been driving the past few years plus it gets great gas mileage
-Katie has just started school again. She took a year off and has now decided to go to Provo College and be a Medical Assistant. If all goes as planned she will graduate in a year with a degree and can find a good job for her. She is currently working at Macey's grocery store and enjoys that because she sees so many people she knows and she is so friendly that everyone loves to see her there.
-Eric just graduated from Timpanogos High School and had a great high school experience. He was involved in so many things at high school that it is hard for him to move on. He played football, baseball, wrestled, was in Accapella choir and show and chamber choir where he was the president. He also was President of the Seminary at THS, so he has been very busy. He will turn 19 on Oct 1 and is getting ready to turn his mission papers in next month. He is currently working at the same company Jeff is and playing softball.
-Alyssa just finished her junior year at THS and loves fast pitch softball. She started varsity last year at 2nd base and was catcher for JV. She will be the backbone of the team next year and is excited to play summer and fall softball. She is a wonderful student and everyone that knows her loves her. She is currently looking for a job this summer and plans on playing a lot also.

Well that is all for now
Randy