Richardson Report

I just realized I haven't updated the blog about Francisco. So just a few things. 1.  his nickname is Javi (hah-vee) so you'll see me type that since it's faster and what's in my head. 2.  things are good.  He's in counseling for some past experiences and behavior.  Just started.  Seems to be going well so far.  We called LDS family services for a referral.  That's why the trips to Santa Rosa.  Not really fun but we felt it necessary. 3.  Relationships are sorting out.  Kids are fighting and playing as they should.  Rules are being discussed, mostly followed, and school is happening.  We are navigating the juvenile justice system for the first (and I hope last) time. 4.  Yes we want to keep him with us for the foreseeable future.  We will need to hope and pray that his mom thinks that is a good idea. There isn't really much to say other than that we love having him in our family.  Seven kids now, is h...

It's been a whirlwind of living around here.  We had a wonderful vacation to Disneyland in February. We came home so exhausted but it was so fun.  Some friends from Utah met us there and we just really enjoyed gorgeous weather and fun activities.   We finally got to the San Diego Temple to check it out and spent some time at the Mormon Battalion Historical Site - found Josh's ancestor on the soldier roster.  Pretty awesome for the kids.   We've spent a lot of our time on the weekends catching up on delayed home improvement projects and running around from place to place.  I'm making bi-monthly trips to Santa Rosa for Javi's counseling appointments, which is a FULL day for me and takes a day out of homeschooling, so we have to make that up on the other days.  We are studying Civil War, plants, and Cinderella stories from various cultures, as well as keeping up with our math, spelling, and reading.  Last month was a sort of lame school month but thi...

I don't think I ever posted the video of the girls working on their girls camp "talent" show contribution for last summer.  This video is just an early practice - two of the girls are missing and they fine-tuned quite a bit after this.  I just think it's such a fun thing that they've created a tradition of doing an a cappella song together.  Thanks to Jelaire for helping them figure out the harmonies for the "Go the Distance" song - she did it long distance over the phone!  I wish I could do stuff like that! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0L54my0yrro&feature=youtu.be

A few months ago I was having a conversation with a woman I visit teach.  She is a social worker and she has really seen some terrible, terrible situations that children have suffered through.  She described some of them and they sounded really so horrible that I had to wonder, how did she not go home and ask God "why?".  Why do these children have to suffer these horrible deprivations when others live seemingly charmed lives?  I asked.  She said that the thing that kept her from feeling too despairing was remembering that everyone who came to earth wanted to come.  And not only wanted, but knew on some level what sort of challenges they would face.  She said knowing that they could face starvation, abuse, and other challenges - they still accepted the opportunity. That really made an impression. Then yesterday I was reading a book that shared a story of a woman who trained to do the swimming part of a team triathlon.  She really didn't want ...

Logan at his choir concert Last night we went to Willits for a stake "Great to be Eight" fireside.  The youth had a 2015 theme kick-off fireside at the same time, so it ended up being a family affair for us.  Kenna was SO. EXCITED for this event.  She's been counting down the days ever since she heard about it.  And I have to say, our stake primary presidency did a stellar job.  I think it lived up to all her expectations! I've been having to work hard to find time to drive around with Hannah because she is so stinking busy.  She's really improved a lot in the past month.  She drove us to Willits a couple weeks ago, which was definitely nerve-wracking for me - especially on the way home.  The Willits grade (going up and down the mountain between Willits and Ukiah) is constantly under construction, but right now on that winding mountainside there are cement barriers on both sides of the lane so you have to be super on the ball as...