Christmas Eve 2011

Christmas Newsletter 2011

Merry Christmas!

This year I decided to try a new approach to our yearly newsletter and let everyone write their own blurb and choose a picture of themselves. (Mainly because I am out of time and energy and just barley got our Christmas cards in the mail today with a sticker that says "To read our Christmas newsletter visit us online at....".) 
Welcome to our blog any that are logging on for the first time.   

(I told everyone they had to write at least 5 sentences and that I would not be editing in anyway. Yea. I shouldn't have said that.)

Rylee

My name is Rylee. I wear black glasses and colorful braces, I am excited to get contacts and strait teeth the summer before 7th grade. I am 11 years old and turning 12 in January. I am in Miss. Daniel's class in 6th grade. I like to dance, sing, bake, and go shopping.
Exactly FIVE sentences. No more no less. 

Alex

Over the summer I was saving up for phone service and the phone.

So after I got all the money I needed I had this talk with mom and she said it would be a waist  of money

for buying service and a phone. So "I said Ok. When we had our talk I said "Can I buy an Ipod and She said It's better then buying phone service for to mouths.

When I was searching for an Ipod  I found a web site and it was. eBay and when I was looking on eBay. When I was looking for an Ipod and really their were  Ipod parts and I bid 120 on it. Then when my mom figured out that I bid on the Ipod part she was pretty mad about it. 

Before all this happened I did buy my Ipod and I enjoyed it.

Thats what happened over the summer.
I asked Alex if he wanted to write anything more? About the rest of the year? Nope. I did get him to fix the word service as his original phonetically spelled word was making his blurb pretty confusing.

Devree

Hola, I am THE Devree Richhart.  You know, the one that you've heard all those wonderful things about. Like that one time when I saved a small child from a burning building, yeah, that was me.  Now, onto the important things......  I play basketball everyday.  It's sort of my life right now. I am the post and a do all the dirty work down by the basket.  It is a very important duty.  I like to make people laugh and stuff.  I am the EXACT middle child (older AND younger brothers and sisters).  Yeah, I know how it feels to have every sort of sibling.  Not very many people get to have such a wonderful delight in their lives.  I am just so lucky.  I hate it when my hair isn't the way it should be.  It's one of my pet peeves.  I also love the color purple, so if you're going to buy me anything, make it purple please.  I am on MAG (Murray Association of Girls), and that is a pretty big duty also.  We just got done planning Fall Ball and that was a hit.  I got to go.  It was my first dance and it was really fun.  My favorite pass time during Christmas time is to do Christmas puzzles with my sisters.  We do work on them puzzles.  It's pretty insane how fast we can get them puzzles done.

That's pretty much it,  have a Merry Christmas!!!!!
If you don't know Devree well, then you probably don't get the sarcastic humor this is written in.  

Austin

Austin here, This year I have accomplished a substantial amount of trials and tribulations I am now level 47 in skyrim "a video game" I Have also defeated the elite four, so that  pretty much means i am the Pokemon grand master. I know I know its kind of cool you know someone famous, but famous people are every were you just haven't looked hard enough. for example, my mom if famous for making me do things that i really don't want to do. such as, writhing this blog, and washing walls. who ever says a wall needs washing is a crazy person. Walls are perpendicular to the floor, hence they do not need washing. If i were to choose any surface in a household to wash, walls would be the last to come to mind, but no I have this task every week, and every week I fake cleaning them. Back to me, because thats who my mom asked me to write about. I am a 17 year old teenager that still feel and acts like a little kid, school is boarding, girls are hot, food is good, and i think i am done writing this blog. I am not going to proof read this so there.    
I really have nothing more to add. I mean there is no way to salvage anything written here. 

Kambree

I am 19 years old I go to Snow College.  I just finished my CNA course and passed with a 98% which was the highest grade in my class.  I will be graduating Snow at the end of Spring semester with an associates of science degree I plan on working as a CNA for a while and then applying for nursing school.  I enjoy dating, western swing dancing, and taking naps.  I recently started running and I like to run because I really really really like desert.  I am currently serving as the relief society 1st councilor in my singles ward.  Sushi is my favorite food, I am obsessed with my eyelashes, and in August I will no longer be a teenager I will be 20! That is old!

Twenty is not old. That's all. 

Wendy

Last January my friend Amy and I made a goal to start running. We started slow. Really slow. Not just our speed of pace but the pace that we progressed through the Podcast program we were using. We ran our first (and my last) 5K in May. I do run a couple of times a week now but just at the gym. 

James and I went on a cruise to the Bahamas in February to celebrate our 20th anniversary. Our 20th was in November 2010 but because our anniversary is so close to the holidays we celebrate in the cold boring month of February. This year we're going again - only out of Longbeach. 

I was serving in the Young Women's for the majority of the year and had the awesome opportunity to go to girls camp with Devree. I was released this fall and am now teaching the 14-15 year olds in Sunday school. 

I still sell (and love) real estate. I also decided to get a little part time job that has overwhelmed me for the last five weeks. I am now working for jetBlue in their reservations. I will work from home starting this Thursday but have been training full time for four weeks and working my first week of shifts up at the call center. I'm excited to be home and plan to give and trade away all my shifts. My goal is to  work as little as possible. Why? Because, I'm just there for the benefits. Both travel & dental! Time will tell if we travel and if I stay.
My fingers are itching to edit a couple of the entries above. It's apparent that Alex is not the only one struggling with spelling and punctuation. But I told them I would not and gave them all a chance to self correct. Austin and Alex refused. Peas in a pod those two. Who would have know that brothers could be so alike and yet born to different mothers on opposite sides of the world?
We are looking forward to so much in 2012. Traveling the globe of course - or at least getting out of Utah. Kambree graduating from Snow. Austin from high school. Devree's basketball season and witnessing the drama and tears of Alex and Rylee as they both attend junior high.
Life is good. This is evident by how quickly the time flies. It seems as if just yesterday my children were babies. (Or not speaking English.) And now they're all going in 5 different directions. I would like to bottle this time of everyone home and under one roof as I know it is fleeting and that one day I will come home to a house as clean as I left it, my hairspray where it belongs and restaurant leftovers untouched in the fridge. But I know (as much as some days I adamantly deny this) I will miss this. The I-tunes blaring, girls dancing, boys wrestling, friends "hanging", backpacks laying, video playing, curfews breaking, computer hogging, carpool driving, deal making, school calling, late night chatting, laundry washing, dishes piling, homework studying, continual texting, grocery buying, trampoline jumping, headphone wearing, basketball - dance recitals - choir concerts attending, laughing and crying that is my life.
The life that I love.  

James

I figured out something cool about my age and this year of 2011; it is a numbers phenomenon and it happens to everyone born the 44th year of a century or the 67th year of a century.  The phenomenon is as follows:  If you were born the 67th year, you would be 44 in the year 11 of the next century; if you were born in the 44th year you would be 67 in the 11 year of the next century.

I can only hope to be as spectacular as my children.  However, I feel our family is very blessed at this time by my employment in the Oil and Gas industry, which is one of the best industries in which to be working at this time of the world's history.

I have high hopes to be self employed some day and have been working on that dream for the past six years.  On the plus side, I have not sacrificed my family's livelihood to fulfill my dreams.

I have learned recently, more about how much Jesus has done for us and how little we can do to gain what He has to offer.  When the scriptures talk about obtaining a hope in Christ, that is all we really can do, is hope He will have mercy on us, with our many ways that we fall short of the glory of God.

I appreciate my family and all that God has helped us become so far.

Well, there you have it.
Hope you all have a fabulous Christmas and that the New Year brings you much happiness.

Love,
The Richharts

I thought I'd leave you with some outtakes of our Christmas photo.

 This is our serious photo:

 And our not serious one:

Please make a comment and let us know you visited!

Ukraine Christmas Shopping!

I thought with Alex's new found love of talking and remembering Ukraine, I would get him something with Ukraine on it. So I went shopping.  Online.

I considered this shirt - but Alex will tell me it's not true.

This one I would never buy but it does reflect the typical Ukrainian male attitude that we witnessed there. It says,  The Reason I Get Up Every Afternoon and there's a big bottle of beer.

This one would work if it were just the opposite:

(And cute. I think it's sort of ugly.)

This one would work as I do think his brother loves him - but Alex wouldn't wear it. 

I had to share this one for my friends with imported daughters. 

(You can find all of these on Amazon)

This next three Alex wouldn't adamantly disagree with:

I bet he'd wear a shirt like this if he thought it would help get him any hugs/kisses from cute girls. But  there's no way I'm helping that cause.....

This one made me laugh. Like, if you had a mail ordered bride? Would you want to advertise that?  But maybe you just have a Ukrainian wife that you didn't pay for? I guess I would wear one that said, "My son is imported from Ukraine." but I did pay for him so I guess I shouldn't laugh about the mail order bride thing?

I like this one. So appropriate for our area where we have so many Ukrainians. 

Read this one carefully.

Apparently the shirt is about Ukraine but the English skills are from China?

(Or a boy with 2.5 years of English learning?) 

Another one Alex would not agree with:

I wasn't familiar with this Sinfield episode and at first I was like, "What the heck?" then I read the back story. I KNOW Alex would like and wear this but I think I'll pass....

The Ukraine is weak. It's feeble. I think it's time we put the hurt on the Ukraine. 

This is also a typical reflection of the male population over there:

(I'm not saying that we are better than you. I'm saying we are the best.)

And another:

(The Best Things In Life and there's beer and women in the graphic.)

Forget the beer....let's just talk about s*x:

Uhh....can you say YUCK? As in Yuckcraine?

I should have bought this while I was completing our adoption paper work:

This one is so true!

UKRAINE no place for the weak 

Oh yeah. He would wear this if it said THE MEN and not ALL as he has told me repeatedly that he is not marrying a girl from Ukraine. (???)

We are all hot in Ukraine

 Oh, if only he were little.

"Ukrainian Baby" 

 This is my favorite. Simple. Manly. Nothing about Ukraine being the best and/or beer, women, sex, kissing, hugging, and being hot!

Ding! Ding! Ding! I think we have a winner!

Alex and his new suits!

I hit a great suit sale today with Alex and got him not only ONE but two suits - one for Christmas and one to put away for Easter.

He was pretty excited about it and as we drove in the driveway he waxed poetic, "I guess I was just suppose to be apart of this family. I just went to the wrong mom first."

Wow.

Maybe we should have gone suit shopping earlier?

Over Due Alexim's

I am learning so much working training FULL TIME.

I am learning: 

• Why families eat fast food for dinner.
• That the laundry is NEVER done. Ever.
• That skipping the gym FOUR DAYS straight isn't a problem
• That I MUST have a caffeinated beverage and chocolate mid afternoon to stay awake.
• Which because of the two above listed life lessons, I am learning that sitting all day behind a computer in tight jeans is very uncomfortable.
• That washing my hair twice a week instead of every other day is totally acceptable.
• That there's a reason no one comments on my blog. They work! And don't have time!
• That you just focus on the next 24 hours and worry about whatever else is coming when it gets closer!

I'm sure I've learned even more but I need to be preparing a Sunday school lesson and studying my training manual  - not so I can pass the dreaded assessments (I already passed all of 'em! Woot!) But so I can actually help my JB customers when they call me on Monday. Oh yes. I'll be solo on the phones.
Hoping and praying I don't get a "I'd like to change my international flight to another date and I'm flying with an infant - I want to pay with my husbands Travel Bank and make sure I get my True Blue Points! Oh, and can you tell me if I can bring _________(insert some odd thing here that I have no idea about!) and can you tell me what the on time average is for the flight I'll be taking from _____ to ____? (Insert two cities that I have no idea what the airport codes are). "
Such fun.
Four more days of full time training and then it's my late night, weekend shifts at the call center for a week before coming home to work out of my house. 
But today between running Dev places, helping Alex with his English studies, trying to finish the laundry, clean the house, show houses, key box a new listing -thirty minutes from here - negotiate repairs on a contract and balancing our checking account, I wanted to document a few Alexisms:

Today at lunch I just cleaned out the fridge and freezer, warming up left overs, cooking some tator -tots, and pot-stickers. Just a hodge-podge of this and that.
Alex: Mom, I'll have some sticks."
Me: Sticks? Alex, I am not serving sticks, you'll have to go out in the yard for those.
Alex: No, these. Sticks.
Me: You mean pot-stickers?

Kambree and Rylee were putting together a puzzle Thanksgiving weekend. I joined in and then convinced Alex to come help.(He's not really into anything that is not electronic)  Rylee was giving me ideas for her Christmas list and asked for some Van's (shoes). Alex misheard her and in a disgusted, authoritative voice informed us all that "We are not getting ants. They will eat my food and bite me!" We burst out laughing. Ants? She said Vans!

Last week Alex came home with a bad brushing report from the orthodontist. Boo. We talked once again about the importance of brushing his teeth. Then I said exasperated "Alex, if I could I'd put you in diapers, back in a crib and just start over - I would!" To which he excitedly replied "Oh, mom. That would be great! Then you could teach me everything right!"  
If only that wouldn't be the weirdest thing ever. A 13 and 1/2 year old in diapers with a bottle and a binky!
I told him that people would probably find that crazy and take him away from me so, we will just have to work with what we've got.
He agreed.


He is talking a lot about Ukraine these days.
Telling me about the fruit that grew on the tree next to the red building at the orphanage. According to Alex, it was black berries? Do they grow on trees?
He talks about stealing and how many items he stole. He told us (while we were feeding the missionaries dinner - never the less) that he stole a ladies purse but she caught him and hit him in the head with it.
He is getting a little defiant about studying and writing in his journal. He wrote a whole entry about how he hates writing in his journal and talking about his feelings. How it's enoying (annoying) and makes him strest (stressed). He "would do anything to stop writting (writing)  in his journal exceped (except)  thes (these)  things laundry, toilet (as in cleaning toilets),  masoch (give people massages)  and vacum (vacuuming).
What a funny list.
(And no, we don't make him give anyone massages. Weird.)
He did admit that: "When I growup (grow up) I will rite (write) about me doting (dating) girls and I will remember them. 

He is really into girls. Scary.
Later that night as I tucked him into bed, I asked him what was worse, writing in his journal or living in an orphanage?
An orphanage.
Well, his journal writing is how we work on his grammar and sentence structure and it also helps him with his communication and until he's on grade level he'll need to keep writing in his journal,  Besides, I want to understand him and I want him to be able to express himself and feel confidant in his English both in speech and writing.
He seemed okay with that and since then (last Thursday)  he wrote a great entry about the difference between Christmas here and in Ukraine. The saddest part:
In Ukraine if you have a family you get to have a big party and open presents and eat food till 12:00 o'clock. In the orphaneg (orphanage) we didn't realy (really) celabrate (celebrate) Christmas the only thing we did is (was) eat oranges and watch a very scary movie. 


Not sure if I blogged this but I was reminded of the time we watched "Oliver" with Alex a couple of months ago. The show opens in an ugly gray orphanage where they sing "Food Glorious Food". Alex kept looking at me funny. Then when little Oliver goes up and says "More please?" and holds out his bowl, Alex looked at me with huge saucer eyes, "Mom, did you think my orphanage was like this?" I told him I wasn't sure what it was like but I was worried that it would be like this. He matter of factually announces,  "It was nothing like this." then turned back to the show and continued watching without a care in the world. Well, he did have one care, at one point he asked. "Why do they have to keep singing?" Uh...that would be because it's a musical?
Boys.
He sounds just like Austin.

Anyway, my lesson and training manual are calling.