25 on the 25th!!!

Yes, it was John's once in a life time day! He turned 25 years old on the 25th of August 2011.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

JOHN ROBERT RICHARDS!!!

John is # 8 in the family and is so fun to be around (if you know how to wrestle). He is a very sensitive person and always strives to follow the Lord's will. We are so grateful that he is apart of our family. WE LOVE YOU JOHN!!!

Here are some facts about him.

• Favorite Color: Blue
• Least Favorite Food: Rice
• He is a very accomplished classical pianist.
• He is our most creative routine choreographer.
• He is a very hard worker and loves to work with his hands.
• John is our most efficient demolition man but can also build anything!
• His inventions include a homemade drum set, a six foot bow, a bike powered washer machine, and numerous other projects that I can't fit in this blog.
• He spent two years in Puerto Rico on a mission trip for our church.
• He has made several trips to India with Katie.
• Currently, John is working at a landscape company as well as working on his bachelors degree online.

His birthday card challenge was the most "dancing" card. It was a challenge, but John received some pretty creative cards!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

For John's Birthday party, he wanted to play volleyball and since the YMCA had a net we went there to celebrate! The games were so "intense" we forgot the camera (oops). It took a while to warm up but by the end we had some pretty good rounds. After we had finished several games of volleyball, John pulled out his soccer ball and so here are some of the "highlights" from our improvised soccer games.

Poor Isaac and Graham!!!

The older boys kept them "dancing" the whole time.

We hope that you had a HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOHN!!!

Friday, August 26th

We drove down to the Hillcrest Terrace in Alma and performed the Hawaiian program for our friends there. We got some pictures this time and so here is a sneak peek of our program.

Joseph could not make it so John was the Emcee.

Don't you like our colorful outfits?

This is a snapshot of our bamboo dance.

Luckily, none of our toes got smashed when the boys would snap the sticks together.

Did you know that poi originally comes from New Zealand?

This stick dance also originated in New Zealand. This was our favorite routine from our Polynesian program.

HARLAN!!!

The weather was so beautiful and warm that after the program we drove down to Harlan Lake and went swimming. The water was so warm that even Dad decided to join us in the lake.

How's the water Dad?

Goodbye beautiful Harlan!

This was the last time that we can swim in the lake this year. We all love the lake and can't wait to come back next year.

Update on "R" Building!

Just in case anyone was wondering what was going on with the building, I guess I had better tell you. Saturday morning the boys worked on fixing the leaky roof and cleaning up the front of the building.

Earlier, John had been patching and tarring the smaller leaks in the roof but yesterday Dad, John, and Joseph worked on leveling out a major dip in the roof that was leaking water into the building. We hope it works!

At the same time, Graham, Isaac, and Seth worked on taking the brown siding off of the front of the building. We found the original brick still intact and...

This is to be continued next week, same time, same station, oh wait, I guess I should say same time, same blog...

LUNCH TIME!!!

Thank you Mom the hamburgers were delicious!

As we continue on this path that the Lord has sent us down, we keep praying that the Lord will direct us and that we will not stumble in the darkness of uncertainty. As we look back over the last 8 months and see what the Lord has done in our lives this last year, we are so full of gratitude. We know that more unexpected steps and turns lie ahead in our road of discipleship but we know without a shadow of a doubt that as long as we stay obedient and faithful to His commands He will lead us to the end that He has in store.

"Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you... and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day."

Alma 37:37