IT DOESN'T GET BETTER THAN THIS!!: April 2010

4/13/2010

Eddy!!

Eddy's Christmas Gift!!

So Eddy and Miken were scheduled to fly home for Christmas on Dec. 23, 2009. I get a phone

call at 7:30 p.m. on Dec. 22nd and this was the conversation....

Eddy..."Hey Ma".

Me... "Hi Eddy. How ya doing?"

Eddy..."Ummm, I don't think that we're gonna make

the flight tomorrow."

Me..."WHAT!!!" (I was not happy! My thinking was ... they have to work too late so they'll miss their plane...Miken can't miss work...what the heck!!)

Eddy..."Umm, well I'm in the emergency room."

Me (freaking out!..) "WHAT!! Are you kidding...your kidding right? What happened? Oh my gosh! Are you okay?

What's going on?"

Eddy..."Well it looks like I have to have my appendix removed."

Me..."No way!! Are you alright? When? How long will it take?" Meanwhile I'm thinking,

"My baby needs me. I need to get there!

Eddy..."Well they have to keep me here for 24 hours to make sure everything is in working order."

Me..."So do you think you fly home Christmas Eve

or is that just impossible"

We continue this conversation and he said that the doctor told him it's a speedy recovery and that he should be fine to fly the next day. I was worried about the pain but they said it shouldn't be, too bad. What is so weird about the whole thing is exactly the week before Miken's dad, Mark, went through the same thing!! He started having pains and before you know it they are ripping out his appendix. His comment to Eddy was "Well I know you are trying to be like me, but this is taking it a little far!" Mark is a hilarious guy and makes everything fun...even this. Soooo, I change their tickets, Eddy has surgery and they fly home the next day...Christmas Eve! Crazy, huh? They wanted to come really bad and we wanted them here...brave kid. We had to be careful though because when the boys get together there's always rough housing.

Not this time!

So here is the picture of his stitches...there is one lower but Raelynn really didn't want to go there

while taking this picture!

This is just one of the ways we ended our crazy year of 2009!

4/10/2010

Dedicated to Derek...

Derek Dale Richmond
Life Before

Alaska Anchorage Mission
Our Sunshine has gone away to shine in Alaska!!

Our little D.D...look how adorable he is!

One little monkey swinging in the tree...

From that to THIS!!

Back at EFY with his cousin Kylie!!

With Chelsea Trotter...who he calls his wife.

He loves Superman!! I like the tie...thanks Six Flags!

singing "Viva La Vida"

Fun in San Antonio with Raelynn (his Polish aunt)

Jaime, ?, and Derek

This is normal for these kids! Love them!!!!

Car ride from Nauvoo...best brothers!!

Keeping them separated...didn't work!!

singing at Eddy and Miken's wedding dinner

Rose, Chelsea, Derek and Lisa (great friends!)

Disney World!

Likes showing what he calls "the juicy".

LISA & D

with his friend Lindsey

Trek 2009...holding the families baby...it died but he went back and brought it home. He said he couldn't leave it...too heart wrenching.

Trip in Washington with the Key family...here with Kylie and Kristin

Great friend of his...Nikki (she loves my homemade cracked wheat bread...she came
over for lunch just to eat it)!

Singing with Bethany

At Two Rows...a restaurant he worked at.

small part of the group who came to say their final goodbye before he left

Best of his friends but Ryan Dillon is missing...again last goodbye

He and Rose share a really special friendship...she gets his humor and he gets hers, too.
They laugh all of the time...I miss her!!!

Has the call, ready to go!!

Now he's our missionary!!

I think you can see from all of the pictures that Derek is full of life and fun!! Everyone who knows him loves him. I have hundreds of more pictures but limited and probably went over the limit!! Most of these grown up pictures are from this past year...there are a couple from previous years. Derek is Derek and we love him for just being who he is, cause it's a lot of fun and entertainment for us! Derek is a wonderful son, brother, cousin, nephew and grandson!! He lights up the world and makes it a better place.
He is forever my "Sunshine"!!
(ain't no sunshine when he's gone)

4/08/2010

NYC!!

New York City!!!

December 2-5, 2009

At the airport...ON OUR WAY!!!

Here we are!!!!

Rockefeller Center...lighting of the tree. Our first night there. COLD but so awesome!!

Top of the Empire State Building! No Tom Hanks, windy but soooo great!!

Raelynn's favorite Chinese restaurant in NY.

Had to have a famous New York City hotdog from a vendor on the street. YUMMY!

Joy and Raelynn while waiting for breakfast

NYC is beautiful at Christmas time!! There were so many decorations and it was all sparkly.

M & M store...I never knew there were so many colors. We also went to the Hershey store and Dylan's Candy Bar. FUN!!

Joy and Derek headed to the Opera which was in itself an experience!! A story that can't be shared!

We rode the subway!! Missed our stop and ended up in Brooklyn.

MY DREAM COME TRUE!! I've always said that before I die I wanted to see the Statue of Liberty. It was sooo cold and we had pelting rain and ice but so worth it!! Poor Derek though was frozen. We got very, very wet and he had nothing to cover his head.

More lights...I thought these looked like tubes of lip sticks.

We had such a great time that I can't begin to go into all of the details!! The highlights for me were...going to WICKED with Raelynn, Empire State Building, Statue of Liberty, ground zero, Blockheads diner, lighting of the tree, the TAXI experiences!...Central Park and yeah, pretty much everything we did!! Time spent with Joy and Raelynn was way fun and their are certain stories that must remain private. WE LAUGHED A LOT!! Poor Joy had, had foot surgery so couldn't go with us the majority of the time but she was a trooper. This was just a dream for me thanks to Joy and Raelynn and it was really special because it was precious time with Derek before he left.

Can't wait to go back!!!!