November in review

November has been a fun month. Lots of family and food!
Here Jake is with his brother Scott after a big, yummy Thanksgiving dinner. Can you tell they are brothers? They sleep exactly the same!


It's kind of become a tradition that we run the Turkey Trot each year on Thanksgiving morning. Jake did AWESOME and I, well, I FINISHED! I came down with something a few days before the race and had a lot of chest congestion which made it hard to breathe. But we ran it anyways and had a fun time. Next year I'll keep up with my sisters who finished in 53 and 57 minutes- they are animals!


Don't you just want to squeeze this boy? He is so much fun and has learned so much the past few months. He's beginning to respond to things we say. When we ask him if he wants to go outside he'll whip his head around, point to the door, and most times will respond with a big raspy "yeeaaahhh!". He loves pulling himself up onto everything and will probably start walking here in just a few weeks!


More sleeping pictures...


Doesn't Mike look comfy... not! For some reason those Richardson boys love sleeping on the ground. I don't get it!


Tyler playing a duet with his cousin Eli. They're best buds and have so much fun together. They were so cute banging on the piano together.


We gave Ty his first hair cut. He did NOT like it at all. Sorry the before picture is sideways- forgot to change it before I posted it. Check out that Mohawk!


I've never really cut hair before, especially a crying, wiggly baby's hair. So it didn't turn out great, but not too bad either.


Jake's mom works for Mesa United Way and they get free tickets to concerts all the time. So she got tickets to the Jo Dee Messina concert at the Mesa Arts Center. It was actually a really fun concert. It was way informal with an audience of only about 200-300 people. She was taking questions from the audience and taking requests. We had a blast. Apparently Jake likes to close his eyes in ALL pictures. We took several pictures that night and this was as good as we could get!

Happy Halloween!

Hope you all had a Happy Halloween! We had a great time with our sweet little puppy Ty. He loved wearing his costume and loved to look at himself in the mirror. I don't blame him! I mean look at that face! We didn't really feel like it was "legit" for us to take him trick or treating because he doesn't even really eat candy yet. So we went with my sister Cindy and her kids (at least Claire can eat candy).



Tyler loves his Uncle Ben (and his pizza!)


Our Trick or Treating buddies.


Our crawling pup!


The family. We're kind of lame and didn't dress up.


Getting some loves from Grandma Richardson


Happy Halloween!

Pumpkin Crumb Cake

I made the most delicious pumpkin crumb cake the other night. It is a yummy layered cake that is so simple to make. My sister Cindy called me the next day and said, "Oh my gosh. I have to give you this recipe for an awesome pumpkin crumb cake I made last night." What? You made pumpkin crumb cake too? After talking about it we realized it was the exact same recipe! Neither one of us had ever heard of or made the cake before (other than my old roommate Katie's pumpkin crunch- it's kind of similar) and we were just baffled about how we both randomly stumbled onto the recipe. Yes, we're sisters. Well, the recipe was so good I thought I'd share it with you. I found it on allrecipes.com

INGREDIENTS

* 1 (18.25 ounce) package yellow cake mix
* 1 egg, beaten
* 1/2 cup butter, melted
* 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
* 3 eggs, beaten
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
* 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1/2 cup white sugar
* 3 tablespoons butter, softened
* 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)


DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray or grease one 9x13 inch pan.
2. Reserve 1 cup cake mix. In a large bowl, combine the remaining dry cake mix with 1 egg and 1/2 cup melted butter. Mix well, and then pat into prepared pan.
3. In a large bowl, mix together the pumpkin, 3 eggs, 1/2 cup white sugar, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Pour over crust.
4. In a small bowl, combine reserved 1 cup cake mix, 1/2 cup sugar, and 3 tablespoons softened butter. Crumble over pumpkin filling. Sprinkle nuts evenly over the top, if desired.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 40 to 45 minutes.

Update

Further evidence of previous post...



Tyler LOVES his grandpa (almost as much as Grandpa loves him!). Isn't this picture great? I think it just captures what a jolly guy my dad is.


Yesterday Ty went on several walks with his grandpa and each time brought me back "flowers". He's only 9 1/2 months and already he's a sweet momma's boy!


Well, Tyler is finally crawling! He is getting into all sorts of fun things and exploring all the cupboards and baskets in our house. To be honest I have loved watching him get into things. I'm sure that will wear off fast, but I'm just so glad he's finally moving around. He is so much happier now that he can move on his own. This isn't the greatest picture, but he was trying to pull all the Ensigns out of the basket under our coffee table


And this is my handsome Jake-o. He volunteers at the public works department in Fountain Hills. Last week he got to ride around town with the town engineer and learn some cool engineery stuff. This is his "Hi, I'm a friendly business man" pose. I love Jake's cheesiness. Seriously though, isn't he a total hottie in his work clothes? Don't answer that... only I can say that.

Our Ty Guy

Tyler loves his daddy. He has been REALLY sick this past week. He woke up Tuesday night with a temperature of 103.4- a mother's nightmare! He had the hardest time sleeping and I was just beside myself with how to get him to sleep. Jake on the other hand had the magic touch. How does he do it?






Tyler's first experience watching conference. He especially liked the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. That boy loves his music!



Tyler is doing much better now. I am so thankful for Tylenol, Motrin, temporal thermometers, and a husband who holds the priesthood to help our little guy get back to being himself!

Little Notes and Eye Liner

When we were first married I liked to leave notes every once in awhile for Jake on the bathroom mirror with dry erase markers. The other day I came home from work to find this sweet note.


It says:
Meg, Just wanted to say you are the best, can't wait to come home to be with you. Love, your secret boyfriend

Aww. What a sweetie. I actually didn't discover it until Jake got home (who has time to go to the bathroom when you're taking care of a 9 month old!). So as soon as I saw it I came rushing out to kiss him on the cheek and tell him thanks. Then Jake says, "I hope I didn't ruin your eye liner." Huh? You used eye liner? Oh how I love this guy. He knows how to use his resources!

Note to self- eye liner comes off easier without windex.

Cory Jenkins

A dear friend of mine was killed on Tuesday in Afghanistan. Cory Jenkins was such a wonderful friend. Not only was he my first boyfriend, but he was such good friend with all of my family as well. I drove down his parent's street today and was so touched by all the flags that lined the sidewalks. What a great tribute to such a great man. Memories began flooding my mind. I always admired how he could get along and truly be a friend to anyone, no matter their age- he could chat with my parents so easily, and then turn around and hang out with my little bro and take him on paintballing trips.
Cory left behind a wife and little 2 month old baby girl. My heart aches for them and for the rest of Cory's family. I am so grateful for the knowledge of the atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I know that, with time, the atonement can heal our hearts. Cory was such an incredible man and I know that he was living the way he should. I am certain he will be blessed accordingly. What a blessing it is to know that he and his family will be reunited someday.
We will miss you Cory.