Merry Christmas ya filthy animal!

Here's my Christmas card for ya!  I put a lot of work into it so you'd better appreciate it.  The cost of stamps about killed me, not to mention licking all of those envelopes.  Just know I sacrificed a lot for you!  You're welcome.

Really...this is the thought that enters my mind when I open my Christmas cards from some of you.  Thanks for taking the time and spending the money on me, but the least you could have done is enclose a short personalized "Hi Keely, Love you!" message before I throw it away. ;)  I always think, man...they must have a lot of money to be mailing out Christmas cards!  But lets face it, I'm cheap, and sometimes practical, and don't want to spend money on something people are just going to throw away the day after Christmas. 

In case you were wondering CHRISTMAS IS IN THREE DAYS and honestly, it feels like mid January.    

"Charlie Brown...you're the only person I know who could take a wonderful season like Christmas and turn it into a problem.  Maybe Lucy's right....of all the Charlie Browns in the world, you're the Charlie Browniest."

I had to laugh watching this the other night because I've maybe, kinda, sorta turned into Charlie Brown. I have found the older I get, the more I tend to lose the Christmas spirit.  It could be the fact that my family and friends keep dying, or maybe my kid isn't quite old enough yet to bring back the magic.  (No pressure Kyla)  But either way, Christmas just isn't what it used to be.  

It was exciting as a kid.  You would be soooo anxious for Santa to come that you could barely sleep at night.  You started counting down the days with your cool homemade paper chain tracker, that it was all you could do to refrain from pulling an extra day off  just so Christmas would get here sooner.  December felt like YEARS waiting for Christmas.  Now I don't have any countdown to Christmas and I swear the month of December is 6 days total.  

The older I get though, the more I realize the work that my parents put into making the holiday what it is.  For instance, we wouldn't put our tree up until the week before Christmas.  This was one of my favorite days to look forward to through the month.  Why so late you ask?  Well...my dad always loved to keep the spirit of Christmas lingering through January, and you can't do that with a fresh cut tree if you put it up at the beginning of December. 

Christmas eve has always been my favorite.  You would think the Queen of England was invited to the Ward family Christmas eve bash with the sea of amazing food my mom prepares.  Games with the family, and lots of good food is how I will always remember Christmas.  My mom works so hard to make sure it's perfect, and now that I'm older, I recognize the time and effort she puts in to make it special for the family.

I may sound pretty selfish in all of this, talking about the worldly side of Christmas.  I know what Christmas is all about, and nobody says it better than Linus... 

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this [shall be] a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

That’s what Christmas is all about, Charlie Brown.

My most favorite Christmas song is Judy Garlands version of "Have yourself a merry little Christmas" from Meet me in St. Louis.

Have yourself a merry little Christmas

Let your heart be light
Next year all our troubles will be
out of sight
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
Make the yule-tide gay
Next year all our troubles will be
miles away
Once again as in olden days
Happy golden days of yore
Faithful friends who are dear to us
Will be near to us once more
Someday soon, we all will be together
If the Fates allow
Until then, we'll have to muddle through somehow
So have yourself a merry little Christmas now.

I'm going to have myself a merry little Christmas, even though I'm muddling through somehow.  I feel like it's part of being the adult.  You have to deal with problems that your kid version didn't have to worry about, or didn't quite understand.  Just know you're not alone.  The adults just have to work that much harder to keep the kid in us alive.   So here's hoping next year all our troubles will be miles away.  If Judy Garland says so then it must be true.   

My dog turns TWO TODAY!

Watch out folks, the terrorizer turns TWO TODAY!  It's hard to believe I have a two year old.  I'm sure it's even weirder for my parents to have a 26 year old.  Thank heavens you only get older a year at a time.  More has happened in these past two years, than has happened in my entire life.  So here's hoping things are a little less eventful in the years to come.  That'd be great.

Besides pooping and peeing all over the place, my kid can be pretty darn cute.  She is getting the hang of talking.  "Oh NO!" is probably my favorite thing she says, along with "wuv you," and "ohhh boy!"  Ok, so basically anything she says is adorable.  Her favorite thing to do is have us chase her through the house.  We generally hide and scare her,just to see how fast she runs.  We may have a sprinter on our hands but looking at the Ward and the Richman genes, I'd say that's pretty much impossible.  But maybe the odds will be in her favor.  However, I can guarantee she will be a dancer.  Her little tap shoes are her most favorite thing, and her wicked awesome dance moves can stop anyone in their tracks.  Yup...America's Got Talent, here we come!

She keeps us laughing, even through the frustration of her horrible listening skills.  Hopefully those improve over time.  I won't hold my breath though.  For her Birthday we are going to attempt to take her to the movie "Trolls."  She will be securely locked in her car seat the entire time, and I am packing enough fruit snacks to keep her mouth full if she starts whining.  I am hopeful it will go 85% as planned.  I'm sure I'll have some wild story after the night is through, so to be continued.....

Happy Birthday Kyla!  Thanks for finding us and teaching us a ridiculous amount of patience.

That one time I raised a dog...

My blog is my journal because I'm really fast at typing, and I don't really have the time or patience to sit and write on paper.  Sometimes I do, but this is not one of those times.  Plus, if reading about my life helps make yours just a little bit better than that's an added bonus.

It's no surprise my life is in complete and total chaos right now.  It's a mess.  My life is one big MESS.  Between harvest, (which has now ended for me and my red wagon) crazy picture season, losing my sister, and my kid now starting into her terrible two's, my emotions are COMPLETELY JACKED UP!   Yup, just in time for Halloween too.  This chick doesn't need a costume.  Throw me in the nut house and call it good.  

With my emotions being in complete disarray, my patience has also become non existent.  Yesterday was just one of those days.  Lets face it, in a battle with a almost 2 year old, the 2 year old will always win.  I hate losing...HATE IT, but I'm finding out it's hard to argue with a person who can't even wipe their own ass.  

I set myself up for failure right from the start.  I have taught my kid that the toilet is the "no no."  Well... it's more like the "NO NO!"(insert crazy eyes and arms flailing)  Why did I do this?  Because every time my kid goes into the bathroom she instantly runs for the toilet, not to sit on it, but to play in it.  Every time!  So yes...I, being the genius that I am, told my kid NO every time she runs for the toilet.    

I'm kind of getting off track here, but this is the problem I am going to have to deal with shortly when potty training season arrives.  But, back to last night....

So I was already frustrated from Kyla getting into everything she shouldn't and touching everything she shouldn't and eating a tube of chapstick that she shouldn't. Don't judge.  She's quick, and I'm slow.  Well bath time arrived...YAY!  We are always happy during bath time.  Well, except when she decides to poop in it.  So as she's doing...well....her business, I try to run her to the toilet.  The NO NO!  Ugh....well, that doesn't work out well, and I end up with a huge mess.  I don't know why I didn't just let her finish in the tub, but whatever.  I clearly am not a react on my feet type of person.  So I now have her out of her dirty bath water. Well....  I'm cleaning up the mess to find she's over in the corner now peeing on her dads clothes. (I'm obviously raising a dog.)  At this point I SNAP and start punching the wall.  Word of advice...don't do this.  Don't punch anything, except for a soft fluffy pillow that will cushion your hand.  Casey runs in to see what the heck is going on, and starts laughing at the whole scenario in front of him.  Poop...everywhere, and pee.  A little dog in the corner, and me sobbing.  

The only thing left to do at this point was laugh, but man alive....this whole patience thing needs to hold up a bit better.  I hate getting frustrated because I feel like crap afterwords, and the only one suffering from the whole thing is me.  

So here's my story that I want my kid to read one day when I'm telling her how she pooped and peed all over like a dog and she doesn't believe me.  Yes Kyla, you did, and I still loved you through it all, even if you were being a TURD.  You're welcome!

Love, your awesome, slightly crazy, Mom.

The Cassia County Fair

If there's one thing I love it's the smell of fair in the air.  (Yes, the fair has a smell.) It's a mixture of fresh sawdust, greasy food, dirt, with a small hint of cow manure.  If you don't believe me, go see for yourself.  There's nothing quite like it.  I always loved how the scent lingered once you arrived back home after the weeks festivities had come to a close. You'd pop open that show box lid to get one last whiff of the good ol Fair.  But besides the smell, there are a THOUSAND things a small town kid loves, that the average human could never understand.

For most kids, their summer consisted of taking the annual family vacation to somewhere awesome that was most likely out of state.  My childhood was a little different.  Our awesome family vacation was spent 50 miles away in big old Burley, Idaho living at the Cassia County fair.  I'm serious.  It was the best week of my life.  All of the Almo families usually stayed in the same motel so it was basically one huge party! ( Not that we spent much time in our rooms.)

Weigh in always consisted of someones steer getting lose, or someone getting mowed over, but there was always plenty of help to capture the critters. You quickly became an expert at "mixing drinks" because your animal couldn't stomach the awful taste of city water.  Therefore you tried everything in your power to come up with a concoction so your steer didn't look starved for the big show.  I found that tang usually worked, but as the years went by some genius discovered leading your animal to water did the trick.  WHO KNEW?! 

By the time you got your steer washed, dried, fed, and groomed,  you were so exhausted and hoped and prayed that the judge was fast so you didn't have to sit there while trying to lift your 1200 pound steers head up, because someone didn't tie him up as much as they should have throughout the year.  I was always competitive, but you were always competing against your friends, and you just hoped you all did good and got to sell your animal by the time Saturday rolled around.  

We always had "stall duty" which is just a glorified word for pooper scooper.  But this is what the average kid doesn't understand.  It was during the scooping of poop that all the fun was had.  This right here is where the magic happened.  Your parents were never around because it was during the middle of the day, when the heat of 1,000 suns wanted to melt your face off.  (I'm pretty sure kids under the age of 18 are immune to it.)  If you weren't old enough to drive, you'd find a friend who was and run to the DI to purchase the cheapest couch you could find.  One year it was yellow.  One was a bright orange.  We had plenty of brown couches, but the color never mattered.   Why?  Because these couches always served their purpose of bringing good friends together to sit and tell stories, take long naps, hold your fair flings hand, or eat your millionth snow cone.   The plus side was, we didn't have cell phones back in the day so your parents just trusted you were fine and were staying out of trouble.  By not having phones, we actually had to communicate with other human beings.  Weird, I know!

Water fights were always a must, along with wheelbarrow races and roping practice.  Nights were usually spent trying to sneak into the rodeo.  If you were lucky, you had connections and never had to worry about getting a seat.  The Wild Bunch was where it was at.  You'd get excited hearing Mr. Bells voice echo over the loudspeaker, and you knew the Cowboys Prayer by heart.   The hardest part of all though always came on Saturday night when "Happy Trails" played its last tune.  I may or may not have cried, but you always knew the fair was over.   Summer vacation had come to an end, and you'd have to wait another year to get a maple bar, and funnel cake, and turkey leg, and maple bar.

Fair was about hard work, but getting to have a little fun too.  I looked at fair as my reward for not killing my animal throughout the year, because lets face it....the Ward steers were usually a little psychotic, and I deserved a hell of a lot more than a week at the fair for taming those wild beasts!  

The fair will always hold a special place in my heart, and I am eternally grateful for those friends who sat on the couch together and talked about anything and everything.  We are the ones who know the true meaning of fair, and I thank my lucky stars I'll get to keep those memories forever.  Happy Trails friends.

-Keely

If you guys have any old pictures lying around I'd love to see them!

Mexico 2016

Case and I were able to take a trip to Mexico at the beginning of the month and after all was said and done, we are going back! Puerto Vallarta...see you in 2018!  We left Kyla with the grandparents.  The great thing about vacationing without your kids is it gives you something to look forward to once you get back home.  It was quite lovely.  I was excited to get to Mexico and just as excited to get home. WIN WIN! 

This was mine and Casey's first "International" trip together, and his first time swimming in the ocean.  (Gotta love that mouth full of salt water.)  We didn't do a whole lot which was exactly what I wanted.  If you think it's tough laying on the beach all day listening to the waves crash against the shore, it most certainly is not.  The most energy I exerted was getting up to move my beach chair under the palm tree if the sun got too far ahead of me. (Real tough...I know.) 

One day was spent touring the older part of the city and frolicking on the boardwalk (which is where I took those statue pictures.) We ran into some fellow Idahoans while walking through town. Turns out they were from Twin Falls!  It really is a crazy small world.  Another night was spent at the "Pirates of the Bay" dinner show which was a blast.  If you vacation in P.V. be sure to check it out.  However... if you like having a good time this dinner show is not for you.  Just a heads up. 

I was glad I took my big girl camera for the trip, but I made a big effort to limit my picture intake.  For the most part I think I captured our vacation in 25 pictures or less.  Not too shabby for a chick who takes 800 photos in one whack eh?  FYI...everyone assumed we were Canadians.  Apparently Puerto Vallarta is quite the vacation spot for the Canucks.  We saw one who sat on the beach for 6 hours without any sunscreen application.  Clifford the big red dog made an appearance the very next day! 

Oh and if any of you are thinking about booking a trip, I used Expedia and had no problems at all.  Two thumbs up from this girl.  

 I have no idea who that lady is. For being at the beach she doesn't look too thrilled. 

Barracuda our pirate! 

 These guys put the Las Vegas statues to shame.  Yes he is holding himself up with one arm and didn't move for the 20 minutes I saw him.

 Yup...its a real dude.  Pretty awesome!

 Tequila the parrot

Happy Birthday Kyla!

Yup....she's the big ONE today and she's pretty excited about it! 

copyright Keely Richman Photography

copyright Keely Richman Photography

copyright Keely Richman Photography

copyright Keely Richman Photography

copyright Keely Richman Photography

copyright Keely Richman Photography

copyright Keely Richman Photography

I know what you're thinking....Kyla is totally adorable, and HOLY CRAP you took a family picture?!  Yes my kid is pretty darn cute, and yup...here's the Richman family picture for 2015.  We probably won't get another one for 5 years, but secretly I'm ok with that.  Shout out to my dear friend Brandy Taylor for capturing it for us.  Love you to pieces! But enough about me...it's Kyla's big day so this post is all about her!

I can't believe I have a ONE year old.  Time flies when you're having fun.  Kyla currently has 10 teeth. She loves watching Curious George, loves potatoes, green beans, & pumpkin pie and speaks 2 languages!  She has gibberish down really well, but is slowly picking up English.  Her favorite words are...

WOAH!

WHO!

WHAT!

Baby

DADA! &

MAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMAMA! (only when she is upset of course)

I did most of them in caps because her talking is more of a yell.  Her happy is definitely too loud, but I'll take a happy loud kid over a crying sad one.

Her favorite activity right now consists of pulling all of my pans and dishes out of the lower cupboards and sliding them across the floor.  Oh, and she helps load/unload the dishwasher by climbing in it.  Needless to say I've gotten faster at my house chores.

Kyla loves books!  She sits on them, eats them, turns the pages, and stares at them almost as if she could read.  Another shout out to cousins, Heather, Kennedy, and Kadance (sorry if I spelled it wrong) for giving Kyla her first Birthday present last night...A BOOK!  It's no contest...those girls and Scott win the favorite cousin award hands down.  Thanks so much guys for all of your help.  I have to say though, my good friend Amy takes the cake as Kyla's favorite person.  I almost think my kid loves her more than me some days, but who wouldn't.

A few more favorites are...

Pretending to drive Dads pickup

Riding the 4-wheeler

Playing with dogs

Going for walks 

Eating anything that looks out of the ordinary

Getting chased around by Mom & Dad

and last but not least....WALKING!

She is finally getting the hang of it.  She is still waaaaaay wobbly, but I'm sure she'll be running by tomorrow.  

Casey and I know we are spoiled rotten with Kyla around.  She has been one amazing kid!  She sleeps great, eats like a champ, and is happy around the clock.  I know I've said it before, but she truly has been our "light in dark" this past year.  We are so blessed and thankful for our little pumpkin.

Happy Birthday baby girl! We love you so much.

xoxo

  

A peek into our lives...

Well…it has definitely been a while since I’ve jotted anything down, and figured it was about that time again.   Bare with me while I get through this post, because it will more than likely be allllll over the place.  Here we go…

My world got turned upside down after Luke passed away.  I’ll admit that I have been slightly depressed.  Secretly I haven’t been dong ok.  That girl you see in public who looks like she has it together, I don’t. I’m a complete mess on the inside.  There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think of him.  I still cry...a lot, and I probably will for a long time, but I am slowly healing.  I think the hardest thing has been seeing how quickly others move on.  I understand that’s what you do…you get lost in the every day things, and continue on with life, but just know that it feels like yesterday for some of us. I’m not asking you to feel sorry for me and I’m not seeking pity.  I’m just telling you the struggle is real for me each and every day, and I’m sure it is for my family too.  My heart aches for my friends who have dealt or are dealing with losing someone close.  It’s a different struggle for all of us, but a hard one none the less.

Staying busy has been key, and between being a Mom, driving truck, and taking pictures I think I’ve done pretty good at it.  Yes…I am still taking pictures.  If I seem to have dropped off the grid it’s because I’ve been in a truck for corn harvest.  Not gonna lie…it’s been a nice break being away from my computer.  Our electronics have a way of sucking us in.   I strongly encourage each one of you to take a step back and enjoy life, rather than try living it through your friend’s facebook posts.  Delete the app off your phone.  Best decision I’ve ever made.  Trust me.  You’ll live if you don’t check facebook for a day….I promise. 

August was a busy month for me.  Got to go to the Hogle Zoo with my Mom and Austin’s family.  Had a fun day, but was definitely worn out after fighting busy Utah traffic.  I went back to Salt Lake the next weekend to go to the Shania Twain concert. It was a much needed girls night with my best friend from High School and our Moms.  (Love you Red, thanks for putting it together)  I also had my first experience eating at Tucanos.  Needless to say, it’s my new favorite place.  Go there….you won’t regret it.

 Fair week happened and so did the food.  I indulged in the mac and cheese pulled pork sandwich and gave it 2 thumbs way way up.  Are you ready for this? Brace yourself…..I only ate 1 maple bar the entire week.  Yes, you read that right. ONE.  I think having a kid must have thrown off my taste buds, because I didn’t have any desire to eat more.  That didn’t stop me from eating 2 scones though.  Oh, and a rice bowl.  (Sorry if I just made you hungry.  Gotta love that fair food.)

Casey had another Birthday.   (Funny how those things keep showing up every year.)  We were both stuck driving truck while his family was off on vacation on their annual Richman trip to Alturas Lake.  We made it up there to spend Friday and Saturday with them.  (Make note we are still in August here. Told you it was a busy month.)  It was Kylas first big trip away from home.  I was an idiot who didn’t know to think about the altitude change and her ears started hurting as we climbed the pass. (The trip home went much smoother.)  Kyla loved listening to the live band that performed at Red Fish Lake and Case and I enjoyed a little break from everything.  We then spent Saturday night in Sun Valley and Kyla had her first hotel experience.  (A lot of firsts for her on this trip)  She loved every minute of it!

Ok…August is over now.

Kyla turned 10 months old September 17^th, and I just gotta say how much fun it is seeing your kid grow and change.  She is HOOT!  She has 4 teeth, is walking around furniture, and makes me laugh every day.  I need to apologize to all of my friends though because I know my Instagram and facebook posts are chuck full of Kyla, but hey….this is my life now, and I can tell you now that I’m not posting any picture of me, that’s for sure!  I’ll try and tone it down a bit, but I’m not making any promises.  She is just too darn cute!

So here we are…fall is officially here and harvest is in full swing. I’m excited for sweater weather, pumpkin everything, and for Marty to visit the future next month.  (Google it if you don’t know what I’m talking about.)   All in all we are doing good…as good as can be expected, and I guess that’s all we can ask for. 

Happy Harvest everyone!  Keep it rubber side down, and watch out for those tater trucks.  They’ll run you clean off the road.

Love,

Me

                            Kyla listening intently to the music at Red Fish.  She cracked me up.