Conversations from the Van #6

I have to say we had a wonderful time tonight at Mike's families for Christmas Eve. We were on our way home from the festivities and listening to the radio. Paul McCartney's song 'Wonderful Christmas Time' come on. All of the sudden I realize that everyone in the van is singing. Even the kids. It was pure joy! I just love those feelings!!! Merry Christmas everyone!!

Christmas Spirit

The Richter Family Holiday Newsletter 2009

Conversations from the Van #5

Today we took Sharon, my Mother-in-Law to some stores to do some Christmas Shopping and Grocery Shopping for our Christmas meal. This was the first day the kids had off of school so they were very excited. I was about at my wits end with the fighting and whining and such. I told Will that I was going to drop him off to stay with Grandma!

Mom: I am going to leave you at Grandmas.
Will: Yea!!!!! I can share cookies with Bailey. And I can protect Grandma with my Karate Skills.
All: A little chuckling at his cuteness.

a few seconds later....

Will: I can also do some work for her.
All: Rolling Laughter.
Grandma (under her breath) : That will last about 2 minutes!

International Answer the Phone Like Buddy the Elf Day!!

I love this day!!! It is only second to Christmas!!

Here is Buddy’s crazy way of answering the phone when it rings: Buddy the Elf! What's your favorite color?

Another Buddy quote: The best way to spread Christmas Cheer is singing loud for all to hear…it's just like talking, except longer and louder, and you move your voice up and down.

Happy Thanksgiving

Madison Turns 9

(Our camera is broken so all pictures where taken with my phone and not of good quality)
Yes that is right Madison Turned 9 this year!! Where has the time gone. On Monday we went up to Toledo to have dinner with Grandma Richter at Olive Garden. Madi got American Girl Kristen Book and small doll also a little Penguin ornament.

Here they are looking over the gifts. Madison loves American Girl. Wonder what tomorrow will bring!!
So Tuesday November 3rd Madison woke up to balloons in her bedroom!! And she wanted pancakes for breakfast.

For school Madison wanted Chocolate covered Strawberries. So I double dipped them and they were a big hit. Even the teachers were drooling over them as I walked down the hall.
For dinner Madison chose her favorite soup. Cheesy Potato Soup and Carrot cake.
She was "Souper" Excited for dinner!!
Make a wish!
Will gave her a Deco Littlest Pet Shop Penguin. She was so surprised and excited!!
An American Girl Hair book.

Wish came true!! The Kristen Doll from Grandma and Grandpa Swift!

Since Kristen is retiring this year I broke down and got her some dresses for the doll. Call it OCD but I have this thing about having complete sets of things. (Don't worry Mike I only got 2 outfits there are many more that I left behind at the store, but it took a lot of will power to walk away!)

Do we really need an appendix?

I say no. On Sunday after church I was not feeling too well. My stomach hurt and I really didn't know why. I had a sandwich and hoped that I would feel better. I then went up to bed at 2 in the afternoon and laid down. I was up there until about 8 and the pain was worse when I got up. I tried to eat again thinking it was something feminine so no big deal it would go away quickly. But to no avail. I was still in pain and eating made it much worse. I went back to bed and tried to get some sleep. The next morning I got up and was in pain still. I laid on the couch while the kids got ready for school. I called my friend Michelle who is the office manager at my Docs office. I told her I was thinking it was something feminine so I would go up to Toledo to my ob. She said no come in to her office at 10 and have someone here in town look at me. Boy am I glad I listened to her. I went in and she sent me to the hospital to get some tests. A blood test and a CT scan. The scan came back positive for an inflamed appendix. I left the hospital and drove my self home to wait for the call. Well by the time I got home there was an message on the machine to go into the ER right away. I tried to call a few people because I didn't feel like I could walk as far as I did in the morning to get to the ER. On the way out the door I lost all of the CT scan liquid. And I managed to get over to the ER and find a great space! They checked me in and then off to the operating room. I guess everything went well. When they were taking me to my room, Mike and Michelle (and her daughter Jessica) were there waiting to see me. I was a little sick from the meds but all in all I did pretty well. My Bishop stopped by too. He is alsoo my friend so it was cool he was there. My friend Kim came up to see me and take care of me, of course after she took care of my kids!! But I slept through that. Then she was back at it in the morning bringing me pop! Mike came up and checked on me before going into work (he got the kids off safely!) Then Bobbie and Rayna and Joan stopped by. Thank you ladies it was nice. My friend Jenn in Chicago called and asked if she could take care of my farmville and fish tanks on facebook! She is funny but she did and I am thankful. She was mad because she was the one I always leaned on when I have problems, but I am glad she was there for me even in this small way. I got other phone calls that I appriciated. So more rest and then Kim came and took me home. I am resting now and feeling better every day. I am super glad the swelling is going down. I think I can get my wedding rings back on now. Kind of feel naked with out them!

9-9-09

Here is a list of 9 of some of the favorite things my family and I have done in 2009!

1) My grandmother turned 90 this year and we had a celebration in her honor in March. By the way I love my Grandma! She rocks!

2) This was the fourth year of Madi's dance classes. This coming year she will earn a special award. I love going to the final performance in May. They are a long night but to see all the hard work they do all year come together it is so worth it!

3) Being PTO President for my kids school. It was hard work and sometimes not the greatest job but I really enjoy helping at the school as much as I can. I really feel a sense of accomplishment and pride in my children and the school. I love that they enjoy having me around the school. I know this will change and at some point they will be to embarrassed or not want me around so much, I will take this time for as long as I can.

4) Our summer in Las Vegas! We went to 7 states this summer. Most of our time was spent with my parents in Las Vegas. We always enjoy our time out there and this year was no exception.

5) Train ride to the Grand Canyon. My parents are very generous. We get to do things that normally we would not be able to, because of them. We drove to Arizona and took a train into the Grand Canyon. It was so much fun. The ride was relaxing and not stressful. The time we had at the Canyon was short but we saw a lot and got some good walking in.

6) St. George, I love St. George. We went to the Temple and walked around. We went exploring the town and found an awesome park. It is in the middle of the town. A man made stream that the kids play in and a water fountain that sprays water from the ground. It was beautiful. Will needed new clothes but that was an excuse to go to the outlets. What could be more fun? Oh the Golden Corral! Yummy food!





7) LEGOLAND/SEA LIFE AQUARIUM I really think this is one of my favorite places ever. I love it there. It is in Carlsbad, California near San Diego. It was perfect weather, so much fun and just a great time. We went two years ago so we decieded at the last minute to go back this year and I am so glad we did. I kind of wish we lived closer so I could go more often.





8) Chicago/Jenn Well one sour note of 2009 is Jenn and her family moved to Chicago this summer. Jenn and I have been friends since we were 11. For the last 4 1/2 years they lived down the ally from us. I know that we will always keep in touch, we are like family but it will be hard. So the kids and I took a quick trip to see their new house and then went to Chicago on our way home. We ate at a two story McDonalds, went to the Lego Store and American Girl Store. It was a blast!!




9) Seeing old Friends! One thing that I have really enjoyed this year has been catching up with old friends. Facebook is a wonderful thing for that. I met up with my friend Deb who lives in California, she drove to Vegas to come see us ( her mom lives their). Always I go see my friend Carina who had a baby this year, first girl after 3 boys! That was fun buying cute girly clothes. Then after 21 years I saw my friend Sara from Wisconsin. We met in 1988 on a Swim Team that went to Italy and France. We found out that we would be in Chicago on the same day so we met for lunch. She has two great kids and we had fun catching up. I got an email from my exchange student brother in Germany! My other exchange student brother got in contact with me! Lots and Lots of old friends on Facebook. It has been a great year so far. I am looking forward to the rest of 2009!

Traffic Trifecta- by Michael

My wife kindly agreed to let me voice my concerns/complaints/ramblings on her blog.

This entry revolves around the general theme of traffic laws. The office where I work is an hour away from where I live, so I deal with my fair share of traffic on most days. Although I don’t get headaches (my wife tends to get enough of those for the both of us!), if I did, I’m sure that they would be induced at least partly by traffic-related issues.

Without further adieu (du Laq), I introduce this Traffic Trifecta, comprised of the following topics:

1. When to stop for a school bus
2. Yielding right of way on a left turn (with a special guest appearance by “left on red”)
3. Watch for the kiddies (but don’t break the rules)!

1. Stopping for a school bus:

The background on this is that a lot of people apparently do not know what the rule is, regarding stopping for a school bus. Although I’ve usually done with my commute before the busses start rolling, sometimes I get caught behind those who aren’t aware of the correct procedures to follow.

Generally speaking, here are the guidelines that should be followed when following/approaching a school bus that is stopped, or is preparing to stop:

· All traffic going in the same direction as school bus always stops when the bus stops, but traffic going in the opposite direction only stops if there are fewer than 4 total lanes of traffic (counting both directions).

· Vehicles only need to stop when the red flashing lights on the bus are on – it’s ok to pass when the yellow flashing lights are on.

2. Yielding to oncoming traffic (with one driver going straight and one turning left):

Here’s the setup – you are arriving at a stop sign, and someone travelling in the opposite direction is also approaching the same intersection, and their corresponding stop sign. So who goes first? As is often the case with tax law, the answer is “It depends”.

I’ve seen a variety of approaches – some based on “first in line always wins”, some based on “straight always wins” (like in California?). As a shortcut around this approach, I’ve created/utilized several “workarounds”:

- Purposely arriving at an intersection after the oncoming vehicle has reached their stop sign (premature deceleration).

- Turning off my lights (which I always have on when I drive – Bessie’s been very, very good to me, I certainly don’t intend to repay her by allowing her to get hit!)

- Changing my mind last minute, from turning left, to go straight – and then turning left at a later intersection).

Due to confusion on my part about this specific issue (and not generally being a big fan of “blissful ignorance”), I turned to the Digest of Ohio Motor Vehicle laws that the Ohio Department of Public Safety publishes (http://publicsafety.ohio.gov/links/hsy7607.pdf). The information contained therein, while generally helpful, was not as explicit in this circumstance. Under the topic of “Yielding”, it is indicated:

“A driver must yield the right of way:

… To oncoming traffic when making a left turn. …”

Not to sound like former President Clinton, but that passage from the manual left me with the basic question “what does oncoming mean?” More specifically, the question that arose in my mind is “If a car that is oriented in the opposite direction that you are is stopped at a stop sign, is it considered to be oncoming?”. Or, would the meaning of oncoming be limited to vehicles that were in the act of travelling through the intersection, excluding those that were not moving?

My search for the answer lead me to another area in the manual under Turns, entitled “Left Turn” (a very invigorating read, right up there with “Right Turn”, and “Right-Hand Turn on Red”).

I read:

“The driver of a vehicle intending to turn left:

…Is required to yield the right-of-way to any vehicle approaching from the opposite direction. Prior to engaging a left-hand turn, the driver must wait for oncoming traffic to clear the intersection. One may advance into the intersection as a prelude to turning, provided that no other traffic control devices prohibit this action.”.

Ok, so it sounds like “oncoming” is a reference to the less-passive act of travelling through the intersection. However, to be sure, I contacted the State Highway Patrol with my question.

Here’s the definitive answer – if 2 vehicles approach the same intersection from opposite directions, and each is faced with a stop sign, with one of the vehicles intending to turn left, and the other intending to go straight, the vehicles that gets there first has the right of way. If they arrive at the stop sign at the same time, the one that is going straight is the one which has the right of way. However, if the cars have to wait for cross-traffic (or, presumably, any emergency vehicles travelling in the same or the opposite direction) before proceeding, then everything is “reset”, and the car going straight then has the right of way, even if the car that is intending to turn left arrived at the intersection first.

To summarize:

- The first one to the stop sign has right of way, with any ties going to the vehicle intending to go straight.

- Despite the above rule, if the vehicles at the intersection have to wait before proceeding (due to cross traffic, emergency vehicles, etc), the vehicle intending to go straight has the right of way.

To reiterate it from a slightly different point of view -- The only time a vehicle turning left has right of way over a vehicle travelling in the opposite direction, when both have to stop, is when the vehicle intending to turn left arrives at the intersection first, and does not have to wait for oncoming traffic to make that turn. The vehicle intending to travel straight has right of way in all other instances.

On the topic of turns, and only slightly off-topic, one of the most curious possibilities that drivers could encounter deals with turning on a red light. Many are aware that right turns on a red light (after coming to a complete stop) are legal. But how about a left-hand turn? It’s possible, but certainly not in all situations. Specifically, although I’m not the world’s most well-travelled man, I have actually had the opportunity, on multiple occasions, to visit a town where turning left on red is perfectly safe (and, better than that, it’s legal, too!). In downtown Toledo, one can happen across the situational logistics required to permit a left hand turn on red – from a one-way street to another one-way street. It’s such a peculiarity, in fact, that, even though I was aware of permissibility of “left on red” turns, I actually felt a little naughty the first time I tried it (I think that’s the year that I did not get the pony I asked for, for Christmas).

3. Watch for the kiddies (but don’t break the rules)!

Rounding out the Traffic Trifecta is one of my pet peeves. Frequently, in parking lots, as well as on streets, drivers, being cognizant of young ones on their way to school, or exiting/entering stores, will stop their cars, and wave children (and parents, also) on, so they can safely be on their way without interruption.

While good-intentioned, I dislike this, for a couple of reasons:

- It promotes improper and unsafe behavior by children. Children should never have to rely on the kindness of drivers to be able to get to school safely. That’s why there are crossing guards, and designated crosswalks. If children make a habit of crossing streets without the added benefit of safety measures like crossing guards and crosswalks, they could be putting themselves that drivers in awkward situations, if only by obstructing the vision of the young pedestrians.

- It is illegal. You can’t just stop you car in the middle of the road, even if it is to let the kid-os get across the street. Unless you’re at a crosswalk, vehicles have the right of way on a street, not pedestrians (young, or not).

- It works against the training that I’ve taught my children. I have taught them to always wait for cars to pass before crossing the street. I know people are just trying to be nice, when they stop their cars in the middle of the road, wave us on, and give me a puzzling “What on Earth are you waiting for, don’t you realize what a huge favor I’m doing for you – why don’t you just go, already!” look, when I just stand there, shaking my head no, while talking to the children, to tell them to always wait for the car to pass, even if they stop and wave you on”. All in all, it is a good opportunity to reinforce/test them on what I’ve taught them previously.

What about when I’m in the driver’s seat? Do I purposely patrol the neighborhood when school’s about to begin, and try to run the little tikes over? Certainly not. However, I do not simply do away with the rules of the road just so that a child can safely cross the street just this one time, in this one place. The less children need to rely on others for their safety, the better.

Don’t get me wrong, I go out of my way to try to promote safety. As a CPA, I tend to double check certain things quite often, and I try to anticipate things whenever possible. Keeping in mind that school’s out, I’m frequently on the lookout this time of the year for escaped playground balls and runaway scooters. If I see something roll out into the street, I slow down or stop. However, I only do that to make sure that I won’t hit:

1 -- whatever it is that entered my path of travel, or (usually more importantly)

2 -- whatever it is that is following #1 (usually a little boy or girl). Once the ball is safely out of my way, and making sure that there are no little feet scurrying into the road, I proceed. If there are any children approaching the roadside, I make sure that they do not enter the roadway. I don’t keep the car there while the ball is retrieved, because that could promote within the children the sense or understanding that all motorists will always watch for children, and will always stop until you get the ball, and make it back to your yard before they resume driving – because they won’t! I don’t know that anybody intentionally caused harm to children in this manner, but there are a lot of people who probably aren’t as concerned or aware of young ones as I think they ought to be (think of the pizza guy, very young drivers, or even elderly drivers).

That about rounds out the Traffic Trifecta. At the very least, I hope it’s been entertaining. Maybe I’ll make some more guest appearances in the future. If you have any related traffic tips, or pet peeves about driving, feel free to let me know.

Appreciatively,

Tiffany’s Michael

Back to school

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Happy Anniversary

Happy Anniversary to My Mike and I! August 15, 1997 we were married in the Chicago, Ill. Temple.
You can not laugh, I know we look like babies! Especially Mike. It has been a great 12 years. I have been truly blessed with a husband who loves me and our children. He is a wonderful father and a great friend. I made a joke today, 12 down and eternity to go! But I am looking forward to eternity with Michael. Thank you for 12 wonderful years!

Also, Madison gave a talk in Primary today so I thought I would add that to this post.

My family can be together forever through the

Ordinances of the temple

12 years ago yesterday, my parents were sealed together for time and all eternity in the Chicago, Illinois Temple. Because they choose to follow the commandments of God and marry in the temple, our family can be together forever. There are some things we must do to have happy, successful families:

1. Have family prayer every night and morning

2. Have Family Home Evening every week.

3. Do things together as a family, such as work projects, outings, and decision making.

4. Parents should kneel together as husband and wife each night in prayer.

5. Learn to be kind, patient, long-suffering, and charitable

6. Attend church meetings regularly.

7. Follow the counsel of the Lord in Doctrine & Covenants 88:119: “Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.”

8. Keep a family history and gather family genealogy.

The family is the most important unit in the Lord’s church. And if we remember the 13^th Article of Faith: “We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.”, it will help us prepare to go to the temple.

If we obey the commandments of the Lord, our families will be together forever.

Day 19/ CARNIVAL

So the kids went to this Vacation Bible School all week at my mom's church. She goes to the United Methodist Church right around the corner from her house. I was a little worried at first how the children would be treated. But it turned out really well. Madi was so so with it. Will had a blast. He came home everyday telling me about it. Will has this sweet spirit you wouldn't really know is there. He says the best prayers and reminds us when we are doing something wrong. He keeps me in check some days, but then he goes and hits his sister or does something crazy. Not sure what is going on with him but I look forward to those situations that he can show his spiritual side. He already talks about when he turns 8 and can be baptized. Anyhow, he loved the songs from the camp. he was really into it at the Carnival. They had a short program where they told us what they did for the week and sang the songs they learned. It was fun.

Will was really into the songs!


Then there was a carnival for the kids. They had hot dogs and chips. Bouncy house, all kinds of games, snow cones, water balloons, and animal petting. It was a fun time.

My Husband is a funny funny Man

Wolverine vs. Nightcrawler‏

After months of careful planning, numerous hot-headed deliberations, and countless hours of pulling this thing together (not really), Joseph H. and I finally managed to definitively set the record straight, and put our adamantium (sp?) where our mouths are. Joseph had a game for the Gamecube, which allowed Marvel super heroes (and villains) to fight against each other, so that we could settle the Wolverine vs. Nightcrawler debate once and for all. Of course, Joseph, adept not only with the Gamecube came in general, but also with this specific game, as well as very practiced in his dexterity with the controller, sided with Wolverine. Never having played a Gamecube game before, and never having played any game with Marvel characters, and never having used a GameCube controller, I became one with Nightcrawler. Now, I know what you're thinking. Right off the bat, you're probably thinking (and probably should be thinking), "who on Earth would side with Nightcrawler - he doesn't stand a chance - certainly not against an adamantium-filled super wonder that is Wolverine, and especially not when animated by the likes of a guy who's never even played the GameCube before". So, here we were in this "first blood" match. Joseph loads the game, picks his guy, does some fancy prestidigitation with the buttons, mutters some stuff about handicaps, and then tells me something about 2 or 3 of the approximately 59 buttons on this controller that I've seen for the first time ever. What happened, you ask? I've got 2 words for you:Air Bamf, baby! That's right - even this poor simpleton of a man, inexperienced at all but Super Mario Brothers for the DS, was able to grind out an overwhelming defeat of the pride of Joseph's Marvel-heavy idols. In a stunning but well-deserved and appropriate battle of the ages, Nightcrawler had defeated the mighty Wolverine. It wasn't easy, but it was fun. As with all good debates, I'm sure my well-experienced counterpart will offer some snippets of our interaction, to try to dress up his glorious defeat. But, when it's all said and done, he will not be able to claim that Nightcrawler did not defeat Wolverine. Not only did he do so, but he did so in a style that was all his own.Thank you Brother Hodgkins for your much-appreciated and long-offered support of my now-proven position of Nightcrawler's superiority (Was it me, or did I just use too many hyphenated words in that last sentence?).Bishop Lake - pfffft! Wolverine's definitely good, but he ain't Nightcrawler. As Joseph and I parted ways, with sadness in his downward-cast eyes, I couldn't help but think that I could detect a faint hint of the odor of brimstone in the air, as I victoriously departed. With much appreciation to Joseph, Jeff and Parker L. (for the second Gamecube controller), Brother Hodgkins, and Stan Lee, and with my tongue inserted firmly into my cheek, I wish each of you a marvellous day! My next challenge? Proving that tapping the top of pop cans does NOT reduce the likelihood/amount of "foaming" - any takers on the counterpoint?

Michael Richter

Day 18/ The Greatest Show on Earth!

So today was t-shirt day at kids camp. Not much different during the day! Swimming!!!!

That night we went to the Circus!! ZING ZANG ZOOM!! The pictures are not great, my camara is still broken and only works half the time. But it was awesome!

Shelf Reliance Giveaway!

Go to Shelf Reliance for your chance to win one of these !!!!

The Harvest 72″ is one of the favorite products over at Shelf Reliance.