Wednesday, October 28, 2009

My blog has to be good for something



Some of us decided that this would be a good "meeting place" for the fun family cruise this summer! It would be good for people to find out what shore excursions everybody is interested in, so if you want to go with people that want to do the same things. My friends went on this Cruise last summer on short notice and some of the S.E.'s were booked solid, so we should book ours in advance to get the stuff we want! I will post a couple of links on here that go to the Princess cruise line shore excursions site, then it would be great if people could comment on the stuff they want to do. If this sounds like tedious work-e stuff let me know!http://www.princess.com/learn/shorex/brochures/alaska/2009_Alaska_Adventures_Ashore.pdf

Monday, May 25, 2009

Another Catch-Up Post!

Apparently we overestimated our ability to regularly update the ol' blog! Our sincerest apologies to our faithful viewers :)
So! Where did we leave off? Ah, yes January.  Since then we have gone to California for Spring Break, taken Geddes out of school and began homeschooling him, made arrangements for me (Harley) to go on a study abroad, etc, etc.

Barbara's big news is that she's going to Italy with me in July! She was really freaked out at first when she was trying to figure out all the plans (where to stay, flights, trains, etc), But now she can't wait! 

Grandma Austin got to go to Texas for a week to visit a friend, which was really good for her.  Her and Geddes have been playing together almost every day, which she has also loved.  She likes spoiling him, and having a visitor wear her out all the time.

As for me, I am almost all set to go to Prague for a month!! I am going through MCC and I am studying Political Ideologies and Literature and Film, which is just a fancy way of saying Politics, Books, and Movies, haha. I leave June 4, which is crazy soon, but I cannot wait! (Also, on a side note, I am thinking about making my own blog to kind of document my travels and experiences, blah blah blah, so if I did that, I would appreciate lots of comments and readers!) After Prague, as I said before, my mom is going to meet me in Prague and then we are going to Italy (Rome, Florence, Pisa, Venice) for 2 weeks with Aunt Lynn, Gabi, Jake, and Rachel (for a little bit) and that is going to be so much FUN! 

Addison just graduated from Mountain View High School, and she moved apartments, she is still working at In-N-Out and from what I understand, she's going to be able to be on closing crew now (not that I have any clue what that means).  Other than that, I haven't the foggiest about whats going on in her life.

Baxter is still at the Youth Development Institute, and he is making slow, but noticeable progress. We get to visit him a couple times a week, and he is growing even more each time! He is a bohemoth of a kid, that is for sure! 

Geddes has mostly been chillin.  He loves swimming and will beg for hours to go every single day.  He got baptized in April, and he is now in Scouts, and he is loving it. He's got such a great attitude and an awesome sense of humor.

Al is still working for the Government, doing that thing he does (for those of you who watch Friends, we always joke that he is the Chandler of the family because we don't really know what he does exactly, even though he's told us multiple times. thats our bad. We love you, Al!).  He's jealous of our trip to Italy because that's where he served his mission, and every time we talk about it or pronounce something wrong, he is right there to correct us.  Bless his heart, haha. 

Well I think thats about it for now (the basics at least), I can't promise anything, but hopefully I'll have my own blog pretty soon, and I'll have trained my mom to update their blog on their own!

Love Always, 
The Ricks-Austin Fam

Tuesday, January 6, 2009

Chihuly Glass Exhibit









We had the opportunity to go to the Desert Botanical Gardens in Phoenix to see the Chihuly Glass Exhibit a couple days ago. It was totally cool! It is amazing that they move these glass sculptures all around the world, and we got to see them. They are stunning, and we recommend it to anyone who is going to be in the area between now and April!

Monday, January 5, 2009

Happy Birthday Harley!

Happy 19th birthday Harley!!!! We are so lucky to have a cool girl like harley in our family. She is very artistic and talented and most importantly funny as can be! She is such a sweet girl who loves her family very much....WE LOVE YOU HARLEY!!!!!!


Monday, December 22, 2008

Mesa Temple Lights

Geddes has been begging us for weeks to go see the lights at the Mesa Temple. So we bundled up and headed out to brave the 53 degree weather. Once there, we got to be herded through the very crowded pathways, and hear the beautiful music from the Christmas Program. Geddes had a lot of fun, and can't wait to go again next year.

A Year Gone By

So it has been almost a year since our last post, so SORRY! In the past year, a lot has happened. As you already knew, Harley got accepted into BYU-Idaho and she has two semesters under her belt now. She started in June and got home about 2 weeks ago. She absolutely loved it up there, and made lots of new friends. She especially loved being close to the Ricks side of the family for a bit, and hanging out with her cousin Rachel all the time. She's off track for the winter, so she won't have to go back until April, and she is pretty glad to be in Arizona for the coldest months of the year. She is also hoping to do a study abroad somewhere, or maybe even a volunteer program in India, Africa, or China.
Baxter has a part time job at the local driving range that he loves because he gets to golf for free whenever he wants. He has really honed his carving skills and loves making things for his siblings and parents.

Geddes is halfway through 2nd grade and he is doing great! He has really missed Harley for these past 6 months and he is thrilled to have her home for awhile.

Addison is just a few months from graduation, and she is working at In N Out Burger. She is enjoying it and is making lots O' money, which she is saving for whatever she is doing after graduation.

Well, that's the jist of the year! Hopefully we will be better at posting now that Harley is home.

Thursday, January 24, 2008


Harley just got accepted into BYU-Idaho and will be attending in the fall! We are all soup-urr excited for her and know she will have a blast!