Reese G Richards

Tuesday was any normal day

Chris and I had just gotten home from work

We were waiting for Kennedy's dad to come pick her up and trying to decide what to do with our free night

We were just relaxing in the living room when Chris's pager went off

The batteries were dying as the tones started so we didn't hear the page

He went upstairs and put new batteries in it

Came back down and sat on the couch

We were talking about something I cant even remember with his pager chattering in the background

All of a sudden Chris jumps off the couch in a panic

He's looking for his shoes and I can tell just by how he got up something is wrong

He gets excited for calls.. but this was so different

I asked him what was wrong as he was running full speed out the door

He managed to get the words "My uncle" out as he slammed the door and I heard his truck fire up

His sister had just left our house not 10 minutes before

I called her and she headed back to Brigham

I told her I would take the baby and she could go meet Chris

I drove to the hospital (we live like 1/2 a block from there) figuring I would see the ambulance come in before Ashley drove past

The ambulance never showed up 

I knew it was bad then

I didnt know if it was Chris's aunt or uncle.. or what had happened. His Aunt has had a lot of health problems lately.

He just talked to his uncle the other day and he was fine

I headed to his uncles house to meet them and caught Ashley on the way

The ambulance was still there and so were a bunch of officers

Everyone was out on the front lawn

Chris had tears streaming down his face

His uncle Rees had passed away

He started not feeling well over the weekend

Took a nap on the couch and never woke up

Todd (Chris's dad and Rees's Brother) was in California on a business trip scheduled to come in that night

Dusty (Rees's son) was in Idaho at a fire training and not due home for a week

I learned a few things this day

#1 it pays to have friends in high places

A certain person with a fair amount of power.. got a hold of Idaho State Police because Dusty's phone was in a bad service area..Had them show up at his motel as he was getting back with strict instructions he did not drive. The hotel packed his things for him into his truck. The ISP drove him to the airport and promised to keep an eye on his State fire truck left in Idaho.

Jana had some connections too and with in less than 10 minutes had him a flight booked from Boise to home. There was one seat left on the plane

The ISP got him to the airport, took him through security and the plane was held for him to make it on

It was less than 1 hour from the time he got the call until he was on the plane flying to Utah

Dusty and Todd's flights came in with 20 minutes of each other and Todd boarded before Dusty even had a ticket arranged

This same person drove to the airport and picked them up waiting for them in baggage claim.. because have two stubborn Richards men who are distraught is best left to be handled by someone with a tazer and cuffs just in case

He was able to get them home in a very timely manner from when their plane landed

The second thing I learned was women who marry Richards men are strong and united

It was amazing to see the strength between them all

His widow was taken care of

Food ordered and picked up

Bags packed

Husbands taken care of

Kids

Siblings

It was very calm, everyone wanted to help and took on tasks

One point I just stood back in awe and watched

The third thing I learned.. which I kind of knew..but this reinforced is I have became a part of an incredible family

From day one when I met them, EVERY SINGLE MEMBER of Chris's family.. whether it be his moms side or his dads side, or Jana's side has treated Kennedy and I like we were born into them

Its kind of a different spot to be.. we aren't married yet.. and I've not met a lot of the family.. Ive known Dusty, Nickie and their family forever.. but where are my lines when it comes to supporting Chris.. but not intruding on family things planning or being a part of a funeral

Well with them there are no lines

Everything Chris went to I did too and they were happy to see me

Chris went to the mortuary to be part of the planning and I was told to go too

There was no part that I wasn't included in because I was family

I didn't expect that

They are amazing people but this is a tough time for them and I honestly planned on just kind of giving them space and showing support not wanting to intrude

Chris and his uncle were very close

He was his little shadow since about the time Chris could walk

Hes the reason why Chris joined the fire department

He taught him so much about hunting, trapping, sprinklers, fire, equipment and everything you can think of

Chris's dad is number one in his eyes.. but man it sure is almost a tie between Todd and Rees to him

I dont think there was one time we ran into Rees that he didnt have one of his grand kids with him

That man went everywhere with at least one of them

Friday night was the viewing

Chris and his Todd were dressed in their whites

Rees had served over 38 years with Brigham City Volunteer Fire

20 years with Search and Rescue and

Was a member of the Fireman's Association still

among many of the other things he had served on or accomplished in life

He got a fireman's funeral

Chris was part of the Honor Guard who stood guard over the funeral at the viewing

Talk about a heartbreaking thing

This is where I learned thing #4

Chris is an incredibly strong, amazing, beautiful person with a heart of gold

Watching him stand next to the mans casket that he looked up to, that he emulated, that he adored; straight faced and trying his hardest to hold back tears so that he could show the proper respect did me in

I was a bawling mess

Dusty's son, Cody, I call Chris Jr because well he is

As Chris got older these last few years and worked more Cody filled his place

Cody acts like Chris. Looks like him. Walks like him. Has that same attitude and smirk

Cody took Chris's place with Rees and was very close to him

Watching Chris with Cody, holding him, crying with him, taking him under his wing was a testament of what an incredible person he is

His heart is broken.. but yet hes STILL trying to take care of others

He was extra loving to Kennedy and I this week

I expected short tempers and moodiness

Instead I got more hugs and kisses

More cuddling

More talking

Saturday was the funeral

The same day as the Be a girl shoot

Todd is VP of Brigham Bowmen and wasnt able to go in his dress or shoot

Chris showed up for a minute to support me while I shot

I took the first line to hurry and get in before all the funeral stuff started

There was the family viewing

Honor Guard with the casket

Changing guards every 15 minutes

Saluting the casket

Saluting each other

Fire departments from all over showed up in best dress with fire trucks

Almost every single flower arrangement there was from a fire dept or state agency

Walking down the halls of the church to go into the viewing you walked past a line of firemen standing at each entrance

Several fire trucks were parked out front

This was the one to carry the casket

The services were very good

Chris gave a talk 

I was so proud of him

It was so very hard for him to do

As the services were over they had the family walk out with the casket

Firemen and EMS lined the hallways saluting

They took the casket outside and loaded it on the fire truck

Todd and Chris are standing on the back of the fire truck

Cody got to ride in front of the truck and so did Hunter

They drove through town, past the fire station where other dept were parked saluting with their lights flashing

Over two blocks were lined with fire trucks and ambulances, lights flashing, in the procession 

It was so very nice to see my guys from Willard Fire there supporting

I was very proud

As we entered the cemetery they had the ladders holding the flag with firemen saluting

They unloaded the casket and carried it to the site

Chris, Todd, Hunter and Cody were all pallbearers

They did the last call over the radio

The last call has to be one of the most heart wrenching things ever

I dont know if its because my dads a fireman, Chris and his dad are both firemen, I used to be a firefighter.  Ive grown up with firemen, ems personell and cops as friends my whole life, Im a dispatcher, Ive had to do a last call, Ive had to be at work when an officer was killed.. or what but man oh man it is IMPOSSIBLE to keep a dry eye or even semi composed

They did all the tones. Last call. Bagpipes started

Then three firemen in full packs started walking across the snow

Two firemen stop and kneel

The one in the center continues on and walks off into the distance until you cant see him anymore

Then the bagpipes walk off and follow the firemen until you cant hear his music anymore

So symbolic

So humbling 

It was a great service

A lot of respect, honor and support was shown

Be a girl

Dont forget this shoot next week!!!!!!!!

It will be AMAZING

My dads already got his little black dress picked out.. we got Todds dress this weekend.. Chris's all picked out

Dad and Todd are even shaving their mustaches

DONT BE SHY GUYS! 

Lets raise some money!

All GUYS and GIRLS will be dressed up 

It will be a fun shoot and all the proceeds go to a great cause 

T shirts will be for sale also

Come out and support

Prizes for best dressed!

Farm, Poop, Drag Queens and Drs Office

Elysha was watching Kennedy while I worked

They went on a field trip for school then out to the farm in Snowville

Elysha took Grandma GiGis van so the kids could watch movies in the back

She made them get out to play and Parker wasn't happy

I love the pouting picture!

Lysha Lou, Pkr and Kennedy

Grandma JaNeale came up Friday for a funeral

She brought Kennedy this bag that was Santas pants full of "poop"

Reindeer poop, snowman poop, Bear poop, Moose poop

It was so funny

JaNeale kept calling it poop and Kennedy kept calling it candy

She wouldnt call it poop

After that we had to run down and help Todd and Jana dress shop

FOR TODD

They were at Cal Ranch and had picked out a few items but needed a second opinion 

Kennedy and I headed down there

I never laughed so hard as when he came strutting out of the dressing room in his dress and shaking his butt

It was hilarious!!

He makes one cute cowgirl though

We picked him out a pretty good outfit

While we were there Kennedy started complaining that she didnt feel good

She had woken up that morning and SOAKED her bed.. filled the pull up, all the sheets, through the waterproof pad on her mattress.. EVERYWHERE

It was pretty abnormal for her but thought maybe she just had an off night

She started to get a small fever and said her back hurt by the bottom of her ribs

She said it felt like her heart was going down and cutting up her ribs into tiny little pieces

I started to worry maybe she was getting another UTI

She has a kidney reflux where on one side her urine sometimes kicks back all the way up the ureter and into the kidney

If she gets a uti of any kind it causes mass infection all through there that shes been hospitalized twice for

Kidneys, bladder, everything

We have made it since December 2010 since her last one and since shes been fully potty trained we haven't had a problem

I started to worry

We headed to lunch with Grandma JaNeale and Kennedy was pale.. fevered.. tired..and just wanted to cuddle

She said it felt funny when she went pee

Didnt want to eat 

So I called the drs office 

I hate taking her to the dr.. I always feel like a paranoid parent

Of course by the time we hear back from the Drs Kennedy is fine

Running around, medicine took away her fever, said her ribs didnt hurt anymore

But the made us an apt for after hours WeCare at 630

I figured we might as well go and just make sure

I just KNEW inside she had an infection but she was acting fine

We went to her Drs and filled her up with water on the way so she could do a urine sample

The last two times shes had UTI's she wasnt able to pee on her own so they had to insert a little catheter inside her and get a sample that way..

She told every single nurse and person we passed

"I already peed in a cup so you dont need to stick that thing up my pee hole. It hurts!"

Seriously even people we passed in the hallway

She had no fever.. Vitals were good. She's a whole 36 lbs woo!

So moms pretty sure by this point she was just over reacting

Nope! 

She had a UTI

They loaded us up with some antibiotics, gave her a flu mist also while we were there and sent us home

The next day Chris and his Dad went hunting

Grandma Jana, Kennedy and I went shopping

She was feeling much better

Well it didnt last long

We had made it through one store and she was done

Fevered up

Exhausted

Puky

So we had to head home

Gave her more fever medicine and put her to bed

She was fevered up pretty good and woke up covered in sweat 

I asked her what she wanted for dinner

She said

All I want for dinner is to cuddle 

So we cuddled

Her fever broke and stayed gone for the night

Jana and Todd brought her over two stuffed animals to make her feel better

They couldn't decide which one they liked better so they got both ha!

This kid is SPOILED!

The big S C

Chris came home from work one day and told us Santa Clause was at Davis Dodge 

Ashley, Derek and Ry were already at his parents house (they live about 1/2 a block from Davis Dodge)

So we met up with them and the family walked down to go see SC

There were a TON of people there

They hadn't expected that many

Had the high school choir singing, hot cocoa, reindeer

We had to wait in line about 30 minutes to see him but thankfully it was actually pretty warm outside

Kennedy is such a girly girl and sometimes I forget that

She saw her little friend Ellie from school in line behind us

They kind of played peek a boo with each other trying to see if it was really who they thought it was

Once they were sure they recognized each other Ellie came over and the girls faced each other held hands and just smiled

Then they started hugging and squealing like little girls do

It was so funny!

Ellie stood in line with us and her and Kennedy held hands

Kennedy and Rybug seeing Santa

Ellie's mom told her she could wait in line with us until we got to Santa then she had to go back and stand with her and her little brother

Well you know the excitement of getting to see HIM and Mrs Clause

Ellie sat with the girls and forgot all about her mom and brother lol 

After we saw the reindeer... 

and TRIED to get a group picture..

This was as good as it turned out 

When the lady tried to take our picture it looked like she was cutting our heads off so Chris and I scooted down.. yeah it didnt work ha!

Pissy

Today I woke up pissy

Frustrated

Angry

Short tempered

For no reason at all

I just was

It was actually a good day

No reason to cause my discontent

As the day went on it lingered with me

I couldn't shake it

But then as I was sitting there getting frustrated over something so minuscule that really was DUMB

I realized something

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I was very LUCKY to get to wake up to be pissed

I was lucky to get to complain about things

I was blessed to have one more day to piss off people, see my friends and family, live learn and be tested

I was given a gift of one more day

I dont know how many I have

No one does 

So I wasted half the day being angry

Now its time to spend the other half enjoying it

I walked instead of ran through the rain as I came back into the building

I stressed less about dates and plans 

 money and Christmas 

planning, scheduling

LIFE

Then I saw this quote.. and it kind of solidified it 

Death Flu and mushy love

If you dont want to hear cute mushy stuff you might as well skip this post!

The night before we both go the death flu we were sitting at the table eating Betos Nachos mmm

Kennedy wanted ramen noodles of course ha

Chris said this is what we ate on our 3rd date wasnt it

We started talking about when we first started dating and our first dates

He always teases me because I didnt accept his facebook friend request for almost a month because I had no clue who he was

I told him hes lucky I gave him a chance because when I first met him I thought he was a partying boy who was just going to try and get into my pants

(yes I know I was judging by the very limited things I knew about him which were all wrong)

and I started giving him a hard time because it took him over 3 dates to even kiss me!

He laughed and said "that's because there are those girls that are just for play and those girls who you know you want to keep around.. and from when I first saw you I knew you were different and I wanted to keep you around"

AWWW!

Well after all that mushyness I spent the night puking my guts out

Death Flu had officially hit me

It was hell

Horrible

I spent all night puking and all day in knowing I couldn't be dead because everything hurt too bad

Before the next day was even halfway over Chris was down in bed and sick too

Kennedy was our Dr lol

She got us drinks and told us where to put them and when we could drink them

She would come in and check on us and see if we needed anything

The next day I decided to brave work because I felt better.. not 100% but better

Chris did the same

He had it about half as bad as I did

I made it a whole 4 hours before I was back at home sick in bed

Brace yourself for what happens next..

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First off there are two things about Chris you must know

#1 He doesnt believe in sick leave

He doesnt call in sick

Never has.

#2 You dont take your shoes during the day

Not until its time for bed because there is work to do

(sometimes hes so much like my dad it scares me)

I woke up and he walked in the door

I thought man its 330 already!??

Except it was only 1230

He said he CAME HOME FROM WORK SICK

ON HIS OWN FREE WILL

TOOK OFF HIS SHOES AND CLOTHES

                                               PUT ON PAJAMAS AND GOT INTO BED
                                                          WITH HIS SOCKS ON!!!
                                                    Thats like seven sins at once in his eyes

We were kid free

Home from work

And this is exactly how we spent our whole day

We slept

Now you know in relationships there are always those firsts that you wonder about

The first big fight

The first big disagreement

The first hard times

The first big sickness

The BIG things that you wonder how they are going to go over.. where true colors really show

Chris and I have been together for almost 8 months

Lived together almost 5

And this was a first for us

Both sick at once

and I gotta say.. all it did was make him love me more!!!

No matter how shitty we felt, how much our bodies ached and we were miserable we still laughed together

We still cuddled 

We still enjoyed our time together

It was so funny all he wanted was a certain soup

I felt the best so I volunteered to get it for him

It drove him nuts!

He said

"My dad always taught me I dont care how sick you are. Man up and take care of yourself and take care of her!" 

I told him nicely tough shit 

It got to be my job now to take care of him

We survived the night and as I was getting ready for work the next morning he came into the bathroom and gave me a kiss and asked how I was feeling

I said a million times better!

He said good cause this stuffs so bad its either going to break us or kill us

I said oh it wont break us

He said no not like that.. like money broke. All being sick together did was bring us closer

AWW! 

If you know Chris at all sometimes the things that come out of his mouth leave you shaking your head

Hes not exactly the most lovey feely emotional guy on the outside

So when hes all cute I have to make sure I remember!

BCFD

I dont know what it is about having a kid.. but suddenly they make you feel old

I keep finding us doing things with Kennedy that I remember as a LITTLE LITTLE kid with my dad.. and then here I am with my DAUGHTER in the same place.. at my parents age

Before I realize it I feel way too old for 27!

The other night before the death flu hit our house in the adult section Chris had to go to the station to do a few things.. 

Kennedy and I tagged along

This will seem weird to some.. but I've never really been inside the Brigham City Fire station

Back in the day when I used to run with WCFD there wasn't a lot of mutual love between the depts

 (thats all changed now of course) 

but we didn't go play on each others turfs much.. and to be honest it kinda felt like I was trading teams!

Kennedy and I looked around in the bays

Chris let her play on some trucks

She was in heaven

When she grows up she wants to be a dispatcher.. and a fireman.. and a veterinarian

She plans on having 3 jobs

It was right at this point.. taking this picture when the oldness hit me..

I did the same exact thing at her age

Played on the trucks while my dad did stuff in the station

Sat in the seats

Pretended I was a fireman

This was just too cute to not take a picture of

Chris's locker next to his dads :)

He gave us a grand tour of the whole station

I was amazed at how HUGE it actually was and all that it had!

He had to pull this truck back into the bay

Its a new one they bought from Ogden city

My DAD has driven this truck MANY times

Of course he cant just pull it back into the doors

He had to take Kennedy around the block

She thought it was the coolest thing ever

Then he turned on the lights and sirens in another truck for her 

It was like our own little family field trip ha

Living room

New piece of wall decor. Like it??!?

Randoms

Just in case you were curious what we have been doing here are some totally random stories and pictures 

Dad got his swan the day after his birthday when he went out

Tug of course retrieved it

Our tree was kind of naked.. so Jana let us pick out a bunch of ornaments to put on our tree this year

Kinlie picked out the blue ones

Kennedy came back from her dads and I THOUGHT she would want to help decorate..

Thought is the key word there

2 has nothing on 4 year olds geez!

After a few minutes of decorating

She walked into the kitchen 

Drew an X on a piece of paper and told me 

"Mom I put your name down on the bad list. My arms are tired from doing ALL of YOUR work. I am going to go play"

Well we did decorate the tree

WE 

and then she went and took a nap in her room :)

Todd and Jana came over for dinner

Philly Cheese steak pizza and  chocolate cobbler

The next night Chris and I actually sat together on the couch and watched a movie

He stayed awake the whole time

It was almost like a date

Kennedy and Kinlie were upstairs asleep

We even broke out dessert!

Well that was short lived!!!!!!!!!

We went to bed

Kinlie and Kennedy were peacefully sleeping

Kennedy came into our room at 11pm covered in puke

She had thrown up in her bed and continued to puke every 10 minutes for an entire hour

She didnt have a fever

No diarrhea

Just vomiting

Poor peanut was miserable

As I was cleaning up her bed she kept saying 

Mommy I love you. I am really really sick

The next hour she threw up every 20 mintues

Its a straight shot from her bedroom to the bathroom

I put a night light in there so she could see and just run

After it kept going and going I felt horrible for her and took her beanbag into the bathroom and made her a bed right next to the toilet and propped her up

She had stopped waking up to puke, thankfully much wasnt coming up but I was still so paranoid

The next hour she threw up about 4 times

The next hour only about 3

and then finally stopped around 430

The next day she tried to trick me into thinking she felt better

She kept telling me she was all better and we could go shopping like she planned

I was mean and made her lay in our bed watching Tangled and sipping on Sprite

I would let her color and that was about it

Go figure she got sick not long after and went to bed

She didnt even want to finish Tangled

She slept for hours and hours

So mom finished DOUBLE washing everything she puked or touched in the last 24 hrs

Disinfected the entire house.. twice throughout the day

Got caught up on laundry and dishes that WERENT from being sick

baked some cookies

Kennedy finally woke up

I told her she could eat whatever she wanted for dinner/lunch.. it was 4pm

I was hoping she would pick McDonalds because it sounded so good

She did and actually ate 3 chicken nuggets and half a diet coke woo woo!

It stayed down too

She had a good fever this morning when she woke up :( 

Chris needed a haircut so I so sweetly gave him one

I dont know what it is about cutting guys hair but I have a hard time just cutting it

I always wanna screw around lol

He THOUGHT I was done :)

But ran his hands over his hair and realized what I did

I told him bangs were totally IN right now.. but he didnt believe me so he took the clippers to his hair so I had to finish cutting it 

See when Zack goes somewhere for work.. which is pretty often I usually get random texts of places hes at.. or gps coordinates showing what state/city hes in

Wednesday he flew to Vermont to pick up a truck for work..
He started driving back and last night I got this text...

Guess where I am?

Ha! He was at my moms hotel in New Jersey

The fridge was kind of a dead giveaway

He stopped in on his way through and visited with her

Aunt Jessys Day Care

Thursday I had a house full

I got to watch sweet Ry-bug while Ash worked

She was so good and fun!!

Kinlie and Kennedy loved feeding her

Liz was sick so I took her some soup she wanted, took Kinlie to school, took Kennedy school and did all the pickups. I told Liz Kinlie was just going to stay with us all day and over night so she could get better 

Rylee went home and Parker came over

We were making Christmas crafts

They were all playing upstairs as I was getting it ready and came down with tape all over their faces

We made cornstarch ornaments

It was harder than I expected

While they baked the triplets watched a movie and cuddled on the couch

Then it was time to paint

Parker went home and Kinlie stayed the night

Kennedy wrote a K on each of her ornaments and I made one for Chris and I for our first year :)

We hung them on the tree the next day