Emmy

Mom posted a very nice blog on Emmy. Check it out at TonyBeckFamily.blogspot.com. "So, our dear Emily is having a birthday!!!! The day after Carrie...how awesome is that! I so love Emily!!! She is the best thing that ever happened to Kasey! I can't even believe how perfect she is for Kasey! When I think of Emily, I think of love. All Emily needs is love and Emily is so good at giving love. She is an absolutely amazing, devoted mother. I learned that so well when she spent that week with us before they left for Europe. She and Jimmer were practically glued together. She would not leave his side, even when I offered to watch him so they could do dates, she wouldn't leave him. I loved to watch her singing to Jimmer, talking to him and loving him. It really made my heart happy. I really, really felt an obligation to give Jimmer as much love as he received from his mother. Whenever I would hold Jimmer or play with him that 2 weeks he was with us, I would think in my mind, "this is a baby who receives so much love from his mother." It was such a beautiful thing to watch, is Emily's love for her child. (in turn, I got so attached to Jimmer and I'm still having a hard time getting over that). I love to talk with Emily. We can talk to well and get along so well. Seriously, Emily, you are such a wonderful addition to our family and I can't imagine the Tony Beck family without Emily Beck! We so love you. Thank you for the love you continually give us. You are a very, very beautiful person, inside and out!" Happy birthday to Emmy!

Some well known facts about Dad

-Dad's quite the business guy- he knows business really well which is why he's been successful at it.
-Dad was always obedient to Grandma and Grandpa and was always solid in the Church
-Dad likes the jet ski but the main reason he got it and plans outings with it is because of how much his kids love it. Both Mom and Dad are really good examples to us about putting the needs of others first.
-Dad's definitely a family guy. He's always been about spending time with his kids. When I was a baby it hurt Dad a lot that he had to study when I would want to play.
-Dad's the middle child which makes him more of the peace-maker type...I've noticed that about a lot of middle children. It's funny how birth order makes a difference.
-Emmy is impressed with how much Dad and Mom love the grandkids. I mean they are willing to watch Jimmer for 2 weeks while me and Emmy are in Europe. They're also trying to convince us to go on a 7 day cruise with my other siblings and they'll watch all the grandkids for a week. Dad genuinely loves his grandkids and that is neat.
-Dad's willing to help with anything. If ever anything goes wrong, my first thought is to call Dad. It's cool to have that support.
-Dad is funny and likes to laugh.

...We love Dad, happy b-day!

Colbers

So we have Brian's b-day on the 19th, Jamie's on the 21st, and Colby's on the 23rd. I remember being confused on when Jamie's and Colby's b-days were, but then I remembered that the 21st is younger than the 23rd. When Brian was born that still worked. I was worried that Annie would be born sometime after the 19th and mess up the system but she was born on the 15th so it still works.

When Colby was out here for college I got to know him a little better- he's really fun to play mariokart with, was always willing to take me and Dallas out to eat with his meal deal and was just a really fun, cool guy to be with. He also shares my love for playing Risk, and once he gets back I'm ready to schedule an all nighter for Risk.

A few memories of Colby growing up- he was pretty chill, he was totaling willing to let us give him a swirly until Mom found out. He was the same height as Jamie for awhile, while that could be humiliating, he took it in stride and was cool with it.

A few years ago Dallas asked me if I had to choose to kick someone out of the family who would it be. Ya always hate to answer a question like that but if I HAD to pick, it would be Colby. A couple reasons why- whenever me and Emmy talk about Colby, somewhere in the conversation Emmy will say how cute Colby is. He makes us older kids look bad. He's pretty much good at everything- he got straight A's through high school, was good at the cello, varsity in football and baseball, Prom King, and student body something, VP I think. See what I mean? Getting his mission letters has been great, and we can all tell that he's a really good missionary...one more thing he excels at...what a stud!

Now Mom, of course I don't really want Colby out of the family, just trying to make a point.

Happy b-day Elder Beck!

No one understands us.

Jamie Lynn--I gotta say that Jamie is the most interesting of the Beck bunch. She's definitely a leader and not a follower. Jamie likes to have fun, likes for others to have fun, and makes sure others are included. She was a cute baby and a cute little girl. Jamie was as tall if not taller than Colby for a few years. She was into sports, especially volleyball. I don't remember talking to Jamie much before my mission, but after my mission she was really into the color effervescent. It was kind of her thing. In school she decided it was her favorite color and everyone thought she was cool because she was different like that. Jamie made varsity cheer as a freshman and pretty much got straight A's through high school, I'm telling ya, the younger kids make us look bad.

Nowadays Jamie is up here in Provo and we're getting to know her a little better. She's always willing to watch Jimmer and to teach us how to dougie or to do other dance moves. She also does the freshman thing of taking us out to eat or buy us food with her meal card which we think is pretty sweet. We have chocolate ice cream ready for her for when a guy breaks her heart but so far she's been doin' the heart breaking.

She's a cool sister, an excellent addition to the family and life would be boring without her. Props to Jamie.

Happy birthday Jamie, love ya!

Sky

If there's one guy who's gone through a lot, it's Skyler. Growing up he got like 3 or 4 broken arms that I was somewhat responsible for like when I encouraged him to be superman and jump off the pool table or when I chased him during a water fight and he tripped over something. I think I did something else to him but I forgot. Probably the worse thing I did was when we were playing basketball, we were both going after a loose ball and I fell on top of him, pushing his head into the corner of a brick wall. Yeah, it wasn't pretty, he could have died if it went a little deeper. I didn't push him on purpose though. Man I was cruel to him at times. We boxed once and I just took it to him, poor kid. When he had appendicitis on a band trip I was still giving him a hard time, I think I pushed him or something. We haven't lived in the same place for a few years, which is probably why he hasn't broken anything in awhile.

In college I really started noticing how laid back, chill, and fun Skyler is. We had some fun time together throwing pumpkins off a bridge, little vacation trips, going to basketball and football games. He has always been someone that I admire, because of how he treats others, and how he always is interested in those around him. He's a good dad, a good brother, a good son, a good worker, a good friend, a good Priesthood holder, etc. Sky's just a good guy.

Happy b-day Sky!

Little La

Kasey: Little La, why are you so little?

Kayla: I don't know

That's pretty much how most of our conversations started the first 10 years of her life. It's really crazy to me that she is 16 now! The baby of the family is driving and dating now. I remember Kayla's birth better than the rest of my siblings...obviously because I was 12. Kayla has the personalities of everyone in the family and she can easily turn one on and the other off. A couple combinations in the family are a little strange, like when me, Dallas, and Jamie went to Grandpa's funeral together in Virden, New Mexico, I think that was the first time just the 3 of us had been together...a little strange. We need a connecting person, I think Kayla can be that with every combination.

The younger kids definitely make the rest of us look bad. They're good at pretty much everything. Kayla is the fun one, good at sports, good at school, good at music, and solid in the Church. She's also a sweet baby sister. One reason why I like Kayla so much...or like Emmy so much is they both remind me of each other. Kayla needs love, and loves to give love. She loves Mom and Dad so much, loves cuddling with them and just loves being their baby. It's cute.

Happy b-day Little La!

Some little known facts about Mom

-Probably the biggest multi-tasker I’ve ever met. When I go home it takes me about 10 minutes to see what Mom is up to by looking at the 2 or 3 calendars in the kitchen of things going on, her to do list on the kitchen table, the scriptures she’s memorizing inside the cupboard, the stack of books she’s reading all at once. It’s pretty incredible…I’m very much like her except my lists are all online.

-Mom has a lot of faith and is very obedient. She does what the prophets say because…well, they’re the Prophets! It certainly wasn’t easy rounding up the 7 kids for FHE or to read to us as we ate dinner, but she’d always do it…while exercising at the same time!

-Mom’s a Richardson and loves to travel and have fun. It was important to her when we were little to take us all over the country, and we certainly did. She’s definitely kept that up. She also likes to plan fun activities.

-Mom was a heartbreaker when she was in college.

-Mom’s the oldest of 13 kids

-I honestly have no idea what Mom’s favorite food is. I don’t think it has to do with me not being very observant but more about Mom being very chill and accommodating.

-If you ever want to see how important family is to her just go to her house and you’ll see pictures of her family EVERYWHERE! When Colby and Dallas were on their missions she would call their cell phones a lot to hear their voices on voicemail. She likes for the family to be around and together. Sometimes she wants everyone to be around, but mostly she just wants to bask in the togetherness of her family being around.

-Mom’s a nurse and has done a pretty good job for them at Mercy, she’s made herself very valuable to them

-Mom loves the Church, loves her family, and is the best Mom ever

...That's actually pretty well-known

Happy Birthday Mom, love you!

DJ

Dallas was the first baby to be born in our family that I remember really well. I don’t really remember Carrie as a baby, probably cause I was only 3, and with Sky I was only 15 months. We were at a pool party at Bruce and Starr’s house in Mesa and Mom’s water broke. It was pretty exciting and was fun later getting to hold the baby and everything. From day 1 I thought I would make Dallas the mini-me. I taught the kid football, read the Book of Mormon with him, and got him all excited about BYU. I’m not sure if Dallas remembers me doing some of those things with him. It’s kind of a joke now, but in the family we have the older kids (me, Skyler, and Carrie), the younger kids (Colby, Jamie, and Kayla), and Dallas who thought he was an older kid, but really is a younger kid. But Dallas had it made because he got to be the oldest kid with the younger kids and the youngest with the older kids. He also got his own room which I was jealous of. We treated him pretty good, I don’t ever remember picking on him, Skyler probably did. They say that the middle kids are normally the peacemakers, and it’s pretty accurate in our family.

My junior high and high school memory isn’t that great, but fast forward to when I got back from my mission, Dallas was a stud- he’s always had his head screwed on right. He did well in sports, school, music, and is pretty good at dancing doing his Johnny Appleseed dance. On my mission I was pretty good at picking out the members “that got it.” Dallas “gets it.” He understands what this is all about and that’s very important. It’s pretty cool that he’s up here still, we’ve had some good times. Last fall we threw a pumpkin off a bridge. He’s also the only person that was around for the two events in my life (getting shot in the squirt gun war and losing the intramural softball championship) that just make me mad every time I think about them. He helps me laugh it off. He’s just a good buddy. Dallas is good to everyone around him. I really don’t think I’ve ever heard him say something negative about anyone. That’s pretty cool.

My Better Half

Something that I preach to my single buds is that you know you found the one when you'd rather hang out with her than your roommates. That says a lot about Emmy, because I had some fun roommates. From day one Emmy was just awesome. First time I talked to her was in October 2006. Pdub (Sara Skids) went to General Conference with her and later mentioned that I should ask her out. I remember being in Sacrament Meeting and trying to look her way without being creepy or obvious that I was interested. My first conversation with her was after a ward FHE activity where we talked about the best drinking fountains on campus. A few months later I took her to a basketball game and then ice cream afterwards. After the date, I don’t know why but I didn’t wipe off snow that accumulated on her car as we parted. That’s still one of my biggest regrets in life; that and losing to Travis in the squirt gun war (some things I’ll just never get over, ya know). Fall 2007, when I was home working for Mitt Romney’s campaign, out of the blue Emmy emailed me, so I emailed her back and ended up going to Provo for a weekend. I introduced her to werewolves, a boyfriend, a best friend, and then took off. Winter 2008 I was back in Provo for school and me and Emmy pretty much hit it off right away and started dating. The rest is history.

Some of my favorite stories that describe Emmy well:
-When she was a kid and she’d get scared at night, she would go to her parents room and stand by her mom’s side and just looked at her. She didn’t want to wake her up, but she needed her at the same time. Sometime she’d be staring for like an hour before her mom would wake up. It’s just funny because Emmy needs love/comforting, but she doesn’t want to be a burden either. A few times I’ve opened my eyes and seen Emmy looking at me. Makes me wonder how many times she’s done it. I joke about this, but seriously, the only things Emmy needs in life are sleep, a water bottle at night, love, and giving love to others.

-Emmy’s family went to Europe and on the long flight over, her bro fell asleep on her shoulder. It made it really difficult for her to fall asleep or doing anything else like read a book. She didn’t want to wake him, though, so she just sat there for like 3 or 4 hours with him on her shoulder.

Emmy is the best example of Christ-like charity that I know of. She has a natural love for people, which is really difficult to have. The side that I wish more people could see of her is how funny and witty she is. She’s had these alter-personalities since she was like 12 and they are hilarious. She’s also great to talk with. When we go on car rides, it doesn’t matter if the car ride is 14 hours, 3 hours, 22 hours, it doesn’t matter, we never get bored talking to each other.
I definitely married my best friend.
Happy b-day Emmy!

You got Jo'd

Before there was Jimmer, there was the more famous Jimmer, and before that, there was the Jo. Early on, Carrie was that little sister who annoyed you cause she wanted to be around you and play with you, terrible, huh? Growing up in a boy-dominated family she realized she had a few weapons in her arsenal against her brothers- her violin and singing. She successfully got me and Skyler in trouble, mostly Skyler, by utilizing these weapons. Sky often had to dance with her as punishment. Later on in jr high and then high school when girls were alright, a sister close in age was no longer an enemy but an ally. I realized she was pretty cool and fun to be around...it also helped that she was a cheerleader which meant she had cheerleader friends too. My senior year me and carrie did show choir and were in a play tgether. We were tight and only became more and more tight since then. College was awesome, and a big part of why it was awesome was because of Carrie. Our tightness is what led to moving to park place and played a contributing part in me meeting Emmy, Kyle meeting Becca, Alan meeting Nieman, and Carrie meeting Bret.

Me and Carrie are still tight as evidenced by this sweet gift she gave me (some think it was for Jimmer, but please).

Getting Jo’d means chatting with Carrie, doing fun things with her, and seeing how neat of a person she is. She’s a thoughtful and awesome sister, and life just really would be much more dull without her

Anyway, hope you someday get Jo'd. Happy b-day Carrie Jo!