December random

The view from our bedroom window.

  Let it snow.  Let it snow.  Let it snow. 

 I love Utah!

It wouldn't be December without our traditional gingerbread houses with the Walters.

This is Brandon's house. 

 I heard him telling someone, "I am just filling my house with candy so I will have more to eat later."  Very nice.

It also wouldn't be Christmas without a visit to the Festival of Trees.  

I never got tired of it.

The Legacy Christmas Concert.  Another must.

Why do I leave my Christmas cards to the very end.  It totally stresses me out.  I really didn't think I would get them done this year.  But I did, with these two little workers by my side.  We set up a table in my room.  We worked for several nights in a row.  We made it into a game.  We called our game "Card Factory"  I told the girls to pretend we were really really poor and had no food and only rags to wear and the only way we could get any money was to make cards.  Over a hundred cards.  And we did.   We worked our fingers to the bone.  We got our cards done and in our pretend game earned ourselves enough money to buy a tiny ham for our Christmas dinner to share with our 17 brothers and sisters.  

Ethan made himself this cool land form in school, which has nothing to do with Christmas but it happened in December so here it is, in all it's land and form and glory.

We had Grammy and Poppy over for dinner to celebrate her birthday and his birthday and their anniversary, which all happen in the same week.  And even though I hate their December birthdays, I sure love them.

Bryson earned some very important rank in scouts this month, so important that both Trevor and I got to go stand by him.  As I am typing this I have no idea what that rank was.  Forgive me.  I have a lot of boys.  I have done a lot of scouts.  I am a year behind in my blog.  I just don't remember.  But I am sure it was important.  And I am sure I was proud.

The elves in our neighborhood and ward were busy this year.  We were well taken care of and so touched at the kindness and generosity of so many in our time of need.

A couple of hours after I was called to be Young Women's president by our Bishop there was a knock on our door.  These 2 cans were on our porch.  One was filled with almond roca.  One was filled with so much more than that.  It was a spiritual night, a thought provoking night, a night of miracles.

November random

Red Ribbon week at the elementary school.  I think it would be a good idea to keep a box somewhere filled with crazy socks and weirdi hats for occasions such as these.  I do not have one.  I wish I did.  Monday it was "wear red" day.  This is not easy for us BYU fans.  Ashlyn only had a pair of skin tight red leggings and Alyssa didn't have anything so she had to wear a red shirt of Bryson's that looked very boyish, but we did succeed in all wearing red.  On Tuesday it was crazy sock day and we rummaged around through Kara's long forgotten sock drawer and found some bright green and white polka dot socks for Ash and some big fuzzy green and red knee highs for Alyssa.  Eto wore some of Tyler's soccer socks that went all the way up past his thighs. Wednesday was neon and sunglasses, hence the picture.  On Thursday it was jersey day and we had that covered pretty well.  But Friday, oh Friday.  On Friday it was Duck Dynasty Day.  What?!  How in the world was I supposed to dress my kids like Duck Dynasty?  More importantly, WHY was I dressing my kids up like Duck Dynasty and what did that have to do with saying no to drugs?!  But, I am a dutiful mom, so I ran down to good old Hob Lob and bought one single camo bandana, cut it into thirds and had them tie it around their heads.  And that was about all of the Duck I could pull off.  I hope all this dressing up and rummaging around keeps my kids off drugs.  I am a little worried that big long beards and head to toe camo might make them want to do drugs, but what do I know?

Bryson got to skip school for the big "job shadow"  day at the Junior High.  He choose to shadow his Poppy and really see what a private investigator does.  They went to BYU, went to the police station and I think ate lots of food.  Pretty sweet job, don't ya think?

I saw this in Walmart and had to buy it.  We saved it to drink as a special November treat for family home evening one night.  We decided it would be the perfect compliment to our apple pie.  We were wrong.  When you are eating actual apple pie, apple pie flavored apple juice doesn't taste like apple pie.  We were disappointed.  But we gave it another try a few nights later when we weren't eating apple pie and it was delicious.  Go figure.

My last Wolf. 

 Look at that face!  

I think that is the most adorable wolf I have ever seen!

I love November!

October random 2013

Annual leaf drive.  

We spent the majority of the time collecting leaves to send to Kara since she is really missing the gorgeous Utah falls.  I was pretty picky about the leaves they picked.  I wanted them all different colors and all different shapes and all different sizes.  We were sending a pretty good sized box filled with leaves to her so we needed a lot.  They were all pretty good about it except Bryce.  He picked up one leaf early on that had a spider on it.  He spent the rest of the trip jumping around trying to steer clear of any and all leaves (which is pretty hard to do up in the canyon)  We all laughed about it.  He was not laughing at all.  He has true arachnophobia and he is not ashamed to admit it.

Another shot in the leaves.  I just can't get enough. 

 It is so beautiful!

This was the one year that Brandon and Bryson could have been on the same football team.  I sure wish I had remembered that when I signed them both up--separately!!  Ugg!  Well, despite my dumb mistake the season went on quite smoothly, until this game, the first game in the double elimination tournament where, yep you guessed it was Brandon verses Bryson.  I was dying.  They were both nervous and I was a wreck.  Okay, not really a wreck, but I was a little nervous too.  We all went to the game and I just kept yelling, "GO B. ALLRED!"   Actually it turned out just the way I had hoped it would.  Brandon's team won, and they should have because they were all 9th graders and are a really good team,  BUT Bryson's team really gave them a run for their money, in fact, they scored first and were leading at one time and my tiny seventh grade Brycie even scored a touchdown!  So he was happy, Brandon was happy and I was happy for both of those cute B. Allred's!  

Peter, James and John.  

My trees.  As you can see Peter is sick, they are all actually sick.  So sick in fact that we called in the professionals.  Yes, we called a tree doctor.  One came out and took a look at all 3 trees and then he felt it was beyond his scope of knowledge so he called in a specialist.  The specialist came for the examination when I was at work and Trevor was out somewhere.  He left a written note on our porch of his diagnosis.  My trees have chlorosis.  They will each need a ginormous injection of something right into their trunks.  The tree Doctor has assured us that this expensive injection will save their lives.  I sure hope so.  We are spending more money on our trees than we are on our own children.  Sometimes I wish there was a tree hospital.  Because I would take them there.  I really would.

What a treat and a blessing to have the missionaries over for dinner.

  Love their spirit.  Love the message they left.  Love their example.  

Trevor was nominated for a scout award called the Second-Miler.  Somebody in the ward nominated him for his service as Scoutmaster and how he always went the second mile with the boys.  He received a letter this month saying he was chosen for the award.  This is the award ceremony.  He stood up there all decked out in his scout uniform as they read off why he was chosen.  

Scouting...it's in his blood, and going the second mile....well, I think that's in his blood too!

The Saturday before Easter

All my little chickadee's bright and early on bunny day.

Hunting in....

The bedroom.

The kitchen.

The family room.

The living room.

The basement.

The.....

oh, yeah, he is a teenager and bright and early is not in his vocabulary, especially on a Saturday.

I think his eggs were in the dining room.  He got to them eventually, because they were filled with candy and that word is definitely in his vocabulary. 

Easter 2013

We had a wonderful Easter Sunday.  After enjoying a spiritually uplifting church block we headed over the river and through the woods to Grammy's and Poppy's house for a delicious Easter dinner and of course, the traditional Easter Sunday photo shoot.

I love my beautiful family. 

 I love those crazy kids. 

 And I especially love my Savior and His life and His glorious gospel to which I owe everything.

Happy Easter!

ashi is 6

March 30th 2013.

What a day!

An exciting but exhausting day!

It was Ashlyn's 6th birthday...plus,oh, a few other things.

Like...

Bunny Day! 

 She awoke at the crack of dawn to hunt for her eggs and then she gobbled down her birthday breakfast.  We then headed off to a cousin's baptism and it wasn't even 10:00 a.m. yet.

We dashed home just in time for all her darling little friends to arrive for her Mermaid party, which deserves it's very own post, because it was awesome!

After we cleaned up from the party we pulled out the hard boiled eggs and got down to some serious egg coloring.  

And then finally we got around to the true celebration of our sweet Ashlyn  Elizabeth.

She was so sweet and patient as she shared her day with so many other things.  She was thrilled with her gifts, especially her books, and so happy to be having a birthday and to be turning the magical age of 6.  

My baby is 6.  

My baby.

She isn't really a baby anymore.

I love her more than words can express.

She was sent to us to fill our lives with joy and tenderness and because, come one, we needed one more, just one more baby!

Happy Birthday my little Ashie.

P.S. You look a little tired.

I don't blame you.....after a day like today, I'm exhausted!

posters

A wise friend once told me to go to the store before school starts and buy at least 10 poster boards and a big fat marker and then tuck them away in a safe place.  

I did as I was told.  

And that advice has come in handy as inevitably every year with 7 kids in school there are going to be tons of posters due, on tons of different subjects, and I usually find out a night or two before they are due, bless those last minute children of mine.  Luckily, this year, I just went to my secret stash of poster boards, pulled down the old craft box, fired up the glue gun and we were on our way. 

 Here are just a few of our winter posters:

Ashlyns's 100th day of school. 

 One hundred sparkly jewels of coarse!

Bryson's enormous and time consuming science fair entry:  

Which Flavor holds its Savor? 

 Testing out all different brands of gum to find out which one's flavor lasts the longest.  The winner:  Stride ID, in case you were wondering.

Ashlyn was also the star of the week.  Lucky me!  

She had to fill out those stars and put them on.  They didn't match and that really bugged me, but she was pleased and that's what really matters, isn't it?

Ethans's Valentine box, not really a poster, but not bad for a very very last minute project.  Trevor was supposed to cut the hole in his mouth to put the Valentines in, but he did not follow my directions.  Oh well, he still got the candy and so he was satisfied.  

And as for the next poster/project which I'm sure is right around the corner, bring it on, cuz I am stocked and ready!

Valentines Day

Our day was full of candy and valentines and sugar cookies and red and pink shirts and a loaf of meat in the shape of a  heart.

Our day was full of love.

Happy Valentines Day!

her call, my heart

The phone rang at 7:15 a.m.  

I picked it up and heard on the other end of the line:

"This is the post office.  We have a mission call here for Sister Kara Allred.  

Would you like to come pick it up or do you want us to bring in to your mailbox?"

I hung up the phone and my heart skipped a beat.

We opted to have it delivered.  And when I went to the mailbox and slowly opened the door.  

There it was.  Big and white and real.  

And again, oh my little heart. 

We had been waiting and wondering and praying.  

This was a big night. 

   Family and a few close friends were invited and happily and excitedly began to arrive.

Where was my daughter going?  

I had stared at that envelope all day sitting there all alone on my kitchen table.  I had picked it up, looked at the postage, felt it's weight, tried to see through it.  Within that envelope was the next 18 months of her life, and a part of mine. 

  It was really hard to wait for her to come home that night. 

My heart couldn't take it much longer.

She appeared calm.  She smiled.  She talked. 

 She held that envelope tightly.

But she was nervous.  Sick to her stomach nervous. Like I had never seen her before.  

And then she just did it.  She opened that big, white real envelope and announced in front of the people she loves the most her sacred call. 

"Dear Sister Allred, You are hearby called to serve as a missionary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  You are assigned to labor in the Florida Orlando Mission.  You will prepare to preach the gospel in the Spanish language."

"You have been recommended as one worthy to represent the Lord as a minister of the restored gospel.  As you devote your time and attention to serving the Lord, leaving behind all personal affairs, the Lord will bless you with increased knowledge and testimony of the Restoration and of the truths of the gospel of Jesus Christ."

"The Lord will reward you for the goodness of your life.  Greater blessings and more happiness that you have yet experienced await you as your humbly and prayerfully serve the Lord in this labor of love among his children."

And that was it. 

 Florida.  

Orlando. 

 Spanish.

 And after all the hugs and tears and maps and advice everyone left.

 And Kara, or should I say Sister Allred did this:

And my heart, my mothers heart, my heart that loves this girl more than words can express practically burst out of my chest.  

She was really doing this.  I was going to have to let her go.  She knew it and so did I.  In some ways I wanted to join her there on the floor, but I didn't.  I let her lay there for a while and then I pulled her up, hugged her tight, looked her in the eyes and told her she could do this.  We could do this.

And my heart.  

Well, it's going to be just fine because it is connected forever with hers.

 My daughter, my firstborn, my friend and now.......

my missionary.

January Random

January is over.  It was long and cold.  Here are some random January doings:

Worlds biggest snowman.  We heard about it and just had to see it.
 It really is made entirely of snow just sitting there in someones driveway!
 A big bright white spot in a dreary month.  

Very exciting.

Indexing on a Sunday afternoon. 

 We are trying.  

We want to contribute.

We are not very good at it.

Not good at reading them and not good at finding the time.

We will try to be better.

We need to.

Ashlyn reading books.

Always.

Every day.

Still.

I love it.

Tyler and his friends figuring out their senior class schedule before registration.  They have to do it together because it just wouldn't be a good senior year if they didn't have almost all their classes together.

There was no such thing as this when I was in High School.

Tyler answering to MORP with the help of his crew.

Glow sticks in the snow.

Sunday dinner at Grandma's house. 

 I love Trevor's family. 

 I love being with them. 

 Especially when I get a break from making dinner. 

 That brightens up any night and any month!

Goodbye January!