Reason # 1

...to not take your husband grocery shopping with you.

You might come home with a

giant tennis ball!

I am still waiting to see exactly what he plans on doing

with this great find of his!

He endures it well!

This is the doctor's office waiting room. It is where Tyler and I spend every Monday afternoon together. Because of Tyler's severe allergies he has to get shots every week for at least 3 years! We have been having this little mother son date for almost 2 years now. We visit, read magazines, read books, do homework and people watch. (there is a lot of interesting stuff that goes on in a doctor's office)

When they call his name he goes into the back and Wendy, our wonderful nurse, gives Tyler his shots. We love Wendy and Tyler actually refuses to have anyone else give him his shots. He also figured out that if he holds his arms exactly like he is in the picture, the shots hurt less. He then comes back out into the waiting room, pushes the button on his timer and we wait out the required 20 minutes to see if he has a reaction.

Here is one of his arms after his shots. This is not a bad reaction, they usually look like this. The allergist told us that you can fit 50 allergens into 1 shot (to build up the immunity) Tyler gets 2 shots every week which means he is allergic to up to 100 different things. He is allergic to weeds, pollen, dogs, cats, horses, cockroaches (really!) and dust to name a few. These weekly visits are a pain and time consuming, but he endures it well and rarely complains. And I don't mind the good one on one time I get with this cute teenager!

Love this girl!

As I was cleaning out Alyssa's school box I came across

this paper she wrote entitled-

IF I WERE THE PRESIDENT!

In today's day, after reading this, I wish she was!

"If I were the President I would make everybody have a home. (Not a house, but a HOME) Then I would let everybody go to different schools.

Then I would tell the world to follow Jesus."

Alyssa Jane Allred for President!

She's got my vote!

Oh, what do you do in the Summertime?

I have not blogged lately. Our summer has been very full-and I truly haven't had the time. Here is what we are trying to fit in this summer: (all of these things have nothing to do with the pictures. The pictures are some of the things we do, in between all this other stuff!)



1 week at Snowbird

1 week of Scout Camp

1 week of Soccer Camp

3 weeks of swimming lessons


1 18 year anniversary

1 Cub Scout Day Camp

1 family reunion at Bear Lake

1 week of Girls Camp


1 week at 5th Grade Clear Creek Camp

1 Fathers and Sons Campout

1 birthday celebration for a great 42 year old guy

1 parade that Kara is in


1 very full 4th of July weekend

1 High Adventure Scout Camp

1 Soccer Tournament

1 Week at EFY


2 Student Government Retreats

1 eleven year old campout

1 family reunion in Oregon

3 business trips

I will try to document most of these activities in future blogs.

It is busy.

It is often crazy.

It is our life this summer!

Summer lovin with some cousins

Nothing says summer better than a hot June day, a plastic pool with a slide...

..a wild and wacky slip and slide....

...and some of your best friends to share it with!

Memories in the making!

Brace yourself!

We now officially have 3 boys in braces--this was not necessarily part of our plan, but here we are. Bryson was very excited to get his on to be like his older brothers, but has since changed his mind and now claims he hates his braces.

And while we are on the subject of braces, I will give a brief update on the orthodontic perils of these three stooges.

Brandon had his teeth pulled over six months ago. As you can see from the picture they have not come in yet. They keep wanting to take off his braces. I keep saying no. We are now scheduled for an appointment next week where he will have his gums lasered open to hopefully help his teeth come in faster. That really doesn't sound fun. My hope is that he will have some teeth before he starts 6th grade in August!

Bryson just recently had his first appointment since getting his braces on. Things are looking OK, but the orthodontist says he needs to have major oral surgery this summer to get rid of 8 more teeth (4 baby and 4 permanent). That's just the way he wanted to spend his summer.

And Tyler...oh Tyler. We recently found out that the roots of his front four top permanent teeth are damaged from the excessive crowding. When I asked what the worse case scenario was they said bluntly, "he could loose his front four teeth!" The goal now is to keep his teeth as long as we can. That's reassuring. They are still trying to get the impacted teeth into position so they can start to pull them down, but this requires frequent visits that are very painful. Tyler claims they hurt worse than getting his wisdom teeth out. OUCH!

At the last visit I told the orthodontist that my oldest daughter didn't have any problems with her mouth, just a normal orthodontic experience. He stopped what he was doing (which happened to be digging around in Tyler's mouth to get out a spring that had embedded itself in his gum) and looked at me in disbelief. He said, "I can't believe that !" Neither can I, because it is looking like the last 3 are going to be just as bad.

Give me strength...oh, and a give me a few million bucks!

Our Graduate!

Ethan graduated with honors from Busy Bear Pre-school a couple of weeks ago. The ceremony was precious. It does not get cuter than little 4 year olds in full length gowns and caps. My favorite line of the whole program was

"My name is Ethan Kurt Allred, son of Lisa and Trevor."

Here he is with his good buddy, Jared.

They had so much fun together this year.

All of the Busy Bear Boys.

Thanks Ms. Sherri, for a wonderful year!
We are now officially kindergarten bound and we can't wait!

The Best Gift

This little note was laying on Brandon's bedside table for a couple of weeks. I saw it several times, but respected that it was private, and so I didn't peek, even though I was so tempted.

After my birthday, the note wasn't so private any more and I was priveleged to see it. My 40 year old heart melted.


For weeks he had been planning my present. He wrote out and illustrated exactly how he was going to accomplish it.

He was so excited to give it to me when I got home from my trip. It was carefully wrapped and gently handed to me. I have worn it proudly several times.

It was by far, one of my best presents of all time, from one of the best boys

a mother could ask for!

Thanks Brandon, I love you!

An Old Lady

My birthday was wonderful, despite that fact that I turned the big 4-0!

I celebrated early with a wonderful lunch at the Blue Lemon Bistro with a group of amazing ladies and true friends who inspire me every day.
And then my wonderful husband, despite his very hectic work schedule, whisked me away to my beloved Monterey, where I spent my actual birthday. Roses were waiting at the hotel for me as was a spectacular view and gourmet chocolate covered strawberries.
What more could a 40 year old lady want?

We ate out 3 meals a day, (except for one morning where we enjoyed room service breakfast in bed). The restaurants were so great with delicious food and fantastic ocean views. During my birthday dinner we actually watched otters swimming around and eating their dinner right below us.

We spent our days going to the world famous Monterey Bay Aquarium, strolling down Historic Cannery Row, shopping in the beautiful and quaint Carmel by the Sea, driving along 17 mile drive, seeing and smelling all of the sea lions on Fisherman's Wharf and visiting all of the places that are so dear to my heart, my old house, my high school, my ward building and

good ole Denace the Menace Park.

He spoiled me.... a lot.

And I let him, because I needed it,

after all I am an old old lady,

who on her dreaded 40th birthday felt very very loved!

It's Official!

While we were driving one early morning, trying to log the 40 required hours to get a licence, we came upon a stop sign before a railroad track. Kara slowed down a little, but showed no signs of actually stopping. I yelled, "Kara, STOP!" She did stop abruptly, and then said, "Sorry, I thought that was an optional stop sign."

WHAT?! Um, excuse me,

THERE ARE NO OPTIONAL STOP SIGNS!

In spite of that little incident here we are....

...signing her life away, or as she claims, signing her way into the beginning of a new life!


It is official.
She has her licence.
She has new freedom.
She's ready to travel the world (or at least Utah County)
And I have a new intensity to my prayers every time she gets behind that wheel!


Wish us luck!

My Favorite Things-closet organziers

My kids closets can get so messy and cluttered-and I hate clutter! At an enrichment meeting someone mentioned these shoe holders to help with organization. I immediately thought of my boys room with their millions of bionicles and Lego creations. My problem was solved. I bought these organizers at Wal-mart for about $6-8. I bought one for every one of my kids rooms. I do not use the fasteners that come with them though because they will ruin the top of the closet. So I buy those hooks that you put on with the sticky strip that you can pull off when you want without tearing off the paint (I can't remember what they are called, but they come in a pack) I just measure those hooks up with the holes on the shoe organizer and up they go!
My boys actually have three of these hanging up in their rooms, one inside each closet door. They are filled with bionicles and Lego sets that they don't want to take apart. I love them for getting these toys off of the floor and dressers, and I also love that when I shut the closet the room can look pretty tidy (most of the time!)

In my girls room it just holds all of the little treasures that my girls collect. They hold microphones, pads of paper, barbies, costume jewelry, books, little notes, trinkets and all kinds of other stuff that doesn't really have a place, but thanks to these organizers now they do! They could also be used in the bathroom for headbands, flowers, bows etc and I have also seen them used inside a pantry door for gravy packets, small food items, pasta etc. These have been a lifesaver to me in my quest for a more clutter free home and are definitely some of my favorite things!

Why I couldn't get anything done!

"Mom, I haven't scored a goal in my whole life!" He may not have scored a goal, but Ethan had a great season and he came close many times. He was a great goalie, loved practices, and was just happy to be running around out in the cold!

Go Green Monsters!

This was Alyssa's very first year in soccer. I still think dance is more her thing, but you have never seen any soccer player more happy to be out on the field than Alyssa. She skipped, hopped, ran, kicked the ball a few times all with the biggest smile on her face. This kid truly finds joy in every thing she does.

Go Black Widows!

Bryson had a great season also, despite asking every week if he could skip practice and just go to the games. He was a huge asset to his team and even scored three goals in his last game. He is good at soccer and likes it, but I still think he would prefer to be home reading a book!

Go Green Dragons!

This was Brandon's last season with his competitive team in this division. It has been a great experience. He was the leading scorer. You gotta love that left foot, which he can kick (and score) with as well as his right. He is so fun to watch!

Go Warriors!

Brandon also made the Majors in baseball this year. It is his first year with the big boys and he is holding his own. He has even pitched a couple of innings and done great (even though I have a heart attack each time he pitches!) This boy hardly has any spare time with all of his games and practices.

Go Giants!

And that is why I couldn't get anything done this spring. I was at game after game after game. I am still amazed we survived. We only have about 6 more baseball games to go before the end of the Spring sport season, and because of the snack shack which keeps my kids busy, I think we're going to make it!