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!

December Random

 

 

Mountain Man Rendezvous. 

Alyssa sold homemade pet rocks and candy rocks.  (We kind of went with a rock theme.)  They were a hit and sold out in the first half hour.  She is one cute squaw! 

 (This actually happened in November, but I didn't have any other November randoms, so I put it here.)

 

 

Futsol.

  Brandon played a quick season of futsol this December.  Because of our job situation, Brandon's teammates from his fall and spring league payed for him to play.  And someone gave him some indoor soccer cleats. 

I stand all amazed.  Every single day. 
 

Tyler decided to grow his hair out until the Hobbit premiere.  I have no idea why.  It was so long, his cousin was able to french braid it.  "It's only hair.  It's only hair."
 That's what I keep telling myself......help me.

 

 



 

First real snowstorm of the season.
They were outside for hours.
 Love it!

 

Bryson had his Christmas Choir concert.  I made him join the school choir so he could get his Scholarship and Music merit badges, but, I think he actually really likes it.  The concert was held exactly one week after the Sandy Hook shooting. 

I cried the whole time.

 

Someone did the 12 days of Christmas for our family.  It is something we will never forget.  Every night a green and red bag on the doorstep.  Every night an incredible gift.  They just kept getting bigger and better.  We were completely overwhelmed.  My kids were completely ecstatic.  We will be forever grateful.

 

And we end the year 2012 with Kara sending in her mission papers.   

 

Be still my heart!

 

 

 

 

 

 



the end of the year

New Years Eve 2012!

Family.  Food.  Fun.

Just the way I like it.

It was simple and sweet.

I hope 2013 will be like that too.

Happy New Year!

Eve Eve, Eve and Christmas day

Christmas Eve Eve was, as usual, a memorable night. 

 Filled with tradition, laughter, food and new pajamas.



 

 

This year we watched the movie, "Christmas Oranges."

And then we had our own Christmas Oranges.

On Christmas Eve we had everyone over.  We enjoyed a delicious dinner, sang carols, played games,  felt the spirit, and reenacted the nativity with a very serious and perhaps a little angry, angel.



On Christmas Eve morning we woke up to a winter wonderland.  It had snowed all night and it didn't stop all day.  It was absolutely perfect.  We haven't had a white Christmas in a long time and it was magical. 



Christmas morning we were excited.



Our first stop was downstairs for the sibling exchange where we enjoyed our fill of cheap dollar store gifts, like Trevor's beauty sleep mask.  (He actually might use it!)

Tyler's tattoos. (I hope he doesn't use his.)



And Ethan's cup/straw combo (which I know he will use),
 to name a few.

 

 

This year Kara requested a nightgown for her pj's and she wrapped all of her packages with brown paper tied up with string.  I believe she thinks she is Laura Ingalls.  I'll be really concerned when she starts calling me Ma and wants to bathe in a bucket.

More gifts, not from the dollar store. 

 Lord of the Rings piano music.



And it wouldn't be Christmas around here without a few Lego's.

 

 

 

 

  We had a wonderful Christmas.  We have been very blessed.  And we are so thankful for this season, this holiday, our family and our Savior. 

Merry Christmas!

 

 

 

animal house

Several years ago, for Christmas me and my sisters took on a tremendous task.  We decided to sort, dust off, organize, salvage and display all of my parents old photographs.  We secretly smuggled out the bins and bins of pictures that had been sitting in their garage and attic for the last 45 years.  We took them to our homes and spent hours, days, weeks, even months going through them.  We put them all in chronological order (at least the best we could) and then put them in albums and presented it to them for Christmas.  It was huge.  It was exhausting.  It was totally fun. 

 

At the end of the sorting we had a random pile of pictures.  It was all pictures of animals and people we didn't know.  We decided to make an album titled "Pets and Friends."  We laughed for days that my parents had enough pictures of their pets to create an entire album.  So, when it came to deciding what to do for this years birthday, birthday, anniversary party, we knew just what to do.

 

 

They arrived and entered the mudroom.  Here lay the clues for this years celebration.

Upon closer inspection, they should have noticed that some of the headstones had names they were familiar with.  Like, the names of some very old  and long since deceased pets of theirs.

 

As they left the mudroom, we had white crepe paper hanging down that they had to go through.  It was supposed to be symbolic.  They were passing through.  They had gone from a pet cemetery to heaven.   And all of those pets, the pets that had filled that entire album, were very much alive.  Like this cute cat and dog.  Alive, I tell you.  Alive and well.

Everyone was dressed in white.  Animals were everywhere, dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, turtles and fish.  With white streamers twirling on the ceiling fan we danced away to the song "If I saw you in heaven" all the while hugging and pretending to reunite with our beloved animals.  We ended the performance with a rousing rendition of "who let the dogs out." 

 

On the table we had blown up several of the pet pictures and put them in frames. 

The kitchen was Petsmart.  Your one stop shop for all of your pet needs.

 

 

We dined on dog food (muddy buddies), a nacho cheese sauce which I cannot say what it represented because it is not appropriate, and tootsie roll cat poo (also, not totally appropriate).  And really, not all of the parties involve poo, just the last two.  And I have to say that Krista was the one who positioned the cat like that on the table, over the kitty litter.

After the food we began the games.  We had all of the pets names on cards and the kids had to take them and try to sort them into the categories.  What were the names of all of Grammy and Poppy's cats, dogs, rats, bunnies and turtles?  Could they figure it out?  They didn't even come close.  We also played a dog version of musical chairs.

We then gathered around the guests of honor and each of the kids picked a different pet and then we listened to Grammy and Poppy tell stories about that beloved animal.  Now, I am sitting in the middle, because pet stories are one of my specialties.  The stories of my pets growing up have captivated the attention of my children since they were little and were and still are often requested at bedtime.  Stories like, how our cat almost ate our two birds after he had been shot with a bb gun, how one kitten was eaten alive by our next door neighbors dog, how we used to have 2 bats in Monterey that we named Barney and Bertha, how Christmas morning was put on hold to find a lost dog, how our turtles dug little tunnels in the dirt and lived there, how one of our cats drank anti-freeze, how our bunny turned into a highly dangerous and dreaded attack animal that I had to risk my life to save my sister from, how our dalmatian dog had epilepsy,  how the birds used to fly around our house and  sit on my dad's head, how a lost and loved dog was found after many tears and prayers, and the list goes on.  We sat for a long time telling and listening to stories of these treasured pets.  And then we presented them with a gift.  Some animal toys for their current pet, Bailey. 

 

I grew up in a home with pets, lots of them, obviously.  They were very much a part of my childhood.  But, sadly, the love of animals gene that my parents have, did not get passed on to me.  Much to my children's dismay, I am not an animal lover.

 

  But for tonight, I made an exception and I welcomed them, my pets, into my home with open arms. (It wasn't so hard to do since they were mostly stuffed)

 

And my kids are happy because they believe that we will see them all in heaven (all of them except that darn attack bunny) and oh, what a reunion it will be, for all of us!   

 

 

pregnant

Warning:

This post contains graphic material.

May be inappropriate for young viewers.

Parental Discretion is advised.
 

It is hard for me to shop for my parents.  First of all they are old and they kind of have everything they need. Second of all, they are old, and they buy whatever they want, whenever they want it.  Third of all, both of their birthdays and their anniversary happen to fall  the same week as Christmas.  Yes, me and my sisters have always felt sorry for ourselves about that.  It's hard enough to think of a Christmas present for them let alone 2 birthday gifts and an anniversary one.  We felt so sorry for ourselves, in fact, that one year, oh about 9 years ago, we decided that instead of all of us running around buying useless things we would just throw one big party to cover them all.  And so we did.  And these parties have been a tradition ever since. 

The party is always held somewhere around their birthdays (which means it is always held right before Christmas).  The party is always a surprise (they never know what we are going to do).  The party always has a theme that has to do with something in their lives (we have had some really good ones).  And the party always follows the same format.
 

The format is as follows:

My parents are given a time to arrive.  They then know to come in through the garage and walk in through the mudroom.  The mudroom is where the party begins.  In it is clues as to what the theme of the party is.  As you can see here, there are signs hanging with different centimeters being displayed.  Did you figure out what the theme is?  Well, if not, the next picture might help.

This would be the cervix that we created out of a hula hoop.  The sign says "complete" and then "Welcome to the world."  Our theme this year (this is actually in 2010, but I had to post this one) was my mom's pregnancies.  Oh, we had fun with this one.  Once they walk in through the mud room everyone is dressed up according to the theme and we begin to act out a well rehearsed very theatrical performance to a song, also relating to the theme.  This year we acted out a Bradley childbirth class because my mom used to teach them when we were younger.  I vividly remember tons of pregnant ladies arriving at our home each Wednesday night with their pillows and husbands for some coaching.

 So this year pretty much everyone was pregnant.

And I mean everyone.

The boys were a little hesitant, to be pregnant, that is, but then again, not really. 

 (the reason there are thanksgiving decorations up, is because this year we had to do it at the end of November to accommodate Sarah's family who was here for Thanksgiving from Oregon.  One rule is that absolutely everyone has to participate in this party.  There are no exceptions.)

Sarah was posing as my mom, wearing a duster and holding a tiny baby that we attached humongous feet too, because my parents always said Sarah had huge feet).  The colors for this party were orange and yellow, because our nursery when we were born was orange and yellow.  On the table we had pictures of my mom during each of her pregnancies.

This was a personal favorite this year.  

Andrew was a fetus, attached to Kara by a big plastic umbilical cord.  He practically laid on, or should I say inside, that red uterus all night.

After the performance we play games. 

We played guess the baby poo.  

We had about 10 diapers and 10 poos.
And, sadly, the kids thought it was one of the funnest games they had ever played.
 

The kitchen is always set up for the refreshments.  This year it was the "Cravings Cafe"  We served all of the things that my mom craved during each of her pregnancies.  So we snacked on veggie chips (Sarah), spoonfuls of sweetened condensed milk (Krista), poached eggs (Jana) and coconut pineapple ice cream (Lisa). And we added some "Buns in the Oven" sweet rolls so we wouldn't starve.  

After we play games and eat, the kids usually act out little memories from my parents lives that go along with the theme.  This is always a highlight and the kids look forward to it every year.  We then present them with a present.  I have absolutely no idea what we gave them this year, they probably don't remember either.  (Brandon looks like he is having a major contraction in this picture)
 

Because it's not really about the presents.
It is about our family being together and honoring these two.  It is about learning about their lives and reliving and reenacting the memories that make our family what it is.  And even when those memories involve a cervix, a fetus, a bright red uterus and some poo, that is OK.

Because these old foggies deserve a celebration.
And that's just what we do.  Celebrate.

Happy Birthday, Birthday, Anniversary Mom and Dad.
I love you.