The Allred Family

Safety First

2011-11-13T15:15:00.000-08:00

This post is an attempt to get some pictures to my family for the safety Calendar contest. Sorry to disappoint with a "not real" post. But I promise I will have a "real" post soon!

Maggie- August

Hallie September

Hallie January

Happy Anniversary

2011-07-25T06:40:00.000-07:00

I love celebrating, no matter what the occasion. I love holidays and parties and get togethers. Today we are celebrating 8 years of being married. It has been an incredible 8 years. In 8 years we have had 5 amazing kids, moved 7 times, bought and sold a house, bought and sold a few cars, started and lost a job, started and finished podiatry school and now here we are in Missouri in a residency program. I am so happy that through it all Aaron has been by my side. He is an amazing companion. I love him more today than I did 8 years ago. Someone at church yesterday said something about not being able to choose our parents or grandparents or siblings or even our children- they are sent to us or we are sent to them, but we choose our spouse. That is one person that we have a say in adding to our family and our association. I am so happy that I chose Aaron and that he chose me. I love the life we have made for ourselves and our children. So today, let's celebrate!

That was then . . .

This is now . . .

How Can it Be?

2011-07-18T13:15:00.000-07:00

I love these babies. Their curls melt my heart. Their cheeks and curls bounce when they run on their tippie toes. They love to hug each other, hold hands, and sing songs together. They love to sit in my lap and play with my hair. They love their big sisters and they squeal and run to the door when Daddy comes home. They eat all day long and have no idea how to tell if they are full. They are precious and I adore them.

Then how is it that they are also the naughtiest little girls I have ever raised? They are seriously taking me for a ride. Let me describe a typical day:

Up at 6:30, they climb out of their crib and come into my room. Breakfast usually consists of a couple bowls of cereal and at least ten attempts each to get out of the high chair. They can wiggle out of a five point harness and sit or stand on the tray of their high chairs in about 5 seconds flat. While I clean up breakfast they get into the fridge and take bites of whatever produce we have in the drawer. I have tried three different fridge locks and they can muscle through all of them.

After telling them no about 100 times, we move on to getting ready. Everything is a wrestling match- changing diapers, getting into the car seat, getting dressed, doing their hair. Nothing is done willingly by these two. So after I wrestle a diaper change and clothes on, I try to do their hair. I will start with Annie while Aubrey empties all the drawers in my bathroom. I manage to get a rubberband in Annie's hair and then start with Aub. Instead of playing with everything that Aubrey already threw on the floor, Annie pulls out all of the towels onto the floor. Happy that they are both dressed and ready, we go out to the family room. On the way Annie decides to take the outlet cover off and try to stick whatever she has in her hand in the outlet. Aub puts the outlet cover in her mouth and runs to try and do the same thing to another outlet. I get the cover out of her mouth, try to teach them no and keep making our way to the family room.

One of the big kids is hungry- so the twins are hungry too. While I am making food for the big kids, both twins hang on my legs and cry until I get them something else to eat. They shove the whole thing in their mouth and start over with the hanging and crying. Now everyone is fed and so I decide to try to do the dishes. Both babies stand on the dishwasher and pull out anything they can get their hands on. I try to direct their attention to putting away spoons, but they already have half of the dishwasher unloaded and thrown on the floor. I decide the dishes can wait. I put on a movie. All the kids are watching. The babies turn off the tv. Everyone is mad. I get the tv back on, the babies turn off the dvd player. Now everyone is really mad because we have to start the movie over or wait for the menu to reload. We work that out and I get the babes to sit still by giving them something to eat. I decide to sweep the floor because I keep stepping on food. The babes can hear that I am doing something. They come to help. Someone steps in my pile. While I am cleaning her foot off, the other one gets a snack out of the pile. I am totally disgusted and exhausted. It is about 8:30 AM. I get the floor swept and go upstairs to get clothes for the other kids.

When I come down the fridge is open and half of its contents are on my freshly swept floor. The bookshelf is empty and the babies are nowhere to be found. I go find them and show them their mess. They laugh. I tell them no and make them help me clean it up. I take the clothes into the big kids and Annie is back to the bookshelf. I tell her no again or she will sit in time out. She squats so she is ready to run and then she takes another book off the shelf and takes off. I chase her and put her in time out. She folds her arms and smiles at me. Aub comes to see her. I tell Aub that Annie is in trouble because she touched the books. Aub eyes the bookshelf. I tell her no. I beg her not to go. She runs to the shelf, takes a book off and then comes to join Annie in time out all on her own. We get through it and move on.

It is lunch time. I feed the babes, (redo the high chair climbing saga) and check the clock. It is naptime. I ask the babies if they want a binky. They drop everything and RUN to their room. It is the only thing that is constant. They will always stop for a binky. I have been thinking that the little toddlers really shouldn't have a bink anymore, but I have decided that it is my only defense and I am keeping it until I gain some control around here. So the babes are in bed for about 2 hours and it is bliss. The big kids are as quiet as can be for two hours. We all love them dearly, but naptime is sacred around here.

So, the day goes on. They dump out cereal boxes, take their diapers off over and over, poop on the floor, empty the spice drawer, take all of the shoes out of the shoe bucket, push a million buttons on the computer so that it has to be rebooted, eat a few crayons, unfold my folded laundry, climb on the kitchen table, each hang on a leg and scream while I try to make dinner, so I give Annie a sip of gatorade, then when it is Aubrey's turn, Annie is mad, so she smacks the gatorade bottle out of my hand, it goes everywhere, I clean it up, my feet stick to the floor the whole time I am making dinner, etc., etc. This is not an exaggeration. This is a typical day. I had to document it because in a year or so I might not even believe myself.

All of that said, they are my babies and I ADORE them. I love to watch them interact and I love to watch them process all that is going on around them. They are so compassionate with each other and love to be praised for being good. They are generous with their hugs and kisses and smiles and laughs and will sit in my lap ANY time of the day. I thank my Heavenly Father everyday for "surprising" me with these precious girls and giving me the opportunity to raise them. I know that it is a blessing and I am so thankful for it.

Home Sweet Home

2011-07-12T11:22:00.000-07:00

What a blessing this house has turned out to be! We rented it "sight unseen" about three weeks before we moved here. There are not very many rentals in town and I was beginning to think that we might be toughing it out in a second story apartment. But alas, this fell into our laps and we couldn't be happier. The yard is HUGE. It is so much fun for the kids to play and run around. There is a firepit out there and we have already had a campfire. It seriously felt like we were in the woods camping. This is my kind of camping, with the house right close by! Anyway, thought I would post a few pics for fun. This first one is the front view of the house.

The "big" girls' room. This is such a cool room. It is a loft with a bathroom and four giant closets that they use for playrooms and secret hideouts. They LOVE it up there and love having their own space to play and call theirs.

The girls' bathroom.

Closet #1. This is for the big girl toys and barbie house, etc. My girls love to play "people"- meaning Barbie, Disney people, Strawberry Shortcake, etc. Ths is the ultimate "people" room.

This is still part of closet #1. This is where they keep their toys.

Closet #2- they have nicknamed ths closet, the baby closet. This has little people, baby toys and kitchen toys. Oh yes, and the dress up box, which is used EVERYDAY.

Closet #3 we decided to use as an actual closet. I thought we probably needed one, although the girls were against it.

Closet #4 is my favorite. The girls set up a library with all of their books and crafts. They decorated it with their original artwork and they are in there all of the time. They read in there, they color, play games, make GIANT messes, etc. They have a baby lock on the door so that the twins can't get in and they love it. Occasionally they invite me and Aaron to an exhibit to see their artwork or have me come during library hours to checkout books, (which apparently there are late fees for- who knew? Usually I can pay my fine with hugs, or candy or an extra five minutes to stay up at night, but sometimes they charge the real deal). I love that they take such pride in this room. It is "their" room and they love it.

This is mine and Aaron's room. We love it. It is open and light and big!

This is the view we have of our awesome yard. It is so pretty out there.

Our bathroom. Wth a giant walk in closet inside it. I love having my closet in my bathroom. Ahhh- life's little luxuries.

The babies' room/guest room. This room is my least favorite. We decied to make it guest room because there was plenty of room in it, so it is hodge podge and I don't love it, but it is functonal, which is what we are after right now.

This is the living room/dining room when you walk into the house. It is bright and I love it.

A view from the opposite direction.

This is also a really fun room. There are so many windows here. This is the family room and where we hang out most of the time. When I look out the windows, I feel like I am on vacation in the woods. I love it. (not vacationing in the woods, just pretending on my comfy couch in my air conditioned house!)

The kitchen with a window into the family room, which I love except that the kids like to climb up and look at me through the window.

This door leads to the gazebo, where we spend a lot of time too.

This screened in gazebo is great for eating, playing games and getting outside time without the bugs! (cause there are plenty of bugs!)

This is a view of the yard from the upstairs window.

Side yard which looks terrible, but the grass is starting to grow back and is looking much better.

Another view of the yard- and the babies' gate there. They like to run to the street. Seriously, all this yard and they head for the street.

Another view of the yard. Feels like we live at the park. That grass is all grown in now too!

There you have it. We love it. This place is such a blessing. We know Heavenly Father heard our prayers and helped this come our way. It couldn't be more perfect.

Happy Birthday Girls

2011-07-11T09:04:00.001-07:00

We have been celebrating birthdays for months around here! On April 7, Maggie turned 5, on June 8, Hallie had her 7th birthday and on July 7 Lainey Shae turned 3. I can't believe how big they are getting. I will have a 2nd grader and a Kindergartner! That just doesn't seem real. And I feel like Lainey has been 2 for about 3 years, so it is fun to say she is 3 . . . although she will tell you she is 4! We milked the celebrations as much as we could. For Mag we had a party with the cousins and went to pretend city on her real birthday and then a fun party in CA with friends and Grandma and Grandpa. She also got to celebrate at school. For Hallie, we had one party in UT, one in MO with all the fam that came to visit, and one on her real birthday! We did the same with Lainey. We had one on her real birthday. My neighbor Chris made Lainey the most darling Cinderella cake as a surprsise for all of us! I couldn't believe it. And then a few days later we had a party with the Jankes! I adore being mom to my girls and love them more than I could ever express. I love to celebrate birthdays and celebrate their lives and the ways that they have change my life. So here is to my three birthday girls! I love you sweet, sweet girls and I am so thankful for everyday that I have with you.

Here are lots of pictures of the parties . . . in reverse order!

Lainey's Ariel Party

Lainey's Cinderella Party

Hallie's Tangled Party

Aaron was Flynn Ryder

Lainey was Pascal. the Chameleon and Maggie was Maximus, the horse

Hallie's UT Cousin Party

Maggie's Karaoke Party

Her Doggie Cake Pops for School

Maggie's Cousin Party

Pickin' Berries

2011-07-08T06:40:00.001-07:00

We found a fun little place to go and pick blueberries. It was hotter than blazes but we had fun. The babies found a tree full of blueberries and never left it. They ate every berry off that tree! We planned on picking lots of berries and making a blueberry pie, but Aaron got called into the hospital before we made it too far. So we just ate the berries we picked. We got ice cream for the way home and the girls were so sticky when we got home, we got out and hosed everyone off. That turned into a giant water fight with the hose. I think they were pretty happy.

Oh What Do You Do in the Summertime?

2011-07-06T14:56:00.000-07:00

Swimming on the blow up slide and game night on the gazebo.

This is what we do just about every day! I LOVE LOVE LOVE Lazy summer days!

Happy Birthday America!

2011-07-05T06:28:00.000-07:00

I love the 4th of July. I think it is such a fun holiday. And it is so important to take time to be appreciative of the freedoms we enjoy in the USA and to appreciate those who sacrifice to secure those freedoms. I truly am so thankful to all who sacrifice in so many different ways to make this country an amazing place to live. Despite the struggles we face as a nation, I love the USA!

We had such a fun weekend. We spent Sunday with the Jankes and spent the night at their house. How crazy is it that we are spending holidays together again? We had so much fun. The kids are in heaven being back together, and so are we! We ate LOTS of yummy food and played games and stayed up way too late. Then we all woke up at the crack of dawn and went to a breakfast at the church. Nothing like showing up with 13 people for breakfast! A little overwhelming, but fun. Then we took the kids to a parade in Webster Groves. After being caught in a completely unexpected downpour and getting soaked to the bone; after several slips and falls and scrapes and bruises; and after waiting FOREVER for the parade to come, we watched a fun parade, ate lots of candy and had a great time. Then we headed home, took a nap and went to a ward party at the Bohn's house. They have a great swimming pool and an ice cream machine and cotton candy machine. They made food for everyone and we had a blast. The kids loved swimming and made some new friends last night. It was a great holiday! Here are a few pictures. Unfortunately my camera broke so I have to get some more pics from Jennifer and from Aaron's phone. But this is what I got before it broke.

Happy Graduation!

2011-06-15T19:58:00.000-07:00

Happy Graduation to Aaron! I am so proud of his accomplishment. Amazing that he/we made it with a family of seven, but we did. I must admit that I got a little emotional when he walked in during the processional. It just felt like such a huge thing to have finsihed and we are so happy! And I can honestly say that the journey has been great. We have had a few stumbling blocks, but all in all it has been great for our family. We have learned a million lessons and have become a very close family unit. It is hard on the girls to move so much, but they are becoming such good friends and I love it. They really rely on each other. We have settled into our new home in Missouri and we are starting to really like it here. I think it is going to be great for us. A big HUGE thank you to our parents for being there to support us, not only on graduation day, but through this whole process! We love you so much and could not have done it without you! And thank you for helping us with the move. Of course we didn't pull the move off without a hitch (or two or three). And so now we have some great memories to laugh about! Thank you, thank you! We love you!

We are back

2011-05-21T01:11:00.000-07:00

Wow! We have been on a little hiatus! Actually we have been in C-R-A-Z-Y mode. It has been the most hectic, crazy year of our lives and I could kick myself for not staying up on the blog. I have missed so many great moments. But instead of stressing out about catching up, I have decided to move forward with new conviction.

So tomorrow wraps up our stay in CA. It has been wonderful here and we have loved it. There is nothing like being with family. It has been amazing and we are going to miss it so much. My parents have been incredible and I feel so lucky to have had even a brief year with them. Was it worth packing up our stuff and our family to move across the country for a year, only to move right back where we came from? ABSOLUTELY! I am so glad we had this time and that my kids had the opportunity to see their grandparents on such a regular basis. What a treat. I could never thank my parents enough.

We have also made incredible friends and are sad to leave them. Moving a ton is hard, but it gives us the opportunity to meet wonderful people and make lifelong friends.

I really can't write a novel tonight. We are packing the truck tomorrow and I am asking myself, what the heck am I doing on the computer? But I needed a breather and it was refreshing to take a break and check in on some friends, which in turn inspired me to post. So here are the Allreds, checking back in and hopefully getting the ball rolling! Here is to a new adventure that begins tomorrow . . .

Take Home Message

2010-10-04T00:33:00.000-07:00

I loved the weekend! I listened to the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and I was so uplifted. Throughout the conference, there were so many messages that hit home and made me want to be better. But perhaps the "take home" message for me was to slow down and make time for the important things. I am so blessed to have the amazing family that I have. Along with incredible extended family, (parents, siblings, cousins etc), I have an amazing husband and 5 precious daughters. They are so good and so sweet. They have the best hearts and try so hard to do what is right. People often ask if I am disappointed that I don't have a son, or comment that I have my hands full or simply just say, "wow". And to all of them I say- I am absolutely NOT disappointed, I am so richly blessed. My hands are full and I stand in awe of the lives with which I have been entrusted. These girls are the light of my life. They are everything to me and I cherish every moment that I have to spend with them. Life gets crazy at times and I am afraid that I take on too much. But the message that hit home for me this weekend was to stop and enjoy this time. I need to make time for the things that matter and glory in being the mother of my 5 precious girls.

Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures

2010-09-16T09:53:00.000-07:00

While I feel incredibly guilty for the following, I have deemed it absolutely necessary for the safety of my babies! I fought the urgent need to put them in this "playpen" as long as I possibly could. It was only after the third time of doing the heimlich on Aubrey that I felt I could resist no more. I hate that they have to spend their "down" time in this contraption, so I bought as many panels as I felt we could fit to make it big and enticing. I really thought that they wouldn't even notice that they were "pinned in". I researched all kinds of gates and read what other moms have done and I bought the only "good" one that fit into our budget. Despite my best efforts, it still looks like a dog pen and Aubrey hates it! Inevitably within five minutes of being in there Aubrey has this face:

Annie has acclimated and seems to be quite content.

But for Aubrey, there is nothing worse. She finds the side closest to me, and stands up with her little face over the edge and cries. How could she not love it? It takes over our whole living room.
We are going to have to try it for a little while longer to see if we can't develop a love for the gate. I have to keep these babies safe. Overnight they went from sitting up to crawling, eating everything they can find, trying to climb up the stairs, shoving things in the VCR, chewing on cords, etc. I swear with my others, we worked up to those things. Not these two, they are 100% into everything and I can't keep up. And so it is. We'll see how it goes!

And for the next desperate maneuver. Lainey has most definitely outgrown her toddler bed. She falls out everynight and climbs in bed with Hallie or Maggie. With a limited budget and one bedroom to work with, we got creative. We put their beds together and with a little ingenuity, we created the most giant king bed you could imagine. Aaron doubted me the whole way, but alas, it is perfect and the girls love it! But like Aaron says, our living space is ever evolving to meet the needs of our growing and changing family, so we'll see what is in store for next week!

Picture Overload

2010-09-16T09:14:00.001-07:00

I really want to catch up on this blog, since this is essentially my only way to journal these days. So forgive me for the overload, but I am going to forget what we have been up to. We have had lots of fun and are staying very busy. It is helping the time pass quickly and takes our minds away from having dad gone so much. Although, I must say, dad has been with us quite a bit lately and we LOVE it! I have TONS more to update, but this is a start. So here goes, very quick update:

Maggie's front tooth gets knocked out by Lainey at Brecken's baptism.

The next day about 5 hours before Aaron's family's pictures.Lainey jumps fropm the table to the couch with a Lincoln Log in her mouth , knocks out her front tooth and does some serious damage to her face. Poor baby! (this was about three days later and she looks so much better here!)

Our first stitches. Hallie had three stitches after she fell while jumping on the bed. I thought girls were supposed to have less traumatic injuries than boys? Hmmm. . . .

A fun trip to Disneyland with Sharisse! What a treat to have her come into town and stay with us for a couple of days. We were all in heaven.

Girl's Night Out to American Idol. It was so much fun! We took Hallie and she loved it!

Maggie's First Day of Preschool. She looks so big, (especially compared to the rest of the kids in her class). She is loving it and it is good to see her happy and thriving in school.

Fun trip on the boat with Hallie's Froggie Backpack. (It gets passed around the class a week at a time and we get to do fun things with it- like flat Stanley). My dad was so cute and had bags of watermelon and popcorn made for each of the girls.

My darling nephew Isaac. He hold his own with 7 girls when we all get together. Good thing Lainey is as mischevious as little boys, so the two of them along great!

Dance Party in the living room. Happens every night around here. This night we had costumes, black lights and great music!

Erin's Birthday! We had so much fun with them. We so wish we were neighbors!

Hallie on picture day. It was hard for me to see it before, but she really does look just like I did when I was little. we watched home videos the other day and it is almost freaky how much we look alike!

Fun at the Beach! We went for dinner one night and had a blast. The kids jumped in the water before we got their swimsuits on, so we let them swim in their clothes and ride home in their swimsuits? Whatever works, right!

Fun at the Lake

2010-08-12T22:07:00.001-07:00

My fam came in town- [minus Mark and Kody, due to a seriously pathetic effort by Delta- we MISSED you guys!] and we had a great time. We hung out at the lake the entire time and we had a ball! The kids were in heaven. They learned how to do just about every kind of jump you can imagine into the lake. They water skiied and we went to the drive in and it was so much fun! We absolutely love to be with our family. Thanks mom and dad for a great week!

Golf Lessons- this was a trip!

The Drive In- FUN!

Parent's Night Out- Thanks for babysitting mom and dad!

G-ma and the twinnie bums!

Chillin'!

Probably the ONE minute that Lainey wasn't on my lap in the water. Thanks for catching it!

Mmmmm! Summertime treat!

Great way to take a nap!

Cousins!

Magoobie!

Mama and her girlsKiddos on the boat- what fun!
Jumping In

Grandpa and Isaac

Yeah for Daddy coming home for the weekend!

Hallie waterskiing! Way to go!

Abby skiing! I can't believe they could do it. And they kept wanting to go faster!

Aubie-do!

New Family Pictures

2010-08-12T21:44:00.001-07:00

We were lucky enough to have family pictures taken while we were in UT. Unfortunately, we had a couple of accidents with the kiddos- one the day before the pictures and one the day of the pictures. Maggie and Lainey both kocked their front teeth and poor Lainey was still really swollen from her incident. Considering the day we had, I think the pictures turned out decent!

Happy Anniversary

2010-07-25T06:40:00.000-07:00

Wow! I can't believe that we have been married for seven years. SO much has happened in those seven years. It has been great I feel so blessed to have my sweet hubby and our five girls. To celebrate this year, Aaron and I went out to dinner with my sis and her husband and then we went to Park City to spend the night. The next day we SLEPT IN, shopped at the outlets, went out to lunch and rode the Alpine slide. We had so much fun. It was so great to get a day away and just have fun together. Happy Anniversary babe! Here's to a bazillion more years of bliss!

Surprise Visit!

2010-07-20T06:52:00.000-07:00

Imagine trying to take the kids to "This is the Place" Monument, finding it closed and wondering what to with our five kids and our night in Salt Lake. Imagine everyone crying or yelling in the car, Aaron asking me which way to go, Emily and I trying to come up with an idea and the phone ringing. Imagine me seeing that it was Jessie and thinking I better not answer right now b/c it is mass chaos and we will want to talk forever. Then imagine me deciding to answer and me hearing Jessie tell me that she was in UT only two minutes from where we driving! Imagine us flipping a U-Turn and pulling into Jessie's driveway literally two minutes later! We were so excited! I cannot believe that they were here and that it worked out like that! We spent the evening together and then made plans and got together a couple more times while she was there. You have no idea how great it was to sit and talk and let our kids run wild, just like old times. It was so much fun adn I can't wait until it happens again!

Oh What Do You Do In the Summertime?

2010-07-19T07:54:00.001-07:00

SWIM SWIM and SWIM some more! We have spent everyday at the pool for the last few weeks and it has been great. Maggie has overcome her fear, although she still refuses to do swimming lessons. Hallie is swimming across the pool and jumping off the diving board and Lainey is trying to do whatever they do. We are having a great time and loving the summer!

Aubrey and Annie

Aubrey

Annie- her tongue is sticking out all of the time now

Aubrey

Lainey

Hallie and the cousins

Maggie and Avery

Maggie- yes it is 2 feet deep, but it is serious progress

Hallie

Lainey

Hallie

Family Home Evening

2010-07-11T23:17:00.000-07:00

What a fun night out with our family to Temple quare. Our kids have never been to the visitor's center and they loved it! Seriously couldn't get enough. I loved being there with my family and letting my kids feel the spirit of temple square.

Happy Fourth of July!

2010-07-08T16:48:00.000-07:00

We had such a fun 4th of July. It was all the better because we spent the entire weekend with DADDY! We have been away from him for a month, so it was a sweet reunion. Happy fourth of July everyone and thank you to all who defend our freedom!

Aubrey- A little under the weather- you can see it in her eyes

Annie- feeling good here, but feeling sick is around the corner

Almost all of the grandkids

I love that the kids got their boosters out of the car to wait for the parade . . . resourceful!

totally conked out!

Fat and happy- I love it- they are weighing in at 18.5lbs at 6 months. They didn't waste anytime catching up!

Fireworks!

Little Dance Party at the fireworks

Happy Birthday!

2010-07-08T07:38:00.001-07:00

Happy Birthday to three of my girls! I am so far behind on the journaling, but I don't want to get any worse, so I just wanted to wish them all a happy birthday. Lainey Shae actually turned two yesterday, so her birthday wish is actually in good time. Hallie turned six on June 8 and Maggie 4 on April 7. So happy birthday to my girls who make me the happiest mom in the world and who are so patient with so much right now! I couldn't ask for better kids. I love you so much!

Lainey Shae- Old Macdonald Party

The Real Lainey- who refused to wear her shirt for the entire party!

Maggie Moo- Barbie/ PJ Party

Mags really wanted a Barbie party, but she is the queen of wearing PJs. She wanted nothing more than a Barbie party with everyone in the pajamas. As you wish babe!

Maggie also got to celebrate with Emmy and Isac while we were in UT.

Hallie princess party with the cousins. Her favorite part of the day was catching this bird. Ahhh! Fun party with her cousins.

Hallie - Tea party/ Dress up party. This was a blast!
Fun party with her other cousins!

Congrats!

2010-06-04T18:52:00.001-07:00

Congrats to all of our friends who graduated from DMU last weekend! Way to go fellas-- and wives and kiddos! Won't be long and we will be there. And I better get working so I can come back as skinny and tan as all my girlfriends. I can't believe it! You gals all look amazing! I was sad to miss you in Iowa, but I was thinking of you all. Congratulations!

Family of Seven

2010-04-13T19:38:00.001-07:00

I can't believe how long it has been since I have posted. We are getting used to our new life, we are getting ready for a new move, Aaron is finishing up his last rotation and our computer is broken. Despite the lack of posts, there is no lack of activity in our life. We are busy as ever and loving the amazing weather. Although incredibly sleep deprived and a little drained of energy, I couldn't be happier. I absolutely love my girls (and my hubby, too) and am trying to soak up this time with them. Prepare for a picture overload as soon as we get the computer fixed, but for now, here are the most recent pictures of everyone.

Annie

Aubrey

We are still here

2010-02-25T19:56:00.001-08:00

As a result of my saying, "Ahhh, we forgot to brush your teeth this morning (several times)-- chew this piece of gum for a sec", Maggie thinks that gum actually brushes your teeth for you. Borderline pathetic, (on my part), but hey, don't sweat the small stuff!

Baby Update

2010-01-17T18:44:00.000-08:00

Ahhh! I have so much catching up to do, but it is actually possible for me to get to bed before 9:00 PM, so you can bet I choose sleep over blogging these days! Before I drift off , I want to put up a few pictures that my friend Amanda took! She took such great pictures of the twins and I wanted to post a few. The girls (all five) are doing great. The older three are adjusting well to the changes and are a big help. The babies are growing well and are so much fun! I will catch up on Christmas and New Year's as soon as I have a chance.

PS- One thing I wanted to mention was THANK YOU to our Secret Santa. We had a secret Santa and it was so much fun. We all loved it. The girls looked forward to that every night and kept wondering who was thinking of us. So if you are a reader of our blog, thank you so much! That was really special for us!

Annie

Aubrey

A funny sequence of events here:

Aubrey wakes up and eyeballs the poof

She's hungry and going after it . . . (Probably my favorite picture. If I had sent out Christmas cards this year, this would have been it!)

She got it!

I can't believe she got them yawning at the same time!

I LOVE these cheeks! (She won't, but I do!)

Our babies

2010-01-03T17:19:00.000-08:00

What sweet little angels these girls are! I am sorry for the lack of posts and pictures, and the lack of returned phone calls, etc., but this is crazy! Actually, I feel like I am getting a handle on it, but time is sparse. These girls have been such a blessing to us and we are loving watching their twin closeness. They totally notice when the other is not there and are so content when they are close by each other. When we lay them in their crib, they turn toward each other and rest into each other. We love this so much and couldn't be more grateful. Thanks for all of your well wishes and love. Don't be offended if I seem out of it and forgetful! I am!

Can you tell who is who? I'll post the answers at the bottom.

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 5

Photo 6

Answers- from Left to right

Photo 1- Aubrey, Annie

Photo 2- Annie, Aubrey

Photo 3- Annie, Aubrey

Photo 4- Aubrey, Annie

Photo 5- Aubrey

Photo 6- Annie

Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday!

2009-12-25T19:38:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas everyone! As you can tell by the earlier post, our precious little baby girls arrived on December 22 and have been the best Christmas gift we could ever ask for. Things have been absolutely crazy, but I just wanted to post a couple of pictures and introduce you to our newsest additions. Labor went well and I was able to deliver both girls without a C-Section! Yeah! There were a few minor complications, but all in all, I could not have expected it to go any better. I know that I was being watched over and protected throughout the whole process. They are the sweetest, tinest little things and we are loving them so much already. Their big sisters love them and are so eager to help. I could write about it all forever, but I am quickly learning that there really is NEVER a dull moment in our home anymore. (As if there ever was). I have hungry babies calling and so off I go. But first . . .
Introducing:

Annie Caroline Allred

Born 8:39 PM
Weight 5 lbs 11 oz
18.75 inches long

She is perfectly beautiful and doing really well. She was the first baby born and surprised us with a healthy cry and a very high Apgar score. She is doing great. She just seems so teeny when we are used to almost 9 lb babies!

Born 8 minutes after her sister came our precious

Aubrey Jane Allred.

Born 8:47 PM
Weight6 lbs 2 oz
19.5 inches long

She impressed us with an equally high Apgar and insured their spot in the regular nursery- no NICU! Aubrey has a sweet disposition and loves to look around. We can tell her apart from her sis by the shape of her head and her perma -scrunchy face! She is sweet.

We just love these girls and could hold them and kiss them all day! They truly are a miracle and an amazing blessing that we are so grateful for. Wish us luck as we figure out how to make this all work in our family! We are excited and up for the challenge!

2009-12-23T09:22:00.001-08:00

2009-12-23T09:21:00.002-08:00

2009-12-23T09:21:00.001-08:00

The Real Meaning of Christmas

2009-12-21T01:29:00.001-08:00

A friend sent this link to me and I loved it.

(Click on the title of this post to connect). It helped me remember the real meaning of this season and to slow down and celebrate for the right reasons. Merry Christmas!

Still here!

2009-12-16T00:28:00.001-08:00

Is it really possible to be 35 weeks and have NOTHING happening?

Let it Snow!

2009-12-12T02:36:00.000-08:00

We woke up to this . . .

So we spent alot of time like this . . .

And then finally they talked us in to this . . .

And Aaron finally made it look like this . . .

What a crazy blizzard we had. They have called it an "Epic Storm". We knew it was coming, but it was pretty crazy. We had about 13 inches of snow and some crazy wind, so it blew the drifts so high. The kids loved it and wanted to be out in it every minute, but it was BITTER cold. (can't say I felt the cold as much, I am like a walking heater!) But the temp was -6 with a windchill of -20 t0 -30 below! It was fun to be snowed in and to spend the day in our jammies watching movies, playing games, doing puzzles and eating treats. Now is the bummer part, back to real life in the freezing aftermath!

Thanksgiving

2009-12-12T01:58:00.000-08:00

We had such a fun Thanksgiving this year. Nana and Papa came out to visit and my bro Mark and his wife Kody. We had a great time. we packed it full, celebrating the season with festive activities and good times. The girls filled up their warm fuzzy jar, so we took them bowling at "The Fish Bowl". It is a fun bowling alley at the Bass Pro Shop where everyting looks like it is underwater. The girls were so excited. We went to Disney on Ice, saw Santa, went to Jolly Holiday Lights and of course did a little Black friday Shopping. It was a great time. Thanks everyone for making the effort to come and see us and for all of your help!

The Fish Bowl

Disney On Ice

Decorating the Tree

Lainey trying to wear the stockings.

Daddy got the girls a train to go around the tree. Needless to say, they LOVE it!

Visit with Santa

Papa and Lainey at the Mall.

Gingerbread Houses

Christmas Around the World

2009-12-05T13:35:00.000-08:00

Here is just a quick little shout out to all of my folk dance friends from my BYU dancing days. It is killing me to know that you are all together today, dancing and hanging out and eating ( I am sure of it!). I just wanted to say to all of you that I am thinking of you and wish I could be with you. Dance a little for me and let me know how the weekend was! I miss you all!

What's the deal?

2009-11-30T12:51:00.001-08:00

Does anyone have any idea why I can't connect to any of my friends blogs anymore? I am so bummed, but the links don't work, unless I type in the address individually. Is anyone else having this problem?

Visitors

2009-11-16T08:04:00.000-08:00

Lucky us, we had some visitors this last week. My cousins came to visit for a fun girls weekend. We went to the Apple Orchard with the fam and then out for pedicures and manicures and dinner --- just the girls! It was a great time and I am so glad that they made the trip! My mom came out for a visit, too. It is always a treat to have Grandma here and we are so thankful for all that she did for us!

In the famous Iowa Corn!

They had this awesome slide! We probably went down at least 15 times. (Not me, don't worry!)

Here is me trying to rope Aaron. What is funny is that the rope got away from me and I actually roped Lainey!
They have this awesome Jumping Pillow.

Hal and Mag getting some air.

With the cute--stinky pigs!

My Girls.

And finally an updated picture of me. This is me at about 30 1/2 weeks. Getting huge and FEELING it!

Happy Halloween

2009-11-02T11:57:00.000-08:00

Unfortunately, we missed out on most of the Halloween festivities this year. Luckily the kids didn't really know what they were missing, so putting on their cotumes and getting a handful of candy made them as happy as could be. We had our annual witch dinner, which they love. Somehow if it looks cool, it tastes better and they want to eat it. Hopefully next year, we will be back to the whole fam dressing up and having a great time.

I promise Hal's teeth are not that yellow! She was eating some of the squash!

Down and Out

2009-10-30T12:10:00.000-07:00

Unfortunately, we have contracted the H1N1 at our house and have spent the week hanging out at home. Hallie and Maggie ar ethe only two that have actually come down with it, so we will keep our fingers crossed that it stays that way. Just thought I'd post a few pics to catch you up again on what has been going on here. Warning- LOTS of pictures that go from present to past.

We have been in desperate search of entertainment, especially on our sixth day at home. The girls gathered up all of the blankets in the house and made a landing pad. They came up with some pretty great jumps!

Lots of eating . . .

snuggling . . .

and reading . . . and watching TV, ( I admit) lest you think I have actually come up with activities to fill the whole time!

A couple of weeks ago, we woke up to this! The girls were soooooo excited!

Of course they had to gear up and go play in it! Lainey's new "cheese" face is my favorite!

Aaron dressed up as a hippie for a youth activity, "Where's Waldo" in the mall. He looked awesome and the kids had a hard time recognizing him. He was chillin' in front of Hot Topic. Love it!

In between General Conference sessions we went out to our previous Bishop's house to pick pumpkins, go for a hayride and, for my kids, chase and hold cats! They cannot focus on anything else when we are there. The Pences are such an amazing family and we have LOVED getting to know them since we have lived here. They are so generous to have us all come out and hang out at their fun house and pick pumpkins!

Our annual trip to Center Grove Orchard-- one of our favorite places in Iowa!

Update

2009-10-04T19:27:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update about what we have been up to.

Lainey has been transitioning from two naps to one and sometimes has a hard time making it through lunch!

This is one of my favorite pics b/c it is so typical of a day at our house. Notice Lainey's feet hanging out of the TV armoire- where she climbs about 100 times a day!- and notice Maggie's little bum hanging out. That also happens everyday! Cracks me up. Hallie is, of course, in charge and is the "teacher" for the group.

Dad has had a lot more time at home and we have all been LOVING it! He is such a great dad!

And then there is me, growing like a champ! I am getting bigger and bigger everyday. I can't believe that I still have so far to go, and at the same time I am getting nervous that it is getting so close! Ahhhh!

The baby girls are getting so big and are doing really well. I love these first two pictures. Baby A has a hip bone (from Baby B) resting on her face and arm, and in the next picture, Baby B has her sister's foot ready to kick her in the face! It is crazy how intertwined they are. But, I guess that is all they know, so they do ok! Can't wait for these girlies to get here! What a blessing!

Maggie's First Day of School

2009-09-20T19:30:00.000-07:00

Miss Magoo has started school! She was so excited and has been counting the days until school started. She had to wait 2 1/2 weeks after Hallie started and she has been dying to go! She loves school and loves her teachers and asks everyday if it is a school day. I miss my girls when they are gone, but I know that they are learning and having fun!

The Zoo

2009-09-12T18:56:00.000-07:00

I just had to write about Hallie and the zoo the other day. It was Monday, labor day, and Hallie was SOOOOOO excited to have the day off school. She woke up late and laid around in her jammies watching cartoons all morning. She must have seen a commercial for the zoo and came running into the kitchen, "Mom, we HAVE to go to the zoo today. There are new animals and I REALLY want to go see them. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE can we go to the zoo?". If you know Hallie, you can only imagine the excitement and animation on her face as she begged to go to the zoo. How could I resist? We decided right then and there we had better get ready and get to the zoo. Once we were in the car, I asked Hallie to tell me about the new animals and what we were going to see. "Oh mom, you are going to be so excited. They got new BIRDS! The new birds are called PIGEONS. Yea mom, we are going to get to see pigeons today!" Oh, to be as excitable as a five year old! Well, let me tell you, we saw some some pigeons and Hallie was completely satisfied. And so was I!

Check One Off the List

2009-09-06T12:30:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update on what is going on with us here. As you can imagine, news of the twin girls coming has rocked our world a little! We have a list with several things that we need to do to make room and get ready for these girls. We have kind of been going around in circles trying to accomplish SOMETHING, but really getting no where. But alas, we have the first of many things checked off our list! We traded our old car (*actually our new car) for a new(actually older)car. It was hard for us. Probably b/c we just bought the Ford last year and we LOVED it, but it just wasn't going to work. So, first thing checked off the list and one less thing to do to get ready for these babes. We love our new van and the girls think it is the coolest thing in the world.

Also thought I'd post a picture of the growing belly. It is getting HUGE already, I can't imagine that I am only halfway! But for all of my family and friends far away who don't believe me. I am getting big! This is me at 20 weeks.

Summer Pics

2009-09-02T03:29:00.000-07:00

I realized a couple of weeks ago that I had not gotten the girls birthday pictures taken. Can't skip that! So although a huge effort, and not their favorite thing, I was really excited about how they turned out!How lucky am I to have a great friend that is also a great photographer!

First Day of Dance

2009-08-31T18:35:00.000-07:00

How fun that dance has begun again. This will be Hallie's third year, but it was Maggie's first day. They were both very excited and had a great time! Maggie was so proud of herself and reported that she did everything the teacher told her just right!

Pretty dresses Little Curls, Oh thank heaven for little girls!

2009-08-22T05:33:00.000-07:00

Lucky for us, we found out that we will be having two more sweet, precious baby girls! We have created a mold that has yet to be broken! While we are surprised that we have gone 5 for 5, we are so excited to have these girlies join our family. As President Gordon B. Hinckley (former prophet of the LDS church) said, “Of all the creations of the Almighty, there is none more beautiful, none more inspiring than a lovely daughter of God." How lucky for us to have the opportunity to raise 5 of them! We have been inspired by the "make-up room " in a good friend's house and will welcome any suggestions as to how to make a house with 5 girls run smoothly! Aaron is handling the news exceptionally well and is planning how he will intercept my attempts to make dancers out of them. He is working on plans for volleyball, basketball and fishing. Lucky for him, the three we have are not the least bit squeamish and have had many a pet frog, cricket, potato bug- whatever they can find! So, there you have it. Two more girls, and we are thrilled!

Kindergarten Girl!

2009-08-21T10:56:00.000-07:00

I cannot believe it, but my baby started Kindergarten! She was so excited, she could hardly wait. She told me that she didn't need me to walk into school with her, she already knew how to get to her class, etc., but I told her that all the moms walk in with their kids on the first day and I really wanted to walk her in today. She reluctantly agreed and in we went. Maggie was so excited, too and wanted to walk in with us. So we all went in and waited outside Hallie's classroom. Hallie was bopping around, talking about school and getting so excited and then all of a sudden, she buried her head into my legs and said that she didn't want to go. She wanted to go home with me and Maggie. She started to cry and I felt so bad. I didn't want her to be scared, or to be sad, but she was. I wasn't prepared for it b/c she had been so happy all along. I held strong for her and sent her in drying her tears. When I walked out of the building, I lost it. I was sad for her. I was sad that she was growing up and that she had to be somewhere where she was nervous and scared and I couldn't be there to reassure her. Luckily when I picked her up, she was all smiles and couldn't wait to tell me all about her day. She even wanted to go back the next day. Today, on her third day, is the day that I have been sad. She is gone for such a long time and I really miss her. Today I wish she was three and we had all of the time in the word together. But, I, too will put on my brave face and be happy that she has such great opportunities. To my sweet Hallie . . . . I love you!

A reporter from the newspaper was there and caught this picture of Hallie. This was right about the moment that she was getting sad. It turned out to be in the paper yesterday! Hallie was so excited about it and couldn't wait to show it to everyone. What a great thing to have to remember the emotions of that first day!

Hallie's Hair

2009-08-17T08:10:00.000-07:00

I can't believe we did it, but we cut Hallie's hair. We love it and think it makes her look so much older! It is her big girl, kindergarten hair cut and she can't stop playing with it. Anyway, just wanted to share!

Nauvoo

2009-08-17T07:31:00.001-07:00

We decided last minute to take a little trip to Nauvoo a few weeks ago. It was really fun and the girls had a great time. Aaron and I made it to the temple and we all watched the Joseph Smith pageant. We love being so close and having the chance to visit such a historic and sacred place every so often!

Thank You

2009-08-03T17:06:00.001-07:00

Thank you to our moms for all of their help and to all of my friends that have pitched in and done so much. Just wanted to thank you all. The update is that the situation is improving and the babies are well! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The Word on the Street . . .

2009-07-15T14:09:00.000-07:00

. . . is true! I think that the news has spread across the U.S. faster than lightning, but just in case you haven't heard, our family is expecting . . .
TWINS! Yes, you heard it right! We are shocked and excited and scared and feel very blessed all at the same time. This means lots of crazy things for us, but we are so thankful that they are healthy and that they look good so far. I don't know the first thing about being pregnant with twins, or about raising them, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. I am in my 14th week and feeling good. The last few days I have felt the tug of this a little and have been extremely tired, but if that is the worst I have experienced so far, I am not complaining. Lets all hope and pray that things go well, since it is still early. The girls are so excited. In their prayers every night, they are thankful for the "babies, the twin babies". It is sweet. So there you have it confirmed and for the record, we are thrilled to death!Here are their debut pictures. . .

2009-07-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

Lainey Shae is officially one! I can't believe it! It has been a crazy year, but it feels like Lainey has always been a part of our family. She has such a fun personality, and seems to be a natural comedian. She definately knows what she wants and is not one bit afraid to go after it. She holds her own around here with her two big sisters! She is also the most cuddly and affectionate baby that we have had. She loves to hug and kiss and snuggle. She loves to rock and pat my back while I pat hers. She is such a sweetie!

4th of July

2009-07-15T10:47:00.000-07:00

We love holidays! The 4th of July is always a favorite of ours. We have been in Iowa for the past several years on the fourth, so we have come up with some fun traditions and the kids love it. The weather was a little crazy, but we still made it to the parade and the fireworks. Thanks to all who defend our freedom!

California

2009-07-15T10:32:00.000-07:00

After my cousin's wedding, we headed to California to spend a couple of weeks with my parents. As always, we had a great time. We were trying to regroup from all of our travels, so we did a lot of low key relaxing and swimming. It was really fun to be with my mom and dad and of course the kids loved it. We even got to see Erica, Ella and Mailee. It was great to see them. It is crazy how much we miss all of our friends who moved away! We celebrated Lainey's 1st birthday a few days early with my mom and dad. As you can see, she loved the cake! Poor little baby was really sick, but she still had fun!

Amanda's Wedding

2009-07-15T06:15:00.000-07:00

Soon after our trip to Florida, we headed out to AZ for my cousin's wedding. It was so much fun. We had so much family there and so many friends from college. My family took the kiddos for me almost the whole wedding and I got to hang out with some of my best friends in the world. It was so much fun! And Amanda was gorgeous! It was also my cousin, Brett's, mission farewell. He left yesterday for Capetown South Africa! Here is wishing him the best!

Florida

2009-07-14T12:36:00.000-07:00

We took an awesome family vacation to Florida! We had so much fun. We went to Disney and went swimming and visited my Grandma who lives there. (she had just fallen and broken her leg--- sad!) All of my family was there- except my bro, Mark and his wife, Kody, (we missed you) and it was so fun to be together. The kids had such a great time wih their cousins, aunts, uncles and grandparents! It was great to be able to spend so much time with Aaron, too! The pictures tell it all! Thanks to my family, especially my mom and dad, for such a great time.

My brother playing "the Beast" at Belle's Story Time.

Visiting my Grandpa's grave. We miss him so much!

Hallie's 5th B-day was spent at the Magic Kingdom. We even got to eat in Cinderella's Castle! And Hallie got to drive the monorail!

Happy Birthday Hallie

2009-07-06T10:23:00.000-07:00

While Nana and Papa and the cousins were here, we had a "Blue's Clue's" B- day party for Hallie. I can't believe she is five! We had so much fun! Once again, dad made the cake and did an awesome job. We had mystery solving games, a scavenger hunt, a pinata. We love having all out birthday parties and this one was no exception! We were so happy the cousins could be here for it!
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Cousins and Nana and Papa

2009-07-06T05:30:00.000-07:00

We were so lucky to have Nana and Papa come for a visit and bring three of the girls' cousins with them. They had so much fun together! It was riot having six girls in the house and listening to all of the jump rope jingles (I don't really know what they are called) and songs and watching the dances and shows they put on. That was all in between going to adventureland, the science center, the water park (where we froze!), Pump it Up, you name it, we did it! Seriously, it was so much fun and reminded us how much we love family and how great it is to be together. We miss them already and can't wait to see them again! Thanks so much for making the effort to come out and see us! We will be singing "L-I-M-I Chicken Eye, Chicken eye, Pom Pom Beauty, Extra Cutie for the rest of our lives!"

Preschool Graduation

2009-07-06T05:21:00.001-07:00

My little Hal also graduated from preschool! Kindergarten has been a real issue weighing on my mind since January. After much deliberation and fretting and talking to everyone I know, I have decided to send Hallie to FULL day kindergarten. In Iowa, that is 7 hours. I have had a few sleepless nights over it, but Hallie is so excited and she is ready! I can't believe this is happening!Hallie has made some of the best friends here and I know she will miss them so much!(FYI- I don't typically put make up on my 5 year old, she just had dress rehearsal for dance recital right before this!)

Catch up!

2009-07-06T05:10:00.000-07:00

Wow! I have gotten behind. So much has been going on in the last couple of months! I am going to try and put it in order here so that I can keep my journal here!

First we had Hallie's dance recital. it was so much fun and she did an awesome job! She did her dance perfectly and looked sooooo cute. I danced in the recital, too and it was kind of fun to get to do it with Hallie. The faculty danced to a Micheal Jackson medley, which was right up my ally. Now it seems a bit ironic, now that he is gone, which, by the way, makes me so sad! Just FYI, I went to a Micheal Jackson concert when I turned 8 years old. That was what I wanted more than anything and my parents took me to his "Bad" concert. I remember it and it was AMAZING!

A Tribute

2009-05-10T19:24:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to our wonderful amazing mothers! Aaron and I both feel so lucky and so blessed to have such great moms. We have been raised with such love and have been given such great opportunities throughout our lives. Even though we live so far away, both mamas (and Dads) make great efforts to get here and see us, or to get us there and we are so appreciative. We could never do enough to repay our moms for all that they have done, but we certainly want to thank them and tell them both how much we truly love and admire them! We love you and can't wait for our FUN FUN summer!

Jumpy the Frog

2009-05-04T12:09:00.000-07:00

Saturday was such a fun day for the girls. We were outside playing, I was talking, they were playing, when all of a sudden Hallie yells, "mom, I caught a frog!". I look over and sure enough she is holding a good sized frog in her hand. She and Maggie were so excited and wanted to go show it to Javien. So as they ran over to knock on his door, Jennifer (his mom), and I got a little nervous for the little frog's life. His legs were fully extended and stiff as a board, but when I asked Hallie if he was alive, she was sure that he was. I was not as convinced, but when she set him down for a second, he sprang back to life and seemed just fine. So for the entire day, that is all the girls could think about. They made a home for him, fed him crackers, gave him some of their toys and carried him around relentessley. We begged them to come in for dinner and after a bite or two, they were ready to go back out and check on "jumpy". It went on like this until bedtime. We couldn't get them away from the frog. We finally convinced them to put him to bed outside and let him go to sleep. As they went to bed, all they could think about was "jumpy". Was he cold, scared, etc? Did he miss them? They wanted to go out SO bad, but we convinced them to stay inside. We tried to prepare them for the fact that "Jumpy" would probably jump back to his family and that he would be happy and safe with them. We tried to prepare them for "Jumpy" to be gone. Well, when they woke up, again, "jumpy" was first on their minds. They ran out to check on him and sadly, he was gone. They ran around the whole yard looking for him and calling his name. They came back to the house, heads hanging and tears in their eyes. "Jumpy" was gone.

It was a sad rest of the day. The girls both cried ALOT and kept going out to look for him. They wondered what might have happened to him and they were genuinely sad. I was actually a little sad, too. For the first time, the kids were sad about something that I couldn't fix. Ususally, I can solve whatever seems to be upsetting them, but this was out of my control. For the first time, I watch their environment have an effect on them and it made me think about how that will continue to happen thoughout their lives. There will be disappointments and heartbreaks for them that I won't be able to fix. People will hurt their feelings, they may not make the dance team or the cheerleading squad, or get asked to the Prom, and I will have to watch them be sad. I didn't like that feeling one bit. I live to make them happy, to see them smile. It was sad to see them hurting for something that they missed so much. It may sound silly, but it was kind of a big deal for everyone. So, today, we have been looking for another frog and I am sure the quest will continue until we have found another to replace "Jumpy." And today looks a little brighter as time heals them and helps them forget.

Warmin' Up!

2009-04-27T13:49:00.000-07:00

Finally it is starting to warm up here! We took full advantage of a beautiful day and spent the whole day outside at Raccoon River. What a fun day. The kids got soaked and totally covered in sand, but it was so fun! Lainey was perfectly content to sit in her stroller and observe. It was great.

This is what happens when you get a little too much water in your pants!
I can't believe how fast Lainey is growing up. She looks so big to me!

Hallie's Dance Pictures

2009-04-20T05:23:00.000-07:00

I love that Hallie loves to dance. I can't wait until next year when Hallie and Maggie are both dancing. It is so cute and fun to watch them. Hallie is doing a little Shirley Temple dance to "Good Ship Lollipop". It is adorable. We had dance pictures this weekend so I wanted to share!

2009-04-19T21:05:00.000-07:00

Lots of random things have been going on at our house. We had Dad's day at preschool and the girls were so excited that Aaron got to come to school with them! I was so thankful that he made it work in his schedule so that he could be with them. They felt pretty special having him there!

This is little Lainey after about every meal. She is a total self feeder and makes such a mess everytime! She loves to eat everything and we are beginning to wonder if her "full' sensor works!

The girls watching a movie with all of their buddies. This is pretty common around out house.

Maggie modeling her new swimsuit from Grandma. She wanted to wear it outside in the snow. She was so excited!

Hallie and Javien. They are such good buddies and talk about getting married all of the time. They already pose like they are dating! Crazy and a little scary!!!

Aaron at his DMU Rite of Passage! We are moving into the clinic stage of the education and that will be such a welcomed change for Aaron! I am so proud of all that he has accomplished. He works so hard and hardly gets the recognition he deserves. He is amazing!

Happy Easter

2009-04-12T20:19:00.000-07:00

I love Easter. I love the feeling that I have this time of year. It is Springtime and after a long, Iowa winter, it is so welcomed. The air feels clean and fresh and everything starts to have more color and life. I am so thankful for my Savior, for His life and His sacrifice for me. And I am so thankful for His resurrection and the knowledge I have that we can all live again. I feel so humbled at the thought of all that I have been blessed with.

We had lots of fun celebrating Easter with the kids and wanted to share some pictures. It has been a great weekend.

Happy Birthday Magoo!

2009-04-07T19:44:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday to our little 3 year old! Sometimes I think, "I can't believe that Maggie is already three!", but most of the time I think,"I can't believe Maggie is ONLY three!". She acts so big and does so much. She is absolutely the comic relief in our family. She makes us laugh all day. She is starting to think that she is pretty funny, which makes it even better. She is such a sweet little girl and she loves to snuggle and give hugs and tell us that she loves us. She is happy most of the time and pretty much just goes with the flow. She has a funny little way of talking that we all love and can identify as "Mag talk". She loves her sisters and is such a good sport. She has no problem being the pet dog, or the princess's horse or the wicked stepmother or the prince. She will be whatever the big girls want her to be and she totally gets into character.She makes up for it by being the "big sister" to Lainey. She cannot walk past Lainey without picking her up or moving her or interrupting her in some way. Sometime Lainey loves it, and sometimes she does not. But that doesn't stop Mag, she always comes back with, "Lainey wants me!" Right Magoo, I bet she does!

Mag is seriously a light in our lives and we feel so blessed to have her! What a sweetie! These pics are from her Mickey/Minnie Mouse Party today. she had so much fun and couldn't have been more excited that it was her birthday. Hallie was a great sport about it and was very excited for Maggie all day. There were a few quiet tears, when hal really wished she could have the attention or gifts Maggie was getting, but all in all, she was great about it all! We played fun games at Maggie's party and had cake and ice cream. Maggie got lots of fun gifts. Thanks everyone! Also, she got "tooter" like Hallie's (a scooter) and was thrilled to death. She and Hallie also got a combined gift, a power wheels truck! I haven't heard a laugh from their guts like they did tonight in a long time! They loved riding it and were laughing the whole time! It was so fun to see them riding it! So, all of that said, Happy Birthday Baby!

SPRING BREAK!!!!

2009-03-24T20:26:00.000-07:00

We had such a great spring break. It was so great to have Aaron home and be able to just be together for an entire week. The weather was beautiful and just what we all needed to lift our spirits. We took the kids to the Omaha Zoo and had so much fun. It was in the 70s that day and we loved every minute of it. The girls were so excited about all of the animals. they literally couldn't stop talking about them the whole way home. We stopped for dinner on our way home and they were still talking about it and laughing at their favorite animals. It was so fun to see them so excited. Lainey was so good all day and aside from stealing food from Maggie, she didn't cause any trouble! We spent the rest of our break flying kites, having picnics, going for walks, playing games, watching movies, shopping and spring cleaning. For some reason, the cleaning has already been completely undone, but we made a good effort. It felt good to be a whole family and to be able to just enjoy each other with minimal stress. Loved it!

Hodgepodge!

2009-02-23T23:46:00.000-08:00

It has been forever and I need to do a quick update! I have been busy trying to organize my life and I am finding that I am not very good at it! It is still FREEZING here in Iowa and I am ready for Spring, to say the least. We have been up to all kinds of things trying to stay busy and have had lots fun at it! Here are a few pictures from the last few weeks. Happy Valentine's Day.
We went out to breakfast this morning to celebrate! We look really tired and much less glamorous than we used to on valentine's day, but love each other a hundred times more!
Grandma and the girls made a beautiful heart cake to celebrate.

I had to throw this in here. Magg got into my makeup again! That kid is something else!
The DMU Winter Gala. I had to put this picture with the girls. They were so excited about the gala. They asked me if I was going to a "real" ball. Of course I said yes. Then when I was ready and put my dress on, they seriously both gasped and said, "You look so beautiful mom! Which princess are you?" Maggie's new thing is "I wish" ( I wish I had that toy, I wish I had a cookie like that little boy, I wish I was big like you mom and could wear that beautiful dress!) They were so sweet and so excited.

Happy Birthday Daddy! Hope you love the cake!

Lucky Seven

2009-01-27T11:05:00.000-08:00

So I got tagged by my sister in law, so here goes my lucky seven:

Seven things I CAN do:

Fall asleep in 10 seconds flat!- seriously, the minute my head hits the pillow, I am OUT.

Dance the national dance of the Ukraine- Hopak (Back in my college days, I was on the International Folk Dance Ensemble at BYU and made some of my most cherished memoires.)

Make dinner one handed- whether I am holding a baby, talking on the phone, or whatever

Cry in ANY movie- or if anyone else is crying- seriously I am a sympathy crier

Rationalize any purchase- It was on SALE!

Make friends easily- I love talking to people and making new friends, and I love that I have so many old friends that I love to keep in touch with and love so much!

Play with my kids a ton more now that I quit my job! I feel like a new woman!

Seven things I CAN'T do:

Recognize quotes from movies: People are always quoting movies and asking me what it is from-- I NEVER know, unless it is Aaron b/c the only movie he quotes is Back to the Future and I am onto him!

Wrap the cord up on the vaccum cleaner- it gives me chills (like nails on a chalkboard) to re-wind the vaccum cord, so I don't do it and it drives Aaron nuts! (hey, at least I vaccum.)

Sleep with 5 people in my bed. You may laugh, but there are several morings when EVERYONE gets in my bed and I have to leave, I can't stand being crowded.

Swim in the ocean where I can't touch. I am freaked out by what lies under the water and if I can't touch, I am miserable.

Let my babies "cry it out". I have tried three times (with all three kids) and I am terrible at it.

Watch scary movies. I have way too many nightmares.

Listen to talk radio- DRIVES ME CRAZY!

Seven thing I say the most:

Hurry Hurry- let's go!
Turn the water off in the bathroom. ( My kids are obsessed!)
Get your coat, shoes, backpack, etc (at least five times each before it happens!)
How did your test go?
I'm exhausted.
I miss you!
I love you!

Seven goals for the new year:

Read my scriptures more
Exercise (someday I'll get there)
Spend more time playing with my kids
Worry less
Keep in touch better
Stick to a budget
Plan more ( failure to plan means planning to fail!)

Seven reasons I fell in love with Aaron:

He is tall and handsome!
He called me Kate and offered to drive my car on our first date! ( I have since found out that he gives everyone a nickname, but it made me feel pretty special that day - and I didn't ask him out on our first date, but we took my car, and I was so impressed that he offered to drive!)
He is very service oriented and it was obvious to me when we met.
He loves old people.
He is very tender hearted and sweet.
He is a lot of fun to be with and makes me laugh.
His hugs make me feel better than anything else can!

Seven thing I love to eat:

Chocolate
Anything with artichokes
Peanut Butter
PF Changs
Thai food
Salad
Yummy drinks

Seven People I tag:
Em
Erin
Jessie
Shae
Whitney Hasler.
Brooke
Candi
(Anyone else who wants to)

Lainey Shae

2009-01-27T10:47:00.001-08:00

I can't believe that my baby is 6 months old! She is getting so big and the time is flying by. She loves her sisters and will smile at ANYONE! She is super happy and her smile is absolutely contagious. She is a gem in our house and lights up the room when she is present. Hallie and Maggie love her and love to make her smile and laugh. They get along really well, and seriously one of the only things they fight about is getting Lainey to look at them. Conversation goes like this: (in tears)
"Mom, Lainey keeps looking at Hallie and she won't look at me", I say something like, "Call her name or sing to her or clap your hands and maybe she will look at you", which often works and is followed by, "Mom, I was playing with Lainey and now she's looking at Maggie and she won't look at me anymore"! Ahhh, the love! I am glad they love her so much and hope that they continue to fight for her love and attention as they get older!
Lainey is sitting up and she got her first tooth! I love it. She is my little Jack o Lantern. My guess is that she will be on the go pretty soon here. She is getting up to her hands and knees and rocking a little. I am not in ANY hurry for that day. Right now, I am very content with her being stationary and unable to get into everything! I am sure my days are numbered!

Anyway, here are a few pics of our little sweetie. I had to get the bath tub pic to show you her tooth. So cute.

Makeover

2009-01-18T19:18:00.001-08:00

About every two months or so, I get a burning desire to re-arrange, re-decorate, re-do something. It probably drives Aaron a little nuts, since most of the time I need his help, but he was in full support of this one! We decided to make the girls room a bedroom/playroom. After situating the furniture every way that we could possibly imagine, we decided we need a little more room. So, WE BOUGHT A HOUSE!!!!! Ok- just kidding. We bought a set of bunk beds from a nice family on craigslist. And they are perfect! I can't believe how much room the girls have in their bedroom now, and they love it, and so do we, since that means no more toys downstairs. (We'll see how that goes). We are happy that the girls have a bigger space to play, a space that doesn't double for living room, family room, etc. Anyway, we are super excited and wanted to share.

Cherish

2009-01-16T19:16:00.000-08:00

I walked into my bathroom tonight and found the puppies lined up in their "house". I smiled and seriously felt all happy inside as I thought about my girls and how they play and leave their mark wherever they go (all throughout my house!). I could have picked them up, but I decided to leave them right there so that when the girls wake up in the morning and go to check on their puppies, they will find them safe and sound where they put them to bed. I thought about something that my mom said the other day. My whole family was at my parent's house for Christmas. After we had all gone and the house was quiet, my mom and dad were cleaning up the kitchen. My mom reached down to pick up something off the floor and saw a perfectly formed, sticky little footprint on the floor. She and my dad decided not to clean it up, but to leave it for a few days to remind them of the sweet kids that filled their house a few days before. I thought about the puppies and how much I appreciate moments like that when I am so incredibly grateful for my children and their presence in my home. A line of puppies to make me thank Heavenly Father that I have three healthy children that are mine, and to send me into their room to give them an extra kiss and squeeze before I came downstairs.

Merry Christmas

2009-01-04T21:41:00.001-08:00

We had such a great time visiting family for Christmas! We LOVED being with our families and not doing much, but hanging out and playing games and eating way too much! I am usually ready to head home after a long vacation and get back into the swing of things, but this time I was dragging my feet to come home, (no offense to my Iowa friends, I did miss you and was happy to see you!)I must admit that once we got home, it felt good to be here, but we love our families so much and are so glad that we had the chance to go home and be wih them for the holidays! Here are a few pictures to remember the trip.

Annual Elf Yourself

2008-12-08T14:07:00.000-08:00

It wouldn't be the Christmas Season at our house without the annual Elf Yourself experiment! My kids think this is hilarious. They sit in front of the computer and watch it over and over and crack up every time. I love it. And this year, we all fit in! Click on the title to see it , or paste this to your browser. Merry Christmas! http://elfyourself.jibjab.com/view/lIyvb6wrNxefz360

Thankful

2008-12-05T12:32:00.000-08:00

I think it is high time I post a little something to express my gratitude. I feel so blessed lately to have everything I have in my life. I am so thankful for the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am thankful for the peace that I feel and the guidance it gives me for how to live and be happy. I am so thankful for my family. I seriously look at my girls and think that I am so lucky! I love their excitement at the simple things in life and their innocence and purity.I am thankful for my amazing husband and all that he does for me and our girls. I am thankful that he is my best friend and that we have so much fun together. We had a great Thanksgiving, our first one with just the five of us. We missed being with our extended family, but it was fun to just be together and start some of our own traditions. I am thankful for our health and our home. I am thankful that we have a safe car that runs and that we are warm during the winter. I have so much to be thankful for and I truly am thankful for it!

Chocolate

2008-11-18T12:06:00.000-08:00

Aaron and I have decided to rent out our chocolate fountains. Check out our website(link on the right). If you know anyone in the Des Moines area that might want to rent a fountain, we'd love it if you would point them in our direction. Thanks.

Pray Always

2008-11-11T11:06:00.000-08:00

I am posting this for my Mom (she's making Christmas gifts) and as I put it up I thought I would just comment on how much I love this saying. Aaron and I got these blocks when we began this journey to med school and it has become our tagline. Things haven't gone exactly as planned, but we have managed to pray alot and believe that it will all work out. I love having the gospel in my life to help me have hope and be faithful. With God, all things are possible and I really believe that. Hope you all have a great day!

(top block is 6.5 inches long by 2 inches tall, bottom is 8.5 inches long)

Halloween!

2008-10-31T23:38:00.000-07:00

We LOVE Halloween! We love to go all out and dress up. This year, Hallie and Maggie chose our costume theme. Hallie wanted to be Wendy, from Peter Pan, and Maggie wanted to be Peter pan. No amount of bribing or persuasion could talk her into being Tinkerbell! She wanted to be Peter Pan and that was it. So, I got to be Tinkerbell, Aaron was, of course, Captain Hook and Lainey was the Crocodile. My extremely talented mother volunteered (sort of) to make the costumes for us! They turned out AMAZING! Lucky for us she was here for Halloween. And just before Halloween, Nana got to come out and spend some time with us. So, naturally, the grandma's had to dress up, too and they got to be Mr. Smee! We had so much fun having our Grandma's here and doing all that Iowa has to offer in the Fall. What a great time!

WOW! That's a ton of candy, and you can tell by their faces that we were a "little" hyper tonight!

Let's Rock the House

2008-10-16T20:26:00.000-07:00

So it is time for a very random post to update you on what has been going on around the Allred house. We have been busy enjoying the fall and all of the fun that goes along with it! We have spent lots of time outside and the girls are loving every minute of it. We have been to Howell's Pumpkin Patch (where we played, but did not pick pumpkins) We did that at our past Bishop's house. They have an awesome pumpkin patch and the girls loved picking out their own pumpkins. Actually, what they really loved was holding the kittens. We could not get them away from the kittens. They took about 10 seconds to pick a pumpkin and were right back to holding the kittens. Bishop Pence "gave" Hallie a kitten last year (it lives at his house, but it is hers). She named her kitten "Cinders" and literally, she has prayed for that kitten every night since she got it. This last time we went to see Cinders, one of the other kittens had been killed by another animal. In her prayers that night, Hal asked that "Cinders and her mom could be happy that their sister got killed by a wolf, that they would be safe and no more kittens would get killed and that Cinders would be safe while we went home for Christmas". She loves this kitten sooo much! Now Maggie has picked out a kitten, too. Hers is "Noodles" and she is following suit and praying for her kitten every night, too. I have some serious animal lovers! It is great.

Aaron and I got to go to an awesome Murder Mystery Party. The Jankes hosted such a great party! It was a blast and it was so much fun to see everyone in character. Aaron was a Spanish Golfer (Cougar Forest) and I was Miss Sugar Ann Flour- the town pastry chef! Looks like I need to layoff the cupcakes! It was a great time.

It looks like I may have a thumb sucker! THe last few times I have checked on Lainey, I have found her like this . . .

Right now I think it is adorable, but that could be a hard habit to break.

Here are a couple more pics of Lainey. I couldn't resist the side shot-- you have to see her sweet cheeks!

And finally to the title of my post. Quick background . . . I got an Ipod for my birthday. LOVE IT! My birthday was in August, but I am just getting around to loading all of our music onto the Ipod, so it has been a really fun thing for all of us lately. The other day we were riding in the car and an old school "Milli Vanilli" song came on. I thought the girls would prefer their Disney music, so I changed the song. Hallie immediately protested and said "turn the other song back on! I want to Rock the House!" I cracked up. So I was trying to find it and since I was also trying to drive, I found a similar song that I thought would sufficiently, "rock the house". Hallie again protested and said, "this song only rocks the car and I really want to rock the house!" So, back to Milli Vanilli and let me tell you, we rocked the house!

Lainey Shae

2008-09-23T19:57:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures of our little Lainey. Poor third child, I didn't even take her out of her wet onesie for the pictures, but at least you can see how she is growing and changing! Her smile is contagious. She will smile at anyone who pays attention to her. And if Hallie and Maggie are in front of her, she is completely entertained. She is getting more and more content as the days go on and has even slept throught the night the last few nights! It feels like she has always been a part of our family and we love her so much!

Waukee Homecoming Parade

2008-09-23T19:02:00.000-07:00

What a fun day! The girls got to be in the Homecoming Parade with their dance studio. It was so much fun. It made me a little nostalgic for High School days (a little). It was just fun to see the town pride and all of the high school kids and the band, ect. etc! The girls thought it was the coolest thing ever! We took Hallie and Maggie and their friends Ella, Mailee and Brooklyn to the parade, too. The plan was for Hallie, Ella and Brooklyn (the dancers) to ride on the flatbed and Maggie and Mailee to ride in the stroller that I would push. It turned out that Maggie and Mailee got to ride, too and they were so excited. They felt like such big kids. So all five girls just fit right in, chanting, "Waukee Warriors" and throwing handfuls of candy to the crowd. I tried to coach them on spacing out the throwing of candy, throwing a piece to each kid, but they didn't get it. And sadly enough, they were out of candy a mere 10 minutes into the parade! They didn't care. They had a blast. It was fun to watch them. What sweeties!

It got a little crazy after the parade. Poor Aaron had to run the parade route backwards to get he car, and I stayed at the park with the 6 girls! Yes, 6 girls! It was great until one decided she had to go potty! THen they all had to go potty and the craziness began! We trotted around the park, looking for restroom that was open. All of them were locked. So finally Aaron got back and we threw them into the car and drove across the street to the library., I sent them out, one by one, to Aaron as they finshed going potty and somehow they all ended up at storytime! I wouldn't have cared, except that it was 7:45 andnone of them had had dinner! Not to mention Lainey was poopy and SMELLY! So we finally talked them all into leaving before the last story and we ran through MCDonalds for some chicken nuggets and fries! It was a fun night. I think Aaron and I fell a little more in love as we relived the high school fun! There was something romantic about walking that parade route together (with six little girls!)

Lainey's Blessing

2008-09-17T21:33:00.001-07:00

I am finally ready to post a few pictures from Lainey's Blessing. It was a beautiful blessing and made me so grateful to be a member of the LDS church. I can't imagine my life without the gospel. I am so grateful for the blessing that I have in my three perfect daughters. They are everything to me. I LOVE being their mommy. Though the laundry piles are overwhelmingly high, the dishes are only sometimes done and the "to do" list is nowhere to be found, the joy that I feel everyday from my children is overwelming. I fear that I have lost a little in the stress of things and have been reminded lately to cherish these precious, fleeting moments with my babies. It truly is a gift and one that I will no longer take for granted. I realized that this is my last year to have all of my girls home with me everyday. I will never have that again. I vow to treasure it. I need to spend more time playing with my girls, letting them help me cook dinner and clean the house. Sometimes it makes for more work, but the sense of joy that we both feel from that kind of time is worth it. I am thankful for my blessings, my family, my health, and the opportunities that I have had and have now in my life. I just needed to express my gratitude. Thanks for indulging me!

UPDATE CITY!

2008-09-06T23:39:00.000-07:00

I have been a little busy for the past few weeks and have not been great at blogging. You may think that since I haven't written much, we haven't been up to much, but we have been doing all kinds of things. We have had tons of company and we have been playing a lot! I decided to do an update tonight since everyone is asleep and I can actually think. I know that when Lainey wakes up and wants to be fed 5 minutes after I fall asleep I am going to be sorry that I stayed up, but right now it feels ok! We had Lainey blessed in church last week and so my family was here for that. We had so much fun together. I have written about things and posted pictures all the way back to July when Aaron's family was here, too. Sorry for them all coming at once, but I have to do it when I can. I haven't downloaded the pictures from Lainey's blessing yet, so those are coming, but the rest should be here! I will start with the girls first day of school! They started school on Wednesday and they love it! I was a little worried that Maggie would cry, b/c she has been having some separation issues lately, but I convinced her to stay and she had such a great time! She came running out when I picked her up and was yelling, "It was fun, school is fun!". She told me that she painted and sang songs and played ring around the rosies. She had a blast! Hallie loved it as usual. She was so happy to be in a class with all of her friends. She came running out and told me that she and her friends, "saved a butterfly that was dead". (Figure that one out, will ya?) Anyway, she had to take me over to the flower where they set a butterfly that was no longer flying. She later told me that he was not dead anymore! Anyway, they loved school and I am so glad. Have fun catching up on our lives!

Apple Orchard

2008-09-06T23:29:00.001-07:00

Since my family was here, we decided to go out to Center Grove Apple Orchard again and have a little taste of Iowa. It was fun. The girls remember the three little pigs houses from last year and the old school house. They haven't stopped talking about those houses since last year, so they were pumped when we told them we were going to go back. We did the corn maze and had to find hidden objects in the corn. It was really fun. Iowa really is beautiful. I love all of the farming and orchards and open land.

Big Creek and Saylorville Lake

2008-09-06T23:18:00.000-07:00

Who knew that Iowa had such a fun lake? We didn't until today! My family came in town for Lainey's blessing and we went to Big Creek at Saylorville Lake and had a blast! My sister surprised me by cominginto town! I went to pick up my dad from the airport and right after I hugged him, he said, I have a surprise for you . . . and Emily came walking out the doors. I was sooooo excited! I have so missed my sister, so I was so happy. So we decided to go to Big Creek and we had so much fun! We rented a boat for an hour and went for a fun ride around the lake. The girls loved it. It felt so great to be on the water and to be outside. What a treat!

Lainey Update

2008-09-06T23:09:00.000-07:00

Oh, poor Lainey is suffering from 3rd child syndrome already. I have barely taken any pictures of her. If I remember to put all three kid in the car, I am doing good, forget remembering the camera. OR if I do remember to bring it, I don't have a free hand to get it out, so I am doing my best! She is a sweet baby and is changing so much already. She smiles and coos and we all love her so much! Her sisters take good care of her and love to watch every move she makes!

Happy Birthday to Me

2008-09-06T22:59:00.000-07:00

Somewhere amidst the chaos in our lives, I had a birthday. A couple of my friends did nice things for me, like take me to a movie and make me a cake and Aaron stayed home from school and let me sleep in. That was the greatest gift of all! We just hung out and had cake and ice cream with the Kovacs outside. I love being outside.The waether has been awesome! The girls wanted to ride their bikes and I cracked up when they came out wearing princess dresses and jewels. Only my girls! Anyway, it was a great day. I remember my mom saying that she really didn't need anything for her birthday, that having her kids be good and tell her that they loved her was present enough. I always thought she was crazy, but I actually felt that way this birthday. I woke up to my my girls singing happy birthday to me and hugging me. They told me happy birthday ALL DAY LONG! I held my perfectly beautiful brand new baby girl and watched my husband play with my kids and just had this overwhelming feeling of gratitude and joy. That really is the greates gift-- my family. I know that I am so blessed and I am so grateful for what I hav been given.
So it was a truly HAPPY birthday!

Amanda and Jason and the Iowa State Fair

2008-09-06T22:37:00.001-07:00

We had such a fun visit with my cousin Amanda and her boyfriend Jason. They came to visit from AZ. I am so happy that they decided to come out and see Lainey and the rest of us! We loved meeting Jason and spending the weekend with them. Amanda and I were roomies all through college and we know everything about each other, so it was only right that I should get to finally meet her boyfriend! He is such a great guy and is so easy going. I mean, we crammed a mattress on the floor in Lainey's room for him,(she slept in our room), with princess sheets and a Nemo pillow and he didn't complain a bit! We all went to the Iowa State Fair and had a blast. We ate yummy food, saw some of the local talent and livestock, the kids rode a ride and went to the petting zoo, and we saw the Shawn Johnson statue made out of butter! we loved it. By the end of the day, the kiddos were getting tired, so we took Lainey out of the stroller and Amanda carried her and Maggie rode in the baby seat. She thought she was pretty cool! Every evening that they were here, we watched the Olympics. We are Olympic fans and LOVE watching the competitions. Amanda hooked the girls up with new princess costumes just in time for a princess birthday party. They were so excited. We had such a fun weekend! Thanks for coming out!

Raccoon River

2008-09-06T22:27:00.001-07:00

We love Raccon River Park. We decided to take a picnic there to "celebrate" Aaron's last weekend of summer. (I don't know that celebrate is the right word). Anyway, it was so much fun. It totally reminded me of summer days as a kid. The girls chased butterflies and waded in the creek. They ran through the sprinklers and did "underdogs" on the swings. We skipped rocks and I have to brag for Aaron. He skipped a rock that skipped 11 times! It was crazy! I have never seen a rock skip that many times. We had a great summer having Aaron home and we are so sad that he has to go back to school already. We will miss him, but we made the most of a great summer!

Balloon Festival

2008-09-06T22:17:00.000-07:00

We made it out to Indianola again this year for the balloon festival. It was a ton of fun. The weasther was perfect and the girls loved it. They got to go out on the field and get up close to the balloons. Hallie loved it. Maggie was a little unsure. It was sooo loud! In years past, I didn't realize that there is a competition going on during the festival. It was fun to watch the balloon pilots try to earn points and do little tricks. Once again we had a great time enjoying one of Iowa's many festivals.

Nana and Papa

2008-09-06T21:55:00.001-07:00

We had a great time in July with Nana and Papa. We went to the zoo, the science center and even made it down to Nauvoo. We saw the Joseph Pageant and Aaron and I got to go to the temple. It was great. The kids finally got to ride the wagon. We seem to just miss it everytime, but we made it this time. And it's a good thing, too. We promised them the whole way there that they could ride it. So we we were glad we made it. We also got to celebrate Papa's birthday! We were so lucky to have them here with us and appreciate all of their help!