March Miscellany

March brought more blossoms.  Our apple tree was gorgeous with its pink flowers.

James finished his project on the Pony Express.  He dressed up and made a mochila like the ones that the pony express riders used.  He even learned about his very own ancestor who rode!  Grandma Fisher and Lydia came to see all the 4th grade displays.

Since Grandma stayed an extra few days we were able to take her to the aquarium.  We went in the lorikeet cage and one of them got stuck in my hair!

One night as we were getting ready for Family Night there was a knock at the door.  When we went to answer we found a box of donuts left by the "FHE Donut Delivery".  It was the best surprise ever!

It was such a beautiful day before school that Alex couldn't help but climb the tree in the front yard.  I'm so glad that we have a house with trees!

Amy Fitzgibbons came over on pi day (3/14) and motivated me to make a pie.  She made some chocolate cream and I made lemon cream.  It was SO good!

I love these little yellow flowers that take over the southwest corner of the backyard in the spring!

And I love Lydia's little "cheese" face.

On St. Patrick's Day I bought some Froot Loops for breakfast.  Alex created a sweet note for me to find.

After school the boys discovered that a leprechaun had left some clues for them to discover.

After attending Grandpa Allred's funeral, Alex decided he needed to drink some pickle juice.

The pigeon that I always hear must have laid some eggs on our roof because a few different days the boys came in saying that someone threw an egg!  Each time we discovered a tiny little egg that was smashed on the patio.

One Sunday as we pulled into the garage I looked back to find 3 shirtless boys!  I guess they couldn't wait to get home into some more comfy clothes!

Lydia insisted that she snuggle with Henry one night.  It was pretty sweet.

All month long I saw these adorable Easter hats in the dollar spot.  I really wanted to buy one for Lydia but I just knew she'd never actually wear it.  The only way I got her to put it on was to tell her that we were taking a picture for daddy.  Isn't she adorable??

Birthday Celebrations!

James is always just happy to get anything on his birthday.  He doesn't have any expectations which is great but also tricky to know what to get him!  I think he was pleased this year.  William even made some coupons for him and Alex created a little creature.

He requested homemade pizza with a "10" out of pepperonis for dinner.

For dessert he wanted banana cream pie.

It's hard to believe we have another double-digit kid in our home.

A few days later we celebrated Rich in a "super" way.  The boys helped me put together a super hero package. All the gifts had to do with super heros in some form and the boys made cards with super heroes.  The boys were so excited to give him all the gifts.  

Earlier in the day Lydia found them all in my room and must have thought they were for her because I came upstairs to find that every single gift had been unwrapped!

That night we enjoyed some delicious mint chocolate cake.

It's always great to celebrate these two.  We love to tell James that Rich's best birthday was when we got to bring James home from the hospital.  It's hard to believe it's been 10 years!

Interview with a 10-year-old

James continues to be such a great part of our family.  He is funny and loves to tease but he is also caring and kind.  James is a happy helper and has even started to babysit for us on occasion. He is very responsible and gets up every morning on his own--he is always the first down to scripture time.  I can't believe James has reached the double digits!  Happy birthday, James!

What is your favorite...
color? hot pink
food?  hawaiian haystacks
toy?  microscope
show? Gravity Falls
animal?  wolf
book? Goosebumps
song? Carl Papa
What do you like to do?  play football
Who is your best friend?  Andrew, Zach, and Coltino (Colton)
What do you want to be when you grow up?  an ER doctor
Do you have a girlfriend?  NO

I am - 10

I am afraid of - William scaring me

I like - pie

I like to eat - pie

I don't like - real green beans

I know - what Bad Lip Readings are

I want to be - 11 next year

I like to watch - Gravity Falls

My hero is- mom and dad

I cry when - I get hurt

Mom gets mad when - I am disobedient

Mom is happy when - I'm obedient

I can't wait for - my 11th birthday!

Something Mom says to me - "you'll get a strike"

Something Dad says to me - "not right now"

My favorite place to go is - Disneyland

My Mom and Dad make me laugh by - tickling me

I know my mom loves me because - she's nice to me

I know my dad loves me because - he says that I am awesome

Grandpa Allred's funeral weekend

On the morning of February 21, 2017 my Grandpa Allred passed away in his sleep.  This was right before the trip my mom had planned to come visit us.  Because of this she was able to stay with us for a few extra days and then drive down to California.  A few days later we joined her for the funeral.  We took the boys out of school on March 10th just a little early and made it to California in time for the viewing that evening.

The Crane Family

The Fisher siblings (minus Rachelle... Vance felt the need to stand in for her)

The Allred Sisters (Nancy, Linda, Sharon Kaye, and Heidi)

Mom's cousins and uncle (Steven Goff, Uncle Harold, Michael Speth)

The Fisher's (minus Rachelle)

Vance and Lydia had a great time with their shadows while the adults visited.

 The next morning was the funeral.  It was so good to be with all the family beforehand.

 (Craig and Connie's family: Adam, Samantha, Will, Sarah, Ryan, and Trevor in the back)

  (Linda's girls: Keena, Chanelle, Kayla, Ciera)

(Linda and Jeff in the front.  Back: Mary, Devin, Kyle, Travis, Maryann, and Gordon)

 (Amanda, Heidi, Rainer, Amy--Heidi's friend, Tanner)

Everyone got a chance to say their last goodbyes.

The funeral was perfect--except for the fact that Lydia did not want to be in there.  Rich ended up taking her out and missing the whole thing.  The talks and memories shared were wonderful.  I am so glad that my boys were there to hear the stories and I loved when they would look over at me when they heard a story that they recognized!

After the funeral we headed to the graveside.  I haven't been there in a really long time.  There was an honor guard military presentation to honor the time that Grandpa served in the Army.

Then Uncle Craig dedicated the grave.

By this time we had some really hungry and tired kids.  So it was a good thing we had lunch!  It was a nice time to visit with everyone and look at the displays around the cultural hall.

This is the first time that so many of the cousins have been all together!  So many have been born since I was out of the house in college or married.  I am the oldest grandchild and I got to hold the youngest grandchild, Emma (who is about 8 months younger than Lydia).

My mom and all her siblings.

After changing (the boys were done being in church clothes!) we headed to Grandpa's house.  Travis was out front playing with all the little cousins.



Henry thought it was fantastic that he got thrown in the trashcan.

We got to sort through things and pick a keepsake.  I still have a few bigger items that I need to get next time we are down there.

Mom and Jacob had fun wearing this old lace bonnet.

And Rainer tried on Grandma's brown felt hat.

In the evening, Craig invited everyone over to his house to eat.  Craig and Connie were so great to host so many people.  The little cousins had a fun time wrestling the bigger cousins (Mason and Jacob).  William was even getting beat up on for a little while but he decided it wasn't for him.

Greatest Craig (as the boys call him) tried teaching the little boys that it is easier to ask forgiveness than permission... when they wanted to hop in the pool in just their underwear!  Some of them did get permission (at my insistence) and were ultra crazy to hop in that cold pool!

And because "the guys" were getting in the pool, Lydia really needed to as well.  Craig was so nice to help her get her feet wet and follow her around the pool.  (She really wanted to go off the diving board!)

Later Craig handed out everyone's dry undies.

Lydia is obsessed with keys of all kinds.  She just loved that Connie's house was decorated with keys everywhere!  Connie even gave her a few to keep!

Everyone sat around and visited for a long while.

Greatest Craig sat and talked with Henry for a while about his times getting lost as a little boy (because of our times losing Henry).  He even gave Henry a whistle for the next time he went on an adventure so that we could find him.  Henry felt really special.

After sacrament meeting on Sunday we headed back home.

We watched Ephraim's Rescue in the van since it is has one of our Allred relatives in the story.  It seemed appropriate.

Just outside of Vegas we stopped at the Seven Magic Mountains.  It was a fun little break to stretch our legs.

It was a long, exhausting, fun, family-filled weekend.  I'm so glad that we live close enough that we could all head down for a short but memorable trip.  And I'm especially grateful for the knowledge that Grandma and Grandpa are together again after a long 21 years and that I can see them again as well.