It's the most wonderful time of the Year!

We have been so busy the last couple of weeks with Christmas Festivities. This truly is our family's favorite time of the year. The kids have been bouncing off the walls and counting down the days until Christmas. I believe we're at T-minus 2 days and 3 hours until Christmas. Here's a sneak peek at all the fun we've been having. If only Christmas could last all year!

Christmas would not be Christmas at our house without homemade sugar cookies. This is our yearly tradition that the kids absolutely love. Cody wins the prize this year for eating the most frosting. He kept saying "I'm sooo hungry" as he was eating it by the spoonful.

Lauren built this snowman all by herself. She was so proud! With all the snow we have been getting the kids have loved playing out in it.

While our cousins were in town for our grandma's funeral we went to temple square to see the lights. It was so fun and so cold!! Cody cried the whole night because he wanted to get out of the stroller and run around (like that would be a good idea??)

I'm so glad that Connor hasn't outgrown sitting on Santa's lap. Our awesome neighbors have a big Christmas party each year and Santa visits their playhouse in the backyard. We look forward to this every year. Cody would not have a thing to do with him.

One night for family night a bunch of our friends got together to go caroling. We had so much fun! The kids had jingle bells that they would ring. They also wore reindeer ears. Connor even sported a blinking Rudolph nose. We piled into the back of our trucks and went all around the neighborhoods singing. We definitely brightened the holidays for a lot of families. We had donuts and hot chocolate by the fire afterwards.

It's the most wonderful time of the year!!!

a tribute

My dear, sweet grandma Jensen passed away last week. She was 88 years old. What a blessing it was for her to pass from this life to the next. She had suffered for a while and is now at peace and is reunited with my grandpa. I was able to be there just minutes after she passed and I cannot explain the wonderful peace and calm that I felt. Those special moments and time with her were my 'tender mercies' of comfort.
This week we celebrated her life and honored her for all that she accomplished in her 88 years. I was very close with my grandma and have so many great memories of her. She would buy me texas donuts at ZCMI, send cards each year on my birthday addressed to Mrs. Tony Allred, grab my cheeks and kiss me each time I visited and she always made sure I was flooded with knick-knacky gifts at Christmas. But more than doing things for me, I remember my grandma for the things she taught me. By example she taught me to work hard, be frugal, be honest, to love the gospel and my Savior, to be resourceful, creative, strong and generous. She taught me to always do my best, to face adversity with optimism and to always be grateful for my blessings. I could go on and on about the amazing and wonderful woman my grandma was. She left a great legacy that I feel so grateful to be a part of. As life now goes on I will think of her often and I know that thinking of her will give me strength through my life's journey. I love and miss you grandma!

Anyone want a leg?

This is my favorite picture from Thanksgiving! This is all that Connor ate. He skipped right over the mashed potatoes & gravy, stuffing, roll, green beans, sweet potatoes and salad and went right for the meat.
(And the other day he asked me what a carnivore was.)

Birthday Celebrations

Here are pictures from Connor's birthday celebrations. He loved waking up to his candy birthday card. He showed it to everyone who came over and he left the candy on for a week.



We had the grandparents over for cake and ice cream. Connor wanted a football cake and this is what he got.



Here's Connor with all of his birthday presents. His favorites were the ipod, camera, lego set and new quilt for his bed. He was so excited about all of his presents that he took pictures of each thing with his new camera.



It is hard to tell from this picture, but we are at Chuck-e-Cheese. Connor wanted to take some friends here to celebrate. The boys had an awesome time!! I came home with a migraine.



Can you tell what his favorite present was??

Happy Birthday Connor!

9 years ago today I became a mother. How my life has changed since then. The minute Connor was born I knew that he was a choice spirit. My life has been so blessed since adding him to our family. Connor was the sweetest baby. Always happy and smiling all the time. As a toddler he was so full of energy. He would do anything to get you to laugh. Now, as a 9 year old boy, he is just as sweet and smiley and happy and continues to make us laugh. In honor of his 9th birthday, here are the TOP 9 things I love about Connor....

1. He is so loving. He is very sensitive to the thoughts and feelings of others. He has a very soft heart and isn't afraid to show it. Each day he will come up to me and hug me and tell me he loves me.
   
2. He always keeps us laughing! Whether it's telling us a joke, making a funny face or doing something crazy, he loves making us laugh.
   
3. He is creative. I love this about Connor. He is always making up games to play, writing his own stories and drawing amazing pictures. He loves to create and has a great imagination to go along with it.
4. His dimple. Of all my children, Connor got the dimple. With every smile he gets to show it off.
5. He is thoughtful. Connor loves to check on me. He will ask, "Mom, what can I get you?", or,"What can I help with?" He will get me a drink if he thinks I need one or simply rub my back. A few weeks ago he fixed me breakfast in bed for no reason. When we are out he holds the door open for us. What a guy!!
6. He is FUN! Connor is so fun to be around. I think this is one quality that makes it so easy for him to make friends. He could make some fun out of nothing.
   
7. He is a great big brother. Being the oldest we expect a lot from Connor. He has always been good to watch out for his younger brother and sister. He tries to set a good example and always helps when he is needed.
8. He is smart. Early on we knew that Connor was going to be smart. At an early age he could build amazing things with legos, solve puzzles and problem solve. He has always been at the top of his class in school. He is an awesome reader. He loves to figure things out on his own and has plenty of advice to give the rest of us :).
9. He is genuine. Connor is genuinely nice, kind, and sweet. He knows how to just be himself. He lives how he knows he should and tries his best at everything he does.

We love you Connor!!!

Here's a look back through the years....

From the mouth of babes

Lauren gave the cutest talk in primary today that I just have to share. Realizing last night at 9:00 that she had the talk assignment, I had a dilemma. Do I just write a quick talk for her, or do I get her out of bed to write her own? I decided to get her up and am so glad that I did. She came up with this cute idea after I told her what the theme for her talk was supposed to be. And of course, with Lauren up and out of bed, here comes Connor out of bed. So much for getting the kids to bed early :). Enjoy!!!

Heavenly Father loves all of his children.
It doesn't matter if we are a boy or a girl, if we are short or tall.
It doesn't matter if we are big or small, or if we know how to play basketball.
If we are old or young - He loves us all.
(Connor helped with this picture. Might as well have him help since he was up)

It doesn't matter if our skin is brown or tan, green or blue, yellow or red.
It doesn't matter the color of our hair or eyes or how many freckles we have.
Heavenly Father loves all of His children.

It doesn't matter if you can't talk or walk.
It doesn't matter if you can't see with your eyes or hear with your ears.
Heavenly Father loves all of His children.

Heavenly Father loves you and me just the way we are.
The scriptures say that "we are ALL children of the most High."
We are all children of God who loves us no matter what!

It's Derby Time!!

The most exciting time of the year for a cub scout is the pinewood derby night! The boys look forward to this night all year long. There is something special about designing your own car, making it with your dad, and then taking it to the races. This year was Connor's 2nd pinewood derby. He and Tony started making their car early this year to avoid a paint disaster like last year (I think there is still paint on the tracks from last year's car). Seeing a cute little car evolve from a block of wood is quite a sight. I am definitely glad that Tony gets to handle this project. Connor was so proud of his car and loved how it turned out!

Connor's car won the 'best paint job' award. That says a lot considering our disaster from last year. Connor added all the money on top to make his car heavier and faster.

I love this picture! You can see Connor's white car in the middle lane. You can also see Connor and his friend full of anticipation at the starting line. And, yes, we have the cub scout leaders wear officiating shirts. We go all out with the decorations too.

Connor with his best cousin Caleb. Cut cars boys!!

Here are all the boys with their cars and awards. Connor has made a pinewood derby shrine in his room where he keeps his cars, awards, trophy and medals. Now we get to look forward to next year.

11 Years

Can you believe it?? Tony and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary over the weekend. 11 years! It seems like just yesterday that we were married, and then again, it seems like forever ago. It is hard to remember my life without Tony in it. We have always been best friends and are happier when we are together. I was only 15 when we first met in High School.
And as they say, 'the rest is history'. I knew the moment I first met him that there was something special about him.
11 years has brought us 3 beautiful kids, a house, a business, and best of all....11 years of wonderful memories together. We enjoy spending time together more than anything else. We cherish our time together after the kids are in bed at night, our dates together and just hanging out. So, here's to another great year with many, many more to come!! I love you babe!

Trick or Treat?

Another Halloween has come and gone. If my kids had a say, they would want Halloween to last forever. They love the fun, excitement, costumes, decorations, parties and of course, the candy! I thought I would share our fun weekend that was full of TRICKS and TREATS!

TREAT: Seeing how much my kids love dressing up for Halloween.
TRICK: Getting a picture with all 3 kids looking at the camera.

TREAT: Seeing Lauren get so excited about wearing make-up and dressing up as a show-girl.
TRICK: Getting the spray glitter out of her hair.

TREAT: Seeing Cody get totally into batman character while wearing his costume. He was running wild with the cape flying and all. For weeks he has been dressing up in it.
TRICK: Getting Cody out of batman character.

TREAT: Watching Connor's costume evolve over that last few months. It started as a skeleton. Then graduated to an 'undead skeleton' (whatever that is. He wanted to add blood and the cape). Then it escalated further to an 'undead skeleton warrior'(yep...had to add a weapon). He was very happy with the finished product!
TRICK: Keeping track of him with his friend posse.....who were also all dressed in black.

TREAT: Doing our first trunk-or-treat with our ward.
TRICK: Deciding how to decorate our trunk.

TREAT: Having great friends who talked us into our 'rivalry' decorations.
TRICK: Not getting too passionate about our love for BYU

TREAT: We love our great friends, the Walton's! Our rivalry is a fun and friendly one!
TRICK: How is BYU going to beat Utah this year??

TREAT: Seeing this pumpkin get demolished!
TRICK: Ha, ha, ha to whoever left it on our front porch. We know who you are:).