Sliding and Gliding in the Mountains

We spent an afternoon in the mountains! I hope our boys will appreciate what a beautiful world our Heavenly Father has created for us. It was a perfect day--blue skies, a few clouds-- and amazing views of it all. At Snowbird, we rode the tram up and down the mountain and then I rode the Alpine Slide with each of the boys.

See You Later, Grandma

We were so happy to have you here, Grandma! There were a lot of fun adventures, good times, and some relief for me :).

Picnic in the Backyard

A Roll Through the Gardens

We got her on the trampoline!

Love you, Mom! Thanks again for coming!!!

The Great Salt Lake

We got one more thing checked off of our list of Things to Do Before We Leave Utah--we floated in the Great Salt Lake!

Sharks and Bubblegum Ice Cream

We escaped the shark attack and got some ice cream . . .

As you can see, he thoroughly enjoyed the ice cream and picking out all the bubblegum to eat at the end.

. . . In the Rain

I wasn't exactly Singing In the Rain on Friday, but I was . . .

Sitting on the Back Patio Furniture with my Mom In the Rain

Packing In the Rain

Waiting for Eric to Come Home In the Rain

Walking with Pattie and Getting Drenched In the Rain

Royal Treatment

My mom is here! She is keeping me sane while Eric is away for work.

She received royal treatment today. Kyler was set on bringing her breakfast in bed (he said because she's too old to come up the stairs for breakfast :) Ha ha. ). So the boys woke her up this morning with a plate of eggs, toast, and yogurt.

Kyler wanted her to sleep in his bed last night, but she ended up in the guest room in the basement because he decided she's too short to climb up into his big bed.

My mom's really not too old or too short, but we laughed a lot at his perception.

This morning Grandma got a high-profile tour of some of the most prestigious hangouts around town--the parks. We walked her up, down, and all around the neighborhood so she could see the 5 parks we frequent. We first went by the Church Park and then made a stop at the Park with Swings. We then headed all the way up the hill to the Fishy Park. After a long rest under a shady tree, we started for home and passed by the Basketball Park and the Soccer Practice Park.

We must have wore her out because now she's taking a nap. :) She's preparing for our next adventures . . .

Sugarland

Radio: That song was by the band Sugarland.
Kacin: Sugarland?
Kyler: Sugarland is NOT healthy.

Happy Father's Day!

Kyler: "I like it when Daddy makes pretzels for me. I Like playing games with him. I like doing fun activities with him. He goes to church with us. He jumps us really high on the trampoline. Daddy sprays cologne on us some Sundays."

Kacin: "Daddy plays with us and be's silly to us. He does silly stuff to us, like tickle us. He be's nice and I be's nice to him. I be nice to people when they are hurt and not feeling good. He loves us! He is super nice."

Happy Father's Day!

Family Rule #2

Allred Family Rule #2: Eric and Laura must frequently go out, alone, on dates to spend time together, talk, and do fun things.

Tonight, our date night brought us to Borders book store.

We found this book,

settled down with a hot chocolate at the little cafe,
and made a discovery.
We need to read more books.

Out of the 1001 listed, I had only read 30 and Eric had only read 21!

So we bought 3 new books to get us going in the right direction.

The fun didn't stop there.

We ate dinner, ice cream, and went on a walk.

Oh, yeah. And it got even better . . .

We went home and put the boys to bed . . .

And guess what was on TV?!

That's right.

High School Musical and High School Musical 2--the sing along and dance along!

Not only did we get to see the movies for the first time,

but we were instructed in 2 of the cool dances and got to follow the words on the screen as we belted it out.

Eric says if we had been in High School together he would be Troy and I would be Gabriella.

Ahhhh.

Don't you love date night?

This is . . .

This is the chicken that flew to the top of the fence.These are the wings that had to be clipped because of the chicken that flew to the top of the fence.

This is the Eric who chased the rest of the chickens to clip the wings because of the chicken that flew to the top of the fence.This is the branch that Eric ran into because he chased the rest of the chickens to clip the wings because of the chicken that flew to the top of the fence.This is the scalp (see the hair) from Eric's head that got caught on the branch that Eric ran into because he chased the rest of the chickens to clip the wings because of the chicken that flew to the top of the fence.This is the puddle of blood (see the dark spot in the grass) that gushed from Eric's head when the scalp got caught on the branch that Eric ran into because he chased the rest of the chickens to clip the wings because of the chicken that flew to the top of the fence.This is the 10 cm gash and the 11 staples to stop the blood that made the puddle when the scalp got caught on the branch that Eric ran into because he chased the rest of the chickens to clip the wings because of the chicken that flew to the top of the fence.

Notable Comments from the Evening:

*Kacin: (as the blood literally shoots from Eric's head) "It's not bleeding that bad, Daddy."

*Eric: "Do you want me to drive to urgent care?"

Laura: "I'm OK. I haven't passed out yet . . ."

*Eric: (later on at Urgent Care) "Kyler, would you please throw my juice away."

Kyler: "Get up and do it yourself."

Eric and Laura: lecture about being kind, daddy's hurt, service, thoughtfulness, love, etc. etc.

Laura: "What would you want us to do if you were the one hurt like daddy?"

Kyler: "I wouldn't get hurt on that tree. I'm not tall enough!"

*Kacin: (saying the family prayer tonight) "Please bless that daddy won't run into trees."

Amen to that one, Kacin!!

All in a Week's Time . . .

Our visit to the Valley of the Sun ended up being pretty busy. And I thought I'd have nothing to do while Eric was working . . .

Our week consisted of (in no particular order) . . .

*Lots of swimming at our hotel

*A nice visit with Eric's parents and sister

*Looking at about 30 houses, putting offers on 2, and ending up with nothing

*Lots of time for Kyler and Kacin to spend with Grandma Barb and Grandpa Brent being spoiled and having fun. Kyler loved to take naps with his Grandpa, even though it really just consisted of watching a lot of TV. (Thank you SO much for watching them when we needed it!!)

*Seeing Jacqui perform as a cheerleader in High School Musical at Broadway Palms dinner theater (As you can see, Kacin did a lot of watching! Ha ha. As soon as he ate 2 plates of food and dessert and the play started, he fell soundly asleep)

*A KFC picnic on the truck with Jenny because my mom won KFC gift certificates from the radio (Winner, Winner, Chicken Dinner)

*Making cookies with Natalie, but never feeding the ducks (maybe next time)

*A lovely trip to the Zoo. We all loved the train ride and Monkey village where you get to be in the cage with the cute, squirrel monkeys

Can you spy the monkeys??

I think the water play area was my mom's favorite . . .

*Dairy Queen Blizzards! Real Dairy Queen!

*A "plane ride" to Greece (The sisters planned a date night and the guys were in for quite the night). We rode on an "airplane" in Jacqui's living room, ate peanuts, and watched the beautiful sights of Greece out of our "window" (aka the TV). We exited the plane and decked out in Greek toga's (of sorts). We ate gyros and greek salad. We made clay sculptures.

Eric's tongue is sticking out--which means he is concentrating

Finally, we participated in the "Didn't Quite Make it to the Real Olympics" Couples Competition. We had exciting events and a few injuries. There was Bottom Balancing (on the big exercise ball), The Blow (keep the cupcake holder in the air), Bobsledding (on the longboards), Chariot Racing (piggyback), Javelin Throw (throw the skewer the farthest), Frog Throw (fun with velcro).

The gold medalists were Aaron and Jenny. The silver went to Jacqui and Josh. Bronze medalists were Tyson and Stefanie. We won't mention who came in last . . .