Blessed

As I sat in church today, I had the overwhelming feeling of how truly blessed I am. Have you ever noticed sometimes at church there is an underlying theme in all the testimonies and lessons; as if everyone knew just what to say to tie everything together? That is how it felt today, and I thought, "Everyone is talking just to me!" Apparently I needed to hear what the Lord had to say, and I wasn't listening to the still small voice, so he had the bulk of our ward tell me! That underlying theme today was trials and how to overcome. In the last two weeks I have felt like the world could crash around me at any moment. I've had some personal trials I've had to deal with, and at times I felt hopeless. But today as I sat in church, I couldn't help but start counting my blessings and all those hard things seemed to just melt into the back of my mind, as if they weren't even there. It felt like the Lord took all those hard things and tossed them aside and reminded me of the things I really need to focus on. In Relief Society our teacher had a couple of wonderful quotes. I can't even remember who they are by, but they made me really think about a couple of things. The first quote was something along the lines of fear and faith cannot coexist in the heart at the same time. How true is this, especially in the world today. If we go along and worry and fear about all the things that come our way, there is no room for faith, which means there is no room for the Lord. The second quote was something like we as women need to have courage to realize our imperfection as we strive for perfection. WOW! That really hit home. I know for me, I am so hard on myself if everything and everyone are not just pefect. We need to forget about the things that don't go right and keep striving for that perfection. I just feel at peace today as I realize how abundantly blessed I really am.

Allred Reunion

We just had our Allred family reunion this last weekend. We had lots of fun together, but we're all sooo tired!!! We stayed up late, ate good food, and chased kids til we couldn't run anymore!!! We had a surprise early 50th birthday party for Grandpa Kevin. Teralyn made wonderful cake for everyone. The kids even got their own cakes! Sarah took family pictures, and she did a great job. (She always does!) We can't wait to see those. It was so fun to see how much the kids had grown and how cute they played together. We only had a few "misunderstandings" but over all we had a great weekend. I can't wait to do it again! Love you all!

Fishing again

Yesterday Justin, Tyler, and I went to Matt Warners to try our luck at fishing there. Maycee wanted to stay with Grandma Neece. Well Just got Ty's pole ready and threw it in while we got mine ready to fish. About 2 minutes later, Ty had his first fish!!! He was so excited. He wasn't quite sure what to do, so I had to help him a little. So to make a long story short, Ty ended up catching 2 fish. Justin caught a monster of a fish. It was about 18 inches long, and probably close to 2 lbs. It was a really nice fish. His face was just priceless. He was just like Ty; the excitement was hardly containable!!! We talked to some older guys that had been there for 2 days and betweeen the two of them, they caught 3 fish. So we did really well. It was so nice to get up on the mountain. Thanks Grandpa Kerry for the advice. He told us the secret, and aparently it worked! We also saw lots of wildlife. It was a good day!

A visit to Aunt Teralyn and Uncle Kevin's

We went and visited Teralyn and Kevin a couple of months ago. (It has taken me this long to get it on here!) We had a really nice time. We played lots of games and had lots of time to chat and just hang out. We put a movie on for the kids and they got to eat popcorn before bed. They were so cute sitting on the couch together. You can't tell they're cousins, can you?!!!

My soldiers

A few months ago, Justin was getting ready for drill. He had to go to Camp Williams in SLC, so he had to pack a bag. He was almost ready when Ty comes running in all dressed up in his little ACU's that Justin had gotten him when he was at boot camp. He had a little bag and told Justin he was ready to go to drill with him. It was the cutest thing in the whole world. He was really upset when Justin told him he had to stay home with me. Ty loves his daddy so much. They remind me of each other so much. Ty wants to be just like Justin. I love watching my boys

together.

Fishin' at Jones' Hole

On Saturday, Jone's Hole Fish Hatchery had their kids fish free day. Grandma Neece and Grandpa Kevin took us up and we had a blast. It was nice to have so many adults to help with the kids, because the water is deep and just taking Ty anywhere right now challenging! Before we started, we got to feed the fish that they were raising (I don't know if that's the right word?) to let go in lakes and rivers all over. The kids thought that was really cool.

Then we headed down to where we were going to fish. We saw a snake while we were walking down to the ponds. Ty was in awe! He asked me "Is it real Mom?" Tori was a little scared. She didn't want to get close to it.

We had about an hour or so before we had to be done. Tori skunked us and caught 2. Ty didn't get any, so he was a little cranky. He told me, "I had a poopy day because I didn't catch a fish!" I hope we can go again soon so he can catch one. Maycee didn't really get it. She was more interested in the holes in the sidewalk than anything.

We just had so much fun. After they kicked us out because they were done, we went and had a picnic (in the truck) and drove home. I'm excited to do it again next year. We'll do it without the broken leg though!!!

5 week craziness!

Well as most of you have heard, Ty broke his femur a little over a week ago. We were visiting friends in Hurricane and had been there for about 3 hours. Ty was running around the table and tripped on the power cord to the laptop. It was a freak accident. He should have just got up and been fine. I saw him right after he fell, and his leg was twisted in a way even barbie's leg doesn't bend. I knew it was broke that second. We drove like crazy people to St. George since there is no hospital in Hurricane. They x rayed his leg and we found out he broke it. It was a spiral fracture in his left femur. The hospital had to move him to the pediactric wing a few blocks away since they were remodeling and didn't have that part done yet. So they put a splint on him and Ty and I rode the "short bus" to the other hospital. Justin and Newt went home to check on Mandy and Maycee who had been left in a rush. Tyler and I spent a restless night in the hospital. The next morning I talked to nurses and the doctor and social workers. We had to talk to social workers because they said the story was inconsistent with the break. Nothing really came of it, but they interogated Justin like he had done it. He was irate! About noon Ty was taken back to the other hospital and they put him under and set the break and put the cast on. He is in a cast from right above the belly button and all the way down his left leg and right above the knee on his right. He has been so tough; I didn't think a three year old could go through something like that and have such a good attitude. He was really mad the first few days about the cast. He'd wake up in the night and yell, "I hate this cast!!!" He has to be in the cast for 5 weeks as long as everything looks good. I am running out of ideas to do with a 3 year old that is hardly moveable and a little cranky at times. So if anyone has any good ideas for things to do, let me know!