snoqualmie

Jenny was kind enough to watch our kids for two days and one night, even when she was hit with a cold, so we could run away for a little while.

I have learned the value of taking time to relax every now and then. An occasional short time away does wonders. Especially when we escape to a place where I can do this.

And then soak in mineral pools.

We indulged in the biggest breakfast known to man while sitting in our own private dining nook overlooking the beautiful waterfall of Snoqualmie.

We got lots of Christmas shopping done together and I thoroughly enjoyed sleeping in past 7am.

But just like every time we are away from our kids, we talked about Kyler, Kacin, Perry, and Layla in nearly all of our conversations. We were quite happy to come back home and get all their hugs and get back to the day to day of being mom and dad.

snow day

Layla has become our christmas and winter expert. She peppers us with questions and talks to us about santa, his reindeer, and the north pole. She wraps presents (books and toys she finds around the house) for santa and people in our family. She insisted she would be the one to put the star on top of the christmas tree and that she would need a ladder to get up that high (good thing it was her turn anyways). She asks each of us what we want for christmas. every. day. She plays with and arranges the nativity. She makes pictures for santa. She knew exactly what she needed to do when the first snow fell.

She wanted a snow man. With a carrot for a nose. When we didn't have anymore carrots, she settled for a grape.

Kacin helped her with her sweet little snowman.

Everyone had a few minutes of fun in the snow.

Then we had some more fun in the freezing cold at the zoo.

A snowy, cold day ended up being a pretty good day to see some animals since most animals were near the glass or in their indoor homes to stay warm.

Perry walked around like this all day. We would turn his hat up so he could see, but he would immediately turn it down and walk with his head tipped back. My goofy little one.

The first day of snow is always a fun one.

Thanksgiving 2014

My boys were all smiles on thanksgiving day.

Spending the day with your family equates to this, apparently.

Maybe it was because they were jealous that their mother is such an amazing super model.

That's the picture that will soon be adorning the world's walls. I tell you what.

At least eric still loves me.

 E worked from home all day on Thanksgiving, and the day after, and the day after, and so on. I was soo grateful to have Jenny around.

Her favorite niece and nephews were pretty happy to have her around for a week, too.

Kacin told me to walk towards the sink. He was pretty proud of the fact he got a picture of me (an Allred) walking under the Allred sign in the kitchen.

He captured this gem, too. I can't blame him. It's my fault for posing this way.

But I do love that he caught me kissing an owie all better. I wasn't even posing. See, I am nice sometimes.

In between running reports and phone calls, E smoked another delicious turkey while Jen and I cooked up the rest of our evening feast.

Yum.

We ate our meal in courses because we were starved and the turkey wasn't quite ready yet. During each course we shared what we were thankful for.

I am so thankful for this family of mine.

His 11th Birthday

Our Kyler is eleven. 

We're so proud of this boy. 

This boy who loves posing for pictures.

We celebrated his birthday at home after picking his aunt Jenny up from the airport. We played Harry Potter Trivia games, ate a Hogwarts themed mixed up meal, sang happy birthday over Texas sheet cake, opened presents, and then watched the 6th Harry Potter movie.

If you haven't done a mixed up meal before they are really fun. And an Allen family tradition. You plan your menu and then assign names to each item. Make sure you also assign a name to each piece of your silverware. Your guests look over the menu of funny names and write down their orders. They choose three items from the list for each of three courses. 

Once all orders have been placed, you use your fancy little cheat sheet and fill each person's plate course by course. Sometimes you win (like when Layla ordered beans, a spoon, and a cup of juice), and sometimes you lose (like when Kyler got a plate with a little pepper sprinkled on, a knife, and a fork). You may eat with your hands or have to wait patiently until you get to a course in which you ordered the good stuff. Napkins are always available, you have to return everything you ordered at the end of each course (no keeping your fork to use again), and after the three courses, if you are still hungry, you are welcome to serve yourself whatever food you'd like. I was too busy serving plates to get any pictures of the eating of the meal.

We love our 11 year old!