Halloween Decs

We found a box of Halloween decorations. It was actually a bit lucky that we found it amongst all the hundreds of thousands of other boxes that are in storage.

So we decorated.

Come What May, and Love It!

This move to Everett, Washington is really difficult for me. Yes, I know we are supposed to be going, but that means about three more months of transitional living.
 I was soo ready to move in to our own house and get truly settled . . .

And I miss our comfy king-sized bed. . .
And I will miss being so close to family . . .
And what about our poor boys who are in desperate need of some stability.

I set a goal for myself.

No complaining, out loud, about the move.
hmm, is what I wrote above complaining . . . or just explaining . . .

Last year, I made myself this little tile and it is displayed in my kitchen.

It is in reference to a talk given by Joseph B. Wirthlin. It really struck me. It was one of those things that I just couldn't get out of my head because it was exactly what I needed. My mother-in-law reminded me of this awesome you tube video:
Come What May and Love It!  

After a lot of pondering on his message and trying my hardest to stick to my goal, I think I am ready to

Go to Washington, and Love It!

Llama Llama Red Pajama

2009 October General Conference pajama tradition inspired by our current favorite bedtime story:

The much anticipated red pajama bottoms for all Allred family members were distributed Saturday evening (we do watch conference on Saturday, too, but two full days in the same red pajamas but would be a bit much for us messy folk). We feasted on both biscuits and gravy and the inspired messages from our current prophet and leaders.

I love how our new pajamas made the boys so excited to watch conference. They asked all week about when it would finally be conference. We bonded as we hung out in matching pajamas all day. Though Eric admitted feeling a little silly as we went on a family walk though the neighborhood . . .

Real Men ROAR!

Evidence that my dad has been spending a lot of time with my boys and that they actually listen to him:

I was making dinner. Kyler was sitting at the table working on a project. He gets up to get a drink and bangs his toe against the chair leg. He shouts, "Owww!" I ask if he's ok and he tells me what happened. I offer my sympathy because that really does hurt a lot. He sits back down on the chair. Then I hear the loudest "Roar, Roar, Roar" over and over again. Getting a little irritated, I ask him what he is doing and to please stop while he's here in the kitchen.

His response was

"But Grandpa says that men don't cry, they roar. So I was roaring!"

LeeLee's

LeeLee's Market is Eric's favorite store.

Mostly because they sell Brazilian food.

We took the boys on a field trip there so they could see a variety of asian fruits and vegetables (many of which I didn't even recognize--thank goodness for labels above the produce so I could at least sound smart to the boys when I would tell them what everything was), the live seafood swimming along oblivious to the fact that they will soon be someone's dinner, the whole roasted duck, the pig snouts and chicken hearts, the avacado ice cream, and much more!

We got our farofa and Guarana and then

we let each of the boys choose a treat, but it had to be something they've never had before.

Kyler chose a Korean milk candy with a rice paper covering that let out a nasty smell when you chewed it. I personally didn't try one. The smell was bad enough. Kyler and Eric liked them though!

Kacin did not (here is his half chewed candy that he spit out).

Kacin chose a Japanese strawberry flavored hard candy. Two thumbs up for that one.

We love LeeLee's!

Soccer Season

It's that time again . . .

But with a brand new player this year!

Go Kacin!

This little guy plays hard.

Taking a rest with Grandpa . . .

There has already been a bit of sibling rivalry with being on the same team, but they are learning to work together and support each other (and hopefully soon stop grabbing each other by the shirt and yelling that the other never shares the ball).

Kyler stats: Season #3, 2nd game in, scored 9 goals so far and 1 assist.

We all think the assist is pretty awesome and hope that there are more of those to come.

Watching the game on a blazing hot morning . . .

Are You Joking?!

Did you hear the one about the boy who got a promotion? Yeah, he moved his family from Utah to Arizona. And right when they were getting settled, 3 days before their closing date on their new house, he was asked to relocate again! This time to Washington!

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha

Well, the laughter is mixed with a lot of tears. And even more confusion and debate about what to do.

We did make our decision though, and hope that it is the best one for our family.

We are heading to Washington!

These last few days of utter turmoil and distress (exaggeration? I think not.) have taught us a few things about life.

*Don't tell yourself that you plan on being somewhere for at least 5 years. Shoot for 6 months and then you'll be happy if you make it longer.

*You don't need all your stuff (because it's in storage) or a big house to be happy. You just need your family, some creativity, and a good attitude.

*Your decisions always effect other people. That has been the hardest thing about this decision. The poor family that we were buying the house from had just moved out when we got the word about our relocation. It was the hardest thing to make the decision to back out of the house and accept the position in Washington. I cry for them and pray that things will work out for the best for their family.

*The father (in this case, Eric) is the head of the house. He can be trusted to make wise decisions for the family (with guidance and support from the wife).

*Have patience!

*This is a good talk that helped us as we made our decision: Revelation 

*When you think you've already learned your lesson to trust in the Lord, you've really only begun to scratch the surface.

*DQ coupons (buy one get one free blizzards!) are very nice.

When we talked with the boys about the move to Washington, Kyler's first question was "Do they speak English there?" Since that question, we have spent a lot of time on google earth and looking at videos and pictures of our new state. We have a few more months before the move, so for now, we will be enjoying our time in Arizona and anxiously awaiting the start of a new adventure.