Christmas Eve Eve hike

We did get all of our shopping done yesterday on Christmas Eve Eve without too much trouble. Hooray!

But the highlight of the day was the 4.5 mile hike we went on. Perry stayed home with his respite worker (we still haven’t figured out how to include him on longer hikes in a successful way now that he is too big to carry, but he was quite happy to stay at home and play).

This was the longest hike that Layla and B have been on. Layla was an absolute rockstar on the trail.

Partly because her amazing big brother held her hand for a lot of it. Kacin and Layla can be so sweet together (when they are not fighting).

B enjoyed the beauty of the saguaro cactus everywhere. She has been soo great on our hikes. She usually just sleeps in the carrier.

I’ve been thinking about how I still feel like we haven’t figured out our Christmas traditions and activities now that we are in Arizona. But I think hiking around Christmas time is perfect for us. 

Merry Christmas Eve!

These Days

Christmas Eve is tomorrow. I’ve been all ready for Christmas for a week now, except for two lingering small items. I was certain I would have them by now. But I don’t. And then we realized a few days ago that a few of my kids still have some shopping to do, too. So we will be hitting the stores this afternoon. Yikes. I’m hoping it’s not too bad out there!

B is still all smiles and laughs now. How much we all love our little cuddle bug!

Did you notice Layla wiggling her tooth up there? She has yet another (I think this will be number 5 or 6) wiggly tooth.

We got to spend some more time with our new niece/cousin.

I can’t believe it is actually B who is the big one here. We are used to her being the mini one compared to everyone else.

Sorry she got you, Harper!

Twin cousins holding really close in age cousins. 

Eric and I had to be in Phoenix for the day because we had two meetings we needed to be at, one in the morning and one in the early afternoon (sorry no details to share, but we got some good news at these meetings and some not so wonderful news).

 In between meetings, we gave my dad a call and invited him to go on a short hike. My sister had just gotten into town so she joined us, too.

Layla and Perry had a Candy Cane Fun Run on their last day of school before the break. B and I joined Perry for his 1.3 mile run and then met Layla afterwards (the kindergarteners have a different route from the rest of the school).

Yesterday was cleaning day around our house. It is my lifelong dream to have my entire house clean at one time (closets included!). Some days that dream seems completely unattainable. Yesterday we were the closest to hitting that goal as we have ever been. My kids loved all of the projects I made them do. I just hope we can keep things somewhat together like this over the break. But that would be a Christmas miracle.

At the end of our day yesterday, I took Perry and Layla out for a run. That was a bad idea and a good idea. The good part was the fresh air, the exercise, and our chase of the hot air balloon nearby. The bad part was the “race” they ensued which led to hurt feelings, yelling, and some pushing. But seeing that balloon so close was pretty exciting (we got much closer when we got to the end of our street).

We also were able to visit the Mesa Temple lights this week. It was chilly night here in the desert! 

They have a beautiful nativity display inside the visitor’s center. This was my favorite nativity this year. It is simple, but there is something that I love about seeing Joseph playing with his baby Jesus.

The temple is one of my favorite places to visit at Christmas time. It’s such a good reminder about what’s most important this time of year.

the boy in the green shirt

Some people fear special needs. Or think that a disability is something that needs to be fixed and healed.

But if it wasn't for autism, would I have met the boy in the green shirt? If it wasn't for the challenges of autism, would we have known of his pure kindness and love? Without autism, would I feel these emotions as deeply? Would I truly see the goodness around me?

Eric and I decided Perry is ready to start taking gymnastics classes once a week. We tried out a couple of different gyms in order to find the best fit. The first class he tried was filled with boys ages 7-11, including the boy in the green shirt.

His shirt was a neon green and it caught my eye for a quick second. But other than that he was just another kid out on that mat. And my eyes and attention were on my little Perry, anyways.



I sat on the bench up high observing the class with the other parents. As his mother, I was feeling all of the feels watching my little guy participate in a class of typical peers. I'm not even sure how to describe to you how deep my emotions run when it comes to our Perry. I choked back tears to see him trying so hard to stretch his legs like the coach was showing them. He looked like just another boy in a gymnastics class.

Only I knew how hard it was for him to focus and to get his body to do what the coach was asking. I knew the struggle of getting him dressed in order to even show up at the class. I knew the prep it took to calm his anxiety enough to join the class. I knew how much more work it was for him to be out there compared to most of his peers. And he was out there trying so hard--and doing it!

I wanted to cheer, yet a piece of my heart still felt heavy. I smiled to myself, yet I felt some sadness. I was proud, yet I ached. All of the deep feels I can't even put a name, too. It's complicated when your child has special needs.

This class was long. 90 minutes long. I couldn't hear anything, but I could see the struggle and the exhaustion building as they went from place to place in the gym.

At the end of the class, I met Perry by the cubbies. He was quiet, but seemed in good spirits. When I asked the coach how he thought it went, he gave a brief positive report. 

Perry sat on the bench and I knelt on the ground helping him to get his shoes on and trying to get him to tell me what he thought.

That's when the boy in the green shirt approached us. He couldn't have been older than 9 years old. He walked up to Perry, touched his arm, and told him "Hey man, don't let that kid get into your head! You did a great job. Just don't listen to him."

To be honest, this friendly little kid caught me off guard. I didn't know anything negative had happened! I stayed cool and told him thanks and asked what had went on. He told me another kid thought Perry was cutting and then when Perry was whining about some of the things they were asked to do the other kid told Perry he wasn't going to put up with him anymore and just wasn't nice. Perry chimed in then about how that other kid was mean. The boy in the green shirt reiterated to Perry, "Don't let that kid get in your head! You're good, man." Then he walked off.

When we got outside to our car, we saw the boy in the green shirt sitting there waiting for his ride. When we walked by he called out a sincere, friendly goodbye and told Perry he would see him next week in class.

That's when I knew without a doubt that this boy in the green shirt was the best of the best. This boy was all goodness and kindness. He was a comforter, an encourager, and a defender. He was pure. He was a friend. He was brave. He did the right thing on his very own. And he probably didn't even realize how much his kindness to Perry meant to both of us. With kids in the car I couldn't wait any longer, but I wanted to stay and tell his mom how proud she should be of her son and how inspiring he was to me.

I am so grateful for this boy in the green shirt. He was a reminder that there are so many good people in the world. And good people come in all different shapes and sizes. You see, autism gives me the chance to see the good around me. How grateful I am for that.

three Christmas performances

Layla had a performance for her musical theater class. This is the class she takes with her cousin Macie so there was a big group to cheer them both on. It was a simple performance during the end of their regular class time, but we got to see them perform the songs they’ve been working on all semester—a song from Peter Pan and The Grinch. I have to say, Layla was much improved as a performer since last year.

Our second performance was quite impromptu, but just the cutest. We were watching a friend’s kids one evening, when the girls approached me decked like this.

They had created very detailed plans to perform "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer." Layla and her matching friend would be the backup singers. So they brought a mattress downstairs as their stage, wrote out some of the trickiest lyrics on a poster, made sure everything from their shoes to the size of the reindeer nose was just right, and asked me to play the music and hold the spotlight. When the girls’ mom and dad came to pick them up these three performed their show with a lot of pizzaz and enthusiasm.

Perry and our friends son decided they wanted in on the performing fun and did some impromptu dancing for us. I was on music and spotlight again so I didn’t get a picture of their moves.

Our third performance of the season was our first ever Allred Family Holiday Music Review. This new idea for a Christmas tradition was met with a little resistance from a few individuals. But my family humors me (and responds to my threats and yelling) and got to work. At the performance, we learned that we didn’t work as much as we should. If you know our family at all (or if you have ever set near us at church during the hymns), you know that we are not musically inclined in the slightest. But where there is a desire, and a mom pushing you, there is a way. Our way was two simple songs (not silly!) performed by each person. 

Layla started us out with her rendition of Rudolph on the “flute”.

Perry sat at the piano and tickled the ivory’s while I played his favorite version of Here Comes Santa Clause on my phone. He sang along to the chorus. 

Kacin played Away in a Manger and Kyler shared Angels We Have Heard on High.

I muddled through O Holy Night.

Eric sang to us, twice.

Kyler and Kacin sang together.

I accompanied Layla on the piano while she sang Jingle Bells. But the best performance of the night was probably baby B on the bells.

The audience was captivated by all of the Christmas music that evening.

Well, between all the fighting and the mess ups in our music, it wasn’t a perfect evening by any means. But I’m so completely glad we did it! It helped us to learn some things and to fill our home with some more of those beautiful Christmas songs (no matter how poorly played the message of the songs was the same). And I think the more we do stuff like this the better. So Eric and I announced to the kids the next music review will be at the end of January (a Disney theme this time).

Star Wars

Eric wanted to go during Christmas break, but I just couldn’t wait that long. A girl who has over ten Star Wars shirts needs to see the new movie opening weekend (because Star Wars shirts equate to fandom, or something).

We left baby girl at my sister’s house and took the rest of the kids to see the movie. 

Star Wars bonds our family together. They are movies that truly our whole family enjoys. Sometimes I worry that they are a little too violent for the little ones (especially maybe this new one), but then I think “eh, they’re fine”.  No bad dreams yet so I think we are ok.

May the force be with you on this week before Christmas! 

Santa x3

We have had some fun festive events to attend the last two weekends. At each one, we got a chance to visit with jolly ol’ St Nick. That means we’ve had the joy of meeting three Santa’s.

We started out at a CCA Christmas party. It was amazing—we saw Santa, did craft after craft, collected goodies, and bounced in the bounce house.

Right before we got up to take our turn with Santa, we asked Perry what he was going to ask him for. He told us an Optimus Prime Transformer. No more than one minute later, he was telling Santa that he wanted a Lego Batman set. Pretty much he has told each Santa (and us) a different thing every time. Hopefully this means he will be happy with anything Christmas morning.

B had her first visit with Santa. She grabbed a hold of his beard and ended up ripping out some strands when we pulled her away. Oops. Sorry, Santa!

Kyler helped Layla write out a letter for Santa.

Perry worked hard on his, too.

Our next visit to Santa was at our ward party. 

This time Kacin wanted a candy cane so he took a seat on Santa’s lap to get one.

Our neighborhood has a snow day every year. All of these Arizona desert kids get a patch of snow at the park to play in! 

So excited here about a dirty brown snow ball.

Then they all jumped into a cousins picture with Santa (missing a few cousins and our Kyler).

I think we had our fair share of Santa this year. Ho ho ho!