Happy Birthday Brynn!

Brynn has the unfortunate drudgery of having her birthday the week between Christmas and New Year's. For the record, I believe that all birthdays that week should simply be outlawed. We should close down the maternity ward at the local hospital for the week "for cleaning" or something of the sort. Kids born during this week just get shortchanged, plain and simple. Now before you start bellyaching about how unfair a "before Christmas" birthday is or the disadvantages of a "summer birthday when nobody is in school," let me just remind you that Christmas STILL takes precedence for the "betweeners" as I'll call them, and that "nobody is in school" the week between Christmas and New Year's either. And any semblance of a real birthday party (with friends, invites, etc.) has to take place two weeks before its real date, or two weeks after.

I know, I know, who cares? Well, a kid for one. I'd just as soon skip my birthdays altogether, but there's a lot to consider when you're "almost eight." I'll freely admit it, poor Brynn has perhaps the dumbest parents on the planet. At the time, we felt that a tax write-off sounded pretty wonderful. Well yah, for that one year's tax purposes everything was just dandy. I just don't see it helping us any now.

But lucky for her, we DID get to celebrate just a little. We made a cake at the cabin (wrong color evidently. Since when doesn't she like pink anymore?) But she DID get to blow candles out..... and she DID get to have a song sung to her (the memory of which still hurts my ears)....... and she DID get some birthday presents to open. Grandma and Grandpa Allred gave her perhaps the cutest cowboy boots I've ever seen (I'm going to start buying everything red so she can wear them everyday).

I know that I've written about Brynn before in a previous post, so I won't wax sentimental, but we DO LOVE HER and we're so grateful that she's ours! Happy Birthday Brynn!

Go Tell it on the Mountain

For some strange, strange reason, my mom was bound and determined to spend part of Christmas at the cabin this year. Some things you can wage a pretty good fight against, but this wasn't one of those things. It was pretty much understood that we were going to "holiday" in snow and 4-wheel drive. And I'm so glad we did. Don't tell her I said this, but she was right on this one. We had a blast.

We enjoyed MORE CHRISTMAS. What's there not to like about more Christmas? We pulled the kids around on sleds behind a four-wheeler, went sledding, some went snowboarding, found an even BIGGER sledding hill and tried it, made Grandma Tingey's toffee for old time's sake, played bingo (again for nostalgic reasons), ate until we were miserable, and slept in as late as we could. It was GREAT!

Christmas 2008

I hope everybody had (and is continuing to have) a wonderful holiday season. I know that we've had a great Christmas break so far. The parties have been fun and festive and it's been so great to reconnect with family members that we don't get to see too often. Christmas continues to be a special holiday for us. Thank goodness for Brynn and her energy and determination to keep Christmas alive with stories of Santa and visions of reindeer-drawn sleighs and endless letters to the North Pole, stuffed with trinkets and love letters and tiny surprises.

We spent Christmas Eve at Brook's parents and then returned home early enough in the evening to celebrate with our own traditions. When we lived in Colorado we didn't have any family to spend Christmas Eve with and so we created our own Eve. It's pretty standard fare..... dinner, a gingerbread house decorating contest between two teams, fake champagne, new pajamas, and Christmas stories. This year Zach didn't want to be on Brook's team again for the gingerbread contest (why not is up for debate), so Caitlyn agreed to pair up with him. Big mistake. I think he just ate candy and talked and talked and talked. In the end, Brook and Brynn had a carefully planned masterpiece and Caitlyn and Zach had a house with an upside down roof and candy haphazardly smashed onto one side. Brook and Brynn were unofficially declared the winners which made Brynn very proud. Maybe next year Caitlyn.

Multiple Collage Warning: I thought I'd throw some collages at you just for fun, but I'll understand if they give you a headache and make you want to throw something at the computer. Try to steady your breathing and think happy thoughts.

Our Very Own Dance Recital

We've had choir concerts, Christmas parties, and two dance recitals so far this season. Brook, Zach and I were feeling a little left out with the performance side of Christmas. So Caitlyn and Brynn kindly agreed to teach us a few moves and we put a little dance routine together just for you. Happy Holidays!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Looking for Ice Cream

Happy Anniversary Brook! Today is our 17th wedding anniversary. He is an incredible dad, husband and friend. I feel so lucky to be married to such a great guy. He makes me laugh constantly. He's a devoted dad and husband. He tells me daily that I'm beautiful, talented, wonderful, and that he loves me. I am honored to be his wife and overjoyed to be part of his life.

Brook and I grew up two miles apart, attended the same schools, and NEVER met. I knew who he was and he claims that he knew me (he's lying). We had common friends and by all reasoning should have run into one another, but it never happened..... until it was supposed to. We didn't officially meet until Brook had returned from his mission and we bumped into each other in the freezer section of Smith's Grocery store late one night.

I went looking for
a half gallon of chocolate chip ice cream.
Smith’s freezer section would do.

I found, instead, steady blue eyes that looked right through me.
A gentle smile and unsure nod -
Friendly chatter among friends -
And a heart that wouldn’t start thumping for hours.

I found nights of laughing, softball games and root beer freezes from Kirt’s Drive-In –
A chilly night when a ring went flying and the endless tears before it was found –
A December morning surrounded by family, well wishers, and spirits yet to come.

I found evening walks and changing houses –
Graduations, first jobs, and
Babies in white, one, two, three.

I found arguments and making up,
respect and friendship,
tolerance and devotion.

I found soccer games and first days of school,
hospital stays, grocery shopping, P.T.A meetings and
piano recitals (I thought the dentist was bad.)

I found clothing of white,
Baby gowns and a jumper.
I hold one to my face once in a while to try to remember what he smelled like years ago –
Baptismal clothes, unforgiving in their honesty that children grow up -
Starched shirts and blessings, handkerchiefs and tears.

I found photo albums and home movies –
Remember-when's and I-wish–we-could's,
Road trips and side trips and the road to Hana

I went looking for ice cream, but instead I found a best friend,
my life, my future..

and I found me.

Angels We Have Heard On High

Friday night we had the good fortune of attending a Christmas concert in downtown Salt Lake City. Every year the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performs a Christmas concert at the conference center and distinguished performers are invited as special guests to perform with them. Tickets are in high demand and randomly handed out through a lottery system. This year my parents, brother and sister and I all put in for the concert. While my parents and I both struck out, both Aaron and Jessica got four tickets each, both to the Friday night concert. We had 8 tickets and felt completely LUCKY! We met beforehand at Settebello, an Italian restaurant downtown. While I've never been to Italy, my family says that it's very authentic food. We loved it! The salads were delicious and the pizza was made with a thin crust and the most tasty sauce. We'll definitely be going back.

Here is the crew at dinner. My sister Jessica and my parents, Keith and Cheryl, are on the left.


Brynn and my gorgeous sister.

Brynn and my brother Aaron. He is the best uncle to her and she's fully aware of it.



I loved this salad and couldn't help but eat the thinly sliced parmigiano-reggiano first.


After dinner we stepped next door and had a gelato.


Jessica was so kind and let us take her tickets closer to the stage. It was so great!
The conference center is HUGE. I think that 21,000 people were there last night. The guest performers were Brian Stokes Mitchell and Edward Herrmann. We were in for such a treat. Brian Stokes Mitchell has the most amazing voice. He's a Tony award winner and has performed on Broadway in such plays as Man of La Mancha, Ragtime, Kiss Me Kate, and Kiss of the Spider Woman just to name a few. He officially has eight new fans.


Afterwards we (along with those 21,000 other people) walked down Main Street to get back to our cars. Christmas time in Salt Lake is so magical for us, though. The lights at Temple Square and Main Street and the horse drawn carriages bring back SO MANY great memories. Somehow Christmas isn't quite Christmas without seeing the lights there with kids in tow. There's no place quite like it and it's the quickest way for us to feel the Christmas spirit.

Below is a lesson I learned: Don't leave camera with kids while you use the restroom. Who knows what I'll find later on.

Bronco Popcorn

Brook became a Denver Broncos fan when he was still a little boy. He's continued with that dedication throughout his life and passed on that love to his own son, Zach. In fact, when we were still living in Pleasant View and had made the decision to move to Colorado (not a light decision to be made) we had to sit the kids down and tell them. We were NOT looking forward to that night and many tears were shed. Caitlyn was in 5th grade, Zach was in 3rd, and Brynn was only 4 (what I'd give to have them that young again). We tried to gently break the news that they'd be moving away from their family and friends and we did our best to make it sound fun..... an adventure! Caitlyn would have nothing of it and began to cry immediately. Brynn ignored us and continued to torture the dog, Izzy. Zach thought for a moment and asked if we'd be moving by Denver.
"Yes," we told him.
"Well, can we go to a Denver Broncos football game?" he asked.
"Of course. Absolutely." (Anything you guys want, we'll give it. We're so sorry for doing this to you.)
Zach just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Sure. I'm in." And that was that.
While living in Colorado, Brook made a point of taking him to a couple games each season which made for fun memories. And some run-ins with actual players made Zach a fan forever.
But the Denver Broncos are killing us this year! We never know which Denver team is going to show up for the football game. Will it be the one that loses to two really bad teams like the Chiefs and the Raiders? Or will it be the team which waltzes in and decides to beat the on-fire Jets? We never know what we'll see when we tune in. But we do know what we'll snack on. We make Bronco Popcorn for every game and it's become a tradition in our home. It's a recipe from Sue Allen in our old Pleasant View neighborhood.
Our Denver Bronco Popcorn
2 cups brown sugar
1 cup Karo corn syrup
1 stick butter
a dash of salt

Bring ingredients to a boil and boil for 5 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in one can sweetened condensed milk. Pour over about 3 microwave bags worth of butter flavored popcorn. Mix well. Enjoy!