Christmas tree oh Christmas Tree

When I woke up this morning I planned on going to Walmart ( because I live in Riverton Wyoming) and buying a Christmas Tree. I planned it to be a very simple task. I was going to to buy a fake tree because we seem to move around alot and every time we move look at that christmas tree sitting in storage and I think to myself " do I really want to bother trying to load you in the truck, then finding a spot for you in our new place" the answer to that question is always no , so without thinking about to complete and utter waste I take the tree to the dumpster and dump it. So once again this year I had to buy a tree. Ever since we helped my Mom decorate her tree LaNea has been bugging me non stop about decorating our tree. So I thought I would surprise her by buying her one today and getting it set up with the lights on before she got home from school. As I said before it seemed like a simple enough endeavor. I loaded up Hannah into the car and off we went to Wally World to find our Christmas Tree.

I was very discouraged and saddened to see that all the decent trees at the Walmart were around $100 . Most of them were prelit which I do not like. I did find a short , skinny tree for $20 , but my sister who had happened to call right when I was walking into the store, convinced me that I really did not want a dingy $20 Christmas Tree. I figured she was right so Hannah and I continued our search. Of course Hannah really wanted a pink tree and the pricey snow covered one; but in the end I think she would have been happy with the $20 tree after all she is only 3. Anyway I wondered over to the   outdoor section to to my delight they were selling "freshly" cut tree's for only $34. I had not considered getting a live tree, they are nice but messy , and you have to water them. But then I looked again at all my other options and figured a live tree would be better then a dingy $20 one that would probably get thrown away at the next move anyway. So I took the plunge , I committed to buying a real tree.

When I went to pay for the tree in the outdoor section , the debit card machine didn't work. So I had to wait and wait while holding a 30 pound 3 year old. Finally someone came to fix the problem. He could not fix the problem. So I had to walk pushing a shopping cart while trying to carry Hannah who refused to walk. I am sure all mothers no the joy of trying to push a cart with one hand while holding a child with your other. Anyway I had to walk all the way to the automotive section to pay for my tree.

Well after that and then trying to figure out where to park  so I could pick up my tree, Hannah and I were headed home with our tree. Hannah was very happy about the real tree. I was still a little apprehensive. One of the problems I had  had a strong walmart employee load the tree into the back of my SUV for me ,but when I got home he was not there to help me carry it into the house. So after a struggle I finally got the tree into the house. I got it in there only to realize the it was too tall for out vaulted ceiling. No matter I had to cut a little bit off the bottom anyway I will just cut off extra .(Side note my husband is out of town until Wednesday). I went down to the basement to find a hand saw I was sure my husband had one laying around. He didn't but he had a big scary electric saw , that I was not willing to use( yes I am a wimp). But not one to give up easily I found a old rusted  hand ax. I felt it it seemed sharp enough. Imagines of the old movies where loggers cut down  trees using nothing but an ax flashed through my head. Excited that I was going to make this work. I dashed back into the house ax in hand. I started hacking at that thing. At first it seemed to me that I was making good progress, but after awhile I realized that I was only half way through and my arm was aching and my hand felt like it would never unclench again. Feeling discouraged visions of that dingy Christmas tree danced in my head. I wondered if Walmart would take my partially hacked Christmas Tree back. After stopping to make lunch for Hannah and I , I went back to my task. Determined to get the bottom of that tree chopped off I put all my energy into it, hacking away. Encouraged by my progress I began to sing. Finally , finally , it came off. I held that piece in my hand and about cried. I had done it.

I thought the hard part was over. I was wrong. I still had pine needles all over my living room floor, and I had to get the tree into the stand. I knew Hannah was not going to be much help but determined I started the task. I don't know if anyone else has attempted  to hold up a huge tree with one hand while trying to screw it in with another, it is not an easy thing to do. It kept falling over and the screws were just not screwing in, plus I had my 3 year old trying to be helpful. Finally discouraged I stood up gave the tree a couple shakes in frustration and low and behold it held. My shakes of frustration must have moved it around enough that that tree held into the place. Sure it was leaning a little. But it was sturdy I tested it. That tree was not going to budge. Finally I had done it. Now I just have to clean up those pine needles.

                                       The piece of the trunk I had hacked off with the old ax

                                            The tree lit and ready for the girls to decorate.

The Spineless Skeleton

Camp Yuba

 

 

 

 

On September 8th thanks to my husbands encouragement I completed my first triathlon. I didn't get a podium finish , nor did I finish anyway close to first but I did finish. Since it was a Sprint it was a 1/2 mile swim, 13 mile bike ride, and a 5K run. I had done some training before hand but probably not as much as I should have. I went swimming maybe once since there was really no time to go. I did a lot of biking and running to prepare since I could do that pushing a stroller and pulling a bike trailer. Before the race I had never ridden a bike for 13 miles the most I had biked was 7 miles. So I surprised that I was able to do 13 miles with out much trouble. Of course when I had biked for practice I had done it riding a cheap K-mart mountain bike pulling a trailer. In the race I rode Jonny's mountain bike, but it weighs less and he had put street tires on it , so I think that made a difference. I wasn't too far behind all the riders on their fancy street bikes.

 

Our day started very early . I didn't sleep well I kept getting up looking at the clock convinced that the alarm we set would not go off. It was about an hour drive to Yuba Reseviour from Genola where we were staying. When we got there it was really cold and  thought of getting into the water was sickening , my wet suit was short sleeved so that made me nervous. But the water was warm even with the outside temperture being cool. When the race was about to the start I felt like a lemming getting into the water with a bunch of other's in bright green swim caps and black wet suits. I was nervous to start the swim since the course seemed much longer than 1/2 a mile. I was convinced that I would never make it out of the water alive. I even told Jonny to tell the girls that I loved them . But when  it was the womens turn to start I surpirsed myself with how well I did. In the beginning when my heat started I got kicked sevral times and kicked many people my self. Then I started to get a nice to steady speed when every one spread out and felt that I was gliding in the water. When I finally looked up to see how well I was doing , I found that I was had gone too far left so I had to swim back to all the rest of the racers, that annoyed me because that probably added a couple of minutes to my time. When I got out of the water and made it to out transition area I was pleasantly surprised to see that I beat Jonny out of the water , even though the men started before the women. I actually exited the water with a whole pack of swimmers many of them men. Sadly though I saw that there were not  too many still left in the water.

 

The bike ride was just really fun. It was a little discouraging to see all the people on there street bikes pass me but I still felt like I kept a pretty good pace. Every time someone passed they would all call out " good job". So that aspect is fun since it  really is an individual sport every one is cheering everyone on. I did feel guilty about my lack of sportsmanship when , after I had turned around on the bike course and I passed Jonny going to opposite direction  I taunted him, but when he finally caught up to me and passed me , he told me I was doing a really great job as he speed pass me on his fancy road bike. I guess men are nicer than women. We actually did finish the bike ride at about the same time. Getting off the bike my legs felt like jelly and I could hardly walk it took a few minutes for that sensation to wear off. Jonny had to make a pit stop at the bathroom so I passed him up. He eventually caught up to me and we ran together for awhile. Until I decided he was going too slow and sped ahead. I did   walk for a little bit just because I was so exhausted by that time. The finish line was a welcome sight. It was deceiving though because it  looked closer than it really was. I have to thank to girl I was running next to for keeping me going. We stayed neck and neck , we knew we were in the same age group so we wanted to pass each other. I did end beating her . It is fun running across the finish line because there is an announcer reading you name and information. Then you are greeted by people who want to give you a medal,

 

In the end I felt really proud of myself. I didn't break any records or get a great time. But I accomplished something and that made me feel good. I think I will look forward to more triathlons in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

LaNea's first day of kindergarten   went more smooth than I expected. I knew LaNea would have an easy time and never look back which is what happened. In fact she seemed a bit annoyed that I wasn't leaving. What I expected was that I would be wiping the tears away , as I walked back from the school. Although I felt a little emoitonal about it no tears flowed.

I dropped her off at the play ground which she seemed happy with, then Hannah and I went to  the office and  her classroom to drop some things off. Then I could not resist going back to the playground to make sure she was okay. Then when the bell rang I followed her inside , I saw other parents doing it so I assumed it was fine. The teacher tasfully kicked us all out by saying " okay kids wave good bye to your parents". Which was probably a good thing since Hannah was trying to sit on the rug with the big kids.  Hannah and I walked slowly back home, feeling a bit lost and wondering how we were going to fill our days.

Since we are across the street from the school I found my self standing in out front yard and peeking at her at recess, praying that she will make fit in and make friends. I saw her running around going up and down the slide .

Jonny thought I was being a bit dramatic last night. But the thing is the last 5 years my years my life has revolved around LaNea and Hannah. Now that LaNea is going to be gone from 8 to 3 I feel like a phase of my life has ended. I still have Hannah at home, and  hopefully more children. But I still feel a loss. I am glad that Hannah and I will be kept so busy with story time, preschool and playgroups.  It will also be fun to have this specail time with Hannah this year, just me and her, I hope that I will learn more about her and that we will ahve fun.
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LaNea's first plane ride and Alabama

I just returned from visiting my little sister in the state of Alabama. She lives with her husband and 18 month old son in Huntsville, Alabama. A place that is packed with history. Athens a town near Huntvilles was pretty much detroyed by the union army during the Civil War, ironically Athens and other towns around were anti-sucession towns. The main reason for the destruction  being the railroad that went through these towns. We spent alot of time in Athens , they  have a very cute town square. Their   railway station is one of the few buildings that stood though the war . We visted a few Battle sites here. One of the sites is in the , middle of  an intersection now. Stopped at the red light we joked that when the soilders became hungry they could walk over to Burger King , or KFC and get a bit to eat. Other  sites were still very much left untouched. We spent an afternoon in the town of Elk-somthing I can't remember the excact name . We walked on their rails to trails trail, we were hoping to find the site of the bloodiest single day battle fought in Alabama. The trail was beautiful it was one of those where when you walked on it it immedailty became darker because the thich growth of tree's govering the trail .We walked slowly ,we had an 18 month and 5 year old with us. We anticipated some sort of plaque letting us know where the battle was fought but we never did find one. We found the site were we assumed the battle had been fought , a beautiful peaceful spot . It was hard to imagine that once , blood and terror invaded that tranquile setting.  Once again the absolute tradedy if the Civil War and the losses suffered by both sides sunk in. In one of teh pamplets it talked about all the soilders coming home from war to the Tennesse Vally and finding nothing but devestaion and starving families. We also visted a cementary in Athens that had the graves of some conferderate soilders.  I think that afternoon was  one of my most favorite parts of the my time in Alabama

I also enjoyed the Huntsville Botantical Gardens. They were beautful I love flowers and especailly their scents . I wish I had more time to walk through. They had a really fun childrens garden with water toys that LaNea and my nephew enjoyed. Also a big butterfly house which was so fun. I had never been inside a butterfly house before ( last time I was the hogle zoo it was closed) so that was quite a treat for me.

I could not believe how green in was there. I wondered if people who live in that part of the country ever get tired of seeing nothing but green. I did notice that there weren't many homes that were painted green I don't know if there is a correlation or not. I was a little envious of the lush greenery that the people there enjoy.

LaNea right  before "blast off" this is the only picture I could take before my battery died

 

 

LaNea absoulty loved flying, at least the take off part. On our  flight out of Casper she was the only kid on the flight, and she giggled like only LaNea can giggle during "blast off"  I heard many people comment laugh and comment on out cute she was. She thought it was so fun that there were trays attached to the seats infront , and she loved pulling it down so she could color, eat snacks and drink her complimentary drinks . On one flight we sat next to a 10 year old kid who was flying on his own. Immediatly I felt a maternal instict to mother him and make sure he was comfortable and had enough snacks. He was the sweetest kid. He offered LaNea some of his cookies which she loved. He on his way to Mexico to live with his sister and spent a semester going to school.

LaNea also loved her little  ,and he loved her as well. Of course there were times when she would get irritated with his lack of understanding how to play with toys. But for the most part they got along really well. She liked sitting next to him in the car and keeping him entertained on our car rides.  I enjoyed staying at my sisters home , her and her husband were wonderful hosts and I felt almost homesick leaving.

There is so much I could write about my trip, but I think the reader would get bored hearing everything about it. So if you want to hear more call me. I don't have pictures right now since I had forgotten to pack my battery charger for my camera and the batttery died pretty quickly . My sister took a bunch and I am very excited to see the,

Team Allred

Today Jonny and I competed in a Triathlon  as a 2 man relay team. I did the swim and Jonny did the bike ride and run. It was a sprint so the swim was a little 600 yards the bike ride was 13 miles and the run was a 5K. Jonny participated in a Sprint Triathalon before but he thought it would be fun for the 2 of us to compete together.


Neither of us spent much time training but we didn't do too bad. We finsihed altogether with a time time of 1 hr 30 min. It was 6 place out of 10 or 11 teams. The best time was 1 hr 4 min . My swim time was 13 min 30 sec which I was disapointed in . The Triathalon took place at the Riverton Aqautic center so it was not an open water swim. I enjoyed waiting my turn to get into the pool and visiting with the other racers.

Our team name was just Team Allred. Not very creative but after arguing for 5 min to come up with a creative team name and not agreeing on anything we gave up and just went with Team Allred. It was fun getting out of the pool rushing to to meet Jonny at his bike and passing of the chip. I really enjoy doing 5k's and other races because I live the adrenalian rush of getting to end and realizing that I accomplished something, even though I never come in 1st.

I am hoping that I can train and do all three events in a triathalon soon . Doing the race with my husband was fun and a good bonding experience.

Taken before the race started. Jonny is sporting his signature bandana that he wears everytime he runs

That is me standing on the ramp wating for my turn to get in the pool and start

                    I am the one wearing the green cap. The other  swimmer was right behind me the whole time but never passed me.

 Jonny starting the bike portion. He was excited because last time he didn't have a road bike so he did it with a mountain bike. A friend found this bike at a yard sale for $26 . It took $100 for new tires and a tune up. Still a very good deal

                                                             Starting the run

                                               Jonny trying to beat the other racer. He didn't beat him but was close. The man he was racing against told him after that he was glad that Jonny was racing against him because it pushed him harder

Well I can't find my cell phone which is driving me crazy. I have no idea where is could be and it is driving me crazy. I know it is somewhere in the house because I had it yesterday morning. And the only place we went yesterday was to the park and I didn't have my phone with me then , because I could not find it. The girls and I did take our dog Lugwig on a walk yesterday morning, so we after I realized the phone was no where in sight we got into the car and retraced out steps, which might have been in vain because I had dropped in probably 8 hours before , anyway I did get to listen to a little bit of Prairie Home Compain on the drive. I forgot how funny that radio show is. 

I have lost my phone before and it has always seemed to show up after a few hours but this is now going on 24 hours missing. I have been losing things a lot lately. The other day I got out a package of glue stick so I could do a project, got distracted by one of the kids , came back and could not find those glue sticks anywhere, and I had just had them a minute ago.I think I am going crazy , or maybe it is just because I have a 3 year old. She has been the culprit once or 2 when things have gone missing. My home is not spotless but it is not so cluttered that things get lost in piles of stuff. I put things away when  I am done , most of the time except for my shoes which is something that drives my poor husband crazy. Sadly the shoe thing has worn off on the girls. So Jonny is constantly going around the house picking up piles of shoes and putting them away. Which is nice of him but then when he does that the girls and I can't find our shoes, after looking all over we finally go to our closest and there they are.  Then there are times at the end of the day I just throw everything into a laundry hamper, there have been things in that hamper for months.

Anyway in the process of writing this blog I found my phone. I put it out on facebook that I needed to find my phone so can someone please call me. My sister called , and luckily it was while I was in the process of walking out to check in my car. I heard Roxett music ( all my sisters ring tone) coming from the grass. There was my phone laying in the grass. It turns out that yesterday the girls and I sat in the front lawn eating popcicles and I left my phone there.

My husband is going to invent a pager for my cell phone that attaches to the wall ( so I can't lose the pager) that way when I can't find my phone when he is at work I can use the pager.

 My birthday was extended this year. The Tuesday before my birthday we celebrated because Jonny thought he was going to be out of town, on Saturday. So Tuesday morning he annouced to me that he was taking the girls to the store with him to pick out my birthday presents ( He is so sneaky). I actaully thought that the best present was him  taking the girls and giving me the house to myself for an hour. They came back and although Jonny tried to be somewhat sneaky LaNea came into the house and annouced what her and Hannah had picked out for me. Which were little butterflies on a stick that I could stick in my flower garden. I said well atleast I will be surpirsed by what they look like. . Jonny could not really hide the swing that he  bought me  since he had to set it up in the backyard , and I could look out the window at anytime and see what he was doing. So he came in and showed me the picture on the intruction manuel and said surprise. Needless to say I didn't open any gifts that were wrapped up, although the girls bought big bows to attach to my butterflies. That night after dinner Jonny put one candle on my piece of strawberry shortcake and the girls and Jonny sang Happy Birthday.
Saturday the day of my birthday it turned out Jonny wasn't out of town. So we went down to the city park where they had a bunch of booths set up as part of Rivertons town celebration. We strolled through the boths buying popcorn for the girls, then sat on the grass and enjoyed  big glasses of leomnade given to us by politian. I entered a raffle for a GPS and won!

Later we went to Pizza Hut for lunch(as my birthday lunch) where we enjoyed telling LaNea jokes and listen to her trying to tell us jokes. She is not at the age when she really gets the concept. One example  "Knock knock" "who's there" "Strawberry" "Strawberry who" "Strawberry Shortcake!" She would say a joke and we didn't have to pretend to laugh!

Later that day we took a family walk , which is something our family very much enjoys doing together, down to Smiths to buy ice Cream and a cake mix for yet another birthday cake (Jonny's idea) . Since it was my birthday I was allowed to pick the ice cream flavor and much to Jonny's dissapointment I picked Pistachio Almond , I had never tried it before and I must tell you that now it is my favorite flavor. Maybe because it reminds me alot of the pistachio dessert my Mom and sister would make when I was growing up so  it has a touch of nostalgia for me.Saturday to me was a perfect day. One of those days you can't plan, or force  but just happens. It made realize again why I love my husband so much !

So this year was a good birthday and like many years of my life was celebrated over a weeks time. The only strange thing about this birthday is that I got a personal birthday card in the mail, and I don't regonize the name of the person who sent it. Sad I know I have never been good at names . It must be from a lady in my ward who makes it a habit to send a card to every women in Relief Society on her birthday which I think it sweet. Anyway I hope that is the case and not someone who I should remember .

                                                      My butterflies from the girls. It is very hard to get Hannah to look at the camera for a picture

Our 4th of July was a little different this year. It was our first year where we didn't spend it  with either of our families. That was a little hard for me . Last minute we decided we would go to Utah. So we packed up the car at 5:00 in the evening on the 3rd and headed out. The girls were excited as they always are when we tell them we will be going to Utah. As we started heading up South Pass just after  Lander our Blazer started to lose power. So we pulled over at a beautiful spot where cow paths wove through the trees. The girls and I went exploring while Jonny tried to figure out what was wrong with the car. He came back with the bad news that he wasn't sure what was wrong with the car but it just didn't sound right we would not be making trip after all. LaNea was very upset, she kept saying but I want to go play with Jaden , Kate and Wyatt. We told her we were sorry but the car wasn't working. The blow was softened a bit when we went on a short hike and promised banana splits when we returned home. On arriving home we unloaded the car , then Jonny and LaNea headed to Smiths to get stuff for banana splits and items for a picnic the next day, by this time LaNea was completely over her disappointment . On our way through Lander we had noticed there was a carnival getting set up so we decided that would be part of our activities for the next day

In the morning we headed to a Mountain Man randevous ( I know I spelled that wrong) so Jonny could find out about signing up for a Muzzle loader shoot. Then we headed to Lander to go to the Carnival ( this was in our other car a Toyota that thanks to my brother in law Rosse's parents we got for free) It is not dependable  enough to drive to Utah but it could do  a 20 min drive to Lander). We had no idea when it was going to start but we assumed it would start in the morning right after the parade. We were wrong the carnival wasn't going to start until 5:00 and it was only 12:00. So we decided to head back home and grill hot dog's and have a picnic in our yard while the girls played in the kiddy pool. Then head back to Lander at 5:00 for the carnival. Instead of heading back to Riverton , the way we came Jonny decided we would drive through the reservation ( which a co-worker said was just as fast) . Well 1 hour later we made it home, it should only take 20 minutes. It was 100 degrees that day and the Toyota AC doesn't work. Needless to say the girls and I were a bit cranky when we got home.

We quickly recovered from out hot car ride , and set out the picnic, which looked yummy, Hot dogs, potato salad, pasta salad, water melon, chips, lemonade and cookies. The girls ate and played in the pool while Jonny and I sat in the shade and relaxed . Jonny left for a while to go to the shooting range.

When 5:00 arrived we piled in the car again and once again headed for Lander ( we didn't go through the reservation again instead we stuck to the highway ) . We got there and were met by the wife of one of Jonny's co-workers. They live in Lander and have 4 kids 2 the same age as our girls they were the same people we camped with a few weeks before ( We didn't plan it that way but the husbands got to talking at work and realized they were both planning on camping at the same campground the same days so we decided that we would camp next to each other ) . They are from Idaho and are like us members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints, so we have a lot in common. We were excited to see them and had fun constantly bumping into them through out the carnival.

We decided to get each girl a wrist band , we also bought one for Jonny , so he could ride some of the rides Hannah was to small to ride on her own. Since the wrist bands were $15 each we decided that I would just be the spectator. But I think I had as much fun as the girls. I enjoyed watching their faces as the experienced the sensations of the rides. LaNea really liked the paratrooper and kept asking to ride it with Jonny.Since Hannah was too small for that ride, she did a lot of rides on the dragon roller coaster, which very much resembles the Puff the Magic Dragon ride at Lagoon.

I believe that one requirement to be a carnival worker is that you have to be friendly. That wasn't the case at  this carnival. I would try to make small talk with them , or joke with them while watching the kids ride and most didn't even crack a smile. I asked one guy if he enjoyed traveling around from city to city and he just scowled. Oh well I guess I am too much like my dad that way, I expect everyone to gladly talk to me a complete stranger. All in all we had a great time. I am glad that we make it a rule to always carry around a case of water in our vehicles, we went threw 4 bottles of water that evening.

Poor Jonny who was not as young as he once was , started getting  motion sickness. But he was a trooper and kept riding the rides with the girls, even the spinning teacup ride. I kept thinking of that you tube video of the screaming dad at the amusement park , who after screaming like a little girl , bravely tells his daughter he will ride again. Good dads are everywhere :)

Since even public fire work shows were band this year. We saw no fireworks except for 1 or 2 illegal ones we saw go off around town. All in all it was a great 4th , even though we weren't able to go spend it with our extended family we had a wonderful time with our little family .

Today is July 15th and I just finished blogging about the 4th . So probably in another 2 weeks I will blog about my birthday which was yesterday, but which was also a wonderful day.

Hannah trying to walk and drink her leamonade at one time

Daddy is such a trooper

Hannah riding the dragon coaster which is much like Puff the Magic Dragon at Lagoon

Hannah kept wanting to ride this train even though all it did was go around in a circle. Most of the time she was the only kid riding it

By the way our blazer is fixed now. Jonny ended up just replacing the fuel pump.

Well here it goes my first post as a blogger. I have toyed with the idea of a blog for years. Especailly after seeing an Oprah episode about a women who started a blog and ended up making about $10,000 a month off of it, but being realistic I decided that hoping to make it rich is not a good reason to start a blog. I figured I am not politcal , I can't share great recipes or craft ideas  or gossip about celebrities so I never started one .

Then one day last week while I was on the phone with my mom she suggested I start a blog, then a few days later my older sister suggested the same thing . I gave it some thought and decided maybe it wasn't such a silly idea after all. I know lots of people who have blogs to keep far away family updated , I also know others who write them in place of a journal,( but  I am not going to to write in here all the things I write in my journal) , I also know others who do it as a form of stress relief. So after considering all the reasons why people start a blog here I am writing one. So if you are interested in keeping up with the current events in the life of my small family you have come to the right place. I won't promise regualar posts . I sat down a few days ago attempting to start one, thinking I had a chance because the girls were playing together nicely, but alas not 5 minuites later I am asked to push someone on the swing, other times I had to play checkers, clean up messes, read stories, chase a naked 3 year old ........

Tommorow I plan on blogging about our 4th of July .