BFFs

I found this picture yesterday...
For the first few years of our marriage, The Babe and I struggled with getting pregnant and staying pregnant. When KJ was just a month old, I was holding him one day and he looked up at me and smiled. You know how sometimes it's just like those little spirits can tell you everything! In that smile he just seemed to say, "it's ok Aunt Trin, she's coming." By the end of that month I was pregnant again...and scared. But things progressed well and nine months later Adelah was born into our family. She and KJ have been joined at the hip ever since! They have been the best of friends. Addie's world revolves around KJ. She wants to marry him. She wants to play with him every day. She wonders what he will think of her hair, or what she is wearing. She can't wait to tell him exciting things that happen. And when we go to Up North it's almost more than they can bear to be apart! I don't think I've ever witnessed such a strong bond between cousins. Now that they are really entering the public school system I really hope that their relationship won't change. Not that I want Add to marry her cousin, but I hope that they will always be best friends! I am still so grateful for that smile. It seems like such a little thing and maybe some of you believe it was probably gas, but I don't believe it. I know he was telling me it would be ok. And it is! Now I have 3 precious spirits that have joined our family and I am so incredibly BLESSED!

Oops, she did it again!

Last night, after a fun swim party and barbecue at Grandma Allred's, we came home exhausted. My house was still in shambles because I had cleaned my carpets on Friday, so everything from the bedrooms was in my living room. It was pretty disastrous to say the least. We worked hard all day trying to get the girls closet cleaned out (a project I've been planning for awhile but hadn't gotten to yet). Luckily The Babe was willing to sacrifice his weekend off for my honey-do list! I'm not sure he was too thrilled about it, but he didn't complain and he worked hard. I appreciate him so much. I don't think he knows it. But I do, so I want to publicly let everyone know he is my Mr. Incredible! And I love him dearly! He sacrifices so much for me. I don't deserve him, but I'm so grateful that he's mine!!!

Anyway, after we got home the kids were doing little dance numbers on the boxes of food storage I had piled up in the middle of the room. They were being cute and making us laugh. Then, Buggie slipped into the bathroom, undetected and found a pair of scissors that had been neglectfully left on the bathroom counter. Deciding she was done with her pigtails and not being able to get the elastics out herself, she grabbed the scissors and started chopping! She missed the elastic completely! In fact the pigtail was still intact and it didn't look too bad, until I took the elastic out of her hair and half of the pigtail ended up in my hand!

Now, from exhibit A you may not think that that is too severe, and I should be grateful that it wasn't more, but poor Buggie didn't have that much hair to begin with! It struggles with thickness and is terribly fine! So this did quite a number!

Most of her hair back to her ear!!!! AHHHH! I was so mad I sent her to her room crying! Again, I was lucky and her hair was parted down the middle, so if I parted it a little to the side, I could comb some of her longer hair over the drastic cut. But it still looked bad. This morning I rushed her over to St. George so my dear friend Kenna could save the day before church! When Kenna first saw her she didn't think it was that bad, until I lifted up the thin top layer that I had combed over! With her mad genius skills, Kenna saved the day and Buggie ended up with a smashin' cute haircut!

I think it actually turned out pretty cute! She got tons of compliments in Primary today, so she was pretty pleased about the whole thing! I think I need someone to steal all the scissors out of my house...hopefully this will be the last time, but who knows, Prt isn't even two yet!!!

The Ute Stampede!

The only time The Babe and I have conflicts with spending time with family! It's the one thing that both of our families are very involved in. We kicked things off as usual...The horse parade!
We usually sit in front of Uncle Craig's office so that both of our families can sit together. But this year all of my family that was home rode in the parade. So we sat with the Sperry clan. There were hardly any people there this year. Usually this lawn is packed with people, but it was pretty sparse this year. It made me kind of sad. I hope that the tradition doesn't die! It's such a big part of our lives.

This is my big brother. Jon. He just lost about 25 pounds so I owe him a steak dinner. I was really hoping to win the fat beef so I could pay him off, but no luck. Next year I might have to buy more than 2 tickets! Increase my chances ya know! My dad always rides his mules in the parade, he breeds them so it's a good way to let people know about them. And it's fun to ride them. When they are being good. They are a little jumpy so you never really know if something is going to spook them, especially in a parade! But they did good this year, we usually have our own personal rodeo before or during the parade.

My Mom, and sister, Kate. I think this is the first year my mom has ridden!

Do real cowboys really wear sunglasses???

And my dad. He was busy watching my kids, so I got the back of his head. But his mules looked good this year!

Then it was off to the rodeo!

Usually my whole family is there, but this year for Thursday night it was just us and Heather and Ben and my Mom and Dad. Jon was there, but he wasn't sitting by us. It was really strange not to have every one there.

Porter really enjoyed watching the horses! They had a motorcross stunt for entertainment that was really cool and Prt was glued to the motorcycles. He didn't take his eyes off of them the whole time!

And Leighn had a good time switching hats with daddy! We had a good time. I forgot my camera for the Mammoth parade and the Friday night rodeo. But we had fun with Jon's family too! KJ and Addie had so much fun together. Livi was pretty tired, but suffered through. and Leighna made some new friends she had fun with! We got to watch Katie's boyfriend, Allan ride saddle bronc on Friday night. It was kind of fun to have someone to cheer for. He didn't get a very high score, but he stayed on for the whole eight seconds and then he got to unsaddle and unbridle the horse he rode so it could run around the arena while they talked about the animals. It was pretty cool! We avoided the carnival except for the only thing that carnivals are good for, Cotton Candy! We enjoyed it, except for Port. He really doesn't like it, but he likes to feed it to me. So he still ended up sticky! Grandma and Grandpa were super nice and bought the kids a light saber and Porter thought he was in heaven when he got that! His smile was so cute!

All in all a great Stampede. It was so fun to spend time with family and friends! Can't wait for next year!

Adventure #2

Shopping!


It's always fun to shop with my sisters! Especially these two, because they know how to shop! Most of my family aren't very big on shopping, but these two are crazy about it! We had to go get a sandwich so we could keep up our strength! It was good. Jimmy Johns! I love Jimmy Johns! Then it was off to the mall!

Yep, this is exactly what I'm talking about! You may not be able to tell from the picture, but Kate picked up a boot, and the whole rack of boots started falling over!

Just as Kate struck this pose, some random young man came out of no where and told her she was lookin' good! Then we had to take off the boots and rush to the bathroom so there would be no 'accidents'!

Here's the thing. I know that when I go shopping with the girls that I'm going to end up in the most hideous thing they can find in the store! It's like their rule, you have to try on something ugly! So you just have to wear it like you own it!

Yes, those are ruffles on the front! Needless to say, this was not a purchase, so if you love it, it's at Sears!

Gearing up for the Ute Stampede....we tried on a lot of hats and boots! Sarah looks so awesome in this hat. She makes a good Cowgirl! So does Kate.

But they thought I looked better in bows than in hats! So why is it that I ended up in all the ugly stuff and they got all the cute stuff????? I guess I'm just a good sport!

We had a really good time! We found some great deals, and my sisters are going to look smashing at the Stampede this year! Which starts tomorrow so we are all really excited!

Good luck to Aunt Rie who will be delivering my new niece tomorrow! We are excited for you to get this little one here! We pray that everything will go well for you, and we can't wait to see her! Love you!

It Itches

Every year for at least the past seven years, my sisters Katie and Sarah have come down and spent a week with me. This year was a little different just because Kate is living with me for the summer, so she was already here. But Sarah came to share the tradition we all cherish so much! We always have so much fun together and I always pay the price for the fun because I'm always the one who gains weight during this week. My sisters have lucky metabolism on their side, so they are never effected the same way! But some day....! just kidding. Anyway. We had a great time together and I will probably post a few different adventures of the week, but for today, it's THE ITCH!
So, we decided to take the kids out to Sand Hollow and have a swim. As we drove through the gate, we all ignored the "Swimmers Itch is Active" sign and drove straight over to the cove, where swimmers itch is most active! Brilliant! Kate and Sarah had been swimming there the day before and nothing happened, so we didn't even think twice about it. So we jumped in. Kate was insistent that I get all wet, and not just up to my waist. So she kindly helped me out by kicking my feet out from under me. We had only been in the water for about 15 minutes or so, when suddenly, both of my legs started itching like crazy. As soon as I started itching, I thought how stupid I was because we went right where the itch is most active. The Babe works there and has told me many times you just don't swim in the cove and then you're ok. Well, duh, I march right in and plop my kids in the middle of the parasite pool! Luckily Buggie was at the doctor's office with The Babe. And I couldn't really tell, but I don't think that Prt was affected. But the rest of us!!! We were itching like crazy and the more you scratch, the worse it gets!

Add was so cute! I didn't realize that she had it. We went over to the visitor's center because Kate told us if we got it, then we got a free t-shirt, so we went to get our shirts. I sat in the car with the kids while they went in. While we were sitting there, I turned around to check on Add and Prt, and Addie was scratching her legs, and she just kept scratching! I asked if she was itching and she said "ya." I asked if it itched really bad and she said, "it's not too bad." As she just about scratched her skin off! So I sent Kate back in to get her a t-shirt too! On the ride home, she said, "Mom, drive faster, I just can't take it anymore!" "I just don't understand why I have to scratch myself!" It was sad, but cute!

The best part is that Katie is covered in parasite bumps! All over her whole body. It looks like she has the chicken pox! Sarah had a few on her legs. I had 2 on my stomach. But Katie is still covered in them!

So if you plan to visit Sand Hollow, Don't swim in the cove! Because when they say swimmers itch is active, they mean it! And it itches!

Ten Years of Happpily Ever After

Last night I stayed up late with my sisters and one of my best friends. We watched a movie we were really excited to see. Turns out, none of us liked the movie. It wasn't at all what we expected, and it was depressing. So of course we couldn't go to bed right after a movie like that. So we stayed up a little longer. Port woke up while we were still up so I held him for a minute, then I laid him down next to The Babe, and went back out to talk with my sisters. A few minutes later, Port opened the door, said "Mom" then came and took me by the finger and led me to bed. So I laid down by him for a minute to wait for him to fall asleep. I tried 3 times to get up and every time I did, he would wake up and say, "MOM!" wrap his arms around my neck and stroke my hair. It was really cute.


Today The Babe and I are celebrating our 10 year anniversary! Is that possible??? How did the past 10 years go by so fast. It seems to me like I should be fresh out of college and just getting started together! I would not change the past 10 years for anything! We have had our ups and downs, but we have grown stronger together through it all! And now, 10 years later, we have 3 beautiful children and I have the most amazing husband ever! I love them more than words can say! I'm so grateful that I have been so blessed!

So here are the top ten reasons I'm more in Love with The Babe than ever....
1 ~ He Loves me back
2 ~ He thinks I'm beautiful
3 ~ He has given me 3 beautiful children
4 ~ He honors his Priesthood
5 ~ He is my strength
6 ~ He makes me happy
7 ~ He works so hard to provide for our family
8 ~ He's so handsome
9 ~ He is such a great Dad
10~ He's my EVERYTHING! My whole world! I would be so lost and alone without him!

I LOVE YOU BABE! HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

My sister asked me once if I could sum up marriage in 3 words what would they be? I would say, Love, Forgiveness, Selflessness.