A Letter from the past

As I was going through my Christmas decorations I came across the letter I put in our Chistmas card last year. It was fun to read it and see how things have changed in the past year. I have decided to add it to my blog and I will also enter our letter for this year (once I write it).
Christmas 2005
Writing a Christmas letter will be a first for us. But I really love recieving all of your letters and hearing about your families this time of year, so I thought I would give it a try.
I will attempt to keep it short and sweet. Brian is working in the advertising department for the newspaper agency corporation, and is really enjoying it. He also coaches basketball at the high school which he loves. He is a very busy man.
I am very busy as a stay at home mom with three kids, but I really enjoy it and wouldn't trade it for the world.
Trevon is 5 and growing taller every day. He starts Jr Jazz basketball in a week and can't wait. He is a gentle and very sweet boy. He also is excellent help to me with the other two kids. I don't know what I would do without him.
Jackson is the exact opposite of Trevon, he is rough and tough and all BOY. He is going to be our little football player. Jackson is always putting on a show. He is absolutley hillarious and always has us laughing.
Taylor is our very unexpected addition to our family. But now that she is here I can't imagine life without her. She will be one in January, she is such a sweetheart. Her toothy smile and little baby talk noises are absolutley adorable. She is still a little wobbly, but is walking just about everywhere. Taylor also enjoys emptying every and all drawers or cabinets she can get her hands on. And it sure is fun for me to have another girl around. Brian says she is my little barbie doll.
Overall we have been very blessed and feel the love of the lord and our friends and family daily. We love you all and pray that this year brings much joy and happiness.
Love The Allfreys

GO JAZZ!!

Last night we took the kids to the Jazz game with our good friends the Lambs. Trevon and Madison won a free ticket for selling happenings books at their school. We left Taylor with grandma because she doesn't appreciate a good basketball game YET. Although anytime there were cheers Jackson covered his ears, so he pretty much had his ears covered the whole game. He would say "Mom I don't like it when it is crazy loud in here I can't even hear myself talk." He'll learn soon that it is all part of the game. What a silly kid. The Jazz won the game so the kids were very happy. (although they didn't look like they were going to win in the third quarter, but they pulled it out. they are now 10-1)
After the game the kids got to go down onto the court and shoot a free throw. All four of them missed, but they didn't care. They got to shoot on the same hoop as Boozer and Kirilenko, they thought that was pretty awesome! We had a fun night, and it was good to share it with such good friends.

Open Mic?

I just have a funny story to tell about something that happended today in church. Jackson was asked to give the prayer in primary today. We practiced beforehand so he would know what to say because he didn't want me to go up with him to help. So while we practiced I asked him to say the prayer just like he would in primary and he said " Dear Heavenly Father please bless the pioneers and President Hinkley and the missionaries and I am thankful that I got a big Lighting McQueen for my birthday. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen." I told him that it probably wasn't a good idea to include Lighting McQueen in his prayer, but the rest sounded pretty good. We practiced a few more times but I was still a little nervous about what he would say.
In our ward they hold opening exercises for primary in the chapel. So Jackson walked up to the microphone at the pulpit to say his prayer and these were his exact words..... " I have a big thing..... I mean Dear Heavenly Father we are thankful for our blessings and the pioneers. In the name of Jesus Christ Amen." I turned to Brian and said " did he just say he had a big thing?" I know my mind is in the gutter, but it made me laugh so hard. I share this because it is one of those little moments that you need to write down so you can remember them. Maybe I will read this to Jackson's girlfriend when he is in high school. I could embarass him real good! I have been giggling about it all day.

Trevon's Birthday

Wow, so much has been going on the past few weeks. I haven't written recently because we have been out of town at Disneyland, but I will talk more about that later. The day before we left was Trevon's birthday. He turned six! I can't believe how fast he is growing, what a big boy. Friday October 20 was his actual birthday. I was able to go to his class that day to be the secret reader, and bring cup cakes for his class. It was nice to see all his little friends celebrating his big day with him. I went at the end of the class but when school was over he didn't want to ride home with me, he wanted to ride the bus. So I met him at home.
I decided to attempt to bake his birthday cake myself. The night before we baked the cakes, and when Trevon got home from school he helped me decorate them. We needed to have them ready to take to Grandma Jo's house for the party that night. It took pretty much the entire afternoon, but I think our hard work paid off, they looked pretty darn good if I do say so myself.
We picked up some pizza and headed to Grandma and Grandpa's house. Trevon's aunt, uncles, and cousins were there to celebrate with us. It was a lot of fun. Trevon loved everything he got, but I think his favorite was the digital camera he got. He has turned into quite the photographer. Half the pictures are blurry because he hasn't quite gotten the hang of holding the camera still while he takes the picture. But then some of his pictures have turned out pretty good.
Since we left for Disney the next day, we told him he could have a party with his friends when we got back. So we are in the process of planning that right now. I think he had a pretty special day. We love that kid so much. He is so sweet and helpful. I am the luckiest mom in the world to have such great kids!

The Happiest Place on Earth!

What a fun vacation!! This is the first real vacation we have taken with all three kids. The last time we went to DisneyWorld I was still pregnant with Taylor. It was fun to be able to ride the rides this time. The kids had such a good time. We totally wore them out every day the entire week. We flew to LA on Sunday and rented a car, and then checked into the hotel and got something to eat. So the first day was somewhat relaxing. Then on Monday we went to Disneyland. We had a blast! We even ran into some friends of ours that were in our ward when my family lived in Houston about 14 years ago. I guess it really is a small world after all! Trevon was tall enough to ride just about everything, and there were only a few rides that Jackson couldn't ride. Trevon's favorite ride at Disneyland was Space Mountain. Jackson's favorite ride was Peter Pan. And Taylor's favorite ride was the merry go round. We had to pry her hands off the horse every time the ride ended, she didn't understand we just going to put her in line to ride again. Jackson was even more daring than I thought he would be. He rode on Space Mountain and Thunder Mountain railroad. He didn't cry, but he didn't want to ride them again. Daddy bought him a Mack Truck from Cars for being so brave. We had a great time at Disneyland.
The next day on Tuesday we spent most of the day at Disney California adventure. But that morning Jackson woke up not feeling good. He threw up about three times that morning before we got to the park. We kept asking him if he wanted one of us to stay at the hotel with him until he felt better, but he insisted on going to the park. So we went and not even 100 feet into the park he threw up again all over himself. We got him washed up and bought him a clean goofy shirt. He then took a little nap in the stroller and when he woke up he felt fine. I guess he just had to get whatever was bothering him out of his system. We were so glad he was feeling better because we went to ride the Tower of Terror and as we were getting off the ride there were about ten Disney employees clapping and congratulating us and telling us that we were winners. They gave us what they called a Disney Dream Fast Pass. This pass gave us priority at all the rides that had the Fast Pass option. Basically we could go to the front on the line on all the cool rides! And it was good at both parks, but only for the one day. It was so awesome! They told us they only give out 30 of these a day, and we happened to be the lucky ones. Needless to say we stayed until the park closed on Tuesday.
On Wednes day we took a break from Disney and went to Universal Studios. Although they didn't have kid rides like at Disney, the kids still enjoyed themselves. They met a lot of characters from Nickelodeon and Marvel Comics. Like Spiderman, wolverine, captian America, Dora and Diego, Shrek, Spongebob, Beetlejuice, and the green goblin. And of course they got to see Jaws.
On Thursday we headed back to Disney. We caught a few more rides in the moring at Disneyland and then spent most of the rest of the day at California adventure, there were less people there. We rode a bunch of rides and had a lot of fun.
On Friday we went to Sea World. The kids had a great time seeing Shamu and the Dolphins. We were able to take a special tour which let us touch a shark and feed the sea turtles. Even Taylor touched the shark she wasn't afraid at all, I must admit I was a little nervous myself.
On Saturday we went to the San Diego Zoo. It was HUGE! I can't belive how many animal they have there. I think you need about three days to be able to see all the sights there. We took the bus tour and got the condensed version of the zoo, and by the end of the week we were pretty tired, so sitting on the bus for an hour was pretty nice. We were able to see the Giant Pandas and a few other animals that we could only see there. So that was pretty neat.
Then on Sunday we took it kind of easy. We took the kids to the beach to see the ocean for the first time. The water was freezing cold so we only stuck our feet in, or at least that was the plan. Both Trevon and Jackson got caught off balance by the waves and they both ended up on their bums and soaking wet. Taylor on the other hand didn't really care for the water, she was too busy chasing the birds on the beach. It was really nice to walk along the beach with my wonderful husband and beautiful kids.
On Monday morning we packed up and headed for the airport. I had a really good time, but I was really looking forward to sleeping in my own bed again. We got on the plane and left the 80 degree weather and stepped on the plane in Salt Lake to about 45 degree weather. What a difference a few hundred miles make.
I feel so fortunate that we were able to spend time with my little family and also my extended family. ( my mom dad and sisters were also with us) It was such a fun trip and I hope to be able to take more fun filled vacations like this in the future!

Go Broncos!!

Brian and I just got back from a fun and relaxing trip to Denver. We missed the kids while we were gone, but I must say it was nice to get away without them. We left early Saturday morning and arrived in Denver at about 9:30 in the morning. We spent most of the day
shopping and wasting time until we could check into
our hotel at 3:00. We went with our friends Jordan and Jennifer Lamb. It was Jordan's connections that got us our season tickets to the Broncos. We were also able to get a 40% discount at the team store at the stadium, so Brian and Jordan thought they had died and gone to heaven. We spent a few hours at the team store, but we did come away with some pretty cool Bronco gear!
Later that evening we met with Jordan's sister and brother in law for dinner, and then returned to the hotel for a little hot tubbing. We stayed until they kicked us out at 11pm. Since the game was the night game we were able to sleep in on Sunday morning. I can't remember the last time I slept in until 9am. It felt so good! We saw the movie The Guardian, had an early dinner, and then headed to the game. We got there about two hours early so we went all the way down to the first row to watch the players warm up. We were able to get some pretty good pictures of the players, it was pretty neat being so close!

While we were there watching them warm up we noticed that Jenn and I were on the Jumbo tron. So I hurried and grabbed my camera to take a picture and right before I could push the button, we were gone and they were showing someone else. But then a second later we were on it again, so I lifted up my camera into position and before I could get the shot they were showing someone else again! This happend about three or four more times, they were just messing with us! But finally they kept us up long enough for me to snap a picture. So if you look closely and the picture above you can see us on the big screen. It was pretty fun. We laughed about it the rest of the day.
The weather was absolutly perfect, what a beautiful day! It was the night game so we came with sweatshirts, and blankets, hats and gloves, but we didn't need them. It was still 60 degrees when the game ended at 10:00pm. My brother and sister in law were not so lucky at last weeks game. Bryce and Kella got soaked as it rained the whole game. It was the Monday night game to it also was at night. They said it was about 30 degrees and rained the entire time. Poor guys, hopefully they will have better luck at the next game.
And the most important event of the weekend, the Broncos won 13-3!!
We left for the airport at about 5:30am to catch our flight. We got home yesterday morning in time to pick up the kids from school. What a fun trip! I can't wait to go back to Denver in December, but I am pretty sure we won't be so lucky with the weather that time. We will definetly be needing our hats and gloves. Next week we leave for disneyland, and this time we will be taking the kids with us. I can't wait to see their little faces light up and they see all the fun sights in California. Brian and I had such a nice time in Denver just the two of us, it was nice to get away as a couple.

Jackson's Birthday

On Sunday was
Jackson's birthday. He was so excited and anxious for the day to arrive. On Saturday night we went out to dinner with Mama Becky and Papa Bob, and Aunt Kaycee, Robin, and Emily. We let Jackson choose where he wanted to go. And of all the places he wanted to go to Golden Coral. They sang happy birthday to him while we were there, and he acted like he was embarrassed, but we all know he loved being in the spotlight. He opened all his presents before dinner and boy did he hit the jackpot. What a spoiled kid. I think Grandma and Grandpa went a little overboard as usual. But I guess that is their duty as the Grandparents.
Jackson has a blue ribbon badge that says "Birthday Boy" He has worn the badge everyday since Saturday. He would wear it all year round if I let him. But since he is such a good negotiator he wore it Saturday to his birthday dinner, then he wore it to church on his birthday, and then yesterday was preschool and they celebrated his birthday so he wore it then also. And yet again he has it on today. I am going to try and convince him that it is time to take it off by tomorrow, but we will see how that goes. It might have to magically disappear.
On Thursday we are having a small party for Jackson with some of the neighborhood kids. He had a party last year, and we were going to start a tradition of only having a party every other year, which would mean no party this year. But he started inviting everybody over for a sleepover and a party at Chuck E Cheese, he had all these grand plans. So we decided to compromise and we would have a small 1 1/2 hour party here at the house. I think this is something we can all feel good about, and won't cost Dad a bundle.
I can't believe how fast they grow. It just dosen't seem that long ago that we brought him home from the hospital. Now he is a little boy!! Jackson can be a handful at times, and some days I think he is my lesson in patience, but he is an absolute joy in our lives. He always has us laughing. Some of the things he says, we don't know where he comes up with this stuff. We love him and his brother and sister more than anything in this world!!

Let's give it a try

For the past several weeks I have really enjoyed reading my friend Jenn's blog. I have decided to give it a try. I have tried to write in a journal before, but there are always about three months in between entries. So this will be yet another attempt to keep a record of our activities in our family. And I am hoping that by sharing my thoughts and getting comments from friends and family, it will keep me motivated to keep adding to this blog.
It hit me this week how important it is to write things down before you forget them. In Trevon's class this week he was the spotlight and he brought home a paper for me to fill out about his likes and dislikes and so forth. The last part on the paper asked me to tell a humorous story about him, and my mind went blank! I know he does all kinds of cute and funny things everyday, but when asked I couldn't think of any. So this is the main reason for this blog. I am going to write about the funny things the kids so everyday. So I apologize if it gets a little boring to you, but for me they are memories I am trying to keep alive. I look forward to your comments and I hope you enjoy!