10 Years and Counting

On July 14th, Spencer and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. I can't believe we've been together for 10 years!

We've been through a lot of trials but have overcome them all. We of course had our ups and downs and the strength we've gained is amazing. I had thought about what the past 10 years have brought us and the what was the most memorable. For me it was his accident almost three years ago. I know that sounds twisted but it was almost a wake up call for us both to really appreciate what we have right in front of us and what to realize what really matters while here on Earth. He is my best friend and I am so grateful that we will be together now and throughout eternity. I really liked the 10 year traditional anniversary gift meaning: Tin or aluminum- the pliability of tin or aluminum is a symbol of how a successful marriage needs to be flexible and durable and how it can be bent without being broken. SO true!

With all the stress of moving, unpacking, and daily life in general; we kept our celebrations simple and hope to do more after things settle down a bit. So we had an early dinner at Cheesecake Factory and bought some things for the house: 2 bath faucets, small bath trash cans, a few mirrors for the doors, etc. We went to Lowe's and Home Depot. It was very romantic! We were both so tired from all the moving and everything that's all I was up for. We'll go away for a night or two in October when the weather's not so blazing HOT and HUMID!!

I did get a dozen red roses- 10 for each year and 2 for us. I thought that was really sweet!

I also picked out some flowers at Home Depot for my kitchen window....

I hope these African Violets last. They sure look great in my kitchen window.

Progress on our new home!

So we've been doing lots of work on the house since we were able to finally close on it in June. Like I've said in a previous post, Spencer hated the butter color on the wood trim and paneling in the downstairs so we had it painted white.

This is our lovely entry....And this is NOT the color I was going for when I picked it out! I wanted a grey-blue NOT BLUE! I'm not sure if I can handle it being SO blue!

This is our master bedroom- thank goodness for SHUTTERS! AGAIN!!!! LOVE them!!
This room was already painted this brown which I think I can handle- unlike the blue entry!

So yes, AGAIN, there is that blue color and again I was going for grey-blue! But I think I can live with this since it's on the ceiling and it flows well into the wetbar, which we'll eventually tear out in a few years.
Yup, still some construction going on here! I love the fast food bags and drinks- it gives it that hard working touch......

The painted ceilings in the living room. I really like the contrast with the white beams.

Ok and yes AGAIN I wanted grey-blue for my kitchen, not blue! It's growing on me here too though. I like it against the white....

I'm loving the shutters here again in the breakfast area too.

So the rest of the pictures are after moving most everything into the house. There's still lots to be done from the looks of these pictures! The kids had a blast though especially with all their toys. I found this ensemble that I had saved for Josh. I can't believe it fits him now- my baby is growing up! I remember Emily used to wear this .......

Avery loves to be in pictures as long as she's holding Josh. She loves this little man!

"Take a picture of me kissing him!"

This is supposed to be the dining room but we'll use it more as a study/ FHE room.

I love my Avery! She's such a great helper- already doing dishes and we're mostly back into our old routines of chores.

It's slowly coming together....

Back at the blue entry....Ughhh! I wouldn't be surprised if it was painted within a year- Spencer wants me to just relax for a while before taking on any "projects"

You can't really tell in this picture but Harley broke the left side window after jumping on it when I was upstairs getting the kids bathed the second night here, Spencer was at the station, of course. I have no idea what happened but I certainly hope he didn't put too much fear in some poor neighbor! I promise our dog is not Cujo! He drools A LOT but doesn't foam at the mouth or growl.

There's a lot of mess to clean up still but it's coming along. I stayed up until at least midnight for about a week trying to get it all in "order" and unpacked.

Harley's been such a trooper through it all. He loves the house and his bigger back yard! We thought he'd stay downstairs a lot but he seems to be upstairs just as often to be with the kids. He's such a good dog! (Even if he did break the window on the side of the front door barking at something/ someone outside.- NOT good dog!)

Spencer was home for a day and his job was to put the girls beds together. Josh liked to help. He's so fascinated with all the tools!

He's so cute sitting on the bed watching and waiting patiently for Dad to finish putting Emily's bed together.

What a cheeseball! Josh's been doing these HUGE smiles when he knows his picture is going to be taken. Those two bottom holes in his mouth have been filling up with teeth this week and it's been disrupting my beauty sleep (hahaha!) But really he's been up frequently at night but has been sleeping in, I'm sure to catch up on lost sleep from the past few weeks.

I couldn't take all the toys anymore all over this floor so I took one of our big storage bins and filled it up with toys and put it in the attic before there were any complaints! I'm sure the kids thought it was another bin of clothes- yes I went through ALL of their clothes!

I had fun putting the boys beds together- that was easy! I love my drill! even if it is small...

Avery's bedroom. She loves to stay up and read in her bed by this window!

I obviously didn't catch her at one of her happiest moments.....Love you Ave!

Thanks to my Mom for making me keep all my CPK dolls from like almost 30 years ago! I brought them out and the girls had fun playing with them here.

Can you see that blond one in the middle with the blue dress and red tights? That was my very first CPK doll EVER!! My mom got that one for me and almost got in a fight with another mom over it. It's crazy the things we do for our kids! Thanks MOM!!

It looks like Josh is going up the stairs but he's actually heading down the stairs. He goes really fast; and he does this frog thing with his legs and hips. We do have a gate at the top of the stairs since Emily has already fallen down them twice- yeah, she's my special child- stitches at 2 years old! Ohhhh, I love my little Emily!

Here he is making the turn.....

So my next post will be of the house done, for the most part, and unpacked. This post is more for me to see how things have progressed and to remember to NEVER move again, unless we REALLY need to!

But honestly my next big project for the house is to build back our food storage. Talk about a pain to move!! We have a closet in our breakfast area that I want to put shelves in and possibly part of our entry closet, it's huge...

I am so glad to be moved in and look forward to many years of bliss in this house. Love it!

Our Stay at Grandma and Grandpa Allreds

So we moved out of our 1st home May 28th and moved almost all of our stuff into storage. I had packed enough clothes for us for about 10 days thinking we'd be there for a couple of weeks. Needless to say its been 5 weeks and we are getting the carpet installed as I write this. The biggest delay was a stupid woman who questioned EVERY aspect of Spencer's paycheck and kept asking for more paperwork, some papers that we'd already given months before! It was a nightmare! Her supervisor finally had enough and went around her and passed it on to get the paperwork ready to go to closing. And so we finally closed June 24th and we've been working on it ever since- well on top of Spencer's busy work schedule. We're super excited to move in to our new home in the next few days.


In the mean time here are some pictures of a few of the things we've been doing here.
We've been playing with cousins almost on a daily basis and they love every minute of it.

The kids have been doing tons of swimming! Jake and Avery are great! Jumping off every edge and are so excited when they touch the bottom.

This is where Josh loved to play, outside the pool. He would pour and dump the water from these big bowls. He'd be drenched and had a fit when it was time to go inside.



I took these pictures from inside- hence the glare from the window. Avery's underwater and Emily's holding the ball.

Then there's Jake. My fearless boy. I think he was trying to dive through this tube.

This was a fun night. Emily came over with her twins, Jackson and Joseph. They are 10 days younger than Joshua. It's so funny to see these three boys together. Jack and Joe are so much more mellow and nice than Josh. I feel bad but Josh does have to able to defend himself against Emily and Jake- Avery gives him anything he wants.

Anyways..... after dinner we thought it'd be fun to put the trio in the tub together.

Rub a Dub Dub Three Little Men in the Tub.

They are so cute! I'll admit I struggle with being able to tell them apart. Joshua, Jackson, and Joseph (I think)

So this is a tradition with my mother in law: to get the little ones in one of the two green dresses her mom made. There have been three sets of twins in this family so far....

Anyways this is my beautiful little Josh in the green dress. He looks so cute! He didn't mind having it on either. He loves to look at the bird decorations Christie has- hence the little white bird in his hands. He's really gentle with them too.

This is a really cute picture of Christie with Josh in the dress. He again has the little bird in his hands and notice the pink bows in his hair too.


The kids thought it was hillarious that Josh was dressed up like a girl. Jake couldn't stop laughing. They only way this happened was for Spencer to be at work. He despises these pictures! For a Father's Day joke we put a few in a frame for him. It won't be proudly displayed anywhere. Only one picture of Josh is on Christie's fridge and it's next to a picture of Jack and Joe in the two green dresses. I think it's funny!

We FINALLY made it!

The past 9 weeks have been one of the hardest trials I've ever overcome. I knew we would but it was just enduring it and not knowing WHEN it would all end. Well, we closed on our new house that I posted pictures on back in April. I am so glad we stuck it out AND together to get it- it's so worth it! Spencer is eager to get the work done on it specifically the living room and master bath cabinet painting and install some of the faucets, door knobs, and some hardware. We hope to move in next weekend. Hooray!!

We've been staying with my inlaws since we moved out a month ago. I'm not going to lie- it's been hard for me but I am so grateful for their hospitality. They have given us run of the whole upstairs: 4 bedrooms, a living room, small dining type room, and a large wetbar. The kids and I have been having so much fun; a lot of swimming was involved. I'll post a few pictures later. Right now all I really want to do is get into my new house and make it ours.

Thanks Spencer for all your hard work and strength in getting this house! I have to also thank my amazing FIL for making it possible for us to get this house- any other realtor would have given up the many battles that came up every few days. What amazing and wonderful men I have in my life! I am so glad they are family and what better examples for my two boys who admire my FIL and hubby. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

A Visit to the Downtown Aquarium

The week went by as usual- Spencer working A TON, the kids going to school, and Avery had Activity Days. But with Emily's B-day on Monday, and Spencer at work, we had a little party Monday night and Tuesday night. We wanted to do something as a family and decided to go to the Downtown Aquarium. They'd been there before and were excited to have some fun! They remembered the Long Beach Aquarium my dad took them to when we visited Cali and talked about the whale hanging from the ceiling. They loved it so much!

Anyways, we let Josh take his nap so he would be enjoyable and left after lunch. Good thing we waited, that's when the rain stopped.

The Allred trio super excited for the rides and fish!

I'm trying to take more pictures- can you see the excitement on their faces? Woohoo another picture.

Another picture? I think I confused Emily.....Or maybe she was getting wet from the water splashing behind her. She's a silly girl.

Jake wanted to take a picture by the shark while Spencer bought the cute blue bracelets that let us go on all the rides. That was funny- the bracelets were stickers and it was a bit confusing for sleep deprived parents: "How does this work?" We couldn't stick them on the kids arms- they cry enough with a small band aid being taken off! I laughed when I looked at the back of the other bracelets and it said in large capital letters: DO NOT PEEL OFF!! Ohhhh, I get it! Only peel off the small part on the end that says: start peel here. with arrows clearly pointing the direction to pull off the backing.

We hit the carousel first. The kids loved it. Round and round we go.....

Emily wanted to ride on the sea horse....

Josh rode a tiger shark. He had so much fun! The whole time around he would say, "Wooo..." I love this age, they are so fascinated with the simple things.

The next ride I passed on. I'm not sure what it's called but it shoots you up in the air and drops you down. It does that a few times. No, thank you! Have fun! I'll watch the girls go on the carousel again.

Ugh...I loved seeing Jake's legs fly out in front of him when it would fall. He always had a smile on his face so he must have enjoyed himself!

The next ride was the train that takes you through a shark tunnel. It also says that one of the Great White Sharks escaped from the tank and was loose, that we need to keep our eyes out for it. As this is being said we are riding past a large pool of water and up explodes this Great White Shark head right next to our seats! Emily and Avery screamed and Jake jumped right along with them. Emily covered her eyes for the next minute while Spencer and I laughed for the next few minutes. It was really funny!

So what is the best thing to do while you are waiting for your turn to ride the train and you are four years old? Swing of course! Swing on the railings. I think we were in line for 10 minutes. It made me think of all the times I went to Disneyland with my Dad and all the lines that would be at least an hour long. Wow! I remember doing the same exact thing waiting for the rides at Disneyland. It was hard to be patient and a little girl.

The train has finally arrived. Look how patiently they are waiting. What good kids.....

Yup! I was really that tired! I'd had about 5.5 hours of interrupted sleep that night. So please excuse the terrible picture of myself. I am holding a cute blondie though! ; )

I love this picture of Jake and Avery! I really hope that Emily and Josh will as close as these two are. They are best friends even if they fight and tease.

I love luv love these pictures of Josh. He makes us all smile and laugh! He's growing up so fast. He's such a happy boy and is so much fun. He learns a new word every few days. On the drive home he said, "Baby" He kept saying, "Momma" and I'd answer, "Yes, Baby." So he'd repeat me, "Baby." So fun!

I took a picture of my train seat companions in the shark tank. Can you see all the scary sharks? The coolest was the Sawfish! Do you see them above their heads? Of course not, my sleepy self used the flash. I really should take a photography class and learn how to take really great pictures. Photoshop wasn't around when I took my photography class in high school. Yup I just dated myself! Or maybe it was and I just wasn't interested enough in it.

Our next stop was the indoor exhibit. I had to convince Jake to take another picture by the turtles. There was an old looking shack with ragged windows and lots of noise coming from it. Jake was very concerned about what was going on in there. I told him we were "goin' down the bayou!"

Another picture that needed persuasion! "Come on let's take a picture next to the treasure chest! Jake try to pick some up!" As Emily trys to take off her monkey backpack, or her leash as we sometimes call it.

Spencer felt bad keeping Josh in the stroller most of the time so we put the monkey on him. He loved walking!

Before touching the sting rays and sand sharks she had to look out from this divers suit.

I was surprised Avery was brave enough to touch the rays and sharks. She's my more timid and reserved child but I'm proud to say she did. I know she did because she described how they felt to me. The rays were, "smooshy and smooth" and the sharks were "rough." Surprisingly Emily didn't like touching them. It must be the age because Emily loves to touch everything.

Josh thought it was fun to put his hands in the water. I think he actually got to feel a squishy sting ray. He loved watching all the fish swim around.

Finally we made it to the white tigers. When we approached this statue they were all a bit nervous about getting near it thinking it was real! Really?!

Apparently Jake was ready for a fight and Emily was scared- you can see it all over her face.

Ok maybe Emily wasn't scared. She just had a headache from all the pictures! I can just hear the heavy sigh, "Ahhh.....another picture?" Jake's still ready to fight. I think he's been watching me do my Kenpo X.

The white tigers were asleep in the back. Spencer told the kids to do jumping jacks to get their attention and wake them up. So Avery's mid jump here.

Emily got some height with her jumping jacks. Jake's ready to fight again. Nice stance there buddy!

Back outside for one last ride before heading out to get dinner and drop Dad off at work. He worked at telemetry that night. ALL night!

Jake and Emily took one last ride on the carousel before leaving. Jake won a prize by knocking down three clown fish throwing baseballs. Round we go.....

Emily rode a sea horse again! She also won a prize playing a giant fishing game.

Happy Birthday Emily! I hope you had a great week! Love you tons Baby Girl!