Wait what? You miss Tressa? Me Too!

I found this while cleaning Tressa's room. It cracks me up! Yep. She really did send herself a postcard to remind her to change the sheets. What the?

And for your viewing pleasure Thanksgiving wishes to our current favorite Sister Missionary. Yep....I didn't have any makeup and my hair is wet.

Can you cook a frozen turkey?

The older I get the more I realize some things don't change. You always, have bills to pay. There's always laundry to do. And you always act the way you did when you were 5 around your siblings. We all grow up and change in different ways but I have found I ALWAYS revert to the same old role I had growing up.

This week I played that part again when I got together with a few of my siblings for Thanksgiving. Let me introduce the roles we play when we are around each other to you.....


This is Elizabeth. She is the oldest and the most responsible. She seems to always know what the right thing to do is and she does it. As the oldest it is understandable that she is a bit motherly. (not to mention she is obviously in the motherly way) She is patient but sometimes forgets that fact when the next character comes into play.

This is Deborah. She is the second child and a pretty bossy one at that. She doesn't take much seriously and is a bit of an attention hog. She is full of rambunctious energy that can get the party started. She struggles censoring her remarks and often just says exactly what is on her mind. Oh......and heaven help you if you cross her.

This is Eldon. What a guy he is! He is the go to man taking every order that Deborah throws at him. (Eldon, put your shoes on before you walk in the snow. Eldon, use a plate. Eldon, please come turn off the light for me. Eldon, don't do this. Eldon, don't do that. Eldon, wear a coat!) HE is paaaaatient. This man fixes everything and is always looking for ways he can help. He is pretty inventive in how he does things and is always trying to stream line everything he does to either save time or work. He likes to joke around and is one REALLY smart dude! (I sure do love him. I tease and boss him a lot but I'd also defend him to the death if any one messed with him)

And then there is this guy. He joined our sibling squad a little late in the game so I can't tell you how he acted when he was five. But I can tell you how he acted 5 years ago when he joined rank. This is Mark. He is the brother in law but we just call him brother. He is a very smart analytical thinker and enjoys explaining how things work and likes a little spotlight himself. He can be a sarcastic dude who likes to tease ya here and there. He has a way he likes to do just about everything and likes for you to do it that way to. He is lots of fun and very handy to have around.

Now that you've met everyone hopefully you can picture us all in a room. Liz, explaining to me how to make candied yams....I'm giggling as I drop green beans into the uncooked pumpkin pie and tell Eldon not to pick off the veggie tray....Eldon decides to try to catch olives in his mouth as he wipes up spilt something by skating across the floor with towels on his feet.....and Mark is....well he was in the other room watching TV mostly.

We cooked all day and ended up eating pretty late. But for the most part all of Liz's experimental recipes were great and the frozen turkey made it out of the oven very moist. We had a great thanksgiving and I sure am glad I was able to spend it with the people who bring out the worst in me! (just kidding! I love you guys!) Here are some pics....

Okay, these candied yams...or sweet potatoes (apparently they are the same thing) took me all stinking day to do. You have to boil them peel them, slice them, make the stuff that goes on top.....to much work if you ask me.

Eldon making a floral center piece to get extra credit in his class.

Our beautiful Center piece! Good Job Eld.

What a good brother! When you grow up in the middle of 4 girls you can't escape getting your hair done or your toe nails painted. He humored me when I wanted to see if I could straighten out the waves he'd been complaining about.

Our awesome turkey! Thanks Liz!

The sibs

Oh look! The married people.

Our beautiful table Liz created

The food we slaved over ALLLL day minus the turkey. Boy was it yummy

Oh Christmas Tree! Oh Christmas Tree!

I love Christmas! I love the sounds, the smells, and I even love the cold! (please note as soon as Christmas is over I am ready for the cold to be over too!) In our house we always had to wait until the day after thanksgiving to put up our Christmas tree and decorate the house. My roommates have found that tradition to be the same in their houses as well.

This year I have just been dying for Christmas to come! I can't wait! So last Saturday we had our own little roommate thanksgiving feast since every one will be out of town starting this weekend....aaaand then today we put up our Christmas tree!

I bought this tree for twenty dollars last semester and I just LOVE it. It's a bit of a charlie brown Christmas tree but it works for a charlie brown college apartment.

Devri and Kaiti were in charge of the "fluffing"


And we all hung the ornaments.

And the finished product! (well at least until Kaiti brings back more ornaments from home)
Merry Christmas!!!!!
I am sure I am not the only one who is stoked 2010 is almost over!

Little Miss Cokeville

This 4th of July Weekend Tressa and I did not continue our yearly tradition of traveling down to Utah to shoot off Pepsi fireworks with our sister and brothers. No, this year she and I had the great honor of celebrating our nation's and Uncle's birthday in Cokeville, WY judging the little miss Cokeville beauty pageant.

So many people have been asking how we got that gig. Well, duh..... We aaaare Beautiful! What more qualifications do you need to judge a beauty pageant then that? Actually a good friend of mine is doing his internship there and pretty much runs the town. He was desperate and gave us a call.

It turned out sooo well and we had a ton of fun! Cokeville is a cute little town of 500 people and is about a mile long. When we got there we sat through quite an interesting 4th of July program and then the beauty began. It was very fun watching the little girls from 3 to 11 years old walk across the stage and preform their talents from knitting and coloring to dancing and singing.

Before the pageant we had no idea what kind of event this would be and what we should dress for. We started out our journey dressed to impressed but then half way there received an email saying every one would be casual. So we pulled over and changed into something a little more comfortable. (Luckily it was WY and there weren't to many passers by to enjoy our strip tease on the side of the road.)

This is what we looked like at the beginning of our journey



And these are all of the judges after the show was over.


And this was the man in charge of it all. He coincidentally enough was the 2nd runner up for Little miss Cokeville.

That title is well deserved don't you think?

I don't want to go back!!!!

Okay, here is another 5 minute post. I am home in Maryland and I LOVE IT!!! It feels SO good to be home in my own bed (okay who am I kidding? I've slept in Tressa's room every night so far) I don't want to leave this house! And I especially don't want to make the drive back to Idaho in 4 days! But can I tell you about how I am such a lucky girl?



Pictured above is my brother, my best friend, and my b...well....um... other friend. These three men are A-flippen-mazing! Both Donald and Austin drove out to MD with me from Idaho. I was so grateful to have them there and I honestly felt like a princess the whole way. They took really good care of me. And then of course my brother always treats me so well! We got to go to DC one night while they were here and we had a great time despite my PMS and cranky attitude. (HA and any man who can put up with my PMS is a saint) This morning my sweet brother came in and asked me where he should put all of the stuff he brought into the house from my car. It has been 3 or 4 days since I have been home and I have avoided cleaning out my car like a plague, so my little brother did it for me. I love that man!!! The women who catch these three are going to be so dang lucky!!! I am a little jealous.

Anyway, it just is so nice to be home. I love Maryland and the east coast. As much as I used to fight it when I was younger I will now admit that I am an east coast girl. I adore southern California but my heart is now in Maryland. Here are pictures of a walk we went on as a family. It is always so nice just to spend time with these great people!

Giving thanks with people I am so thankful for!

Wow! I know, I know. I am ridiculously late. But you know me! So this thanksgiving I spent it in Salt Lake with my sister and brother (in-law) at their new little apartment. They had just moved in and hadn't unpacked their kitchen so Marie Calender's thanksgiving it was! I loved it!!!
Our wonderful Thanksgiving dinner!



Yummy! It was amazing food!


Our very skilled turkey carver!


Liz and her beautifully set table.


Proof that I was actually there

I LOVE visiting Mark and Liz. We had so much fun going to Ikea to shop for their new home and watching Psych. It is my new very favorite show!

It is about a month after thanksgiving but I thought I would list a few things I am grateful for.
I am grateful for my heavenly father and all he does for me.
I am grateful that even though I had a full load on classes they weren't to demanding
I am grateful for my sister Liz and my brother Mark and that they let me come to their house whenever I want.
I am grateful for my brother Eldon and the incredible heart he has. He does so much for me!
I am grateful for Tressa and that she knows exactly what to do and say always!
I am grateful for my cute little Rachel. She's not so little anymore but will always be my sweet little Ray of sunshine!
And I am grateful for my amazing friends!

Happy Birthday America!

For the 4th of July I came down to Utah and hung out with my family. HA I didn't realize it until right now but I was the only single Allred there. We gathered at Liz and Mark's apartment and if was good to spend time and with My siblings. It's always fun when we get together. (Poor Eldon had to endure me jumping on him a few times) We sure did miss you Rachel. Last year we started a tradition of making our own fireworks of sorts with mentos and coke. So much fun!! Here are some pictures of the weekend.



(not my best picture, but I can tell you it was the best one taken of me that day. This just proves I was there)




These are from Jana's wedding reception. You can bet that the Allreds were breaking it down. (to bad I was to busy dancing and didn't get any pictures of the fun dancing)



PS. Happy Birthday Uncle Jack! Man, the country throws awesome parties for your birthday!