The Oaks

We got all dressed up and went and saw the Oakridge Boys in concert. Andlie enjoyed it because she had a bag of popcorn to keep her entertained. She kept saying, "Moosic! Dancin! Popquan."

By the end of the night, she was lying on the floor using my jacket as a pillow.

Fun concert! Fun to be there with both parents/grandparents. Andlie is the cutest little girl in the world. The end.

Thanksgiving 2010

Celebrated Thanksgiving with 95 family members. So lucky to have such wonderful families.

Decorated for Christmas that same week!

Played in the snow and learned that we don't "hate snow."

Took Christmas card pictures. One with the "Andlie smile."

And several tries to get the fave one.

Learned what a candycane is.

And fell in love.

We're so thankful for a million things in our lives, but what it mostly comes down to is this: We're thankful to have such amazing families and especially thankful for our little family. We're thankful for each other. We're thankful for the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Happy Birthday, Bryan!

We opened presents.

We blew out candles and ate cake.

I love Bryan because he is funny. Way funny.

Andlie loves him because he can chase and chase and tickle and play for hours.

I love Bryan because he is my best friend.

Andlie loves him because he's got her wrapped around her finger.

I love Bryan because he works so hard for our family.

Andlie loves him because he lets her splash him til he's soaking wet during bath time.

I love Bryan because he is my perfect match.

Happy Birthday, Bryan! We love you!!

You Can Only Read This Post if You Promise Not to Laugh

1. I wrote a blog post about Shutterfly.
2. I submitted my form online saying I wrote my blog post so I could get my 50 free cards.
3. I waited for three days and heard nothing.
4. I e-mailed Stuart @ Shutterfly asking when I should recieve my promotion code.
5. Stuart told me I should see it soon.
6. I saw it soon. Like the next day.
7. I went online and designed some really cute Christmas cards.
8. I used my promotional code to order the really cute Christmas cards.
9. I deleted the e-mail with the promotional code in it.
10. I waited for six days.
11. I got a package from Shutterfly on my doorstep!
12. I opened the package.
13. There was one card in there. One.
14. I craughed. (That's laughing and crying at once.)
15. In all my excitement that I was getting free cards, I forgot to enter "50" as the quantity.
16. I have one Christmas card on my kitchen counter.

Hence, the reason that I present the Allen Family Christmas Card on our blog this year.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Cards

Who can resist free stuff? Especially when it's so cute! How will I ever choose which free Christmas cards to get from Shutterfly who is offering bloggers 50 free Christmas cards? (They also have darling birthday cards!)

These are my faves:

Have you ever looked at what Shutterfly has to offer? Everything from stationary to photo calendars (which would both be awesome Christmas gifts)! Check out more Christmas gifts here.

My personal favorite though, is the photo books. If you're like me and bad at scrapbooking, the photo books are a great way to preserve memories. I'm doing one per year for each of my kiddos.

Anyway, Merry Christmas and happy Christmas card searching!

Out of the Mouth of Babes

[On her way to bed.] "Night, pizza. Night chair. Night tummy."

[After trying to play in the snow outside.] "I het snow." (I hate snow.)

[After being tickled by Mom.] "I het that, Mom." (I hate that, Mom.)

[While asking very politely for her bink.] "I deed it reawy bad." (I need it really bad.)

[After seeing the Santa decor at Walmart.] "Santa. Pesents. Many toys." (Santa. Presents. Many toys.)

[After looking in the mirror and realizing her hair is in a crazy, non-combed afro and while crying in a very concerned tone.] "Fix it hair. Pitty hair."

Happy Halloween!

We modeled our 2010 Halloween jammies and secretly hid our cast under them.

We hugged pumpkins. (We also told them, "Night punkin," each night before bed.)

We carved pumpkins! (Mine is the one on the bottom that looks like a 3rd grader made it. And yes, Bryan's is eating a smaller pumpkin.)

We dressed up! Bryan is a tree, I am a rake, and Andlie is a bag of leaves.

Andlie was the cutest bag of leaves I've ever seen in my entire life.

Happy Halloween!!

Four Eyes

I got glasses.

Something happened to the computer screen when I put them on. It was like magic.

Happy

I got flowers.

And I love them. Thank you, Bryan. You made my day. I love you.

"Fix it. Leg. I Sad."

September 29, 8:30 PM: Andlie jumped off the couch. We heard a popping noise and she wouldn't stop crying. We took her to the doctor. (Her pediatrician happened to have a doctor on call, so we didn't have to make a trip to the ER.) He ordered x-rays. Andlie hated them. We spent that night & the next day on the couch eating popsicles and watching movies. We put a wrap on Andlie's leg just in case.

September 30, 1:00 PM: Doctor called us and reported that the x-rays showed no break and that it was probably a bad sprain.

October 1: I called the doctor's office because Andlie seemed to be in pain and wouldn't put ANY weight on her leg. Plus, she kept saying, "Fix it. Leg. I sad." Talk about breaking your heart. We went out to the doctor's office where he did a further examination and told us that it was probably a bad sprain. He also mentioned that sometimes, because the bones are still soft, that a fracture won't show until five days later. He put a splint on and told us to call if she still wasn't putting weight on it by Tuesday.

She spent the next two days like this:

October 5: Called the doc. Still not putting weight on her leg at all. Doc requested a second x-ray and called later to say that "the radiologist had found a tiny break and we should cast it." The break is so small, but it's probably what's causing pain & inability to walk on it. We're supposed to report back on October 28.

I hate couches now. It breaks my heart into pieces that Andlie has a cast and a hurt leg, but I'm so thankful for a good doctor.