Allred Reunion

This Sunday we had a big Allred reunion at cousin Tricia's house. I couldn't believe how many people showed up, and it was all for the long lost Cali cousins: Robyn and Jillian. Pretty much everyone was there, but my family :(
Jake and I did, however, represent us well :)
We got some fun pictures of grandma and grandpa with all their great grandchildren. (We'll be adding 3 more just this year!!)
We also snapped a couple shots of the pregnant ladies. Sadly, I'm just 3 weeks further along than Jillian, but also 3x bigger!



And here are some of the girls:



It was so fun to see everyone :)
I love you all!

Vienna Sausages

Dinosaur toes. Duck feet. Or just plain hideous.
Welcome to my least favorite feature on my body: my feet. And those sweet nicknames came from my little brothers (dinosaur toes), my mother (duck feet), and friends (Vienna sausages). They're tough little guys, having been harassed their entire life.
Oh, but their favorite memory yet:

Ashley Thay and I like to sit around,, talking about our pregnancies, and how much fun our little babies will have playing together. During one of these fun get togethers she suddenly gasped while pointing at my feet: "Oh Emma, your poor feet. They're so swollen!"
Were they? I look down, and sure enough, she'd seen my feet for the first time. My little dinosaur toes, not one bit swollen. "No Ashley, those are how my feet always look." Now "swollen" has been added to the long list of nicknames for my feet :)

Most people will get tummy tucks, nose jobs, or eye lifts.
You can bet your money I'm getting a foot job.


Now please, let Annabelle get Lauren's model feet!!

Kitchen Disaster # 55

I can't take full credit for this one. Dear sweet Ashley Thay was my accomplice this time. Remember that delicious homemade raspberry/peach jam? Well, we made it! It's homemade as in made in MY home. (I'm a little proud)
Sue and Ashley Kay taught us the jarring business this weekend. So sweet. However we only had time to finish canning half the peaches, so the newly-trained housewives got the honor. To finish the other half. A-L-O-N-E.

I could probably stop there, huh?

... Alright. So it wasn't the end of the world, and we were beyond proud when the first SEVEN jars looked like paradise. Truly.

The last seven jars were filled and ready to seal in the boiling pot, when !POP! a jar completely shattered in the water. Of course, we both screamed. Moaned. And groaned. :( We had to start over: Drain the water, clean the pot, keep remaining jars hot, reboil water... basically add 45 extra minutes onto this session :)

Thank you Sue and Ashley Kay for teaching us :) Next canning session however: not until at least next summer.

Kitchen Disaster # 54

I know I've made far more than 54 mistakes in the kitchen, but I'm trying not to beat myself up about it plus my memory's not the greatest these days (Did you know pregnant women develop a condition called "absentmindedness"? I told Jake that, and he concluded that I've been pregnant my whole life then......)

So, Jake's family came to town this weekend and being the good little hostess Red Lobster's trained me to be, I made them all breakfast: Delicious German crepes, scrambled eggs, and hot chocolate :) So yummy!!
We had tasty toppings such as Nutella, powdered sugar, peanut butter & honey, and the best home made raspberry/peach jam :) This little breakfast was HEAVEN!

As soon as everyone was enjoying their little piece of Germany, I decided to prepare the hot chocolate. The mugs are ready, chocolate packets bereit, and all we need is hot water :) With ladle in hand, I'm ready to fill the first mug. That's too easy though. Instead I pour the entire ladle of boiling hot water OVER my hand! Yup, I missed the cup.

What is wrong with me?!

PS:

The ticket is bought, and I'm coming to Seattle in just about 4 weeks!! AHHHHHHHH! I am so so excited!! Am I nervous about going into labor on a plane? Naaah. Everything'll be just fine! (CROSS YOUR FINGERS!!)

Can't wait to see this angel baby who is now going on 6 months:


And this angel baby is already 5 years old. I just can't believe it...


And our little stud muffin. LOVE him.


I know I already posted pictures of these beauties, but I am just so excited to hold them I can't help but double post on them!

SEATTLE HERE I COME!!

John Mayer for Birthday Jake

This year for Jake's 25th birthday he did some pretty great things: He ran his first half-marathon and went to the John Mayer concert!
He trained for months before the big race and did an awesome job! His dad, uncle Jon, and Aunt Jen ran it with him as well. Thanks for making his birthday such a special day!


He also requested a "baby-themed" party, so this is what he got :)


The John Mayer concert was INCREDIBLE! And we had some pretty rockin' seats. It was my 1st concert, but one of many for Jake and also his THIRD time seeing John Mayer. I think it's love.

Here we are with our double date Matt & T.


Right in the middle of it all. So amazing!


Oh John Mayer, you blew us away!

ISRAEL vs SEATTLE

Utah Valley University is sending two students to Israel to make a documentary and my Jacob is one of those special students :)
It's a 10 day trip in October! I'm so so excited for him! I really wish I could go with him, but then again early labor in the middle east sounds like a horrifying nightmare - even more so than having a C-section. :S

So off he'll go in October to see the beautiful architecture, people, and taste the delicious food of Israel.
He's headed out there to document the ruins of an ancient city with this device that UVU owns. You place it in the middle of a room, it scans the room (its dimensions etc) and it then recreates how that room looked before it was torn apart. So with this device they'll basically reconstruct this ancient little city! :)

And while he's away, I just might go see my beautiful sister and her adorable little babies in Seattle!! (PLEASE JAKE!)
I mean really, I shouldn't be alone for 10 whole days whilst 8 months pregnant. Seattle sounds like the perfect location for such a large expecting woman.

October = Big travelling month for both of us!

Jake will go here:



...and see this:



I, on the other hand, will go here:



...and see this:



...this:



...and THIS:



Courtesy of these two:

Baby Time!

Jake and I have been very blessed when it comes to baby Annabelle:

1. She's adorable! You might THINK every ultrasound looks the same, but no. She's the cutest thing I've ever seen! Not to mention, she plays with her toes in my belly to pass the time. ADORABLE! If only I could play with MY toes to pass the time... ;)

2. They say an active baby is a healthy baby, and let me tell you: She is one active baby!! She wakes me up in the night with her acrobatics! (We're thinking she'll do well in dance)

3. She does tricks! Real life tricks! I could lay on my back all day placing my hand on different parts of my belly and she'll kick wherever my hand is! I love it! Not so fun trick: She likes to bounce on my bladder. A lot.

4. She'll be Ms. Fashion Queen for the first 2 years of her life! AT LEAST! Really - she has more clothes than Jake and I combined! Thanks so so much to our sweet Aunt Jen, our good family friend in Germany, Mindy Hymas, and of course Nana Van Wagoner :) We love you and are so so grateful!

5. With the help of our friend's awesome garage sale, she'll have the poshest room in the house! Where else can you find Pottery Barn for $20? LOVE the garage sales :)





6. We love her. So so much! And just can't WAIT to meet her :)

Here are some other cute things we've gotten for her room:





Our baby will fit into that little spot!



I cannot wait to meet my little Annabelle Sue!

I love my mom!

Not only because she's the sweetest and most amazing mom in the world, but also because she's one of the most talented people I know! She's been sending me packages (which I LOVE!!) for the past little while and yesterday was another one of those special days!!
She told me a package was coming with some maternity clothes she'd picked up for me, so of course I was excited, however not nearly excited enough!!! This would be the best package I'd EVER receive!!

Check.It.Out!



She CROCHETED this! All 400 squares! I love love LOVE it so much!!



After calling home this morning to thank her for, my now, most prized possession, she happily informed me that it was the LAST thing she would crochet for a very.long.time! (At least until Lissie gets married) So, I'm super grateful I was the recipient of such an amazing masterpiece!!

Mom, thank you SO much for this beautiful blanket!

I love you!

First Try!

Well, it's happened. I've been fighting the blogging world, because really - who wants to read about my day-to-day life? I call my sisters when something story-worthy happens, and my mom gets weekly emails! But those emails just aren't hitting the spot - she's been begging me to start a blog since day one! And every time I tell Marie a story, she rolls on the floor laughing whilst telling me: Start a blog!!
(I'm fairly confident I'm only hilarious to her!)

So, I now have a blog! It will be good. I'm not fond of the idea of an online journal, but then again my real-life journal isn't getting the stories either. (And Marie's memory isn't the best...) ;)

Posts that will grace this blog:

- My cooking disasters (Marie's #1 pull for this blog)
- Documenting sweet Annabelle's life
- And well, ours too!
- Jake's senior year at UVU
- My arts & crafts
- My MOM'S beautiful creations
- And I can't think of anything else.

I have a feeling I might get addicted to this... Mal schauen!