Scoresby Scamper

The 2011 Scoresby Scamper (our own family 5K) included a fun run for the little girls. Lauren won the age 2 division, Macey won the almost 3 division and Afton won the almost 4 division. There were ribbons and door prizes for the three little girls.

In the adult division, Preston placed first (someone needs to train and beat him--just not me!), Janet came in 2nd and Rene, 3rd. The walkers (me and the pregnant girls) only make it about 2 blocks with the strollers. Afton was highly affronted when the adults ran off and left her and took off after them. Tanner was not happy, as in screaming his head off, so after corralling and consoling Afton, we turned around and went home. It was darn cold anyway!

What a fun family tradition! Janet did an awesome job putting it together, including professionally printed shirts.

And I don't know why Sarah is wearing this stupid fish hat.

Reindeer Games

I'll do a longer post later about our activities this week, but we got a good laugh out of this last night.

The little girls were playing Hide and Seek with Preston at Ben and Shannon's. Preston hid in the pantry all hunched over on the floor. The little girls opened the doors and looked in and didn't see or recognize him. He stayed totally still and they continued their search. After awhile, they went back to the pantry and just stood there staring at him. Nobody said anything for quite awhile, then Lauren piped up "Daddy, are you stuck?" (Okay, maybe you had to be there, but it was hilarious. And I don't know what's up with Lauren's jeans--she doesn't usually wear them this low.)

Ring Around the Rosie, London Bridge and Duck, Duck, Goose have all been popular this week, too.

Pre-Christmas Festivities

Grandpa with Tanner and Sadie

Happy Birthday, Tracy!

Smiling Uncle Ben and Tanner

Tanner, 3 months old

Silly Afton and Macey playing Pretty, Pretty Princesses

Great Grandma Allred reading to Macey

Wausau Christmas Parade....brrr!

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving, I'm happy for time spent with these cuties:

I'm also grateful that our children are faithful, temple worthy members of the church and are raising our grandchildren to be the same.

I am thankful for my wonderful brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews and their children who have always blessed my life, but especially in the past couple of years.

I cannot even express how grateful I am for my parents and for all that they taught me. I'm thankful that my Mom is also my friend and that we have shared many things in the past and continue to do so. She has always been a source of comfort and support.

I'm thankful for the countless dear friends, new and old, young and older, who have brightened my life and uplifted me in many ways. I especially value the children and young people who think of me. Many of my former seminary students are also my friends and that makes me happy.

I'm thankful for Rene--for the priesthood he holds, for his daily acts of support, for 33 years of married life.

While I'll admit that my understanding is far from perfect, I'm filled with gratitude for the blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ and our Father and his Son.

Oh yeah, I'm thankful for turkey and pie and a special day to enjoy it all!

Tanner's blessing

We were so grateful to be able to go to Virginia for Tanner's baby blessing. Although it was a very quick trip, spending time with our family is so precious to me. I'm also glad that Tracy's parents could be there. Fortunately for us, our grandchildren all call us Grandpa and Grandma and have other names for their other grandparents. Tracy's parents are called Nana and Papa. Being grandma has been one of the great joys of my life. I'm looking forward to more events just like this!

Keeper

Each month, the power company kindly includes a recipe on one of the many inserts we get in our power bill. For the past six years, I have looked at the recipes and thrown them away. I may have kept one once, but I never made it.

Today, I found one that sounded good. I had all the ingredients at home, so I made it tonight and it was yummy.

Teriyaki-Glazed Pork Medallions


2 t. butter or margarine
1 lb. pork (I used two pork thick pork chops.)
4 T. brown sugar
4 T. orange juice
2 t. soy sauce
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. ginger


Melt margarine in large, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Cut pork into 1/2" slices. Add pork to skillet and cook until lightly brown and no longer pink. Drain if necessary. In small bowl, combine brown sugar, orange juice, soy sauce, garlic powder and ginger; blend well. Pour over pork, cook and stir until mixture thickens and coats pork. Serve over rice.

And because I don't have a picture of this tasty dinner, I'll post a picture of Macey in her tutu.

Choosing to be happy

One of the things that I've enjoyed most about having adult children is seeing them make righteous choices and work hard at teaching their children the gospel. It makes me happy to read the scriptures with them before bed, or to hear our granddaughters say the blessing. This week, we had the opportunity to go to Virginia to see our newest grandson, Tanner. He is adorable! On Monday night, we had Family Home Evening with Joseph and Tracy and Afton (and Tanner, although he did not participate much.) It had been a day filled with the power struggles and tears that sometimes happen as children learn to exert their independence and test boundaries.

After an opening song--"Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes"--we had a little lesson. It was about the fact that we can choose to be happy or we can choose to be sad. Choosing to be happy makes life more fun and peaceful. Minding Mommy and Daddy cheerfully leads to being happy. Choosing otherwise brings sadness. It was a very short lesson; Afton is only three. For the talent portion, Afton showed us how she can bounce on her bouncing ball thingy. We had made chocolate chips cookies earlier while we waited for Daddy to come home. The closing song was "Popcorn". The closing prayer, by Afton, included three mentions of our thankfulness for chocolate chip cookies. It was a sweet, calm family night, although Afton did not appear to be paying more than minimal attention.

Later one that evening, Afton was sitting at the kitchen table doing something. The rest of us were in the living room. Tanner was fussing. Afton loudly announced from the kitchen, "Tanner needs to choose to be happy....like ME!" Hahahahaha....she was obviously paying attention.