Paul & Melanie Alldredge Family

2011-08-26T19:44:00.031-06:00

Here is my semi annual post for the year! This catches up the last 6 months or so. My kids have spent hours catching/chasing butterflies, insects, and dragonflies. They have quite the collection! It's not uncommon to find dead butterfly parts laying around in my freezer. These pictures are backwards as far as a timeline. This is the last week before starting school so we have been cramming fun things we wanted to do! These are the wildflowers on the hike to cecret lake up Little Cottonwood canyon. I have been there a few times but NEVER seen the flowers so beautiful! I really wished I had thought to dress us up a little nicer and plan on taking pictures. The girls were happy to do some poses and take pictures in the flowers..... the boys not so much, they were busy chasing butterflies and throwing rocks This is the best I could do getting all 4 to look at the camera. I told Wyatt to smell the flowers and this is his smelling face:) The Salamanders are of course the highlight for the kids! Here Wyatt is kissing his before he lets it back into the lake. Salamanders are strange looking things. Kind a creepy, I think. My kids love to catch them? Here is another lake we visited recently with the Jona & Brook Tadje Family. Forest Lake. More salamanders... Angie and her cousin Morgan sitting at the fire. Angie LOVES to hang out with her and can't get enough of her. They are quite adventurous when they get together.
Everytime we visit these high mountain lake the kids end up wanting to swim and we don't usually bring swimming suits, so they always end up in there birthday suits.. but after this trip I think they'll think twice before swimming, when they got out they were all covered in leaches!! They panicked a bit when they saw them.

Brook and the newest addition Ollie! Kyson started scouts and here received his Bobcat We took a trip up to Flaming Gorge and had a really great time. We haven't done very much camping and it wasn't long enough. The kids had a good time using the little gun Paul got them last year and Kyson and Angie both killed their first animal all by themselves! Our little hunter Kyson. He has a love for the outdoors like his dad Here is our campspot. We have camped here on and off over the last 8 years. We love this spot! Of course there is lots of fishing Kiki turns 7 Here we hiked to A place we call Moose meadows. It was a beautiful day and so green Kiara and Wyatt enjoying a drink The kids have spent a lot of time in this plastic walmart pool. IT is perfect and Koda gets in and plays every once in a hilw Family picture at Moose Meadows Kyson got baptized! I'm so proud of him and all my kids, they are such fun, great kids. I love them and am so lucky:) This was 6 months or so ago. Wyatt would take a nap on the couch when I was working and Pistol often would join him. Girls being silly

2011-03-08T14:00:00.011-07:00

It has been a while since I posted so here is a few pictures of the last 6 months. I have to admit I haven't been taking hardly any pictures lately but Angie got a camera for Christmas so almost all of these were taken by Angie. Thanks Ang!!

My kids want to go sledding whenever possible!
I thought this was just way to Cute. My chubby little baby loves to watch for dada to come home!!
Kyson being silly. This is a SCARY picture
Wyatt enjoying Angie's cake before it is cooked
Angie LOVES to hang out with her cousin Morgan and they made this chocolate cake. I tried to convince her just to use a box cake but she insisted on finding the recipe herself on google and making it from SCRATCH. It was very delicious:) Angie loves to cook
Paul built this playhouse last year and the kids have spent hours jumping from the deck of it to the tramp and then trying to capture great action shots in the air.

Lots of snow at the Cabin this year. They dug a tunnel through the snow that falls from the roof

2010-11-19T07:03:00.014-07:00

Wyatt loves to go on "rides" & the first thing he says to Paul when he gets home is "ride". Now that the weather is cold it has converted into piggy back rides instead. He would ride this all day long!
Here is what Paul's been up to the last 3 months. Hunting, Hunting, and more hunting!!

Wyatt giving his cousin Rylan Kisses.
Halloween 2010!
Angie doing her first cliff jump @ Lake Powell
One of the many sand castle's built in Lake Powell
This is all Kyson did the whole trip!! He didn't want to do anything but fish & catch lizards and he caught a lot of both
Me and Brook on an enjoyable tube ride:)
I wanted to post this right below because the above picture shows the mother's of these two in the same spots!! Kiara & her cousin Annika
Wyatt had a blast playing in the sand and water. I will say it was very stressful taking this age to Lake Powell, especially cause Wyatt is not afraid of the water & would walk right in.
Kiara and one of the toads they caught

Here are a few highlights of our yearly Lake Powell trip! Thanks to my brother Richards hard week all summer in Lake Powell, we had a very enjoyable week with PERFECT Weather. I seriously LOVE THIS PLACE!!

2010-07-31T21:22:00.014-06:00

I have to post this because Kyson has spent hours & hours catching butterflies, insects etc. he loves the outdoors & animals. He takes after his dad so much!! I LOVE IT!
Roasting Marshmallows is a Must every time we go camping. You can't tell very good in the picture but the kids found some old tent poles & wanted to make some long roasters. After a while we realized we were getting little slivers of fiberglass. OOPS! not a good thing.

Koda's first real hike! I was worried it would be a bit much for him but he did awesome & ran circles around Paul & I. He was tired out & loved the lake!
Paul & I hiked to Lake Hardy which is one of our favorite places ever! Not a single soul was there & it was so beautiful.
Kiki with her Geode collection
Wyatt LOVES to go for rides. He makes a motorcycle sound to let us know he wants to go for a ride.
One of the stops along the old Pony Express Trail which is how you get to the geode pit.
Kyson showing off one of his finds!
Paul had promised to take the kids out to dig for Geodes. They love crystal rocks & had a really good time digging & opening their many geodes
This is what we have spent a lot of summer doing! Watching Angie play softball. She made the All-Star team & they took 2nd place in one of their tournaments. It was so exciting & intense to watch. She loves & lives for softball & I love to watch her play! The other 3 kids aren't quite as thrilled as me. We have had some hot long days watching & they are good sports to come along.

Birthdays! Birthdays!

2010-05-25T12:35:00.008-06:00

Wyatt takes his first steps!!
I have to hand it to Koda. He is so patient with him & allows Wyatt to crawl all over him.
Best Friends. Wyatt loves to climb in bed with Koda every morning while he enjoys his baba.
RIding the bumper Boats @ Boondocks for his birthday!
Kyson Turns 7!! We had a good time celebrating his birthday @ Boondocks.
I hit the big 30 :( it is a harsh sounding number to swallow. Sometimes I still feel like I just graduated high school. I always wanted to have all my kids before I turned 30, & I did it with one year to spare.
Wyatt turns 1!!!! Wow has time flown by!

2010-03-23T14:40:00.011-06:00

We recently went camping down south to some sand dunes, My sister-in-law always takes great pictures (thanks Brook) & took this & has it on her blog but I had to share because I love Kiara's facial expression. I know it doesn't appear that she enjoyed this jump but I can assure you that she did. And did it several times
Still friends. Puppies & babies that can't walk don't mix. We are working on training the puppies to being kind to Wyatt. He still likes them (not Love) most of the time regardless of the many times they have tackled him down.

Wyatt loves to help me unload & load the dishwasher every morning.
Angie turned 9!! Wow that makes me feel really old. I can't believe she is 9, she is turning into quite the little lady & we love her. She is so talented @ everything she does. She wanted to have a cupcake party & she pretty much planned everything (of course I did all the work). I got the idea off a friends blog & it turned out really fun. We decorated aprons, then cupcakes & played a few games.
This is Kyson & his cousin Will. Kyson loves Will & wishes he was his brother.
What?? Doesn't everyone like to eat sand?

2010-03-01T09:55:00.006-07:00

The newest Member of our Family!! KODA-

He is a lab/husky mix

I always know when Spring is right around the corner cause my chickens start to lay more consistently. Yeah!! I have been getting 5 or 6 a day for the last week!

Angela has been waiting soooo long for a puppy & we finally got him. The kids were all excited but Angie has really wanted a dog for a while. Oh & if you're wondering about the 2. We are babysitting my brother Richard's for a few months.

A few months of Catch up

2010-01-25T15:41:00.013-07:00

Well here is a few months of catch up. I have no excuses as to why it took so long to post. We have been off track and we had a long 6 week break (which is basically a summer) during the winter. We tried to stay busy playing in the snow, playing at the cabin, playing with Xmas toys, crafts inside and going to movies. I will say I am excited for school to start again!!

My baby is growing up too fast! He is crawling now and no longer allows me to rock him:( He is the happiest, healthiest baby EVER!! He loves his daddy and the only time he cries is when Paul walks in the room without picking him up.

pulling the kids on sleds out west

Angie showing off her lovely cake she made with her cake maker from Xmas
Best buddies! I didn't think Kyson would show a whole lot of interest in playing with Wyatt till he could at least walk but he spends hours sometimes rolling a ball, pushing cars and playing with his little brother.
Christmas jammies from Grandma Alldredge
Alldredge Family picture at Xmas time
Kyson's 1st time on skiis!! He did so awesome.
We have done lots of sledding
And lots of MarioKart! Thanks Phil & Tiff for letting us borrow it:)

2009-11-03T11:53:00.008-07:00

Halloween!!! I totally forgot about taking pictures B4 trick or treating so this is after. They weren't real thrilled about taking pictures because they were too busy counting their candy. And Kyson had already tore off his costume:) but he was the same thing as last year a ninja.

Here is Angie in the same costume 8 years ago! I think these two look the most like each other of all my kids.

Wyatt was a cow

OK, SO I've been obsessed lately with Family photos and editing photos. Everyone always has there say in who looks like who. Here is a lineup of our Family all at 6 months of age. I did it in Black and white to keep the coloring in uniform cause the colors were all over. Just thought it was fun to see. Who's Who? Obviously Paul & my family will enjoy this the most!

Old times and new ones!

2009-10-05T11:30:00.015-06:00

There is a story behind these silly two pictures. We had the top picture taken of my 7 siblings back in 1991. (I always thought it was a cool picture) My dad posted it for fun on flickr and someone submitted it to awkwardfamilyphotos.com. It got over 100 comments and there were some requests for a reunion picture. We had a Tadje family trip planned and for the 1st time in OVER 10 YEARS! all of my siblings were going to be together. So we thought it would be appropriate to grant the wishes of the folks and do a reunion picture. We had a great week at Lake Powell thanks to Rich and the great hookups!

Angie on the knee board
We got to see the dam!
Swimming out of a mini slot canyon

The two toe heads enjoying a bull ride on the houseboat ride to camp!

Paul shot an antelope in Wyoming this year
Wyatt trying out a Bumbo!

2009-08-13T15:20:00.016-06:00

So it has been a while since I posted. Let's just say life has been a bit busy and it definately just keeps going. We have had some good times and some bad, let's focus on the good! Here is a little of what we have been up to lately.

You have too look closely but yes that is our cat "Pistol". He somehow had snuck in during naptime and snuggled up. It is funny cause Wyatt wasn't crying I just heard him talking and thought that was strange since usually if he is awake in his crib he cries.

Kiki turns 5!!
Paul is in the middle of the Bronco. He is switching motors in his baby:)
Here is Angie. We have spent many hours watching her play softball. She made the Allstar team and played shortstop. I loved watching but I'm glad it is over for a while.
Uncle Richard holding Wyatt. Had to capture this hair, it is getting longer as we speak!
Camping with glo sticks
Uncle Daniel enjoying some fishing
Camping up near Flaming Gorge
Yes that is a dead rodent.
riding in the truck to go fishing
The kids spent many hours riding their new 4 wheeler.
roasting marshmallows
Kiki learns to ride a 2 wheeler!

2009-06-01T08:56:00.012-06:00

Paul & Kyson took a trip up to Flaming Gorge this weekend. They had a great time and caught a lot of fish!
We went camping out West over Memorial day with my brother and some friends. There were A LOT of kids and they all had a blast. Here is a shot of their "Candy Party" in our tent. Unfortunately it is the only photo I got of this trip.

My talented sister-in-law took these photos of Wyatt, I think they turned out awesome. The big challenge was capturing the right face/look. Wyatt was always pulling some weird face or going cross eyed. Thanks Brook!!

Moab

2009-05-13T21:04:00.007-06:00

One of the lookouts along a trail in Moab. Can't remember the name.
Camp from a far.

Uncle Jonny taking the kids for an early morning ride. (notice they are all still in their pj's)
We finally got to test out my new car. It did great!!
Our yearly tradition of camping in Moab. It was very short this year but still lots of fun! And I feel bad cause I don't have hardly any pictures of the kids and etc. I had my hands full with the new babe.

Happy Birthday to ME!! Paul is always so good about making sure I have a good Birthday each year. This year he got me a very nice full suspension bike. I have been wanting one for a long time now. Thanks Paul!!

WYATT

2009-04-25T14:00:00.008-06:00

So I finally found a few minutes to post some pictures. Here he is Wyatt Tadje Alldredge. Born Sunday April 19th. 8.3lbs and 20 1/2 inches long. We are so glad he is here!!
Big Brother
Big sister Kiara
Dad

Angie's Baptism

2009-03-30T16:08:00.006-06:00

Angie turned 8 in March and then chose to be baptized this weekend. It was a great experience and we are so proud of her!! I can't believe I have an 8 year old! She is such a smart fun girl to have around, we love her!

Sand Dunes

2009-03-09T09:27:00.005-06:00

We took a short day trip down to the sand dunes this weekend. We have been so busy (mostly Paul) with our new car project and with putting in the new floors in the kitchen. You forget when you start those projects how it always ends out being a lot more than you bargain for. So it was nice to get away. I'm so excited for warm weather and camping!!!

Our campfire, it was in the thirties, I was happy about having a fire during the day.
Uncle Dan burying the kids in the sand
The kids LOVED playing in the sand and even thought it was pretty chili, they didn't seem to mind. I know these pictures didn't turn out so swell, they happened to play on the hill that was right into the sun. Maybe Brook got some that turned out better.

Winter

2009-01-27T15:55:00.005-07:00

Angie had been asking me to take her skiing, she was very excited and did awesome!! I'm a bragging mom but seriously after like two runs she was passing up all the other kids. I'm excited to train up a partner in crime to be able to go with regularly. We will hopefully go more next year when I'm not so large. And for anyone who wants to go, you can ski for free after 3:00 at Alta everyday:) They also have a tow rope that goes all day to get started on. rental for kids skiis is only $8 bucks.

Scary close picture of us on the lift, it was such a beautiful spring like day, we got to get away from the yucky inversion to warmer temperatures. We had to shed our hats and a layer because it was so warm.

O.k. we have been off track now for over 5 WEEKS!!!! The kids have been very creative in finding entertainment. I love the snow but I enjoy the warmer months much more, as do the kids:) We have done some sledding (when there's been enough snow) and they always love to play in newly fallen snow but I will admit there has been a lot of indoor boredom going on that leads to creative things like this. They honestly spent a good hour or so doing this over and over again.

Mexico

2009-01-14T10:26:00.007-07:00

It was so nice to get away to some warm weather. I got a little stressed about having to wear a swimsuit in my condition but it was such a nice getaway. I love the ocean and I love to travel. Thanks to Brook & Jonathan for taking such good care of the kids while we were away!!!

These are pictures of the Tulum Mayan Ruins. This place was amazing, I couldn't believe how big it was!

Paul and I love coconuts and every night on our way back to the hotel Paul would climb a tree and pick a coconut to drink. The meat inside was sooooo good and much softer than ones I've bought from the store. I always wanted to see one fresh off the tree.

This was probably Paul's highlight of the trip, we visited a little Park and got lucky to see this boa constrictor who had just captured this iguana and was squeezing it to death. He had it in this position for at least 45 min. and we didn't stick around to see him eat it. The locals said it was pretty common in this area. I had NO IDEA there were boa constrictors in Mexico. I guess we were kind of in the jungle area.

Merry Chrismtas

2008-12-22T09:12:00.004-07:00

This was actually taken after the 1st snow storm this year a few weeks ago, there was barely enough snow to even make a snowman and I think I told them they wouldn't be able to but they used about all the snow on our entire lawn and got it done.
This is as close as I got to a Christmas card, here is a picture of the kids I managed to get before church on Sunday.

I had to post this video, Angie has been taking piano for about 7 months now and it doing well, Kiara often loves to dance while she plays. Kiara received a whistle from our Alldredge Christmas party and they have a little duet they like to play. You have to watch Kiara in the background she gets so into the song I think she was in her own little world.

It's a BOY!!

2008-11-10T11:34:00.009-07:00

Well, we announced the new arrival of baby #4 on Sunday to our families and it was quite a surprise to most (some had figured it out) and the kids were so excited to finally tell our little secret! It is a Boy, which will even things up for us having 2 girls and 2 boys:) I feel so lucky and blessed!! The due date is April 26th. I can't figure out how to rotate this picture but if you can imagine it flipped you are looking at the baby's bottom and it's 3rd leg in the middle:)

WINNER!

2008-10-30T10:41:00.004-06:00

So the kids entered our local bank's (Bank of American Fork) Halloween coloring contest. They all were so serious and spent a very long time coloring their pictures and they were each sure THEY were going to WIN! I got a call yesterday from the bank and Kiara was the Winner. They setup a savings account and deposited $10 in it for her! She also got a cute little piggy bank. She was pretty excited and proud. I was too:) Good job Kiki!!!

Carving Pumpkins!!

2008-10-28T13:34:00.005-06:00

Testing out the final product. They turned out nice. Angie's is the witch and did it all and refused any help! Can't argue with that
The kids have been dying to carve their pumpkins and they are soooooo excited for Halloween!! Paul & I were gone for Halloween last year so I am extra excited to celebrate Halloween with them. Yes I realize they are green, but our pumpkins were a little slow this year in maturing so we used the green ones anyway. It beats paying money for them and who would ever know in the dark when they are lit.
Kiki wanted a "Happy face"

Kyson wanted a scary face and we had a hard time convincing him that this was a "scary face"because he didn't think so but it was the scariest face I could find. He lucked out with getting an orange pumpkin one because he got a coupon to the local grocery store for a free one.

Bunnies

2008-10-11T20:48:00.005-06:00

Here is our latest batch of baby bunnies. They are so cute at this age and the kids love them! They have been off track (school) so they have a daily ritual of bringing them in for an hour or so to play with them. They each have their "own" that they get each time and Kyson usually takes the extra one. It is just about time for them to go to their new homes (so get ready Morgan, Annie & Will). Two are spoken for but if anyone is looking for a new pet let me know:)

Cecret Lake

2008-09-30T08:47:00.011-06:00

A few of the leaves we collected. The kids had a fun time collecting as well as I. I love the Fall

I had been wanting to take the kids and hike to this this lake all summer (Cecret Lake) it is a perfect little hike for kids. The leaves were just starting to change and the lake is full of salamanders

Hiking along the trail to Cecret Lake (yes that is how it is spelled)

A little get together at mutual dell with Family

Trip to Colorado

2008-09-09T09:58:00.009-06:00

Well I took a trip to Colorado (Crested Butte) to visit my brother Jacob & his daughter Ananda. It is beautiful there and I couldn't get enough. This is just down the road from Robin's Pet Ranch. I have to say thanks to my husband for doing such a great job holding down the fort even though I left him two days after knee surgery, he insisted I go since we had it planned for some time and couldn't change weekends. I came home to a spotless home AND ALL THE WASH WAS DONE!!!
Here is a view of the back side of Crested Butte.
Jake spotted this fox while looking for a lost Bomba and the fox let us walk within about 10 feet of him.
Here we are at the top of Crested Butte (12,100 ft.) I will admit that I have been a little or maybe a lot obsessed with hiking this summer. I can't get enough of being high!
Jacob, Ananda, Robin & her dad hiked a few hour up before turning back to get Ananda back down to take a nap. Ananda seems to love being in her chariot and I was impressed the trails Robin was pushing her through.

Ok so this is a different excursion. A week ago me and my sister-in-law Tiffany tried to hike Box Elder Peak. She had never been and I was excited to go. Unfortunately the weather was very cold and we really couldn't see very far in front of us. I also had some knee trouble and we turned back with only 1000 ft left to climb. Tiffany wanted to keep going but I was worried I wouldn't be able to get down if I went any further. We will try again another time and get her to the top. I'm not sure what I did to make it start doing underlining but I can't figure out how to make it stop.

here we are all bundled up in Paul's camo he let us borrow. (He was suppose to come with and do some hunting but tore his meniscus and had to have surgery on it.) Since he was prepared and we weren't he let us borrow warm gear. He has had some very bad luck between his back and knee this year. He has been really bummed about not being able to hunt much. Oh and Box Elder Peak is in the background

Random

2008-08-23T21:12:00.012-06:00

Here is a collection of some random pictures from the last few weeks. 1st row of these are at Grandpa Eggett's funeral. It was such a neat funeral and it was special to see the veterans pay tribute to him at the cemetary. 2nd row is pics from when me and Paul hike Timp a few weeks ago. It was beautiful. 3rd row is Angie with her oral report project, she has been reading the fairy series of books and LOVES them. She got to do a project for school and it turned out super cute, it is a tree with gumballs and jelly beans for the ground (apparently their is a tree in her book like this:) Also pictures from fishing at Strawberry. (Grandpa Alldredge took us and the kids had a good time)

Now for this one. Do you ever find your kids playing with their food. Sometimes I swear it takes an hour to get them to eat one meal. They were making creatures with their food at first I was mad but then they actually looked cool so I had to take a picture. The rest of the pics are from our drive to forest lake for dinner and marshmallows. Paul, Kyson and Angie were off bow hunting and I had a lot of fun experimenting with my camera and flash taking pictures of the fire. Kiara enjoyed many marshmallows

2008-08-12T10:33:00.006-06:00

Here is "Harry" our new pet tarantula. I found him (I think it is a boy) in Alpine on Sunday night. I almost ran him over, the kids begged me to catch him (except Kiara was quite scared). I did and I guess we'll keep him for a bit. It has actually been very amusing to watch. I never knew spiders this big existed in Utah. Thankfully I have found out that they aren't aggressive and even if it does bite it would be similar to being stung by a wasp.
Here is a picture of one of my 10 voluntary sunflowers this year. I planted two last year and I guess the seeds spread all over my back yard because I had probably 20 to 30 voluntary sunflowers sprout. I picked over half because their stems end up so enormous they are a pain to get rid of at the end of the year. The ones this year have definately been the biggest (tallest) sunflowers i've ever grown or even seen:)

2008-08-04T10:49:00.016-06:00

Paul & Pete doing some dives off a cliff

Here is a video of Paul, me, Melissa (my sister) and Pete (her husband) cliff jumping:)

We took a trip to Flaming Gorge where we visited my sister and did a little of everything. It was so much fun to get away! No wash for a week! No dishes! No where to be:)
Me, Paul and Kyson at the top of leidy Peak (12013ft) Kyson was so persistent in wanting to join us for this hike we tried and tried to convince him otherwise. He surprised us all and made it with flying colors, not only did he make it but kept up with no problem.
Angie with her "brook trout" at Ashley twin lake
Kind of a side ways picture but this is grandpa T, Kyson, Paul and I, and Mese and Pete at the top of Leidy Peak
Water skiing on the gorge. Water was GREAT! Thanks Mese and Pete for taking us!!!
Kids riding the tube
Paul, Pete and Kyson on the green river
Paul on the knee board
showing off Dad's catch on the river
Kiki had her 4th birthday on Wendsday while we were camping. We made her a dutch oven strawberry cake!!
Kiki and her friends at her birthday party, we had right before we left for our trip.
Farewell to the raccoons!! They were so much fun but were getting into sooooooo much trouble. I finally laid down the law when we came home from a weekend trip and they had figured out how to turn on the faucets in the bathroom where we had been keeping them. We let them go near the same place they were found where there is plenty of shelter and water.

2008-07-23T07:39:00.014-06:00

This is a picture of an old mining cabin up by an old mine (can't remember the name of the mine). It was up the Mary Ellen's Gulch trail in AF Canyon. the inside was still pretty decent shape, it had a kitchen table/chairs. Bedroom with bunk beds. It needed some cleaning up but would have been such a neat little place to stay in.

Here is the inside of one of the two bedrooms. It had cute bunkbeds
Here is Angie, Kyson & Morgan standing in front of the mine

Last weekend we went on a little backpacking trip and here is Paul looking for animals early in the morning. We were very lucky to find this patch of "level snow" to camp on.

Here we are at the top of the Pfeirhorn (11,300 ft)

Sliding Rock

2008-07-07T14:49:00.007-06:00

Saturday we went to sliding rock/the pond and had a great time with the kids. My brother and his kids came along with Grandpa Tadje!! Here are a few videos and clips. Unfortunately there were no bikes to jump into the pond. The faces of the kids were priceless!! That water was SO COLD!

SUMMER

2008-06-26T10:24:00.008-06:00

I think I can say the summer is truly here to stay! It is HOT! And we are enjoying the warm weather. The kids have been going through cheap $15 dollar swimming pools with their roughness and the raccoons helping to poke holes in them. They wanted to get a deep pool like our neighbors have, so Angie and Kyson have been "selling". They have set up a little stand to sell lemonade, otter pops or whatever to the kids getting out of school (half the school walks right past them everyday) they have done well and been making lots of money. I told them that they should save their money and buy the deep pool they wanted so after about a week and a half they earned about $35 dollars (I told them I would pitch in $15) and we went and bought their pool. They have loved it and want to be in it all day. I'm sure the newness will wear off in a week or so. But hopefully this pool will last us more than just a couple of weeks.

Kyson got these goggles and was determined to use them:) It was so cute!!

Here is Kiki feeding her baby "Rocky", she insists on feeding him is bottle every time!!! But we are in the process of weening them from their bottles, it has been harder to do than I thought. I can't believe how attached they are to their baba.

Lake Powell

2008-06-16T18:08:00.007-06:00

We had a quick trip to Lake Powell last week and ended up camping at the same spot as last year with the water being just about 10-15 feet higher. The kids had a blast! Spent most of their time catching fish, lizards and swimming, they also got some tube rides and a ride on the water weenie. The water was pretty chilly to me but I still got a few amazing ski runs in. Nothing beats the early morning and evening water at Powell. Paul had a great catch this trip and spent almost an hour reeling in what he thought was going to be a big fish but ended up being a winnie the pooh beach towel.

Kyson catching his first striper (bass- I think, Paul just kept calling them stripers)
A beautiful sunset at Powell
Kids on the water weenie

Our Newest Addition

2008-06-01T10:46:00.002-06:00

Now I'm sure you all probably think we're crazy and who knows maybe we are!! These two are the new focus of attention at the Alldredge home. My brother Jonathan found them, the mother was no where to be found and so he decided to returned once more to check on them. Still there, crying and wandering around looking very hungry. He call me and Paul to see if we wanted to take them in. Of course Paul was as excited as a little boy getting a new puppy. I was excited because we had one when I was a kid for a few months and it was a lot of fun. I have to say that they are so cute and fun to hold! The kids want to hold/play with them 24/7. Right now they're a lot like babies, all they really do is eat, sleep and poop! I'm beginning to feel like a farmers wife. We just had 3 new bunnies, so we now have 10 chickens 5 rabbitts, 2 raccoons, a cat and a few fish:) We are hoping to get the raccoons old enough and strong enough to survive on their own. It has been tough getting them to eat and we have relied on information from the internet to determine what and how much to feed them. We had a pet raccoon for a few months when I was a kid and I remember how much fun that was and I'm excited for my kids to share the same memory.

2008-05-01T13:18:00.003-06:00

Ryan & Paul rolling rocks off cliffs
If you look closely you can see our camp. This was such an amazing place to camp
This picture did not turn out so swell.

Moab Trip

2008-05-01T11:28:00.008-06:00

Hey Joe Trail

We did the Hey Joe trail ride that ended up at some old mines, there was some old mining equipment and cars.

Well we finally got to take the new Bronco out and test it out. Paul was so excited to get it out and put it to the test. We went with all my siblings (except Jake & Dan). We did some fun trail rides and had a great time camping and hanging out. The kids could have stayed there for days and were perfectly content looking for lizards and caterpillars. My most favorite thing to do in the world is camping with family!! Paul and I love Moab and I think we will be returning soon for our anniversary.

Here is a short clip of a close call on potato salad hill. SCARY!!

On the way to Bartlett (I think that is what it was called) lookout

This is so goofy:) of my brother walking the line. Oh how I love late night campfires!!!

California Trip

2008-04-04T13:29:00.009-06:00

Well we had such a great time in Disneyland/Sea World. The kids enjoyed it all and it wore us all out!!! The sad part is I forgot my digital camera, I was kicking myself over and over not having it and have been reminded how great the digital world is. We had to do pictures the old fashioned way and bought a few disposable cameras. The pictures are o.k. and at least we have some:) I'm so sad we have no videos:( The kids got to experience their first plane ride, and then we headed straight to the beach when we got to Cali they had a ball at the beach and were covered in sand from head to toe!! I felt bad about the rental car. he he he We went to Sea World and got to feed the dolphins and pet sting rays. Disneyland was fun and they loved all the rides. Angie and Kyson especially!! Kiara was a few inches short from being able to go on some rides but she still had a good time. The girls got to dance with the princesses and we got to see Pluto, Mickey Mouse, Winnie the Pooh and Tigger:)

2008-02-24T09:25:00.002-07:00

Last of the long hair.

Kiki finding her "dinosaur Spike"

2008-02-21T14:29:00.004-07:00

Here is our little Kiara year ago camping in Moab. She found a "dinosaur" and his name is "spike". We brought him home for a pet but let him go a week later.

Bronco in Moab

2008-02-21T14:10:00.003-07:00

This is a classic video of my husband with no shirt and a bandanna:) He is using a rock to try and save our bumper that was later munched on another trail. The ending is original with my bro, Rich

Pistol our WEIRD CAT

2008-02-21T13:49:00.002-07:00

I think we may have the strangest cat on the planet. He does this daily and sometimes to a wall.
Even though I have seen him do it a million times it still makes us laugh every time.