Orange

I asked Ava last night what she was hoping santa would bring. She crinkled up her nose and squealed with delight. "I hope I get another orange." Precious!

Beautiful

A friend called me the other day and said you have to read Paris Facebook status and comments.

I rarely go on and I was so touched by the sweet comments from her classmates. She just finished her last day at her old high school and is moving to a new one. She is so well loved and so well respected. I could not be more proud of her. This is the essay she wrote for English. The assignment: Write about something you are passionate about, but it can't be religion.

Here it is:

“This I Believe”

Paris Allred

Period 3

In this modern time, how does society define beauty? Is a girl beautiful because she weighs less than 100 pounds, or has a perfectly sloped nose? Or can beauty be something that isn’t visible? I believe every girl is beautiful. Beauty comes from the way a girl treats those she interacts with, the way she always wears a smile, or because she has seen more in her 16 years than most people will have to endure their whole lives. There is so much more to beauty than what we see on the TV screen.

All around me I see girls who are insecure about the way they look. I see them constantly worry about their weight, chest size, or skin. I will never forget my best friend in 4^th grade for the lessons she taught me. I remember the way she put me and everyone else down. She would treat everyone like they are less important, and she tried to convince everyone she interacted with that they were ugly. I remember coming home from school one day crying because she had looked me in the eye and said, “Paris, you will never be pretty like me.” It was that day that I decided no matter what anyone told me; I was going to be beautiful. Not on the outside, but by the way I made others feel. I realized what beauty is truly all about. And since then, I have always made a conscious effort to go out of my way to let others know how amazing I believe they are. Enough of this mentality that we will never be good enough. We should stop comparing ourselves to others, especially those who have been starved and photo shopped. We are trying to achieve the impossible, perfection.

Inner beauty says so much more about you than outer beauty. I believe girls are beautiful when they are humble and kind. I also believe they are beautiful when they are confident. And most beautiful of all is the girl with no hair, yet she lets nothing hold her back. She lives by the words, “You are only limited by the limitations you place on yourself.” I admire girls that care more about others than themselves. I also admire the girls that walk tall with confidence and nothing anyone can say will bring them down. I look up to those who will stop anything they are doing to help a friend in need. I believe these are the qualities that truly make someone beautiful.

Every girl should walk a little taller with the knowledge that she is beautiful. It makes me so happy when I see happy girls. However I believe that EVERY girl is beautiful, not just the happy ones. I think sometimes we overlook the bullies, the snotty girls, and the mean ones. Even though they may not appear to be beautiful, we should never judge them because we don’t know their whole stories. The girl we see as a cruel person could really be abused at home. Everyone has a reason they are the way they are, and we will never be able to understand that. Even though we may have to dig a little deeper to find out why they are beautiful, I believe they still are. That could be because they protect their youngest sibling from an angry parent, or act as a mother because theirs doesn’t care, or because they are simply trying to cope with their situations. I have seen girls that are beautiful because they are humble and don’t realize their amazing potential.

In my opinion, Audrey Hepburn best described beauty when she said, “For beautiful eyes, look for the good in others; for beautiful lips, speak only words of kindness; and for poise, walk with the knowledge that you are never alone.” I love this because it says so much about inner beauty. We should always strive to be beautiful in this manner. And I believe that every girl is beautiful in this way, even if we can’t see it immediately. Forget boys, weight, and the media, because that is what holds girls back from seeing how beautiful they truly are.

Madeline Get's Baptized

Hawaii

We just got back from Hawaii aka paradise! It is so fun to just be together. We kayaked, ran, walked, sat, ate,read and just enjoyed being away! It sounds like we did more than we did. We did a lot of talking and sitting on the beach! Heaven!!

We ate at some super nice restaurants, but I think this mobile car was my fave!

Daddy Daughter Dance

There could not be a girl in all the land more excited than these two to attend the school "Daddy Daughter Ball." Clothes were laid out for the girls and for their daddy days in advance. They made a chart to mark the passing days leading up to the big event. They were not disappointed! They both came home blissfully asleep in their Dad's arms, proclaiming it was the best night of their lives. They hit the "dad lottery" and I think they already know it!!

He treated them like little princesses, complete with flowers and dinner after the ball!

Savanna claimed she was the only "middle schooler" at the event! She may have not been checking off the dates on a handmade calendar, but she made it an unforgettable night for the girls. She is such a great big sister!

She's Driving!!

My baby is growing up, it's official...

And she's beautiful inside and out...This is her at homecoming 2010. She went with about 60 of her closest friends. She radiates both goodness and beauty!

Early Morning Lovelies

For the last 15 years, I have been woken up by little girls. I love the way the light comes in this room in the early morning. I love waking up to the sweet sounds of my daughters happily playing. Madeline and Ava sleep in the same room, so it seems to be an unwritten rule, even that first one up wakes the other. We used to call all three of the younger kids "the littles". When Easton proudly declared he was no longer a "little", but a "medium". The two little girls became known as "the lovelies"...

Another Surgeon in the Family??

Darin got called into surgery while he and Savvy were on a date. To his surprise they let her in the OR to see it. She was elated and he was so excited to be able to share what he does with her. She doesn't get freaked out at all . She is fascinated with it. I am not sure I could handle it the way she does.

Super Fun Trip to Durango

It's absolutely unacceptable I don't have any pics of our friends who hosted us on this awesome trip! For Labor Day we went to Durango with some of our friends here to visit their family who happens to be a long time childhood friend of mine. Small world! It was such a blast...

We can't wait to do it again.

John showed us the rock quarry, and I am not sure who was more enamored, the kids who got to drive everything with wheels in sight or the Dad's.

This is their backyard... Heaven...

The kids looked like "little churro" when we were done at the quarry.

First Day of School 2010-2011

So this isn't the first day of school picture, but apparently it's not super cool to take your kids picture in front of the school when they are in High School, especially when you are crying. The boys that come out of her school look like grown men. I am not sure what they are doing at the same school. I hate to let her grow up, but I have to say she just gets more and more fun! I try to see the fun and not the years slipping by.

I love that they match each other every day. They were all a little nervous but mostly excited to start a new school this year. I love that they are all there together. I drop them up and pick them up together. What could be better? We love, love, love their school and I thought I wouldn't like the uniforms, but I love it! I do love getting my kids dressed everyday, but it's also nice not to have to think about it...

What can I say? Our "little cupcake" off to preschool and she couldn't be happier about it, especially since she gets to go with her little cousin and best friend in the whole wide world, Claire. If Claire was the only one in the preschool it would be okay with her.

Papa's Father's Day Present

For years my Dad has wanted to take the boys fly fishing and it just didn't seem to happen. Jimmy and Darin gave him this gift for Father's Day. They had so much fun...Not sure if they caught anything or if it mattered...

The fishing trip was actually the beginning of the "Kindred Family" reunion at our cabin. It was so fun to see my cousins I hadn't seen in almost 20 years. Crazy! It was so fun to see what things we had in common. Hopefully those pics will be added at the end of this post.

Savanna Turns 12

Savanna has alway seemed older than she really is. I realize every year when her birthday comes around, since about the age of 3. I realize I have probably expected more than I should have, but then again she always has risen to the occasion. Savanna invited all of her new friends from her new school. She had a really nice group of girls to celebrate with. She's lucky...

We played "minute to win it" and all sorts of other games. This was a special birthday for her since she will be entering "young women's." She's so excited!

12 Things I love about her

1. She's spunky or Savvy

2. She's always happy

3. She is extremely responsible

4. She is so thoughtful of other's feelings

5. She is such a hard worker

6. She is very clean

7. She is always willing to help other's

8. She is a natural teacher

9. She is determined

10. She is disciplined

11. She reads her scriptures

12. She wants to be good and do what's right

Summer Fun

This was a fun night. We wanted to do something fun with the kids that didn't include a movie. The kids decided it would be fun to look at the stars and make mango smoothies. We were inspired by the yummy smoothies their aunt Beth makes. It was a magical, fun night that I want to always remember!

More Lake of the Ozarks!

I should note that Ava almost drowned in this very spot. Thank goodness for her Daddy's watchful eye, fast running and the good Lord she is still here with us...

Chloe and Paris did this very thing, endlessly.

Our Summer Family Houseboat Trip

I think this might be our favorite family trip ever! We went with the Brays and the Orgills (from Oklahoma) to the lake of the Ozarks in Arkansas. It was a loooong trip, but definitely worth every second. We played so hard every day, making this all the sweeter! It brings me back to my best childhood memories, skiing on Lake Powell. All of the kids wakeboarded every day, except for Madeline and Ava who practically never came out of the warm, warm, water! It was a slice of heaven for five days.

Me, just doing my job, keeping my baby safe!

The very versatile hat...

Poor baby got sick for part of the trip, it didn't stop her for long...

Me, Madeline, Ava, and Ava

Paris and Rachel-who is a genius wakeboarder and sweet as can be!

This is what I got to look at for five days straight. Could there be anything happier?

Savvy Wakeboarding...

This never looks fun to me, but she sure thinks it is.

Fun Summer Visitors

Beth and Adrian came from St. Kitts. I'm sad I don't have more pictures of their stay with us. We loved having them. Darin who loves, loves, loves to eat came up with the brilliant idea of doing a progressive dinner on bikes, so we could show Beth and Adrian more of our favorite spots. Darin didn't have enough time of work while they were here. He had to make up for lost time when he was off.

This was our second course after having a yummy tart yogurt appetizer. This restaurant is an Asian, Mexican fusion! It's so yummy!! After this restaurant we headed to a dessert bar. It was heaven!! We loved having Beth and Adrian and we are already planning our next tour for next year...

Jared and Janene gave us a surprise visit up at our cabin over the 4th of July weekend. It was short but oh sooo sweet! Again, wish I had more pics, just Janene "kicking my trash" at arm wrestling...

Pigtails At Last

At the ripe old age of 3 and half Ava can finally wear the pigtails she (and I) have been dreaming of. My Dad used to always tell me that he loved my hair in pigtails. It was his favorite. I don't know if it's my favorite, but I have always been excited when my girls finally had enough hair for it, since I always had to wait soooo long! It was worth the wait, isn't it adorable? They love to match...

They are loving the new iphone...