Welcome Jacob Garland Allred!

We were blessed with our sweet little boy on Monday, November 8th at 5pm! He was 7 lbs 15 oz and 19 1/2 inches long. He's already calm, mild and sweet (yea!). We can't really say wether he's blond or dark haired. It's kind of humorous actually. I think he has "old man" hair. There's very little blond peach fuzz on the top. Around the back and sides he has quite a bit of hair which is both dark AND blond (salt and pepper!). we might be sticking with hats for a while :)
Abby and Joseph were so fun to watch when they came to the hospital to visit. Abby kept squealing and making funny comments like "it's a REAL baby!" "ooohh, look at his little ears!". Joseph was curious but more cautious at first, he was also worried about me. He would go see Jacob for a minute and then come back to check on me. But soon enough his curiosity would take him back over to Jacob. He loved pulling Jacob's hat off and rubbing his head. We are home and doing great, sorry for taking a bit to get this posted.

Joe loved giving him kisses.

Rubbing his head is so fun!

Happy Halloween! (all week long)

We have been counting down the days until Halloween . . . well, since LAST Halloween! Abby has been planning to be Snow White since last year! (thank goodness she picked a feasible costume since she was so determined!) I had fun making Joe's little pirate outfit (not the hat and hook of course) and we had to add a cape to Abby's, since of course Snow White has a cape.
On Wednesday we went to Story Time at the library with my sister Jessica and her little boy, Blake, where of course we. . . dressed up! (Well, more specifically, they dressed up)
Then of course we had to got trick-or-treating down town on Friday. Joe picked up on this VERY quickly, by the third or so store, he was walking ahead with his bucket held up high, saying "twick-r-tweat!".
Finally on Saturday we headed out to my family's for some great Halloween parties! First a visit to Grandma and Grandpa Whitlock's, where I sadly took no pictures, but will get some from Grandma. Then we headed to the Westwood's for their grand kid party full of games and fun!

Blake, Joe and Abby at story time

Abby, then Joe with a donut eating contest
(little stinker using his hands!)



Spencer and my uncle Steve doing a GIANT marshmallow eating contest!

Oct 27. . .SNOW DAY?!

A couple Wednesdays ago we woke up to snow! Abby was so excited that Santa was going to come before Halloween, yea!! (I wish I could say I was actually so on the ball we could have celebrated then, but no.) The weather was crazy enough that Spencer came back from work by about 9:00am because their power was out. It was so fun to have him here and take the kids out in the snow. Abby loved showing Joe how to make snow angels, eat snow, and sled! They were so cute and excited! (To top off such a great day, my sister Jessica and her little guy, Blake, came to visit from Logan for a few days!)

Jacob Gandolf?

Well, we've had a lot of people ask us if we've picked a name for the baby. . . no, not yet. But, Abby overheard Spencer joking with me about some "great" Lord of the Ring names and decided Jacob Gandolf Allred sounded good. So now she's been telling everyone our son will be named Jacob Gandolf. . . yeah. . . probably not my first pick ;o) I thought it was still funny and wanted to share.

The Queen of Hearts

The Queen of Hearts

she made some tarts
all on a summer's day;

The Knave of Hearts
he stole the tarts
and took them clean away.

The King of Hearts called for the tarts
and beat the Knave full sore
The Knave of Hearts
brought back the tarts
and vowed he'd steal no more.

So after reading this rhyme one day, guess what we had to do.

Didn't taste great in the end, but she didn't care,
she just liked how they looked.

Delicious Sugar Cookies

My aunts kept making these yummy cookies at our reunions
and we finally got the recipes, which are easy! So, we wanted to share them with you!

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
1 cup butter (softened) 2 eggs

1 1/2 cups sugar 1 cup sour cream
1 tsp vanilla 5 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon baking powder

Cream butter, sugar, and vanilla together. Add eggs, then alternate adding sour cream and flour, then finish adding salt, soda, and baking powder. Dough will be slightly sticky, won't feel as stiff as regular sugar cookie dough. Roll out dough to 1/4" or 1/2" thickness (can use lots of flour on counter top, just don't mix too much into cookies. Slice with pizza cutter or cookie cutters. Bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Don't bake until brown or they'll go hard, the bottoms will be brown but nothing else. Within a couple minutes move cookies to cooling racks.

Strawberry Frosting (This is what really makes it great!)
1 cup butter
1 cup strawberries, diced (or chopped)
2 lb powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon almond extract

Blend well, at least 5 minutes. (I don't worry about chopping strawberries too tiny because they tend to get broken up a little more here). If too thick them add a few strawberries, too thin then add a little powdered sugar. Be careful not to over thicken or strawberry flavor won't come out as well. Pipe or spread onto cookies and enjoy! (I just used a gigantic piping tool and it was done in no time at all!)

Just a few pictures. . . .adios summer

Water Fights!

who says you can't mix horse shoes and kids

Abby's first hair trim, by her Aunt Julia at Cosmetology school!

Oh there are so many fun pictures, I just picked a few quick. . .
sorry they don't do the summer justice.