Merry Christmas!

I decided to blog our Christmas Card! My amazing neighbor and friend, Nichole Jessee, designed our card! Thank you Nichole!

I added a picture of Trever & I when we were engaged. I thought it was fun to look back on the years. Our family has definitely grown! We have had so much fun over the years!

I'm not sure where to start in recapping our year! It has been the most memorable year to date! Our family has grown in ways I didn't know existed. Our marriage has grown to heights unimaginable!

So, here is what each of us in our family has learned this year:

Trever: How much my wife & family truly mean to me.

Dani: My trials have given me a relationship with my Heavenly Father that I would never trade!

Tayla: Boys mental age is 6 years younger than girls.

Abi: We all have dreams.....Follow them!

Elli: Your best friend can sometimes be your worst enemy.

Talan: You can never create too much funky junk!

Berkley: Girls make my cheeks blush!

Ryder: Fruit snacks should count as one of the four food groups!

We love our Savior and we know that He loves us! We feel His love in our hearts and home more than we can express!

Merry Christmas to all of you! We think of you often and hope that your lives are full of love!

Love, The Alfrey's

We Love Fancy Nancy!

Mrs. Claus had an idea! Since Fancy Nancy was Mara's favorite book, she thought that each of the kids should own one for their "book library". To make the book more meaningful, Mrs. Claus had Heather, Mara's mommy, sign each of the books. I can't tell you how special it was to watch these kids read what Heather wrote to them. My little Abi just cried. It truly was so special! My favorite part is the very first page when Fancy Nancy shows us a picture of her room before she made it "fancy" and then how it looked all "fancified"! So stinkin' adorable!
Abi, Elli & Tayla with Ryder, Berkley & Talan!
Abi, Elli & Tayla! These girls are so fun! I love watching them grow up! They just seem to grow a little faster than I would like!
This is Abi, Elli & Tayla with Dallis & Lexis. TOO CUTE! Dallis is 22 months and Lexis is 5 months. They are Deanna's girls. We love them!
Here is Ryder, Talan, & Berkley! They wanted footed pajamas soooo bad! Good thing they made the nice list! Mrs. Claus did them right!

Santa's Coming! 9am!

Tayla asked for a boyfriend and world peace! She's something else! She really wants a letterman's jacket but I don't think Santa finds that to be something he can decide on. That particular gift requires too many personal choices. So we'll see what he comes up with!

Abi doesn't know what to ask for since she just buys whatever she wants with her babysitting money! Someone help Santa!

Elli would like unlimited texting. I don't think Santa wants her to grow up that fast! We'll see what he decides in the end! He's holding strong!

Talan asked Santa for "all the spy gear in the world" along with the new ripstick (the one with the metal in the middle so he can "grind"! Good thing Santa is multilingual since his language is hard for even me to understand. Grind? what is that?

Is this not the cutest picture? Berkley asked Santa for a hot wheels set, a bike, new leapster games, a yo-yo, zero gravity car, and the list goes on! So cute!

You can see in this picture Santa is questioning Ryder to make sure he fully understands! He would like a really big choo choo train that goes round and round and is THIS big!

So, I have to admit, I love Christmas! I know the true meaning and I think we do pretty good. We're going to let Santa bring one gift for them this year so that he has some toys to take to the other kids. We told them that Santa would leave a few things in their stocking and we would add to it. There's this part of me that wants Christmas to be so magical! I want Santa to break all of the "rules" that we have decided on as a couple and let him go crazy with those cute kids! They are so fun! I feel so blessed to be THEIR mom! What an honor it is to me!

So tomorrow is our big TURKEY BOWL!!! I better get to bed so I can be on my game! This is serious business!

It was just a puzzle!

Well, tonight my little Berkley and I had a chance to do a puzzle. At bed time, I asked him and Ryder to choose a story. Berkley didn't want a story, he wanted a puzzle instead. In my mind, I kind of complained, since I knew a puzzle would require more time! Let me back up and explain my little Berkley. He is probably my most lovable child. He loves routines, hugs, order, kisses, down time, hugs, books, kisses, puzzles, hugs, games, kisses, and for his siblings to not ruin his stuff! This type of personality is not always conducive to a family of 8. It's hard to keep the same routine with teenagers, everything is constantly out of order at some time, down time only exist when you are asleep, and trying to keep your toys sacred with a little brother is virtually impossible. So we try hard to help Berkley stay functional, but frankly, it is a chore!

I read Ryder his books first, since he didn't nap. Then Berkley and I moved on to his puzzle. It was so amazing. That little 5 year old put that puzzle together, corrected my mistakes and stayed focused until the whole puzzle was finished. I was in awe! Then when we finished, he pushed his puzzle against the wall to try to protect it and just sat and stared at his work. He hugged and kissed me so sweetly and then crawled up to bed. I thought to myself, "it only took me a few minutes and I can't believe the results." He was so happy! It was just a puzzle!

MIRACLE OR GLOVE?

To some of you this might just be another picture of a little boy sleeping. NOT SO AT THE ALFREY HOME! I have to admit that I am one of those moms that could never listen to my babies "cry it out." Therefore, they all just slept in bed with us. Yes, that made for some very creative intimate nights. The worst part is that I have been sleep deprived for years and am just now realizing it! I knew I lacked good sleep, I just never knew how good! So, for the last two nights Ryder has been going to sleep in his bed. I'm not sure if it's the glove that has helped him or what. (ok, i have no idea why he wants to wear a yellow 'glub' and at that, only one?) He hasn't stayed there all night, but it's a start! When we started talking to him about this, he said, "how about dad just stay and watch me sleep." So, Trever puts him & Berkley to bed and Ryder is at least staying in his bed for some amount of time!

Is 14 really old enough to go to Stake Dances?

Abi is in the pink and Aly is in the yellow? We took the girls to the "DI" and had a little fun dressing up in the worst outfit they could come up with. I think they accomplished their mission.

This is my little Abi doodle! She actually turned 14 on November 7th. I am in A LOT of shock! Two girls that can go to the stake dances. She did a fun little party with her friend Aly.
Good morning girls! Dad bought them doughnuts! Lucky!

And the winner is?

Is this gross or what? Our pumpkins didn't make it very long here in the humidity. And to top it all off, it was very warm here. Team #2 is the camouflage hat wearing pumpkin and Team #3 did the rocker pumpkin.
Trever is such a romantic! I would have never done that, but I find it fun and cute! Luv ya babe! The little pumpkin is Ryder's, also known as Team #1. It is disgusting with the fur growing out of the eyes! OOOHHHH! The pumpkin behind these two is the one that "Team #1" should have carved together. Tayla would have to actually stay home for a change.

So, I declare Team #3 as the winner. They took the most time to really create a pumpkin. They also worked the best together as a team.

Our First Cross Country Runner!

Tayla had a great year running cross country. We are so proud of her accomplishments: Team captain, co-captain, Most Improved, Most Inspirational, Most Valuable Runner! Wow, we couldn't have asked for a more complete year. Ok, so she was the only one on the team, details! I have to admit, that I'm not sure I would have done this sport without some sort of team camaraderie. Yesterday was sub-districts. 13 schools, each with a team of 7, except Mountain View. Top 35 runners qualify for District! Tayla is a sophmore and has done great for her first year. One of her greatest accomplishments is breaking the school record. In this photo, she is standing with her coach! Just the two of them!

Here is view of all of the teams lined up with lonely Tayla in the middle in orange.

Here she is finishing the 3.2 mile race coming in at #34! She made it to districts! Go Tayla! She made Mountain View history, being the first girl to ever qualify for districts!

We finally made it to the Pumpkin Patch!

So, Trever decided to have the "First Annual Alfrey Pumpkin Contest". This means that we divided the kids into three teams and they have until Halloween to carve, paint, decorate, or do whatever they would like to their pumpkin. Only rule: you have to do it together! Grandma & Grandpa Alfrey and Grandma & Grandpa Banker will be the judges. Stay tuned for the results!
Back row: Ryder, Trever, Abi, Me, Tayla
Front row: Berkley, Talan, Elli
Team #1: Ryder & Tayla Tayla thought this was very unfair! I think she will make the best of it!
Team #2: Berkley & Abi These are two peas in a pod, so this should be interesting!
Team #3: Talan & Elli These two are so competitive that if they can keep from fighting then we should be in good shape!
Ryder really didn't want to be on Tayla's team. He wanted a 'little' pumpkin!
Team #2 had more fun with getting their picture taken than picking a pumpkin!
Team #3 was focused! They set out to accomplish the task and didn't stop until they were satisfied!
We ended with a hay ride and scary faces! Ryder was trying sooo hard to be scary!

Dateless Homecoming!

So, in my day, we would have never dreamed about going to Homecoming without a date! Now a day, the kids just want to go like they were going to a stake dance but all dressed up. There were two "official" dates in this group and the rest were just friends. They had such a great time! Tayla is the one in the light purple dress and white shrug. I think she is so beautiful!
The whole group!
Just the girls!

Tayla made corsages for her friends that were so hideous!
Tosh & Tayla
Jamie & Tayla
Natalie & Tayla
Tosh & Grandma Banker! Tayla's friends LOVE my mom!

They were all blindfolded so they wouldn't know the big surprise!

So, I had to pull an idea out of my head that Tayla would actually go for. Trever actually came up with the idea of doing a 'formal dinner' at Wendy's. So, we had such a great time with this! I actually typed up a one page menu that looked nice. Skyler, Tayla' cousin, was the waiter. He started them all out with drinks and then moved to a salad option and then the main course. We transferred their food to plates and served their drinks to them in nice glasses! So fun!

Tayla and her friend Natalie resorted to tennis shoes by the time dinner was over. Tayla's are the pink shoes she borrowed from Aunt Deanna!

I just can't let it go!

HELP! Have you ever become obsessed with something and you can't stop thinking about it? I came across this blog and I have to admit that I have developed a habit of checking it almost everyday. My heart aches for this family. There are lots of sad stories out there, but for some reason, this one won't leave me. This family is adorable. Stephanie and Christian Nielson were in an airplane crash on August 16th and their bodies were burned. They survived the crash, but are still in the hospital recovering. In the meantime, their four children are being cared for by her sister and brother in law with lots of help from other family members. This link is to the sister who updates on Stephanie and Christian and cares for their children. http://blog.cjanerun.com/

If there is anyone out there who might know of them, please email me. Any ideas on how to diffuse this obsession? I don't know this family at all except through the blogging world. I just need help with what I am suppose to do with this information. I can't get a feel for my part. Why won't it leave me?

Can there really be a perfect funeral?

Mara's funeral yesterday was the most perfect funeral ever. I think every funeral is perfect in it's own way, but for me, it was amazing. When Paris drowned three years ago, I was so removed that I can hardly recall the funeral. I remember bits and pieces, but the shock was still too great. For Mara, I was able to be involved and see what actually happens behind the scenes. UNBELIEVABLE! I am speechless as to how to explain the people of the Green River Ward. I know that our Heavenly Father gave them all such gifts and they use them. Thanks to all of you who serve and teach me so much!

We Will Always Miss Mara!

Our hearts are so sad to share the news that our sweet friend, Mara, passed away yesterday morning. We express our gratitude to her family for sharing such an angel with us! Heather & Bryan, may you feel the arms of our Savior envelope you constantly. We love you!

Only if you dare!

I started another blog just about me and my journey. Feel free to check it out.
http://danikickingandscreaming.blogspot.com/

"Can You Believe That I am This Old?"

Yes, it is official! Tayla has her driving permit! So, last night when I was opening the mail and her permit was in there, I went into a state of shock! I took a picture with her and her cute little permit and decided to blog it! Well, shortly after I posted it, I received a friendly email from my friend "downtown Julie Brown" telling me to quickly remove it due to the sickos out there. I was soooo grateful for her email and at the same time, I was horrified that I would do something so absurd!

Anywho~she is driving! Where we live it is a little different than where I grew up. I took driver's ed in school and I don't remember it costing too much. Here, the kids can get their permit when they are 15 ONLY if they are enrolled in a driver's ed course. The average cost for one of these courses is $400. Yes, you did read that right! $400!!! Tayla finds the course pointless and I find it an inconvenience. She attends M-T-W from 6-8 for 5 weeks. She is doing great when she drives. I am very calm. Trever on the other hand gets a little more excited if you can believe that. We have switched rolls.

Oops!

OK! So, I just posted a new post and I had to delete it. I will update later. Check later. I won't send an email update, so check back! So Sorry!

We Love Mara!

This is Mara and her mom Heather! We love them so much! Mara has a brain tumor in the brain stem called DIPG. It is cancerous and malignant. She was diagnosed last October and has been fighting ever since. Her school designed these shirts and we wanted to have our picture taken with her since she is such an inspiration to us all! Her parents have a beautiful website and have posted a statement about our church and our beliefs. I would encourage anyone who wants to feel the love of the Savior to visit this site. www.maraadams.com Read "What Mara Has Been Taught." August 31st 2008.
This is Mara and her two younger sisters, Natalie & Katrina. My 3 girls wanted their pictures taken with the Adam's three girls. So, my girls in the purple shirts are (from left to right) Abi, Tayla, & Elli. The Adam's girls are Natalie, Katrina, & Mara.

First Day of School!

I only took pictures of the little boys since the girls were so busy getting "ready". I will try to post some next week.
Berkley! UGHHHHH! Big Kindergarten!

Talan our big 3rd grader!