I LOVE YOU MARA!

I just want to let the Adams know how much we love Mara and miss her! Please know how much we love you all!

Back In the Game

We made the big move! I just wanted to post that we are in and "settled"! Anyone that would like our new address, please email me! The kids are adjusting and so am I! I have been having such a hard time feeling guilty because I couldn't believe that I would do so much grieving! BUT my mom summed it all up when she said that leaving our home was probably tough since that is where Trever & I "grew" up! So, with that we continue to move forward and adjust! Thanks so much to all who helped us move and listened to me when I needed to vent!

Trever is 40!!

It actually happened! Trever celebrated his 40th birthday on January 24th! Deanna, my sister who shares a birthday with him, threw him a party! She 'interviewed' him prior to the party to find out if he wanted a theme party and what his favorite colors are. He answered that if he could really have a theme party he would have a "THONG" party. We all laughed and knew that that would never happen, so she went for his favorite colors, which are blue & orange! Here are some pictures of her fun decorations! Apparently she went for the theme!

The Highest Form of Giving!

With Christmas over and the new year behind us I wanted to take some time to update y'all on how amazing our holidays were! I can say that I know without any doubt that my Heavenly Father is completely aware of our family! He seems to keep sending us little miracles that say, "I know you are there and I haven't forgot about you, so hang on and keep trusting." I can't even explain to you how many miracles have blessed this home! I would love to list them, but I know my mind couldn't even do the Lord justice in recalling them! I will just say that people have given to our family in ways that we could have never imagined! The crazy thing is this: we aren't even worthy of them and we don't need them like so many others. I stand amazed!

I should also report our new path! Trever has chosen to become a firefighter! He has passed his written and the physical test and now we are waiting & hoping that he will be chosen for an interview and make it through that process! I couldn't be any more excited for him! He is so much happier & feels like he is finally on the right path! The process of becoming a firefighter is undetermined in length. Some get on with departments quickly and others it has taken years. So, there really isn't any rhyme or reason to how long this will take. In the meantime, he continues to work for All American Chimney and truly loves the physical labor and working with his hands!

There has been a lot of silent suffering going on over here. I am not so silent about our trials and Trever tends to be very silent! We have grown to a place that I never knew existed. I love that man more than I knew possible and I can feel his love for me more than ever before. We pray that he will be hired quickly and know that the Lord has a plan for us and whatever happens will be His will. In the meantime, we pray constantly for answers in how to maintain a family in this economy and hope that we are learning the lessons that are being placed before us!

So there's my first post back into the new year!

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!