Allsop Family Christmas Letter 2013

This free newsletter personalized with Smilebox

Loving Lufkin

Lufkin is a smaller city in Texas a couple of hours northeast of Houston. My Uncle Dean and Aunt Colleen Andersen live there. Most of there family (all of the siblings but Tim on a mission) were there!! I was so grateful I got to see them!

11 cousins that Troy and Liam got to play with. What a treat. Those are three of Lindsay's on the right.  

They have a fire pit in their huge backyard and I loved listening to their beautiful voices as they sang songs about home. We roasted hot dogs and ate s'mores. We played games and I laughed so hard my abs hurt afterwards. The kids had plenty to do in and out of the house. They even made an obstacle course. 

Colleen gets the cool Grandma award! 

Dean needed to burn a bunch of files and that was very interesting to the kids (and the men of course :)

I wish it could have lasted longer. We had a blast. 

Thanksgiving in Dallas

Thanksgiving was beyond wonderful at the Kitchens! They are amazing as always. Great food, kids playing together/fighting together, and full of FUN!

Liss had great success with the turkey, apple pie, and asparagus. Brock made the potatoes and pudding. Ben and I brought a couple more things from the store. We had SO much food. Amazing. 

The boys played football in the morning and then came back and played with the little boys. 

Liss showed me how to make apple pie and then colored my hair!! I love it. Even more than I thought I would. 

We already can't wait to visit again!!

Updates

Troy

4 1/2: Loves to color lately. I am a big fan of a sitting activity. He loves to draw shapes and then scribble over them with another color and laugh. He likes to write letters, his name, and copy drawings of his bots that I draw (very poorly. Drawing is not a talent of mine.) Troy likes to tease Liam to get a reaction and has a hard time stopping. But he loves to make Katelyn laugh and does a good job of it. He likes to watch Daniel Tigers neighborhood (THE best show ever in my humble opinion.) He sings the songs all day long. His rescue bot toys are his friends that he talks to and puts in time out. Haha. Liam saw it and now copies Troy. But Liam gives them a kiss after they say sorry :) So cute to me. Troy likes to do things right the first time, he gets embarrassed if you correct him, but Daniel Tiger has a song about trying again that has helped. He also wants to parent Liam. Sometimes good, sometimes not. Liam has a really loud scream. 

I am really grateful for Troy's desire to do right and to please us. He is a sweetheart and we are so grateful for his influence. 

Katelyn

9 months: She is SO good and smiley. Everyone gasps at how light she is. She is really light. Especially compared to Mr Liam. People used to gasp at how deceivingly heavy Liam was. Kate is almost crawling, she loves to get up on her knees and lunge forward. Katelyn will not be rocked to sleep, which is awesome at home but a little hard at church. Still wakes up once at night and naps twice. She loves food and her hands shake before the first bite. She gets so excited when Ben gets home. She has to be held if you make eye contact with her. Liam loves to get a reaction out of her, but it ends up scaring her, so I hold her a lot anyways. I can not believe what a peace Katelyn brings to our family. What a sweet little personality and beautiful smile and laugh. We love our Katerbug. 

Liam

2 3/4: Always in motion, which is why I don't have many pictures of him. We usually end up taking video. He loves to run, jump, and spin in circles. He loves to be with his family and gets very concerned if someone naps for too long and almost wakes them up if I don't catch him. He is so energetic but also thinks of others a lot. If I give him crackers, he gives some to Troy and even Katelyn sometimes. He always asks Troy, "You wan some too?" Liam honestly cannot sit for more than 20 seconds. We have tried everything. He will watch Daniel Tiger for about 10 minutes but then gets distracted. Sacrament meeting is a really big patience tester. We are in the hallway a lot. Not because he is crying, but because he is yelling for no reason about someones owie (cast) or someone's toy or snack. If we let him hold a toy for too long, he chucks it. Breast feeding Katelyn is the best part of church nowadays. It's the only time I get to just listen to the speaker. 

But Liam can melt your heart faster than anyone and I am so excited for his sweetness to bond our kids together. 

Ben is learning a lot at work and getting up to speed. Change is always challenging, but he is doing great I think. There are great people at his office and this last week they went in really early to fill up a coworkers office with balloons. Hundreds of balloons. 

I am finding joy in each day. Some days I can't see how such trivial tasks could make one happy, but then I think about being a mom and not a maid/cook. Prayer and study are big factors on my mood. I also think a lot about schools and areas to live, but I am reminded to focus on the most important things by the Spirit. I love the friends we have made already and I really look forward to chatting with them at church and at play group. I am adjusting to our new family schedule. I feel grateful for so much. We get to see the Kitchens for Thanksgiving and some of my family this weekend. We are SO excited for both of those visits. I love the holidays! Happy Thanksgiving!!!

Houston

We are starting to really like Houston. There are some things to get used to, the water, the traffic, and of course the summer we havn't experienced. But right now the weather is beautiful. The trees are everywhere. The people are SO nice and everyone goes to church. Ben loves his job and the people there. His work even sent me a welcome packet with a voucher for dinner with another couple in the company. 

Having one car is an adjustment that we are still working out until we buy a house. But there is a moms group that I go to and I love it. The last one was at the mall and the malls here are crazy. There was an ice rink inside it and the playground was like a Dr. Seuss land. 

Traffic is everywhere and awful, but we are learning how to avoid it. Houses appear to be cheaper until they tell you about property taxes. But I still love the houses here. 

Most of all, we are grateful for each other. 

I'm excited for our experiences together!

Halloween

I got the kids ready before daddy got home, so that we could rush over to our new friends in the ward for chili and breadsticks.

It's hard to take pictures by myself with 3 kids. Haha. 

Troy is a rescue bot: Heat Wave (transformers for 3-5 year olds) 

Liam is Yoda. So fitting, since that is what the young men nick named him in our Provo ward!

Katelyn is Cinderella. Such a princess!

We had such a good time at our friends, even after Liam was very busy. He had a close call with the chili, but only a little damage done to his costume. They had homemade root beer too!!

We went trick or treating after by ourselves because the other couples only had babies. 

We made it 6 houses and they just wanted to eat their candy and they were done. 

Trunk or Treat!

I can not say how thankful I am for the church!!! We have been welcomed into our ward so sweetly and have already had a lot of help. And Ben has already helped someone move! Haha. The church feels like home no matter where you are. 

Saturday: they had a trunk or treat. The boys loved it. Troy loves his costume more than the candy. Heat Wave!

Liam doesn't even know he is wearing a costume and can't eat the candy fast enough. Yoda! 

There are two costumes that the ward has been passing around and they let us borrow them. 1. Liam's costume of yoda, and 2. Katelyn's Cinderalla dress. She was asleep the whole time, but we will have to  get a pic on Halloween!!

Look at the craziness of this costume that one of the youth had on. He  made it himself!!! He was on stilts for his arms and legs. 

I love the funness of Halloween. We were watching Super Why together and they talked about green slime and spider web activities. So we did them!

Cornstarch and water, add green food coloring if you want. 

Liam didn't like the slime but he loved the spider web of ribbon. 

Houston Zoo

Ben has long days M - Th and gets half day Friday. We took advantage of his first half day to go to the zoo!

Liam is SO independent. He pushed Katelyn until he started to run with her. Yikes. He wouldn't sit in a stroller, so Troy sat in a stroller and Liam pushed him.  Luckily, the zoo is kind of a giant cage and so Liam was trapped and stayed with us. 

We think this is the best zoo we have been to! It was SO great to be close to the amazing animals. I personally loved the flamingos. 

Liam loved the monkeys the most. The most relatable animal... 

Troy loved the lions. They were so close to us!! What huge mouths they have. 

We got fries after and let the boys run around the huge lake. Katelyn hung out with us and loved the fries. 

Our journey to Houston

Beginning our 26 hour journey!! Woo, it's a long one. But Catching Fire on cd made it so much nicer! (Thanks mom Allsop!)

Ben drove the 26 foot truck with Alan and I drove with the kids. Thank goodness Troy can get in and out of his car seat by himself or I would have been doomed. 

Troy loved it, and Liam endured it. 

Our first night was in Albuquerque in a Marriott. It was really nice and full breakfast in the morning! Alan was a trooper to endure a difficult night sleep for a few nights because we all slept in the same room. 

Katelyn was an angel. She sits up so well now. She also gets up on her hands and knees and rocks back and forth. 

Ben and I had to stop and get a picture of this popular gas station. 

The second night we stayed in Dallas with the Kitchens!!!! Oh how we have missed them. Words can not describe. Their two boys were a perfect combo for our two. 

This picture is in the morning. Most of the time they were running nonstop and playing with toys. Liss made a fabulous breakfast and Brock was sweet to stay awake after his night shift. I could not believe how well he could function. Flashbacks of staying with the Garzas and we talked to Reed after his 30 hour shift. Craziness!!!

The last day was only 5 hours and then we moved till night. I have never been so exhausted and I'm sure Alan hasn't either. It was just the 3 of us. We will make sure to have help in 6 months when we buy a house. We are renting in a community right now that feels like a resort. Only 2 bedroom but there is a loft that Ben and I will sleep in. Houston houses are cheap, but renting is NOT. We are really happy with our place though. I'm excited to meet our ward tomorrow!

The last few days have been mostly unpacking. But we did go up to Spring to see my old house (oh my beautiful, I didn't remember it at all) and then we ended up visiting Rob Ellis and his wife with Alan. I felt bad after finding out they had a baby 3 weeks ago!! But they were so kind and it was fun to be back in their house. I feel surrounded with wonderful people and it's going to make this adjustment a lot easier. 

P.S. GO BYU! Great game today. 

Last fall in Utah for awhile

We are truly enjoying our last days in Utah. What a beautiful place and the best time of year. But the best thing about Utah, is our families. We spent a fun weekend with Ben's family (earlier post.) My family had a going away party for us last night. They are wonderful and so fun!!

Megan (with such a cute hair cut) came later, I wish we could have had her in the picture. Jason had to work but we will see him Friday! And then moving party on Saturday! (Way more fun when you call it a party.)

We will miss you Utah!

The swing made by Grandpa Allsop is the favorite toy in the yard. They love to push each other. 

Katelyn with Grandma Andersen. 

Side note:

Liam doing the dishes. 

And then deciding to drink water off the scrubber. Yuck! He stopped immediately after my alarmed gasp. Thirsty boy!

Visits with Grandparents

I am going to miss my grandparents a lot. They have been so sweet to me and have supported me my whole life. They love my kids and make me feel like the most cherished person in the world. It has been so special to live close to both of them. We visited them one last time before we move. I'm sure we will see them when we come back though. 

Taking pictures with my grandparents is always a funny experience. Usually I have to try to take the picture myself but my Aunt Karen was there (love her! And I can't believe I didn't get a picture with her.) She was trying to get Katelyn to look at the camera... but then she realized Grandpa wasn't looking either. 

So then she told my Grandpa to look but I was laughing too hard. 

Oh it was wonderful to see both of them!

The kids were a little bit better the day we went to see Grandma Andersen. 

They do love her chair!!!

Grandma Allsops Bday

We took flowers to Grandma Allsop (Kaylene) at her work on her birthday. We spent about 2 minutes in her office before Liam tried to take someone's phone and Troy took over someone's desk. We left very quickly. But we loved seeing her and singing happy birthday.... kind of. We got the first line and then Troy was too embarrassed to keep singing. What a cutie.