Our Arizona Trip

In order for us to show our contempt for politicians who would criticize or boycott Arizona for upholding the Federal law of the land, we decided to spread our wealth around the Great State of Arizona. Oh yeah, and we decided to visit Bryce also.


Bryce suggested that the three of us go to the Mesa Temple. We thoroughly enjoyed the experience. Well, Sue was disappointed that we stayed in a 2 Star Best Western motel. It was clean, but "it had indoor/outdoor carpeting." The motel was .6 miles to the temple and there were 6 Mexican restaurants on the way.


This is Sue, Bryce and Bryce's friend Brianna Price. Brianna came with Bryce to do baptisms. She is a wonderful woman and we enjoyed her company.


We all went to lunch and these are the worms that Sue had on her salad.


This is Bryce on the University of Arizona campus, in front of the physics building. The campus was very nice. We went to church with Bryce at the Institute just across the street from UofA. This is the only picture I took in Tucson and all were with my phone. Why did I bother buying a camera? We loved Tucson and Arizona. It was wonderful to see Bryce so content in his new home. Sue prepared a delicious Sunday dinner for us and his roommate, Marcus. Sue and I really enjoyed the whole trip.



On the way home, I took this picture of Sue at In-n-Out in Blythe, I think. Anyway, I IM'd it to Tawna and told her when we would be home. She IM'd back, "Remember, you took all data off our cell phones!" I laughed out loud!

Choir Tour

As you know, my camera got stolen from an unlocked vehicle during Seminary. I thought all my precious memories were lost forever. I found these on my phone. I have them because I forgot to take my camera to these locations. They are kind of fuzzy, but you get the idea.


Sue and I on the Santa Barbara City Hall tower, about 6 stories. The ocean is in the background.


Krista singing during Mass in the San Luis Obispo mission on Sunday. I got a call from the Stake Executive Secretary as I was leaving. He wanted Sue and I to come in to have Sue set apart as the new Stake Primary Counselor. I told him that we were just leaving Mass in San Luis Obispo. He said, "UH, wrong church, wrong place."

An Answer to Your Prayers

I know that all of you have been wondering why I haven't posted any pictures of Piko, since your mom got her a new hairdo. Well, I had this camera (that I loved), but someone decided to take it to school and she left it in an unlocked car during Seminary. Someone else removed it. So, now they have all my choir tour pictures and other memorable shots.
Of course it is my fault, so your mom said I could buy a new one for my birthday. WHOOHOO! I know that you are all celebrating too because now we can share Piko in all her newly groomed glory.
TA-DA...Here she is!



That is the face we all know and love.


She is sooooooooooooo adorable.


I do miss her scruffy look but your mom likes her more this way.


This is a picture of your mom working on Scout stuff. I am still working on how I can become as interesting as the computer.

PS I will be more careful with who takes my camera.

Sue made it to The Big Apple

Jessica sent me this photo to prove that Sue is in NYC. I am not sure where they have red steps, but anything that is ALL RED is good by me. (Note to file: UofU colors are red and white)
Happy Birthday to my dear wife. I know that she is a Cougar, since she is a BYU grad; but is it also true because she is now older than me?

Kids at church

3-year-old Reese :
'Our Father , Who does art in heaven,
Harold is His name.
Amen.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


A little boy was overheard praying:
'Lord , if you can't make me a better boy , don't worry about it.
I'm having a real good time like I am.'


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


After the christening of his baby brother in church,
Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car.
His father asked him three times what was wrong.
Finally , the boy replied,
'That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home,
and I wanted to stay with you guys.'


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


One particular four-year-old prayed,
'And forgive us our trash baskets
as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets.'


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


A Sunday school teacher asked her children as they
were on the way to church service,
'And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?'
One bright little girl replied,
'Because people are sleeping.'


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons , Kevin 5 , and Ryan 3
The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake.
Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson.
'If Jesus were sitting here , He would say,
'Let my brother have the first pancake , I can wait.'
Kevin turned to his younger brother and said,
' Ryan , you be Jesus !'


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


A father was at the beach with his children
when the four-year-old son ran up to him,
grabbed his hand , and led him to the shore
where a seagull lay dead in the sand..
'Daddy , what happened to him?' the son asked.
'He died and went to Heaven,' the Dad replied.
The boy thought a moment and then said,
'Did God throw him back down?'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


A wife invited some people to dinner.
At the table , she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said,
'Would you like to say the blessing?'
'I wouldn't know what to say,' the girl replied.
'Just say what you hear Mommy say,' the wife answered.
The daughter bowed her head and said,
'Lord , why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?'

Bakersfield Highlights

This is probably more than you want to know of all the fun stuff that has been going on recently in the lifes of the Bakersfieldians.
1/22 Visited Dr. Kobashigawa in LA. He is moving his practice to be a part of Cedars-Sinai. Your mom said that it was great because that is where all the movie stars go (and where Michael Jackson died). Anyway, the Dr. said that I was doing great and might live my whole life without needing a transplant.
After the Dr. visit, we went to the Proctor Christmas party. Don was the only one absent and Dick, Ina, and Mitchell Proctor were also there. We had a nice time. We stayed in the temple apartments and did a session and a sealing the next day. The sealing was your mom's great-grandparents. Your mom and I both felt the spirit very strongly when that ordinance was being done.
1/29 We went to Stars Dinner Theater to see Steven Kinnison perform in The Sound of Music. Krista and Emily Judd joined us. It was a very nice evening.
1/30 I went to 6 hours of Rotary meetings in the morning and a 4 hour Scout dinner at night with your mom. She won the award for her service in the potato booth.
2/6 We went to Davin and Blake's basketball games - not much dribbling, but a lot of shooting. No one keeps score, so it doesn't matter. Krista and your mom helped at Davin's birthday party while I worked at home. I went to the YM basketball game at night.
2/12 We sold tickets at the BHS Talent Show (there was some talent) and then went to the Stake Valentines Dance for about an hour.
2/13 Ward Confernce and Lila's birthday party. You will have to go to the Skinner site for documentation of the party. Flash photography of the testimony meeting was discouraged.

Now for the pictures - on Saturday, Laura ran in a 10k race at CSUB. Brian was coaching the boys and your mom went to the game to bbsit the kids. Piko and I decided to walk to CSUB and watch the race. Krista went to the race with Emily.


This is LuLu on the homestretch.


Laura's cheering section - see the fans go wild!


Laura and her racing homies from the Ward.



On the way home, I wanted to get an ice cream from Rite Aid. The last time I went there, with Piko stashed in my jacket, they were none too pleased. So, this time, I asked Krista and Emily to meet me and I would buy us all an ice cream. The plan worked without a hitch.
This picture was taken by Krista as they drove home. Piko and I decided to stop and rest on the gas main in front of Applebees. We enjoyed the treat - she got most of the cone and then we headed home. A lovely time was had by all.

A little late, of course

Allred Family 2008-2009 Letter (You should get your personalized copy in the mail soon)


It is now official – This is The Bi-Annual, Around Christmas-time Roger and Sue Allred Family Newsletter. The good news for some of you is that you probably won’t see another one until 2011.

Krista is preparing to be the 9th Allred graduate of BHS in June 2010. Her life revolves around choir and her ITouch. She went to Lake Powell & EFY in 2008. Last summer was spent quietly contemplating what is going to be like to get a job.

Tawna is enrolled in the Medical Assistant program at LDS Business College in SLC. Last year she lived with Scott & Alicia while working. She worked at a Boy Scout camp this summer and just returned from nannying in Hawaii. Poor Tawna.

Evan returned from serving an honorable mission in Seattle, WA in 2008. He is now at BYU-Idaho studying general things and doing stuff – just ask him. His highlight of 2009 was his job driving a forklift.

Bryce graduated in Physics from BYU in April. He spent the rest of the year working at a cancer clinic in Bakersfield. He is headed to Tucson, AZ, in January where he plans to get his Masters Degree in Medical Physics, a wife and a dog.

Landon & Sarah gave Aiden, 3, a baby sister, Anne Monique on 4/9/08. They will add one more to the family in June ’10. Well, most of the credit goes to Sarah. Landon graduated from UVA law school and started a job in Salt Lake with a large law firm.

Jessica teaches English (ESL) in NYC at an inner-city junior high. She graduated with her Master’s Degree in April. She lives in Harlem where she is in the Stake YW Presidency and works in the temple. She visited Guatemala, Peru, Dominican Republic and Bakersfield.

Brian & Laura Skinner added Lila Louise to the family on 2/13/09. Davin, 7, Kea, 5 and Blake, 3, keep Laura from getting bored. Brian is a counselor in the Bishopric and working at a CPA firm. The kids terrorize the grandparents every Sunday.

Steve & Teresa Hughes moved from Germany to Brooklet, GA, where Steve works for the government in linguistics. Steven, 8, was our first grandchild to be baptized. Nathan, 6, Jacob, 5 and Brandon, 2, round out the testosterone team for Teresa to wrangle.

Scott & Alicia Buchanan live in Sandy, UT with their daughters Brielle, 4 on Christmas Day, and Ava, 2. They added Zachary Scott on 9/29/09 to the group of little Utes. Apparently, Alicia has minimal influence in that arena.

Roger & Sue hosted a family reunion in Tahoe in 2008, missing only 2 of the family. Then we went to Palmyra with Roger’s family for the older generation reunion. We also visited Seattle, Savannah, Charlottesville, New York, and England (with Rotary). Sue is busy leading Scouts and BHS Choir Boosters, in addition to her Nursery calling. Roger is healthy and busy being bossy. Piko the Wonderdog sends her woof, too.

Merry Christmas and may the Lord bless and keep you, our dear friends and family.

Utah Christmas Celebration

Christmas came and went and I did not take a single picture. This was taken by Jessica when the Utah family went to the Tepanyaki Japanese Steakhouse in Lehi, UT.
We had a great time. Jessica asked the Japanese cook where he came from. He answered, "The kitchen." And, obviously, someone did not hear, "look at the camera."



Thanks to everyone for the wonderful gifts. I have cuddled up in the Hughes blanket, walked Piko with my new warm gloves, had waffles from the waffle maker, tried to use the ice cream churn (sorry, no rock salt), listened to my Andrea Christmas CD, started my new book, wore my new red tie to Zack's blessing (in case Scott blessed him to grow up to be a Ute. Thankfully, he did not), and I am looking forward to the new pictures of the Allred posterity for the Wall of Fame.
I love you all and appreciate your kindness to your mother and me.

Merry Christmas from the Old Folks Home

Since many of you will not be home (ancestral home) for Christmas, we are sending this Christmas greeting to you, including pictures of all the wonderful decorations that your mom has arranged.



Bryce is headed to work, but paused long enough for me to take this picture. This might be a keepsake, since he says he is never coming back to Bakersfield. Please notice the new carpet going up the stairs in the background.


Krista welcomes you at the front door in her festive BYU red and a SMILE! We all know that Piko should have been in this picture too, since she is the most enthusiastic greeter, but we can only have one baby of the family.


If you have never seen her in the daylight, this is Tawna on the second floor. She spends most of her time at home just a few yards from here, under the covers. We are very understanding of her need for sleep, since she leaves the house at 10 pm to go play with her friends.


Evan left town a week ago to go to a wedding. This is the best I could do - a nice picture of T&K with Evan's Christmas stocking on the fireplace. I will have to drink his Christmas root beer for him.


This is your wonderful mother, standing next to one of the two Christmas trees she bought and decorated. This is her Nativity Tree, with the stars and bells my Grandma Schwab crocheted and ornaments that she received as gifts, including the new ones from Gma.


And finally, my favorite, the tree with the BYU ornaments, the golden seqouia pine cone and the traditional favorites. The BYU ornaments are placed high in the tree to represent the high regard we have for this wonderful university, and to protect them from Lila and other marauding grandkids.

We look forward to spending the holidays with the Utah families and send our love to the Hughes family. Merry Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My Favorite Pictures

Aiden and Piko developed a great symbiotic relationship. Aiden would put half of the Top Ramen in his mouth and the the other half would fall to the chair, where Piko would clean up for Aiden.


It was a great idea until it was determined that there was more Anne than blanket.


Ava says, "Why settle for one chupa when you can obviously use three."

The Grandkids

The girls luncheon.


It is amazing what happens when a video comes on. VCRs were a generation too late for some of us.


The turkey factory - made from Oreos and candy corn. Guess how long they lasted.


The Zack Attack in his Red Sox blankie. He appears to be looking for the pop fly, but he just likes to stretch his neck muscles.

Thanksgiving 2009

We enjoyed a full house of family for Thanksgiving. We did miss the Hughes and Jessica though. We talked about you. Does that count?
I don't know of a greater joy that a parent can have than a righteous, loving family. I thank you all for your goodness. I thank the Lord every day for your mother and you. I am most blessed.


The Before. Please notice the silver pewter goblets. I got these for your mother's Christmas present when we were in Utah this summer. I wanted to give them to her in December, but she chose to open her gift early; oh, and she chose them too.


The kids got to eat at their own table. Just give them all a can of soda pop and they are happy.


From one end...


to the other.

Finding your spot at home

Lila and her work-out equipment


Bryce's work out.


Apparently there was no room for son-in-laws on the couch. Steve, if you ever come to California, we will find you a chair. Promise.


Baby Tawna, Baby Zachary and Baby Piko. You choose the cutest.

The Beach

We had to beat back the crowds that wanted to share the beach with us on this 60 degree day.

Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenande

We went to Santa Monica the morning after the temple.


Everyone watching the street performer.


Riding the wild dolphin.


Hanging with the babies.


The 3rd Street Dancers.

At the temple

The Skinners, Buchanans and Bakersfield Allreds met at the temple on November 20th. It was the first time that Scott & Alicia had been back to the LA Temple since they were married. To celebrate, they brought their 3 children. I was going to take pictures of the session, but that is discouraged. So here are some at the temple apartments where we all stayed.


I call this one "Blake's Nirvana."


Grandma and Lila waiting for their turn to play ring-around-the-rosies.



Laura, Lila and Tawna in the dining room.

Christmas Wish List

Dad-

flowbee

warm gloves

purple leotard

Mom-

Long Sleeve T-shirts (memorable places: Dewar's, Motsumotos....etc.)

Waffle Iron

Alicia-

Toy Room

curling iron

jump rope

Scott- peace on earth, goodwill towards males

Teresa-

bedazzler

new baby boy

Laura-

Boogie Baord

Wouigi Board

Jessica-

Hammock

laundry basket w/ wheels

hamster ball thing (hamster optional)

Landon-

Fire starter kit

Spool of pink lace

diamond studed clip on earrings

Aiden-silicone butt cheek implants

Bryce-

Egg coddler

Evan-

brain

rocky series

pinky ring

Tawna-

lap band

snuggly (preferably with man included)

scriptures

Krista-

itouch apps

cell phone ear implants

if there are any issues or any peopl that would like to post their own lists above and beyond what has been suggested you are invited to add whatever you would like in the comments.

Random Pictures

This is what happens when I leave my camera out and Laura comes to visit.


This is a post-smore marshmallow face.


If you like slobber, you will love this picture. Be sure to double click on it for the full effect.


Proof that Krista still lives here.


This is Evan with his "No shave November" look. I can not wait until December.