State Track Meet

We had been anticipating this day for several months.

From the beginning of the season, Clark's only goal was to qualify for the State Track Meet.

It was a toasty 100 degree day as we sat on the aluminum bleachers at MCC for 12 hours!

(We did have a big umbrella and lots of water)

Clark had a successful day on many levels.

He ran his personal best in each of the 4 events in which he participated!

100 yd dash        10.88       (5th place)       winning time 10.48

200 yd dash        21.91        (8th place)       winning time 20.74

4x100 relay         41.84       (4th place)        winning time 40.46

4x400 relay        3:19.72      (5th place)        winning time 3:15.52

Medals were awarded to the top 4 times.

    

Here are a series of pictures of the 4x100 relay.

Clark ran anchor and the pressure was on!

starting to run in anticipation of the baton exchange...

this is where we all hold our breath as David passes off the baton to Clark...

a deep sigh of relief when the exchange is clean...

and he's off to the finish line!

Here is the team on the stand accepting their 4th place medal!

Not too bad for a bunch of white boys!

Clark is now in the top 10 

in Mountain View's History in all 4 events!

This was a great moment, but even more rewarding to us as parents,

was when the coaches expressed their appreciation for Clark

and commented that they have never coached a kid that has worked as hard as Clark.

Two days later he was back to football 

where he killed the timed 40 yd dash with a time of 4.5 seconds.

I joke with Clark that he can thank me for his speed...

it is  all because he was breast-fed.

He grins, shakes his head and tells me I am gross!

So when the cover of this week's TIME Magazine came out,

I couldn't resist...

I left this for him on his bed...

Please don't judge me...IT IS A FAMILY JOKE and we all had a gut busting laugh!

Mother's Day

I love this picture.

But more importantly, I love these women!

There are no words that I can write to offer my love, admiration and gratitude for all that these

two sisters and my mother have taught me. 

Sadly, (or thankfully) it is not until we become a parent ourselves that we can truly begin to understand and appreciate how much our parents love us. 

I began this journey of motherhood with stars in my eyes...

visions of perfectly behaved children,

scrubbed clean, hair combed to perfection, in matching attire,

piano playing prodigies, top notch students, the best of friends,

and obedient to my every command.

Wow!  Was I ever shocked and surprised when they chopped each other's bangs off,

refused to practice the piano, insisted on wearing their own combination of clothing,

quarrelled and bantered,

got a "B" on their report card and said it was "good enough"!

My mom made it look too easy and their were days when I felt dupped!

But how grateful I am that my dream for my children wasn't all that I had envisioned,

but SO MUCH BETTER!

They came with personalities, talents, skills, desires, and attributes that I didn't even know were possible!

They have been my greatest joy, my deepest worry, my best laugh, my hardest job,

and better than any and all of my dreams!

Mommy and Me Pictures with each of my babies at 6 months

(and a review of my past hairstyles and weight fluctuations!)

Tia



Haley

Cassidy



Clark

Bennett

Happy Mother's Day to my wonderful mother,

my two beautiful sisters,

my loving mother-in-law,

my two amazing sister-in-laws,

and ME!

She Did It!

We are so proud of this girl!

Tia graduated from ASU with her degree in Theraputic Recreation.

Her final semester was spent doing an internship in downtown Phoenix

at St. Joseph's Hospital in the Neuro-Rehabilitative Department.

In just a couple of weeks, Cassidy will graduate from Mountain View.

We had to get a picture of our TWO graduates...

a TORO and a SUNDEVIL!



Another project Tia has been working on...

BABY BOY ALLRED due September 16th!

Her 21 week baby bump!

Life is good!

Class of 2012

I can't believe this girl will be graduating from Mountain View in just a few short weeks.

She has had some awesome friends and hard classes,

but just the other day she made the comment that she wouldn't do anything differently.

She has been involved in a little bit of everything:

 Student Council, National Honor Society, Toro Links,

AP classes and Badminton.

She has a lot of life ahead and we can't wait to see what she accomplishes!

BYU bound this summer, but home for ASU in the fall! (Yea!)

(It was tempting to stay at BYU, but she couldn't pass up

a scholorship and acceptance into the Nursing Program at ASU!)

Here are just a few of my favorites from her senior portrait session.

Thank you Kenzie Gossling for taking such beautiful pictures!

Go here to see more of her work or to contact her for your own session!

iPhone Love

Clark ran in the South East Valley Invitational last night in Queen Creek.

The meet began over an hour ahead of schedule,

so unfortunately we missed Clark's first event, the 100m dash.

Lucky for us Brian was at the finish line with iPhone in hand

and captured this amazing picture!

Clark won his heat and is seeded third in the finals on Friday night.

Here is another look, cropped in closer.

Love this kid's grit and determination!

I just read the biography of Steve Job's (the founder of Apple).

I am still trying to figure out why I liked it so much,

but for me it was a fascinating read.

Between that book and this picture I have a new love and respect for my iPhone!

"Moonlit Serenade" Prom 2012

Cassidy had a great time at Prom last night!

They took lots of pictures, ate at Bucca de Beppo, danced the night away

and played games at a friend's home.

Thanks, Austin for taking such good care of our girl!

Our Humble Abode

It is always fun to look back at pictures as a child and remember the home you grew up in.

I realized that I had never taken pictures of our home,

 so last week, I took a few for memory's sake.

Family Room

Clark and Bennett's room.

I love their old sports pictures framed and hung above their beds.

This furniture my Dad had growing up as a young boy.

Back in his day it was painted white, but we had it refinished to the orginal maple wood.

Hall bathroom which also doubles as the guest bathroom.

Not ideal, but it works as long as I polish it up everyday!

 The master bedroom...still a work in progress with no end in sight!

The only redeeming part of this room

 are the pictures of each of my babies at 6 months of age

framed and hung above the bed.

As a little girl, I used to love to go down to my Grandma Clark's basement master bedroom

and look at all her family pictures hung on a peg board in a nook of her room.

She had a framed picture of each of her children at the age of 6 months.

The baby girls wore a delicate locket.

I thought they were so beautiful and angelic

and I knew I wanted to have that as a keepsake when I had babies of my own.

My baby girls are wearing the tiny "add a pearl" necklace

 that my Grandma Clark gave me as a baby.

My older cousin Jane and I were the only grand daughters to receive the necklace,

as she passed away at the age of 49 when I was just about 4 years old.

I love this room!

We call it the Living Room or Music Room.

It is the warmest and brightest in the house.

Lots of beautiful music, good conversation, and occasional Sunday naps are had here.

Several years ago for Christmas we decorated this basement room as a gift for the kids.

Up until then it was a plain, basically empty room with lots of toys.

Now it is a great hangout for the teenagers!

Cassidy's room

This used to be Haley's room, too, until Tia got marrid.

When Tia moved out, we did a little redecorating to make this room Haley's.

(Haley and Cassidy are enjoying having their own bedrooms for the first time!)

This furniture was my Grandma Meldrum's original bedroom set when she was newly married.

My parents also used this furniture for the first several years of their marriage.

When Curt and I got married this was ours for our first 10 years.

It is creaky and old and only a full sized bed.

My kids are shocked that both Curt and I could fit in it!

I have always loved this set and the tradition has been to pass it down to the first daughter.

Brett and Tia had their own furniture when they got married,

but someday this will be passed on to them, keeping with tradition!

This house is by no means perfect. 

Every so often I dream of an updated kitchen with granite countertops and newer appliances,

a bigger garage, more yard, a private guest bathroom,

 but as I look around, I really do love this house of mine!