Tia Allred Blog

Our time was short in Bowie, Arizona--but I do have many, many fond memories of it.  It was a place of many "firsts" for me and for my little family.  Like, my first time ever, ever living in a rural area.  And let me say this--I was "baptized by fire" with this little town.  It is about as opposite of an urban setting as one can get!

In the summertime, Arizona has "monsoon season".  Massive, quick-moving storms roll through and usually bring a lot of wind and dust, and hopefully rain.  We went on a family home evening walk as a storm rolled in.  I wish my pathetic photo-taking skills and phone camera could do it justice.  It was breathtaking.

Seriously, these kids don't realize how lucky they are to have their very own tractor and a sweet and patient daddy.  Every time he mows the lawn, he has at least one little helper, and sometimes even two!

This is what a mom does when her kids fall asleep in the car and she has already pulled in to her driveway...

I really like yoga, especially when I do it consistently.  I have been slacking off on working out, so I decided to ease back in doing yoga.  Since it's less strenuous, and not so fast-paced, I think I will be more motivated to do it.  I am doing a 30 day yoga workout challenge on YouTube.

Brett did it with me the first night, and he just kept laughing at the comments, like "taking grateful breaths" and "moving the energy in our bodies" and things like that.  Then it would make me laugh, because it sounds kind of silly to me too.  But I don't care, because I always feel so good after I do a yoga session.

So this morning I decided to try to do my yoga during the day, so Brett wouldn't feel obligated to do it with me this evening (however, I don't think he would have had a problem saying he was going to go on a run instead, since he has been running pretty regularly, to get out of it, haha)!

I had to do it in 3 chunks, because the children just want to climb all over or under me, or want my attention.  Plus, Vivienne is sick and wants extra snuggles.

While I tended to Vivienne, I turned on some children's yoga for Landon.  I was quite impressed!  He was really engaged in it and did really well.  We might have to do it several times a week from now on.  It kept him busy and moving!


Also, I've been practicing braiding my hair.  It's very much a work in progress.  But if I am just doing yoga, then it will do!

Really, more of a "dump truck" wash and "tricycle" wash.  But it kept them busy for a decent chunk of time.  Definitely will do it again, they enjoyed it so much!

It's the little things.

This week, while at the grocery store with the children, we got the "car" cart.  The kids always get excited and it makes shopping easier for me too.

After we checked out, we got to our car to load up our groceries.  This process takes longer now, since I have to go through the bags and put perishable goods into a cooler.  While I was in the middle of sorting and loading the food, I saw Landon holding a little neon bag of Skittles...that I did not buy for him.

So, after I was done loading up, I told him we had to go give the Skittles back and apologize.  I could tell he felt a little sad about it.  I didn't get super upset, but just tried to explain to him that we don't do that.  It isn't honest and Jesus wants us to be honest.  And everyone is supposed to work hard to pay for things, we aren't supposed to just take them without paying.  When we got up to the register, my sister-in-law was there checking out, so that was kind of embarrassing (but not really, since it's happened to her before too with one of her own kids).  I didn't even know she was at the store--but it was such a typical thing to happen in the small town, I almost always run into a relative at the grocery store and almost always see someone else I know too.  And I've only lived here a year, so I don't even know a lot of people.

I took this picture at the beginning of the same grocery shopping trip because I thought they looked so cute in there.  Landon would wave to passerby's and Vivienne would blurt out an excited "Hiiiii!".  Now it reminds me of the unpurchased bag of Skittles that had to be returned.  Life lessons!

Brett's family owns a big lodge up in Alpine, Arizona.  It's a beautiful area, and the lodge accommodates such large groups--it's the perfect place for us to all hang out together as a family.

We went last weekend, and it was beautiful.  So nice to escape the heat.  Some summer storms rolled through in the afternoons and evenings, which is always a fun change of pace.

We arrived there at evening time.  Thankfully Landon didn't get car sick on the way up.  He did the last time...three times.  So, we considered this a total win!

The way the lodge is set up, is there is a "main" lodge area.  It has a large family room/gathering area with a beautiful fireplace to gather around.  There is a dining hall, an industrial kitchen, a TV/playroom, a bedroom, and bathroom.

Detached from the main lodge, there are two separate dormitories ("bunkhouses" is what we call them), that can sleep a lot in each one.  I haven't counted, but there are probably at least 10+ rooms in each bunkhouse.  The rooms are different--some have queen beds, some have bunks.

Our room set up this time, was this: we had a room with a queen, a bathroom, and a room with bunks.  The rooms each connected to the same bathroom: Jack & Jill style.  So the kids had the room with bunks and Brett and I had the queen.

The first morning we were there, I woke up, and walked over to the kid's room to check on them.  It took me a second to realize, that there was only a big heap of blankets on Landon's bed, and he was no where to be seen (Vivienne was peacefully sleeping in her pack and play).  The door was shut tight, just as I had left it.  I scrambled to get some shoes on and set out to find him.  I made my way up to the main lodge, hoping he was there but keeping a look out in case he decided to wander off into the woods or up the nearby mountain.  When I got to the main lodge, he was there, thankfully.  Turns out, he had ever so quietly escaped his bedroom--being sure to shut the door behind him.  And wandered up to the main lodge in nothing but his pajamas.  He had been up there for two hours.

My sweet little curious, wandering, Landon.  I love him.  But I threatened him big time not to do that the next morning.  Thankfully, he didn't.

Before we headed to Alpine, I quickly made each of the kids a "snack" necklace that was strung with fruit loops and honey nut cheerios.

Vivienne quite enjoyed hers...




At the lodge, we had a great time...

Lots of quad rides...



Relaxing on the bench swing...

Sand volleyball, with the bruises to prove it...

Hula hooping contests...

Indulged in lots of treats...


Cousin balloon fights in the dining hall...




And Landon picked me a flower.  Love that boy!