Tia Allred Blog

Every Mother's Day since I was a young girl and all through my teenage years and into adulthood, I have gotten a corsage.  My mom and dad always made sure I had one, and Brett has done great at continuing one of my most cherished traditions.

We have extended this tradition, and now Vivienne gets a corsage every year too.

"Motherhood is more than bearing children.  It is the essence of who we are as women.  It defines our very identity our divine stature and nature, and the unique traits our [Heavenly] Father gave us." -Sheri Dew

Being a mother is one the best decisions I have ever made.  So grateful I have been blessed with this sweet little family.

Isn't it so funny how personalities can be so different, even in one family?

It is that way with me and my siblings, and same with Brett and his siblings, too.  There can be a lot of similarities that overlap, but a lot of differences and quirks so individual to each person.

Well, there isn't any more obvious way to notice those differences in Landon and Vivienne, than when they are swimming.

Landon is super cautious, usually needing some coaxing just to get onto a step.  He likes water and loves the bath, but it must be something about a big body of water that makes him feel insecure.

Vivienne, on the other hand, practically tries to lunge into the water.  She doesn't seem very fearful at all (which can be frightening for me as a parent).  She loves being near and in the water, splashing and jib-jabbering.  I feel like it is her happy place.

But Vivienne can feel insecure in the water, if she isn't being held tightly enough.  So, it is interesting to see both of them have that fear overlap some, but in such varying degrees.

Brett and I are hoping to plan a time soon, to take them swimming with both of us there and when no one else is in the pool.  Hopefully having a parent to be able to focus on each child and with the pool less busy, they might get more comfortable in the pool.  Maybe we will do it for family home evening sometime soon.

The honest truth is, I have a hard time waking up in the morning almost every day.  It's not a secret.  It is something I wish I would have outgrown by now, but I apparently haven't and I probably never will.  I am pretty sure it has something to do with the fact that I am a night owl.

Anyway, most mornings Landon wakes up first.  We snuggle in bed, and sometimes he watches a show on our tablet.  Once we start to hear Vivienne cry, I sometimes will tell Landon to go in and say "hi" to her and keep her company for a minute while I get out of bed.

And usually he is in there for literally just one minute.  Maybe two, at the most.

One morning I walked in to her room, where Landon was supposed to be saying "hi", and there were a bunch of scribbles all over her crib sheet--made by permanent Sharpie markers.  Oh boy...

Not even three weeks after that incident, I walked in and found that Landon had pulled my big container of cherry tomatoes off of the counter in the kitchen, and dumped them in Vivienne's crib.  Where they then smashed and juiced them.  They get the job done, and quickly!  Like I said, only in there a minute or so.

I have a feeling I am in for a lot of shenanigans and mischief with these two on the same team.  But somehow, even though it was only a matter of days ago, I already think it is kind of endearing.  I hope their hoopla stays this innocent and cute!

I have been so blessed to be able to know all of my grandparents and many of my great grandparents as well.  Brett was only able to know one of his grandpa's, but he was able to know him well, since he lived with Brett and his family for several years.

I have enjoyed getting to share the relationships of my grandparents, with Brett.  We have been fortunate enough to live in relatively close proximity to them for quite a while.  

We got to spend time and get together with my Great Grandpa Breinholt, in particular, several times over the years of our dating and being married.

My Great Grandpa Breinholt was such a sweet man.  Until his health started rapidly declining, he always knew all of his grandchildren's names (which was quite a feat, considering he had 5 children, 35 grandchildren, 149 great grandchildren, and 39 great-great grandchildren), and knew enough about what was going on in their lives to ask them questions and tell stories.

I loved hearing the simple stories about his life.  Like, how he went through a phase of juicing so many carrots and drinking the juice that he turned orange.  Or when he spent a majority of a paycheck on a box of fresh peaches for his family, and then he took a spill on his bicycle and they fell all out and bruised--he went home upset and crying with peach juice dripping off of him and his wife, my great grandma, just laughed, picturing him toppling over and the peaches flying.

And another great thing about my Grandpa Breinholt, was his great love for In-n-Out Burger.  For many, many years, he went there every single day (except for Sunday) and always ordered the exact same thing: a hamburger with extra onion, extra tomato, and a milk.  The employees loved him and knew him.  One year for Christmas, they gave him In-n-Out memorabilia signed by all of them.

He passed away recently, and while I am sad I won't get to see him for a while, I am happy he is reunited with my grandma, along with other family members who have passed away.  Some who include, his son and daughter-in-law, and two of his great grandsons.

I am grateful that we were able to attend his services and since we have such a big, giant, loud, and sometimes crazy, family--it also served as a really great family reunion.

We ended the night off appropriately, and grabbed dinner at In-n-Out after his services.  It was a really happy dinner, and a pretty meaningful one too.

We worked hard and put in a lot of time to get our garden area ready and planted.

We raked a lot of leaves, mixed compost into the soil, Brett built a fence around it and installed a small sprinkler system.

Then we planted...

5 varieties of tomatoes (cherry, Roma, beefsteak, and two types of heirloom)
Sugar snap peas
Red potatoes
Spinach
Spring mix
Romaine
Broccoli
Cucumber
Yellow squash
Zucchini
Green chili peppers
Bell peppers
Basil
Parsley
Cilantro

Mammoth sunflowers
Marigolds
Violas
Ranunculas
Zinnias