BRAVE

At the Scottish Festival we are treated like VIPs because we are with the one and only Frederick Buchanan. It's so cool to see actually. We often get to ride around in the cart, we get in free and we get to sit in the Utah Scottish Association tent and raid their cooler full of ice cream treats. Fred is royalty around there. 

This time they were especially good to us and offered us tickets to the premiere of Disney Pixar's new movie, "Brave". As many as Fred wanted. "Brave" is about a Scottish princess. We have been looking forward to seeing it and have been getting more and more excited for it to come out. It isn't in theaters until June 22, so this was really cool. We went out to dinner with Fred and Rama before. Brian, Clara, Henry and Ella met us there. The girls each got to invite a friend and they chose Emma and Eliza (sisters who are their same ages). 

It was a real party. There were Highland dancers, bagpipers and a lot of men in kilts. The movie was in 3D so we even got new shades too. 

The girls did this pose of Merida with her bow and arrow for every picture. Zachy joined in.

Emma and Eliza joined us.

The Buchanan Clan with their cool 3D glasses.

It was a good movie (I still like Tangled best though). The Scottish parts of it were very funny for us. It did get really intense, dark and scary for awhile there and when that is front and center in 3D it can be a little much for the kids, but they all came away loving it.

Scottish Festival

Saturday was the annual Scottish Festival and Highland Games. We are excited to be a part of this every year and this year was made even better by Alan, Laura and kids being here for the first time. It was fun with a little bit of crazy.

We watched the sheath toss and some other guys throwing large, heavy rocks.

 This is the woman who beat out all other women. Tough chick, huh?

 The girls found just what they HAD to have to be real Scottish princesses and begged for them the rest of the day.

 Connor took on the "Champion Sword Fighter" in a sword fight. I'd say Connor held his own quite well.

 

We watched a bit of Scottish dance competition. Brielle will be starting Scottish dance soon and I'm thinking it will be a great fit. It seems to be just a whole lot of bouncing and jumping around. 

Time for lunch. Alan searched out a sausage roll, I got us a Scotch egg (Very interesting. You should try one.), haggis and corned beef cabbage. The girls opted for the safe route with roasted corn. 

 And then the mass bands and parade of the clans. This is when it got crazy. We've done this for six years now and we've always lined up in the same spot. Well, at the last minute we had to rush ourselves to a different place to be in the parade. We grabbed kids and ran off to claim our place among the different clans to represent Clan Buchanan. They announced Fred as one of the founders of the Utah Scottish Association and he received quite an applause. Here he is announcing the Buchanans.

The wind picked up big time. I mean really, really windy. Not the best weather for all those men in kilts. All the kids were crying and tired and the parents were ready to go. We made our way to the car and were out of there after yet another grand time at the Scottish Festival. My ears were actually ringing with bag pipes for hours afterward.

Look Alikes?

The three girls - Brie, Ava and Kate. All at about 3 months old. Can you tell who is who?

Food, Glorious Food

So, I was talking to my sister, Laura, the other day about ideas for eating healthier. As you may have read (but not so much noticed yet), I'm doing Weight Watchers . . . . again. I started Weight Watchers after I had Ava and lost 30 lbs. in about 4 months. I then did the same after Zachary. Sooooo . . . I'm at it again after Kate. 

Laura and I talked about some of our ideas for making sure we (us and the fam) eat a lot of veggies and low fat or carbs. I thought I would tell you about some of the dinners I've made from the past week or so. Really, I am doing this as a way to share some of our favorites in order to get ideas from you too. I need some new and exciting dinners to try. 

Shish-ka-bobs: I loved them. They were delicious with chicken, zucchini, yellow squash, peppers, tomatoes, mushrooms, pineapple, etc. The kids liked making them (shoving what they like on the stick) but did not like eating them.

Shrimp Tacos with Guacamole Salad: Ohhhhhh . . . so good. This was a hit with everyone. The salad had black beans, lime juice, peppers, tomatoes, cilantro, red onion, etc. And shrimp is just so easy to cook.

Cobb Salad: This idea came while I was on the phone with Kamber one afternoon wondering what to do for dinner. She mentioned it and I thought, "Hmmm, what do I have in the fridge?" This is what I pulled out - hard boiled eggs, chicken, red onion, mushrooms, cheese, avocado, tomatoes, bacon over lettuce. The kids had to have a bed of lettuce and choose five things to put on their salad.

Summer Veggie Casserole: This is one of my favorite Cooking Light Magazine recipes because it includes all the veggies you pull out of your garden in the summertime - zucchini, yellow squash, onion, tomato, basil. This was easy to make a TON of and put into three separate casserole dishes for us, a friend and Scott's parents.

"Spaghetti": My new found love in life . . . the Spaghetti Squash. Seriously. I haven't ever really had it around before and now I buy one every time I go to the grocery store. It's delicious!!! I usually put a little bit of butter and some garlic herb seasoning. Last night I served it as "spaghetti" with red sauce and Parmesan cheese. Soooooo good. 

Sauteed Chicken with Warm Bacon Vinaigrette: I just can't say enough how much I like getting the Cooking Light magazine. I'm so excited to look through it each month and then I try 5 - 10 of their recipes from each issue. They are always new and different and almost always we love them. This was a keeper. It had chicken, bacon, shallots, maple syrup, dijon mustard and arugula. Mmmmm.


The other things I try to always have around are:

Oatmeal packets for breakfast.
Wheat english muffins, a fried (Pam) egg with the yolk still runny and a canadian bacon for a breakfast sandwich.
Hard boiled eggs in the fridge for a snack.
My bags of frozen blueberries from our trip to Oregon last year. I add them to any fruit I have and about 1/2 cup of Danon light yogurt for a smoothie. I make smoothies a lot and the kids love them.
Grilled chicken breasts. If I have these leftover just in the fridge I can easily add them to a salad for lunch.
Fiber One bars, because I have to have something sweet and chocolaty and this has been my favorite.
Healthy Pop popcorn and Crystal Light are my "after the kids go to bed" snack while we watch TV.

There you have it. That is how things are going in the food department around here. Please, oh please share with me what you are doing.

Rocky Shores

We have been looking forward to something big at our zoo for quite awhile. Every time we go we walk around a zoo that is half under construction. We waited and they delivered. The new Rocky Shores opened on June 1 and we had to be there.

It's funny. Everyone we talked to said they were going to wait a while to go see the new animals until things settled down, but we wanted to be there opening day. Most normal people dislike a crowd, but here is a little something about me . . . I like the crowd. I like being a part of the party. I don't like feeling like I'm missing out on something fun going on without me. (Except when I have to wait in a line.) Sooooooooooo . . . we were there and it was AWESOME! They did such a fantastic job. The animals were playful and lively. The animal habitats are beautiful. We loved it.

Finally crossing the bridge that has been closed for so long.

Seals and sea lion.

 Me: "Everyone look at the camera and say cheese." Yea, right. It's like pulling teeth.

 Seeing the new Polar Bear, Rizzo.

 Zachy watching her swim.

And some good shots of the lovely lady we came to see.

Lunch. They were so excited that I FINALLY bought them pizza Lunchables. Turns out the pizzas didn't live up to their high expectations, but I guess they were fun to make.

 Riding the Polar Bear sculptures.

 And then the seal.

 It was a fun day. Weather was good, crowds were not bad at all, but mostly it was exciting to see the end result of all that work and money that has been going into our new and improved zoo. We will be back . . . a lot.

Ode to an O.B.

A few days ago I went to my last appointment with my OBGYN in this process of being pregnant and delivering (checking the IUD). I will now only visit him once a year instead of all those monthly and weekly visits. At the end of this visit, he said, "Well, everything looks good. I'll see you again in one year." I told him how sad that made me. I left his office a little bit teary. Honestly. I did. I really will miss seeing him on a regular basis.

Dr. Thackeray was referred to us by Scott's brother, Brian, when we first moved to Utah. They had gone to medical school together and are good friends. I went to him because it seemed we were not able to get pregnant. Kind of funny now, huh? That very next month I found out I was pregnant. I went to all of my pre-natal appointments with Dr. Thackeray through that pregnancy and then had baby Brielle. I then went to all of my visits with him through my pregnancies with Ava, then Zachary and then Kate. He was at every single one. He didn't miss any. He delivered Ava and Zachary. I excused him for not being around for Brielle's birth because it WAS Christmas day. For Kate, he rushed to the hospital as fast as he could, but she just came too quickly. He walked in right after she was delivered. He has checked on me each morning in the hospital after each baby was born. We've had some good talks.

He has shown me how much he cares about me as a patient and even a friend by now. He has given me all the time I ever wanted in each visit. I never once felt rushed. We talk about my family, his family, upcoming trips, etc. He has answered every question with thoroughness. He has helped me understand anything I was worried about until I felt all was good. He has done many ultrasounds spending a lot of time showing us every part of a new developing baby. He talked good baseball talk with Scott while we waited for Ava to arrive. When I was so sick that last month with Kate, he did all he could to figure it out and try to make it better for me. He called me at home a number of times to check on me. He researched and did tests to make sure everything was ok for me and the baby. What I have appreciated the very most is how patient and calm he is. Just very even keel. A really good man.

I am so very grateful for a doctor that has cared for me the way Dr. Thackeray has through each one of my pregnancies. I am sad to think those visits are over. He feels like such a good friend now. Until next year I guess.

P.S. And no, Tawna, we did not name Zachary for "Thackeray".

P.S.S. I wish I had a picture of me and him and the four kids he helped safely bring to us.

A Recruiting Trip

Jessica came to visit for Memorial Day weekend. It really was so great to have her here. We were all hoping to woo her into staying forever and living in Utah.

What did we do to recruit Jessica to say yes to two job offers and move here to be by us?

We started by taking her to Grandma Great's house to weed her garden that had overgrown with a lot of big weeds. I know. We pulled out all the stops. Hard to resist, right?

This is what the kids did while we were hard at work outside. In a trance.

We all soon ditched Landon and Scott to till and finish up the garden in the cold and rain while we hung out inside.

From thrilling her with weeds and dirt we moved to enticing her with seven little kids climbing all over her. I'm sure one of those kids spit up on her too, just to sweeten the deal a little more.

Followed by a delicious lunch made by Grandma Great. What could tempt you more? Olives!!!

Back at home Jessica had plenty of chances to snuggle with this little one. Now that really is reason enough to live here. More spit up.

We offered up more good meals and fun at our house - an Allred favorite of a bowl of mayonnaise, or I mean artichokes, for dinner.

Our best attempt at tempting Jessica to our beautiful city was taking her up Millcreek Canyon for Memorial Day. It was beautiful and we had a great time. We made a fire, roasted hot dogs and then s'mores.

Jessica opted out of the fun mud slide we provided for her.

So did Zachary and Norah. They had more important business to tend to.

I know gifts aren't usually allowed on recruiting trips, but the kids put together a hat full of presents for Jessica - earthworms, rolly polly bugs and lady bugs.

Zachary even allowed Jess to "make up" him with mascara just for this big day.

And here you can see the claw scratches that Ava dug into his cheeks as we were trying to get in the van to go. Nice touch, huh?

And to finish it all off, we showed her some real cousin lovin' just so she could get a taste of what she would get too if she lived close - a lot of huggin' and kissin'.

We certainly hope that one day Jessica will give in to all our attempts to convince her to move herself to Utah . . . until then, maybe we'll just have to keep sending her earthworms and rolly polly bugs. Love you Jess!