Christmas Whirlwind...

Well life has been such a whirlwind lately, mainly the last few days- I don’t even know where to start :)!!
I guess I’ll start with Christmas eve, Mom, Micah, Brodey, A.J., Dana, Amber, Drew and I spent most of the day at the Valley Mall, Wal-Mart, Costco & Fred Meyer doing some last minute (actually starting) Christmas shopping. Strangely enough it was pretty fun, not a ton of people and some pretty good deals as well. I then left the family went to Mike’s Great Grandma’s house for a few hours before picking Kaylen up & heading home around 11:30pm. Then for some reason I couldn’t sleep- I’m not sure if it was Kaylen, Amber and Ernie all taking up my bed or the excitement for Christmas either way I was up till 4:30 am! Christmas morning at our house has never been a real scheduled thing, it’s when everyone gets up we open presents! So we opened presents about 10am, had our traditional “Breakfast Bake” (Eggs, Bacon & Toast baked- It’s pretty good). By 12:30pm we were all ready for a short nap (Although Kaylen & I slept much longer) before dinner, movies & games. The Kids went down and the big kids were ready to play :). I’m not sure what possessed us, maybe the pot or two of coffee we drank around 12am, but Dana, A.J., Micah, Brodey, Mike & I decided to stay up all night! After a game of Apples to Apples (which I won :), 2 games of Disney Princess Memory (which was very entertaining) & several games of Boxers or Briefs it was time to move the party outside!! Yes, at 3 am we went sledding!! Off the roof of the garage, down the driveway, Hooky Bobbing around Herman Lake road and back home around 5:00am. It was time to watch a movie (which only I made it through), everyone finally started disappearing or snoring which ever came first by 6:00am. Mom woke up about 7:30am and kicked A.J., Micah, Brodey & I out of the living room so she could start her day!! All of that to say…. Anyone have a better Idea for New Years?? Just kidding, I Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas- I truly enjoyed every minute of mine!

P.S. Not a whole lot of pictures go along with this, being that we laughed so hard & were to distracted to go get a camera!!

My cup of tea...

Well so I decided since I had Boogie & Monster Tuesday evening I would take advantage & get some pictures. Being that some of my friends are such great Photographers, I decided to steal a few of their ideas i.e. The big tea cup (which he loved sitting in :)
Now I know my camera is cheap compared to ya'll's but I still can't resist this sweet smiling face!!
Enjoy :)

He reminds me of my dad sitting in his Lazy Boy- Drew is just such a relaxed baby!!

Amber didn't want her picture taken

She loves to show off her 'Teef'

Grr... Auntie... Grr

Yep I tried to find a racecar, but hopefully he's still young enough to not care theres a flower!!

I felt bad leaving him sitting in the grass so I put him on the blanket & he made this face

He laughed so hard he practiclly fell over!

This boy has a belly laugh like no other baby I've ever met!!

This face always makes me laugh!!

(My personal fav!!)

This is his 'flirty' look he does- it's just loveable what can I say!!

Thanks ya'll for the pictures that I steal your ideas from :)

Now I just have to get some pictures of K N (as amber calls her)- I haven't seen her in like 3 weeks, and it seems like forever!!

Sittin on the pot...

Hey ya'll I just wanted to post this picture of Ernie from friday. Since I don't have kids to take pictures of this is the next best thing for me :)!! He knew he wasn't suppose to be there, but I couldn't pass up taking this picture so I didn't even yell at him.. since he was being oh so cute :)!!

Gives "sittin on the pot" a whole new meaning

P.S. Lance was right this is addicting... but don't tell him I said he was right, we don't want him to think that it may happen again :)!!!

10 weird/ strange things about me

Well I wasn’t really blogging when ya’ll played the 10 weird/ strange things about me game so I am playing now. (Sorry I tend to be a few laps down sometimes !!)

I don’t know how weird any of these truly are…. But I do know I get a lot of flack from people about some of them. (Starting with 10 being not so strange).

10. I am a social butterfly; it’s just part of my personality. Put me in a room with 40 people for an hour and I will have talked to everyone & will remember what they look like, but can’t remember their names if my life depended on it.

9. I know more about cars and racing then most of my guy friends. The racetrack is where I spend most of my summer and I enjoy every last minute if it. While at the racetrack I am one of the only girls in the pits that actually work on the cars not sits there & get a tan.

8. It’s not an unknown fact that I love kids & most kids love me, but everywhere I go there is always a kid or a baby that will just randomly say hi or smile like they know me. One time I was on an airplane going to Hawaii and this 2yr little boy who was screaming & completely upset & came 3 rows down the isle and started to climb in my lap (his mother was mortified). Needless to say he stayed there quietly coloring till we hit turbulence an hour later and that was the quietest he was the entire 5hr. flight!!!

7. My favorite smells are oil, grease, burning rubber, asphalt (pretty much smells like oil) & cow poo (only out on a farm/ranch- not a cow truck driving by on the road) & no I don’t actually prefer to smell like any of them, I just like to get a whiff of them. Most of them bring back such good memories of being a kid.

6. I am really flexible & can put my legs behind my head (one at a time of course!!). I can also fit my entire fist in my mouth.

5. I love to organize. I am one of the most organized people (or at least everyone tells me I am.) but my own personal room is a disaster area- almost always!! I am constantly organizing, re-organizing & re-organizing my re-organization.

4. I love to see people smile and make them laugh. I will do or say almost anything (even if I look like a total retard by the end of it). I.E. trip to the race track a few weekends ago you can ask Brad, Corey or Pat they were rolling (we’ll they would have been at we not been in the truck J !!!).

3. I am openly honest with everything including my feelings. Actually sometimes I am a little blunt, but don’t ask me if you don’t want an honest answer. Sorry I don’t like it when people lie to me so I don’t lie to others. (So try not to hold to much of what I say against me :)!!!

2. I take at least one bottle of water with me where ever I go. I drink water like some people drink juice or soda. Water is the only thing I can’t leave home with out (I actually get cases of water from Costco and leave them in my trunk so I never run out & I currently have 3 cases in the back of my car).

1. And of Course I am going to put my battery pack as my 1 weirdest thing. What can I say do you know anyone else that has to stay home to charge their battery?

Crazy July...

I know, I know I should have worked a little harder on making sure ya’ll didn’t think I fell off the face of the earth. July has been a crazy whirl wind of racing, a mini road trip, more racing and lots of other summer fun!!

So I guess the last time I really updated anyone on this was the 4th of July BBQ/ Fireworks @ our house. Since then so much has happened and changed, I don’t even know where to begin. Well I guess I should really start with the No we did not go to the Cayman Islands, plans changed and we decided it was best to just cancel. I suppose it was a blessing in disguise being that the first Hurricane of the season hit when we would have been there. Since I had the entire month off from our racing series I determined I would fill my time with lots (and when I say lots I mean lots) of other stuff. I spent all day Saturday, July 11 @ Silverwood. I figured I can’t be in the Grand Cayman’s I may as well go to ATHOLJ!!! It actually wasn’t bad we (being my girlfriend Carly and I) just hung out @ the water park, until we realized I had run out of sunscreen and was burning to a crisp as we floated the lazy river for close to 2 hoursJ. Being that I am kind of in to some traditions we decided to get a Huckleberry Funnel Cake, after we enjoyed that in the shade we headed home. I arrived home and with in minutes of being home I was sicker than a dog L only to find out so was Carly. The 2 boys that were with us as well were just fine so the only thing we can figure is food poisoning from the funnel cake or whip cream. Either way we were both disgustingly sick!!

The following Monday my Dad’s Aunt and Uncle from Cali were here, so of course we had family dinners, dessert nights, social time and late nights all week!! By the end of their visit it was Thursday and time for Krista and I to head to CDA to get a few necessary items for our upcoming trip to Kalispell. Now we are taking 2 cars and 8 people for a weekend at the Montana 200, four of which had never been. It was supposed to be a relaxed no worries type of weekend, but as you can only imagine it didn’t happen like that. I started out by leaving an hour late, once we got on the road all went well till the driver switch @ the rest area, where Corey became driver in my car and Pat became driver in the other car. Now granted I have a Radar Detector for a reason (other than it was given to meJ) it’s actually because I tend to be a little lead footed kind of like my dad. But since Corey is a race car driver you would think he should use it right? Nope he decided it was just in his way (sitting there on the dash) that he would just unplug it. About an hour down the road we were doing about 90 mph (yes I was telling him to slow down the whole time) and as we started up a large hill and caught up to a semi we slowed to well 82mph (or at least that what the cop clocked us at). So it’s a good thing we made up all the time that we had lost by leaving so late, because then we lost it again when the cop took close to 30 min to write the stupid ticket (that Corey paid on the spot and it only cost $20). The weekend fun all in all Erick (Jenny’s fiancé) did do as well as he should have he go taken out fairly early in the race and then he took that guy out under caution- needless to say the following week was filled with preparing wedding invites with Jenny, mom and aunt Nita and a 2 day headache that literally kept me in bed all day a few Sunday’s ago (my battery had started to die and I didn’t know it…oops). Last week I was super busy, I’ve been working 10 to 10.5 hour days at work covering for a co-worker who had family in town and on top of that things all of a sudden picked up a few weeks ago and the phones just ring off the hook on top of that preparing for an insurance audit. Thursday after work I headed down to A.J.’s church to hear some friends of ours that were here from Texas. I got home around 2 a.m. only to get up head to the race track till 2 a.m. Friday night. Which may have been fun but Corey got a flat right rear tire during qualifying, won the Trophy dash, and finished second in the heat only to get another flat (right front this time) while leading the main. He ended up having to pull off the track with 20 laps to goL!! We left early Saturday so we would have time to work on the car before practice. Saturday proved to be quite the frustration. After getting the sway bar off and finding how much the weight jack bolt had drug and trying to figure out if the stopper would still work, changing a spring and scaling the car, Corey went out to practice liked the handling and decided just a few minor adjustments were needed. After 3 practice sessions everything seemed fine let’s just leave it and get ready to qualify. At the pit meeting the officials from the RMCS decided that the 18 guys that travels from Vegas, Canada, and Boise were locked in and we would have to qualify in. Which didn’t happen so we wasted an entire day just to run 2 laps of qualifying!! We left the track around 12:30 or 1 am Saturday night / Sunday morning only to return @ 8 am on Sunday (yes that means we had to get up about 6:30 to leave by 7.) First thing Sunday morning we unloaded all the tires (we had left the car at the track) and then I headed to Harbor Freight Tools in Spokane because the day before both of our Jacks broke!! It’s kind of hard to change the tires with no jackL. Corey didn’t qualify in the top four which meant he had to race in, he finished 3th in the B-main which was a transfer position so he got in to the 200. Through out the race Corey was monitoring the water and oil temps, being it’s not our motor he didn’t want to hurt it. A caution proved a great time to come in take a round out of the right rear and go back out. A caution just after the green served as a great time to cool the car off, so Brad sprayed the radiator to cool it off which seem to be working, just in time to head back out for the green flag. As he came to the start finish line Corey heard/ felt a strange noise come from the engine and shut it off and coasted to the pits. He thought for sure he had blown the motor, but luckily he shut the car off when he did, there could have been way more damage. It’s not a blown motor a rocker arm just came loss and it will be fixed this week. He finished 23/24, but at least the car is in one piece and the engine will be ok. Erick finished 2nd and had only practiced for an hour on Sunday!! All in all we were at the race track 35.5 hours in 3 days and were on our feet for at least 30 of those hours. Final race of the year is Saturday September 20.

So there you go that is why most of you have not heard or seen me in weeks. Sorry for the book, but I think at least you have a better idea of where and what I’ve been doing. The saddest part is I don’t have pictures to show for any of it; it’s too hard to take picture when I am changing tires and doing adjustments on the car. But for the road trip, I just opted to leave me camera in the car I did want it to get broken @ the track!!

Humming Birds- July 2008

Hey I know it's been a while since I last wrote, but it's been a whirl wind of a summer!! I will update you all later but for now here are a few Humming Bird pictures I took @ my aunt & uncles house the other day when I was suppose to be helping with wedding invitations. (I know my camera isn't the greatest - or nearly as expensive as Lance's but I still couldn't pass up the opportunity).

I guess it's true "if you build it they will come."

Ugly feeder I know- but it works as great bait :)

At one point there were 10-15 birds swarming the feeders- I was a little frightened (mainly for my eyes ;)!!

For some reason the bird was more threatened by me & started charging me & didn't even notice the bee that was stealing his food!!

I will update ya'll again soon I promise :)

Drew "Boogie Boo"

This Little man can't resist smiling @ his favorite auntie (or atlease that's what I like to tell peole that I'm the favorite)!! On Thursday night he was so hot, with a fever and just completely miserable- teething or sick we're still not quite sure. Luckily for me, I am not scared of a sick, cranky baby, so I of course picked him up, got a few smiles out of him, hugged on him for a bit and then persuaded him that he was hungry!! After he ate I decided since he was out of formula and didn't have an outfit for the 4th we should go for a short drive to walmart (in Post Falls) and get a few things he needed. Originally the list was: Teething cookies, Formula and look for a cute outfit. Although I know Boogie can't talk nor did he really care what I was buying, I lightheartedly asked him every time I picked something up if we should buy it and I got looks much like the ones below, which of course means "Yes you should buy it for me aunt Britani!" Our final purchase was closer to $40 instead of $20 and instead of 3 items we ended up with 2 outfits for Boogie, formula, teething cookies, a shirt for Kaylen, a shirt and outfit for Amber. Then on friday on our way home from the lake, I found yet another outfit for Boogie and he had to have it!! I don't always spoil them, but I do like to buy them "useful" things and after just a quick trip to walmart I now know where my money goes!!!

Kaylen "Grace"

Over the last few weeks Kaylen has gotten to stay the night several differant times. She determined that Glammy's house needed a few things. (In no particular order)

1. Swing Set

2. Swimming Pool

3. Unlimited supply of Popcorn & Popsicles (her two favorite treats other than Starbucks :)

So being that she has such a wonderful Glammy she bought a cute little octapus sprinkler for their house and a 10' Round x 30" Deep pool for our house. Being the FANTABULOUS auntie I am, I spent 2 hours being eaten alive by Mosquito’s just so Kaylen could use it the next time she came up, not knowing what would happen just 2 short days later!! Friday was a little chilly by the water so everyone (All 12 people) packed up and off to our house it was. Mind you it's too cold by the water, but if you have access to a pool you can fill with hot water you are more likely to swim. Luckily for us A.J. was their & being the redneck that he is unhooked the washer and put a hose pumping hot water into the pool!! I guess it must have been the perfect temperature because at one point there were 6 adults and 2 children in the small pool (bought for the kids :)!!) Anyway I guess what I am trying to say is never under estimate the power of an Allard (or atleast A.J. in this case), his quick thinking kept the group busy swimming for hours so it all worked out just fine, plus he did need a lazy day to just play in the pool after moving for the last 2 weeks and everthing with his health the last few months.

Friday night Kaylen stayed over and with in an hour of being up she was in the pool swimming for hours yet again. Here are just a few pics of her swimming on Saturday :)!!

Amber "Monster"

Hey I guess it's about time I do something with this blog! I am not to good with Photoshop (one day I will take the time to learn) but hear are a few from the 4th. I will try to get some pics of Boogie (Drew) & Grace (Kaylen) up as well, for now hear are a few of Monster :)!! She is a girl after my own heart- she loves Ice cream (as you can see) & can almost never pass up Chocolate Cake!! She also loves shoes but she gets that one from her mom - I hate shoes with a passion!!