On a Happier Note...

Now that it's officially August I thought it was time to post about July. July is one of my favorite months of the year. I love the 4th of July and everything associated with it. Growing up, we'd usually have a Drake Family Reunion in Arkanasas over the 4th, which meant boating, fireworks, brisket, watermelon, and my personal favorite summer activity, a canoe trip on the river! It's always so much fun to spend time with the cousins. That being said, I also really enjoyed my first Fourth of July away from home. On Saturday (the 2nd), once we got off work, Johnny and I drove right up to Layton for his brother Scott's birthday party. It was very fun and of course there was lots of delicious food. We spent the night at Johnny's parents' house and went to church with them the next day. After dinner we drove to Copperton, Utah to visit Margo's dad, Grandpa Bodily. It was my first time in Copperton and I absolutely loved it. It's just this cute little mining town that looks like it came straight out of a movie. It was so fun to see Grandpa Bodily, too. I haven't spent a whole lot of time with him, but he's super funny and I really like visiting with him and hearing his stories. On Monday, we watched Daren walk in the Clearfield Parade. He is a principle at an elementary school in Clearfield so he walked with some of his students. Then we got all packed up and drove to Bear Lake! Which would have been completely perfect except almost everyone was feeling pretty sick that weekend. Here's everyone who went: Daren, Margo, Nate, Claire, Norah, Scott, Johnny, and me. Here's everyone who felt sick: Margo, Nate, Scott, and Johnny. Norah was sick a little bit earlier in the week so she was better by the camping trip. Still, all the sickies were such troopers! The stomach flu lasted about 24 hours for most of them, so they just had to take it easy for a while. By Monday night, we were able to go watch a firework show, and by Tuesday morning, everyone was feeling much better. We packed up camp and went to the lake to swim and play all day. It was such a fun trip!
We forgot our camera but luckily Margo is always prepared and willing to share her pictures.

Scott's Party

this is how Norah smiles for the camera - she's very enthusiastic

the star of the parade

watching Johnny's celebrity of a dad

cuddlin' at the freezing cold 4th of July fireworks show

skipping rocks like a champ at Bear Lake

you can't pose for a picture like this and then expect for it to not get posted...

the whole camping crew

I basically love camping, which is perfect because Johnny loves camping too. I'm sure we'll have many years of camping trips to look forward to. We can't wait to take our future children on these trips with us. It will be so much fun!

We missed Jeanette and her family, Sharla and her family, Ryan, and Amy on this trip. Amy has been on Catalina Island all summer long, working at a Boy Scout camp. She comes home in like two weeks and we're so excited to have her back!

Nate, Claire, and Norah moved to Phoenix in the middle of July. We already miss them lots! Norah is just so dang cute!

On the 24th (which also happens to be a big holiday here in Utah), we drove up to Layton to have a birthday party for Jeanette. We had a wonderful dinner and Aaron made my favorite kind of cake - yellow with chocolate frosting. It was delish! After dinner we played some tape ball (an Allred family tradition), a nice game of Horse in which I almost beat Scott (but at least I got Johnny and Aaron out - first time ever!), and did some fireworks for good ol' Pioneer Day.

watching Jeanette open presents. my husband is a goof.

Also in July, Johnny and I got to go visit Sharla and Ben and their twin girls, Gracie and Clara. Sharla made us a yummy dinner and then they went out for a date night while we watched the girls. They are so cute! And so good too! We basically just put them to bed and didn't hear from them for the rest of the night. It was so much fun.

I think that about covers last month. July was kind of a roller coaster of emotions, with lots of ups and downs. I'm grateful to start up August. School starts at the end of the month, and that means Laura and Becca and Christian get back to Provo! I miss my family mucho, so I can't wait to have them back. And Emily has her baby girl this month! Probably at least by the 10th! I'm so sad I can't be there - it's gonna be killer to not get to meet that little girl until Christmas, but I guess that's what happens when we live 1361 miles apart. Oh, and our dear friend Jason Dale Lane is taking a little vacation from dental school in Minnesota and returning to Utah for August! We can't wait to spend some quality time with him. It's going to be a great month:)

Remembering Grams

I suppose now is as good a time as any to post about the passing of Grams. Around 3:30 Saturday morning (July 9th), Johnny and I got a call from back home. My family told me that Grams probably wouldn't make it through the night. By 4:30 am, she was gone. I miss her terribly each day, but I'm happy that she's with Grandpa again after 15 years and that she is no longer suffering.

With a little help from the fam, I was able to fly home the following Tuesday - Sunday for the funeral. It was so good to be with them. Johnny was scheduled to fly out Thursday morning, to make it in time for the viewing that night, but because his plane was damaged in a Denver hail storm, and since he was scheduled to fly back to Utah the next day, his flight was cancelled completely. We all wanted him there, but apparently it just wasn't in the cards.

Still, I'm so grateful I got to go home. Even though it was hard, I needed to say goodbye to Grams.

Grams was without a doubt one of the most influential people in my life. She was the best listener and sympathizer in the world. She always made me feel better when I was sad. She was such a supportive grandma. She taught me how to make pies and fudge and dinner rolls and caramels. She made me laugh anytime I was around her. She gave me fashion tips. She was always there for me, right across the street.

She loved me enough to come to my wedding even though she felt so weak and could hardly hold her head up. She never missed a grandchild's wedding.

I miss Grams so much. But I'm so thankful to have had her in my life these past 21 years.

Here are some pictures of my most recent memories of Grams.

Chris and Emily's Wedding in Oregon, June 2007

Joseph and Julieta's Wedding in Utah, April 2008

My High School Graduation, May 2008

Grams' Surprise 75th Birthday Party, August 2008

Trevor's High School Graduation, May 2009

Fourth of July, 2009

Emily's Baby Shower for Tanner, July 2009 (Grams hosted so many showers at her beautiful home!)

With me, Laura, and Becca (her adopted granddaughter), July 2009

At the Hospital for Tanner's Birth, August 2009

Thanksgiving in Utah, 2009

Christmas in Arkansas, 2009

Sushi with the Fam, August 2010

Julieta's Baby Shower for Clark, August 2010

Christmas in Arkansas, 2010

My Wedding in Utah, April 2011

She will surely be missed by anyone who had the privilege of knowing her.

Here's some pictures from the family gathering for the funeral that I'm stealing from Emily who I believe stole them from either my cousin Maren. (Seriously, if you read Emily's blog you've already seen every one of these pictures. Thanks Emily and Maren!)

Thursday night after the viewing, all the girls in the family got together at Grams' house. We laid out all of her jewelry on her bed and then we picked out things we wanted to keep. It was so much fun to look at all of her stuff! She had accumulated quite the collection over the years. And now we can each carry a little piece of her with us whenever we wear her jewelry.

After the funeral on Friday, we all came home and changed into casual clothes for lots of family pictures. Here's all of the grandkids. We came from Alabama, Colorado, California, Utah, and (most impressively) China! I think that covers everyone..

For this shot we threw in some spouses, too. I think we're just missing one wife and four husbands.

This is everybody!

Just the immediate family here (minus a very missed Johnny).

I love my family. I love how everyone came together for a sad and hard thing, but we still managed to laugh and remember Grams with such love. That's the only way anyone can remember Grams. I think we're planning a reunion next summer, so I really hope to see everyone again then and to continue this legacy that Grams left us!

Brittnye's Beautiful Wedding

Here's a few pictures from my trip to California for Brittnye's wedding! I had so much fun staying with my cousin Shannon and her cute family. And it was amazing to be able to see Brittnye and Dave get married. They were basically MFEO. She made such a beautiful bride!





Shannon's kids (Crew and Graham) are so ridiculously cute!



Southern California treated me well once again.

Just a Really Really Great Night.

Tuesday night was spectacular for a few very simple reasons:

• Johnny came to work with me to do some homework, and I got to see his smiling face every 15 minutes on my walks.
• After we left work in the Wilk, we pulled the car over to play in the sprinklers on campus. I haven't done that since I was like 10.
• We watched 3 episodes of 24. Yes, we're hooked.
• It was hard to fall asleep because we were apparently slap happy & laughing like crazy. That's what happens when old married people stay up past midnight.

I love being Johnny's wife.

Perpetually Behind

I'm convinced that life is happening much too fast around here. Because of that, I cannot seem to catch up on this blog. We've been keeping so busy and we're loving it!

Earlier in the month, we had our Arkansas open house. Johnny and I flew out to Arkansas with his parents on the 8th. They stayed a couple of nights in Branson to see the sights while Johnny and I went straight to Mountain Home (thanks to Emily and Julieta). I absolutely adore being home with the fam. They have all been together since the wedding so it was definitely time for me and the hubs to join them in Arkansas. Tanner and Clark are growing up so fast, I can't even get over it. Tanner still always picks Uncle David over me. Actually, he will usually pick almost anyone over me. Someday he'll reciprocate my love and then he'll regret ever giving me the cold shoulder. In the meantime though, Clark loves me so I had to work that as long as I could while I was home.
The open house went really well. Margo and Daren came down from Branson for the party. It was so fun to have them in Arkansas! It was nice to see so many people from home, too. I love the people in Mountain Home and I was excited that Johnny got to meet so many of them.


On Saturday, we had a nice biscuits and gravy breakfast and then my parents, Johnny's parents, and Johnny and I went to Blanchard Springs Caverns. We did a little walking tour of the caves and then Johnny and I went for a quick swim in the river. Somehow we made it through the shoots (the little passages made from rocks that the river water pushes you through). I had to go on my side at one point and I honestly don't know how Johnny made it through. I do know that he caused quite a traffic jam of impatient little kids.

The rents in the cave

When we got back to Mountain Home, the three couples went out to 178 Club for a delicious dinner. I never went to that restaurant growing up, but 2 of the 3 times that Johnny's been to Arkansas we've gone there. They have good food so that always makes for a good time. After dinner, we took Margo and Daren back to my grandma's house (where they stayed) and then we went to the nursing home that Grams is staying in now for her rehab. It was so good to see Grams, she's had a hard time lately and I've hated being so far away from her.

That about wraps up the Arkansas portion of our trip. I'm already aching to go back but I'm just grateful we got to go at all. Flights home are not cheap so I'm lucky to have married a man that understands the importance of home and family and who will always take me back to Arkansas. (Thanks, Dad, for making that a condition of our marriage when Johnny asked your permission to propose!)

Margo and Daren flew back to Utah that Sunday, but Johnny and I had not had enough of the Drakes at that point. We were lucky enough to join my family at our condo in Branson for the week! This year, since our family is getting so massive, we had twocondos. It made it much better for sleeping, especially with the two nephews and their early bedtimes. We love Branson week so much, it's my dad's favorite week of the year. All we do is swim, get tan (or burned if your name is Johnny or Sarah), watch 24, eat tons of food, stay up late and sleep in late, play games, and maybe see a show or two. But my personal fav part of the trip is just hanging out with everyone! I seriously miss my family like crazy so I really depend on these visits. Unfortunately, Chris had to work and Joseph had class most of the week, so we didn't get to spend much time with them. But we were all together for a little bit on Sunday so of course we jumped on that photo op. Look how big we are! And in about 7 weeks we'll be ever bigger. I can't wait to meet my first niece on the Drake side!

Johnny's first time seeing slash catching fireflies. Yes, they're real. No, his enthusiasm in this picture is not real.

Love these little boys in their swimsuits.

I wasn't joking about the sunburn thing.

Tanner and Papa love huge sunglasses...

...And eating s'mores together.

The boys love watching mario beat box with uncle david. It's basically the only thing that calms them down, so that's normal.

Before we went to the bodies exhibit- so cool!

Making sushi on our last day there

I think that about sums up our trip. Which is perfect because I need to post about another trip that I just got back from. Again, perpetually behind.