The Allen Family

An American Epidemic

2012-02-08T20:30:00.000-08:00

January 2012

1st I can't believe it's already 2012, (And it's already February!)

A few months ago I found out I was insulin resistant. I had not lost any weight after having Nathan (July 2011) despite reducing calories and exercising (we're talking hour long workouts at Zumba!) so I was pretty discouraged and approached my doctor about it. She sent me in for some labs. My thyroid and actual blood sugar levels are great but my insulin levels were through the roof- just barely below having actual type 2 diabetes. Needless to say, I was relieved that there was a reason I hadn't been able to lose weight but at the same time, a whole new set of worries and questions began rolling around in my mind- what now?

My Dr. recommended this book: The Insulin Resistance Diet by Cheryle R. Hart, M.D. and Mary Kay Grossman, R.D.

I hemmed and hawed about getting it, probably because I was partly in denial and mostly because who wants to start a diet during the holidays?!?!

I finally ordered it online and read it in less than a week. It has truly changed how I look at food and exercise!

First, it's not a diet at all. I like to call it a nutrition plan. I can literally eat whatever I want to eat, I only have to be careful about when I eat it and what I eat it with (of course portion sizes are always an issue to but that's a whole other problem).

It's called the link and balance method where you simply link and balance your carbohydrate intake with your protein intake. It's simple, easy and filling (they actually want you to eat every 2 hours) Since I finished reading the book and applying the principles (2nd week of January) I have lost 7 pounds and more importantly, I feel fantastic. I have more energy and I'm more cheerful and patient.

I'm trying to remind myself every day that the changes I'm making are life long changes and that it will take a long time to make them all so I'm working to not treat setbacks or a bowl of ice cream as major obstacles, just little pebbles on a long journey. I'm learning a lot about myself, what motivates me, what tempts me, and especially how many wonderfully supportive friends and family members I have. Here's to the beginning of a journey...

December 2011

2012-01-29T20:22:00.001-08:00

Christmas!!! Our kids are super spoiled and got 3 "Christmas Days" We had Santa come and opened presents early. Then we did Christmas with my parents before we left for AZ. Then we had presents down there too. It's hard to keep the true meaning of Christmas in Christmas but we had a really neat story time and discussion on our Christmas Eve about Mary, Joseph and Jesus. We really felt the Spirit and I hope to make that part of our Traditions every year.

November 2011

2012-01-29T20:11:00.000-08:00

Jennifer and her family moved to Arizona for Tyler's new job in July. We really missed them this Thanksgiving. One tradition Jen started was to have the females do a craft of some kind while the menfolk were busy watching football. We wanted to keep this tradition going and this is what we came up with.

October 2011

2012-01-29T20:04:00.000-08:00

It's Halloween time again!!! Even in all the craziness of me working 3 jobs, I made time to make a few things for costumes. Brian's request was to be a wizard so we all piggybacked. We also had a blast carving pumpkins with some friends.

September 2011

2012-01-29T19:56:00.000-08:00

Brian goes to School!!!

Technically, Brian's 1st day of school was in August but who's counting? This is a self-portrait just to show how fast this guy is growing up. We went to a meet and greet night at the school the night before the big day to take in school supplies, find Brian's desk and meet his teacher. Mrs. Clark is amazing! At our first parent-teacher conference, she confided in me that Brian had a really time at first paying attention and following directions. Well apparently, the children earn a sticker each day they have good behavior and Brian didn't get all his stickers. So the first day most of the children got prizes, Brian did get one and threw a little fit. However, the following school day, "I had a whole new Brian!" said his teacher. She asked him about his change in behavior and Brian looked at her and said, "I'm gettin my sticker!" Atta boy! He's been doing really well ever since.

We also had a family outing to go get firewood. While Dad and Dusty were busy with the chainsaw, the kids and I found this amazing black catapiller.

Another fun thing that happened was we got a "Roommate" Lacie Weaver, Sarah's best friend, moved into the room downstairs to abide her time until it was her term to start at BYU-I. She asked if she could paint and boy did she paint!

August 2011

2012-01-29T19:44:00.001-08:00

Colorado!!!

We were all so excited for this trip. A true vacation. Mom and Dad Allen were the only ones who could make it- they brought Grandma Black so it was pretty quiet but still a blast! Yes, that is Brian and Samantha in a canoe by themselves. I about had a heart attack but Brian's a pretty good driver. Dusty kept telling me, he'd jump in if he had too. The view of the ranch from about halfway up the mountain. Dusty driving the kids around at the annual Lake George Tractor Pull. Dusty drove in the main event too. Our family ready for our hike up to potato rock (or balanced rock) and the most beautiful rainbow!! Almost every afternoon, there was a thunderstorm. The were so amazing to watch. Our tent help up perfectly and we were super comfortable and dry. What an amazing piece of heaven on earth.

July 2011

2012-01-29T19:39:00.000-08:00

Because we had such a busy summer and their birthdays are close together, we had a double birthday party for Nathan's 1st and Samantha's 3rd. What fun!

June 2011

2012-01-29T19:30:00.001-08:00

For a family reunion, we stayed at a lodge at Brian Head, UT. It was 9,000+ in elevation. Literally felt on top of the world. The views were awe-inspiring. We had fun but it was tough to keep tabs on all the kids. I kept having nightmares of them falling of the side of the mountain! We got to all go for a horse back ride, sit in the hot tub, play lots of ping pong, visit, learn some really neat things from our relatives and eat, eat, eat. Oh and Brian thought it was pretty cool that the place we went had the same name as he did!

May 2011

2012-01-29T19:21:00.000-08:00

It's 2012 already and I totally dropped the ball with blogging every month like I had planned. Maybe it's because I made a commitment and didn't keep it, maybe it's because my pictures are finally organized, maybe it's because I'm a little shocked January 2012 is already over and I'm not quite ready for a new year, maybe I'm just a little too sentimental- whatever the reason, here are are the posts for the rest of 2011.

May 2011

We took a really long but wonderful trip the end of May/ beginning of June. We started out in Oregon at Jared and Mackenzie's wedding, a visit to Eagle Point for Whitley's blessing (Jess and Emma's baby), a short stay in Susanville with Jake and Shannon, and a few days in Las Vegas at Uncle Bill's place to do some concrete and visit with Dusty's family. Here are a few photos.

Grandma Tolman

2011-04-27T02:34:00.000-07:00

My Grandmother, Maurine Elison Tolman passed away Saturday in her sleep. Yesterday we had the funeral services to celebrate her 91 years of life. What an amazing woman!

These are a few things I learned about her and a few memories I have. She and grandma purchased a country store and had the business loan payed off in 8 years. They borrowed $12,000 to build a house and had that debt payed off in 3 years! The metal spatula that had two burned dents in the tip was a result of my aunt sticking it in between a plug and outlet in order to remove the plug. I have seen and used this spatula which Grandma had for well over 50 years. The same aunt tried to throw it out one visit but saw it in the drawer the next time she came. She was a master seamstress and quilter. She worked daily to do her best in all she did, even if it meant ripping out a zipper to do it again. She was frugal, never wasting and she always made sure she had her debts paid, even if it was $3 because one of us brought her a gallon of milk. I remember her smile and laugh. Here she is at our wedding almost 7 years ago.

All 24 of her grandchildren were able to come from as far away as Boston, Texas, and Hawaii. It was wonderful to see all my cousins! As I reflect on my grandma and her legacy, I am so grateful for such an amazing example to follow. I rejoice that she is rejoined with her beloved husband after 11 years. It's interesting how a funeral puts things into perspective. Life really is about family, loving and striving to do your best. All the other stuff is just stuff. I love you Grandma and hope I will be able to live up to your legacy.

2011-03-06T08:45:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday Brian!!!

Brian turned 5 yesterday! I can't believe I have a 5-year-old! We had a family birthday party on Monday and then Friday afternoon, we had a little friend birthday party.

"Crazy Clarence"

came to teach the kids how to make balloon dogs. (When I asked Brian what kind of party he wanted, he said one with balloons so we had lots and lots of balloons).

Crazy Clarence blew up the clear balloon with a birthday dollar in it and made it into a dog for Brian. He was so fun! The kids just loved him- when's the last time you saw 4/5 year-olds sitting this still?

Brian can write his name with a little help spelling. He loves to put things together-like legos. He also really love to tie things-like stuffed animals on a "leash". He is starting to do kind things on his own which is really neat for me to see. He's also learning how to be mischievous. He loves putting things in his pockets and dressing in layers. We love you Brian! You really are the coolest 5-year-old!

Every Day Life

2011-02-13T02:00:00.000-08:00

We love having friends over, usually for dinner, and sometimes to play games too. My friend Chelsea loves to take pictures and she's so much better at remembering than I am. She took these when they came over for Family Home Evening last week. I often feel unaccomplished, or that it takes me forever to get anything "done" but I'm starting to relax about it and realize that this life is so much more than checking off your To Do List. I have such a full life and I enjoy so many people and things, it's really okay that the laundry is never done the quilt that's been sitting for over a year and a half will probably sit for another year or more. Here's to every day life with (drawings of) friends, smiles, and messy pudding faces.

2011-01-16T20:21:00.000-08:00

Nathan turned 6 months Jan. 12th. He is eating all kinds of solids (well baby foods and teething biscuits and tastes of everything else). He is crawling ALL over the place. We got a new puppy for Christmas and Nathan heads straight for his dog food. I'm feeling not quite ready for a mobile baby but glad he's happy. He also cut his 1st tooth this week. After an ear infection and baby bronchitis, we're glad the tooth is in and Nate is finally feeling better.I know there's a lot of hype with New year's resolutions but I've decided to make 2011 my lose all the baby weight year. My sister and I started a blog: thedailyflab@blogspot.com to help us out. Our goal is to put $5 in a jar for every pound we lose from now until June 1 and then we're going on a shopping spree!! (I just have to resist things like these amazing cupcakes someone just decided to bring us.. um thank you?)

Dusty is in another semeste

r of school and finally taking his last two general classes which he's thrilled about! He will be looking for an internship this Spring/Summer.

Brian got a cap gun and a remote control car for Christmas that he is just loving. We also got a Wii which he asks to play about 10 times a day. I can't believe how quick the kid is addicted to gaming. We had to set limits right away which so far, he's been really good about.

Samantha has started calling me "Grandma" because she's the "Mommy" taking care of all the babies, including Nathan. I'm not sure how I feel about being a grandma at 27. (This is our new puppy-Cody)

2010-12-25T09:08:00.000-08:00

Dear Family and Friends, 2009-2010

We missed sending out a letter last year so we have a bunch to update! We hope you are all healthy and happy this holiday season! Here it goes for the Allens…

Dusty joined the Idaho National Guard in March 2009 was at Fort Leonard Wood, MS for 14 weeks completing basic training and AIT for combat engineer. Since he has contracted with the ROTC program at BYU-Idaho and is busy completing a degree in Automotive/Military Science/Agriculture Technology. His unit is currently serving in Iraq but the ROTC program opted to keep him here to finish his schooling/training for which we’re grateful. He expects to graduate in April 2013. He also bought his dad’s 1977 Chevy Nova that he is excited to restore. He really enjoys driving it.

Melanie is keeping busy with 3 kids! I quit my teaching job and am now working part time for a residential habilitation agency working on home programs for adults with disabilities. I loves being able to work when I want to but still serve those with disabilities. It has been wonderful to be home with my kids. I started an at home pre-school with 3 other families this fall for Brian and that has been a lot of fun too. I served for 2 years as the Primary music leader at church and helped the children learn and perform a program each year. I really enjoyed it but it got pretty difficult with a baby so now Dusty and I are the Bear Cub Scout Den Leaders which has been a lot of fun.

Brian is now 4 and has finally discovered letters and numbers. He LOVES to point out all the Bs and will count just about anything! He always asks before going to sleep at night what we’re doing the next day. On the days we don’t have anything planned, he keeps asking until I come up with something to satisfy him. He’s having a hard time with the early winter and not being able to play outside as much but he’s learned how to put on all his snow gear by himself- snowpants first, then boots, then gloves, then coat-so he can stay toasty warm while playing. He has also discovered Legos and is getting really good at building ships and planes and guns. The other day he even built a Lego cow!

Samantha is 2 going on 7. She loves imaginative play and is always roping Brian into being her “dad” or “baby” or “doggie” etc. She is very stubborn but just as cute as can be! Much to daddy’s dismay she often shouts about the house, “I want my mommy!” but is actually quite independent when it comes down to it. She loves babies, the color purple, paper, stickers and sucking her thumb.

Nathan was born into our crazy family on July 12, 2010. He weighed in right between his siblings at 10 pounds 1 ounce and 21 ½ inches long. When I went to nurse him for the first time, the nurse jokingly said, “He doesn’t want milk, get that boy a Big Mac!” He was born with lots of long, golden hair. He’s already scooting all over the front room, mostly backwards but definitely covering some ground. He is now 5 months old and absolutely loves solid foods. He will lunge forward for the next bite.

Much love, The Allens

November Update

2010-12-07T22:28:00.000-08:00

Whoop-c-daisies! November just FLEW by. We had a great month and a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Wait back up.... yes, I did it again and sewed Halloween costumes for all of us. I kinda cheated though cause Brian wanted to be a knight again so I didn't make a new costume for Dusty. But he made himself a broad sword so I made a sheath for it. You can't see it very well but I made a Dragon costume for Nathan. I just didn't want to cover up all that hair with the hood. Also mid-September Dusty made me a deal that if I lost 12 pounds before Halloween, he would buy me a treadmill. I did it! (We decided to keep our eyes open for a really nice one on sale so we might wait till after the new year to get it) Okay... now to November.

I am loving preschool with Brian. He's really catching on to letters and sounds and he just lights up every time he sees a B. I got him some Leap Frog videos for Christmas. Love them!

I braved the crowds on black Friday and got most of my Christmas shopping done but the main reason I got up at 4:30am was for a new computer (the motherboard crashed on my other one-frown).

We took Nathan in for his 4-month check up and he weighed in at just under 19 pounds! He is LOVING solid foods. I wish I would have gotten a video of his 1st couple of feedings. He would literally lunge forward for the next bite.

And the biggest news of November is.... dun dun dun... Samantha is potty-trained!!! Yay Sam! I started the week of Thanksgiving thinking we would be home most of the time which was true. We kept improving until she had the perfect day and then the very next day she had 4 or 5 accidents! grr I was ready to pull out the diapers but I just kept washing out panties and it paid off. A few more accidents and now she's really got it. No luck with night time though... any ideas?

Pixie Dust

2010-10-02T20:56:00.000-07:00

I caught the flu or some other really yucky bug this week and was trying (and mostly failing) to get caught up on house work today. So I sent the kids outside for most of the day. After I had just finished mopping the floor, Brian tries to come in the house with all his pockets full of sand. "Mom, Look at my Pixie Dust!" Kinda hard to get mad about pixie dust in th house... maybe it has magical cleaning properties as well as helping people fly...

Goofy Gigglers

2010-09-19T21:29:00.001-07:00

Dusty and I went to Jackson Friday night to celebrate our anniversary (6 years!!!) and got home late Saturday night. Thank you to our nanny Evelyn who stayed with all three of our kids so we could get away. So this morning (sunday) was a pretty late/lazy morning. After breakfast, the kids were being pretty clinging so I sat and cuddled with them on the couch. Well Samantha looked at me and just started giggling, so of course I started giggling and she just laughed more and so did I. Dusty was talking on the phone to his mom at the time and just kept shaking his head at us. Brian just never caught on to the giggling thing... it must just be a girl thing. Here's to many more giggle sessions with my girl!

SuperGirl

2010-09-15T01:28:00.000-07:00

I've had lyrics from a song on Princess Diaries running through my head:

I'm supergirl
And I'm here
To save the world
And I wanna know
Who's gonna save me?

Life with 3 kids is definatley overwhelming but worth ever minute! Nathan Ririe Allen came into our family on 7-12 weighing in at 10 lbs 1 oz. Now at 2 months he weighs 16 pounds! He's the most perfect baby! He started sleeping through the night a few weeks ago and his latest game is staring at you until you look at him and then giving you the biggest baby grin! He's also started to talk/giggle which is one of the greatest sounds on earth.
Samantha gets the biggest kick out of my kickname for him. Everytime I use is she repeats it with a questioning/humorous tone, "You call him bug-a-boo?" No clue where a came up with the nickname but it's sticking at least for now. Sam has also taken to carrying her doll around everywhere complete with bottle and blanket. Nathan's going to have to start fighting for his spot in the bouncer.
Brian is growing up so fast. He started pre-school today and just to prove to mama how big he is, he took his training wheels off (yes, Dusty handed Brian the wrench and let him have at it) and proceded to ride up and down the street! Yesterday, for family night, we went for a walk and Brian stops us and says, "I'm the leader. There. I said it." and keeps walking. Crazy kid!
Dusty is such a natural. You'd think he does better with 3 kids than just 2. Brian and Samantha are always just a step behind whenever he's out in the garage trying to work on stuff. Tonight he caught them eating an entire pack of gum hiding in the back of the van so at dinner he gave them tons of veggies and made them eat them all. I guess they'll think twice about eating that much gum again.
So aside from having to give myself new rules (1. Never take all 3 children to the grocery store. 2. Kids in pajamas all day is perfectly fine. 3. Dirty floors aren't that bad as long as I don't let the kids eat off them) to avoid the overwhelming/frazzled feelings, life jsut doesn't get any better than this.

Samantha's birthday cake back in June.

A week or two before I delivered.

Wishin for sunshine

2010-05-29T20:21:00.000-07:00

It's been rainy and really windy for the last few days and today especially, the kids and I were wishing for some sunshine. Now that the kids have had a taste of being able to play outside practically all day, the inside activities are completely boring to them. So today we went and bought little piggy banks and I had the kids doing random chores to earn coins for their banks. It went surprisingly well! Here are some pictures of a fun inside day we had in Jerome a while back. Here's to hoping for some sunshine!

Third Trimester

2010-04-27T20:32:00.001-07:00

I'm getting comfortable in my thrid trimester. Today I realized that me, my pregnant belly, and the vacuum would not fit in the extended cab of our truck that I was trying to clean. I also started crying after I couldn't get the printer to work (who knew a printer could make you cry?). But on the upside, I'm feeling fabulous and I am still able to chase Brian and Sam around- at least somewhat successfully. We're getting excited to welcome our baby here in a few months. Brian asks about him a lot and Samantha is showing more and more interest in dolls-expecially dressing them (okay, I'm sure it's just developmentally appropriate for her age but just let me think she's itching to help out). Just out of fun... here are my just before delivery pictures with Brian and Sam. (I've been feeling HUGE already so this is to prove to myself I'm still not 9 months pregnant.) hehe.

Sewing Craze!

2010-03-12T15:23:00.000-08:00

I went on a sewing craze the other day and tackled my mending pile. There was a maternity shirt that had been there since I was pregnant with Samantha (almost 2 year ago!!) - pathatic. I also made this cover for our storage/changing table in Sam's room. Her room is finally the way I want it (I think...).

6 shirts, 3 dresses, 3 pants and 4 pair of shorts mended and ready to wear!

Changing table before (ugly holiday storage)- After you'd never know what was under there...

Samatha's girly room. I guess the one thing I haven't done yet is window treatments... maybe this summer.

Storytime, Gym, and Boy!

2010-03-04T12:11:00.000-08:00

The past two weeks I've been going to Rigby City Library story time. It has been wonderful! The kids love it and maybe it's just the teacher in me but I don't mind listening to fun stories and singing songs either. It's been such a fun way to get out of the house and get us into more reading.
Brian started Gymnastics last night and had an absolute blast. He's such a big kid-and by big I mean over 95%ile and STRONG! At one point, the instructor had the kids doing an obstacle course. The first obstacle was a huge stair thing and they were supposed to shimmy down the backside of it. Well Brian gets up on top and tries to jump off. Then when they get to the balance beam, Brian starts walking accross just like on the curb but they were only supposed to crawl accross. hehe. I didn't get to be there but Dusty did an excellent job describing it to me and I can't wait to watch him next week.
Samantha is getting SUPER opinionated. If it's not her idea, it doesn't happen! So, I've had to get a lot more creative about giving her choices and letting her help and do things on her own. Sure it gets a little frustrating to hear "NO!" literally all day but it's fun to see more of her personality and independence.
AND!!! We found out we're having a boy! My due date is still set for July 17th and the baby looks great. We took the whole family to the ultrasound. I was hoping it would help Brian understand more about "there's a baby in my tummy". He did great and really enjoyed looking at the screen. I was pretty sure Samantha would have no earthly clue what was going on but she looked at the screen and just started saying, "baby, baby". Wow! We're super excited to welcome a new brother to our family!

February Fun

2010-02-22T21:06:00.001-08:00

In February, Dusty's dad called and asked if he wanted to come work for a week so we packed up and headed back to sunny AZ. It was a bit nicer than in Dec. (warmer and a few less people-we love family but everyone together gets a little hectic). Here are some fun pictures from our trip. Dusty actually really enjoyed working with his dad and I had a blast hanging out with mom and the kids. We were outside every day!

Brian and Lily playing "dogs" in the yard. I don't think Brian was actually eating anything.

Samantha and Macie exploring the jungle.

The kids making bubble beards.

The orange vehicle is actually a modified VW bug.

Dusty and dad went to California to buy it while we were there. The 14 hour trip turned into over 30 hours because they had car trouble-go figure.

But meanwhile, Mom and I read the third book in Robyn's series while they were gone. The perfect ending!

Christmas Joy

2010-02-22T20:16:00.000-08:00

Here are a few pictures from Christmas. We had "Santa" come early to our house so we didn't have to take presents to AZ. Samantha LOVED her new doll and stroller.

We also celebrated early with my family. All of us kids went together and got mom a modern picture display (The frames hang from the knobs with ribbon). She previously had all our pictures in mismatch frames on her china hutch. With beautiful vaulted ceilings and really empty walls, we figured it was time for a change. She absolutely loved it!

It's a Fillmore family tradition to do the nativity story with felt puppets. We've done it as long as I can remember. So know the grandkids are the main stars. Dusty and Tyler were the Stage (held up a sheet). This is everyone taking a bow after the show.

We travelled down to AZ for Christmas will all the Allens. Even Dusty's two half sisters and their families got to come from Oregon. It was a blast. This is Smantha playing with Grandma Black's airplane (cousin Macie in the background).

Happy Holidays!

2010-02-22T20:06:00.000-08:00

The holiday season was so busy for us that we never sent out a Christmas/New Year's Greeting. We did get a family picture taken but only because Dusty is clever with the timer on our camera. Not to bad for the front yard eh? (The kids are looking at a rock I threw to try to get them to look at the camera, it worked until the rock fell-darn gravity!)

See Me Run

2009-11-27T20:21:00.000-08:00

Brian was outta control tonight! I don't know if he had too much sugar, was too excited about his sister's new bed or just plain sick of being inside but he was literally bouncing off the walls. He kept asking me if I would play with him (sweet) while I was making dinner and then doing the dishes. I hate it when I have to keep telling him no. So, when the dishes were finally done, I put on the "Watch Me Sing" CD from Brite Music http://www.britemusic.com and we had a blast running and dancing and pretending to be animals in the front room. I felt pretty silly at times (which is why there are no pictures) but the kids had a blast. You should have seen Brian and Samantha pretending to be ballerinas! I hope everyone had an awesome Thanksgiving!

Sibling Love

2009-10-22T21:33:00.000-07:00

Tonight we were doing our typical bedtime routine and I asked (the same as I do every night) Brian if he wanted to give his sister a hug. Well tonight he said yes, and he hugged her, tackled her, tickled her and made her giggle and laugh! Either he's finally learning how to be a little softer or Smantha's finally getting a little tougher but it just made my night.

Here's an awesome picture my brother took of Samantha and Brian on his big bike. I love my kids!

2009-09-30T20:28:00.000-07:00

I debated whether to break this up into different posts but I'm just bad at posting regularly and I have some fun pictures I want to share so here it goes...

My latest creation... My sister, mom and I threw a baby shower for my cousin. I absolutely love decorating cakes (I don't mind eating them either)

This is a really bad picture, but the only one I could get of my new dog, "Pepper". It took Dusty and I almost a week to agree on a name for her. She's an Austrailian Shepherd and still only about 3-4 months old. Someone had abandoned her and siblings on the hwy and so I brought her home. Dusty was pretty shocked because I am not strictly speaking a "dog person" but she plays really well with our Ty and hopefully I'll figure out how to get her to sit and all that fun stuff.

Proof that big brother's really can be nice to their little sisters!

Our new-to-us trampoline! My sister sold their house and the renters didn't have room for it so now it's in our backyard. It's missing some springs but the kids LOVE it!

Travelin' Allens

2009-09-01T19:52:00.000-07:00

We just had an awesome trip to visit Dusty's family! Here are some pictures!
Samantha swinging on one of our stops on the way down. The kids did really great in the car!

Dusty, Grandpa and Uncle Trevor went riding with Brian. They had a blast!

Pudding painting with Grandma!

Our trusty travelin truck and Dusty's new hot rod!

We stopped at Glen Canyon Dam (Lake Powell) for a break on the way home.

Dusty, you grew two arms and a really small head.

Another break, chillin with Ty.

ahhh, home sweet home. Grandma and I made this awesome bib while we were down for our visit.

Dusty had fun working on his new '77 Chevy Nova and the kids and I had a blast with Grandma and Grandpa. I helped Dusty's sister with my neice's 4th brithday party and we went on a couple of dates. Oh, and we went out to the lake (but forgot the camera). Probably more but it was lots of fun and good to relax.

1 week left!

2009-07-31T21:02:00.000-07:00

Dusty comes home in 1 short week! I can't believe this long 4 months is actually almost over! I am SO excited but I've also been missing Dusty almost worse than at any other time since he's been gone. So, I read back through his letters to reflect and get some happy thoughts. Here are a few things that Dusty has written to me to bring smiles to my face and heart.

I love you good & plenty, but never enough to equal our symphony of dove, I mean love. Some might snicker at our milky way of almond joy but no butterfinger can lay a finger on our hot tamale love life. I’d bet my payday that ‘yorkooler’ than all the nerds, airheads, dumdums, and sour patch kids on the block. You shine like a starburst because you’re my sweetart. Just ask the swedish fish.

You are the coolest person in my mortal existence, you span beyond mortal.

I love you so much my left hand hurts from holding this pad for the last hour.

I guarantee you could beat the crap out of every female here.

I love your guts and the rest of you ain’t half bad either.

The nova definitely needs to be a bench seat in the front.

Sometimes time loses meaning for me, like eternity seems smaller somehow, as if things viewed in terms of events and sequences makes time irrelevant thus bringing new meaning to eternity- I feel that way about you. You mean so much to me that I don’t realize that 5 years have gone by. I don’t care about passing 10, 15, 20, 50 year anniversaries, I just want to be with you, live and experience more, be with you.

awww... all better. I just love this man!

A Meddled Mind

2009-07-26T20:39:00.000-07:00

This is what having a husband gone for 4 months will do to you: Samantha was having a rough night and I just could NOT get her to settle down. I kept wishing Dusty were here so I could say, "okay, I tried everything I could think of, now it's your turn" so instead I wrote to him about my awful night/morning. Maybe I was missing him just a little too much, maybe I was just tired but this is the craziness that came out. hehehe. (Silver Fox is what all his army buddies are calling him because apparently he has lots of grey hair!)

Hey there silver fox! I’m just practicing your FTX schedule-ya know just for kicks. I went to bed at 0007 and woke up at 0253. I think I’ve finally completed my mission but I’m not quite out of danger so I decided to document my progress:
“The enemy” woke up at 0253 (actually probably before that but I was hoping it would just go away so I wouldn’t have to engage in battle). I went in and engaged in physical, silent combat to disarm the enemy. The enemy sounded the war cry. I retreated for 10 minutes. I crept back in to enemy territory and engaged again in physical, silent combat with the same results. I repeated this several times with zero success. I changed tactics. I entered the enemy zone at 0351 and engaged in physical restraint and vocal hypnosis. The physical restraint was successful but my attempt at vocal hypnosis was more like auditory torture at this hour. I also devised an attempt at disarming the enemy with sleeping poison. This worked for approximately 30 minutes but the enemy must have a developed immunity. I attempted further physical, silent combat and upon retreat, threw up large barriers in my path to discourage following. Reinforcement radioed in with a formula for a new sleeping poison. This was also successful for 30 minutes. At 0508 the enemy dropped a stink bomb and let out another war cry. At 0514 the enemy sounded a peace signal but I think it is a decoy. 0518,0524-more peace cries, then I attacked full force and SUCCESS. The enemy surrendered at 0610.

Only 5 weeks left!!

2009-07-05T13:24:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe Dusty will be home in 5 weeks. He is completely done with Basic Combat Training and graduated with flying colors. Now he is doing Advanced Individual Training to becomea combat engineer. That basically means he's blowing things up almost every day so he's having loads of fun. Last week he made a 15ft deep hole with C4-yep he was pretty stoaked about that. We're doing really well. We took a trip down to Utah and stayed with Deb for almost a week. Brian's doing Joy School and Samantha is trying to get brave enough to walk. She's taken lots of steps on her own but not toddling around on her own yet. Dusty gets to call us at least once a week and we get lots of letters. I'm keeping busy with doing some projects around the house like this bulletin board. Dusty's going to come home to a whole different house. :-P Thanks to everyone who calls and comes over and invites us to do things. Missing Dusty is much easier when we keep busy. And Happy 4th of July everyone!

2009-07-05T13:11:00.000-07:00

Swimming is so much fun! Angie brought her kids, KimberLynn and Lucas over for a swim in Samantha's new pool. Happy Birthday Samantha!

School Out!!

2009-05-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

Today was the last day of school! Everyone kept asking me if I was excited and yes, I'm thrilled to be able to stay home with my kids next year but I was a little sad too. I've worked my tail off for two years to make that program successful and it's pretty tough to just walk away. It was a good day though. The staff got me a certificate to a spa... so a massage, a pedicure? hmmm we'll have to see. Dusty's been gone a little over a month now. We're adjusting but missing him tons! I've been trying to take lots of pictures so I can send him pics of the kids about once a week. Here are some of them.

Spring Photo Shoot

2009-03-29T12:32:00.001-07:00

It's Sunday and here is the frigid northwest the wind is blowing over 30mph. All the ladies had to hold their dresses down on the way out to their cars after church. It was really kinda funny. Dusty fell asleep in his chair so I decided to take a few pictures of the kids real quick. They get pretty tired of mommy say "smile" "Brian, just let Samantha touch you" "smile" but I got a couple of good ones.

Brian and Samantha are actually starting to play together now! It's super cute. Brian will imitate Sam's yells and "talking" and he really likes to play peek-a-boo with her.

Samatha learned how to come down the stairs without falling--it takes her a longtime though because she'll go down one or two stairs and then forget she's trying to get down and crawl back up. hehehe.

Dusty leaves for Basic Training on April 21 to Missouri. Then he'll go straight into advanced training and he should be home the end of July.

We put our house in up for sale!

We figured the kids and I could move in with my parents if it sells soon and then we'll be ready to move as soon as Dusty gets back. We want some property. We've been looking around here, and a few places in Southern Utah but I think where we end up will depend on where Dusty gets a job.

All these changes are exciting, scary and pretty stressful but I know that God will bless us as long as we're willing to serve him.

Anyone want to move to Idaho?

Anyone need a vehicle? (we're selling a few of those too-we have 7)

2009-02-23T19:48:00.000-08:00

Dusty is joining the National Guard. He goes in for MEPS (his physical and stuff) on March 9th and they'll tell us then when he leaves for basic training. Believe it or not, I'm kind of excited. The whole being without a husband for 4 months is really going to stink but Dusty will get all his schooling paid for and we get health insurance and job placement assistance, and lots of other nice perks.
Brian turns three next week- April gave me the idea for a dinosaur cake. good one eh? We'll see if I pull it off. Maybe I'll do "Dragon Warrior" instead (He loves that movie).
Samantha is trying SO hard to walk. In fact when you go to sit her down on the floor, she just falls over because she won't bend her legs to sit down. She's a silly one.
Both are already in bed AND asleep! A miracle!!!
I'm currently involved in this weight loss contest so hopefully the pounds will keep coming off or I am going to be even poorer than a poor school teacher.
The temperature was actually above freezing today so hopefully Spring is on its way.
Garden or no Garden?

BitterSweet

2009-01-24T19:13:00.000-08:00

One of my paraprofessionals went on a vacation to Las Vegas and brought back a couple of things for us to try-dried Dragonfruit and freeze-dried Rambutan (I think that's how you spell it)--a really spiky flower/fruit from Thiland. Dragonfruit is very bitter and the Rambutan very sweet.
Our week was that way-
I have decided not to return to work full time next school year. A decision that has me elated to be able to stay home with my two amazing kids but a little sad to leave the students and quite a bit nervous about how health insurance, retirement and all those bills are going to be paid. Every time I have felt nervous, however, I have felt wonderful reassurance and faith that we have made the right decision.
Then, on Wed. we recieved news that the twins Darci (my sister-in-law) was carrying passed away. She was 5 months pregnant. The twins were having problems and while Ben and Darci were trying to decide how best to help them, they passed away. They decided to bring them here to Rigby to bury with the family so next Monday we'll have little memorial service.
While we haven't met Hunter David and Reece Matthew, we still feel the loss and perhaps more, the loss of Darci. I am amazed at the love you can feel for two wonderful spirits without really knowing them. But then again, I think the reason we feel such a loss is because we DO know them. I find my self wondering what Hunter and David did in the pre-existance to ensure their exaultation. I know where they are along with my grandpas and I hope to also qualify for such a blessing.
Opposition is indeed bittersweet but if I had to eat a dragonfruit in order to taste a Rambutan, I'd take the dragonfruit.

Christmas Letter

2009-01-04T20:44:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone!
I know I'm late but Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!! We had an amazing time in Arizona for the holidays. I sent this letter and picture out to some of you but here it is for everyone else. Rhonda, Bethany, I need your addresses again. :)

(You can't see it as well, but the letter spells our names going down.)

Dear Family and Friends,

Daddy of two now, I love to play with my son and daughter.
Unlucky for the elk I shot, our freezer is full of meat from my first harvest hunting.
Supposed to take some welding classes at night this Spring.
Tried school at BYU-I and did well, but decided it wasn’t for me.
Yelling the orders as a foreman building steel buildings.

Misses being home all day with the kids.
Evaluated with top marks as a Special Education Teacher at Midway Middle School.
Lucky to have the cutest, smartest, most amazing kids!
Amiably working with the children in Primary at church.
Nanny Evelyn cares for the kids while I’m at work.
Infinite blessings have been ours this year (finishing the re-modal).
Exercising every day to get in shape and loose baby weight.

Busy, busy toddler.
Really loves the snow!
Imagine the messes I can make and all the things I’m learning.
A really loving, helpful big brother.
Nearly 3 and loving nursery.

Silly and fun, I love to play any time of night or day.
Almost 6 months and 21 pounds.
Mantha is what my big brother calls me.
Almost always I sleep all through the night.
Nothing but cute, cute, cute.
Trying to crawl all over the house.
Hair’s all there but not very long.
All is well with my family.

We hope you had a great 2008
and an even better 2009!

Much Love,
The Allens

Halloween

2008-11-09T11:09:00.001-08:00

Here is my handsome little knight and his friend the pirate. They had a blast playing with thier swords. Brian's got broken before we even got to the ward Halloween party though. hehe. I made Dusty a matching knight tunic but apparently we didn't get a picture of daddy knight and his little knight in training.

Then I made Samantha and I matching "Maiden" outfits. I had so much fun and eveyone loved them. Evelyn, our nanny made Samantha's headband to match her costume. We had a blast. This picture really doesn't do justice to our little princess but she was just beautiful.

Picture Tag

2008-11-09T10:37:00.000-08:00

I got tagged again to post certain pictures of my house.
I tag:
Deb(She already did it)
Rhonda
Bethany
Mary
Amy
(I've never seen your houses!)
and April (she has some way cute decor'-or however you spell that)

So here's the list of pictures (I did a few more because we're just finishing up a remodal.)
Kitchen Sink
Closet
Bathroom
Laundry Room
Favorite Room
Self-Portrait
Favorite Shoes
(I think that's all)
Here is goes...

My Closet- This is one part of the remodel that is not finished. Those shirts are "line" drying.

This is our Theater Stadium seating in our basement. The gold couch in the back actually rocks. (it's really nice for when I'm trying to put Samantha to sleep.

This is Brian's playroom under the stairs.

He loves to draw on the chalkboard-He also likes to draw on the walls so we have to be careful.

This is my craft/hobby room that is a complete disaster but at elast it's clear enough so I can use the treadmill.

This is our TV. Our projector uses the entire wall between the two cubbies. The cubby on the left hold videos and the one on the right is the dvd player, amp, VCR etc.
This would probably be my favorite room.

This is our computer "closet" off the front room. We want to put really nice doors here someday but that would cost money. It's really not organized yet but you get the idea.

Laundry room... with storage for picture waiting to be hung up.

My favorite shoes.

Self-portrait... Just to explain, I took this in the middle of the night when Samantha decided she was WIDE awake and wanted to crawl around and play instead of go back to sleep. (I normaly don't look quite that bad.

My fridge.
Not to bad eh?

Our guest bath.
Notice the daisies. ;)

This is Brian's room with his built-in bed. We want to put a slide from the bed to the floor in that back corner. You can't see it, but there are stairs going up to the bed on this front side.

This is our dining room. I painted it last Thanksgiving with my mom and sister. I did the "foe" or texture painting. It turned out really nice. I'm really pleased with it.

The kitchen. The young women in the ward called asking if they could come do a service project for me after Samantha was born so I had them come paint. They painted Brian's playroom, and these daisies in my kitchen. Aren't they wonderful!! In the middle part above the sink, I'm going to put one of those vinal lettering sayings. I haven't decided yet what to write. Any ideas?

My kitchen sink, complete with dirty dishes. I decided if I waited until it was clean, I wouldn't get the pictures taken. It's been weeks already.

Well, there's a sneak peak into my house. we have lots of room for anyone who would like to visit (hint hint) ;)

I didn't post any pictures of Samanth's room because it's not quite done but you can be ready to be dazzled!!!

Quirks

2008-10-12T17:06:00.000-07:00

Rules:
List the rules on your blog
Tag 6 people
List 6 quirks about yourself
link? I'm not sure how to do this one the person you tagged you.

Quirks:
1. I always do things in the same order-like the dishes-first the silverware and cups. Then bowls then plates, then everything else.
2. It doesn't bug me to have a dirty house when someone comes over but I usually clean it up while they're here. Especially if they have kids. Silly, I know.
3. I don't like to get ready for the day if I have any "work" to do. I'll just put grubby clothes on until after I mop the floor or weed.
4. I have to put the clothes from the washer right into the dryer. If they sit longer than an hour or two I have to wash them again.
5. I never really measure exactly when I'm cooking either.
6. I hate having snot in my nose. It's a gross quirk, I know. But I'm always blowing my nose.

I tag:
Deb
Rhonda (you really already did it so we're both off the hook)
Amy
Darci
April
Bethany

Happy Quirking!

Driving

2008-10-02T20:19:00.000-07:00

I'm really glad we can drive and own cars and have nice roads and maps and everything. Dusty's been working out of town lately. It's been pretty tough having him away. This week he is in Afton, Wy. It's only a two hour drive from home so I decided to go suprise him for a visit. I have two days off work because of "fall break". It was a really gorgeous drive--reminded me of the canyon between Logan and Brigham City. I'm finally beginning to accept that it's fall and be excited about all the leaves changing colors.

Anyhow, so I show up in Afton (by myself with two kids mind you) and I have to use the bathroom really bad so I get samantha's carrier out and then unbuckle Brian and head into the Cheveron. but there is no BATHROOM. So the attendent says, "just head next door to subway" Subway is not next door, it's past a tire shop, kings and a couple other shops. Not that I'm against walking or anything but a 16 lb baby in a carseat in one arm and a toddler hanging on the other arm just doesn't make a quarter mile all that pleasant. So we used the bathroom, changed diapers etc. etc. A half hour later we get back to the car and call Dusty to find out where the hotel is. We had a great visit and Daddy was WAY excited to see us all.

I'm really glad we can drive.

Rollover!

2008-09-25T04:38:00.000-07:00

Samantha Rolled OVER!! I'm pretty sure it was an accident because she started fussing. hehe. But I was SO excited. I probably scared her to death. She is changing and growing everyday. 3 months old and already over 15 pounds.
School is going well. I'm finally falling into the swing of things. I have some pretty good kids and a few tough kids but that's the nature of the game. I have one paraprofessional that I'm having a hard time with but it's really neat to see things change when you make an effort to notice and appreciate someone who needs a little extra attention.
My "nanny" is amazing. The kids love her and she has so much fun with them. She writes in a mommy journal for me everyday so I can feel a part of the things I miss while I'm at school. For instance, "Dang, your kid can eat! I made a box of pasta roni knowing it would be enough for the two of us. He ate more than me and then I had to make another box!" Or, "Samantha was all smiles and giggles today. I couldn't even feed her because she just kept smiling and laughing." It's sometimes really really hard to leave and go to work but the -run and hug- from Brian and the baby grin from Sam when I get home let me know that they know how much I love them.
Dusty is working in Pinedale this week so we're missing him a bunch.
I just signed up for facebook so I can try to keep in touch with everyone. I'm not very picky but sometimes I just wich everyone would belong to the same blog/facebook/email or whatever so we wouldn't all have to have a million different sign-ins and passwords.

My Favorite Boys

2008-09-07T20:00:00.000-07:00

I really wanted to upload some pictures of our recent vacations but we really didn't take any pictures! So I found these recent ones of my favorite boys. Dusty is such an awesome dad. He takes Brian almost everywhere with him and they have a blast. Grandma Allen got this shirt for Brian and all her grandkids in while we were in Las vegas. It's the little things in life that count. Always remember that. These are two of my favorite people. I just love to see their smiles and hear them laugh.

Memories

2008-08-21T03:12:00.000-07:00

I guess this is sort of like being tagged. I got this from my sister-in-law's "flog".

Here are the directions-
1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together or it can be a memory with Dusty, Brian or Samatha. It doesn't have to be hilarious or mucho importante, anything you remember!
2. Re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play on your blog, or if you don't have a blog, I'll leave my memory of you in my comments. Or if you don't feel like commenting you can email me if you have my email address.

Let the memories flow.

Back-to-school jitters

2008-08-21T02:55:00.000-07:00

Does anyone else get that excited nervous feeling before going back to school each year? Yep, it's that keeping me awake tonight, not my two-month-old baby. I've made it through the teacher works days and I've only cried once about leaving my kids at home so I'd say I'm doing really fabulous, or I'm just getting tons of help from above. Probably the latter. It's so wonderful to be able to call on Heavenly Father for help when we have to do things we know are going to be difficult. Even still, I do feel excited to meet my new students and do everything I can to help and teach those students who need it most. So ready or not, here we go. Good luck to everyone else who is going back to school this fall!

Update

2008-08-17T01:13:00.001-07:00

So it's 2:00am and I just got Samantha back to sleep and decided it was time to check on my blog. I'll probable be regretting it tomorrow... Life is slowly getting more sane but Monday I go back to work so we'll see how well Samantha decides to sleep. I'm trying to get her on a schedule-which means you have to make her wait to eat until it's time to eat not when she thinks she's hungry. Yesterday it worked awesome and she slept all night but today...

Meanwhile, life goes on at the Allen house. Dusty's trying to decide if he wants to finish his teaching degree at BYU-I or do something other than teaching. I was one of those insane people that always knew what I wanted to do and I went and did it (As far as educaiton goes) so I'm trying REALLY hard to be patient while Dusty decides what he wants to do when he grows up. ;) He is really an awesome daddy and super good for me. I've been really tense lately with getting ready to go back to work and everytime I feel like I'm just going to flip out, I just take one look at him and he brings me back to earth.
I found a "nanny" for Brian and Samantha while I'm at work. Her name is Evelyn. She's a fresh out of high school, college bound, fun loving young adult. She's way cute and when she came over for the first time she reminded me of Cari on "The Incredibles". "I can totally handle anything your kids can dish out Melanie, just go." Needless to say I'm a little bit of a control freak. Hopefully someday I'll be a little calmer.
I really wanted to do a cute post with some pictures with a theme and the perfect captions but I know you're all dying for more so here's a couple...

This is Samantha in her blessing dress. It's the dress I wore when I was blessed (super neat)! We blessed her on August 3rd.

Brian was beggin for a slumber party but I put my foot down. Everyone sleeps in their own bed in this house.

Okay, so Samantha pretty much sleeps anywhere except mom and dad's bed. (This is Sam's Grandpa Fillmore pretending to be asleep too.)

I know this picture is totally random. This is our friend Burgess entertaining our guests at our get-to-gether after Sam's blessing. This kids thought it was the best trick ever.

Brian is such a proud big brother! He always wants to hold "mantha". We're working on the "sam" part.

Blessings in disquise

2008-07-29T08:51:00.000-07:00

As I was getting ready for bed last night, Samantha was pretty fussy and I started thinking, "oh, it's going to be a long night." Then I thought, well, if Samantha wakes up, I'll just get to do a blog post. She slept all night! I can't decide if Heavenly Father didn't want me to blog or if He just knew this new mom needed some sleep. Either way, a month-old baby sleeping all through the night is a miracle to me. Dusty's at scout camp all night so hopefully we'll have a few more miracles this week.

Slacker

2008-07-28T01:41:00.000-07:00

I was so excited I got this up and running and then I didn't even send it out to anyone. Slacker or what? Anyhow, I sent and e-mail. Pass it along to others if I missed anyone. I'll get some more pictures up soon. Does anyone know how I can find a fun daisy background? (It'd fit better with the name)

I did it again!

2008-07-05T05:50:00.000-07:00

I added a picture! Here is our beautiful baby girl- Samantha Jane Allen. She was born Tuesday, June 24, 2008 weighing in at 9 pounds, 5 ounces and 21 inches long. Not quite as big as her big brother. Brian really loves her and already tries to pick her up and love her too much. Mom and Dad Allen have been staying with us the past week and a half to help with the baby and help us finish our remodel so Samantha has a place to sleep. More later. This is fun.

I did it!

2008-07-05T05:34:00.000-07:00

I finally did it! I really created a blog. It only took me an hour. Apparently I can't read the little security code they make you type in... I had to do it so many times! Well, let's see if I can get some picures and stuff loaded in.