Me and My Boys

Costumes, Costumes!!

2010-10-24T08:20:00.001-07:00

Halloween is nearing and I've finished the costumes!! Here's pictures from the debute of the Allen family boys 2010 costumes.....

Ayden as Captin America

Gavin as Peter Pan (costume tutorial found here)

Captin America and Peter Pan are great friends...didn't you know!!

Ayden turns 4

2010-10-03T14:35:00.000-07:00

Last week Ayden turned 4. He's growing up so fast!! We just love him so much and it's so fun to watch him experience life. He had his first friend birthday party this year and absolutly loved it!! We had 12 little superheroes here to celebrate, we made capes and masks, played pin the S on Supermans' chest and did a superheroes save the day scavenger hunt. They had a blast, and I was exhausted... however that night before Ayden went to bed he looked right at me and as sincerly as a little 4 year old can say it said "Mommy thank you for my birthday" and right there I knew we'd do it all over again!!

Picture Catch-up

2010-09-14T09:02:00.000-07:00

There is far to much that I've missed in the last while and I'd never be able to get it all, so here's a few of my favorites to catch you all up on (a small bit) of the fun that we've had in the last little bit.

Ayden's going to preschool.

Gavin (finally, yes I was hesitant) got his first haircut.

And he looks so grown-up now!!

We had the best time with Bob and Amber's family when they came down for a visit.

Gavin turned one!!

Ayden enjoyed the Rodeo, and the Mutten Busting. Me not so much, those sheep sure seem a lot bigger with such a little boy on them.

And we've been doing a WHOLE LOT of this. The boys in the neighborhood are just the best of friends and have made summer so much fun for my little Ayden.

What we've been up to...

2010-01-04T10:04:00.000-08:00

We had a wonderful Christmas...

Some great times in the snow...

Some shooting sports...

A little Aggie Basketball...

A couple of movies...

and a whole lot of work in the basement...

What have you been up to?

Christmas Bussle

2009-12-17T09:14:00.000-08:00

In all the Holiday hussle and bussle I have managed to catch a few moments to blog about. First off here is a few pictures of the Allen Family Christmas Party Nativity. Ayden was Joseph and Madison was Mary. Gavin was baby Jesus. I didn't get any pics of Gavin in the craddle which was way too small for him, but Carly, Sean's cousin did so check out her blog if you'd like to see. Ayden was also in the ward christmas nativity that evening, I need to bug some neighbor friends for pics. The kids were adorable however!!

Also Ayden wrote a letter to Santa that was adorable so I thought I'd share...
Dear Santa,
Jesus is a little baby. I love him. I want to say don't forget my house it's the one with the lights. We'll leave cookies and milk on the counter for you. Astronaut boy and dinosaurs and a robot would be good. Please leave presents for Gavin under our Christmas Tree. I don't think Gavin was a good boy, but I was.

Love Ayden

It's hard to be NEAT when you're learning to EAT!!

2009-12-03T10:10:00.000-08:00

So we decided to start Gavin up on some solid foods last night. He wasn't so sure about trying it out and kept gagging and spitting out the barley. I'm sure he'll get the hang of it with a little practice!!

Fall Fun

2009-11-04T12:55:00.000-08:00

We've been throughly enjoying the beatiful fall weather and wish it could last forever!! We recently returned from a trip to Moab with Sean's parents which was a blast. It was the perfect time of year to go, not to hot and not to cold. We went on some awesome hikes, and Ayden and Gavin were both such troopers. Ayden even did a 2 mile hike without being carried at all!! Sean's dad got some awesome pics that I'm anxiously awaiting...

Halloween was also a lot of fun around here this year. It kind of snuck up on us, but both the boys really loved the holiday and Ayden is still enjoying all the candy he got. Ayden was a Rock Star, and Gavin was a bat. They looked ADORABLE!!

Thankful Heart...

2009-10-01T10:00:00.000-07:00

We've had a whirlwind of a summer and now that fall is settling in around us, hopefully we'll be able to settle down as well and get back into a routine. Lots has been happening...

Gavin was blessed in September over labor day weekend. It was such a wonderful day and I'm so grateful for a husband who shares my beliefs and can lead our family in the gospel.

We've been canning again this year. We've put up peaches, pears, salsa, and jam. Next year I'd like to try pickles and applesauce as well.

We've been working on putting in a yard here at our new home, which includes building a shed, planting and mulching the garden beds, preparing a garden plot for next spring, and babying our newly planted grass...hopefully it will come back next spring!

We've been camping a few times this summer, (which is an impressive feat with a newborn) Ayden absolutely loves going to the mountains, getting dirty and climbing on the rocks. He even got to bring his (toy) gun in case he saw any bears.

We've been decorating in the boy's rooms. Gavin's room is pretty much finished it's another cute little firefighter nursery and Ayden's hunting room is well on it's way.

My little Ayden turned THREE!!! I can't believe how fast the last three years have gone. For Ayden's birthday we planned a fun filled weekend down in Salt Lake. We visited the Aquarium, went to dinner at the Mayan, had a little pirate party and went to the zoo. Unfortunitaly while waiting for our table at the Mayan Ayden got sick (all over the sidewalk) and so Sean had to take him back to my parents house and he missed out on the divers and bird show. His Aunt Candis had set up a cute little pirate party with balloons and banners for him there and he just laid in Sean's lap telling him how much he loved his pirate party. Poor kid. He was however feeling well enough to venture out to the zoo the next day and he loved seeing all the animals. (He looks pretty happy in this pic ecspecially considering the previous couple of hours).

Currently I'm recovering from a Cornea Transplant Surgery. Many of you know that I have a degenerative eye disease called Kerataconus and that it's been messing with my vision for several years now. The doctors decided that my conditon had gotten bad enough to warrant a cornea transplant. My name made it to the top of the list and they were able to find me a viable cornea a few weeks ago. I can't begin to tell you how indebted I feel for the sacrifice that a perfect stranger made in my behalf. My vision in the eye that has been corrected is already improved to 20/30 while the remaining eye is worse then 20/300. The other day I was cooking dinner and looked across the room to see my little Gavin watching me smiling and I just wished that I could tell this person, and their family how grateful I am. The impact that they have had on my life is tremendous and I feel so lucky that I'll be able to pick my son out of the football huddle now, or see the expression on their faces Christmas morning (I know it sounds cheesy, but you don't realize how great it is until you don't have it anymore). So a big thank you to all of you who have signed up to be organ donors. Just know that your sacrifice won't go unappreciated.

Our family has many reasons to have thankful hearts right now, LIFE IS GOOD!!

Catch up

2009-08-10T18:14:00.000-07:00

I know, I know, it's been forever since I've posted, life is crazy and that's the best excuse I can come up with. However, we're in our house now and the internet is connected and so hopefully I'll be better. Here's my effort at catch up- Sean was nice enough to post a few pics of Gavin after he was born so you all know he's here and healthy, everything is going great with him and it just feels like he's been a part of our family forever now. Here's a few more pics of my beatiful baby boy...

Ayden's such a great big brother, I was really worried about the transition to 2 kids and making it work for our family, but Ayden is such a champ at helping out, sometimes a little to helpful..

In other news Ayden is now officially potty trained!! I just can't help but share this picture...

Here he is....Bunch of whiners

2009-06-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

Gavin Kendall Allen

9 lbs 14 oz

born 6/15/09 at 5:40 PM

Happenings

2009-05-05T08:36:00.000-07:00

Let's see here, where did we leave off....it's been an incredibly busy spring for us, but progress is being made and we are starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel. They've started construction on our house which we are so excited about. I know we're big dorks, but we go out to the lot almost every day to see what they've been working on. Here's the most recent pic, they've been working on the electrical and are getting ready to to sheetrock and brick now--I know it's probably not that exciting to anyone, but Sean and I.

In other news, Ayden got his first bike!! He is so excited about it and asks to ride it 10 times a day. It took him an afternoon to figure out that he can only pedal forward, but is a champ on it now, and yes I did make him wear the helmet and knee pads, Sean thinks that he's going to get beat up, but they've already saved us from several spills so it's worth it!! If we could just get this rain to stop we'd take him out for more bike rides and maybe walk this baby right out, that's right I'm still preggo, but I had a friend remind me today that he can't stay in there forever so I take comfort in that !!

Medic Graduation

2009-04-10T15:55:00.000-07:00

So it's official, we're done with the classroom portion of Paramedic school!!!! Last week BYUI put on a little graduation ceremony for the graduating medics, my amazingly awesome husband was one of the 8 who made it through the program. Thanks to everyone who was able to make it up to support us. Here's a few pics of the day. The lighting was horrible in the room however, so I'm hoping someone else got better pics...hint, hint.

This is a pic of Sean getting his badge and certification stuff, and yes that's me...looking very pregnant. I tried my best to dodge the cameras all day, wasn't sure on a way to get around this one!

Here's the graduates...Sean did the honor guard thing so he's wearing his class A uniform. Doesn't he look great!

Here is the kids, Wesley's little girl Madison, and Mary Elizabeth and Spencer's boys Penn and Logan, and of course Ayden. They all got matching shirts for the day, which said my Uncle/Daddy is a Paramedic. Hope we didn't embarrass you too much honey.

And last, but not least a random pic from the day, Ayden just adores his daddy and is always trying on Sean's stuff, and I don't mind one bit. What better guy could my son have to look up to??

Slacker....

2009-03-29T16:01:00.000-07:00

Slacker...hardly, we've just been so busy I haven't had time for too much of anything, but here's a little update of what's been going on around the Allen house.

First off, the annual Horticulture Symposium that I help plan went really well this year. We had record attendence and the speakers, food and venue all went smoothly (much more then I can say for last year). It's a huge job coordinating an event like this and I'm glad I don't have to do it again for another year!!

While stressing about the annual Symposium we sold our house!! It's been on the market since July and we were just getting ready to take it off and refinance when it sold. We're so excited, but the timing definetly could have been better, considering this time of year is the busiest for me at work, not to mention I'm feeling very pregnant!! However, what a blessing it will be for us both to be closer to work, we sure will miss our ward out here in Rigby though, hopefully we'll still have lots of reasons to come out and reconnet with everyone.

So we've been looking and looking at homes, but to no avail. We either love the house and hate the location or love the location and hate the house, so we've decided to rent an apartment for a few months and build. We've been working with a builder in Idaho Falls and are dillegently working on picking out features for our new home. If anyone has any idea on the best way to go about picking out countertops, cabinets and floors it would be much appreciated, those little samples you get just aren't enough to base such a big decision on!! So overwhelmed with the whole process right now!!

So we've been packing (which seemed much easier when we lived in an apartment and didn't have room to accumulate so much stuff) and finding an apartment, and a storage shed. Not to mention we've been trying to get ready for the baby to come in June!!

So here's the point of this whole post, any of you who may feel like I've been slacking by not posting is mistaken. I've been doing to opposite of slacking, I've been stressing!!!

Styling of a 2 year old

2009-02-06T09:12:00.000-08:00

As of late Ayden has discovered the joy of playing dress up. Yesterday was one of those days where we just stayed home all day and cleaned (I've been working on cleaning out the catch-all room, so we can get started on decorating for the new baby) so I was being a little bit lazy and didn't think it was too important to get Ayden dressed, Ayden thought otherwise. Here's what he picked to wear.

And here is Ayden in Daddy's fire shirt (he's a little obsessed with all things Fire Department related)!

It's a......

2009-01-29T08:55:00.000-08:00

It's a BOY!!!! We are so excited to be adding another little boy to our family, we just know that Ayden is going to be the best big brother and we love him so much how could we not be excited about another little guy running around the house. Plus I won't have to come up with a new title for the blog!!

Funny story about our Ultrasound...There we are taking pictures of the baby's heart when all the sudden he just stops talking mid-sentence, sets down the rolly thing they use to see the baby and says to the PA student why don't you try to see the baby's face, tells us he'll be right back and walks out of the room. So of course Sean and I both are thinking that something is terribly wrong, he went to grab another Doc for a second opinion or pamphlets to make it easier to tell us what is going on, the PA is mindlessly prattling when the Doc comes back in, and starts apoligizing. Apparently he had fallen asleep right there standing up in the middle of the ultrasound so had to excuse himself to go get some sugar. He explained to us that he'd gone on his first family vacation in 17 years the previous week and in the 3 days since returning home he'd delivered 14 babies plus all the regular check-ups etc and only gotten about 4 1/2 hours of sleep. Since he's one of the most recommended Doctors in town and really one of the busiest (in fact the wait time to get into see him is about a month out), he's been crazy busy playing catch up. We got a good laugh out of this, and were relieved that the baby looked healthy (he even went back and double checked all the pics just to make sure he didn't miss anything while his head wasn't 100% in the game). What a Doc to come to work even though he was so tired, I would have called in sick. I'm glad he didn't make us wait to find out what we are having!!

So without further ado...here is the debut picture of our new little stud!! (Name still pending, any suggestions?)

Catch Up

2009-01-22T09:16:00.000-08:00

So I know it's been forever since I've posted,,,I've been experiencing a bit of writers block, not to mention we've been busy. No excuse I know. Here's what we've been up to!!

Ayden has been going crazy staying indoors during the cold winter that we've been having. We try and get him outside for winter activities as often as we can stand it. His favorite has been sledding!! He rides down the hill yelling wee-haw all the way!!

My Master Gardener season has started at work. I have 25 new Master Gardener's to train, a Horticulture Symposium to organize and Advanced/Veteran Master Gardener's to get signed up. I've been super busy with this and loving it. By the way if anyone knows the easiest way to make one of those photo phone directories I could sure use some direction!!

Sean is back at school for one more class this semester. Since it's only one class he's also back on shift at the Fire Department and so he's been very busy between the two. He'll be done with the class part of the paramedic program in April and we will definitely be celebrating!!

Last, but certainly not least I've been exhausted, and sick and hormonal- i.e. pregnant!! Our due date is June 23rd and we get to find out next week what we are having. Any guesses?

If that's not enough to make you tired, I don't know what is!!

Crisis Averted

2009-01-03T13:52:00.000-08:00

I know that I haven't posted forever and I have a ton to post about, but for now this will have to do... Aunt Becky not only came through with a brand new, cooler Superman cape, but Nana and Papa (Sean's parents) also came through with Bateman PJ's. So now I can do laundry and still have a happy superhero two year old running around the house!!

Even Superman Cries

2008-12-16T09:24:00.001-08:00

Missing....one little superman cape. If found please return immediatly!! Superman has been unable to fly for the past 2 days and is driving his mom crazy looking for his cape.

Warning: Suggestions of dishtowels and blankets as capes results in great personal insult and distress to Superman, and will only cause more tears.

HELP!!

Guinea Pig

2008-12-03T18:15:00.000-08:00

This is going to be a duplicated post since I will also be posting more or less the same thing on Ridin' the Tailboard.

Ayden volunteered to be a patient in my Paramedic class on Monday. And by volunteer I mean he didn't put up too much of a fight when I woke him up and dragged him along.

This portion of class involves patients that you may actually see working as a Medic. Ayden was playing the part of a toddler-a part he handled well-that had ingested an undetermined amount of bleach. Students had to assess for and treat any life threatening conditions they may find.

Ayden did a fantastic job and stole the show, as he always does. Getting his blood pressure taken and letting the students hook a cardiac monitor up to him. He didn't care much for taking the stickers off, but he was a trooper through the whole thing.

Thankful for Family

2008-11-30T17:53:00.000-08:00

This past holiday weekend we had my whole family and almost all of Sean's family (excluding the Alaska clan) here at the house for Thanksgiving. We had so much fun I totally forgot to take pictures of the day, even though Sean surprised me with a new camera earlier in the week, oops!! But I just couldn't let Thanksgiving go by without posting about how grateful I am for all our family!! I'm also grateful for Black Friday shopping. It's always hard to motivate ourselves to get out of bed and go out shopping so early, but what a blast we have everytime. It's just so funny to see how crazy some people get at the thought of good deals. Here's a pic of the sisters excitedly waiting in line at Target. It was way too crazy to take pics once we got inside, but thanks to the mad shopping skills from Becky we were able to come up with all the goodies that we set out for. Also a big shout out to the rest of the family. We divided and conquered with pieces of the family all over town, including Sean's parents who stayed home to watch Ayden for us, thanks guys! Wish I could have gotten a picture of everyone!!

Just love that Hubby

2008-11-25T10:34:00.000-08:00

Sean's b-day was last week, so when I saw this tag on Malissa's blog I thought it would be a good birthday post for him. I just love that hubby!!

1. Where did you meet? Sean and I were FHE brother and Sister at Utah State.

2. How long did you date before you were married? We dated for 4 months before we got engaged and another 4 months before we were married. (The engagement was way to long)!!

3. How long have you been married? 5 1/2 years of marital bliss

4. What does he do that suprises you? It suprises me that he can still give me the butterflies with just a kiss, he'll get me flowers for no reason and cooks suprisingly yummy meals.

5. What is his best feature? I know it's weird, but my favorite physical feature is his back, he'd never admit to it, but he's got the best muscle definition back there and it's really sexy!!

6. What is your favorite quality of his? His sense of humor (he's always making me laugh), his spirituality, and his openness (he'll talk about anything, anytime which can get embarrassing, but most of the time I love it)!

7. Does he have a nickname for you? Lots of them, but most of the time it's just Hon, or Babe

8. What is his favorite food? Lasagna (I hate it, so he only gets it once a year for his b-day).

9. What is his favorite sport? Baseball and football, he loves playing them both but doesn't get into watching them which I'm grateful for because watching sports on TV bores me to tears.

10. When and where was your first kiss? In the stairwell at my apartment building in college. It took him a really long time to kiss me, I thought it would never happen, but it was definitly worth the wait!!

11. What is your favorite thing to do as a couple? Do couples get to do things together after kids??? Just kidding when we do get out we love going to dinner and movies, it's typical, but hey that's us.

12. Do you have any children? Yep, and Sean is the best Daddy in the whole world!

13. What are his hidden talents? Funny story, we were hanging out the other night and I started trying to get him to dance with me, when all of the sudden he pulls out swing dance, followed by the waltz, cha-cha, tango, and a few others I'd never heard of. Six years together and I didn't know he could dance. Bet you didn't know he can also sing really well.

14. What is his favorite music? Classic Rock

15. What do you admire about him? He gets things done, we started on our basement thinking we'd take it slow and do it together piece by piece, 4 months later it was done. He also thinks well on his feet and is so smart, good trait to have as a firefighter/paramedic.

16. What is his favorite color? Whenever I ask him this question he says that he doesn't have one, but he has a lot of clothes that are blue so we'll go with that.

17. Will he read this? Probably if I tell him I posted

Sure love you lots honey!! Hope you had a very happy birthday and aren't too embarrassed being the spotlight of the blog for a change!!

The Simple Pleasures

2008-11-13T10:25:00.000-08:00

The other day Ayden and I decided to meet Daddy up at school and have a picnic lunch and play at the park. Ayden had so much fun playing in the leaves that day I couldn't help snap some pictures. Once again I can't pick a favorite so you get a bunch to look at...

Sugar, Sugar, Sugar

2008-11-04T08:50:00.000-08:00

For Halloween this year Ayden was a dragon. Cutest thing ever!!! We went to Boo at the Zoo on Thursday with Ayden's little friend Deveny, Trick or Treat Street and the Ward Trunk or Treat Carnival on Friday, by the end of the two fun filled days Ayden was so wired from the sugar high I didn't think he would ever settle down. He ran both of us ragged and Sean and I were both thankful for the weekend after those two days. However Ayden absolutely had a blast this Halloween and really got excited to go get candy is his bucket. I had a really hard time getting him to stand still long enough for some good pictures, but here are a few to give you an idea of how cute he was...

Photo Tag

2008-10-22T10:21:00.000-07:00

Leslie Tagged me a little while ago. Here's the deal, I'm supposed to post the fourth photo in the fourth folder in my computer. Let's see what we got here.............

Oh man this one is embarrassing. This is Christmas in Sean and I's apartment when we first moved to Idaho and Sean had to work on Christmas Day and so the whole family came up and crammed into our little 2 bedroom apartment to celebrate Christmas. Becky and I thought it would be fun to make matching PJ's for everyone to open on Christmas eve, but wanted it to be a suprise so we picked out the tackiest cheapest material we could find and guessed on everyone's sizes. (We didn't even really use a pattern we just winged it). Needless to say it was one of the funniest things ever watching everyone open up that gift. We got the sizes pretty close, except for Candis's were like 6 inches to short and Spencer's was a tent, but it was a blast!! Fun times :)

This was a fun one, I tag who ever wants to!!!

Weekend Fun

2008-10-21T09:18:00.000-07:00

So we had yet another whirlwind weekend in SLC, what a blast. First thing we did when we got to SLC (after stopping at the Sprint store to get new phones) is we went to Candis's house to meet our new neice Alexis, what a sweetheart!!

After that we dropped the kid at Mom and Dad's (thanks guys) and went on a date for my b-day. Sean planned a great evening that ended with Derest Star Playhouse and Scary Poppins

The next day we went to Park City with all my sisters to shop. It was completely different then it used to be with a caravan of strollers and a whole lot more baby clothes then adult clothes. Although I did get a screamin deal on some baseball cleats for Sean.

The next day the whole family was able to meet up at Mary Elizabeth's house after church to spend some quality time together. Mary Elizabeth made my favorite meal (fajatas) and we were able to enjoy each other's company and get a pic of all the cousins. It's not that great of a picture, but we didn't want Ayden to pop any of the babies in the head so this is the bast we could come up with and the most we could get him to sit still.

Needless to say I had a really great birthday weekend full of family. Thanks Sean for planning such a great one!!

Yellowstone

2008-10-13T09:05:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Karin and Kendall (Sean's Parents) were so nice to let us tag along and go to Yellowstone with them. We had a great time. It was cold (very cold) but we just bundled up and saw Yellowstone in a different season then we were used to. Here is some pictures of some of the wildlife we saw.

And here is a picture of Ayden all bundled up, what a trooper!! In fact the last night we were there Sean and I decided to just let him play until we were ready for bed (going to bed at 8:00 does not make for a good nights sleep). At about 10:30 he decided he'd played long enough and just climbed into his crib and put his blanket over himself and went to sleep. Could I ask for a better kid, I don't think so!!!

Tagged

2008-09-26T09:34:00.000-07:00

Crazy 8's
8 TV shows I watch
1. Grey Anatomy
2. America’s Next Top Model
3. The Unit
4. Flashpoint
5. Clifford the Big Red Dog
6. Sesame Street
7. Wonder Pets
8. Sponge Bob Square Pants

8 Favorite Restaurants
1. Chilli’s
2. El Sol
3. Café Sabor
4. Apollo Burgers
5. Papa Murphy's
6. Panda Express
7. Costa Vita
8. Texas Roadhouse

8 things that happened yesterday
1. Cleaned the Kitchen
2. Set-up for Master Gardener Graduation
3. Made soup for Master Gardener Graduation
4. Attended Master Gardener Graduation
5. Changed lots of diapers
6. Made programs for Master Gardener Graduation
7. Watched the season premier of Grey’s Anatomy
8. Did some laundry (of course)

8 things I look forward to
1. Ayden being potty trained
2. Christmas
3. Nap time
4. Our parents coming up this weekend
5. Painting my office
6. Candis having her baby.
7. Getting a new computer desk
8. Sean being done with Paramedic school

8 things I love about Fall
1. The colors
2. The cooler weather
63. Neighbor kids back in school
4. Christmas shopping
5. Thanksgiving
6. Harvest Fest
7. Carving Pumpkins
8. Comfort food

8 things on my wish list
1. Pay off the house
2. Go to Germany3
. New cars for both Sean and I
4. Finish the yard
5. A new wardrobe
6. Book shelves for the office
7. A new camera
8. Finishing the basement bathroom

8 People I tag
1. My sisters!!

Birthday Boy

2008-09-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Ayden, happy birthday to you. This past week my little Ayden turned TWO. Ayden had some family up for the weekend for his birthday. We had taco bar and cake and ice cream and of course opened presents. It is so fun to watch him grow!! Here are some pics from his birthday

And here are some pics of Ayden's b-day monkey cupcakes, that I made which turned out super cute!!

Peaches

2008-09-17T16:15:00.000-07:00

I've beeen canning this week. Look out Martha Stewart here I come!!!

Never Forget

2008-09-13T12:58:00.000-07:00

Every year on September 11th the Idaho Falls Fire Department puts on a program in remembrance of the 343 firefighters who died at the Twin Towers and the firefighters from South East Idaho who have died in the line of duty. Sean is part of the Honor Guard at the Fire Department and participates in the program every year by presenting the colors. He looks so good in his Class A uniform I couldn't help but take some pics, I know there are a lot, but I can never pick!!

And here is one more, I barely ever take pictures of me anymore so here's one to remember.

SLC Blitz Weekend

2008-09-08T15:42:00.000-07:00

Busy, busy, busy.... This past weekend was just crazy busy for our family. We started out Friday morning with haircuts and birthday present shopping before jetting down to SLC to get Ayden's picture taken at the Kiddie Kandids (with a short stop in Syracuse to get in some baby time). That evening was celebrating Joe's (my brother-in-laws) birthday at Spagetti Mama's and playing games at their house that night until 11:30 (poor little Ayden what a trooper). All I have to say about DVD clue is that it's a lot more fun when people (Candis, Joe or Becky?????) don't cheat. The next day started off with Candis's baby shower at the park followed by a quick transition to the zoo. Ayden absolutely loved the elephants and gorilla's we had to pry his little finger's from the railing to move on to the next exhibits. I'm sure my father-in-law Kendall got some great pics I'll post later here. We went to dinner that evening with Sean's fam at Iggy's and really enjoyed the time we got to spend with them. The next day, Sunday was Logan and Penn's blessing in Syracuse and man did they look cute in their little white outfits. Mary Elizabeth and Spencer did a great job with a potluck afterward and we ate ourselves sick before leaving. As you can see we had a whirlwind of a weekend and it wasn't a good one to forget the camera, but I just can't imagine a post without a pic so I poached my favorite one from Candis's blog of Ayden and Joe. Both our families are so great to play with Ayden and help us keep an eye on him when we're out and about. We just couldn't ask for better Aunt's, Uncles, Grandma's, Grandpa's and cousins!! Ayden loves the attention.

Dare Devil

2008-09-04T06:34:00.000-07:00

Sean and I decided that the summer was coming to an end way too fast and we just hadn't had enough yet so we decided to spend the day at Heise Hot Springs which is a little resort just outside of Ririe (the next town over from us). It was such a good time. that we even went back after Ayden's nap for more fun. Ayden loved the waterslide and would run over to the stairs to go up again saying "slide, slide" everytime he got off, even after Mom dunked him, oops! It never ceases to amaze me just how fearless that little boy is.

Snakes, Snails and Puppy Dog Tails... and Frogs!!!

2008-08-29T06:57:00.000-07:00

So the other day, Sean and Ayden were outside mowing the lawn, Sean origanlly had put Ayden on his shoulders to mow and keep track of Ayden at the same time, but of course, there is no way Ayden would stand for 2 hours of walking in circles (did I mention we have way too much grass). Needless to say Ayden got to get down to play and Sean continued mowing. I few minutes after Ayden had recieved his freedom he comes walking over to Sean holding something in his hands, Sean looks down and sees this poor little frog, whose eyes are about ready to pop right out of the sockets from Ayden holding on to it so tight!! They played with the frog for awhile and then tried to let it go in the pond by our house, but Ayden had a complete melt down when he saw his frog getting away, so Sean had to re-catch the frog, which was not an easy task (we still have no idea how our son who is not even two years old managed it), and made his way to the pet store for a little froggy house and crickets. Ayden is obsessed with his frog now and has to say goodnight to it before bed and look at it 5 times a day, I think he's trying to break me in for a dog someday!!

Duck Days

2008-08-14T13:15:00.002-07:00

So every year Idaho Falls does what they call the Snake River Duck Races in conjunction with the Roaring Youth Jam and this year we decided to give it a try and it was so much fun!! They had all kinds of things there for the kids to do, Ayden got his face painted and his hair punked out in blue plus he had his first experience finger painting (which was a big hit) and made this awesome potty stool. He's is so proud of it, didn't he look adorable in his little home depot apron.

Also showing their mad skills down at the duck races that day was the Idaho Falls Fire Department's USAR (urban search and rescue) team. They were there repelling off the bucket of the laddar truck and Ayden and I got to watch Sean repel a couple of times while we were there. Ayden thought his Daddy was the coolest and kept yelling and waving to him while he was up in the bucket and repeling down the rope. Here's a video so you can all watch too!!

We also just returned from the fourth year activity with the Young Women in the ward. As camp director I had to organize this little outing as well. We had a great time visiting West Yellowstone and seeing the play Hello Dolly! at the Playmill there. We stayed at a cabin in Island Park and played games all night followed by a float trip down the buffalo river which was freezing and rainy, but the girls still had fun. Sean only dunked a few of them and they deserved it!! I'm kind of sad that camp is done for this year, but I still have next year to look forward to!! Here's a pic of some of them eating the awesome pancakes Sean made us for breakfast :) Do I have a good guy or what?

Hey Fireman

2008-08-05T12:06:00.000-07:00

The title of this post is kind of an inside joke between Sean and I, I hope you like it honey!! Here's the deal... Sean decided he was far to good to post on this blog and to branch out and start his own blog with Fire Department history and stories about work (he's got a good one dealing with a portion of the male anatomy that I hope he'll post soon). So check out his new blog www.seanfd.blogspot.com to see what he's been thinking about!!

Bundles of Baby

2008-07-30T09:53:00.000-07:00

Just thought you should all be introduced to my new nephews!! Logan Hugh Davis is on the left weighing in at 8 lbs 9 oz and Penn Grant Davis is on the right weighing in a 6 lbs 12 oz. They are just the cuteset little bundles of baby ever. Way to go bringing these precious little guys into the world so sweet and healthy sis!! Love ya

School's Out for Summer

2008-07-18T10:51:00.001-07:00

We'll it's offical, SCHOOL"S OUT FOR SUMMER!!!!!! (That's really not enough exclaimation points here, but we'll leave it at that) Sean has offically finished up his first semester of paramedic school and is back on shift until early Septemeber. What does this mean for our family? No more daycare, overtime, swimming at Rigby lake, trips to Utah, and camping! We couldn't be more thrilled to have Sean around , it's been a long first semester, but he did really well (even getting 100% on a few of his finals) and we are proud of him. We love you Daddy!!!

Splashin good Summer

2008-07-13T18:04:00.001-07:00

I know, I know it's been too long since I've posted, but I'm trying so give me a break. This summer has been crazy busy, between school, girls camp, work and family we've barely had any free time, but this last week slowed down a bit for us and Ayden and I were introduced to the Splash Park in Rexburg by some friends in the ward. We loved it so much that we took Sean back on Saturday for a picnic lunch. Ayden had a blast playing in the little fountains, but was a little too scared for the water slides, here are some pics from our fun day!!

Finally Alaska Pics

2008-06-05T21:00:00.001-07:00

So I've been struggling trying to get these pics off the camera for days now, and when I finally get the pics off the camera, my internet is doing weird things and won't let me log onto blog spot, but I think we've got it figured out now and so, the moment you've all been waiting for pics from our trip to Alaska.

Pics of hiking on the Matinuska Glacier...

Pics from the reindeer farm...

Bob took a bunch more pics on his camera, so when I get them I'll share. We had a great time up in Alaska, Thanks for having us Bob and Amber, it was sure fun to see you guys!

Disney Rocks

2008-06-03T15:48:00.000-07:00

You Are Pocahantas!

Free-spirited and wise. You have a strong passionate spirit that touches and changes all who know you. The wisdom and common sense that you have is really what guides you through life. Even so, you also have a very playful side that loves adventure and excitement.

Which Disney Princess Are You?"

I found this link on Kassie's blog and thought it was fun, you know how I love Disney movies! Try it out, what are you?

Bug Boy

2008-05-12T11:01:00.000-07:00

I can already tell you that it is going to be a summer full of biting my tongue. This is a picture of Ayden and Sean checking out a bug that got into the house. It kept Ayden interested for like 15 minutes, which for my son's attention span length is a very long time! I don't do bugs well, in fact when I went back to work one of the conditions that I accepted the job under was that I would not have to clean out the spider cages. I'm sure this will be the first of many times this summer where I'm going to have to keep my mouth shut and let Ayden and Daddy play with the bugs.

Count Down Continues

2008-05-08T13:05:00.001-07:00

That's right, one week from yesterday (that's only 6 days) and we'll be in ALASKA!!

Time Flies

2008-05-05T12:21:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Sean and I celebrated our 5th anniversary. Can you believe how time flies. It does not seem like it's been five years already, but then when you start thinking about all the things we've done and the places we've been it's hard to imagine that we fit it all into five years!! We lived in Alaska, went to school, got a great Fire Department job, moved to Idaho, bought a house and had a baby, that's a lot of change for such a short period of time. I wouldn't change a thing and I feel so lucky to have found Sean at such an early time in life so that we could share all these exciting adventures together! I wonder what kind of adventures we'll have in the next 5???

2008-04-28T11:03:00.000-07:00

As many of you know Ayden enjoys the freeing feeling of being naked way too much and is contunially stripping down to wear nothing but his birthday suit. Sean and I thought that we'd solved this problem by always dressing him in onesies until the following happened.

Ayden was running around the house and had taken off his pants and shirt (nothing new) Sean was studying and only keeping one eye on the baby and so he was immediatly concerned when he heard water splashing. He turned around to find Ayden standing up to the window peeing on it, just like the monkies do at the zoo. He had managed to take off his diaper without undoing the onesie. Not only did Sean have a big mess to clean up he had a dirty diaper to track down, Ayden had stashed it in his closet. Kids are nasty!!

2008-04-22T11:24:00.000-07:00

If anyone's interested we have only
22 days until our ALASKA trip!!!

Baby Animal Day

2008-04-15T15:14:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Sean went to Southern Utah on a boys only trip with his Dad and so Ayden and I decided to spend the weekend in Logan with my Sisters. We had a lot of fun and did a million different things to keep busy. One of my favorite things we did was attended Baby Animal day at Heritage Farms in Wellsville. Ayden had so much fun there he would just run from one animal to the next and was fascinated with all the people and kids. Here are some pics!

Ayden learned that a cow says moo!!

Ayden just loved the bunny, (a little too much I kept having to pry his fingers from around it's neck) it made me want to get one, but then it peed on Mary Elizabeth so I quickly came back to reality.

And the crowning event of the day was the pony ride. Ayden was really nervous when I first set him up there, and had a death grip on me the whole time, but I think he enjoyed himself because he is constantly on his little toy pony at home now!

2008-03-27T20:01:00.000-07:00

Many of you craft minded people will recognize this as a rotary cutter, used for cutting material. If you look closely, you might also see blood on this rotary cutter. Monica has tried, unsuccessfully, to remove her left thumb. I really should have known better than to leave her unsupervised with so sharp a utensil, but I failed. Her thumb is recovering nicely now, and Ayden and I hide the scissors from her.

Picture Mania

2008-03-26T07:05:00.000-07:00

So I decided that since Ayden got new church clothes for Easter it would be a perfect time to take some portraits of him before he spilled juice on them at nursery Sunday. This is how the photo shoot started. You would think I was torching the poor kid!!

Thank goodness for Grandpa, he can always make Ayden smile. I think the third one is my favorite and will be the updated one on the wall until we can get some professional pics (hopefully this summer)!!

Here are some cute ones for the Easter page in the Scrapbook. It's just like Ayden to dump all the eggs out. I'm lucky to have such a sweet kid!!

Easter

2008-03-25T14:47:00.000-07:00

Ayden attended his first Easter Egg Hung on Saturday at the Fire Department. I was at work and unable to attend (way sad) but I'm told that he did really well and got the hang of it pretty quickly. Here are some pics of the day!

Spring Fever

2008-03-12T10:24:00.000-07:00

Our family has been experiencing a serious case of spring fever!! This past weekend the weather warmed up to about 50 degrees and we just had to be outside, as you can see from the pictures we still have about a foot of snow in most of the yard so we just had to play in the 4 feet of exposed grass around the house. Ayden, of course loved it, so hopfully he'll be able to enjoy it enough this summer to make the 2 hours it takes to mow all that lawn we have worth it!!

Big Changes!

2008-03-10T08:03:00.001-07:00

We had a very exciting week last week. Sean was told that he was selected to participate in the paramedic program at BYU-I this next year. I'm so proud of him for his desire to excel at his career and am looking forward to having him home at nights. It will be a big adjustment to our family to have a job that is 8-5 since Sean has been working the 24 hour shifts for sometime now. I'll have to cook dinner every night! This is a picture of Sean participating at this year's paramedic school graduation, he's posting the colors with the honor guard. It'll be great to have him as a graduate next spring!

Cookie Monster

2008-03-03T07:56:00.000-08:00

Out of pure boredom we decided to make cookies this past weekend. Our recipe used an entire pound of butter and 2 cups of brown sugar alone. YUCK!! With that kind of volume of ingredients you can imagine just how many cookies we made. We were baking for about 2 hours and I remembered why I hate to make cookies. With cakes and brownies you just have to mix it up and stick it in the oven with cookies it’s a long drawn out process that takes forever batch after batch after batch. The worst part of this whole experience was that the cookies were as hard a s rocks within just a couple of hours. However as you can tell from the picture Ayden just LOVED them, and could hardly wait for the cookies to come out of the oven, so if anyone has a good recipe for Chocolate Chip cookies please pass it along, it looks like between Sean and Ayden I'll be outnumbered in the cookie war before long!!

Ayden and Daddy time

2008-02-26T13:51:00.000-08:00

Well I'm working lots this week which actually is good because Sean finally has a few days off this week so he's been able to watch Ayden while I've been working the grind (I know kind of a reverse of the norm). When I was thinking about that I remembered these pictures of Ayden and Sean playing together and I thought I'd share because they are my favorite! Ayden really loves his Dad and they have a lot of fun wrestling. When they play this game Ayden just can't get the giggles under control, it's a riot to watch!

This week I also have my first Girls Camp meeting with the youth leaders. Even thoguh I still don't have an assistant it's just time to get started. So if anyone has any great ideas I'd love to hear them, because right now I'm feeling VERY OVERWHELMED with this calling!

My Monkey Man

2008-02-21T12:51:00.000-08:00

Imagine my suprise walking into the kitchen to find Ayden sitting in his highchair. I couldn't remember putting him up there but didn't imagine him being able to get up on his own so I chalked it up to bad memory and forgot about it, until I caught him doing this.

Once he's all seated, he does up his buckle, and then yells until I either give him food or help him down. Needless to say I've started putting the tray back on when I get him down. What a little monkey!

Welcome One and All

2008-02-19T10:38:00.000-08:00

I've decided to join the blog craze and try to keep everyone updated on the goings on of the Allen family. I'll post pictures and all kind of tidbits here for your viewing enjoyment. Hopefully within the next few days I'll have at least weekly updates. What a great way to keep in touch!