Grandma Allen

We sweet Grandma Allen passed away on Monday, the 22nd. We had just been up to visit her 3 days before. I was so very thankful that we had made our trip up there when we did, and that we were able to see her. I got to give her a hug and tell her I love her. We took some really sweet pictures with her. My siblings and I were all there together to see her. It was such a blessing for us to have that last visit with her. We will miss her so much, but are so grateful that she is happy and peaceful now. I am so thankful for the knowledge we have of eternal families!


I love you Gram!

Our Annual Christmas Time Trip

Every year we visit my family the weekend before Christmas, so we can see all my family and then be home for Christmas. We had a full weekend and had a lot of fun seeing everyone! Visiting my Grandma Allen in the care center

Pa-Pa & Susan

The whole fam at our get together with my Dad
Deli & Jackson, Rob & Kate, Katie, Dad & Susan, Madi & Ryan
Donovan & Ging, Amber & Amos (Amos just got married last month, this was the first time me got to meet his wife, Amber. Who can believe Amos really got married??!!)
Taylee, Bennett, (Kate's) Me & Pierce

Deli and Me with Grandma Harrop

Visiting my Grandpa Jensen, we went to see his horses with him, Pierce and Madi loved feeding them!

The Allen Sisters- Ging, Jo, Kate, Deli
My sis Kate graduated from nursing school on Sat. We are proud of you Kate!

Pierson & Me visiting my Mom's grave in my hometown, beautiful Huntsville!
There was so much snow up there! You can't really appreciate it in the picture, but we had trudged through the snow and cleared the snow away from my Mom's headstone so we could see the whole thing and leave the little tree.

Gingerbread Houses

We had such a fun time with our great friends, the Woodburys, making gingerbread houses! Kathryn went all out and made homemade gingerbread. We all had so much fun decorating them, I'm not sure who was more into it, Ryan or Pierson. They turned out so cute and it was a fun time for everyone!
Daddy & Pierce, serious business

Madi loved "dec-a-yating" all by herself!

Our finished product (gotta love Madi in this pic)

The great cook, Kathryn (notice her apron)

Pierce & Grant, we had to keep reminding them that it wasn't a contest, that nobodies was better, such boys!

Daddies with their girls

Kathryn & Me

Santa Fun Filled Day!

The kids had a fun filled Saturday! We started off with our ward Christmas breakfast- the kids loved having muffins, singing Christmas songs with the primary and getting a candy cane from Santa. Saturday night we headed to Ryan's family Christmas party. It was great. The kids loved seeing Santa, again, and got a little more one on one time with him this time, he was a sweet Santa. The kids had fun with cousins and of course all the yummy food was great.
This was too cute not to share, Madi practically dove into Bishop Brooks' arms! She was loving him.

Pierson and his "best friend that's a girl", Elle, singing with the primary kids

We love Santa!

Pierce & Madi with hugs for Santa

WE LOVE TWILIGHT!!!

Melanie's #4, Tonya's #6, Lyndsi's #2, Staci's 1ST! (so glad we could be there for her!) Josie's #2

Lyndsi, Melanie, Tonya, Staci

Thank goodness for our "We LOVE Twilight" Support Group! So great to share in our obsession! Thanks for a great night girls! I am totally there for anyone who needs me for another show.

What a great night! I got to go see Twilight again with fun group of girls from my ward. I think I enjoyed the movie more the 2nd time. Although I was disappointed, once I accepted those disappointments, I could enjoy it more for the good parts. And there are a lot of good parts!

Princess Party

Birthday hugs for Annie
The Little Princesses- Allie, Annie, Madi, Ava
My amazing friend, Kathryn, threw the most darling princess party for her little Annie's birthday. She puts my parties to shame, it was the cutest thing ever! The girls had so much fun making their own crowns, decorating them with jewels, making their own bead necklaces, and having the cutest princess tea part ever! Complete with pink chair covers, matching table cloth, and the cutest pink castle cake! The cutest (and quietest, gotta love girls!) party I've ever seen!

All Bundled Up

Taking the kids to see the Christmas lights at the Temple... A sweet sleepy girl in Mom's arms
Daddy, Mommy, Pierce, Madi and Jackson - ok so it really wasn't that cold, that much outerwear wasn't really neccessary, but they just loved wearing their hats and mittens! And they just look so darn cute!
Madi & Mommy
Pierce & Daddy
My lastest favorite picture! Needs no words.

A Happy Thanksgiving

The boys- Sam, Jack, Pierce

Ryan, Dad, Susan, Katie, Sam

Jack, Pierce, Dustin, Deli, Jo


My Dad & Me
Pierce & Madi loving Papa
Pierce, Jack, Sam, Katie, Madi

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner and it was so fun to have Thanksgiving in our new home. It was so great to have my Dad and Susan spend the holiday with us. The kids had so much fun playing with Pa-pa and the "big kids" Katie, Sam and Jack. We had a great time playing games and just spending time together, and of course dinner was fabulous. Ryan was responsible for the turkey and it was fantastic. And I have to say that my homemade rolls (thanks to Aunt Val for the recipe) were pretty amazing. I think I found a new favorite to bake.

Fun at the Museum

Pierce & Madi


Pa-Pa with his grandkids

The Whole Gang


We had a great time over Thanksgiving! My Dad, his wife, Susan, and her kids, Katie, Sam and Jack came to stay with us. My Dad took us all to the Rosenbruch Wildlife Museum on Wed. The kids loved it! The had so much fun checking out all the animals, especially with their binoculars.

TWILIGHT

Me & Kathryn (my greatest friend who is responsible for getting me hooked on Twilight!) We love our matching t-shirts! Twilight Vampires are Forever

Shelly & Trit- the troopers who were there 2 hours early to make sure we got in line early for good seats! Thanks girls!

Dustin, Trit, Shelly, Ryan, Nate, Ashley

Me, Katie, Kathryn, Kendra

Of course I was counting down the days to the opening of the Twilight movie, I couldn't believe I was so excited over a movie! We had a group 7 couples that went together and had a great time! My sister, Trit, and her friend Shelly got there 2 hours early to get in line, and we were so thankful! I walked in and I was so giddy! It was exciting just to be there in line with my sis and friends. Most of us girls got there to wait in line and our husbands joined us later, but I had to laugh at the fact that it was 4 of us girls, Me, Trit, Shelly & Kathryn, and then Dustin, the awesome husband who came to wait in line with us girls while his wife got the kids taken care of. I wish I had gotten a picture of him sitting on the floor waiting in line with us girls. It was great, I love you for that Dustin! (We had 3 Dustins and 2 Ryans with us, not to mention 3 pregnant women, what a group!) We had such a fun time!
Now for the movie... as I am a HUGE fan of the book, I have to say I was disappointed. I did enjoy the movie, and it was good, but it just left SO much out. I was the most bothered by the fact that Bella and Edward never said "I love you" in the movie. They left out some of the best conversations they have in the book and so much of the intensity and depth of their relationship. But, still good, still worth seeing. If you like the movie, you will LOVE the book. Great night. Thanks for the fun girls!