Hawaiian Kids

My cute kids in the outfits I brought from Hawaii.

Hawaii

Aloha! I am posting this in a very good mood. I just returned from the lovely island of Oahu. My friend Brooke invited me and a couple other friends to stay with her parents in Kailua. It was one of the best, most relaxing vacations I have been on. Their home was feet from the sand and ocean. We got up each morning to see the beautiful sunrise. We went snorkeling at Shark's Cove, saw the PCC, shopped at the Flea Market, and took an ATV tour. We also swam in the ocean, took naps, ran on the beach, played cards, ate Hawaiian Snow (yummy) and Teddy Burgers (yum yum) read, swam in the pool and basically enjoyed paradise. I only wish David was with me...It would have been paradise to the 10th degree! Thanks Brooke, Darci, April, John and Kay for a fabulous week.

Sun Valley, Idaho

We went to Sun Valley this year to celebrate Wagon Days. We try to go every year with the Jenson family for our reunion. This year did not disappoint. We enjoyed the cool weather and watched the parade and the kids had a great time playing on all of the toys and riding the train. I love riding our bikes on the long trail. It was a little tricky this year hauling my 40 pound son on my bike but I got a better workout. I also l-o-v-e the Kneadery for breakfast. mmmm delicious. On the "way home" we went to Stanley to check out Red Fish Lake and the surrounding areas. Idaho is beautiful!

Cutest Butt

I love this little Lightning McQueen butt! Andrew is potty trained now. We are so proud of him. It took about two weeks to really be "trained" but he is now a pro. His reward was two little gumballs each time his pants were dry. I am such a happy mom. No more poopie diapers and lots more cute butts. Way to go Drew.

School Days

It's that time of year. All three of my kids are going to school one way or another. Nathan is in half day kindergarten and Drew is in pre-school at Ms. Crystal's. He loves it! Morgan is in 5th grade and will be in middle school next year. They are growing so fast. I love you guys. I hope this year is fantastic.

Allen Family Reunion 2009

It was time for the Allen Family Reunion August 2009. We all met at a cabin in Heber and enjoyed an Auction, Spirit Hike, Talent Show, Luau and lots of fun and bonding. Almost everyone was there for at least part of the time. We missed Jordan but he will be home in February. It was great for the kids to bond with their cousins and David and I got to know the older nieces and nephews better. Josh and Danielle were darling and loving school at Utah State. Steven is in a band in Chicago (wow) and Andrea was a doll...I can't believe how grown up they are! Ryan is a cutie patootie and shared his talent singing and playing the piano. I am so impressed! My mom and dad started getting teary when their 9 kids got up and sang a song that my mom sang to each of us at bedtime. We had a great time! Looking forward to the cruise in 2010.

Lost Tooth!

Nathan had a very happy day. He lost his first tooth. We were so excited for him. He couldn't help but smile all evening and show the gap in his gums. The tooth fairy was very generous and left him $5 under his pillow.

Brigham City

We take a little trip to Brigham City every year (around the 4th of July). My kids love it there because there is so much to do. Ride horses, ATVs, play in the tree house, swim etc. Here are a few pictures of our latest trip.

Costa Rica

David and I took a much needed trip this year to Costa Rica. Why Costa Rica? We were curious about the area and heard great things about it. It was a great little gift for my birthday and our anniversary and we were not disappointed. We stayed at a place called Playa Herradura near the city of Jaco. We enjoyed Tortuga Island, Snorkeling, zip-lining, laying out on the beach and just relaxing. While we were hiking in Manuel Antonio National Park a little monkey kept trying to steal our stuff so David got a stick to wave the monkey away. The monkey got so mad at David he hissed at him. They had the best fresh pineapple. We got some every morning at the little market. De-lish! *please note the spelling of the above Costa Rican words may or may not be spelled correctly :)

Senior Citizen

I know I turned 40 a little while ago and haven't been very happy about it. Someone told me that 40 was the new 30 which made me a little happier. However, I got this little ditty in the mail the other day and suddenly felt like I was a SENIOR CITIZEN! I wonder if I get discounts at movies now?! sniff sniff

WEEEEEEEEE!

Yesterday my family met with my cousins, their spouses and all of our kids and went to Bogus Basin to do a little tubing.  Thanks to Brooke for organizing the trip because it was a lot of fun.  The hill looked a little steep and since I'm so adventurous I was a little nervous to go the first time but my little family all held on to each other's tubes and down we went.  Then all 19 of us held on to each other's tubes and went down...I was screaming and having a great time.  The best part of it was the rope tow.  You just hand the worker your little leash and he puts it on the hook and up you go...while sitting in your tube!  Then your ready for the next run.

Christmas 2008

We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year! Christmas was fantastic this year! In 12 years of marriage our family has finally spent Christmas in our own home. For Christmas Eve dinner, (a Morgan Jenson production) we had a candle light dinner with our little paper crowns from the poppers we have every year. Then we read each other our jokes and talk about the importance of celebrating the true meaning of Christmas. Then we enjoyed a little mudpie. Nathan produced the program that followed dinner. He was responsible for conducting the program and deciding what it would contain. He also helped David round up the costumes for the live Nativity...notice what our little angel is wearing (a little lab jacket and no pants)...note to self buy white sweatpants or loooong tube socks for next year's production. The kids had a blast acting it out. I swear they should have all received an Academy Award for their acting abilities. The only downside of the night? We had a little angelic girl that couldn't go to sleep which resulted in David and I watching 2 yes 2 movies back to back until 1:00 a.m. so we could get our jobs done (wink wink) long yawn.

A Visit From the Big Guy

Santa came to visit again this year which made the kids sing with happiness and glee...well Andrew just wanted the candy cane and to get off of Santa's lap. He'll probably have a list in alphabetical order next year. Merry Christmas

Morgan - A Decade

Morgan's birthday was this month too! She was excited and could hardly wait until she opened gifts. She went to school on her birthday and returned with her report card! Luckily she is a great student and did very well in all of her subjects. Grandma and Grandpa Jenson surprised her with a visit to help celebrate. They even brought a dog (Aggie) that they were tending which made Morgan jump up and down with glee. Morgan is such a cutie and was so excited all night long. Several of her friends stopped by to see her (two were boys!) Then we had a yard full of Christmas carolers who sang a few songs...no doubt for Morgan's birthday?! We love our little girl even if she isn't so little any more. Morgan, happy birthday. XOXo

10th Anniversary of my 30th Birthday

Okay so I'm 40 (gulp) It is still hard for me to own up to that number...and as my sister so lovingly reminds me I'm closer to 50 than I am to 20. (Just a second I need to get a tissue to wipe the tears away) Even though the day started out dreary in the literal and metaphorical sense, my dear friends had a little brunch for me with yummy homemade food and very thoughtful gifts. Then Jenny took me to get a pedicure and later that night David took me to dinner and .....a surprise party! It took me by such shock I started tearing up (and I haven't stopped since). It was so good to see close family and friends and spend the evening with them. David did an amazing job planning and hiding everything. I have to admit it was a lot of fun! Thanks everyone for making my day fun.

Thanksgiving Continued again

We visited some of our dearest friends while on our little trip. We had a great time having coffee and cake (or juice and croissants with Nutella) and catching up. The highlight of visiting was seeing their new chickens. We learned that what the chicken looks like greatly influences what their eggs look like. For example a white chicken lays white eggs, a speckled chicken lays tan eggs with speckles etc. But they also had GREEN EGGS! They had no green chicken. My kids thought that was the coolest thing ever! I took some of the eggs to my mom. She was so excited to use them in her cooking. Thanks Mitchells for the great visit. We love you.

Thanksgiving Continued

Part two of out Thanksgiving trip took us to visit the in-laws. We had a great visit and a yummy Thanksgiving dinner...however my nephew put a fart machine under my chair and would push the remote periodically. I had no idea what was going on but the rest of the table was laughing so hard they had to wipe tears. Ohhhh revenge is sweet. The kids had fun riding horses, four wheelers and climbing into the tree house. We had a lot of fun. Thanks