UGLY CHRISTMAS SWEATERS!!

We were invited to an Ugly Christmas Sweater Party and were so determined to find just the right sweaters to wear. All 3 of us found sweaters with bears on them (that was kind of our family theme). Well Scott knew all along that he want to find one that was too small just for greater effects. He found one that was a Women's Medium. It was perfect. And he won the "Most Ilfit Award" and was given an exercise wheel. He demonstrated for every how it works. Oh and notice his yucky mustache. I could not take him seriously with that.

GIVING THANKS!!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving!!! We visited Scott's sister Amy's(Egnew) family in North Carolina. It was a short and sweet visit since we left Wed. and came back Fri. The Egnews live on a little farm with a cow, 2 goats, and a bunch of chickens. I think that the neighbors Pot-Bellied Pig thinks he lives there too as he would frequently come to visit. The kids had so we had much fun feeding the animals our scraps from our Thanksgiving Dinner and chasing them around. And for some reason I never got pictures of anything except us feeding animals. Oh well!! We had a blast with all the family there. I will tell you that we have not laughed as hard as we did there in years. The Allen family knows how to have fun!! Oh I did get on picture of all the girl cousins together. The boys were nowhere to be found.

Miss Mischief!!

Emery has really been keeping us on our toes!! She is very much a busy body, as most toddlers are. As posted before she is very intrigued by mommy's makeup. Luckily she has only gotten into it 1 time!! Well one day it was quiet a little bit too long so I went to go check and see what she was doing. Well, I could see all the traces of her along the way to the kitchen where she had pulled the chair to the sink and was "Keening". Now that wouldn't be so bad if she had only stuck to cleaning the dishes but she had taken the soapy sponge and tried to clean the couch, the TV, the carpet, you name she was cleaning it!! Everything that she "cleaned" had soapy bubbles all over it!! So of course that gave mom a lot of cleaning to do.




One night recently, Sharalee came over with her girls to watch Emery so that I could go out with the Missionaries. When I got back Sharalee was leaving so I went outside with them to say goodbye. While Sharalee and I were chatting for a bit Emery had gone back in the house. It had been a few minutes so I ran inside real quick to see what she was doing. She was having a great time!! I asked her what she was doing and she said "I eat it, Chocolate!!" She had gotten herself a spoon and was digging in.



I don't have a picture of this next one but.... I teach piano lessons and while I teach Emery usually takes a nap or she will just play in her room. She really does pretty good. Well one day I had left her Humidifier out (I know this was really my fault!!) and she was curious and playing with it. She got water all over and instead of leaving it at that she pulled the filter out and shredded in a million pieces!! I just about died when I realized what had happened. But what do you do?? She is just curious!!!

Halloween!!

Yes, I know!! Haloween was weeks ago. But I couldn't not post these cute pictures of our sweet little "Butterfly". Just before Halloween we got together with our good friends Justen and Jonathan. We went to the pumpkin patch and picked out perfect pumpkins and brought them home to carve. This is what we came up with!! We had such a blast.

A few days before Halloween we started talking to her about it and told her that she will dress up as a Butterfly and we will knock on our neighbors doors and say Trick-or-Treat, etc. Well that day finally came around and it only took 2 houses before she was pointing to each house saying "and that one, and that one, Trick-or-Treat!?!" She knew that as soon as she said that they would give her candy!!

Emery got so much candy on Halloween!! She also got Play-Doh!!

UH OH!!

Emery got into mommy's makeup!! She got into the mascara and tried to put it on her eyes. Daddy put her in time out and after she got out we were telling her that she is beautiful without makeup and she said "Emery TUTE!!(cute)"

We Are Family!!

I just couldn't help but post these pictures. I think they are great!! In August Cammie came out for a last minute visit right before she started school. We had lots of fun!! While she was here we all went to Chuck E. Cheese together and we all tried to squeeze into the booth for pictures!! It was fun and we were determined to get a picture that all 8 of us were in. Needless to say it took about 10 tries to get 1 good one. These are a few of our favorites:

Top: Scott, Tasha, Emery, Sharalee, Steve

Bottom: Cammie, Kinzy, Kaylee

She Never Seizes to Amaze Me!!

The other day Emery and I were in the car going to Publix (grocery shopping). While we were driving there Emery was saying "Mama! Mama Look!!" So I looked in the mirror to see what she wanted and she was putting her thumbs and pointer fingers together in a triangle shape and said "Look Mom Tiangle". I just thought that it was amazing that she put that together since neither Scott or I had ever shown her that.

It was raining that day and when we got back home we saw a big rainbow in the sky. At first Emery looked at it and said "Rainbow" then she realized how big it was and said "Rainbow, Roun' 'n Roun' like a Circle"!! Once again I was so amazed that she put it together like that. I didn't realize that she was paying enough attention when we talked about shapes to be able to relate it to everyday things!!

Kids really know and understand so much more than you think. And I am learning everyday the importance of teaching your children good things. Especially on the days that Emery repeats things that I didn't think she was listening to. OOPS!!

Just a Few of Emery's Favorite Things...

It is amazing how such simple things bring so much JOY to children!! I love to watch Emery's face as she discovers new things. These are just a few of the things that make Emery very HAPPY!!

1. Story Time ... At the Library and at home we take turns reading to each other

2. Playing at the Park

3. Going for walks... In Emery's case "runs" I almost have to run to keep up with her

4. Going to Publix... Free Cookies!! (she knows what it's all about)

5. Cleaning .... No Joke!! She "hep you keen" all the time!!

6. Food!!

7. Talking on the phone to Mama Sharon and Papa Howie and the fam

8. Singing/Dancing ...

9. Wearing Bows ... She loves to go look at herself in the mirror after I fix her hair

10. Telling Jokes with Daddy ... Emery always says "Woka-Woka" and laughs

11. Food!! When Emery wants to eat she says "Mama I eat sumpin'!?!"

12. Playing with her cousins

13. Visiting Gram and Pop

14. Coloring

15. Playing with friends

16. People ... Emery says "HI" to Everyone

17. Animals ... Especially dogs!!

18. Bath Time ... she loves the water!! Too bad Swim season is over!!

19. Blankie and Lovey ... Can't sleep without them!!

20. Jumping in Puddles ... Emery Loves it when it rains!!

NOTE: Yes I did mention food twice!! Emery loves to eat. She loves the Toddler staples Mac n Cheese, PB&J, Spaghetti, Cereal, Cheese, Candy, Cookies. But I think she is a very good eater considering that she is 2 and some of her favorites also include tomatoes, peas, broccoli, green beans, and any kind of fruit!!

BYE BYE PACI!!!

I had tried to post this in July when we did this but I had a very hard time adding the pictures and it didn't work out so here it is....

We had decided that it was time for Emery to give her paci up and thought what better way than for her to do it herself!! We bought a bunch of balloons and invited Emery's cousins Rebekah and Ellie over and we had a "Bye, Bye Paci Party". We had Emery gather up all of her Paci's and tie them to the strings of the balloons. We went outside and told Emery to let her Paci's go up to heaven for the new little babies. I don't think she really understood that but after much coaxing she finally let them go!! We waved them good-bye and then went inside and ate Rice Krispie treats to celebrate Emery being a BIG GIRL!! That night when we put her to bed she did cry saying "Paci, Boon, Sky" "Bye-Bye Paci". It took her about 2-3 days of talking through it and then she was fine going to bed without it.

It's Been Awhile

So I am just not the best at this blogging thing!! I am just not good at keeping it up. I do have a lot that I want to post though... I will start off with updates on all of us:

Emery:
She is definitely the light of our life!! She is so full of energy and keeps us moving along with her. She loves to dance and sing and is having fun learning her shapes and colors. She can count to ten and can sing many songs from beginning to end... "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" being among the favorites!! She also loves to frequent the Library for Story Time and also loves to play outside. Emery is talking so well and is constantly learning new things everyday!!

Scott:
He is a very busy man right now. Scott works for a company called Medical Reimbursements of America. He works full-time to help process Worker's Compensation claims. He is also going to school 3 nights a week and when he is not at school he is doing homework. He is so excited because tonight he started his Business Program and will finish next December. HOORAY!! Scott is the ward clerk so Sunday's are hardly a day of rest...pretty much just a day of rest from HOMEWORK!! But among all that he is such a good, FUN daddy. He is always making us laugh!!

Tasha:
I am keeping very busy myself!! Keeping up with Emery is fun and exhausting. But I would have to say that there is pretty much nothing better than being a Wife and Mother. I started teaching piano lessons this summer and as of right now have 8 piano students and soon to be more. It has been so rewarding to see all those years of piano lessons starting to pay off!! And to see the confidence and happiness that my students get as they learn new things is just exhilarating. And also for those of you that don't know, I was called as the Relief Society 2nd Counselor this summer. I am in charge of Enrichment Meetings/Activities. It is very fun and keeps me busy!!

So these are my excuses for not keeping my blog updated!!! I do think about updating it all the time I just don't get to it. I am going to be posting some pictures of things that we have done since last time I updated!!

Independence Day!!

We had a lot of fun on the 4th of July!! We were just happy to spend the whole day together as a family. We went swimming with our cousins and friends and then we came home and watched Gilmore Girls all day. Then that night we went to the Lams (Scott's sister's family) for a BBQ with tons of friends and family. I just had to post this picture because it make Emery look so grown up!!

Emery does not have much fear of the water. But who would with all this gear??

She does not usually have all of this on but she always loves to try what her friends and cousins are doing. That is half the fun of swimming.

Emery just cannot wait to get a piece of the cake

that Mommy made for the BBQ!!!

Daddy Helped Emery shoot off a couple of parachutes. Emery is scared to death of fireworks. But Daddy was having a blast. It gave him a chance to feel like a kid again!!!

The Haircut

I finally did it!! I had talked about it for a long time but finally I but my hair off!! While I was in Utah this summer we (me,my sisters and mom) all went in for our first haircuts since Whitney passed away. It was a big deal because Whitney had given us all our last haircut before that. Anyway, so we all went to Dallas Roberts Academy to get our cuts because that is where Whitney went to school. I had been contemplating whether or not I wanted to cut it all off or not but I just decided that if I don't just do it I never will!! They cut this ten inch ponytail off so that I could donate that to locks of love. But then she just kept cutting. I think by the end she took off about 15 inches! WOW!! I was nervouse about it but in the end I absolutely love it short!!

This was the final result! It has grown out a lot now and I have realized that having short hair requires a whole lot more maintenance than long hair. But I am ok with that.

HAWAII!!!

Emery and I went to Utah in May. There was a lot going on there. We got to see Cammie's graduation and we also went to the Stokes Family Reunion. We also got to go to HAWAII. We went with Mama Sharon, Papa Howie, Cammie, Nora, Nila and Koni. We loved every minute of being there!! When we first arrived there (in Maui) we were greeted by some friends of ours that are locals. They gave each of us a lei. We spent our first few days in Maui. I had never been to Maui so it was very fun and exciting to see a lot of the sights there. It is definitely the most beautiful place I have ever seen!! It was so lush and green.

This is a picture of someones yard. They had made there fence out of surf boards. We just thought it was the coolest thing and had to stop and take a picture. You can barely see me in the picture but as I was climbing up there to take the picture a coconut dropped from that tree directly in front of me. If I had been a split second quicker it would have probably taken me out. The next picture is Cammie holding that coconut.

Cammie is holding the coconut that almost took me out!!

This is a picture of one of the many scenic drives that we took while in Hawaii. This was called "The Road to Hana" in Maui. It is considered the world's most Beautiful drive!! I would have to agree with that!! Along with being beautiful it was also very windy. It is about a 2-3 hour drive so we did not make it all the way since one of our passengers was getting very car sick.

This beach is called "Bali Hai", on the island of Kauai!! It is where they filmed the movie South Pacific.

Emery loves Papa Howie!! This is a waterfall on the island of Kauai. This where part of The Testaments movie was filmed.

Of course we cannot post the hundreds of pictures that we took in Hawaii but these were a few of the Highlights. If you thought any of these pictures were beautiful to me they are nothing compared to being there in person and enjoying the beauty of the earth. It really helped all of us that went to appreciate the beauty that Heavenly Father has given us!! It helped me to know that simple things can bring so much joy!!

Getting Caught Up!!

Our good friend, Danielle, helped us get our blog all set up for us and she did our first couple of posts for us. Since then I have not done anything but I really love the idea of having a blog. Especially for friends and family that live far from us!! So I am going to catch up a little bit on a few things we've done this summer and hopefully I will be able to stay caught up!!

A very sad Honda Civic

Here lies the once well-taken care of, properly-running, lovely Silver Honda Civic that belonged to the Allens.One sad day in May, Scott, Tasha, and Emery were on their way home from Chucky Cheese and some ice cream and they were driving south on Columbia Avenue. Scott was taking a quick look at the scenery, then when he looked back he saw they were rushing the stopped car in front of them. He slammed on his brakes, but as his foot went down it slipped off the brake and hit the clutch. They hit the car in front of them at about 30-35 MPH. The other car only had a scratch on the back bumper... obviously the Civic had much more damage than that. Tasha, Emery and Scott are all doing great. They escaped with some wicked bruises and that is it. They are grateful to be safe and ok. Luckily they had collision insurance on their car, so they will be getting some money to help get another one ... poor little Civic...

Emery Jean Allen

Now introducing, the amazing, the lovely, the talented...
EMERY JEAN!

Scott and Tasha love taking pictures of their beautiful daughter!

Emery is so smart. She's only 21 months old, but can already say things like "Nacho!" and "More?" Emery also signs to her parents when she wants or needs things.

The Allen Family

Welcome to the first post of the Allen Family Blog!Here is Tasha and Scott on their May 2007 cruise. They loved every minute of it!

They even helped some illegal immigrants enter the United States...

And they of course dress up nicely.