Our Goodbyes

This weekend we were able to spend some really meaningful time with Mom and Dad (better known as Grammy and Papa) before they left for their mission in the Congo for 18 months. It was impossibly hard to say goodbye to such a huge part of our life, but we know that they are doing what the Lord wants them to do. We are so proud of them and are grateful for their example.

Aren't they the cutest missionaries!? :) The people of the Congo are going to love them.

Thursday night, my little family got to spend some great one-on-one time with them. We had dinner and lots of good conversation. And of course...one last game of "Prisoner." (A favorite of Jameson children and grandchildren for years!) Isaac trying to escape! :)I absolutely LOVE this picture of Papa and Isaac...complete with Woody (and his hat!).The Jameson Family (except Ryan, Linsey and co.)Grammy and Papa's biggest fansMom and Dad were set apart by Pres. Clegg (who also happens to be a great friend of my parents). All of the family priesthood holders were able to participate, too. I love to watch the great men of our family use their priesthood, especially my handsome hubby. :)

Then the grandkids sang "I Hope They Call Me On a Mission." They each gave them a "Grammy candy" with a card saying why they love their Grammy and Papa. It was neat to see all the reasons they came up with. There is no question that these kids adore them!So after a weekend full of fun (and tears) they are off!

To Mom and Dad-I am very grateful for your influence in my life and in the lives of Derek and the boys. You have always taught me the importance of having faith in our Heavenly Father and in His plan for us. Your willingness to leave everything you love and serve where you are called is another great lesson in faith. We will miss you like crazy, but you will be in our thoughts and prayers (and hopefully on Skype!). :)
Thanks for everything. I love you both so much!

Lake Day with Daddy

Last week, Derek took Isaac to the lake with some friends from his class. (I stayed home with Trevor and really enjoyed the one-on-one time.) Isaac had SO much fun!

Daddy and Isaac on the boat.

Fun on the beach

All tuckered out! (He was asleep within minutes of leaving the lake.)

The Replacement

I've been trying to convince Trevor that he doesn't need his pacifier during the day. He has not been happy about it and has come up with a pretty creative solution. :) He found this little flower (which is part of a Lego set) and realized that it is a pretty good replacement for his beloved "binky!" Now this is how he looks most of the time!

He knows he's not supposed to do it so, naturally, he thinks it's hilarious! Silly boy!

Eternal Perspective

I just wanted to let my family know how much I appreciated the chance to be with them in the temple last night. (We missed you, Ryan and Lins!) Life can feel a little crazy sometimes and I absolutely cherish moments like last night when I can put everything on hold and focus on what this life is all about. I love you all!

Freebie

Just a "shout-out" for my sister-in-law's photography business. She is very creative and does beautiful work! Right now, she is doing a promotion where she is giving away two free photo sessions! (We did a session with her a couple months ago and she was great. She was very sweet with our naughty little boys!) :)

So...go visit her photography blog and you could win a free session.

http://jamesonphotos.blogspot.com/

(Here's a cute one she took of us!)

It's That Time of Year Again

Well...I started preschool again today and it went pretty well. There's always quite a bit of "crowd control" during the first week, but I can tell that I have a great group of kids this year and I'm excited to watch them learn.

(It's especially fun to have Corinne's little Jameson in my class this year. He's such a cutie!)

I just can't believe our summer is over...it went by so fast! We had a lot of fun with our relaxed schedule over the last couple of months. (These boys are pretty good at finding ways to entertain themselves indoors!) :)
Here's a look at some of the fun things we did this summer.If summer really is over, shouldn't it be a little cooler outside!?! :)

Our Hero

We have had a pretty rough week over here thanks to a car that we thought was going bad and a very dishonest AAMCO shop. But today, that all changed!

It all started over the weekend...I went to Prescott with a couple of my girl friends and drove our Honda Accord. On the way there, a warning light came on (that we thought might be related to the transmission). We had our transmission rebuilt just a year and a half ago, so we were pretty freaked out about having a big repair again. We took it in to AAMCO (who we dealt with the 1st time) and they told us that something was definitely wrong and that we needed to pay $400 to get into the transmission and check it out; that didn't include whatever repairs they would need to do. Needless to say, we were pretty discouraged. We really need our cars to last until Derek gets out of school! After doing much stressing and car shopping (and shedding a few tears!), Derek got the great idea to call around to some smaller shops and see what they would say. He found this AMAZING place called Quality Transmissions (in Tempe). The owner was so great and has been running the place since 1977. He talked to Derek for 1/2 hour on the phone, giving him tips of things to try before doing anything else. All of those things looked normal, so we took it in to this guy the next day and he said he would check it out for free. Well...we got a call today from him saying that he ran all of his tests and the car is perfectly FINE!! He said the light that came on was just an electrical glich in the car's computer system. He charged us nothing and sent us on our merry (and very grateful) way. This man really is one of the good ones...honest and hardworking. We were so lucky to have found him!
So all is well here at the Allen home again. We will sleep peacefully tonight knowing that our car is fine and we won't need to start "eating the putty out of the windows!" (Another great Grandpa-ism!)
And don't forget...if you ever need work on your transmission, just remember this: Don't go to AAMCO! Stick with our hero at Quality Transmission! (I should totally be their spokesperson, huh?) :)

Just can't wait!

We often refer to Isaac as "Mr. Random" because he comes up with the most hilarious (but very random) stuff. Yesterday morning, he plopped himself down on the floor and proclaimed, "I am going to sit RIGHT HERE until Christmas comes!" I have no idea where that came from, but I laughed my head off!

Gotta love this kid!!