Remembering Gramps

One year ago today we were with my family,
celebrating the life of this great man.My sweet Grandpa died on January 10, 2009, which was also his 90th birthday. There is so much I could say about this great man. He taught me about service, family, dedication, and love. My life is definitely blessed because he is
my "Gramps."

Today we were able to visit the grave of Grandpa and Grandma with a few of my siblings. The great-grandkids gathered around his grave and sang "Happy Birthday." It was a cute way for them to connect with this Grandpa,
who was always such a big part of their lives.

Isaac wanted to be sure we brought new flowers for Grandpa and Grandma Bird. When we got there, he asked me if he could put them in by himself. He was very careful and took his time to make sure it looked just right. I am so glad that Isaac had the chance to get to know Grandpa
and that he still remembers him.

I am grateful today to remember my grandpa
and the good life that he led.

Daddy's Home!

Here's a little taste of what happens at our house
on the nights that Daddy comes home:

This is their newest wrestling move...
affectionately referred to as the "Booty Punch."

I love this picture!
Look at how happy they all are! :)

Hold on tight, boys!

Check out Isaac's face! Ha-ha!

(I apologize for the lack of pants...we were in the process of getting jammies on when the wrestling match began!) :)

Derek is such a great dad and there is no doubt that he is their very best buddy. I love to sit back and watch them interact. (Plus...I am way to tired for that kind of rough-housing by the end of the day!) :) I am so grateful to have
all of these fun, crazy boys in my life!

Christmas Wrap-Up

So...I know I am totally late with this,
but we had so much fun that I just have to share! :)

Christmas Eve Highlights:

-Traditional ham/prime rib dinner at Grandma and Grandpa Allen's house
-Visit from Santa...totally terrifying to my poor boys! :)
-Family pictures (always an adventure!)
-Skype visit with Grammy and Papa in Africa
(we even got to open a present from them...thanks to their good friend who got them to all of us)
-Getting milk and cookies ready for Santa (Isaac especially loved this part!)
-Lots of fun with the Allen fam!

Christmas Morning Highlights:

-Isaac was a little apprehensive to go upstairs because he was afraid that Santa hadn't left yet. He didn't want to have another encounter with the jolly guy! :)
-The first thing Isaac did was check to see if Santa ate his cookies.
- The boys were thrilled when they saw their gifts!
-Trevor went right for the new "puppy"
-Isaac was ecstatic about his new Buzz Lightyear!
-We had a great morning with Uncle Dave, Aunt Alissa, Grandma, and Grandpa.
-The boys were totally spoiled! :)
-Yummy traditional breakfast...ableskeivers, ham, and eggs!
-Ryan and Sera came over with their boys for the gift exchange.
-The boys had so much fun with their cousins!

Christmas Day Highlights:

-We spent the rest of the day at Grandma's house
-We played with our new toys and relaxed.
-We played Rock Band all day (& night!). :)
-We met up with my family later that night to hang out, eat treats, and Skype with Grammy & Papa.

We are so lucky to have such wonderful family
to spend the holidays with.
We had a great Christmas this year!

Jen & Marvin's Big Day

Wow! We have had such a busy month!
Aside from Christmas (which I will post about eventually), my older sister, Jen got married. We are so happy for her!

The happy couple...Jennifer and Marvin Pearce
(How cute are they?!)

Jen, Marvin, and their 6 kiddos!
We are so excited to have Marvin and his 2 cute girls in our family.

This is just moments after the wedding ceremony.
My super-savvy sister-in-law (way to go, Lins!) was able to reach Mom and Dad in Africa on her phone for Jen. It was so neat to have them join in the fun from the other side of the world!

Here are my boys at the party that night.
(Silly Trevor!)

Here are are my wacky husband and brother!
Eyebrows up, fellas! :)

Isaac on the dance floor with his cute cousins.
He is especially fond of Jen's daughter, "Micoley!" :)

My handsome man and me!

We're Ready!

We are so excited for Christmas here at the Allen home!
The boys are at such great ages for all the fun of Christmas. We went to the Mesa Temple lights with our good friends, the Bergesons. The lights were amazing and the weather was fantastic!

Daddy and Isaac...looking so handsome! :)

OK...so the visit with Santa didn't go quite like we'd hoped.
Trevor was really excited about meeting the big guy until I put him down in his lap. Then, as you can see, he wanted nothing to do with it! (There's no picture of Isaac because he didn't even make it onto Santa's lap. He did make sure Daddy went back and asked Santa for a Buzz Lightyear for him.)

The boys have loved hanging out and watching Christmas movies. (Our personal favorites are "The Grinch" and "Elf.")

This was our first family gingerbread house. I think it only lasted about 3 minutes before the boys started eating it.
I guess that's what it's for, right? :)

We are so ready for Christmas!

Zoo Fun

I just have to share one of my most favorite trips to the zoo.
The boys were thrilled about everything! We had such a great time! Isaac has been so excited about the new Komodo Dragon exhibit. We finally got to see it and it didn't disappoint! :)

The dragon was in the warm house for the winter,
but that didn't stop the boys from enjoying it!

We spent 20 minutes there...
checking out every bit of the exhibit.

The cool Komodo Dragon statue

Corinne and her adorable boys joined us that day.
We LOVE hanging out with them.
Can you tell? :)

Here are the boys staring down the baboons!
I think that monkey might have met his match!

We stayed for a little bit by ourselves and the boys were so cute together. They held hands and walked all around the snake, reptile, and amphibian exhibits. Isaac loves to take care of Trevor...and Trevor thinks that Isaac is just the greatest! It was one of those moments that
I won't soon forget! :)

Best Buddies

Derek recently started his counseling practicum (similar to an internship), which means he is now gone 3 nights a week. He leaves for work before the boys wake up, so they go days at a time without seeing him. Our little Isaac is having a hard time adjusting to the new schedule. After a couple of long days without Daddy, he just doesn't want to let him out of his sight. We were getting ready to say bedtime prayers with Isaac and he decided that he needed to closer to Daddy.

This is how they ended up:I am glad they love each other so much.
It's pretty adorable! :)