Allen Reunion

We had a blast at the Allen Reunion in Aptos this year. It was the week before the bar so unfortunately it was just me and the kids (Joe did make it up for a day or two). We had a great time, though.

One night a bunch of us went to Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. I hadn't been since I was a teenager and the kids had never really been to an amusement park. They were so excited. They loved the rides and were a lot braver than I was expecting. Elizabeth went on the pirate ship ride with her uncles and cousins and Natalie went with me on the big swing ride. They loved all the little rides, too. Even Nate went on a few rides. He would enjoy them for a minute and then say "Ah duh" (all done) over and over. Here's the one picture I have from the night:

My mom wanted me to come back with a shark picture since we have one from when I was young. I was trying to get them to look scared but they just wanted to smile...

Our week was mostly full of swimming at the pool and going to the beach. Oh how I love the beach. Nate loved eating non-stop--consuming large amounts of sand with his snacks and not seeming to care much.

Yum--Cheetos

Here's a bunch of the cousins playing in the water:

We're quite the group these days. There's 16 grandkids now.

Here's Elizabeth with Brayden and Isaac:

Here we are taking over the resort playing a keep-away game with the ball:

That night we had a campfire on the beach. The girls were so excited to fly kites while we were down there. We haven't had much luck with the dollar store kites I've bought in the past so this was their first official time flying a kite. I had to get some pictures...

Of course there were s'mores!

Nate enjoying his next to Aunt Katie

Since I was a single parent there, we had plenty of movie time to rest and recover. One morning Nate and Natalie were sitting so close together watching the show and I had to get a picture:

Another day at the beach:

Burying herself in the sand

Andrew, Elizabeth and Abby getting buried standing up:

We saw a ton of dolphins that day. Can you see the fin?

A brief moment with Nate keeping his hat on.

Isn't he adorable?

It was cute to see Natalie and Ivy hit it off this reunion.

Watching Ivy play her DS after dinner:

Some other highlights of the week were: an FHE tic-tac-toe trivia game that Brad made with family and gospel trivia; shopping with Katie, Kelli and Melissa at the Gilroy outlets; playing with Jacob, Hannah, Emily and others in the waves and getting rocked by a huge one. We had a great time!

Utah/Idaho Swing

We had quite the epic Utah/Idaho adventure. We were all over the place, mooching food and lodgings off of unsuspecting family members. Just kidding--they invited us. And it was wonderful seeing everyone. Once again I was terrible at taking pictures, but I do have a few to show for it.

First we stayed at Chris and Regina's. No pictures... but much fun was had, and much referreeing was required due to these two troublemakers:

They are cute, though.

That picture was taken at our next stop: Grandpa Tom and Grandma Lorna's house. We had a yummy Father's Day dinner and other fun times. While there, Elizabeth lost her very first tooth! It was an exciting moment for the whole family. It was really loose and she came over to show me. I asked her if she wanted me to pull it and I did. It came out so fast she didn't mind a bit. Natalie was just as excited as she was to put it under her pillow. In fact, apparently Natalie was the first one to spot the dollar the next morning. I can't believe my daughter is losing teeth!

Our next stop was down to Sugarhouse Park in Salt Lake to meet up with more family for a picnic. That was a fun park. The girls loved all the cotton in the air. I tried to get a picture that showed it but it didn't really work:

We got to spend some more time with this cute little guy:

Joelle, Jace & Elizabeth

The kids had fun climbing these pole things:

Collecting cotton

Next up, we got to visit Brad & Kelli and boys. The only pictures I remembered to take were these, on the way to their house. It was the one and only time they were all asleep in the car:
We loved playing at their awesome house. The girls especially loved their new lab puppy Maya and the golf cart rides. We can't wait to see them more next week at the Allen family reunion.

We stayed at Jon & Jaime's house, too. Again, much fun had by all, as this picture demonstrates:
Then, it was up to Idaho to stay with Grandma Marsha for a few days. She really spoiled us. The kids loved playing in her little wading pool, where I got this cute series of pictures:

We had a fun visit with Great Grandpa Hall one night. Here are the girls showing off their reading skills to Grandpa:

After that, it was over to Albion, ID, for the Atkinder...

This is the only picture I have--Elizabeth on her first motorcycle ride with Grandpa: We met up with Joe and then he came with us to the Atkinder. It was so wonderful seeing Daddy again! Two weeks apart was too long. Two and a half week away from home was too long. Still, we did have fun.

The Graduate

This was a big weekend for our family. Joe graduated from law school. That's right, the day finally came. It felt like it never would 3 years ago but sure enough the day came and went.

First, the kids and I decorated a sign for him on his last night of finals:
Then, Saturday was graduation day. It seems to be a bit of a tradition for the students to walk with any children they may have so that's what Joe did.

I was one proud mom/wife watching my 4 favorite people walk across that stage. I was especially proud of Joe, who almost didn't make it through this law school experience but decided to stick with it and even graduated "with distinction".
Not only that but he found an area of law he's interested in, found a firm, managed to get hired on as a clerk, and has impressed them so much that they offered him a job after he takes the bar. Hiring someone right out of law school is not something they do often. Joe is that amazing :). But seriously, it is a huge blessing for our family. (More on that later...)

It's the end of an era for our family. A hard era of our life that has made all of us stronger, but it was fun, too. Now, off to the real world ...
These are the wonderful people that came to support us: (not to mention the countless others who have supported us all along but who couldn't make the trip--we love you, too)

The 3 J's:
Joe, Justin and Justin

The number of children between us jumped from 3 to 7 yet somehow we all made it! :)

I love this guy:

On to the next big challenge: the Bar....

Mother's Day

I love this picture

I have the best mom. No really, she is. She is loving, patient, hard-working, thoughtful and faithful. In the course of a simple 30 minute phone conversation, she somehow manages to makes me feel like I am amazing. That is the strength of her love for her children. She loves her grandchildren no less (maybe more? :). She is my hero. Thank you, Mom. I love you!

Go Kings

Thanks to my dad, I got the chance to go to what might have been the last Sacramento Kings game ever. The team might be relocating to Anaheim next year--it's still up in the air. Plus it was Kings vs. Lakers! If you are a die-hard Kings fan, you must hate the Lakers.

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to take my nieces, Emily & Abby, and Elizabeth.
We had so much fun! For one thing, because of the significance of this game, the arena was packed and we were cheering so loud for our Kings. It felt like the playoff games of old when the Kings were good.

(Here is a picture from that era, taken in the summer of '03. It's me with Mike Bibby. I am also very sunburned. OK, not all of the redness of face could be called a sunburn. :)

Funny sidenote: This was taken between Joe and I's first and second dates. That is terrible grammar, isn't it? I can't think of a better way to say that...)

OK, back to the game... after being down by 20 late in the game, the Kings stormed back to take the lead at the very end. The crowd was going crazy:

It looked like the Kings would win! Unfortunately, Kobe Bryant hit a 3 with seconds left to send it into overtime. Darn that Kobe. The Kings couldn't hold it together in OT and lost.

The biggest reason it was so much fun was the company. These girls are awesome. My girls have some amazing older girl cousins (and boys too, but all the oldest cousins are girls on both sides) who are all excellent examples. I hope my girls turn out like them.

(How did they all get so big anyway? Here are my oldest three Allen nieces, Emily, Abby and Hannah, with me and my mom in the summer of '02:

It's also funny that I'm wearing the same gray Kings shirt in both pictures.)

Wow, I'm going a little crazy with the parenthetical tangents. Sorry. I must be feeling nostalgic. :)

Again, back to the game...We had fun eating snacks and cheering on our Kings. Elizabeth was an excellent fan at her first-ever game. Emily even caught a t-shirt, despite a 50 year-old woman diving to the ground in front of her in an attempt to snatch it. :) (What is it with people going crazy over free t-shirts anyway?)

What a fun night. And here's hoping the Sacramento Kings stick around!