Much needed update...

I have discovered that basketball season tends to keep me busy and I have neglected my blog along with a few other things like cleaning and cooking good meals :(

So much has happened in the past few weeks: our kids are growing up too fast, my first season as a head coach came to an end, and Matt finished school and is an official Journeyman!

Here are a coule of updated pictures of our too kids all ready for church one day...

Our kids are so funny lately. Halle's little personality is starting to really come out. She is hillarious! She is starting to talk more and more and when she says "please..." my heart melts.  She also has a temper and will scream in frustration (usually this is directed at Ryan). This is like a red-in-the-face scream where her entire body is shaking. So funny, but I probably shouldn't laugh at it, but I can't help it sometimes. Ryan and Halle have also discovered how fun it can be to play together. They are best friends and play really well with eachother. The other night they were "dressing up" in all of our random winter clothes.  (Sorry that Halle is half naked, she was stripped after a messy dinner!) You can really see their personalities in these pictures....too funny!

 

Can you tell that Ryan loves his little sister :)

Halle is now 18 months old and has grown up during the past month. She loves to "brush" her teeth, as shown in the picture above, and she actually went pee-pee in the potty the other night! No she is not potty trained but I don't think it will be too far off!

My first basketball season finished up this past week. Talk about a whirwind of emotions. I was mentally exhausted when it was all said and done. We didn't do as well as we had wanted but still had a successful season. We didn't make the state tournament but missed it by only game. My girls did a great job and we played really well towards the end of the season.  Once again I have some great pictures that some of our team mom's got. Here are a couple of my favorite ones:

In the midst of all of our craziness, Matt also managed to pass his tests and finish school. I failed to get a picture of him, but we are so incredibly proud of him. He has endured five years of school, countless tests, and many sleepless nights. I am so grateful for the sacrifices he has made because finally we can say.... WE ARE DONE!   Congrats Matt

Coaching, Coaching, Coaching......

I wanted to make sure I put a few pictures of our latest adventure on here. I want to have our blog printed off and I know that we will want this included in it for years down the road when I think back and wonder, what was I thinking?!?

Many of you know that I am the Head Basketball Coach at Mountain View High School. I love it and have really enjoyed everything about it so far. It is a lot of work but it really is rewarding. Our kids call Mountain View "The Bruin," and it is really like a second home to them. Halle has a play-pen in my office and takes naps during practice and Ryan knows exactly how to get to the main office of the school so he can get a treat from the head secretary.  The staff at MV has treated us like family and they have really made this a dream job for me. 

In addition to great staff, I have some of the best parents on our team. The parents that I am working with make my job so much easier and they take amazing pictures. Here are a few of my favorite shots from the season so far. 

There are some more pictures on Facebook that I will have to transfer onto the blog later.

Lastly, this has become a family affair. My mom and dad are at every game as my dad is our official score keeper and Matt is Mr. Mom in the stands. I am so grateful to have such a wonderful support system around me so I can do what I love.

Our Sunbeam!

Ryan started the year off as a Sunbeam and he was so excited! He has done awesome and loves to tell us about all the new songs he has learned.  It was so weird to walk a kid to actual Primary. He looked so nervous when I took him in, but he just sat in his chair like he knew exactly what he was doing.  

Here are a few shots of our little man all ready to be an official Sunbeam!

Christmas Catch-up

So I have been out of memory on my blog and have procrastinated purchasing new memory for $5. I totally missed a Christmas post as well as a New Years post. Be prepared for a little picture overload....I missed a lot of great moments with my camera so the pictures don't do our Christmas justice.

We had a really great Christmas as all of my family was together. Yes, all of us! That hasn't happened since Drew's wedding so it was quite the weekend. Bret and Jan flew in with their two kids and Drew was planning on coming up on the 23rd. We were not planning on seeing Adam and Noelle at all but we were wrong. On the morning of the 23rd they showed up at my house!!!  Yeah totally surprised, they caught me cleaning before I had even showered. We were shocked. We then surprised my parents and everyone else. It was a GREAT surprise.

Needless to say, our Christmas weekend was incredibly busy with all 6 grand kids running around. We were able to have some family pictures taken, spent some time playing games, eating WAY too much food, and just chatting with each other. It was awesome to have all of my brothers here. I miss seeing them!!

Matt and I did Santa at our house and the kids were soooo excited.

We then went to church with my family and went to my mom and dad's house to open presents.

Because we live so close to Matt's family too, we saw his parents Christmas afternoon as well. Our kids were absolutely exhausted at the end of the day but they were spoiled rotten (as you can see by their piles of stuff!).



I have to remember a couple things about our Christmas...
Ryan was completely obsessed with getting his "Batman castle" and was absolutely ecstatic when he saw that Santa actually brought it.
By the end of the day, Halle was super excited when she saw a present. She loved opening each one to see what was inside. 
Halle loves to sing and dance while she plays on her new piano....so cute!
All the kids got homemade superhero capes (that I made) and they loved them.
Whenever we would talk about Jesus, Ryan would say that "Jofes" is his dad. He couldn't say it right and it was hillarious!
Ryan was really upset Christmas night and said, "I don't want to go to sleep, then Christmas will be over!"
He was ALL smiles the entire day!

Santa a few weeks before Christmas--- Halle was terrified!

New Christmas jammies

The kids decorating Christmas cookies.

Christmas Eve with Dad

The whole Allen family doing cookies

Our Nativity with Mary (Adam's daughter Brynn), Joseph (Ryan), and the Angel (Bret's daughter Bella)

Halle with her Princess cape

The two boys-- Ryan and Calder (Bret's little boy)

Ryan's reaction to seeing his pile of stuff on Christmas morning

His face for most of Christmas day...pure joy!

Halle lovin' her piano!

 Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas....we sure did!

From Thanksgiving Straight to Christmas!

 The past few weeks has been a lot of fun. We spent Thanksgiving with Matt's family and had a great time. We also went with Matt's sister and her family to cut down our Christmas tree. We had a great time and plan on making this a tradition for years to come. The kids really loved the snow. (Sorry for picture overload).

Halle is our little piano player...she loves it!

The kids table at Thanksgiving

Halle lovin' her sweet potatoes and turkey

Love this picture!

Ready to go Christmas Tree hunting!

Playing in the snow

Our little man!  He is so grown up here!

She LOVED the snow!

We had a great time decorating the tree and putting up all the Christmas stuff. Ryan is really into Christmas this year and can't stop talking about it. He is constantly talking about Jesus' birthday and Santa. I can't wait until Christmas morning! 

He also has come up with his own term to describe Christmas decorations. We told him that Christmas decorations were beautiful and fun but they were also breakable so we have to be so careful. Based on this conversation, Ryan now says that the decorations are "Break-a-ful!" He is so funny, I am constantly amazed by him.

I also gave the kids their Christmas outfits so they could wear them throughout December. I love them and was so excited to get a few pictures of them before church this past week. After some bribery and a little bit of fighting, we ended up with some great pictures.

Decorating the tree

Mom and Ryan putting the ornament way up high

Being so careful

She just wants to take all of it off!

The finished product!

Movie night watching Rudolph!

Attempt #1: Picture in their Christmas outfits

Attempt #2: Almost a success

Getting closer!

Not quite but sooo cute of Halle!

Can you tell, Halle doesn't  like hugs!

Finally.... I Love it!

I told him to smile big and he would get a piece of candy this is what we got.

So handsome!

So pretty!

Something I HAVE to write down and a Happy Halloween

I have to write this down before I forget what Ryan did at his well check up the other day. I just love his personality!

So the doctor is testing Ryan's balance and motor skills. He is having Ryan stand on one foot and jump up and down. Ryan is all over this and is just performing for the doctor. Then the Dr. says, "Okay, last one, can you jump up and down on one foot?" The Dr. shows Ryan what he means. Ryan gets this odd look on his face and just stands there looking confused for a second and the Dr. asks, "Well, Ryan don't you want to try it? Can you jump on one foot?" Ryan gives him this strange look one more time and all of the sudden says, "No, but I can pitch like Jimmy Morris (from the movie The Rookie)" and he goes right into a perfect pitching motion as if he is pitching a ball to the doctor. It was one of the cutest things I have ever witnessed. It was like Ryan was thinking why do I have to jump on one foot when I can do something much cooler. The doctor was great and just laughed at the whole thing and said, "I think Ryan is developing perfectly!"

Here are his 3 year old stats: Height- 39.25 inches (88%) and 31 pounds 10 ounces (54%)

In addition to a well check up we also had a great Halloween. Ryan is obsessed with pirate stuff lately and dressed as a pirate. I wanted Halle to be Tinkerbell but the costumes were super expensive and I didn't have the time to make one so I found an adorable Ladybug costume on sale.  Matt and I didn't feel like going all out this year (the Oompa Loompa's did us in for a while), so Matt wen as a Deer and I was the hunter. Both kids loved trick or treating and we had a great weekend carving pumpkins and collecting candy. 

Happy Halloween!