Christmas of '08 was a good one for us, filled with good times that I hope we will all remember. In fact, I feel I need to make a little list of MEMORABLE ALLEN MOMENTS OF CHRISTMAS OF '08. I tried to think of something catchy - this is all I've come up with. Maybe something will come to me. And so, with or without a clever title and in no particular order - let the list begin!!!

• Our Christmas tree falling over during the decorating process and me pulling three kids out from under it.


• Maggie, our skinny minny, no hips and no butt, shorty pants, asking Santa for "pants that fit me." That was a much harder task for Santa than it sounds.


• Acquiring our first picture with Santa in 7 years that doesn't have a single screaming child in it.




• Living in a house with a banister that I could top off with a fancy garland. Might not sound important to you, but to ME, ohhhh, it's something I've always wanted.





• Having a front window to put our Christmas tree in front of (yes, another thing off of my life long wish list).





• Sitting with Reas by the Christmas tree at 6:30 Christmas morning discussing when we could wake up the kids without feeling bad about it. We waited till 6:50. We are SOOOO still kids at heart around here.


• Attempting to put together the trampoline from Santa on Christmas Eve in the dark, in the rain. Does anyone remember the last time it did ANYTHING around here on Christmas Eve!?!?!?!? We finished all but the safety enclosure by morning- who needs that anyway?




• Drinking cup after cup after cup of hot chocolate with the fam. I bet no one comes close to rivaling what we've got in our pantry. The big ones are imported from exotic Utah. I can tell you all the good flavors if you're curious.





• Singing Christmas carols around the piano on Christmas Eve. I know it sounds a bit cheezy in writing, but really it was oh so fun.


• Having a no stress Christmas Eve here at home with just us. We even had Wendy's for dinner. Fancy, I know.


• Indulging ourselves in the big jar of jelly bellies that Santa left. He knows us very well.


• Watching Ty stand at the front window covering his ears while carolers sang to us.


• Watching Reas sing in the ward choir. There's something so cute about a singing husband.


• The GREAT LAS VEGAS SNOWSTORM OF '08.

I hope you all had a merry and bright Christmas filled with love and good family memories. Best wishes for the new year!

Those of you who know Lancaster, will be interested in these pics. That fun little snow that blew through Vegas last week, hit Lancaster too - but harder. The whole Valley was pretty much snowed in for 2 days. At my parent's house they got about 10 inches. It snowed straight for 12 hours!!! Check out these pictures they sent us!

Looks like they live on a beautiful snowy mountain, eh? Really it's the same ol' place "way out there on the eastside." Not to say it's not beautiful, just not usually THIS kind of beautiful!

I knew Cookie Crisp was his favorite cereal, so I saved my nickels and dimes and bought the Family size box. I wrapped up that box as only a six year-old could - using a whole roll of scotch tape and topping it off with biggest, shiniest bow in the bag. I don't know whether claiming that box of sugar as his own was really his favorite gift that year, in fact, I'm sure it wasn't, but Kevin truly posseses the gift of showing gratitude. Handing him a million dollars couldn't have brought about a bigger smile and more sincere thanks. I was, to say the least, pleased that I had made my big brother happy that Christmas. In the long run, he gave me much more than I gave him. Most likely, he has forgotten about the cereal, but I haven't forgotten how he made me feel for giving him a simple heartfelt gift.

Be grateful this Christmas. Show your gratititude openly and selflessly. It will go a long way in making Christmas special for someone else. And really, that's what it's all about.

OK, so to answer a few random questions all in one shot:

• Reas hasn't really GONE anywhere. He just happened to be at school that night I was posting about being lonely. Guess it doesn't take much to make me sound desperate!! By the way, he just finished one more semester. We're almost half way done with Grad School!!!! Two more A's go on his record!


• IT'S A GIRL!!!! - yes another one. We're getting good at this girl thing, I guess. Ty's only a little dissapointed. He seems to think he has 3 brothers coming at some point and is willling to be patient. Ha ha. Funny joke, bud.


• Maggie's tooth FINALLY fell out. She says it feels really weird, but there's no way it can feel worse than having that thing sticking straight out between her lips.


• And last of all, (and I know no one asked about the weather, but this is just way too cool) It's kind of doing a rain snow thing outside right now!!!!! Woohoo! The kids are actually wearing COATS today! Well, all except Claire who I've realized actually doesn't own a coat. Good thing for layers.

I've never been much good at setting, no no, that would be KEEPING, an exercise routine for myself. I love playing sports, but really how often does that opportunity come around? Not much. So, every now and then I start feeling guilty about my inactivity. But I believe my days of laziness are over. We are the proud owners of a brand spankin' new

• It increases white blood cells, strengthening your immune system
• It circulates lymphatic fluids, so there are great detoxification effects
• It increases endorphins, so we can all be HAPPY!

And really, I'm no health nut, but this is definitely something we're trying out around our house.

By the way, you can get these things for like $30. And even cheaper on Craig's List, so it's an all around good thing!

Oh, one other thing. You might be wondering if a big trampoline will do the same things. Yes, they are great exercise too, but apparently the big ones give a stronger upward motion, while much of the force is down with the minis and that makes for somewhat different results.

And congratulations if you made it all the way through this boring informational post. You're a true friend. But I'll only know who my friends are if you leave me a comment. Yes, Reas is gone right now and I'm feeling lonely and needy. Please talk to me.

So I'm not sure which it is - I have a pumpkin deficiency, or the wee babe I'm growing has a pumpkin deficiency, OR these cookies are really just THAT good. Whatever the case, I cannot keep my hands out of the these delightful treats. When we got married my sweet grandma passed on a whole collection of her cookbooks to me. I found this recipe in one of them. The books are so old and so cute - and Robin, I could totally see them on display in your kitchen, except for that you don't cook, so maybe not.



Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

2 C. butter (sounding good already, eh?)
2 C. sugar
1 15 oz. can pumpkin
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
4 C. flour
2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1 1/2 C. chocolate chips (the recipe ACTUALLY has raisins and chopped nuts here, but really...)


Cream butter and sugar. Add pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla; beat well. Stir together flour, and next 5 ingredients; add to batter and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips ( or raisins and nuts, blah blah). Bake at 350 for 11-13 minutes. Makes about 5 dozen.




Just look at this baby!



And the best part - Grammy even signed the inside. Don't you love how Grandmas sign everything? THANKS GRAMMY!

You know that white, thick skin on oranges that your kids will never eat? I've discovered why!!
Today while trying to convince Claire to eat her orange, she said, "I don't want the cheese!"
Umm... I wouldn't eat it either.

Poor Maggie - or maybe it's really poor me for having to look at crazy-toothed Maggie. This thing is seriously driving me crazy. I'm ready to go yank it out during the night. One of her adult top teeth has started growing in before the baby tooth has fallen out. It must be coming in at a slight angle because THIS is what we get to look at day after day! I can't even push it back for temporary normalness because of the tooth that's behind it.

Yesterday, I asked her if anyone at school noticed her sudden onset of the worst snaggle tooth ever. One girl said it's "freaky" and "disgusting." Fortunately, Maggie's too busy being 7 too care what her friends think about her teeth.