Temple Square

This weekend was such a fabulous one. Justin and Mom took a road trip to Salt Lake to see friends and visit Temple Square. What a neat feeling we had seeing the lights and reconnecting with friends.
Here we are as we started out early in the morning.

We were able to stop and see Grandpa Hoopes. We have not seen him in over a year. It was so good to see him and know that he is doing well. We made plans to visit again with puzzles and goodies to eat.

Visiting Grandpa Hoopes and Sharon We picked up Mom's friend Lecia. They've been really good friends for a long time. They had a falling out and didn't talk for a long time. Mom missed her friendship with Lecia and decided it was time to make things right again. We are so glad that Lecia is still our friend. We have missed her and her son Dugan. Dugan was with his dad this weekend so we didn't get to see his sweet smile and hear his adorable laughter.

Mom and Lecia After picking up Lecia and exchanging gifts, we ventured to West Jordan and had lunch with Mom's good friend Kate. They use to work together at Merit and Mom really misses the walks and talks her and Kate use to have together. Kate had made some delicious homemade chili and cornbread. It was filling and so tasty. While Mom, Kate and Lecia talked, Justin and Kate's husband Ryan played Lego's Indiana Jones on the XBox.

Justin playing games at Kate's house. Mom and Kate...best friends

When it was time to go, Mom had a big surprised for Justin. She was taking him to the South Towne Mall to see Santa, just like she use to do every year for Christmas. Justin's face lit up when he saw the mall. Too bad the line was forever long and Justin didn't feel like waiting.

Justin and Lecia went to the food court while Mom picked up some last minute Christmas gifts.

We decided to take the UTA trax to Temple Square, another big tradition of Mom and Justin's. We use to take the trax all the time when we'd visit downtown Salt Lake. What a neat experience. A drunk man sat next to us and talked of his dad and shed tears when he talked about how he died. It made Justin nervous so we ended moving to the back of the railcar so Justin will feel safe.

On the trax to Temple Square!

Justin sure does miss riding the train. Look how happy he is! While traveling to Temple Square, Justin kept talking about the big statue of Jesus he remember seeing with his good friend Wyatt. When we found it, you would have thought we found gold. The Tree of Lebanon was spectacular. Our Relief Society President told us the story of how the woman from Lebanon brought this tree over as a gift to the LDS Church 75 years ago. Every year it is covered in red lights and is the oldest tree in Temple Square. It was neat to see it after learning the history behind it.We love to see the temple. Isn't it just beautiful? Here we are waiting for the train back to our car. It was very cold outside but we were so happy after feeling the spirit of Christmas at Temple Square. After a great night at Temple Square, we took Lecia to dinner at Training Table. We met her sister Kjersty there and her husband Drew. It was so good to see them again.

With our tummies full and our eyes tired, we decided to drive to Camille's house and stay the night with her adorable family. Justin had a great time with Mackenzie. They have been such good friends since the day they met. They are so different yet so alike.

Aren't they just adorable?

Visiting Grandpa Hoopes

Justin doesn't know Grandpa Hoopes very well. He asks about him a lot. We've decided this Christmas season that we will make the time to visit Grandpa Hoopes more.
Our first visit was Saturday. Justin was so excited to see him. We took pictures and Justin asked all sorts of questions like what he likes to do for fun and can we come visit him more?
Grandpa was thrilled to have company. We can't wait to visit again and put puzzles together...just like Mommy and Grandpa use to do all the time.
We love you Grandpa. Thank you for letting us into your home.

Justin's singing performance!

He made me so proud!

A poem for Justin

As many of you know, I love to write poetry. This is a poem I wrote for Justin about 5 years ago.

You are the sparkle in my eye
The joy in my soul
With you in my life
My spirit just glows

You give me strengths
You keep me strong
You fill my life with laughter
And my heart with song

When life gets hard
And it seems no one cares
You're always there
With a smile to share

You bring me happiness
With each passing day
You make life worth living
In your own special way

Each day is an adventure
No two days are the same
We're learning things together
And Mommy is my name!

I love you Justin Jeppen Allen. Thank you for giving me the honor of being your mother. What a blessing you are to me. I'm so proud of your sweet spirit and your kind heart. When I grow up, I want to be just like you!

The Articles of Faith

Back when Justin was about to start Kindergarten, his pediatrician told me there might be a slight speech problem. I did not like the sounds of that. So I went home and started working with Justin on speaking his words clearly. I found that he was memorizing things rather quickly. So I decided to have him memorize as many things as possible. His little mind was like a sponge. For starters, I taught him the 13 Articles of Faith. We would work each night on the pronunciation of the words and he got to where he could say each of them clearly and precisely.
After they were learned, we turned to the Pre amble to the Constitution, then to poems and whatever else we could get our hands on. It was so much fun watching him get excited.
Tonight, while reading the scriptures, Justin started reciting the fourth Article of Faith. After reading a few chapters in 1st Nephi, I dug thru a box and was able to find a list of the Articles of Faith. To my surprise, Justin still remembers all 13 of them. He was a little rusty on the last 3 but with a little help, he remembered them.
During his prayer tonight, he thanked Heavenly Father for helping him remember the Articles of Faith. He was so proud of himself and so was I.
Now I'm sitting in my bedroom studying for tomorrow's math final and Justin is laying in his bed singing the Articles of Faith found in the Primary song book.
I'm so proud of my little man. I love you Justin Jeppen Allen!

Tis the Season

What a wonderful day today was. Justin and I ventured out to stay with family and friends last night. Altho the roads weren't the best, we made it safely and I'm so glad we did.
This morning we woke to big fluffy snowflakes, falling to the ground. It was beautiful. The boys all bundled up to go play in the snow. The girls decided to stay in where it was warm and cook up lots of Christmas goodies.
I had the best time in the kitchen with my baby sister Joy and my sister-in-law Summer. We started out making cinnamon rolls, just like Mom did every year. Joy would remind me of all the little things Mom would say while teaching her girls the secret of good baking. After cinnamon rolls, we made divinity...a family favorite. To our surprise, Summer had never had divinity. So Joy and I went to work melting the sugar and karo syrup while telling her the secrets. When you're stirring candy, stir in the same direction the whole time. Don't scrape the sides, candy is not to be scraped. Stir continually until it starts to boil and the top turns white. After the white has disappeared and the mixture is clear, start with the egg whites and for flavor and color, add a package of jello mix. Summer was so excited to learn something she could make for my twin brother. She had been asking Jon for recipes that Mom use to make that she could make for him. Joy and I were so excited to share them with her.
While dropping spoonfuls of divinity onto the wax paper, the feeling of Mom filled the room. The conversation stopped for a moment, Joy and I looked at each other and both of us had tears in our eyes. We started reminiscing about the silly things Mom would do when we wouldn't obey. Like the time Joy and I didn't clean our room. Mom threatened to move us out to Girty's apartment, also known as the pig pen. Of course Joy and I didn't believe her so we ran off playing. That afternoon, Mom came to check on our room. Of course it hadn't changed. So Mom started gathering up our things and putting them in big black garbage bags. Joy and I grabbed our most valuables and clung to them on our beds while sobbing and begging Mom to please not make us sleep outside in the pig poop and cold. Needless to say, we learned our lesson.
We don't know how Mom raised 7 kids and 13 pigs and 3 calves and 2 billy goats. She did it with ease. There was a time when all 13 pigs got out of their pen and were scattered down the road. Us kids began to panic. Not Mom. She simply took a big paper bag full of apples, walked a little ways down the road and started dropping apples on the ground as she walked home. The pigs followed her. When she got to their pen, she emptied the rest of the apples inside. The pigs obediently went into their pen and they were locked in securely. We had a good laugh over that one.
After the boys came in all frozen and there had been numerous batches of divinity made in many colors and flavors, it was time for a nice warm lunch. Justin and I decided to head home. Justin had a plan.
On the way home, he was asking about a girl at my work who's son is chronically ill and seems to always have pneumonia. Justin has given Makai his new Vans shoes and many clothes since the family is struggling financially. Justin always loves taking things to Makai and seeing how happy he is. Justin asked if they were going to have Christmas. I told them I didn't know. Justin wants to take gifts to them on Christmas day and make sure they have presents to open.
Justin also asked if they had a tree. I didn't know. He said he wanted to take the money from his piggy bank and buy them a tree. So we came home, emptied his bank into a baggy and set off to find a tree. We had a hard time finding a place that even sells fresh Christmas trees. So I decided to start calling people and asking if they knew where to find fresh trees. One family said they had an extra one that they weren't going to use. I told them about our special family and they offered to deliver it to their home.
Shortly after that phone call, our special family called me. The mother was in tears. She thanked me for thinking of them and told me of how the father's paycheck wasn't as big as they had expected and they had decided not to get a tree this year since money was so tight. I told her how it was Justin's idea to make sure they had a tree. She was so happy and couldn't thank us enough. I had her tell Justin thank you and Justin's face had the biggest grin. You could tell it made him feel so good inside to know he helped someone. I was so proud of him. He seems to be in tune with others' needs and is always wanting to help. What a blessing he is to me.
We came home and made homemade bread. One of our adventures is Christmas caroling to a list of people. When we go, we want to have goodies too. So we started out with 10 loaves of bread. We wrapped them up tight and put them in a safe place until we make the rest of them.
What a great Christmas season this has been so far...and it's just begun it seems.
I hope everyone is able to feel of the spirit this time of year and find ways to serve others. What a great peaceful feeling that comes with it.
I love you Justin Jeppen Allen. Thank you for being my rock!

What kind thing did you do today?

Justin came up with a great idea. We need to find ways to be kind to others. Everynight, when we sit down to dinner, we ask each other, "What kind thing did you to today?" Justin's eyes light up and he gets excited to tell of the ways he helped others.
Today he helped a boy at scouts with his snowman. There is a girl at his school in a wheelchair. Justin helped push her thru the snow to her mother who was waiting by the car. You can tell his heart is filled with joy as he tells his stories. He let another kid take his turn at foos-ball while at daycamp.
Then he asks me what I've done. I helped someone at class tonight with their homework. I really need to work on helping others. I'm grateful I have such a great example to follow.
Justin really does have a big heart and he is so loving.
Last night while we were reading scriptures, Justin asked for my phone. I didn't know he was sending a text to Matt. It was so sweet of him. This is what he wrote..."me and my mom aer reading the scripres maby you shood read the scriptchers like we alwase do evree knite i love you gise more and more." I hope it didn't bother Matt that he sent it. There were other texts but that one was so precious.
I love you little man! You are so special!

The Adventure Jar

Justin and I have made a list of things we want to do this Christmas season. We cut up the list and put each adventure into the Adventure Jar. When we have a free night, we draw from the jar and that's what we do.
Our first adventure is the dancing Christmas lights in Iona. While watching the lights, you tune your radio to a certain station and the lights dance to the music playing on the station.
I went last year while Justin was with his dad. I'm so excited to take him tonight. If you're ever in Idaho Falls this time of year, you must take time to see the dancing lights. It's a big attraction and I'm so excited to see the look on Justin's face.
You can see the display on youtube...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsAuHuDXwE4

Justin's singing with Terri's Tavaci

Justin loved being on stage singing and dancing. He did such a great job and I was so proud of him. He enjoyed performing and looking FABULOUS!
I'm still trying to get the videos uploaded. Until then, trust me...Justin looks so adorable.

Pictures

I have been busy blogging on our new blog.
With my full time work schedule and Justin's activities (football, singing) and going to school full-time, I have a hard time finding time to keep caught up on housework and blogging. Life is GREAT and we are so happy!

More Football

Football

Justin sure does love football. His team holds practice Monday thru Thursday nights from 5:30 to 7:30. This makes Justin very tired at night and he falls to sleep so easily. They have had one scrimmage and one game. The scrimmage was hard cuz the kids were all bigger and stronger but the coach wanted to give them an idea of what they could be facing.
Justin is the smallest on the team but you would never guess such. He has great speed and determination to stop the ball. They won their first game 9 touchdowns to none. Justin's has been dubbed Sasquatch and when his team mates stand on the sidelines and yell, "Squash them Sasquatch!", that is when Justin goes in for the kill and always does some amazing tackles.
Justin loves to get into the faces of those much bigger then him. You can always hear him on the field saying things like, "Wanna piece of me?" or "I'm going to smear you into the ground." The other players seem to shrug him off and are always amazed when Justin does smear them into the ground.

Here are many pictures of Justin.