Christmas Time

It's been quite awhile since I have typed in this little corner of the word. I want to get back into writing. I know I write this introductory paragraph every time I write a post now, I do however have a goal in mind, about writing. I enjoy writing, I have more time now, and while Instagram is fun its not the same.

Merry Christmas from the Allens

Two days after Christmas and its 53° we spent Christmas at home which is now Roseville, California.  The kids are out playing basketball in the beautiful sunshiny weather. They have 2.5 weeks off from school this year. They don't go back until January 10th! The time will fly by quickly, but I will savor every moment.

On Christmas Eve we went to my sister's Sandi's house and spent time with her and her family. It was fun. We played games and had dinner. While we were driving home we dropped off some gifts for people in our ward. The kids decided to do a secret Santa, we had so much fun, I think we will do it every year. My heart beat fast when the kids and Lou ran to their door and quickly ran back to the car in order to not be spotted. When we first lived in our house in Provo, we had a family do the 12 days of Christmas for us. The family dropped off gifts and notes for 12 days in a row. I'll never forget that kindness, it made us feel welcomed and loved. We wanted someone else to feel the same.  Later that night, Lou and I sat by the fire listening to Christmas music. The Christmas spirit was strong. My heart couldn't have been any more at peace.

Lou reading one of our favorite Christmas Eve books "I Believe in Santa" 

Christmas morning was beautiful, there was no waking up super early, there was no rush to the tree. We woke up at 7 for church. We went to Sacrament meeting where we enjoyed a beautiful program of music and spoken word. After church we came home, we made a breakfast of pancakes and bacon. We leisurely ate while the presents remained under the tree. The kids did not complain, I think they enjoyed savoring the beautiful morning as much as Lou and I did. When it was time to open the presents there was such a peaceful feeling, I think because we had time to fully appreciate Christmas morning and what it is all about.  Later in the day we enjoyed a visit from Lou's good friend. We also talked with family on phone and FaceTime. The rest of the day was spent enjoying our new gifts and enjoying each other.

Josh and cousin Kyler making brownies

The move to Roseville, has not been easy for me. I spent the first 4 months in Boise finishing my student teaching. It was hard having my family starting a new life and me being left behind. I am glad I finished my degree but it was one of the hardest things I have had to do, being separated from my family. I am grateful that this past week has been so special, so full of the spirit of what life is all about that I am slowly being able to adapt to our move. I am going to enjoy our time in our little apartment before we buy a house. I will enjoy being so close near each other. The kids are getting older and who knows for how long they will be happy to spend so much time with mom and dad. It will be nice to have that forced time together in our little place.

Josh matched our stockings this year! 

2016 was a crazy year (once again) for our family. Changing jobs, selling our home, changing states, trip to Disneyland, trip to San Fransisco, finishing school. I am excited to see what 2017 will bring, hopefully I will share some of it on this blog  😊

Kira reading like always.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year: Love the Allens.

Its hard to believe that Christmas has come and gone. Every year the Christmas season seems to go by quicker and quicker. We enjoyed staying here for Christmas. I love doing things how our family wants to do them. I love having the focus be on our kids. It is just so nice. On Christmas Eve Lou had to work in the morning but we were so lucky to have him in the afternoon and evening. We did last minute grocery shopping (food for Christmas eve and Christmas) at Fred Meyers. It was funny to see all the men doing their last minute shopping, wandering down the aisles aimlessly. We came home and had a nice dinner. We had pasta, salad, and rolls. After dinner we started our Christmas Eve program. It was so fun. I think our kids are such the perfect age to celebrate Christmas. We began by singing Christmas songs, I played the piano. We sang and sang for nearly an hour. It was so fun. We read The Night Before Christmas, I Believe in Santa and of course Luke 2.

We decided a few years ago that on Christmas Eve we would open the gifts from my family and friends. As a child we opened all our gifts on Christmas Eve, we figured by opening gifts from the Field family on Christmas Eve we would be sticking with that tradition. We got such lovely gifts from my family. My friends also were sooo thoughtful. Robin got me a Jazz cookbook that was made in 1992-1993. It is seriously like the perfect gift for me! Alyssa got us basketball mugs (it has a hoop where you can shoot your marshmallows in the mug!) Moni got me two bags. I needed a new purse! After opening gifts we put the kids to bed.  I love Christmas Eve with Lou after the kids go to bed. It is seriously one of my favorite moments of the entire year! We wrap presents, eat treats and watch cheesy Christmas movies on Netflix.

The kids woke up a little before 7:00 on Christmas. They were so excited to open their gifts. They got a Wii U this year for their big gift. They got Wii U games, spy gear, Star War toys and more :)

We had a fun Christmas! Lou was able to work from home a lot this week,it was so nice after hardly seeing him the last month. Today he however had to work and is working late. Now it's New Year's. Its 2015. Its crazy how fast time flies. I never like the month January. It always seems like such a let down after December. I am trying to have a good attitude though this year. I will appreciate the little things and make January great.

Fabulous Four Months and Christmas

Has it really been four months since I posted? I just finished reading my friend's Alyssa's most recent post, she felt bad for not posting for five days. I thought I should really post something on my blog since its been much longer than five days, I had no idea it had been four months!

We had a busy four months.  It was full of school, homework, piano, dance, basketball, scouts and work for Lou.  Its hard to believe I am finished with my first full semester back at school. I absolutely loved it even though it made me so much busier than I prefer to be. I feel like I did well.  I got all A's. Only one of my grades has posted and it was an A+. I didn't even know that was possible haha. My other classes I am either averaging 99% or over 100% so yay. I am confident Heavenly Father is lending a helping hand. I know he wants me to become a teacher.

I finished my last final on Tuesday. I have absolutely loved the last five days.  I am excited about the next two weeks that the kids will be home from school.  I don't start school again until January 14th. I wish Lou had weeks off like we do. We have hardly seen Lou since before Thanksgiving. I honestly think we have seen him (aside from Sundays and sleeping) maybe 20 hours total since Thanksgiving. His work has been crazy, its been hard on all of us.

Some highlights of the last four months:

Lou and I went on a field trip with Josh back in October

We went as a family to see Meet the Mormons. It was incredible. I can't wait till its released on DVD.

My friend Rachelle and her son Daniel came to visit us in October. It was so fun! It definitely wasn't long enough. I love Rachelle and the kids just love Daniel. We are so happy they made it up here. 

We went to the BYU football fireside when BYU football played Boise State. The fireside is very popular in Boise. They decided to broadcast it in stake centers throughout Idaho and parts of Oregon because they can't possibly hold all the people who want to attend in a single stake center. It was great!  I love to see that side of my favorite football team.

Lou and I went to the BYU/Boise St game. Nana came to watch the kids.  Nana bought me that fun BYU scarf and Y stickers to wear to the game. I have been wearing it a lot since then too :)  Kira looks tots adorbs in it with my BYU hat.

 While Nana was here we went to a pumpkin patch. It was a little farm in Kuna, Idaho. It was a perfect fall activity. I don't even know how to describe how it was just perfect. It was free (lots of pumpkin patches aren't). We got to enjoy a hayride out to the pumpkin patch. After picking pumpkins we got to pick apples. We had so much fun.

Kira had a piano recital when Nana was here. She played Hedwigs Theme from Harry Potter and a song called Spooktacular that Kira wrote. It is a great song. Its impressive that Kira can compose songs! 

Kira had a sonatina festival in October and a hymn festival in November. For her sonatina festival she received a Superior ranking and was ranked as an honorable mention for her level. There were probably at least 75 kids that competed at her level. So to be a top 5 is pretty amazing.  With her hymn festival there were no rankings (like 1st place or honorable mentions) but she did receive another Superior ranking! Kira is very talented at the piano.

Kira and Josh both did basketball this year. Kira through the school and Josh through the YMCA. They had a lot fun. It kept us super busy with all the practices and games, but it was so worth it. They enjoyed it so much. Josh's basketball finished yesterday.

We spent Thanksgiving in Boise. It was our second Thanksgiving with just our family of four. We had a lovely time. I think our meal turned out even better than last year. Leann and Jeff sent us these lovely flowers letting us know they were missing us. 

Thanksgiving brought our second annual Christmas box. It was just as fun this year even though it wasn't a surprise like last Thanksgiving.  They received fun shirts, ornaments, movies and candy. 

Josh's awesome Yoda Christmas shirt. 

Kira's dance studio put on different numbers from the Nutcracker. Kira did so well! It was fun and got us into the Christmas spirit. 

Josh and I waiting for her recital to begin. Josh asked if I knew what a photobomb was. He said mom quick take a selfie and let me show you. He is such a funny boy.

We have gone to Boise Towne Square mall a few times this Christmas season. Kira fell in love with these wind things. She especially loved that they had a BYU one.  Boise Town Square mall is really nice. It has fun stores and is always clean. 

Sometimes we wake up the kids in the "middle of the night" just for fun, for a few minutes. They are always so funny and go right back to sleep. Usually annoyed that we woke them up. We woke up the kids one at a time to show them the new Star Wars preview.  Josh had a hard time waking up for it. The next day he asked if we brought him down to watch Star Wars or if it was a dream haha. We showed him and Kira the preview again. They loved it. 

I have been trying to do fun Christmas stuff all month. I haven't wanted the excuse of school to get in the way. This last Saturday (13th) while Lou worked all day, the kids and I made my mom's sugar cookies. We delivered some to a few of our neighbors. We watched Disney's Christmas sing-a-long when baking the cookies. It was a blast.  Every night we have been reading scriptures about Christ from this advent calendar. We also watch Christmas videos/clips from these Christmas topic links at lds.org and the Mormon Channel. (Click them for great Christmas videos) It has added a lot to our Christmas season. It has helped us get excited for Christmas but also keep in the true spirit of Christmas. 

Now we have just a few days before Christmas. We are so excited to spend it with each other. I love my sweet family.

Busy December Saturday

We had a fun Saturday.  We  were invited to a Christmas party from our good friends the Uffenorde's.  We are so lucky to have them as our friends.

Poor Joshy had a headache at the party so he spent a lot of it cuddling up to me on the couch. (I didn't mind that at all)

After the party we went to the new outlet mall at Traverse Mountain.  It was snowing crazy hard in Herriman but by the time we reached IKEA there was no snow at all. I was happy I wasn't looking forward to driving in a huge storm around point of the mountain, so thank goodness I didn't have to!

We had fun at the mall. Leann invited Mandy and Jake, and Cassidy and Mark. I didn't know they were coming so that was fun.  Kira was excited to see Claire.  The kids got to see Santa. They happened to be standing there right when Santa returned so there was no waiting!

Josh got sicker throughout the day. By the time we ate dinner at JCWs he felt so bad he fell right to sleep.

So happy we were so busy today. Saturdays are the hardest with Lou gone (Saturdays and Sundays). next weekend Lou will be home and the weekend after that!  Last night I missed Lou so much that I cried. After watching the Jazz game. I went upstairs looked at the tree, listened to Pink Floyd and just sat there thinking about my Lou.  I love that guy so much. I am so blessed to be able to feel that kind of love in my life. 

A Nauvoo FHE

On Monday I took the kids to "A Christmas in Nauvoo".  The Education in Zion Gallery in the Joseph F. Smith building at BYU put it on this special FHE. While we were waiting for the program to begin, we had plenty of time to look at the displays and think, I really have a problem lately with not wanting to be late or even cutting it close, so we arrived about 15 minutes early to the event. As the kids were looking around and I was starring out the window onto campus I had a feeling of melancholy overcome me.

the winding stair case that reminded the children of Harry Potter!

It will be very hard to leave BYU and Provo.  I imagine they have interesting things and events in Boise too but they don't have BYU events.  It made me want to cry to think we are moving away from the place that I love.

The show was nice.  They had three volunteers, one was a narrator, the other was dressed as Eliza Snow and then the third was Wilford Woodruff.  They talked about early Christmas traditions that the Saints held.  They asked the audience questions of our Christmas traditions, food we eat during the holidays. It was fun to hear what other people do and to share what we do.  We sang Christmas hymns throughout the thirty minute program.  We sang Joy to the World, Hark the Herald and Silent Night was the closing hymn.

I of course thought of my dear Grandma Field as we sang Silent Night. Grandma loved that song and Grandma loved BYU and Provo.

After the program we had cookies and hot chocolate.  I think the songs and treats were the kids favorite part of the night.

We had such a fun FHE the only thing missing was Louis.

lou is home

yes a pic from Halloween, I finally took them off our camera. Do you like me and Lou's couple costume? I am a witch and lou is a muggle from HP 1 when Seamus says "me dad's a muggle ; mam's a witch" 

• we picked up lou from the airport this morning, yay for lou being home.
• last night was the only night I had to work when lou was out of town but I got there and they said I didn't need to work because our section was super small for everything that was going on and they weren't going to have a Scoreboard page.  It was nice though I stayed for an hour and the kids were in bed when I got home. Our neighbor's the Grows watched the kids for me, they first went to the Grow's house and played Wii then Tabby their daughter brought them back to our house and put them to bed. Its so nice to have nice neighbors who are more than willing to help out!
• Friday night I hung out with Robin. We watched Downton Abbey and ate yummy lime flavored popcorn. Don't judge it was really really good, it was just a hint of lime. We also had mint m&m's and cadbury mini-eggs. I had totally forgotten that Cadbury puts out their mini-eggs at christmas time now, it was such a happy surprise when I saw  them at the store. 
• Today i have been super tired, no idea why I got over 8 hrs of sleep last night. I nearly fell over playing the piano for the Children's choir after church today I was so tired. 
• tonight we are having dinner at the Jensen's house. We went a few weeks ago. They have a big dinner every Sunday with lots of people over. I visit teach Kelly and Lou and Corey get a long really well.  There was a bunch of college-aged kids a few weeks ago at the dinner, our kids felt like they fit right in with them, happily sitting at the "kids table" with the college kids. 
• last Sunday I went with Alyssa and her friend Kate to the Messiah Sing-A-long at Abrevenal Hall. I meant to do an entire blog post about it but alas the week escaped me. We had such a good time. Alyssa's husband Jared, recently started working for the Church so we were able to park underneath the Conference Center, it was great to not have to worry about a parking spot. When we were walking there we saw Doug and Elizabeth Finlinson (Sharon's brother-in-law and his wife). The music was so beautiful. The soloists did a great job as did the choir. I love singing it even when I don't really know it all. Alyssa and I went a few years ago to the one in Provo so it was lots of fun to do it again but this time in Salt Lake. The spirit was very strong. It was a great introduction to the Christmas season.

Quick glimpse of this week

A quick look at our last few days:

• Kira is sick today, she woke up in the middle of the night, throwing up and whimpering. This morning she was very determined to go to school, I let her go as I suspected a few hours later I got a phone call from her saying she wanted to come home.  Kira is so sweet when sick that its not too bad, she is old enough to throw up in the toilet so that's nice.  Kira slept a good chunk of the day.  I don't think she'll be going to school tomorrow either but who knows maybe its just a 24 hr bug.
• Lou is out of town- I miss him. He'll be gone a total of six days.  Its not as bad as when he'd have to go out of town when the kids were younger and not in school, now that was hard. Now that the kids are in school its not as stressful, I just get to miss him because I miss him not because I need the break or help with the kids.
• I started working at the bookstore for the Christmas season. I wasn't going to do it anymore because of the Daily Herald job but here I am doing it. I have only worked 10 hrs this week though because of well Kira being sick today I only worked 2 hrs before she called, and then the other days I had to go to play the piano at the school for the choir so my hrs were limited.  I am not planning on working as many hours since I do have the Daily Herald job and the after-school hour at the school. I just wasn't quite ready to give it up in-case I decide or I am not working other jobs next year at this time. 
• We started our advent calendars today. I bought 4 from the bookstore.  We listen to a christmas hymn read part of Luke 2 and then ate our yummy German chocolate, except for poor Kira who took one bite and decided she did not like it when sick. 
• I am beginning to feel great anxiety about the house getting done, I don't like anxiety
• I love that it is Dec 1st 

Christmas Time in Pictures

Josh loves to shovel snow.  Anytime it snows he is out there shoveling, he even helped his Teacher Assistant, our neighbor, Mary shovel her driveway without being asked. Josh did get a nice mug of hot chocolate from Mary afterwards.

Eating pizza for lunch on Christmas Eve at our favorite pizza place, Nicolitalias.  It is the best pizza outside of New York.

Me and my girl excited for Christmas!

Lou and Josh with their cool flannel shirts and jeans.

A family in our ward did the twelve days of Christmas for us. It really made our Christmas to know someone was thinking of us.  They also had us over for a party for New Years Eve. We love this ward.

Lastly me and Lou at a Jazz game. I have been fortunate to go to 4 games so far this season, 3 in the lower bowl.  I have received or won the tickets, haven't had to pay for one yet :)


So theres a quick recap of our holiday season.