...and we made it through nursery! Well kind of!!

So nursery went a little bit better than I expected. So I have to explain a little bit about our nursery. When we moved into the ward it was huge. Ok so huge is an understatement. Gargantuon!!(spelling) Over 55 kids in nursery. So 2 weeks ago they split our ward but the nursery is still huge. There are 35 kids now so they put the kids into groups and split the gym into stations and rotate every 15 minutes. SO we go in and get Ryley's name tag (which goes on their backs so they can't take them off) and went to our first station. I figured I would stay for a little while till she got distracted and then I would leave. Our first station was singing so we got singing and I tried to leave but Ryley noticed before I could even get out of the station so I went back in for awhile and then I left. Well before I could get out the gym door I heard her crying but a mom in the hall assured me that she would be fine and all would be well. If it got too bad they would come and find me. So nervous me couldn't even listen to the lesson because I was so paraniod the whole time that she was just crying and not doing good. Well I should have not worried cause she was just fine. We made it through Sunday School and I was so excited to get to listen to the Relief Society lesson and then what do you know. One of the nursey ladies came and said"Ryley is wet. I don't know if she just spilled her water at snack time or if she leaked through her diaper. " So off I go to save the day. She just had spilt her water and she must have sat in it cause she was soaking wet. But what was I supposed to do. I didn't have a change of clothes so we made it through the last 45 minutes. Well once I was in there she wouldn't let me leave so I spent the rest of church in the nursery. But all in all she did awesome. Can't wait till this Sunday when she has some familiar faces(Bryson, Haylee, Abby) to play with. So I guess that is our nursery story . Oh and the pictures are before our first day in nursery. She wouldn't pose very well so we got her doing her normal thing in the morning. Eating cereal and drinking milk!!!

HELLO NURSERY!!!!

It is a very happy day in the Allen home today!! We are celebrating Ryley's big 18 month birthday and rejoycing because that means she finally gets to go to nursery unattened by me the mom!! Well we will just see how that goes cause she is still a mommy's girl and thinks she needs me. But what a happy day!! She is really getting to be too big though. She is really talking up a storm and is keeping us quite entertained to say the least. I am so excited for Christmas it should be a blast this year! I love you RYLEY!!

ABC Tag, Watch out you might be next!!

I was just waiting till I recieved a tag and well here it is!!

A- Attached or Single? Attached, going on five years!
B- Best Friend? Clay
C- Cake or Pie? Probably Pie, Pecan
D- Day of Choice? Friday or Saturday, Weekend
E- Essential Item? Purse, never leave home without it
F- Favorite color? Pink
G- Gummy Bears or Worms? Bears
H- Hometown? Paul, Idaho Go Panthers!! (sorry Grandpa had to through that one in)
I- Favorite Indulgence- Shopping
J- January or July? July, I love the summer
K- Kids? One Our little Princess Ryley
L- Life isn't complete without? Family and Friends, Don't realize how much you need and appreciate them till you are miles away!
M- Marriage Date? June 6, 2003
N- Number of Brothers and Sisters? 2 brothers, One Sister
O- Oranges or apples? Apples
P- Phobias or fears? Heights, snakes and spiders
Q- Quote? "Remember who you are" Love ya Dad
R- Reason to smile? Ryley and her cute little way about life
S- Season of choice? SUMMER
T- Tag three friends or family (if your name is here you have to do it) Megan, Stacia, and Carrie
U- Unknown fact about me? I LOVE BAGS!! Mostly purses but my Dad says I came out
with a bag in my hand!!
V- Vegetable? I love most all veggies!!
W- Worst habit? When Clay has a drink I always have to have a sip and it drives him bonkers!!
X- X-ray or ultrasound? I have only ever had an ultrasound so I don't know the difference.
Y- Your favorite food? That's my problem I like everything!! But probably pasta!!
Z- Zodiac sign? Virgo

At last!!

Well this week has been one I have been waiting for, for a long time. Since we have moved here I have kind of been having a hard time finding something to keep me busy. I haven't done a whole lot of hair since we moved here but it is crazy how fast word gets around and you start getting phone calls. This week I did two colors and three haircuts. It is so nice to have that little piece of me back. It is kind of my little get away (well kind of, I still have to fight Ryley cause she thinks she needs to help) but all in all it is good for me. We also had an awesome weekend. Friday night we got invited to a super fun Christmas Sparkle Party. It was way fun. There were probably 15 couples there and we all brought a appetizer. I took spinach dip(thanks Mom for growing me up on it) and it was a hit. I left with nothing left on my platter. We kind of just hung out and talked for a while till everyone got there and then we did a white elephant gift exchange. It was hilarious. Then we played this fun Name Game. If you want to know how to play I will email instructions to you cause it is kind of confusing to explain. You just have to play and you totally catch on. But is was probably the funnest game I have played in a long time. So that was Friday night. On Saturday night we had a dinner for a lady in our ward who has cancer. It was at a couple in our wards beautiful home on the river. There were about 25-30 couples there. It was a wonderful meal. We started off with soup, I had Tomato Bisque and Clay had Clam Chowder. Next was salads and we both had Caesar Salad. For the main course we both had Filet mignon(however you spell it STEAK) with sauteed mushrooms and onion, vegetable, and I had wild rice pilaf and Clay had garlic mashed potatoes. And last but not least for dessert I had molten chocolate cake and Clay had poached pear with custard sauce. I cannot even explain in words how delightful and delicious our meal was. Words can't even describe it. WOW WOW WOW!!! The lady who made the meal is well known around here for her wonderful abilities in the kitchen. When the temple was dedicated here she was asked to prepare the food. Oh ya for President Hinckley. You know she is good when our sweet prophet is involved. What a wonderful man. So ya it was amazing. The tickets for our dinner were $25 for each person and the money goes to help the lady in our ward. So such a nice weekend but at the same time motherly instincts kick in and I worried about Ryley quite a bit. It is the first time I have ever left her with anyone other than family and the first time since we moved. But she did awesome and last night she slept in her big girl bed all night long!!! We will see how long that one lasts. But all in all it was such a good weekend and good for Clay and I to have some one on one time alone together. I hope everyone is doing good and we can't wait till Christmas to see everyone. Love you all!!

Gingerbread House

The other night some friends invited us over to make gingerbread houses and I thought oh that will be fun for me and Ryley and didn't think much about Clay enjoying it but look at him go. He had a blast and made the cutest house ever. I was really proud of him. It is fun to see him enjoy something so simple and have fun with it. Good job babe!!

I na go!

Ryley was so cute this morning. Clay was getting ready to leave for work and she heard him say that he was leaving so she went and got her shoes and looked at him and said "I na go!" How cute, huh?!?! How could you pass that up? I know I couldn't. But well he had to go without her cause well she wasn't ready at all, hence the jammies. So she cried as he left but then got over it! But Oh our sweet little Ryley!! Too cute!

And... We have a hole!!

So we finally have a hole or at least a bunch of dirt just pushed aside to make a space for our house. It wasn't what I was expecting cause I was thinking a 3 foot hole in the ground but pushed away dirt works for me as long as my house will fit on it. Sooooo exciting!! One step down alot to go!!

Happy Turkey Day!!

Hello everyone! We just wanted to wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you had an enjoyable one. Ours was very good and spent with special friends. We wish we could have spent it with family but we will be home for Christmas. Clay is pretty proud cause he got to carve his first turkey!! Way to go babe!! We love you all and you are always is our thoughts and prayers. We are grateful for all of you this holiday season!!

Rainy but fun!

We had a wonderful weekend. Clay's parents came up to visit and check out our new area. We had a lot of fun. The boys went and toured some packing facilities Friday while us girls went shopping. We went to some fun craft stores and decorating stores. On Saturday the boys went and set up a table at Sportsman's and sampled jerky all day. It seemed like they were successful let's just hope we have some repeat customers. And us girls hung out and did a little more shopping. And we made Grandma Allen curly again. I gave Cindy a perm that morning. It was nice to do that cause I needed a little refreshing on my perming skills. It has been a while since I gave a perm. Ryley has decided her new sentence in life is "I want some more!" Can you believe it that that would be her first sentence? What kid doesn't want more!! Ha ha We just had to laugh at her cause it didn't matter what it was she wanted more. It is actually pretty cute. It was a great weekend except for the fact that it pretty much rained the whole time. I was hoping we would have beautiful 60 degree weather but oh well. Mother nature rules once again. OH I need another moment to brag. Ryley went #2 at church yesterday!! On the Big Big Girl Pottie!! It was so awesome. It was like she just knew what to do. She did her thing and then said "Done!" I'm a proud Mommy!!! Ok I am done bragging!! No new house news. We still just have a lot with dirt on it, no hole in the ground. Maybe this week!!

I'm a big girl now!!

Ok so I have been trying to decide whether to put this on or not but I have to brag. That is my right as a mother, Right? Well I think it is!! Ryley is getting to be a big girl, she has gone #2 on the big girl potty 3 times!! I am so proud of her. Hopefully she will catch on to the whole idea and be potty trained someday soon. I am about tired of diapers. But I am so proud of her. Yeah Ryley!!!

Winter is coming!

It is starting to finally get a little colder here. Can I tell you how much I love the weather here?!? It is awesome. It has been between 55-60 this whole week. We still don't really need jackets. Beautiful sunshine and fall leaves. It can't get any better. We had our family pictures taken this week which I am so excited for since we really haven't had any since Ryley was 2 weeks old. So it will be good to have new ones. I am getting so excited to have my own house. I keep telling Clay all my decorating ideas and I think I am making him a little nervous. I know it will take time to have it the way I want it but I just think it is fun to explore my options and dream. Dream big I guess cause that is all I have right now!! haha. Well one day it will be fun to fulfill my dreams. I am so excited for the holidays. I love this time of year and the feelings you get because of how special this time really is. Christmas is going to be fun with Ryley this year. She will kind of get the whole presents thing, I hope. And I am most excited because we get to go home to Idaho and see our families. Clay's parents are coming this weekend to see us and I am excited to have them come stay with us. It will be fun to show them our new area. And to just see familiar faces. Hopefully this week will go by fast!!

Future home of the Allen's

This is our lot where our soon to be house is going to be built!! YEAH!! We are so excited. They should start digging the foundation the end of this week. One more step to being done. Watch out Orchard Park the Allen's are coming!!

Halloween Fun

Carving pumpkins with our Dad!! It is good we have him around cause carving pumpkins isn't easy!! Or I am a wuss! One of the two!!

We love the farm!!

We have one proud Daddy in our house!! He loves to be in the fields and on the farm. He misses it alot but he is still around it so that is good for Clay. But these are a few pictures of beet harvest.

Back in the Saddle again..

So it has definitely been awhile since I have updated our online life. We have been in Idaho for the past 2 weeks and just got home on Thursday. We went back and helped harvest sugar beets with Clay's family. It was a fun trip but it was good to get home also. So now it is back to the ol' bump and grind of life. Clay is working his hardest to sell, sell, sell. If only the farmers would buy, buy, buy. Ha ha just kidding. Well it would be nice. We have some exciting news though. Before we left for Idaho we had been looking at some houses and couldn't decide what we wanted to do. So I told Clay let's just go to Idaho and see how things pan out when we get back. Let things rest a little. We got to Idaho and the next day our relator calls us and told us that the first house we put an offer on the girl decided to accept it. Totally didn't see that one coming. So we were really excited about that but then we started talking on the way home and we decided we would talk to our apartments to see how hard it would be and the risk we would be taking to try and find someone to take over our lease. So we got back and talked with them and it didn't sound to promising without us losing money so we decided to not go with the house and possibly build one. Well our decision is made and we are building a house!!!! Yeah!! So exciting. So watch out Orchard Park here come the Allen's!! We are building a 1400 sq ft home over in Kennewick, just across the river from here. It works out perfect for our lease and everything. We got to pick out colors on Saturday and that was fun but kind of scary at the same time cause you just have little samples to pick things out with and I almost need the whole picture to see it but I think what we picked will be nice and just right for us. So anyways... That is our good news for this week.

Down the Drain

So it is a no go on the whole house thing. It is so hard being stuck in a lease when you find a house that is so perfect. We would have got the house but the owner wasn't too keen on our contingency of getting out of our lease contract. So we are hopeful but houseless once again. Guess our little apartment will do for now. I love it so I am ok until we find something else. I guess it wasn't meant to be.

Trying to find a place called home!

Well it has been a little while since I last checked in. We have had a good last couple of weeks. My family came up from Burley last weekend and it was so fun. It was good to see familiar faces and to spend time with them. We did a little shopping and just hung out. What a blast!! Clay has been super busy with the new job and trying to get everything figured out. Still!! Hopefully one day he will have everything under control. Ryley and I have just been hanging out and having fun. She is starting to become my big helper. Just check out the cookie pictures. We had a mess. She is just so fun and has the cutest little personality. So since we got up here we have been looking around for a house and a nice area to live in. We found this house that is like 30 seconds from where we live now and are so in love with it. So we put in an offer this morning and are trying to make it work with the last owner but she is kind of putting a damper on everything. So we will see how things go and keep you updated. We really would just like to find a place that we can call our own and make our own. So we will keep looking and praying for the right thing. Hopefully something will work for our benefit and we will love it. As long as we are together we will be just fine.

Just a little update!

Well I just thought I would clue you in on Washington a little bit and why we are here for those of you who don't know. Clay was offered a job as a potato equipment salesman for Double L Manufacturing out of American Falls, Idaho. It was such a good opportunity that we couldn't pass it up. So that brought us here to the Tri-Citites area of the state of Washington. It is a beautiful area with lots of new things to see and do and explore. The area reminds me a lot of the Twin Falls area. It is not a busy city like I thought it was going to be. It seems to me that it is pretty much running off the farms and plants that are around here. In this area alone actually grows more potatoes than the whole state of Idaho. There is a lot of farm land. We are so close to everything. We are at the most 10 minutes from anything. The temple is 7 minutes from our house and it is beautiful. I am so excited to live so close to the temple. Our ward is the fastest growing ward in the state of Washington. There are 600 members, only about 300 attend sacrament every week. They have at least 1 to 3 new families a week join the ward. This is my favorite part cause it is absolutely crazy. There are 80 kids under the age of 3. The nursery consists of 55 kids and about 22 adults. They have to have nursery in the gym because they don't have enough classrooms to seperate the nursery into age groups. Can you only imagine what snack time is like?!?! There are about 180 kids in the primary. They are actually going to be splitting the ward to help with all the people. So crazy, I know. I have a feeling that this is going to be a good place for us to meet new people and have some friends around our age. Very exciting. Well I guess that is about it for now. C-ya

Check out my Slide Show!

Check out my Slide Show!

Welcome to Washington

Well we have finally made it here to good ol Pasco, Washington. After quite the ordeal with the whole moving company, we are finally done with them and on our own. We are totally unpacked and trying to make things work here. Ryley and I have done a little exploring around to find new things to do and see. Clay is off to his new job and loving it. Just his cup of tea. Farmers, crops, equipment and talking. Things he knows best. It makes Clay feel a little more at home to be around the farming industry. I am adjusting fairly well but still miss home and am ready to met some new friends but that will all come with time. So all in all everything is good.