Kaitlyn's baptism

Kaitlyn turned 8 on July 15, the same day as her daddy's birthday and the day after our little Joshua was born. We were a few hours away from having three July 15 birthdays. Kaitlyn was excited to be baptized and confirmed by her dad on August 7. There were many family members there to support her on this very special day.

Brothers

Justin has been very excited about baby Joshua and, surprisingly, has not been very jealous of all the attention our new baby receives. He likes to hold Joshua and loves when I hold both of them and say, "I've got my two boys."

Don't worry, the third baby is just a doll, I think five children will do for us.

Welcoming Baby Joshua

Our new baby boy arrived on Wednesday, July 14. Joshua Paul Allen weighed in at 7 pounds, 7 ounces and was 20 inches long. Everything went well with the delivery and Joshua's first few days at home have been filled with gratitude. It is incredible the love that a new baby brings into a home.

Happy and relieved parents!

Justin suddenly seems like a little boy instead of our little baby. He is a sweet big brother.


Can life get any better than five beautiful children?!

Spring projects

Even though we have had a rather cool and wet spring, we have had a few projects going on. Scot, with some help from his dad, built a new swing set for the kids since the old one was falling apart. Justin and his little brother will be needing some outdoor fun as they grow. I guess I should mention that we are expecting a baby boy the middle of July. That explains the impetus for our other projects around the house. We have been moving bedrooms, painting, and sorting through all that "stuff" that can pile up over the years in a home. It has kept us very busy, but the girls are excited about their new bedrooms.

The kids wanted to help Scot build the little picnic table on the new swingset.

Kaitlyn and Justin seem to be working particularly hard.

Of course you have to take breaks for ice cream cones.

The kids are excited to welcome a new baby brother to the family very soon!

Spring Break

We decided to make use of our 3-day spring break by taking a quick trip to warm St. George. Our trip in the fall to Moab with our friends the Holbrooks ended up being successful enough that we decided to try another trip together. It is wonderful that our kids get along so well with their kids. The girls had fun while on this little hike.

The boys did quite well also.

Paul taught all the girls how to skip rocks. Amazingly, no one got hit by a rock.

Justin had fun throwing rocks as well.

Minnesota in February

Justin and I took a quick trip to Minnesota last month so that Justin could provide some excitement for my mom who had been laid up in bed with back problems (she is now doing much better). Not only did he provide comic relief, but he also provided lots of snuggles.

Mom sharing her love of the piano.

Dad enjoyed the attention too.

Ahhhhh.......Minnesota in February!

Update on family

It's time to provide a little update on the Allen family. I guess I should start with Christmas since that's where I last left off (and I don't have many other pictures from the last few months). One of Kaitlyn's favorite presents was her new craft/art kit.
For awhile now Kelsey has been collecting various kinds of scrap material from old clothes, tights, etc. to make things for her dolls. She was thrilled to get this little sewing kit with several new sewing supplies.

It is true that Ashley is fast approaching the teenage world and was in desperate need for an MP3 player.

It's amazing what kind of smiles emerge after getting into a new pair of warm, cozy pajamas!

We decided to encourage our little boy's penchant for playing with balls. I was excited about the basketball hoop for Justin, but I'm still trying to figure out why Santa would have brought him a University of Utah football.

Now if Justin could just grow a little bit.