Our Family Reunion July 2010

July 2010 was such a fun month. We took a road trip to Utah for the Allen Family Reunion.
We stayed at the Pineveiw reservoir for a week with Mom and Dad, Spencer and Becky and family, Ryan and Penny and Family and Joshua (dubbed the favorite uncle).
We boated, swam, went water skiing, rode on the tube and ate great food. It was a fun week with alot of great memories.
Some of the best ones are:
Playing kickball in the field
Getting up early to water ski with the adults
FHE with a bunch of crazy kids followed by Hagan Daz bars and silliness.
Attempting to inner tube down a river with the Kids. (bad idea)
Actually inner tubing with the adult girls (a blast and good idea)
Going for ice cream
Breakfast down the canyon at the Forks?
Watching our children swim in the pool.
Overall it was a great time with great memories.
Here are just a few of the pictures from the trip.

Long time gone

It's been a long time since I have even been on this site. In February Bryon lost his job. After that I went back to work almost full time to earn some money while Bryon searched for a job. Then in April we were blessed to have Bryon find a job with Harley Davidson. He is loving it and loves the environment at Harley. This week he is actually taking a motorcycle riding class. They want all of their employees to know how to ride the bikes so they can be knowledgeable and can ride the demo bikes at shows. He also has the perk of checking out a bike on the weekend and taking it home so we can ride it.
The girls are now out of school. This week they are at girl scout camp and Josh and I are hanging out together.
Next week Amanda goes to YW camp so Adri and Josh and I are going to hang together.
This summer is already flying by. We are having so much fun and the weather has been awesome. And by awesome, I mean warm and sunny.

The Blessings of Family

I am not the greatest writer (that is why I love to post pictures), but I wanted to share how important family is to me.
This last week my nephew Seth had to have heart surgery. He was only 2 weeks old. He is fine now and home with his family. What a miracle. What I learned from this is that no matter where you are, your family will always be there. While Penny was on her way to Primary Childrens with Seth, my mom was calling all of the other siblings and asking them to pray for Seth. Manda and I knelt down right then and said a prayer on his behalf. At that time, I know there were so many other prayers being sent forth and the power of that was great.
The ties that bind a family together are stronger than anything that is here on this earth. They are eternal. If we can keep that in our hearts everyday, Satan won't have a chance against us. Family can do anything when we are united together. I am grateful that we have forever families. I am glad for technology, so that we can remain close even when we live far away. I am also glad that we have the knowledge of the plan of salvation and we know where we are going after we leave this life. There are other family members in heaven waiting to welcome us home. I often miss my Grandpa Allen and wish for the days when he was around and would share his love and wisdom with us. I have so many wonderful memories of those times.
I often wish I lived closer to Utah and could spend more time with family.
But, I know there is a reason for our little family to be in Wisconsin right now. I just don't know what it is.
But no matter where I go or what happens to us, I know that my family (immediate and extended) will always be there for me.

Taking Pictures!

Well, we finally got the girls school pictures taken. It only took us 4 months. We did it along with Joshua's first birthday photos. The kids were so good and did great. Getting pictures taken is one of my least favorite things to do ever. But I always love the final results.

Joshua's 1st Birthday!!

We can hardly believe it has been one year, but here we are and Joshua is One. It goes so fast. This last year has been one of the best so far.