couldn't be happier...

I know I have not been much of a blogger lately. Time continues to go by much to rapidly. I get behind in posts, then I feel overwhelmed and then I just decide to bag the whole thing. I really need to stop procrastinating.

So here is an update of what has been going on in our neck of the woods

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That's right! The Allen Duo is soon going to be the ALLEN TRIO. I am 14 weeks along and Todd and I could not be happier. We have heard the heartbeat and it was the most incredible sound we have heard! We still have not seen a little picture of our baby but I am told that waiting until 20 weeks for the first ultrasound is normal (although it does not help me feel less anxious) - I am learning that I really need to start enjoying things in the moment because if time really is going by faster, the next 183 days are going to fly by and before you know it baby Allen will be here.

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We were able to share the wonderful news to our families on Mother's Day (and my birthday). I was only 7 weeks along but we felt like it would be a perfect day to tell them.

We went to my parent's home for a birthday/mother's day dinner. Afterwards we opened presents. The picture frame above was what I gave to my mom. It goes along with a book called 'I'll Always be Your Daughter' - It is a fable and will definitely make you cry.

(sorry, in advance, for the overload of pictures)

I had my mom read the book first so that she would understand the picture frame.

After she read the book she opened her last present...

I absolutely love the look on her face. I think she was in shock.

my cute parents

two happy grandparents

Uncle Matt - he already is the coolest Uncle ever to 62 other nieces and nephews. Now our little baby will have the same privilege.

The Gillett's stopped by soon after we told my parents and Matt so of course we had to tell them too.

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Off to Connie's for dessert with Todd's family.

We did a similar picture frame for Connie and Todd's grandparents.

Here Connie is opening her present...

... here are her reactions to said present...

I have her GRAND reaction recorded on my phone but I can't figure out how to get it to my computer so even though there is no sound, I am sure you can hear Connie screaming.

Here are the picture frames that we gave them.

Celebrating with the family

a good quote...

I found this quote on someone else's blog and thought I would share it.

Happy rainy Wednesday!

hope & finding beauty...

So back in March my mom and my sister invited me to come and listen to Stephanie Nielson (NieNie) at their Stake's Women's Conference in Alpine.

Of course I went. It was such a neat experience, humbling really - for two reasons.

• Reason #1 •

(and of course these are not in order of importance because I think reason #2 is pretty special and I wanted to save the best for last.)

NieNie titled her talk: 'hope & finding beauty'. I took my notebook and a pen ready to write down some things that stood out to me but as she talked I realized that I would have to write down everything she was saying, so I just listened. If anyone has the knowledge of HOPE - it is her (although I am sure her humble self would not agree).

I often think that "my life is hard" or "why did this happen"

but if anyone can go through what she went through (and is going through)

and still find HOPE and BEAUTY

then why can't I?

Stephanie also shard this quote that I really liked:

“Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it,

casts the shadow of our burden behind us.”

-Samuel Smiles-

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• Reason #2 •

Many of you don't know this but my mom is a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. She was born in Illinois but moved to Arizona when she was younger and grew up there. In high school she had a friend name Mary who was LDS. My mom noticed how Mary was "a little different". Mary had a lot of siblings and even took time of school when her mom had a baby so she could help with the other kids.

I don't remember exactly how it happened or who brought it up but my mom was introduced to the Mormon church. She began reading the Book of Mormon and she acted on Moroni's promise and gained her own testimony that it was true and was later baptized.

So you see, me, my sisters, my brothers and my dad are forever grateful for Mary and her example to my mom and for sharing this wonderful gospel with her. And for our mother, who listened to the promptings of the spirit.

Our lives our forever changed because of that.

Because someone wasn't afraid to share what they believed in

and wasn't afraid to let 'their LiGhT shine'.

Thank you, Mary!

The reason I share that is because on the night I went to hear Stephanie speak,

I also got to meet Mary and her wonderful husband.

You see, Mary is Christian Nielson's (a.k.a. Mr. Nielson) mother. They were up from Arizona for their granddaughters baptism and came to hear Stephanie speak.

I don't know if I can express adequately my gratitude for her

for what she did for my mom...

for what she did for my family.

my lovely mom (r) with Mary (l)

From left to right: Mary Nielson, my mom, me, Brooke (sister) and Bailey (niece).

lunch with the ladies

Today I had the privilege of going to lunch with these lovely ladies. We had so much fun and the conversation was great - although I am sure the guy sitting next to us heard more than he wanted to hear ;o)

Thanks to Kate for putting it all together (and for inviting me). It is amazing to think that we have all known each other 10+ years - some we have know our whole lives. Thanks girls - I had fun!

Christmas Sweater Whobalation

We are so grateful for such amazing friends.

The kind of friends that you can say or do or wear anything and they love you anyways...

... Case in Point ...

We had our annual friend Christmas party on Monday at The Pie. This party gets better every year. We had so much fun with everyone that was there and missed those who weren't.

Thanks to Carlie who organized all of this.

Todd and I had so much fun and we are truly grateful for such wonderful friends. We love you all!

The Group

Todd & Rachel Allen, Tyler & Carlie Yearsley, Kimball & Michelle Cluff, Brian & Brendi Terry, Travis & Kristy Zingleman, Kyle & Monica Scott

NOT PICTURED: Aaron & Samantha Tadje, Kody & Kristin Kelsch

Tyler's sweater was awesome!

This isn't uncomfortable at all. Michelle and I think that this will be next year's Christmas card.

Every year we do white elephant gifts and there are always some treasures.

This year it was the dickie that Todd got.

Yes, that is a goldfish! What a great idea for a white elephant gift.

a celebration of life!

My Dad's 80th birthday was celebrated in the form of a family reunion because he insisted it was not about him...

but we didn't listen...

for someone who has always made it about everyone else - it is time we made it about him - and that's what we did!

••••••••

Below is the book that my family and I put together for my dad. I got the idea from a book that Todd's Aunt gave Connie after Gary died. The book was full of letters from members of the family about Gary. It is such a special book. I wanted to do one for my dad so that he would be able to read it and KNOW how much we all loved him. I started putting it together in February and was in the process of finishing it when he had his heart attack. I remember thinking - "What if he doesn't get to read the book?" but because of the tender mercies of our Heavenly Father and, might I add, my Dad's impeccable health :o) we were able to give it to him at our family reunion.

I have since realized the importance of making sure we are open and express our feelings of gratitude and love for each other NOW and not waiting until the person is no longer with us to say all the wonderful things we thought and felt about them.

I am so grateful for my family - all 102+ of them. They mean the world to me. I am grateful for my AMAZING spouse who I have loved for a really long time - I always knew we would get married :o) I am so grateful for my friends, both past & present - whether we have stayed in touch after high school or we are Blog/Facebook friends - I am grateful for the part you had/have in my life. What great memories I have because of you. I truly have been blessed in my life.

P.S. I love you all SO much!

Check out the book below - it includes pictures from my family reunion as well as all of the letters that my siblings, in-laws, nieces and nephews wrote to my dad.

(NOTE: To view the book bigger - click on the 'We Love you the Most' link at the bottom. Then click the orange preview button. In the bottom right hand corner, click on the 'view fullscreen' button.)

We LOVE you the MOST! | Make Your Own Book

PASKETT FAMILY REUNION | July 15th - 17th 2010

For my Dad's 80th birthday, we wanted to have a BIG celebration so my Mom and Dad reserved 3 out of the 5 cabins at Bear River Lodge in Christmas Meadows, Utah- in the Uintah's. The cabins worked out perfectly to accommodate the 102 (and growing) members of my family!

There is never a dull moment at a Paskett Family Reunion. Our days were filled with the following activities and traditions...

- Hiking: I think some of us might consider the "walk" to the fishing ponds a hike!

- Fishing: The cabins had two fishing ponds stocked full of fish. I think everyone who casted in their line was sure to catch something. We even tried catching them with our hands!

- Otter Pops: 400 otter pops were consumed. FOUR.HUNDRED.

- Swimming: I am pretty sure that we scared away anyone else, that happened to be staying at Bear River Lodge, that wanted to hang at the pool, we dominated the pool!

- Guessing Jars: This is a kid favorite (maybe 'big kid' favorite too)! This year we made sure to have a candy jar for everyone. Thanks to Elycia and the 'Jar Committee' for keeping track of all the jars, tallying all the counts and making it such a fun event.

- Movie Night: This is a fun night! There were 6 different movies being shown (2 in each cabin). Each grandchild was given a ticket with their name on it and list of what they could get at the 'concession stand'. They got to go through and pick a candy, a cookie and popcorn or nachos. The nachos were a yummy addition to movie night! Thanks to Keith & Barbara and Company!

- GREAT food: A BIG THANKS to Scott and Nadeane for heading up the food committee and pretty much doing all the shopping. It was a huge task and we are all so grateful for what they did!

The last night of the reunion was in honor of my Dad! We gathered at the amphitheater for the celebration. Scott did an excellent job in planning the program for the 'Living Funeral' or 'Celebration of Life' (if you prefer :o) for Dad. The grandkids sang songs, Ruth read a Life Sketch poem and each family member got up and shared a special thought and/or memory and their love for their dad and grandpa. Dad closed the evening by sharing his thoughts/feelings and testimony. A baggie of a few of Grandpa's Favorite things were handed out (mints, gum and money - he is usally sharing these things).

On the last day we took family pictures and a special stop was made in Henefer to visit the home where the little farm boy we call 'Dad' grew up.

It was such a special family reunion for all of us. What great memories we have made. How thankful we are for the time we have together, for the blessings in our lives and the love and tender mercies of our Father in Heaven.

A lot of planning and preparation was done to make this reunion/celebration a success. Thank you so much to everyone who helped out. A very BIG THANKS to Mom and Dad for putting this all together and providing such nice accommodations. And of course to Scott and Nadeane who took charge. They put so much time, thought, love and effort into planning. We are so grateful for all that they did!

the PeRfEcT father's day

So I would like to officially deem Sunday, June 20th, 2010 as the perfect father's day.

If you are okay reading a long post I will tell you why-

On Thursday, June 17th, I received a call from my mom at about 11:15am saying that dad was out running and had taken a fall. My mom was very calm (at this point we did not know the extent of my dad's condition) as she told me that the ambulance had come to pick up my dad and that my sister Brooke was driving her to the American Fork hospital. I told my mom I would meet them over at the hospital. When I got to the hospital they had my dad strapped to a stretcher with a neck brace on and they were running some tests.

My mom and Brooke gave me the details as to what had happened (once again, thanks Brooke for being such a faithful blogger):

My dad (who will be 80 this year and who is the healthiest man I know) has been training for the St. George Marathon this year and was running up to Sliding Rock like he usually does. My dad said he arrived at Sliding Rock around 8:10am - he was pretty happy with his time :o) On the way back down he said he started getting light headed & dizzy, so he walked over to the side of the road and as soon as he did that he passed out and rolled 10' down an embankment & from what we figure, he was there around 30 to 45 minutes until to awoke, climbed up the embankment and started to head back home. He said it was very painful- he had a gashes on his head, shoulders, knees, elbows, and hands.

Almost half way home, he finally saw one of their neighbors in his garden so he stopped & asked if he'd give him a ride home. At this time it was about 10 am, when mom was starting to worry. Not worried enough yet, just because my dad sometimes stops at Aunt Alta's and visits on his way home from his morning jogs.

Their neighbor dropped my dad off and made sure he got in the house okay. My mom got my dad in the tub to clean up all the scratches. Just after that he started to get woozy again and his eyes rolled back into his head. So my mom called 911- she remembers now, looking back saying "What's taking the ambulance SO LONG to get here?" When the dispatcher said "Ma'am it's only been 4 minutes," then continued to ask her all kinds of questions.



The EMT's were able to convince my dad to let them put him on the stretcher and take him to just "check him out" to American Fork Hospital. THANK GOODNESS they DID! - the doctors later told my mom that if she would have called an hour later the outcome would have been different. My sister drove my mom down, and they arrived soon after the ambulance arrived. I had arrived at this point to see them running some tests. After they checked him over, ran tests, etc. they told us that it looked like he had suffered a heart attack! It was a huge shock to all of us there. I couldn't believe it.

The doctor told us at this point that he wanted to have my dad transported to Utah Valley Regional Hospital- where they have doctors & specialists there to check him over more. My mom was able to ride along in the front of the ambulance as they transported my dad. This was a relief for her to be with him as they transported him this time.


He arrived at the hospital (around 12:30pm) where they did some other tests and found out that he had some plaque built up that was blocking his artery so they put a stent in to open up his artery. My dad handled everything so well. He was happy and very strong about everything. My sweet mom was with him the whole time - the only reason she left was at night to sleep and thats only because the nurses MADE her. He had to stay in the hospital a few days so that they could monitor him and make sure everything was working properly but yesterday around noon he got to come home!

That is why yesterday

was the perfect father's day.

My dad is alive and well and he got to come home.

I am just so full of gratitude for my Heavenly Father and his tender mercies. My dad even said yesterday that he is feeling vitality that he hasn't felt before. What a blessing! Thank you to everyone for your thoughts and prayers, they were heard.

note: this picture was taken yesterday.

the day my dad got home from the hospital.

he is aMaZiNG.

the happenings and goings on

Time just seems to fly right on by without even a care that I just can't keep up. Oh I know we are all given the same amount of time, I guess I just need to learn to manage mine better (add that to my list of things to improve).

Todd and I have deemed tWenTy-TeN 'the year of change'.

Change is good.

It helps you grow.

Or should I say MAKES you grow.

A couple of big changes for us include a new job for Todd and also a new calling for Todd. In January, Todd accepted a job with Merrill Lynch (after being with Wells Fargo for 7 years). AND a few weeks ago Todd was called to be the 2nd Counselor in a Bishopric of a new Young Single Adult ward in our Stake. We were not expecting that!

I felt that I had our lives planned out and living in Pleasant Grove for a few more years was NOT in those plans. I think this is Heavenly Fathers way of gently pushing us in the right direction. Apparently I thought I had it all figured out - silly me!

Really though, it has been such a blessing in our lives. It has been a very neat experience for both of us - very spiritual. I am grateful for Todd and his willingness to serve. All of these changes seem to be happening to him but he handles it so well. I am sure as the year goes on there will be many more changes (hopefully in the 4th quarter :o).

I am grateful for change.

p.s. just because I am grateful for it doesn't mean I handle it well.

Yet another thing to add to my list of things to improve.

Spring Break in Arizona

In April I took a couple days off of work and went down to Arizona with my sisters and their families - Digi, Kelly and Brooke. My mom drove down with Brooke at the beginning of the week and then my dad flew down with me on Wednesday. We were also able to spend a lot of time with my sister Sara and her cute family who live down in Arizona. Todd couldn't come because he had just started his new job. I LOVE Arizona! When I was younger we spent a lot of time down there. I have a lot of great memories!

(I borrowed a lot of these pictures from my sister Brooke who is always so good about keeping her blog updated, unlike me.)

This is where my Grandpa & Grandma Schneider lived during their retirement years. They died shortly after I was born but we still came here to go swimming and play shuffle board. There were always a lot of old people around so we had to be quiet so they wouldn't get angry. (Scottsdale House with Camelback Mountain in the background)

Grandma with about 10% of her grandkids

We went to the Mesa Arizona Temple and walked around the temple grounds. This is our TOUR GROUP- This is the day the boys (Dayton, Tanner & Garrett) stayed behind and went to Fiesta Mall to look for "hotties"

We went to the Orange Patch. This is somewhere we have gone to for years. It always smells so good because of the orange blossoms. The best part- they have YuMMy samples! Fresh OJ, and Oranges of all kinds.

My dad and his dates - he loves them!

We went to a western town called Rawhide. Digi had found out that you can have members of your party 'arrested' for a some fee. So they came and arrested Dayton by surprise, out in the middle of town. They arrest him for "Girl Watching and Excessive GAS" they handcuffed him, placed a large sombero on his head and took him to their jail. Placed him behind bars and made him sing and dance for his way out. It was SO funny and Dayton was such a good sport.

My parents are so cute. I love them!

We went to Los Olivos in Scottsdale. It is one of our favorite mexican restaurants.

My Uncle Phil and Aunt Nancy had ALL of us over to their home in Scottsdale. I'm not sure if they have ever had that many little kids in there home at once. My cousin Rainey labeled her photos on facebook as "The Utah Invasion". It was so nice of them to have all of us there. We love spending time with them.

Madi had waited all evening to ask Uncle Phil about his masks, and then she asked him. So Rainey and Madi went in the other room, put the masks on and came out to scare everyone. Uncle Phil has had these masks for years and they are always entertaining.

Uncle Phil & Grandma Paskett telling us stories of their childhood. Stories that Grandma has made MORE interesting over the years