Halloween 2018

I count Halloween 2018 as a success for our household. As usual, the evening before Halloween, we carved Jack 'o Lanterns. Owen had cub scouts, so we carved the girl's pumpkins while he was gone. MayLynn designed her "batty" pumpkin and I helped her carve it.

 

River named her pumpkin "smiley" and daddy helped her.

After the girls were in bed and Owen was home from cub scouts, Bryce, Owen, and I carved our pumpkins. Emily just chose to watch this year, but participated in her own way.

After we were done, we decorated our front porch with our masterpieces.

The next day was Halloween. Owen was BB-8 from Star Wars. MayLynn was the Princess Zelda. River dressed as the Disney Princess Elsa for pre-school and as a cute little witch for trick or treating. I had a cute pumpkin shirt that Emily created for me. Emily was an elf. And although I didn't get a picture of him in his costume, Bryce wore his big black cloak and joined us for trick or treating this year as well.

We had fun going around our neighborhood. The kids filled their treat buckets, and I enjoyed visiting with our neighbors. We have lived in this house for almost four years, so I realized that while I still have quite a few neighbors that I still need to meet, I feel at home and comfortable in our little corner of the world. It was a good Halloween!

Reverse Trick or Treating

Our family has had a tradition since Owen's first Halloween. We dressed him up in his Halloween costume and he and I took candy to the university (SUIC at that time) and handed out candy to the teachers and students in the theater department. Since then we have kept up the tradition. Every year I take whichever kids are home during the day, we dress up in our Halloween costumes, fill a bucket full of candy, and we go visit Bryce at work and hand out candy. We've called it reverse trick or treating.

Today River fully embraced her role in our annual reverse trick or treating ritual. She chased people - students, teachers, and staff alike - around the Browning Center at Weber State University giving everyone she saw a piece of candy, until her basket was empty. She told me afterwards that she had a lot of fun and wished that she had more candy to give to people. I know my other kids have enjoyed doing this in the past too, and I hope that in a small way it has given them the opportunity to experience the joy of giving at Halloween time - and not just focusing on what will fill their candy buckets later that evening. It has also helped me enjoy this holiday more and I find myself looking forward to bringing a piece of candy and a smile to others on Halloween.

Nesting

Our new little baby girl will be joining our family in just over 6 weeks. I'm a bit nervous and apprehensive while also becoming more excited every day.

 

As my pregnancy progresses, I've been trying to get my home and family ready to welcome a new little baby in just a short time. One big change that we've implemented is upgrading our front room furniture. Bryce's brother, Jon, and his wife, Laurie had a friend who were getting rid of a couch and love seat and they brought them over for us. The kids and I got to scrub them down and get them clean and now they have replaced our worn out couch and chair in the front room.

Another huge change happened this past weekend. River's room is going to eventually be the baby's room, and that meant moving River into MayLynn's bedroom. Friday afternoon,  all three of my kids helped sort through all of MayLynn's toys and everything, and got everything clean and organized. On Friday evening, my parents came and helped me get MayLynn's bed taken out of her room, assembled the girls' new bunk bed, and got the new mattresses in place. On Saturday we got the bedding put on the beds, the kids and I cleaned River's room, my sister, Emily, helped me assemble a new bookshelf, and we got both girls' toys and books organized and put together into their "new" bedroom. The girls love their new beds and they made it though their first night sharing a bed room.

We still have a few things that need doing - Bryce is refinishing a dresser for River, I need to sort through the baby's things and get her room organized, and we need to get our room reorganized so the baby can be in our room for the first little while after she is born. But I still have 6 weeks, and by then we should have our home ready to welcome our new little baby girl.

A Trip to Hogle Zoo for Labor Day

Today we did something crazy. Since everyone had the day off, we decided to all go to Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City. MayLynn, River, and I had gone last spring as part of MayLynn's kindergarten field trip, but this was our first time going there as a family since we moved back to Utah.

It was a holiday, so there were quite a few people, but it wasn't too crowded and we enjoyed seeing the animals and spending time together as a family. Emily took pictures of the animals, but I got a few fun ones of the kids with the animal statues.

When all was said and done, Owen and MayLynn liked the elephants the best, River liked the sea lions, Emily and I liked the red pandas, and Bryce just enjoyed being at the zoo.  We had so much fun that we hope to go again in a month or so when it's not quite as hot, Bryce's feet have more stamina, and before I get too pregnant. 

Starting Up Again

It has been quite a long time since I've posted anything on my blog, but lately I've been feeling like I need more than the occasional Facebook post to help document my life and the lives of my family. So I've downloaded an app, linked it to my blog, and I'll see if I can give this blogging thing another go.

"So what's going on in lives of the Allen Family?" you ask. Let's see if I can put it all in a nice, concise nutshell . . .

First of all, we are still living in Ogden, Utah. Bryce has started his 5th year working at Weber State University as the Technical Director for their Theater Program. On the side, he is one of 5 theatrical ETCP Certified Riggers in the state and he does side work for Upstage Crew Services, Inc. as a rigger in venues throughout Northern Utah. Recently he even got to oversee the rigging for the 2018 Love Loud Festival at Rice Eccles Stadium for their events and the Imagine Dragons concert. Other big news for Bryce is that he's 3 months out from his second major foot reconstruction surgery. He's learning how to walk for the 2nd time in the past year. And although it's difficult, these surgeries should alleviate the nerve pain that he's had for years and keep him on his feet - literally - for years to come.

Owen is a growing, lanky 10-year old. He started 5th grade just this past Monday. His interests include Legos, video games (especially the "Legend of Zelda" games), and reading. He curently wants to be an engineer when he grows up. He is his mom's right hand around the house and is becoming quite the piano player.

MayLynn, at 6 years-old, has just started 1st grade. She loves doing artwork and reading in her spare time. She also loves animals, especially dogs, cats, sharks, and horses. Her biggest goal for 1st grade is to learn how to read bigger words. She wants to be a teacher, an artist, and an author when she grows up. She, too, is flourishing on the piano and is diligent at doing her chores every day.

River is a super-active, imaginative 4 year-old. She started pre-school last week and is loving it. She still gets to hang out around the house with Mom most of the day and loves to help any way she can. She especially likes to "help" Mom and Dad fix dinner. She wants to be a dancer when she grows up and is looking forward to learning how to be a big sister later this fall.

Yep, you read that right. We are expecting an addition to our family in late November. Our due date is November 30th, but if all goes as planned, our new baby girl will joining our family on November 27th (thanks to a planned C-section). Her coming has been quite the surprise, but we are looking forward to her joining our family.

Although I'd rather share information about the rest of the family, I guess that I should mention that I've been working part-time from home for a little over a year. I am the bookkeeper for Upstage Crew Services, Inc., and I get to apply my accounting skills to the entertainment industry. It is nice to be using my brain again, and to have the opportunity to do so mostly from home. I still get to put my family first while working towards my goal of someday getting a MBA or Master's Degree in Arts Management and being able to work in the business end of the arts.

Everything in our lives keep us busy, but ultimately we are just an everyday family living our everyday lives. It may not be anything too exciting, but I hope to be able to share more of what we are doing from here on out. So wish me luck, and hopefully I can get this blog up and running again.