Hello From California

Yes, this is our House in California. We never get snow like this -- it was a lot of fun.

Tired girls

Mabel:

Hattie:

Welcome Hattie

We are excited to welcome our little Hattie Laura Allen home. She was born on October 29th at 4:13 am after 21 hours of labor. She weighed about 9 pounds 10 1/2 ounces and measured about 23 inches long. We are very excited for her to join our family. Mabel loves her new little baby sister.

9 Months Pregnant

Well, today is October 25th and this is me. For any of you who remember, my due date is October 22nd. Yes, once again, I am overdue with no signs of labor in sight. I think that may just be my lot. I think that maybe my body just doesn't go into labor. So inducement here we come...again. Wednesday I will be induced so with any luck, we will have an October 28th baby, without the luck, it will be October 29th. Mabel took 2 days so we will see. This baby is a big one. The doctor guessed 9 1/2 pounds a few days ago. An ultrasound showed 8 pounds 11 ounces. Either way, with another week of waiting, this baby is going to be a big one. I feel like she is getting bigger everyday. Luckily, I've managed to only gain 14 pounds so far this pregnancy, but that is just because I was so overweight to start with so a bunch of my weight just redistributed itself to my belly. And boy is my belly huge. I know I am bigger this time around. It doesn't even seem to look that big in this picture. I swear I am so much bigger in person. Anyway, hopefully in a week, I will be able to post some pictures of our new little girl and everything will be much better.

Grandma "LoLo's" Book signing

Grandma LoLo had a book signing at the Borders in Folsom on Saturday. We went and visited. She sold out of her Princess Party Book in an hour and a half. It is such an adorable book, I'm not suprised. Mabel dressed up like a princess for the occasion.

Apple Hill

Today we took a trip to Apple Hill. Mabel and Allie had a lot of fun together.

I love this picture. The 3 ladies really make it.

Allie - always a funny one.

Mabel and Allie had fun together making each other laugh.

Grandma Laurie

6 little Cows

Cake Wrecks

Okay, so my friend Mindy told me about a great site: www.cakewrecks.com -- it is actually a blog of a whole bunch of cake wrecks. If you are in the mood for a laugh, check it out. I can't believe some of the cakes people actually make. I have definitely had some blunders myself, but not like some of these.

Camping pictures continued....

We all enjoyed the abalone, but Forrest sampled it raw straight out of the ocean.


This is my favorite picture of the trip. It's Dawson, what more can I say.

Little Eliza playing in the sand.

We ended our trip with a walk through the Great Green Valley -- it was amazingly beautiful. Here is most of the group that went on the walk.

We had a great time -- we're very glad we went.

Camping by the Coast

This past weekend we went camping by the coast. The place we camped at is a great place to go Abalone Diving. A bunch of the people in our group campsite went free diving to try and catch some Abalone. They were successful, and we got to sample some of their catch. I had no idea what a process you have to go through in order to eat Abalone -- it takes a long time. But in the end, it tasted very good. We didn't go diving but we had fun hanging out.

Our trip there was great until the last 6 miles. We had to go on a lot of winding roads in order to get to the campsite. We were almost there, when Mabel says, "Mom, I want to hold it" "Hold what?'' I asked. And then it all came out. She was trying to hold in her lunch, but couldn't. The poor thing was covered in vomit and very upset. We pulled over and cleaned her up the best we could and the then made our way to camp, where we gave her a cold spicket shower. Poor thing. I think it scared her -- she has never done that before. Hopefully she won't make a habbit of it. That was not a very fun start to the night. But we had a great time after that.

Mabel had fun throwing rocks into the ocean with Eliza.


The coast was beautiful. Fred and I took a walk along the cliffs and got some great views. Here is a picture of me and pregnant belly.



Fred went cliff jumping with Bobby Edwards. Turns out Bobby is a bit crazy, but lots of fun.

Mabel had so much fun getting dirty. You can see more pictures of Mabel on her blog.

Half way there

Here is our happy little Skeleton. Doesn't she look adorable? More like a scary Halloween Picture. But yes, it is a she -- we are having another girl. Yea!


This picture is a little less scary.

A saddening Loss

Well, the world suffered a great loss today. Earlier today, May 28th, we lost a great scholar. Truman G. Madsen died of cancer at the age of 82. I don't believe there is anyone on this earth who knew more about Joseph Smith than he did. He was a great man, with a great knowledge and a great love for Joseph Smith and the early saints of the LDS church. I had the wonderful opportunity to have him as my Stake President for 2 years. He was a dynamic, compelling speaker. I loved hearing him speak to us. It is through his CD's and videos that I have gained a greater testimony and love for Joseph Smith and the earlier saints of the church. Truman did so much good for so many people here on this earth. I know his influence has reached thousands, if not millions and will continue to do so even after he is gone. I loved this man - he had a great love for the work of the Lord, and I'm sure he is continuing it on the other side. If any of you aren't familiar with his work, you can find out more on his website at www.TrumanMadsen.com or ask me about it. I would love to tell you all I know. I pray that the Lord will be with his family in this time of trial. He will be greatly missed.

Fred Runs the Big Sur Marathon

Fred ran the Big Sur International Marathon last weekend. He did a great job, coming in under 5 hours and without exhaustion. He said he could have kept running. He actually had fun doing it too, which is totally beyond my comprehension. I don't think I will ever understand how running 26.2 miles could be fun, but I'm so glad he had a good time. He was one of about 9,000 runners and walkers that day -- 4,5oo of them ran the marathon, the rest competed in other races -- relays, 10K, 5K, 21 mile walk, etc. It was fun to watch people cross the finish line, especially Fred. And I want to thank Beverly, Craig, Curtis, Isaac, and Luke for being there with me to watch Fred cross the finish line.

After the marathon, we drove down and stopped at the beach so Fred could soak his legs in the water -- it ended up being a little too cold, but a great picture opportunity.

The Big Sur Marathon runs along Hwy 1 from Big Sur up to Carmel. After, the roads were cleared, we drove the course so Fred could show me the beauty he got see for nearly 5 hours. This picture was taken along our drive. It is a beautiful drive along the coastline, but so many hills -- the whole course is basically hills - up and down. No wonder, they say it is one of the most difficult marathons to run.

Great Job Fred -- I'm so proud of you for reaching your goal and running the marathon and losing 75 pounds along the way -- what a great acheivement. Even though this is your third marathon, the other 2 were run in your twenties and the LA marathon isn't all hills either. This was a huge accomplishment. Since you ran a marathon at 24 and now 34, I think you'll have to do another one at 44. What do you say to that?

Love you, NataLee