Chile Cookoff

One of the things I love about my husband is his amazing cooking skills. He is always tantalizing my taste buds! His skills were put to the test at this years anual Chile Cookoff.

He was a bit dissapointed when his green chile he entered did not place, but his red chile won the peoples choice award. We had a lot of fun tasting all of the different chile and rooting Jonathan on. Big thanks to Josh who came and helped Jonathan cook and serve Chile to the crowd. He would have been lost without him.

Fossil Creek- Trip 1 & 2

The crystal clear water of Fossil Creek.

Owen and Tanner warming up on the rocks.

Jonathan and Tanner soaking in the Verde Hot Springs.

Our Family has recently gone camping at Fossil Creek for the second time this year. It is an amazing Oasis that I have just discovered. It is not the place you go for total seclusion but it reminds me a lot of Havasupai falls, without the strenuous 10 mile hike and the pain of attaining a permit.

Jonathan's sister is visiting from Maui in July and we are planning on doing the three mile hike down to Fossil Springs. I have read the falls can rival the beauty of some of the Hawaii water falls but I will have to judge for myself.

Since Jonathan and I have been on a tighter budget the last year we have been doing family vacations in parts of Arizona we haven't discovered yet. It has been a lot of fun and has made me grow a stronger appreciation of the beauty and vastness of our state.

Baby Oliver has arrived!

Up close - Oliver Van Allen

(Another big, healthy Allen Boy)

Dad and Noah dressing Ollie for the first time.


Noah, Owen and Tanner greeting their new brother.

I am so happy Oliver is here and healthy and that I made it through another home birth. I couldn't have been more blessed. Hard labor was only three hours and he came nine days early. Good thing because he weighed 8lbs 14 oz. He was born at 6:20 am so the boys were able to wake up to the suprise that their baby brother was born. It was special having them their to see their brother so soon after the delivery.

It has been a nice and easy week for me. I have been able to enjoy Oliver and not worry about taking care of the kids and the house with my mother-in-law staying here with us. So many other friends and family have offered support with the kids and meals. I feel blessed to be surrounded by such a supportive community.

Pregnant and Strong

I have three more weeks of pregnancy left and I can't help feel grateful for how good it's gone. Tanner's pregnancy was tough so with this one I put nutrition and fitness on my priority list. Here are some shots of me in Bikram Yoga poses. I have been doing two classes a week throughout this pregnancy.

Boulder City

Jonathan towards the end of his down hill course.

The boys had a blast hanging out at Bootleg Mountain where the race was held. They had tons of bridges and jumps and teeter totters built that made a fun playground for the boys to play on. Tanners favorite thing to do was slide down the steep washes on his bottom.

Valentines day was spent in Boulder City, NV for a down hill bike race Jonathan entered. It was fun to get away for the long weekend and the weather was gorgeous! We mostly hung out at the Mountain and watched the racers and enjoyed the weather, but we did manage to spend half a day in Vegas at the Children's Museum.

As I am approaching my last nine weeks of pregnancy it is these little changes in my schedule that keep me going. I think April 27th will approach fast with spring break coming up and Tanners birthday. I am looking forward to some of the events that are approaching but I can't wait for that baby to come!

No Dessert!

No sweets, no sweets, NO SWEETS! That is my mantra lately. Last week I officially hit my twenty eighth week in my pregnancy. That is when my midwives said I could cut down on the simple carbohydrates that I eat. If I do I could possibly lower the birth weight of my baby. It may not be much weight but after having a 9 lbs. baby, I am willing to stay a little more disciplined.

I have to say I did really good with my diet in the beginning of my pregnancy. I knew I would want to be disciplined in the end so I started early so I wouldn't have to change my eating habits drastically at 28 weeks; But then the holidays hit and I couldn't resist the cookies, pies, toffee that were thrown my way. It was yummy but left me with a slight sugar addiction! I am finally starting to kick it and it does feel good. Whether you are pregnant or not your body and mind and spirit thank you when you feed yourself healthy nutritious food.

One Of The Best!

This holiday season was so great! I think it was a combination of my low stress approach, and the wonderful friends and family that surrounded me. First of all, I enjoyed the break from the rigid schedule me and my kids are on. There were definitely some crazy moments with all three home, but we made the most of it and played as hard as we could. We did a lot of simple things like visiting Santa, making gingerbread houses, delivering salsa and tamales, and going to the movies. Some of our more high adventure activities included sledding, a day of snowboarding, riding quads and motorcycles in Cottonwood, and a trip to Tucson, AZ where we went to the Kartchner Caverns (very cool)!

I have to say the highlight of Christmas break was spending Christmas Eve and Christmas morning at my moms with close family and friends. Everyone radiated a grateful and happy spirit. It was the first time in a long time that our family just didn't feel like family, but we felt united and happy! It's how Christmas should feel. I hope there are many more blessed Christmas's to come.