Welcome to the Allen Family Webpage
Welcome back to another update to our family.  We have had a long few months and lots of stuff going on.  I've been so busy working that I haven't had much time to get on here and update anything.
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Mom (Grandma Carol) was here in May for Mother's Day and Colleen's 2nd Birthday.  We had lots of fun and we took the kids to Paradise Park for Colleen's party and dinner with Grandpa Larry afterwards.  We had a private party for her too at home and dinner at a local restaurant with the Campbell's.  We did have a ton of fun...you'll see in the pictures below.  She was such a little princess and her birthday portraits will show that off.  Thank goodness that she had her pictures when she did because a week or so after the pictures, she got pink eye and it swelled up really bad.  I actually did take pictures of it and you'll see.

We started potty training too.  It was very hard in the beginning but we prevailed with James.  Finally after a few days of screaming, it happened for James.  We got Colleen to start peeing in the toilet pretty well and she did get a #2 out, once.  But James started his on July 4th and within a month...we had it down perfect.  Since the middle of August James hasn't worn any diapers either.  It's been great and hard at times.

We also added to our home situation.  The house next door came up for sale and since we knew the man next door...he gave us a great deal.  We went ahead and got ourselves a nice home equity loan and purchased the place.  Jeff is doing a great job of fixing it up and we still haven't decided whether we are going to resell it or just rent it.  Someday we'll figure that out for sure though.  With the loan we have, we also have done a little bit of work in our back yard here too, fixing it up for the kids.

Which brings us up on the next thing.  Our beloved Rusty passed away due to heartworm on Monday July 14th with the help of our vet so Rusty wouldn't have any pain involved because he was starting to have hard days at home and trouble with stairs and all.  He will greatly be missed and someday soon we are talking to the kids about, maybe, Santa bringing a new puppy into our home.  The kids really want a new dog but I really am sad about losing our baby.  He had just turned 12 1/2 this year too.

Also on August 6th we had another annual Messy Night here in Marshall.  It was really fun and unfortunately I didn't get to see much of James there but did follow Colleen around and she had so much fun.  Wait till you see how her bathing suit held up or should I say...didn't hold up well.

Grandma Judy and clan from Viriginia came for a visit too at the beginning of July.  We had some fun with them too and they got to camp out most of the time and we also spent some time with them there and we had fun swimming and all at Aunt Ruth's.  The kids had a lot of fun with their cousins and all.

During the last few months the kids got to join in on a dance class once a week and had a lot of fun with it too.  We aren't currently doing it right now but that's only because of James...he started PRESCHOOL....it's wonderful.  Well he has to go two years but only because of his age and the cut off date for school in Marshall.  James had a rough start with it but is finally starting to learn and share more.  It's been a good thing for him and nice-quiet mornings alone for Colleen and I.

Well that's all the update I can think of for right now.  I'm sorry it's taken so long and you'll have tons of pictures to view this time.  Enjoy it all and hope everyone had a great summer.
Click on the following links below to go to a new page created for the kids...
Colleen's 1st Birthday Portraits
Our Day with The Campbells
More sites to come soon...keep checking back...
***Updated September 18, 2008
Motorcycle Boys
Dinosaur World 2007
Some Florida Pictures
Sea World 2007
Siesta Key Beach 2007
Jenni's Gastric Bypass Page
James' 2nd Birthday party
The Hackney Clan
Colleen's 1st Birthday
**New Current Pictures to View...
Anything marked by this        is new.
Grandma Jones' Memorial