presenting.....

Vance Danuel Allen

Born @ 5:25am on October 21, 2008. He weighed 7lbs 11oz and was 21 1/2 inches long.

HAPPY 8 years, BABE...

LIFE is crazy. I can vividily remember the first time I met Dason. We both attended different high schools. I went to AWESOME Red Mountain and he went to NOT SO AWESOME Westwood.

My sisters have been my best friends my whole life, so it was only fitting that one of them would play a role in my meeting my LOVE for a lifetime. One night Jenny, Debbie (good friend), and myself , drove to Mill Avenue for a night of fun. Mill Avenue was in Tempe and right by ASU, so it was a place that I was restricted from going. Let me tell you that everytime I went there something bad seemed to happen ...... if I would have only listened!

Examples of the bad:

1. Our friends truck got towed and we couldn't get it out that night. We had to get a ride back home with someone we didn't know. (not such a wise choice)



2.My RAD Pontiac Grand AM's radiater blew up and was undriveable and stuck in the parking garage. We had a friends Mom come and get us this night. (better choice)



3. Once again, another car situation. My friend locked her keys in the car and we spent the night trying to figure out a way to get them out. What fun I tell ya!



Anyways, back to the beginning of the story. Jenny was a junior and Debbie and I were Seniors. Jenny was extra rebellious and really believed in having her freedom to do what she pleased even when her older WISER sister warned her otherwise! She decided to go sit in the middle of a bunch of rowdy guys... Debbie and I hung back. Turns out these "delinquents" were friends of Dason's. Dason happened to not be there because he was too COOL for Mill. I guess I have to thank Jenny for acting a little irrational that night, because I may have never met Dason if she hadn't.

We met up with Dason and his friends a couple days later and I knew there was something special about him that held my interest. Might have been him grabbing my hand and holding it straight away in the back of my friends truck. Might have been his name... I LOVED his name and thought for sure I was going to name one of my kids this name! Might have been his sagging pants and navy blue shirts he always wore (they brought out the blue in his eyes). Might have been his religion. I was surprised he was "Mormon". He didn't act like it, but he believed in it. As a young girl, I always desired to know more about this great church. Might have been his rebellious nature which was complete opposite of my pleasing nature. Whatever it was.... I knew after our first long, late night phone call when I asked him "Would you ever marry someone who didn't belong to your church?" his reply was "As long as I love them.".

The rest is history. We have been married for 8 quick years. I can't believe how fast time has flown. I can honestly say that these years have been the best of my life.

Before I forget....

The other night my sweet Davin came to my side of our bed as I had just drifted to sleep and he proceeded to wake me up. He began to anxiously tell me this ...... "Mom, there is a black scary guy in the house" ... I respond, "where?" he says, "In the bathroom" The thought running through my head is .... AAAAAAAHHHH is there really someone in our house?!! So he says, " in the kids bathroom" then he says, "he was holding something" and asks "what was that noise?" At this point, I am awake enough to realize that he has just had his FIRST bad dream. Poor guy! He was shaking and so scared. I let him crawl in between Dason and I to sleep the rest of the night. We just lay together arms intertwined, said a prayer and attempted to fall back asleep.

Before finally going back to our slumbers, Davin continued looking around the room nervously thinking that he was seeing shadows of the "scary guy". The next morning he still fully remembered his dream and told everybody about it. He was super uneasy about falling asleep the next night. It reminded me of the Freddy Krueger movies! Needless to say, he was brave and slept in his bed through the night. He slept sound and did not dream of something bad.



This dream took place the night we built...........................

On this same subject... Madison had a bad dream about 8 months ago and it was so cute. Well, it wasn't cute that mats was sad and crying, but the dream she was having was so amusing! Dason and I were out in the family room and Madison began yelling out in her bed and uncontrollably crying as she started mumbling something. This happens a lot with her, where she will wake up and start crying out of know where and not be able to explain why. She never remembers it in the morning. Anyways, She came downstairs and began to say this..... "they are all in there" we ask, "in where?" she says " in my room" we ask her, "who?" she says, " the super heroes". This was so funny! I guess that is what happens when you are the only girl in a family full of boys ....... you dream of super heroes! Poor GIRL!!

FYI: NO BABY YET!!!!!

DELICIOUS autumn

In tribute....

5 generations

MY Great Grandma Lucente passed away earlier today. She happily lived to be 98 years old! She lives back east in Massachusetts along with my Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and Cousins who have taken great care of her. The last time I was able to visit her was back in 2002. She is an amazing lady! She had the BEST memory. She met Dason twice and never forgot his name. She never confused anyone of her grand kids, great grand kids or great great grand kids. She crocheted blankets for mostly all of her grand kids, great grand kids, and even her great great Grand kids with the youngest only 2 years old. One thing I admire most about her life is that she remained positive. She never succumbed to feeling sorry for herself. This is a quality I hope to carry with me throughout my life.


She was a woman of faith and as my Mom said it, "SHE WAS A SAINT" I am thankful for the legacy she began a long time ago and that she has admirably left behind.

Swimming in the Fall ..... love our weather!

My sweet BOY........

Being 38 weeks pregnant and trying to get comfortable enough to sleep does NOT exist!

So, the other night I lay in bed attempting to fall asleep, unfortunately that was not happening. Thoughts of the days events ran through my head and I remembered one in particular. We were sitting at the table to eat dinner and Davin asked to say the prayer. He was kind of in a silly mood and so he quietly mumbled the prayer, then he Said "AMEN" really loud. I was frustrated that he would do this. I acted before thinking and I told him that we could not understand what he said. I could see how my words of criticism hurt him. I could see the happiness drain out of his face. This truly hurt me to see. Right now his speech is a constant struggle for him. I feel I am ALWAYS reminding him to fully pronounce his sounds. He tries so hard to say his words correctly. I tried to push the thought away as it was late and I needed to fall asleep. I knew what I wanted to do. I pulled myself out of my bed and went into Davins room. I needed to hold my baby and tell him how terribly sorry I was that I had hurt him the way I did. I lay next to him and woke him to tell him what I needed to say. Eventhough he was half asleep, he was smiling back at me as I tenderly spoke with him.

MOMMY LESSON: PRAISE, PRAISE, PRAISE. Remember to watch, think and listen with my heart not my mind. We can learn so much compassion through our little spirits that have been entrusted in our care.