Premier Jewelry Party!

Premier Jewelry Party

Host: Jennifer Allen Location: Jeni's House 1861 S Cathay Ct, Aurora, CO When: Thursday, November 5, 7:30pm Phone: 720-227-4713 My sister Krissie is flying in from Albuquerque to host a Premier Jewelry Party at my house. She just started selling this jewelry and is super excited. I would really like to do a great show for her to kick it off right and keep her motivated. Please come and support her. I promise to have yummy food and drinks. PLEASE COME!! Bring your friends If anyone would like to order, but can't attend, please let me know. I'LL HOOK YOU UP!

Donna~Jeni~Donna~Jeni~Donna~Jeni

The weekend came and went in one great whirlwind! But we had a great time.

I picked Donna up at the airport about 3:30. We had just enough time to drop kids off where they needed to be, get home and change. Then we met up with our friends and walked to Cheesecake Factory Downtown. Craig, Alyssa and I have never eaten there before, so were were in for a treat. The food was so good. We all ordered something different. When we finished eating our waiter came over and convinced us all to order Cheesecake to go. Mmmmm. I got Pumpkin with nuts. It was so good.

After we finished dinner we jogged over to the Beuell Theatre to see "Wicked". I've been reading the book, so I was anxious to see the play. Wow! It was fantastic. My first Broadway play and I was NOT disappointed. The ending was perfect,. LOVED IT!

Of course we had to go see the Genghis Khan Exhibit at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science! Go see it, absolutely fantastic! We spent 90 minutes in there. We were at the museum for hours. We love to look around at old mummies, animals, space stuff, dinosaurs and many more things!!!

After our feet were completely worn out we decided to brave the largest Eddie Bauer outlet I've ever been to. It was well work the trip. I always get out of there with fantastic bargains. Craig's got a new sweater cardigan, long sleeve t, and khaki painters for less than $20. I got two nice shirts for $9/each. Alyssa got a new NICE bathing suit for $5.

As we're getting ready to leave i remember that there is a Lego Outlet inside. Donna and her family are real Lego people. So, we moved a little bit farther around the mall and found the Lego outlet. Donna decided it wasn't any cheaper, but they had EVERYTHING! Pretty awesome!

We ended the night by going home and grabbing my hubby. He was feeling a little bit left out by now. So we kidnapped him and took him to Rumbi Grill. One of our favorites. Yummmmmm.

We stayed up until all ours of the night chatting. Actually we both went to bed and them came back down. We hadn't gotten out all the chattiness yet. The most important parts of the weekend.

These weekends are what keep me going. I love it when we can get together and have a GREAT time. If we lived closer it would be DANGEROUS! But the danger would be SO MUCH FUN!

I'm looking forward to next weekend when Mikey gets married. We're going to meet in Boise Idaho and wish the young people many years of happy times.

Balloons to Heaven

Last night after all the kids got home from school, we went and bought balloons for Calvin. We all picked out the balloon we thought was appropriate. Then we went to a park. We all said something to Calvin. Mac said, "Calvin, you're the best cousin ever, I miss you." Alyssa said, "I'm sending you hugs and kisses to Heaven." Sydney said, "You were the funniest cousin ever. I love you." Meagan said "I love Calvin so much, I wish you were here." They all taped their messages onto the balloons.

We let them run around and shout and play, to show Calvin they loved him. Then we let the balloons go. It was really windy here, so they took flight quickly and were out of sight in less than a few minutes.
Mac is actually posing in the 'candid' photo. He thought it would make him look cooler!

As we approach on the one year anniversary of Calvin's passing, we can't stop talking about him here. He is so close to our hearts. We seem to see him in so many of our daily tasks. Mac started wrestling recently. He's never done that before. His very first match was a sad one. He lost, but he didn't get pinned! I thought he did remarkably well, he lasted all three rounds and didn't get pinned. When he finally came over to me he put his arm around my shoulders and said "mom, I lost". Then his face got all messed up (he's a McLean, we don't cry pretty). As I comforted him and looked at him that night came crashing back. I haven't seen him cry over anything but Calvin's death. At least not since he was little.

We decided that we would make a top ten list about Calvin, our favorite things.

• Calvin made my son Mac so happy. For that I am always grateful.
• Calvin ate my cooking even when my kids thought it was disgusting.
• Calvin could ALWAYS rile us up, his mom, sisters, aunts, girl cousins, whoever!
• Calvin can leap small children in a single bound.
• He loves fire, just like me! We loved lighting fireworks!
• He has a great sense of fashion. I loved his necklaces.
• He loves his family
• He was a ladies man.
• Calvin can fix broken trees with bungee cords.
• Calvin can make a room smell like axe from 30 feet away.

One of my all time favorite quotes from Donna is "this house smells like boy!"

It smells a little less, and it's a lot quieter now, but somehow we're making it. Even your mom and dad are making it. How, I don't know. Remember Calvin, your parents are strong. They love you so much and are so proud of all you accomplished. So many things have been done in your honor. You continue to touch many people, even after you're gone. Calvin we miss you and send you hugs and kisses. We are looking forward to the day when we get to see you again.

PS, in the photo, Calvin is the loud one!

Memories

Originally uploaded by denverallens

Last year we spent some good times together. It's almost been a year since my nephew,
Calvin, passed away in a car accident. I'm so happy to see that Donna still LOVES Halloween. It's always been her favorite holiday, but now it's riddled with loss. She is so amazing. She wanted us to share some memories. I've got a few to share.

The summer you guys visited our house, Calvin and Mac were into everything. Were they obnoxious and getting on my nerves? Of course, was is hard NOT to smile, absolutely! I guess Calvin got the great idea that they could escape during the night from Mac's bedroom window. In order to do it right they had to scope it out during the day. They needed to make sure the tree would sustain their weight. Well guess what? It didn't. It's a small Aspen tree. Shortly after the experiment they come sneaking and snickering into the house. "Aunt Jeni, do you have any bungee cords?" I asked him why, of course no honesty coming from him. "just cuz." I told him where they were in the garage and him and Mac went to get one. I didn't think a thing about it. The next time we left the house I saw my bungee cord. It was holding together my Aspen tree that wouldn't hold their weight. Ah Ha! Of course they had no idea how it broke. It wasn't until a year later that Mac told me how it happened. He confessed everything after Calvin passed. Most of it with tears. It was pretty good idea, fix the tree with a bungee, all that was missing was the duct tape!

Then earlier that summer Calvin and Alyssa built sandcastles by the reservoir. It was so funny, I asked her afterwards if she had a good time and she said, "yeah, Calvin's not that bad". Which, in kid talk means he's pretty great. She loves this photo and has it hanging in her room.

I can't believe we've all made it through this last year. The hurt is still deep and makes me cry. It's still hard to believe it actually happened. I love Calvin and I send hugs and kisses up to Heaven for him everyday. He probably prefers the ones from his hot girlfriends, but hopefully Aunt Jeni hugs are okay too.

Love you Calvin!

The Yummiest Granola Bars Ever!!!!

Granola Bars

1 1/2 cups rice krispies (up to 2 cups)

1 1/2 cups quick oats

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 tsp. vanilla

Optional add ins

1/2 cup raisins, chopped nuts, seeds, flax, coconut

1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

1. Prepare a greased 11 x 7 inch or 13 x 9 inch baking dish (thinner bar).
2. In a large bowl combine rice krispies, oats and optional add in.
3. In a saucepan stir the honey and brown sugar until just at a boil.
4. Immediately removed from heat and stir in the peanut butter and vanilla until well combined.
5. Pour over the dry ingredients in the bowl; mix to combine.
6. Mix in mini chocolate chips, working fast. The mixture hardens quickly.
7. Transfer themixture into prepared baking dish, then using slightly wet hands push evenly down into the pan.
8. While the mixture is still soft, for easier slicing take a sharp knife and slice into desired size bars.

Yummy! They make 20 bars, 100 calories each. 1.6 grams fat, fiber 1%, sugars 11.7g Protein 1.5g

I'm going to talk to my friend and find out how to make these fiber bars, because they are so stinkin good I'd eat them instead of fiber one bars.

Birthday Parties Everywhere!

Tonight is the night! We are having a triple birthday sleepover! I strategically had my girls two weeks apart. Sydney's birthday is August 21, Meagan's is September 6 and Alyssa's is today, September 25! We usually do something with the little girls and then we do something seperate for Alyssa. But this year they decided to do a sleepover all together. There's going to be a lot of girls running around this place starting 6pm tonight! We decided to plan it when Craig was working. I think there would have been a little to much girl for him. Mac is working on finding somewhere to spend the night.

The girls have all planned their night. Sydney was the first one to write out a plan. The first thing on her list was a pillow fight, followed by s'mores, pizza, spooky stories and a red box movie. I think we've got all that covered. Meagan next made a very detailed plan. She made a very stuctured plan with times and everything. She will probably follow it to the letter. Alyssa doesn't care. She's just excited to have friends over. She'll take whatever she can get!

We'll have to update tomorrow with some pics of the great birthday sleepover! Wish me luck!

Meagan's 9th Birthday

Meagan had a great 9th birthday this year.

Her Grandma Allen from Indiana sent

her some beautiful clothes.

As Meagan said, "just in time for Church! Yeah!".

She's wearing the dress from Grandma Allen

while opening presents from her family.

Meagan loves to sew, so we decided to buy

her her first sewing machine! Yeah for Meagan!

Mac's Birthday and Ordination

Back at the end of May Mac turned twelve! I couldn't believe it myself. That meant a lot of things for Mac and our family. He was able to graduate from Primary (the children's program at Church) and join Young Men. It's always exciting when you get to leave Primary. I remember being so excited myself. I was older, I didn't want to be with the annoying little kids. Oh to be twelve again! The other thing that happened for him was that he was ordained a Deacon in the Aaronic Priesthood. It was so cool. We were so fortunate to have family and friends come and share this special time with us.

The theme this year for the big kids is new bikes!

So we brought him out bright and early and showed him his new bike.

He Loves LOVES loves it!

The final photo of Gary, Craig, Dan and Mac.

Dan is NOT cooperating.

But we didn't really expect him to did we??

Dan is a little tired of being photographed here.

Here's the good one!
Here we have family from both sides and
friends from our ward here in Aurora.
Here is our family on the special day.
Doesn't Mac look sharp in that suit!

Where Were You When the World Stopped Turning?

This morning Mac and I put flags up for 9/11. It’s always a good experience to help him do this, but on 9/11 it is closer to my heart. As we drove around to the houses on our route we talked about that day eight years ago. Mac was only 4, but he remembers.

We lived on Kelly AFB at the time, and the kids went to school on the nearby Lackland AFB. Shortly after hearing the news and being absolutely devastated I decided it was time to go get the kids. I went and knocked on the doors. I got Mac first (from PreK), and then headed over to Kindergarten for Alyssa. Mrs. Mimari came out and asked me what had happened, she hadn’t seen anything, only heard rumors in the classroom. I told her what I knew and we wept outside her classroom together. It was so surreal. How could this happen here, in America. I was so lucky I hadn’t waited until the end of the day to pick the kids up from school, because the bases were in lockdown and many kids spent the night in the gym. How scary that would have been for me and the kids.

When we went home I didn’t let the kids go outside and play. I was a little bit worried. Lackland AFB had a flight line, and nothing was flying, NOTHING. It was so very, very quiet. The flight line was never quiet. I called Craig at work and asked him “Did you hear what’s going on?”. I’m still not sure why I did that, he worked on base, of course he had heard. He was smack dab in the middle of it, and that’s the day he started fighting the war on terrorism, he hasn’t rested a day since.

I was so worried about Sally and Jay, my sister and her husband who lived in NY City. Calls weren’t going out, calls weren’t making it in. Was she alright? I didn’t know. It felt like forever before I heard she and Jay were alright. I knew that Jay worked in the financial district and that he had meetings at the World Trade Center.

Shortly after the attack, a few days later, there was a memorial service on TV. I was in Wal-Mart when it happened. Everyone stopped, everyone listened, and there were no dry eyes in the store. Everyone flew a flag outside their house. Everyone was touched, everyone was affected.

Mac asked me this morning if I was scared. I told him yes. He said he was too. Then he made the comment, “well, I guess that’s what they wanted isn’t it. I wish we wouldn’t have been scared.” So true, I hadn’t thought about it like that.

We listened over and over to patriotic music. We were touched by all of it, especially Lee Greenwood’s “I’m glad to be an American”. We knew every word.

Now, each year that passes I hold my breath. Please let this be a normal day. Please don’t let anything terrible happen today.

I am so proud to be an American. I love this Country. I love what it stands for. I will never forget that day. Where were you when the world stopped turning, that September day?