The FAMILY DOG
By: Jayme
Last year, each of us kids got $100.00 from our Grammy and Pappy. Bryan and Andrea really wanted to get a Wii with their money. I wanted a hamster. But that's another story that isn't worth talking about, stupid cannibalistic ha
mster.... Anyway, when we were at the pet store, we saw Riley. He was the cutest thing I had ever seen. His shaggy blond/brown/ hair, his big brown eyes and 4 little paws that are so cute. He had a brother which we fondly (not) refer to as Dog-Zilla. He was as monstrous as the Japanese dinosaur. He would bite poor Riley in places we won't describe and drag him around the glass cage. Riley would never retaliate. He just sat there and melted us with his Cocoa eyes. We decided to buy him instead of a Wii. We took him home, named him Riley from the character in the movie National Treasure. He was a 3 pound (at most) runt, that took our breath away. Then he was a 3 pound ball of energy. Apparently glad to have a family, he ran, and ran, and ran. We loved him and still do, even though he is lacking training and good manners!WALT DISNEY WOR
LD VACATION - FEBRUARY 2008By: Tracy
In February we took a vacation of a lifetime - we went to the Happiest Place on Earth with our Best Friends from Seattle. Mike, Janet, Jessica (15), Josh (8), Haylee (7), and Caleb (4) joined us the fun-filled 9 day vacation. We all stayed together in a 3 bedroom condo, rented a huge 15 passenger van, we fondly referred to as our Schmutzmobile, and got 5 day park hopper passes to the park. We spent a day at the Disney MGM, Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, and the Animal Kingdom. On our last day, we hit our favorite attractions from MGM and Animal Kingdom. The kids were old enough to ride all the scary roller coasters except for one; Andrea was too short for the Rockin' Roller Coaster at MGM. Jayme's favorite was Tower of Terror - which Bryan chickened out and didn't go on. Bryan loved the Rockin' Roller Coaster. Andrea loved the Test Track and Space Mountain and my favorite w
as the Mount Everest Expedition.We also spent a day at Cocoa Beach and a day by the pool. We had great weather and the kids had a blast. It was one of the best family vacations we've ever had. It was great that each of the kids had a buddy to play with and hang out with. Especially while waiting in line at the parks.
We learned a lot about the Bowcuts on our vacation and they learned a lot about us. We learned that Mike and Jay really can talk for 9 days straight about sports. And how much the Bowcuts love Denny's. The Bowcuts learned that the Allens can sleep through anything. All in all it was a fabulous time and we can't wait to do it again - maybe Hawaii....
JAYME GOES UNDER THE KNIFE
Oct 2007 and April 2008
By: Jayme
Hi! I am Jayme and I get to tell you all about my surgery. This past year has definitely been the hardest of my twelve. It has been spent basically off my feet, I have pretty strong arms now! I had to have an extra bone removed, a cadaver bone put into my foot to give me an arch and a tendon in my legs lengthened. Because of the cadaver bone, I had to spend two months in a wheel chair (it was fun for the first day, then it was boring, except when I would pop a couple Wheelies.), 3 months in a boot (ugly!) and a month in tennis shoes (annoying!) I had to go through that twice once in October 2007 and then again in April 2008. So it was a year until I could walk completely barefoot. I hope I haven't completely bored you with this, but my mom insisted I write about this, since it was a pretty big adjustment for the entire family. I can't imagine how it was for my family to have a big sister/daughter in a wheelchair and basically helpless. I hope I NEVER have to go to a hospital again.
-Jayme
We didn't mind too much. Jayme was remarkable strong and non whiny through the whole ordeal. One thing she didn't mention was that she got to be home schooled because it was just too darn hard to maneuver through a full day at school. The two of us had a great year together and learned a lot about each other. I learned that Jayme is very smart and even with a whole year of non-teaching, she learned enough to get back into all her GT (Gifted and Talented) classes with almost all A's. We are very proud of her and can't believe the transformation. She can do all sorts of things she couldn't do before and NEVER has any pain in her feet. So the operations where completely successful and worth it!! The miracle of modern medicine has definitely blessed her life!
-Tracy
BRYAN - OUR SPORTS STAR
By: Tracy
Bryan has continued to play sports - in Fall of 2007 he played his first and hopefully last, season of tackle football. Poor kid just doesn't have the size to be a football player. Despite his size he did play fairly well. Their team made it to the Arby's Beef Bowl and got to play at the local high school. It was a fun season. Since football he has played Basketball, Soccer and Baseball. Basketball was fun because his dad was his coach and we recruited a team of all his buddies from the elementary school. They play in the beginner division and made it to the championship game - which unfortunately they lost. But had fun along the way. Soccer has been fun but his real passion is Baseball. He was able to be a pitcher for his team. He does pretty well and loves it. If you ask him what he wants to do when he grows up - it entails being a professional sports player. We wish him well...
DANCING QUEEN
by: Tracy
Our little girly girl, Andrea had another fun year at the dance studio. She participated in the annual dance recital in June. Unfortunately, she was feeling under the weather but she still did well. She loves dancing, singing and art. We have a wall in our house that is her art wall. It is about 20 feet long and filled with all her artwork. She is constantly singing, dancing or making master pieces.
She did have a challenge this summer when she had her tonsils and adenoids removed. Her tonsils were so large they touched. This caused her to have a major gag reflex, a big snoring problem but most of all sleep apnea. Because of the sleep apnea, we decided she needed to get them removed. She underwent the surgery fine but when she came home she got so dehydrated within the first 24 hours she ended up back in the hospital on an IV. After another 24 hours of hospital monitoring and IV she was able to keep food and water down and go home. It took her a full 2 weeks to recover from her ordeal. Her voice has changed - it is much higher now and it took her 3 months to gain back all the weight she lost but the sleep apnea and snoring are totally gone. She sleeps so quietly now it is strange. So, she is sleeping much better now and we are glad it's all over.
TRIATHLON
May 2008
By: Tracy
I finally completed a long time goal - to complete a sprint Triathlon. It took me 6 months of training but I actually did it. There were about 16 of us from the ward who did it together. The race was a 300 yard swim, 12 mile bike and a 3.8 mile run. It was one of the hardest physical challenges I've ever done and I am so happy to say that I did it!!
NEWPORT BEACH, CALIFORNIA
Summer 2008
By: Tracy
Tracy and the kids took a month long vacation over the summer. We spent 2 weeks in Newport Beach, California and 2 weeks in the Seattle area. Newport Beach was so much fun!! Sam and Maggie, Pappy and Grammy and Jay all were there for some of it. We also have really good friends from here in Texas that were there during the same time. The kids had so much fun playing and swimming. Bryan learned how to skim board and boogie board. Jayme was still in a walking boot so her activity was limited and Andrea's favorite activity was digging and burying herself in the sand. The weather was perfect and we can't wait to go back next summer.
After leaving Newport, we headed up to the Pacific Northwest to stay with Grammy and Pappy and see all our old buddies. We did our usually Seattle activities: the pool, park and playing with friends but we added a little side trip.... Tracy, Jayme, Grammy and Sam had all read the Twilight series and had fallen in love with Vampires and Werewolves so we took a road trip to Forks, Washington. We spent 2 days touring all the Twilight sights in Forks, Port Angeles and La Push. 
We met: the Police Chief, the hospital with Dr. Cullen's reserved parking spot, the Swan residence, the Cullen residence, the high school, the poorly stocked library, the outfitters, the meadow, the "ball field," the Bella Italia restaurant, the dress shop, first beach, the Black house and we drove home through the Olympic Rain Forest. We had a great time. Unfortunately we didn't see any vampires or werewolves while we were there, but that doesn't mean they weren't there!
HALLOWEEN 2008
By: Tracy
For Halloween the kids had fun at our ward's annual Trunk-or-Treat and then did Trick-or-Treating in the neighborhood. Jayme went as a Geisha, Bryan was Davy Crockett and Andrea was a 50's girl. Bryan wore his hat that he got when we went to the Alamo in the spring. They had tons of fun and when it was all done they had collected over 1500 pieces of candy. Pretty scary!!
SWIM TEAM
By: Tracy
This year Jayme was on the middle school's swim team. It worked out great because it was an activity she could do to gain back her strength and not hurt her feet. She had a lot of fun and did really well. Her favorite stroke is the breaststroke. They had a swim meet and Jayme swam the 100 free, 50 Breaststroke and the 100 IM. She did well and got 2 second place ribbons and one fourth. Next semester she wants to try Golf.
JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAM COAT
By: Tracy
Jayme's middle school put on the musical - Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream coat. Jayme loved it!! The kids did a great job. She also tried out and made it on the regional choir. I think it is fair to say that she loves the performing arts. She hopes to one day make it on Broadway.
LOCKS OF LOVE
By: Tracy
Now you see it, now you don't. This week Jayme donated her hair to Locks of Love. It is something she has wanted to do for a long time. Her grandma Nancy is a breast cancer survivor and lost all her hair during Chemo. She had to wear a wig for a while. Jayme wanted to do something for kids that were going through the same thing. It is her way of giving a gift of love for Christmas.
FOR THE REST OF 2008 AND LOOKING FORWARD TO 2009
By: Tracy
For the rest of 2008 we plan on enjoying the time at home. The kids are working hard at school, Bryan's playing basketball again with dad coaching, Jayme is doing school plays and made it to the regional choir, Andrea is still dancing, Tracy is doing a little substitute teaching and working in the primary presidency in the ward and Jay is working hard trying to sell golf clubs. And we are all preparing for our new addition that will be joining us in mid February - a baby girl. Yes, it is hard to believe that we are having another baby. It took us all by complete surprise. The girls are excited and Bryan is well....dealing with it well. He is going to make someone a great husband - growing up with all these girls. So that is pretty much it for us...Seems like a lot of things happen but not too much changes for us - the baby will put an end to that! Wish y'all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
