Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Jackie Johnson

While teaching at Yuma High, I had the great opportunity to coach volleyball and basketball for seven years. One of those athletes, Jackie Johnson, went on the play basketball and track at ASU. She is a tremendous athlete. She was a great student, too, as I was her Junior English teacher. Anyway, she led the ASU track team to several NCAA championships. She graduated from ASU last year and participated in the Olympic Track and Field tryouts in Oregon at the beginning of July. We watched her compete with anticipation and excitement. She came in 2nd in the heptathalon Olympic tryouts, so she is headed to Beijing! I saw her Nike Olympic poster on her facebook site yesterday. She sounds good and looks great on the track. I can't wait to watch her next month! It is so neat to watch former students/athletes with whom I have worked excel in whatever they do!
Way to go, Jackie!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Summer Update

We are getting a real kick out of Eric--he loves to stand on his head on the couch (which does wonders for his harido!) and he loves to laugh. He is talking in sentences--okay, so maybe he leaves out a few filler words, but the basic sentence structure is definitely there. This morning, he said the blessing on breakfast without any help! He's adorable!
And Amelie is a hoot--she talks non-stop. We have to tell her to stop talking so she will eat a meal or so we can talk or watch a show. Billy loves to bug her and she is quick to catch on and feed it right back to him. She loves to have Mary and Tiffany put lipstick on her and do her hair.
Billy is getting ready for a big scout camp all next week and possibly the next week, too. He's well on his way to getting his Life Scout and his Duty to God. He and Jim have done 85% of his Deacon's requirements this summer. Billy is a very big help, as is Mary.
She and I are doing her summer reading packet stuff on A Midsummer Night's Dream, so I feel like I am back in the classroom to an extent. She has her first job this summer and is thoroughly enjoying it. She and Tiffany just got back from YW camp on Saturday and they loved it. I got a little jealous listening to al lthe fun they had, but am so glad they enjoyed it so much!! :)
Tiffany works and plays with friends and texts, and she got me into reading the Stephenie Meyers series. They are good. I especially like the connections with Wuthering Heights that the author makes. Tiffany is getting ready for senior year and has chosen the school she wants to go to, so Jim has been going through questions for her to ask of the school and things to get going so she can make it there (FIDM) next fall (Can she really be only a year away from college?!?)
Next Monday morning I am scheduled to have this baby- c-section, of course. We are so excited. I am so ready. And this summer, the weather has been awesome! Those who saw me during either of the other pregnancies may remember how swollen my whole body from face to feet was with the other two. Well, my feet have never swollen at all and my face is just chubby because of the weight gain, though I have gained less with this one than the others--I've been on a special 'diet' and exercised more religiously until it was too painful. Overall, it's been the best pregnancy :) But, I am certainly ready for him to be here with us!!!
Jim is enjoying his office in the mountains here in Montana. He is always telling us about the wildlife he has seen at work--elk, moose, tonnes of deer, I think even a bear, or at least tracks. He is also thoroughly enjoying his calling in Young Men's. He is 1st counselor and works with the Deacons (I don't even know if our ward has 1 teacher right now!). He and Billy are working hard on scouts. He also just started a night shift stocking shelves at Target. We are most excited about the 10% off discount :) That will help with diapers for the new baby, school supplies, . . .!!
That's the Allen family update in a crunch.