Our house is a very, very fine house...

We are anticipating our departure from Indiana in the next 5-6 months, and so, we are trying to get our house in condition to sale it. On the day we closed we began a quick but nice job of repainting and carpeting, exchanging yellow walls and orange carpet for more neutral colors. Since then (almost 4 years later) some little scuffs, and children's crayon markings have made their marks on our walls and therefore our house has become a home.

However, we need to have a yard sale before we can touch up on the paint, and have some light carpentry work done. Kris and I are hoping that March 21st and 22nd will be a weekend of descent weather so we can begin selling various items including furniture, clothes, and baby things.

We are also hoping to sale our house without a real estate agent, and therefore, we're looking to give someone a good deal for our home. Maybe some beginning Ph.D. student and his/her family with several long years of schooling ahead of them or anyone else who would enjoy a less expensive home with some great space and potential.

Here are some specs on our home:

• Approximately 1750 finished square feet
• 4 bedrooms (2 master suites, one up and one down with connecting bathrooms)
• 3 baths (1 full and 2 3/4 baths)
• 2 car garage
• Double pane windows throughout
• Lots of light in the basement
• Nice, fenced in back yard with wood deck against back fence
• Trim recently (in last 8 months) painted and weather-proofed
• Safe, lit neighborhood, great for taking walks in
• Newly built elementary school nearby
• Close to 2 walking/running/biking trails
• 1 1/2 miles from the local YMCA
• About 10 minutes from downtown and IU campus
• Bloomington has a relatively low cost of living!!!

If you are interested in knowing more about our home, by all means reply to our blog. We'll be happy to tell you more! For those we are leaving, we will miss you dearly.

Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! We hope you are enjoying some time with those you love...

This afternoon we exchanged some cards and candy. Alyson and Kourtney made their own cards this year, and Kris and I will buy ourselves a dart board tonight or later this week (we'll have to tell you the significance of this gift in a later blog).

Here are two special videos for Nana, Papa Bear, and Oma. We love you!

We also hope you enjoy the pictures we took of our Valentine's Day celebration thus far.

Also, Koco nearly nocked Alyson's top right front tooth out by accident this morning. Boy, talk about sisterly love on Valentine's Day! You can see pictures taken of Alyson today at the bottom of this blog while she still has her tooth...And you can see the little colporate at the bottom of the blog too!

For Nana and Papa

For Oma

Our Colorado Vacation

January 15th marked a special day for our family. It meant that Kris had his job applications mailed off to universities and we could visit our parents after having not been home to Colorado in over a year.

After traveling a bleak and redundant path for over three years through Illinois, Missouri and Kansas, we chose another route to take us home. Our handy dandy GPS system helped us map out routes to our destinations. Soon both Alyson and Kourtney were copying the lady's voice. "Then turn right onto the motor way," and "You have reached your destination" became phrases of second nature for our two little girls.

This time we spent two nights on the road: the first in Iowa City, Iowa, and the second in Denver with one of Kris' cousins and his family. We enjoyed time in both of these places as we explored Iowa City, and swam at the hotel (a huge highlight for Alyson and Kourtney), then visited with Erik, Kelly and their two children Kaden, 3, and Taylor 4 months in Denver.

After two and a half days on the road, we pulled into Grand Junction and were greeted by our folks. We spent the first part of our vacation sleeping at Kris' mom's house, and then the second part with my parents. My sister was also able to visit us for a few days, and we enjoyed our time with her, her husband, and four children which have all grown in both stature and maturity. Wow-can you believe what a year can do to a child?

We played games around the dining room table, basketball at the Stake Center, swam, watched our mom's bowl, watched movies together, and enjoyed eachother's company during various other activities. Alyson and Kourtney were spoiled by their grandparents as they were showered with time and attention and with clothing and toys. They also enjoyed time with their cousins and stayed up way too late for their own good.

Kris and I had fun playing Spades against our mom's and taking dates. We saw several movies together and ate out a few times. Kris, his mom and the girls also took a morning to visit his cousin Melanie and treated the girls to pizza and games at Chuckie Cheeses.

After such a long 4-5 months of hard work, Kris really needed the time off but continued to work 3-4 hours here and there to be prepared for job interviews and other projects he's been working on. However he seemed much more relaxed and yet carried the cell phone with him every where he went in hopefull anticipation that he'd have universities calling him to schedule interviews.

Our stay in G.J. was cut about half a day short as a blizzard was predicted to hit the Rocky Mountains early the morning we planned to make our trip back to Indiana. So, we said goodbye to our parents and began our adventure back to Indiana on Sunday around 5:15 pm. We spent one night on the road in Colby, Kansas, made a breif visit to Dan and Sarah Babbels home, and then pressed forward through the next night.

After two weeks our vacation was over, but we came home rejuvinated and ready to see what the near future has to hold for us.

More Pictures will be posted later when I can pull them off of Kris' laptop.

Our Christmas

We spent Christmas in Indiana this year, creating new traditions of our own and enjoying the last big holidays in Bloomington. For the last several years we've been going to Colorado for Christmas but with Kris pressed for time to complete his dissertation and mail off job application packets, we've decided to postpone our annual winter trip until the middle of January. We also have a litter of puppies, which are gradually going home to their new owners now. By the time we pack, fill up the car with all our necessities and adventure across the country, the pups will be gone, and Kris will be a couple steps closer to a graduating doctoral student and professor.

One great thing about Kris' schedule right now is that he makes it up, so if he wants to spend some time with us during the day, he goes into work a little earlier or stays at work a little later. The week before Christmas we took advantage of his flexible schedule and adventured out with the family on several different occasions. The first time was to have the tires on the Sedona replaced and the oil changed on the Pathfinder. Our appointment was at 1:00 pm, so we dropped the cars off and walked downtown stopping to eat at a little cafe. Then we walked around the square and got some cookies at the Bakehouse. A little cold from our walk, we decided to stop in at the little mall on the square and found an adorable little dress to take Ellary home from the hospital in, and then discovered that Santa was there too. Luckily I had the camera in my purse...

The Mall was decked out for the holidays...

We also went to an IU women's basketball game vs. West Virginia in which I have already wrote about. A Bug at Christmas Time

Our family went through a bout the stomach flu bug this Christmas season. The last time we got sick at this proportion was when we were on our way back to Grand Junction two Christmas' ago and found ourselves puking along the way. This time around it started with the infamous Alyson Allee projectile vomiting spells. A week later I found myself hovering over the toilet for a few hours in the middle of the night. The next day Kris wasn't feeling so well, and Kourtney, who hardly ever pukes, woke up saying "My tummy hurts." Needless to say, we spent a good amount of time in the bathroom. Two days later, after all seemed healthy in the Allee household, we found ourselves out doing some last minute shopping and decided, at Alyson's request, to use our Red Lobster gift card. Sitting at the table, on a Friday night, when the restaurant is packed, Alyson started complaining that she didn't feel well. Minutes later she was pale, and seconds following she began her general routine of "Oh no..." followed by the horrifying sounds of food exploding from her stomach. Kris and I did our best to clean up, but her little belly must have held food in there for days before deciding to erupt. After notifying the wait staff of what had happened, we hightailed ourselves out of there. $40 bucks in gift cards down the drain and a sick little girl holding a cup in the car later, we found ourselves at home relieved to have that all done with. Needless to say, Alyson was feeling almost back to normal the next morning, and keeping our fingers crossed, no one else has been sick since.

Christmas Eve

It's been a long time tradition in Kris' house for Eleonore to break out the guitar and sing Christmas carols on Christmas Eve. So anticipating holding this tradition in our family, Kris broke out his guitar and some Christmas music several weeks ago and brushed up on his guitar skills. We sang songs and recorded much of it on the camcorder. Then the girls and I made cookies, and Alyson, four years old and loving to write, wrote a letter to Santa with our help. Then they were off to bed, and surprisingly went to sleep much quicker than I think Kris or I had anticipated.

Oh Christmas Tree...

Christmas Morning

Alyson was the first to wake up around 8:00 am, probably too excited to see if Santa had brought her the ballerina jewelry box she's been asking for for months. Kourtney slept in until 8:30, so that's when we began our Christmas festivities.

The girls waiting to come down stairs on Christmas morning...

Santa's Surprise...
Knowing the Girls have a lot of toys and that the girls love to camp whether it's indoors of out, Santa brought them a tent and sleeping bags.Oma gave the girls a lot of books, Koco a Little Einstein baton and Alyson an art set plus some money to spend.

Nana and Papa Bear gave the girls PJ's. Koco got Dora the Explorer pajamas and Alyson was given 5 Little Monkey pajamas (Papa and Alyson know why!).
Alyson also received the ballerina jewelry box she wanted, plus a few other ballerina items, and Koco got a few more Dora items including a hooded towel and a blanket in hopes she will retire the old one Nana made for her before it falls to pieces.

Daddy thought it would be a good idea to get them a learning game. Here is Kris with the girls teaching them how to play a V-Smile game.

Kris received a pair of new dress shoes, a music stand, and a tie with pictures of the girls on it. I received a pair of shoes as well, a purse and a laundry hamper. Kris surprised the family by buying a large griddle. Now we can cook fench toast on Sundays 8 pieces at a time!

Best of all, we had a lot of time together, and we were able to reflect about the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ through songs and prayers. We are grateful for the love of our Heavenly Father, and of Jesus Christ, and for the love of family...

A Night at the IU Women's Basketball Game

We've been to two women's games as a family this winter because it's cost effective, Kris and I like basketball and the girls stay entertained by watching the game, dancing to the music, and playing with some toys we bring. Here are a few pictures from the latest game we attended where IU beat West Virginia. Yeah-GO HOOSIERS!!!

Daddy and his girls.

Koco watching the players shoot hoops at half time.

Don't let the picture fool you. We did have fun...Really!

Alyson and Kourtney Recite Abraham 2:11

Alyson recited Abraham 2:11 in Primary about a month ago. She still remembers it...

"In thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed, with the blessings of the gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even life eternal."

Here is Kourtney's version of Abraham 2:11 and proof that older siblings are examples to their younger ones.

We are Having a Girl!

Our family went in for our mid pregnancy ultrasound two weeks ago, and guess what...We are having another girl! While most people thought we'd be having a boy, Kris was right on and knew all along that we were having a girl. Kourtney got her wish for a little sister, and Alyson quietly whispered into her daddy's ear after hearing the news, "Next time can we have a baby boy?"

As with tradition, we have already chosen a name and have begun calling our baby girl by the name of Ellary. Her full name will be Ellary Evelyn Allee. Alyson has a friend that she likes very much whose name is Ellary. Kris' mom, Eleonore will also have a name sake, and my grandmother on my mom's side was named Iva Evelyn. Also, keeping in tradition with Alyson and Kourtney's full names, Ellary's first and middle names both start with the same letter and have Y's in them. She will be called Ella for short.

We are so excited to welcome her into the world some time in April. She will be loved very much, and her arrival will come at a bitter sweet time when we are preparing to relocate. Ellary will be our little beacon of light as we await the many transitions our family will make in the following months.