salt 'n' pepa's here!

isaac got these itty bitty salt & pepper shakers for christmas. let me explain...

while in san diego this summer, the kids stayed w/ g'ma & g'pa in the hotel while the rest of us went to nate's show. they ordered room service & what do you think was on the tray that got isaac's attention? you got it!

so, g'pa thought it would be fun to get a set for isaac for christmas. i thought so too...

until i have had to make him an EGG every morning for breakfast! :)

isn't she lovely...

isn't she wonderful...

isn't she precious...

welcome to the family...

She's finally arrived!

After spending all day at the hospital, my sister-in-law DeeAnn finally gave birth! Lulu is now known as:

Lilia Ann Johnson

born December 25th

9:47 PM central time

7 lbs. 4 oz.

What a great Christmas gift!!!

more info to follow...

:)

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!

merry christmas to all! the pictures of the kids are from a few weeks ago. they were definitely not from today because we stayed in our pajamas ALL DAY LONG! we had a great, obviously relaxing day. we leave you with some holiday music from our musicians...

christmas eve

what a busy day we had ~ up early, to the gym, went for a walk, i cleaned up the house while dennis washed vehicles, got meals ready ( for us & for the nursery workers at the church), showered, etc., went to the early service where isaac sang (downloaded on youtube if you would like to see him), stayed for the following candlelight service, went to kelcey & allan's house for their christmas eve party, home to eat, & then FINALLY open presents!

view the video of isaac below to see how excited he was this evening. sorry it's sideways...haven't figured out how to change that when i've recorded that way.

lauryn had fun, too!

merry christmas to all & to all a goodnight...

santa & mrs. claus are wiped out!!!

in the spirit of christmas...

the following story was sent to us from my mom through e-mail today & takes place in ND:

We had a most touching Christmas experience today. It's one that is hard to put into words. We started out as heroes and ended up with the biggest blessing of all!
We went out to Wal-Mart and on our way home we saw a couple /plus 3 others ahead of them (it was very windy & cold this morning) .They were walking along the rode side near the airport, pulling suitcases. Assuming they'd flown into Williston and didn't know there is taxi service or couldn't afford it-we stopped to give them a ride. They were walking to the train depot, which would have been about a 3-4 mile hike! It turned out they were 5 Chinese college students in an exchange program with Dickinson State who are on Christmas break and planning a 15 day Amtrak tour to Chicago, New York, Niagara Falls & points beyond. They'd come to Williston the night before and had a problem with their ticket bookings online so had stayed at a hotel ( one without shuttle service. ) We drove them to the depot at around noon and found out the train didn't depart until 7 PM-so they came home with us for the afternoon as our house guests! We fed them, visited with them and found out about their country and lives. They had many questions of us and asked if we were Christians! As we shared about Christmas and our beliefs, we began to see that we were the ones blessed by the events of the day :) God does work in mysterious ways!
May he bless you this holiday season too!
Love to you all,
LeNae & Gary

isn't this an amazing story? i told my parents that it almost sounds like a movie. it's such a heart-warming story. to this day, i still learn from them ~ how to treat others with love & kindness and to share what you have with others. mom neglected to tell you that she played christmas carols on the piano & sang ~ they knew some of the songs to sing along. my aunt & uncle live in dickinson where these students are going to college. their future plans include going to dickinson & having the students over to my aunt & uncle's house for a meal. even though i say this is in the spirit of christmas, for those of you who know my parents, the spirit of christmas lasts the whole year long!

back in the day

ok everyone, prepare yourselves for a trip back to the '70's! my brother nate put these photos on his web album the other day & i've had so much fun looking at them that i decided i had to blog them. below each photo are the comments we made on the web album ~ from myself, nate, dennis, & dee. have fun! i sure did!

Looks like a very content dude! ~ nate

isaac had no idea who this was....yeah, you look pretty cool ~ jen

looks like the calm before the storm ~ dennis

LOOK at that Blond hair, and in this pic his eyes look brown... Looks like someone else! ~ dee

“Hey ma! Look at my feet.” ~ nate

i loved those slippers! totally forgot all about them til now. :) ~ jen

looks so sweet and quiet... ~ dennis

I like the Pig Tails, I loved Pig Tails! ~ dee

Jen I think you've got something on your face. On your nose and a little around the mouth area. Other than that you're good. Maybe a little on your cheek. Don't worry mom will never suspect a thing. I think we're golden. ~ nate

this one always makes me laugh! wish i would let my kids get this dirty sometime... ~ jen

our kids would hate to be that dirty...never seen nate so happy! ~ dennis

I still look like this after a day of baking.... ~ dee

All these open benches and you have to sit next to me. I don't get it. ~ nate

look at the hat w/ the built-in sunglasses! mom & dad always had a knack for getting us something no one else ever had. what is up w/ our matching outfits??? ~ jen
anyone with hats like that get private rides. ~ dennis

I love this photo just for those ladies in the background. The woman with the cuffed paints looks like she's about to lay down some smack. And the lady immediately to her right isn't having it. Look at those crossed arms. ~ nate

LOL! It looks like you finished your popcorn and turned the bowls over on your heads! ~ dee

Is she wearing the same outfit I am? I this is ridiculous. How many people live in Newburg and we both show-up for xmas wearing the same outfit. How embarrassing. ~ nate

yeah, it's almost like the schepp boys showing up to church on christmas eve in their identical outfits!omg, we were pretty cute! ~ jen

we could recreate this photo...the next generation, jen has the isaac tongue in cheek smile kinda :) ~ dennis

This photo reminds me of Lauryn. ~ nate

I think you two should dress up in the same outfits again for the next family photo we all take. C'mon, it'll be fun! ~ dee

DOG-gone-it!

today we finally got some answers to why maxie has been having skin problems for the last year. it started last fall when i noticed some scabs on her back. we've been doctoring with her ever since. i'd take her to the vet, they'd do some tests & she'd get antibiotics. each round lasted about 6 weeks with me having to give her meds everyday & TRY to get a medicated bath in once a week or so. then the spots would disappear, only to reappear about 4 months later. so we've gone through this cycle 4-5 times since it all started. when the spots returned a few weeks ago, we finally decided it was time to spring for the BIG test ~ the HESKA allergy test. well, like i said, today we finally got some answers. anything with EA units of 150 or higher is considered a significant allergen. here is her list of allergies:

FOOD: wheat grain~168 barley~1472

TREES: red cedar~574 palm~383 sycamore~229 juniper~204 olive~145

WEEDS: yellow dock~2619 marsh elder~1280 cocklebur~1042 russian thistle~970 english plantain~495 carelessweed~312 ragweed, western/slender~308 sagebrush~225 ragweed, false~219 ragweed,short~186

GRASSES: red top grass~3883 perennial rye grass~3791 meadow fescue~3756 johnsongrass~3163 bluegrass, june~3012 brome, smooth~2890 orchard grass~2879 timothy grass~1621

ENVIRONMENT: cockroach~271 d. pteronyssinus~175 d. farinae~156

did you catch all of that? don't imagine you all wanted to read every detail of her allergies, but thought it would get the point across. the vet said it's the worst case of allergies he's seen with this test. because her numbers were so exaggerated & there were so many different allergies, he consulted maxie's dermatologist (yes, she has a dermatologist~i don't even have one) & they have decided we'll go with a hypoallergenic food to start with & some more antibiotics & go from there.

at least she isn't really affected by the allergies other than her skin. it never appears to even bother her~she doesn't scratch at it or anything. since we live in las vegas, it's quite common to not have grass (which we don't) so that is good. also, no more food scraps AT ALL!!!

if you're a pet lover (even if you're not, we LOVE maxie~she's our first "kid") we'd appreciate it if you have room in your heart to pray for her.

THANK YOU!

goodnight sweethearts

thanks to g'ma & g'pa johnson, christmas came 10 days early for the allen kids. isaac got to help pick out a new bed for his room & it was finally delivered yesterday morning. the bomb shell was when the delivery man told us they don't assemble that bed, like we were TOLD in the store. we got that straightened out & after 5+ hours of work from dennis, isaac was ecstatic to climb atop his new bed! (lauryn to as you can see) there is plenty of storage space that we worked on filling up last night. also, the very bottom of the bed pulls out to reveal a trundle bed. the whole look of the new bed fits perfectly with isaac's sports themed room ~ which you can't really see. you have to come to our house to VISIT to get the full effect!

when lauryn inherited the queen size bed from isaac's room, we had no bedding appropriate for her. luckily her grandparents are right on top of things & sent her the set below. it's reversible & is so cute!

nate & dee's shower

saturday was nate & dee's baby shower. sad to say we missed it but were so happy that they shared pictures with us. they got a lot of great gifts & looks like they had a wonderful afternoon with their friends.

doesn't dee look great pregnant? she's got less than 2 weeks to go...yippee! we are so excited to see what lulu will look like & what her "real" name will be. oh, i just can't wait!

like, it's totally 80's to the max!

ok, that's enough laughing!

now let me explain...

my friend kelcey had a surprise 40th b'day party for her husband & the theme was (obviously) the 80's. the invite told everyone to dress in their 80's gear. so we did our best with what we had & could find on short notice. (it wasn't short notice really, we just didn't get a chance to look for clothing until the day of the party!)

so we walk into the party & DON'T SEE ANYONE ELSE dressed like us! everyone else looks normal. well, there was one other couple & kelcey & her friend robin....the guy was dressed like tom cruise in risky business & his girlfriend looked straight out of flashdance. but kelcey looked darn cute in her outfit. it wasn't really 80's, it was all new clothes. me on the other hand, my shirt was directly from goodwill & kelcey commented that it was "the ugliest shirt i've ever seen!" thank you very much!

we had fun despite the majority of party poopers who didn't follow the directions on the invitation.