Jo-Joe eating cereal for the first time...

Max

Well, after four tries, we decided to adopt our baby boy.... puppy. Yes, little Max (named after my middle name) has entered the Allen Family. Now, when you hear the word puppy and Allen family you might cringe, especially considering that we already have a baby. So here is the scoop... There was an email from a neighbor down the street saying that she found seven abandoned puppies in the lot next to her. The mom had, unfortunately, died and the puppies were all alone. So, she called animal welfare and gave four of them away and kept three of them. The lady, Gisela, who found them, has been bottle feeding them the past three weeks with the intention helping them get to the point where they were able to eat solid dog food and then give them away. So, we got Max today, but the feeding wasn't so easy. Being only four weeks old, and missing his brothers and sisters, Max was refusing to eat. So, we called the animal welfare lady back and she came by to pick up the puppy and she is going to watch the puppy for a few more weeks with the other puppies, give it the shots it needs, deworming medicine and everything else, and then bring him back to our family. This lady, Michelle, really lives her job, as she has 7 other dogs and 9 cats in addition to the 7 orphan puppies that she is raising:)

I must say that the parents of Max were might relieved that Max will get some more tender care before she joins this house 'o ladies. Now, for those of you wondering why on earth we got a puppy, I assure you the mom and dad are wondering the same. But, this is our justification. She is our puppy, but we have commissioned Kamryn to be the sole caretaker and our vet-to-be daughter is very, very happy to undertake the responsibility. It will take discipline and responsibilty which is something every parent want in their children:) So, we'll see!!! We also need a guard dog and though he is a ways away from that, we will have while we wait:) So, there it is...

To get the girls take on it all:

Kamryn!

Bradyn

and introducing the newest Allen blogger, Julia

Jo-Jo likes to eat blue Hip-pos

Who is the cutest baby in the whole wide world?

It's Jo-Jo!

Singing (and Dancing) in the Rain

Jet Lag + Time Change = This

I came out last night around 7:00pm to find all my girls lying on the couch. I thought they were faking it at first. I put my face up to Kamryn's face, waiting for her to giggle, but to no avail. They were OUT! It was pretty cute...

My last day being 37

Today is my last day being 37 and what a year it was. From Johanna Jae being born to celebrating my 10th anniversary, it was an exciting, fun, hard, great year. The year was split almost 50/50 in Zambia and Washington and so thinking back on the year has many different memories and emotions. I have learned so much this year and it has been fun to share my journey over the year with churches and during camps. I have loved watching my girls grow up and I am so proud of them. They delight me and I love how much they love each other. I am so thankful for my wife and her friendship and support. We have been through so much and I sense that the best is yet to come. Who would have predicted what life would be and who can even guess what is ahead.

1 Cor. 2:9 (NIV)
"No eye has seen,
no ear has heard,
no mind has conceived
what God has prepared for those who love him"--