Catchin up with old friends

I recently sent an update to a missionary we still keep contact with, one of the many! Every now and then one will pop in to say Hello! We love it, we have even met a new wife and enjoy cards that catch us up on their lives and new families. They are so wonderful it is great to watch them grow. I love them and the Spirit they bring with them.




Chad is now 7! His last surgery really went well for his eyes and he does see better, but still wears his glasses. We recently had some testing done and found he has Aspbergers (like autism) we love him for who he is, but it does explain some of his quirks, and his genius side. How many 7 year old's do you know that can hook up a trailer, drive a vehicle, forklift and tractor? It will however keep him from serving a mission :o( I just look forward to the day he can change the oil in my car :o)


Bekah is great, this is the first semester in awhile she has not made honor roll. That kinda crushed her. She is really growing and getting big. Finally taking after the rest of the family. I thought she'd be a petite little gal forever. She has such a loving spirit.



Adanna, she is WAY BIG, she walked out of church the other day next to Dan and with the little heels she had on, she was taller than her dad! She got to go to girls camp for the first time and absolutely LOVED it. I love to watch to Spirit grow within her. She is at that tough age, growing up, it is so awkward at times. Adanna has a hunt in Dec for Elk, it will be her first.



Chris, no girlfriend, yep you read that right, he has not had a steady in some time... and he is happy. Still going to GCC (Glendale Community) and works full time at Sands Chevrolet. He still drives the Eclipse, but we are looking at a 2004 Chevy Cavalier with only 11,ooo miles. We do not see him often, but we are much closer than we have been and enjoy time with him when he is able to be home. At left is Chris at a survival training course he took with Dan and I this summer. He was one of the few to start a fire without a flame of some sort and he did it the harder of the ways taught.

Dan just got home from 2 weeks hunting. We are EXTREMELY slow at work. With the economy we have no work ahead through the end of the year. At least we have meat in the freezer and food storage. Maybe this is what we have been preparing for??? The economy is just so bad it is unreal. We have shut down our Kingman location and hope to keep both Vegas and Surprise running and building trusses with the minimum amount of work we have. Time will tell, we have done 3 rounds of layoffs and 2 rounds of pay cuts now, it is unreal. I have never seen it like this and neither has my Dad. Very scary.

April, I must have had too much time on my hands as I decided to run for school board. A week into it Jennifer Tanner contacted me to help her, she is running also. Total, there is 3 of us LDS gals running for 3 positions, there are 7 total people running. We had a debate the other nite, which went well.( I was slammed that in my intro I mentioned the church, ((DO NOT mix church and politics... :o)) I am a member and it is part of me, so be it. I firmly believe, and therefore I mentioned it. Live and learn... sigh... :o) No regrets! I also went to girls camp again cooking this year and Dan was there also, it was great. I have my hunt in mid October for Elk.

We are all going to Disneyland in a few days. Got a great deal I could not pass up. I have been praying to bring my family closer together, alas, my prayers were answered. It is funny how they can be answered yet not in the way we THINK they will be. I am still not very close to my dad and brother.


I was contacted by a cousin who I had not spoken to in years. He lives right down the road. His kids are close in age to ours and he is a single dad. A GREAT single dad! We are often together, take trips, camp and they are going to Disneyland with us also. We are

really looking forward to it. Here are some pictures of Uncle Jerry, Alyssa 8, Heather 14 and Chris 21.

Going Gluten Free

Chad was diagnosed with Aspergers last year. We had ongoing issues with his behavior at school. I thought that there was a little more to the problem than him being a bully. We did get some testing and the diagnosis followed. It was actually a relief. It explained so many of Chads little quirks. He is really such a love able kid. There was a kid in the class that just drove him nuts and was always "in his bubble." We were eventually able to get him changed into a different class and the problems stopped... relief! Chad is really smart and tested almost off the charts in areas. I was only able to encourage him to potty train by teaching him to drive. He now knows how to drive a vehicle, the tractor, and forklift. I realize this sounds crazy, but that is a way to motivate him. He is unlike most children and we really had a hard time with the motivation factor. He is forever tying things up and taking things apart to figure them out. He has had a fascination with lights, keys and anything that opens or closes for years. He can literally drive you up the wall to open and close things. He just loves different types of doors like sliding, garage, ect... I am betting he will be some type of engineer or something which was exactly what Phx Children's said.



On to this year... the problems have started up again. Things have been pretty crazy at the Allen household. We have had lots going on. Mom is running for School Board, Dad is out of town and strep seems to be running thru the house. Dan and I also volunteer for Arizona Game & Fish as Hunter Ed Instructors, in which we are in the middle of a class. Anyhow, I went back into research mode and decided to try Chad on a Gluten Free diet. It is really supposed to be helpful with kids on the autistic spectrum. (Aspergers is similar to autism and it is helpful to remove gluten, milk, and dyes from a childs diet to help control issues associated with Autism and Aspergers) Keep in mind Chad is a kid that LIVES on sandwiches (one of his quirks... if it is not chicken nuggets, pizza or fries, it gets tucked in bread be it spaghetti, eggs or whatever...) We tried to go this way last year and he did not handle it well.



Mom and Chad sat down and had a real heart to heart. Mom needs to eat gluten free to be healthy. Chad can eat gluten free and see if it helps him to be a better person. Well he is good with it, (The food is a HUGE adjustment) I have to give the little guy credit. He is doing great. Not only with the diet, but we are again going GREEN at school! Yeah to small hurdles... Chads concern now is that there will be a corn chip for him at sacrament. (At right is one of my favorite pictures of Chad. We would just play for hours with blocks and still will. Not just legos, but BLOCKS of wood, and he wants them cut certian ways.)