The pleasantest thing....

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!
Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside--
Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown--
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!
Robert Louis Stevenson, "The Swing"
This is my very favorite poem...when I was younger, I memorized it and said it quite often.
I am so thrilled to know that my daughter shares my (and Robert Louis Stevenson's) love for the swing.... it is the pleasantest thing ever a child (and her parents) can do!

Grammy and Poppy time!

As I said in the previous post, Ryan and Lauren just got married. It was an absolutely beautiful, Christ-centered ceremony at Camp Louchridge, a Presbyterian Camp in Tulsa. The chapel looked out over the camp and was just breathtaking. However, you wouldn't know that from my pictures... when I got home and looked through my pictures of the weekend, these were the only ones even taken at Camp Louchridge... whoops! At the rehearsal, Zanna practiced walking against the pew and particularly loved that she could see through the chair to her daddy standing on the other side :) We also really enjoyed our short but special time with Grammy and Poppy visiting from Belgium. Unfortunately, we never got one with everyone looking at the camera, but it's still cute :) Zanna loved being with her Grammy and Poppy- they were amazed at how much she had changed since the first time they met her (at 6 weeks old). She showed them all of her tricks- crawling, standing, laughing, clapping, singing, waving "hi" etc. She pulled out all of the stops :)

Oklahoma....

Uncle Ryan and Lauren (now AUNT Lauren) got married last weekend in Tulsa, so the whole Allen clan was there. On Saturday before the rehearsal, we went with Aunt Brittany, Uncle Brandon, Brynn and Bridger to the Tulsa Aquarium. It's an incredible aquarium with lots of hands-on exhibits- we touched shrimp, starfish, horseshoe crab, sting rays, and Brynn and Bridger fed the turtles! As you can see in the last picture, Zanna particularly liked her view of the aquarium... :)

Your nose, My nose....

Did you know? Grampa's nose makes noise!!
Just ask Zanna... she is the nose expert!
She and Grampa had fun making music with their noses....

Say Cheese!

Just to make you smile.... :) These were taken last week while Zanna was at Grampa's office!

I am Thankful For....

My friend, Omi, has this brilliant idea on her blog (which she got from another brilliant friend) to share a thanksgiving for each day in November. I think this is a wonderful practice, and even though I'm a few days late in getting started, I wanted to join in because I too have many people and things to be thankful for....and, weren't we always told to count our blessings? :) so, i'll at least count as high as 30...

1. I am thankful for my wonderful husband. He is such a kindhearted and loving person, and also such a goofy and fun-loving person, and I love that about him. He is wonderfully patient and can make a room full of people burst into laughter with just a few words. It is incredible to watch him be a dad now, Zanna just lights up whenever he walks in the room, and it makes me smile from ear-to-ear :) I am thankful for Cam.
2. I am thankful for rest. I am thankful that God gives me just enough so that I can do the work of motherhood, of wife-ness, and of ministry and feel that I have energy to just "be" too.
3. I am thankful for facebook. :)
4. I am thankful for the youth at FPC. They inspire me to be a more faithful Christian.
5. I am thankful for coffee in the morning.
6. I am thankful for my mom. Now, being a mom, I'm even more thankful for who she is and what all she has done for me since before I was even born!
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