Friday, December 19, 2008

My Little Christmas Spot

I wanted to share my little Christmas spot here in San Diego....I am looking forward to coming "Home for Christmas" to the snow, family and friends! We leave tomorrow morning!
Thank you God for such a gift as the Son of God, born of a virgin to be a light to the Gentiles and the glory of His people,Israel. The Savior of the World, Immanuel, God with us! It's all about the gift, the promise fulfilled, the offer eternal life to all who believe.....Will you accept the gift?

I love the celebration of His first Advent and look forward to His second Advent when he will reign as King of Kings and Lord of Lords! Let us be watching so that we will not be like the many who missed His first coming because it was not "the way" they expected it to happen.

O Mandy Pick a Bale of Cotton

Remember that song? On our trip to Texas we happened by a bale of cotton, a little bigger than "Mandy's" I'm sure.... since it is machine picked and baled.
I wanted to put up pictures for the kids to see how the cotton is grown and picked. It's not something you get to see in Idaho. Also, on the educational side I put in a picture of mistletoe growing in the tree. Another item you don't get to see in Idaho. Pa Pa Bill got under it to pull some from the tree, but it was too dangerous to kiss him while he was standing on the trunk of the car reaching for it.
We had a good visit in Texas with Trey and Granny and Eldon, Bill's brother.
Love to all,
Mom, AKA Leslie, Ruthie, Grandma

Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Thanksgiving

Did I remember to take pictures of the family at the table? No, how utterly strange of me....consummed with thoughts of dinner preparations no doubt.
However, we did have a lovely time with the kids, Shonna and Adam, Jerry and Jessica and Mom and Dad.
We were also suprised to have some little Indian show up at our feast....I wonder where He came from...
...I think he was from the Allen Tribe.
Love to all,
Mom AKA Leslie, Ruthie, Grandma

Saturday, December 6, 2008

No greater Joy!


I have no greater joy than this, to hear of my children walking in the truth. IIIJohn 1:4
It is such a blessing to me to watch my kids taking their responsibilty as parents seriously. Anyone can have a kid, but it takes dedication to raise a godly child in such a fallen and messed up world.
I was so proud of Jerry and Jessica as they spoke their written vows to little Cohen when they dedicated
him to the Lord. It truly does give me great joy.... I can only imagine the heartache one would feel if you had to watch your children leave God's path and screw up their lives and the lives your grandchilden, that is one of the reasons I pray for them every day.
I know that it is not easy to be a good parent. In fact, I would venture to say that the hardest thing you'll ever do, (if you choose to do it well) is to be a Mother/Father.
For a mom to create a home filled with love, a place of refuge, a place of learning,a place of order,a place of fun and fond memories for her family,is a 24/7 job.(and I didn't even mention the cooking and cleaning) It requires so much more than a "punch the clock" job and although there is no monetary income from the constant giving of oneself, the value is priceless.
And for the Father who's providing, leading, loving and protecting his family, showing them the way to the Heavenly Father, there may be no earthly recognition, but again, a priceless value as you present your family to the Lord on the day of accounting when we stand before the King of Kings and answer for what we did with what He gave us.
Since the world won't recognize this value, be sure to tell each other how much it means to you and how much you appreciate each others efforts! So....I am proud of you Jer and Jess, I'm behind you in prayer and available for whatever...and I love you both.
I am so blessed by all of my kids and their spouses. God has definitely been good to me. Thank you, Thank you, Lord!

As you can see, this very special moment just wore poor little Cohen out!!
Love to all, Mom AKA Leslie, Ruthie, Grandma

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

The Surprise!

"Come in, come in!"

"We've already started the party! - Who is it anyway??"
Abbie hollered from the lighted front porch. She was unable to see who that "guest" was that was walking toward them in the dark. As the mysterious person stepped into the light.....the surprise on their faces were evident....Grandma!!!!What are you doing here??? How did you get here!!! We thought you were in California!!! What a great surprise!
We stepped into the house where my daughter Shannon is on the phone, "I've got to go now, Mom is here.....MOM IS HERE!!? MOM!!! What are you doing here??!!!"
This was the scene that played out yet again as Lani arrived with her kids and my Mom and Dad. It was so much fun for me to be the surprise at the party. Soaking up hugs and kisses from the little ones. We were celebrating Micah's 9th birthday and Charis' 7th birthday. Hard to believe these grandkids are growing up so. My daily prayer for each of them is that they grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. They are such a blessing!

Love to all!
Mom AKA Leslie,Ruthie,Grandma

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Wow! Has it been a long time since I’ve updated my blog or what??? My excuse? Hmmm….... I haven’t been in the mood? Whatever the reason, I’m going to do it now.
September and October have been filled mostly with fishing trips on the weekends and during the week I’ve been working on and off on the Christmas sewing projects I started.
Mom and Dad came down for a week this month and happened to be here the weekend we needed to take the “Net Gain” down to Ensenada to dock it at the Marina Coral for a few months. We hopped in the boat and took off for the 70 mile ride on a Friday afternoon getting in to the Marina after dark. We saw dolphins and whales on the ride down and Bill totally enjoyed having the auto pilot on the boat fixed so that he sit back while the boat stayed on course. I think Mom and Dad totally enjoyed the boat ride and we were glad to have them along. We had a fantastic weekend, staying at the Hotel there. Shonna and Adam drove down on Saturday to be our ride back home and we all took the boat out fishing on Sunday before leaving.
We didn’t know if the tuna would be biting or not, we hoped, for Mom and Dad’s sake, that they were so they would have a chance experience the thrill of bringing one into the boat. Well, thank you Lord!
Our wish was granted and both Mom and Dad hooked up with a tuna. Dad brought in a feisty Bonito tuna and Mom brought in (with a little help from Bill) a nice Yellowfin tuna. Unfortunately, when you look at the picture of Mom’s fish, we didn’t get the whole fish in the picture, but you can tell by the head about how big it was, I think it was in the 25 – 30 lb class. They had so much fun and were so tickled to have the chance to catch a tuna! We enjoyed watching them as much as they enjoyed the fishing.

Bill and I took a little weekend trip to visit Ken and Bev in Arkansas. We planned to go stripper bass fishing but ended up just fishing for large mouth bass. It was fun, I’ve never bass fished before and we had fun “attracting” them to our lures. Ken fried them up in beer batter the next day and we had the best fish fry, it was delish ! Yummm! (To quote Rachel Ray)
We had a great visit with Ken and Bev, it was good to catch up with them. We also spent a considerable amount of time bemoaning our fears of the upcoming elections. Scared to death we are going to have an Obama presidency. Bill alone remains optimistic that it isn’t going to happen. I SO hope he’s right! Ken and Bev send their love to all the family and especially wanted us to let Marcus know they have been praying for him.
We love you all and miss you. Be praying for the elections!

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Ready, Set....Play!

Hola from San Diego!

We are praising the Lord for a safe and complete removal of Marcus’ cyst from his brain. He is still in recovery which is slow but normal for such an operation. Shannon has been taking good care of him and made sure that he was taken care of while he was in the hospital by being by his side all the way. I am thankful, so thankful that they have each other. Here’s a picture of Shannon cutting Marcus’ hair the night before the surgery so he wouldn’t be “lopsided” after the surgery.

Meanwhile, I got to be grandma to the four girls, we had a great time together,(except when Grandma makes them pick up their messes.) We made trips to the library, went roller skating, had Jaxson and Ellie over for an overnighter, and just enjoyed each other’s company; giving and receiving many hugs. One of my favorite pictures you'll see in the slide show are the soon to be famous NOSEWARMERS! Yes, these kids say they really work and keep your nose warm while you're playing the the crisp fall air. In fact they plan to crochet and sell them, maybe even on EBAY!!! I love it! They are sooo cute! When we went rollerskating, Kathy met us there and brought her granddaughter, Kelsey. She and Abbie really enjoyed skating together. Later, Daniel and Jessy met us bringing along little Matthias, so we had a regular little cousin’s party going on.
I did have a bit of time Lani and Brad, Jax, Ellie, Vance & Lilah….what a rowdy, funny bunch of kids, so fun!
I also spent some time with Mom and Dad. We had dinner together and Dave and Lorie joined us. Dave seems to be doing very well considering he just had a major heart attack. Thankfully, he did not have any damage to his heart.
Mom and Dad indulged me in a drive to gather Elderberries so that I could make some Elderberry Jelly which I have been missing since I moved to SD. I got to juice them there in Idaho and then brought a half gallon of juice home to make the jelly. In fact, that is what I did today, yumm….I had forgotten how delicious Elderberry Jelly is!
Many, many years ago, my kids made me this apron as a Christmas gift inspired by the purple Elderberry juice that turned into one of their favorite jellies, so I wore it today while making the jelly.

Friday we packed up for a fishing trip, spending the night on the boat before heading out early in the morning. It was a beautiful day. We caught fish early on, but after that had no more action except a stray bonito. But we caught four 30-35lb yellow fin tuna (that’s called Ahi on menu’s.) They really are a great fish to catch and eat. The boat did great, it was pretty choppy out there but we had a relatively smooth ride. I’ve also included a picture of the sunrise as we were headed out.
By the way, for those who have been asking what we are naming the boat…….Net Gain…..yes, that’s right.
Love to all,
Mom AKA Leslie, Ruthie, Grandma

Friday, August 15, 2008

Here he is!

Introducing Cohen Ray Allen Grandchild # 9

Okay you guys, I'm posting some pictures. I'll be adding more as I get them since I just have a few right now.
The grand event happened yesterday morning at 7:06am ...weighing in at 7.6 pounds, little Cohen arrived looking just like his beautiful mother. Jerry and Jess are a couple of VERY proud and Happy parents, (also cute) Jess said yesterday that she really needed to sleep but she just could quit staring at her new baby. They are both absolutely enthralled with Cohen.
After getting a bit of sleep yesterday afternoon, Uncle John (Jess's little bro) and I made him his first birthday cake, which we took over that evening for his first little birthday party. Of course, he was oblivious to our little celebration, but we forgave him and went ahead and enjoyed his cake and icecream.
Jerry and Grandpa Mark were worried that his eyes would be blinded from the paparazzi so we didn't take too many pictures. Grandma Julie and I,(the offending paparazzi)couldn't help ourselves.
I'll continue to add to these picts and I'm sure when Jerry gets a chance his blog will be full of them.
Love to you all and blessings,
Mom AKA Leslie, Grandma & Ruthie

Saturday, August 9, 2008

San Diego Summer


The summer seems to be flying by….It’s been a while since I’ve posted. I’ve been keeping busy between company and traveling. A couple of weeks ago I made a batch of zucchini relish with Jessica and the next week I made some carrot pickles. (I’ve been feeling like canning.) I think it ties back to my big summer garden in Idaho.

I also started volunteering at a Crisis Pregnancy Center in Mira Mesa called Turning Point. I go on Wednesdays and do whatever tasks they have for me. Then twice a week on Thursday evenings I go to the “bridges” program where they have a speaker for the gals on some subject and then they get to spend their points and shop. I mostly hold babies for the mothers. A lot of the gals do not speak English so I’m not good at communicating. I’m good at smiling tho’… and at holding babies :>)
I’ve been enjoying the opportunity. I’ll have to take a picture of the many ladies and babies to post for you.
I got into the sewing mood this last week also and made myself a cape and purse to match. Plus I bought about 12 yards of material to start Christmas presents for all the grandkids. I don’t think they read my blog so I guess it’s ok to say that I plan to make them each a bathrobe. I got pink velour for the girls and camo fleece for the boys. I’ll probably start that project this coming week.
Bill is out of town, he went to see his Mom and Trey again and then is on his way to Chicago to the LPL National Conference. I decided to stay home this trip, I’d hate to miss out on the birth of little Cohen. He’s actually due today.

Well, now for the big news….We bought a boat. It’s a 3080 Glacier Bay Coastal Runner. It seems that the guy who bought it brand new has only put 8 hours on it; there’s a long story that goes with the reason, but it turns out he bought a different boat that’s a better fit for him and since people aren’t exactly buying boats right now with fuel prices being what they are, Bill was able to get this one for a whole lot less than his asking price. ( That was a long, run on sentence; I apologize to all of you grammar geeks... you know who you are.) Also, “long, run on” is redundant, but, of course, you knew that. I digress…. BTW, we will be changing the name on this boat. But, I'm not sure it will be much better than this name for reasons I won't take time to explain here.:>)


Jer and Jess and I went down to see the boat today so I took a few picts to show you all. Next week I’ll start cleaning it and getting it ready for our first voyage. They are catching a lot of Dorado right now, hopefully we can get the boat out there to fish before I leave for Idaho and before the fish leave town!
After spending some time at the marina we had some fish tacos at WaHoo's and then decided we'd take Jessica for a walk to try and shake out that baby, but it didn't work. These pictures along the bay are some of the scenery from our walk...hope you enjoy them.It was a beautiful day!

Love to all...Mom,AKA Leslie,Grandma,Ruthie

Saturday, July 19, 2008


Wow, it was hard to believe 50 but now I’m 51 and have received and thrown away my first AARP invite to join. I refuse to join, not because I can't admit I'm old enough, but that I won't give a dime to that liberal organization.
I had a very nice couple of birthday weeks; starting with the Mariner's/Padre's game Bill arranged for the kids and I.
Then I had such a great time while Kathy was here visiting. We really had a lot of fun and lots of good catch up time. Kathy said the highlight of the trip was the fishing. We ended up going about 90 miles out and she caught two Albacore Tuna. It was pretty exciting… we had just started trolling for only about 10 to 15 minutes and Bill had gone to use the head and immediately we had a hook up – so I quickly pulled back the throttle and put the engines in neutral and set the bail on the rod and was calling Kathy to come and take it when another rod went off, so there we were with a double hook up! I was telling Kathy what to do (only because it was her first experience ocean fishing and catching a tuna) while working with my rod. We had quite a good time on the catching side having to switch over and under to keep our lines straight. Kathy’s fish dived down a couple of times as they usually do when they see the boat, but unfortunately my drag was way too tight and when my fish kept trying to dive, my line wasn’t giving. I’m not that experience to know how to change my drag, though I realize now that I should have loosened my bail a bit instead. Anyway, by the 3rd or 4th try, my fish broke the 100 pound test line and swam away with my black and purple.
I’ve never lost a fish before so I was totally disappointed. If Bill had been available he would have been able to tell me what to do about the drag. Anyway, when we examined the line it looks like he might have damaged it on the propeller or something, because it wasn’t my knot that broke it was the line. But, since I lost my fish, I was free to gaff Kathy’s fish for her and get it into the boat….Yea!! It was a nice fat 25 pound Albacore Tuna. Later she brought in another 18 pounder. And to add to the beauty of the day we watched whales and had porpoise swim along side and in front of the boat with us, saw a few flying fish…all in all it was an awesome day!
Kathy and I and Jerry attended a Padre’s / Braves game, which the Braves won (Kathy’s Team) so I was very glad for her. It didn’t make much difference for the Padre’s since they are in last place in the NL West. My AL team stinks this year also…poor Mariners. At this point, I’m with Jerry in hoping that they get last place in the whole league just so they get first round draft pick…..which by the way is only worth it if they are able to know to pick the right player…which they haven’t demonstrated a lot of talent at....read Jerry’s blog for some great Mariner’s insights, he’s the expert and the funny writer in the family.
Kathy and I also took a drive over to Coronado Island, spent a day at Sea World and on her last day we went to tour the USS Midway, it was great. The time went by so fast, we could have done a lot more, but somehow her visit seemed to be over before it had barely begun.
On my actual birthday, Bill had made reservations several days before for a nice dinner out at the Chart House in Del Mar, when we got there he had surprised me with having the kids there for a little dinner party. It was a very nice evening.

My visit to Idaho was another very enjoyable time. The girls and I painted the guest room, living room and kitchen at my folks house. I always enjoy visiting with family. I also camped at a nearby campground during this time. It was a way to sneak in some camping while still being close enough to help out.

Shannon and Marcus hosted our 4th of July celebration. Bill and I provided the tuna which Bill grilled to perfection,as usual. It was great to see all of my Brothers, and my sister and most all of my nieces and nephews and their kids….my goodness our family is getting so big! I took advantage of Brady getting a photo of all the great grandkids with my Mom and Dad and snapped this picture.
Since returning to Idaho, we received the news from Shannon about Marcus have a cyst on his brain. We are thanking God that it is not a malignant cancer, but a slow growing cyst which is operable… Marcus, we are keeping you and your family in our prayers and hope you will let us know if we can do anything. I have just gotten tickets to be there to stay with the grandkids so that Shannon will be free to spend as much time at the hospital with Marcus as she needs to. I understand it is not going to be an easy surgery or recovery.
Bill is currently in Texas, as his mom is having knee replacement surgery. I am getting caught up on things around here that I’ve not been home to do. This morning I picked cukes and tomatoes, basil and of course more zucchini.
When Bill gets home, I’m going to pick this watermelon for us to eat.

Well, I think that about catches you up on what’s been going on with me. I love you all and pray for you often.
Mom, Leslie, Grandma, AKA Ruthie,

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Alaska Trip

Our trip to Alaska was a such a nice laid back time. At first it takes a while to get used to the light at night, it makes you stay up way past your usual bedtime. We'd stay up late, not getting to bed until 1:00am and then I'd wake up at my usual 6:30am. So I'd put my pillow over my head and try and force myself to sleep some more. I was actually reading by the campfire without needing any extra light at 11:30 at night.
We enjoyed so many things along the way, the Iditerod Trail history was pretty cool, it made you want to get a sled dog team and learn to train and run them. I think it would be a lot of fun.
We really enjoyed Chena Hot Springs, they have it looking so natural with a gravel bottom and boulders all around, it was really beautiful and the water was great! A moose came down the mountian and drank out of a creek right beside the hotsprings while we were in it.
Also, at the hotsprings is the Ice Museum...it was cool, pun fully intended...20 degrees. Everything in there is carved from ice, the fireplace, several bedrooms, shower, bathroom, ect... also a lot of carvings, railings, a bar where we were served an apple martini out of a martini glass made from ice. Afterwards, we decided to take another dip in the hotsprings! We would love to go back there in March when you can sit in the Hotsprings and watch the Arora Borealis. They tell us that a lot of Japanese people are there at that time because many of them have a belief that if their child is conceived under the northern lights the child will be blessed or stronger or gifted or something.
The next highlight of our trip was Talkeetna, where we got on a "flagstop" train. You buy your ticket and tell the conducter where you want to get off and then when you want to go back you have to flag the train down by waving something white. But, the train only makes the run once a day, so we decided that if we could find a good camping spot and are able to scrounge up enough firewood to keep us through the night we would stay in the woods and catch the train back the next day.

Well, it took us two or three hours to gather enough firewood, but we did, so we camped in a lovely spot on the Indian River. Didn't sleep much for keeping the fire going so we could stay warm, you see we didn't take a tent, but made a makeshift shelter with our emergency blankets to reflect the fire's heat. We did take food in our backpacks and coffee making stuff. We took a great water filter that we bought at Sportsman's Warehouse so we could refill our water bottles from the rivers. We were a little dissapointed that we didn't see any bears. Before we got off the train, the train had stopped three times because of bears beside the railroad tracks. Twice it was a black bear and once it was a grizzley sow with last years cub. Bill had bought a new gun just for this trip, not that we wanted to be in a position that you have to have it out with a bear, but better safe than sorry. He bought a Ruger 44Magnum, I think it is actually called a Ruger Alaskan, it's made especially for bear protection, especially with the right ammo, it's stainless steel for the weather with only a 2 1/2 inch barrel so it stays out of your way when you're fishing and hiking. We went to the shooting range to shoot it before we left... I'll tell you what, it has quite a kick and it's very loud, I would hate to have to shoot it without ear protection and you have to hang on with both hands!

Another cool thing to see was the Alaskan Pipeline. It's huge! It covers a lot of territory and it was built in just 4 years with round the clock crews.
We saw a lot of moose and wolverines while driving. We watched quite a few busy beavers, alaska's waters seem to be full of beavers.
Hope you enjoyed the "report" , there is so much to do there and see, that you really have to pick and choose when you have limited time.....until next time-I love you all and miss you....Mom AKA Leslie, Ruthie, Grandma
p.s. I'll put together a slide show with more picts soon.