The first wave

I would like to show you the first fruits of our garden. Yes they are yellow, yes they look like

pears, but no they are tomatoes.

What I've been doing this week

Okay so I never post... so here is a look at the two thing I did this week that I think is cool.

1. I cooked dinner. Specifically I made this:

Baked Rigatoni with tiny meatballs. I made everything other than the noodles. The recipe is available here. It took a while and made a 9x13 pan but it was pretty good.

2. I installed a new ceiling fan... thank mom and dad for the very belated christmas present, or at least the method to purchase the fan... Here it is in action.

By the way I am still looking for volunteers to help with tiling a room at my house...

Something Wonderful That Will Kill Daniel

http://www.chupaqueso.com/basic-howto-with-pictures/ I dare you to make it...

Daniel and Ashley update...

I know we told Brent and Nedra, but we should tell the rest of you. On Friday, April 24, I got a message on my voice mail that night. Our caseworker had finished our home study and submitted i to the Director for approval. He approved. We are officially approved to adopt. We'll "go live" with our profile at the end of this week. Spread it by word of mouth. Search by Daniel and Ashley among the profiles.

Here is the site for profiles.

And now, the moment you have all been waiting for....

The verdict is..... We are allowed to adopt children. No wait. Poll. T-Shirt. That verdict is...Both. He is currently wearing the "meh" shirt. Thanks for the input. I think he enjoys them.

About the adoption. We spent our second anniversary at interviews. Isn't it romantic? I thought so. Long and short is - we cleared. We have to turn in our letter and do a paper copy of the profile, but our case worker said there will be no problems with approval. She will write our home-study next week or the week after. It will then be sent to the director for approval and then we will be approved. Yay. Next: the waiting game. Wahoooooo!!

Allen Family Calender Update

So I forgot when Dad's birthday was. So to make sure that this doesn't happen again I used the family calendar. Please check and make sure I didn't miss any. Also if you want a present from me make sure I'm set up to get an email reminder.

It's A New Link

So if you will notice off to the right there is a new link. Yup that right Daniel's Weight Loss tracker is out there for the whole world to see. To participate fill out the first couple of columns on a new row with your name current weight and goal weight. It then will figure out what you need to lose this week to meet you goal in twelve weeks. And the best part is everyone sees how everyone else is doing. I think peer pressure is a great way to help. :) I recomend using a standard monday morning pre-shower weight.

If it doesn't work let me know...

On a different note, Ashley and I watched a new drama tonight that I recommend which is big cause we don't like dramas. It is Kings on NBC.The first episode is two hours but it was really good. Hopefully they don't "Jump the Shark" like I feel Heroes.

Let's All Join Daniel

So the Doctor's office called today and said that I have three options: 1. Take more drugs, 2. Lose at least 15 pounds in the next 6 months by changing your diet including lowering you LDL by 30 points or so and "we can set you an appoint with a dietitian if you need help", or 3. die ten to fifteen years sooner.

As you may have guess I have chosen option 2 as I currently take more than enough pills. So there is the challenge lose 15 pounds by changing your lifestyle so it stays off.

April, can you give me admin rights? I think I will post something to track people's weight lose...

An Unexpected Annoucement

Ashely and I have an announcement. Look here for more information, or here for a picture of what he may be like all grown up.

For Matt and maybe Ryan

So a friend of mine turned me on to a randomly weird online comic. Click here for the link... by the way the guy in a black hat is what i would be like with out a conscience.

Daniel's Turkey

Well you may have heard that we had a pre-thanksgiving thanksgiving dinner with some of our friends from the student ward. There were 11 adults and one baby that Lacy really really wanted to meet but we didn't let her.
Anyways everyone liked the turkey. It was fairly easy to make so I thought I would post the recipe, here. (it is on the family google doc's)

Bat Dog

Apparnetly we may have had some excitement on Halloween that we didn't plan on. Lacy now takes on the apperance of a bat from time to time. See what you think.

Starwars

I thought this was cool cause it deals with Star Wars, which is cool and has always been better than Star Trek, and money which allows me to buy stuff.

Click Here