As you can see, I finally loaded some ultrasound pictures!  These are the ones from 14 weeks.  As soon as we get the 21 week pictures scanned into the computer we'll post them too.  Everything here is going well.  We are excited because Derek felt Landen kick last night!  Rachel's been feeling him for a while now, but Derek felt it for the first time last night.  He's got quite a kick (or punch, we don't really know).  So that was thrilling!  This is all becoming more real every day.  We are working on getting the nursery ready, shopping for cribs and decorations.  We have registered at Target and Babies R Us in case you're wondering.  Also, we are gearing up to go on our mission trip in 2 weeks to Watertown, New York.  We leave Friday, June 21 and return Saturday June 30.  So be sure to keep us in your prayers!  Pray that we will have safe travel, low gas prices, no injuries or illnesses, and cool weather. 

So, yes it's been forever since we've done anything here.  So sorry!  I will seriously try to be better about keeping it up.  I am not doing my Graduate Assistantship at Spalding next year - which technically begins in July - so I should get a little better about it then, until the baby comes.  So, as most of you know, it's a boy!  We went back for another ultrasound on Tuesday, and they said that everything looks great.  His kidneys, stomach, bladder, and everything are working well.  He's moving around like crazy, and apparently doesn't like it when I sneeze.  In case you haven't heard, his name is Landen Joseph Allen.  They also said that my due date now looks to be October 6th, so hopefully that means he's not getting too terribly huge.  We'll see when the time comes though!  Anyway, as soon as our internet at home is working again I'll add some ultrasound and pregnancy pics for you all to see.  Hope all is well and keep us all in your prayers!

Sorry it's been so long since we updated, but we have both been very busy.  Things seem to be calming down with Rachel having a break from school and Derek having a break from Open Gym.  All of the Christmas festivities at the church are almost over, so after tomorrow night we should have smooth sailing for a little while.  We are pretty nervous about coming home for Christmas now.  The weather says it is going to be snowing on Friday when we are supposed to be driving!  Hopefully it will old off long enough for us to get out without having any trouble.  We will keep you updated on our status though.  Anyway, I've finally loaded the Christmas photos, so check them out!  See you all soon!  Merry Christmas!!!!

Well, everything is finally done!  Derek finished the fence today, so everything is completely settled now!  We are so excited that we don't have to take the dogs out on leashes anymore.  And we can actually relax on the weekends again.  We are looking forward to coming home this weekend!  We can't wait to see everyone!  Then, we will be back down there only a week and a half later for Thanksgiving...and then it's only a few weeks until Christmas!  So, we are going to be doing a lot of driving in the next few weeks.  This is the longest we have been without being in the great state of Arkansas, and we are ready to come back!  Be sure and look at our updated house pictures and new pictures of Joy and Boston.  Boston is getting so big!  He's 20 pounds now, so hopefully he won't get too much bigger.  Y'all will all get to meet him soon though!  Well, we will see you soon!

Well, we're all moved in!  We're trying to get settled, organized, and unpacked now.  Mostly everything is done, just a few details left...and the fence.  We're working on getting it approved through the homeowners' association right now, but we should know something in the next few days.  Church is going great too!  We had 2 professions of faith from the youth group last week, so that is awesome!  Derek is doing open gym in the afternoons two days a week for the teenagers in the community.  Last week they had 26!  That was very exciting.  He is also going to speak to the football team at a local high school this week.  Hopefully he will continue to have opportunities like those...right in his line of work and it's fun too!  So, keep us in your prayers that everything will continue to go well!

We have good news - we hope!  We met with our loan officer about our house this week, and they said that everything is looking great.  We had to sign a couple of more papers, and that finished our end of it for now.  Right now the plan is to close next Friday!  We are so excited to finally get a house!  So, now we're making our big plans and shopping for new furniture.  Hopefully we'll get Boston housebroken before he goes in and ruins our new carpet!  Once again we plan on loading pictures this weekend, but no promises.  Just keep checking back, and eventually you will see some!  If nothing else we'll load them when we get there!  Hope all is well with all of you!

Sorry it's been so long since the last update.  We have been very busy with all of our house-hunting!  We are extremely excited about how everything seems to be falling into place.  We had the inspection today and everything is pretty good.  There are a few small repairs that will need to be made, but things are still moving along rather quickly.  Friday we meet with our mortgage broker to finalize all of the paperwork before we mail it off.  And it looks like we will be closing in a couple of weeks!  It just seems to be flying by!  We hope to load pictures on here in the near future so that you can all see our new home.  We can't wait to have everything final and get moved in!  It's just been so awesome to see how God has worked everything out so well, and so quickly for this to happen.  He has perfect timing!

So, we made it back from the beach, and we're getting back into the swing of life in Kentucky.  We had a great time on our vacation and hope you enjoy the pictures.  Sorry we didn't keep you updated while we were there, but internet cost $2.00 for every half-hour!  We had our first official Sunday at the church yesterday, and it was awesome!  We had 3 professions of faith in the morning service and 2 in the evening service.  It's so great to know that we are in a church where God is moving!  School starts for Rachel next week and she will start her practicum placements soon too.  Derek's school starts back in September.  Until then he is trying to stay busy and not get sent home.  Anyway, enjoy the pictures and the updates and keep us in your prayers as we begin our ministry at Fern Creek.

This has been a busy week!  Derek accepted the position as part time minister of youth and recreation at Fern Creek Baptist Church on Sunday after a unanimous vote in favor of calling him.  Who knew a Baptist church could have a unanimous vote?!  So, all week has been spent getting his office ready and going to meetings and orientation.  Everything seems to be in place now.  Also this week, Rachel finished her last summer class with a presentation and paper on Wednesday night.  Now she has a 2 week break before she starts up again.  We have also been busy getting ready to go on vacation on Saturday.  We are very ready to spend some time lounging on the beach, and of course watching the Red Sox!!!!  We will be on vacation all next week, but we will try to keep you up to date on how we are doing.  We'll add pictures to this site and update this section so you can see what is going on.  So keep checking in!