Welcome to the John and Mary Allan Home Page

Geilenkirchen, Germany

Last Updated on 15 April 2006

The John & Mary Allan Family - June 20, 2004.

October 2004 Trip to Carcassonne

Pictures of Sister Aleta Allan's return from her mission in the Phillipines, May 2004

John, Mary, John-John, and Sarah's Trip to Garmisch, Germany -- April 3-6, 2004

Aimee and Kelly at the top of the "Y" on March 20, 2004 -- Go to: http://allanjohn56.tripod.com/aimeekelly.jpg

Sister Aleta Allan's Missionary Page - Pictures and letters are still there though she returned in May 2004

Scotland October 2003 Pictures

Nicole's and Joe's Wedding Pictures

Christmas Letter - 2003

Christmas Letter - 2002

News of the John & Mary Allan family:

On March 8, 2003 we welcomed Joseph Tolley into our family. He is our new son-in-law and husband of our beautiful daughter Nicole. The entire family joined Nicole and Joe at the Timpanogas Temple and celebrated with them. Nicole will graduate from BYU in April 2004 with her degree in civil engineering. She is in the job market now and looking to find employment in the Provo area. Joe will graduate in August 2004 with his degree in statistics. He plans to continue on at BYU and get his Masters degree in statistics. We are so proud of Nicole and Joe as they have focused on their studies and been so successful.

On April 16, 2003 our eldest daughter, Aleta, went into the Missionary Training Center in preparation for her mission to the Philippines Tacloban Mission. She arrived in the Philippines in June 2003 and learned another language -- Waray Waray. It was a wonderful blessing in her life as she diligently served the members and investigators in Tacloban and Carigara. It was the greatest blessing in our lives as we were able to support her and read her precious letters. She arrived home in May 2004 because she had to have major surgery on her knee. Here is a short excerpt from one of her letters: “I am so thankful that I decided to go on a mission. I think it was the best thing that I have ever done. It is rough at times, but I've learned how to handle difficulties. My testimony has grown so much, and I am thankful for that. Any challenges that I face I can overcome because I know that I am doing the right thing. You really do learn how to look at things with an eternal perspective.” The “challenges” she faced were overwhelming for a concerned mother and father at home, but we knew she is in the Lord’s hands and because of that she was blessed and protected. If you want to see some pictures of Aleta on her mission or read some of her letters, go to: http://www.geocities.com/sisteraleta

In August 2003 we sent our “baby Aimee” off to BYU where she is living with her cousin Kelly Silvera in Helaman Halls. She graduated Salutatorian of her high school class. As expected, she has done extremely well academically and socially. She knows how to balance the two so that she is successful in both areas. She is following in Nicole's footsteps and is majoring in civil engineering. She is already planning to get a Masters degree in architecture and combining those two fields.

With the three older girls gone, our “nest” has dwindled down to two little ones – who aren’t little anymore. The house is certainly a lot lonelier than it used to be. Here is what is happening with our “baby” girl and boy.

John-John is thirteen years old and in eighth grade. In about 2-3 months he will be taller than his mother. He has threatened to catch up with me in the next 2-3 years -- and I don't doubt that it will happen. School comes so easy for John-John. He seems to excel at whatever he tries. He was on the high school tennis team in the fall. He plays the piano for Priesthood meeting. He snowboards regularly at "SnowWorld" which is a big indoor ski slope in the Netherlands. He has taken up skateboarding and has made amazing progress. He continues to love his computer games and cars. He wants his driver's license now so that he can drive a Ferrari (right – in his dreams!) on the German autobahns.

Sarah is our baby – soon to be 10 years old. She is flying high in fourth grade and is the last of our children to have her Daddy as her principal. She loves math and always wants me to come up with a more challenging problem. She is playing the piano with Mommy as her teacher. She is also playing the clarinet in the school band and sings in the school chorus.

Mary has had 12-14 piano students all year long. She has certainly made music an integral part of the Allan family. All five children play the piano well. All of them have learned or are learning another instrument. And we all sing! She is the ward pianist who plays so beautifully every Sunday. Besides music, Mary is running 3-5 times a week and staying healthy and fit. We run together every Saturday morning and she stays right with me for the entire 4 miles. She has a gift for making our house a home filled with love, music, and happiness. I could never say enough about the wonderful wife and mother that she is!

Big John is still “principaling” and loving his job. He loves working with the children. They keep threatening to move him but it won't happen until June 2005. He is still running about 16-20 miles every week. He got a new camera and is enjoying posting photos on our family websites. Mostly, he is enjoying his sweet family that has blessed his life so richly.

Please remember that you can contact us with our Portuguese e-mail address:

johnandmary@gmail.com

John and Mary have five beautiful children:

The Allans arrived in Lajes, Azores, Portugal in July 2005. They moved from Geilenkirchen, Germany where they lived for 7 years. John is the principal of the Lajes American School -- a K-12 school. The Azores are a group of Portuguese islands in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The children are all doing very well in -- Sarah in her 6th grade class, John-John in his 10th grade class, Aimee as a senior at Brigham Young University, Nicole as a mother and part-time civil engineer, and Aleta as a Teacher's Assistant working on her Special Education certification.

Our address in Germany is:

John and Mary Allan
PSC 76 Box 343
APO AE 09720

Please e-mail us at:

Geilenkirchen Elementary School -- where John is the principal

johnallan@onlinehome.de

"We shall not cease from exploration

And the end of all exploring

Will be to arrive where we started

And know the place for the first time."

T.S.Eliot