Our Parents

This next portion of our blog is to pay honor to the people who had the most influence on us....our parents!!! As we stop to think about what these special people mean to us, we realize that we are amazingly blessed to have had Godly parents to guide us into adulthood.



It is our honor and privilege to introduce you to John Thomas Allen, Sr. He is Johnny and Sam's dad. What an amazing, spiritual leader. "Paw-paw" dedicated his life to do God's work. He was a husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, brother, friend, preacher, teacher, mentor, leader, poet, writer and servant.....the list could go on and on. There are so many words that can be used to describe this awesome man. On June 23, 2008, John Allen went home to be with his spiritual Father. We will miss him because when a man like this leaves this earth, a huge hole is left in our hearts. But we know that today he is with Jesus. He walks with our Jesus daily. One day we will see him again....and he will be waiting. We love and miss you "Paw-paw".


Charity Allen (aka "Nina") is Johnny's mom. What an amazing example of a faithful wife and mother. Nina has always been a supportive, kind and loving helpmate for Paw-paw. Together they created a loving family and spread the love of God. Their ministry was done both thru their church work and thru their obvious love for people. Nina always has a tasty baked good ready to deliver or a crocheted angel for her many friends up and down the street. Nina is a positive example of what it means to be a giver. Nina was by Paw-paws side up until the moment that he went to be with Jesus. Such commitment is a gift to witness. Today, Nina continues to look for ways to minister to others and to be a witness for Jesus. We love you, Nina!





Michele's father is Captain Angelo Pullara. When Michele was in the 6th grade, her father went to serve America in Vietnam as a Jolly Green Helicopter pilot. On February 16, 1967, her dad was killed while on a mission to save a downed fellow pilot. His name can be found on the Vietnam Wall in Washington, DC. Angelo is loved and is missed even to this day. He loved his wife, Coy, and his children with a fierce passion. He loved his country. We must never forget the sacrifices that many have given in order for our country to be free. Freedom truly isn't free and for some of us.....it gets very personal.



Coy Hughes Pullara is Michele's mom. If we were to use one word to describe this little lady, it would have to be fighter. 3 1/2 years ago, Coy was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. The diagnosis came as a complete surprise to all of us. The doctor said she would not make it past 3 years....and here it is....3 almost 4 years since the first operation!!! What a miracle. In fact, MD Anderson calls her their little miracle! Of course we know that all the glory goes to God for granting success with her treatments. She has had excellent doctors and loving care from her family. Coy is a Social Worker in Abilene, Texas. She is presently "re-doing" her front bedroom and has added a closet that could be rented out as an apartment! She has one grandson, Eric, who affectionately calls her "La-la". La-la, thank you for your strength and amazing example of what faith looks like in action.

The John Thomas Allen, Jr Family

It seems fitting that we should start our blog by introducing ourselves. For those of you that know us, we hope that this section of our blog will serve as a chance for you to get "reacquainted" with us. One of us has grown UP in the passing years and two of us have grown OUT in the passing years. The John Thomas Allen, Jr family is made up of Johnny, Michele, Eric, Sundance, Sooner and Blizzard. We live in Midland, Texas. We have called Midland our home for about 13 years. Our family attends First Baptist Church. Wow! Where does the time go??? Let's take a closer look at each member of our family!!!

The head of our home is John Thomas himself. Johnny is an Independent Landman, here in Midland. Anyone who knows Johnny knows that he is an excellent example of what a father and husband should be. He is fun to be around and he LOVES to tell fun stories from his past. If you are around him, ask him about "eating chicken down to where you hold it" or what could be good enough to "make a preacher put his Bible down"? MANY years ago, Johnny attended Howard Payne in Brownwood and still keeps up with his Rejects buddies. Johnny is all about family and faith and who could ask for more?

During the month of May, 2008, Eric served as Josh Miller's best man. Since we were all dressed up, we took a few pictures. The tall one is Eric, the shorter, distinguished man with the glasses is our Johnny!!

The wife and mom of our home is Michele Coy Pullara Allen. Michele has been an elementary teacher for the past 31 years. She is only TWO (2) years away from retiring from the world of education. This last year Michele was chosen to be a science coach for the Midland Independent School District. For those of you that know Michele, you may be wondering how she ended up in science. Believe us, she asks herself that same question many times a day. Three years ago, God led her to a school in Midland, Jane Long Elementary. The principal, Mrs. Hall, thought that Michele had what it took to be a 5th grade science teacher. Who would have thought that after 28 years of teaching language arts, that more doors would be opened to Michele thru the area of science? Her "time" in 5th grade science has been highly successful due to the blessings from God. Now, she is excited about this new challenge and looks forward to working outside her comfort zone as a teacher of teachers.

Back to the wedding. Here is a picture of Michele with Eric.

The light of our life is our son, Eric Wayne Allen. Eric is now 22 years old and is a senior at Oklahoma University....yes....IN OKLAHOMA!!! I don't know where we went wrong, but he left Texas to go to college in Oklahoma. He is planning to graduate in December and hopes to one day work for the FBI. Eric is 6'4" tall. Yes, he loves to play basketball. This last summer, First Baptist asked Eric if he would come back to Midland to be in charge of the summer programs. He has a natural talent for working with children. He says that whatever he ends up doing as an occupation, he wants to volunteer as a basketball coach....sounds like he is following in his dad's footsteps...coaching??!!? He has had a great summer and is looking forward to going back to Norman and finishing up his classes.



Here is a picture to give a bit of perspective of how much Eric has grown. The small shoe was one of Eric's baby shoes when he was about 1 year old. The black shoe with the foot in it, is Eric's shoe and foot now!!!

This is Sundance. We call him "Sunny D". He has been with our family for about 14 years. He reminds of "Clifford the Big Red Dog". One day he was a small, cuddly puppy and then the next day he was HUGE!!! It is an amazing thing about our pets. Each of our animals has taken on the personality of one of us. Sunny D is so much like Johnny, that we are amazed. He is easy going, gentle and he doesn't let much rattle his cage. Sunny D is getting older and he has trouble walking, but he has a good life in our backyard and we pamper him!!



This is Sooner. You may ask yourself where we came up with the name of Sooner. Do you remember that we told you that Eric is a senior at OU? Well.....they are called the Sooners...soooo....we named our puppy, Sooner. Cute, right? We haven't had Sooner very long. Our very first dog was a small, black dog named Lucky. We had Lucky for about 15 years. She was very old. One day we found out she was very sick and she died a few days later. Sunny D was at a loss, because he and Lucky were great pals. So, we decided to get another dog. Sooner was found in a box by the side of the road and someone had brought her to our vet. Lucky us!! We got a new puppy. She is hyper and runs ALL the time. She loves Sunny D and Sunny puts up with her hyper behavior. Remember that we told you that each animal had the personality of one of us? Can you guess who she is like? Hmmmmmm!

This is Blizzard. We call him "Bliz" for short. He was named after one of the Beenie Babies. Bliz came to be part of our family via the Boldt family. Sally Boldt has an amazing talent with animals and she got Bliz started out on the right foot. Bliz has been part of our family for about 9 years. Do you see the look on his face in this picture? That look just about says it all. He is the type of cat that is happy to just "be". He doesn't like his picture taken and he doesn't like to be disturbed if he is sleeping. The family member that he is most like is Eric. It is uncanny how our animals resemble each of us!!! Meow!!

We've entered the "blogging world"!!!

With the help of my dear friend, Melodee, our technology challenged family has entered the blogging world. We want to welcome each of you to our site and encourage you to visit our site often. We will TRY to change our site on a regular basis!! Welcome!!!