Noreen & Allen Macbean

Christmas Tree Hunting 2009

2009-11-28T16:09:00.008-07:00

I went Christmas Tree Hunting with the Bushman/Searl Family again this year.

Emily, Shauna, Bret & Abbey

Elivate Triathlon

2009-11-21T18:07:00.010-07:00

Mark (my boss) challenged me to a triathlon last minute yesterday. I haven't been in the water or on a bike for about a half a year, but how could I turn down a challenge.

Swim
(he beat me)

Bike
(he beat me here too)

I hit a wall and almost backed out on the bike

Run
(I had a better run, but it wasn't good enough)

Die
(we both pushed hard and just had to lay there)

Mark through up after the swim and had two bad cramps in his thighs on the run. I just had an attach on the bike and almost stopped. Mark still beat me by 4min, 10 seconds.

Mark: 1:21:23
8th in the Men's division
9th over all

Noreen: 1:25:33
2nd in the Women's division
11th over all
(and yes....there were more then 2 women in my division)

Polar Express

2009-11-20T21:00:00.000-07:00

The Carey Girls, Grandma Carey & most grand kids went on the Polar Express

Nate & Jake looking out the window of the train

Jen read the book Polar Express to everyone while Giggles (Sera) and others followed along

Everyone got a picture with Giggles the elf (Sera)

And of course, everyone had to take a picture with Santa and Mrs. Clause

Jake & Nate in front of the train

Halloween Party

2009-10-25T12:35:00.006-06:00

We had a great time at the Gray's Halloween party. Allen and I went as King and Queen. The Bushman's were zombies.
Bret & Shauna, Allen & Noreen

Shauna & Bret, Dallin & Julie, Heather & Curt, Dave & Natalie, Denise & John

There was a lot of dancing and a lot of Allen, popping up unexpectedly.

It would just be easier to say, Noreen & Shauna, Dave, Bret, Natalie, Heather, Allen, Carla, Leslie, Jamie & Melinda.

It was a fun night. The costumes were great. It's always fun to be around good friends.

October Hat party

2009-10-07T23:53:00.000-06:00

Natalie R. planned a hat party and then got sick and wasn't able to come. Some people forgot hat's but did their best with what they had.

Shauna & Bret, Kim & Bryon, Allen & Noreen, Chad & Lindsey, Shane.

We had a great time carving pumpkins.

The final work of art.

Love ya guys!

Busy day!

2009-09-27T12:55:00.004-06:00

We started the day off with a baptism in Heber for Quincey. Then I took Mackenzie (my niece on Allen's side) horse back riding. Then I went to the BYU v. Colorado State football game with my sister and nephew's and friends. Busy, busy!!!

(I'll post pictures later.)

Lagoon day with the Morgans

2009-09-12T00:38:00.007-06:00

Today Karra, Cam, Jake and I went to Lagoon. Cam and I went on a few of the "scary" rides and then we met up with Jake and Karra. We were able to convince Jake to go on all of the rides. After going on them he decided they were the BEST THINGS EVER!!!

This is my favorite picture of the night: Karra, Camaron & Jake

Guinea Kids

2009-09-07T13:11:00.010-06:00

Allen and I took my sister Karra and her kids flying today. They're kind of our guinea kids.

Allen, Karra, Cam, Jake

As we were cruising the airport we stopped to check out the "Smoke Jumper". They were very nice and told us that what they do. When there is a fire in the mountains they fly over the fire and the firefighters jump out with all of their gear and start fighting. Isn't that brave and amazing? After the airport we came home and Allen had the boys mow the law. They did a great job, minus a few misshapes.
Me in my cancer hat. Got to love it! Just two weeks shy of my two year anniversary of my surgery.

Freedom Awards Gala

2009-07-02T22:00:00.012-06:00

My Dad and Candy took us to the Freedom Awards Gala.

The award recipients were; Neil Holbrook who served as a "Frogman" now known as Navy Seals during World War II.
Mona Heern, who lived in Iran until her father was executed for practicing their Baha'i religion.
Sargent Merlin German, who while serving in the Marine's in Iraq received burns from a roadside bomb, where he received burns over 97% of his body.
President Boyd K. Packer, who earnestly prayed for the opportunity to follow in his brother's footsteps as a pilot in World War II, promising God that in exchange he would dedicate his life to whatever purpose he might require of him.

(Karra, Noreen, Dad, Marri & Jen)

(Greg & Jen, Marri & Dale, Dad & Candy, Allen & Noreen)

(Da Sistas: Marri, Karra, Jen & Noreen)

I don't know WHERE she get's it from
(Rachael & Jen)

When the sisters get together we get a little silly
(Marri & Rachael v. Jen & Adrienne)

Un-Birthday Party

2009-06-14T09:04:00.006-06:00

We got together for an Un-Birthday party for my dad.
(Noreen, Marri, Dad, Karra, Jen & Don)

We almost had to call in the fire marshal with all of those candles on the cake.

(Jen, Karra, Don, Dad, Marri & Noreen)

Pictures for Dad

2009-06-14T08:18:00.009-06:00

My dad is turning 70 this year and we couldn't think of anything to get him that he doesn't already have. So, while the kids were all in town we decided to dress up and take some silly pictures and make him a shirt and apron.
When we would go on vacation as kids my dad would make shirts for us so he could tell that we were all there. So we decided to do the same.

1. Don 2. Karra 3. Marri 4. Jen 5. Noreen (Reen)

This is the picture we chose for his shirt.

This is the picture that we put on an apron.

I love my siblings!

Playing at Jen's house

2009-06-13T11:09:00.003-06:00

All of my siblings are in town so we went up to Jen's house for BBQ, horseback riding and smores.

Alyssa and I ridding the horse (Sunny)

It got a little rainy so we moved the smores indoors. Dale was nice enough to make them extra messy for us.
(Camaron, Dale & Noreen)

Salem Springs Tri

2009-05-30T15:12:00.007-06:00

We haven't been training but it was a lot of fun to go down and do the race
(Allen & Noreen)

Some of the Timp Tri Club women
(Brooke, Carrie, Natalie, Noreen, Lindsey & Kim)

Here are some pictures during and after the race. I'll post more later when I get them from the others. Kim & I decided to do the race together. We spent a lot of time taking pictures of each other doing silly things on the coarse instead of pushing ourselves for time. If you can't have fun, why TRI!
(Johnny, Shane, Allen, Natalie, Lindsey, Kim & Noreen)

While the cat's away the mice will play.....

2009-05-25T19:57:00.001-06:00

That's what my mom use to tell me and it looks like it's true. While the Bushman's were out of town a couple of us got bored so we decided to play a little trick on them. Last time they were out of town we replaced most of their family pictures with pictures of us. This time we decided that we would fill their bathtubs and toilets with gold fish. It's amazing how many fish you can get for $5.

(Noreen, Lindsey, Natalie, Allen & Chad)

After we got the fish we took them over and let the family dog (sax) check them out, Lindsey even put them in their bed for a while.

It was so much fun for us. We love when the Bushman's go on long vactions!
(with or without us)

Casper family photos

2009-05-24T21:02:00.000-06:00

The Casper's had family in town and we tagged along and took some family photos.

Kim & Brion Casper

The Casper family

The hole

2009-05-09T20:40:00.000-06:00

We spent all day digging holes in the front yard installing pressurized irrigation.
We may have gotten a little dirty.

Pulled from the archives

2009-04-27T22:14:00.001-06:00

My dad has been giving us kids C.D.'s of pictures he's scanned from old slides. These are a few that I found.

Freak Snow Storm

2009-04-15T08:45:00.001-06:00

After working out we looked out the back window and noticed that the neighbors tree had split in two and fell over into our yard.

(side view)

(view from the neighbors yard towards our house)

With the help of our wonderful neighbors (The Wildes) we were able to cut up and clean up the mess in record time.

Motorcycle chick

2009-03-15T19:58:00.003-06:00

Yesterday we had my brother-in-laws motorcycle for a while so we decided to take advantage of having it. First we borrowed Bret's motorcycle and Allen and I went on a couples cruse around the neighborhood. I only killed it once when I was stopped at a stop sign and used my left hand to wave at a neighbor girl. Other then that, I did great. I remembered that I prefer turning left and that you have to push the blinker button in to turn it off.
After our cruse we went back to the Bushman's and we went on a couples cruse around town. It was a lot of fun and made me miss our motorcycle.

I've been tagged

2009-02-28T14:18:00.006-07:00

Thanks Cheryl! These are the rules:

1. Go to your My Documents/My Pictures
2. Go to your sixth file
3. Go to your sixth picture
4. Blog about it
5. Tag 6 people

Allen had to come into the room to see why I was laughing. When I looked at the sixth file, sixth picture it wasn't even of Allen or me, it's of our friend Bret. Here is the story behind the picture:
Our friend Bret Earl Bushman bought this motorcycle last August. One Sunday (August 24th, 2008) the Bushman family invited Allen and me to go up to Cascade Springs with them, taking turns riding on the motorcycle. In the picture before this, his son Wyatt was riding on the back, in the picture after this one his cute daughter Abbey is getting ready for her turn with a large smile and helmet on. But lucky Bret got this blog picture dedicated just to him.
Just today, Bret came over on his motorcycle and Allen and I took it out for a spin. I love riding on back of a motorcycle and take advantage of it every chance I can.
Thanks Bret, thanks Bushman's for being our friends! We love you!

So who to tag next: Shauna B, Lindsey H, Melinda L, Marri A, Aubry M, Jamie P.

Jakes Baptism

2009-02-28T13:51:00.011-07:00

Today was my nephew Jake's baptism.
Jake & Karra (my sister)

Jake, Karra & Camaron

This is his happy face.

We had a great time hanging out and playing games.

Noreen & Allen

Who says we are posers?

Da Sistas
Karra, Noreen, Marri & Jen

Florida Trip

2009-02-15T07:20:00.042-07:00

Allen had a convention in Florida. As much fun as conventions are, I thought it would be more fun it I took some friends with me. That way I could play during the day with the girls and then all of us could hang out in the evenings.

The first night we got there we found a grocery store and bought the essentials...ice-cream being top on the list.
Lindsey H, Natalie R, Noreen M, Allen M.

The second day the weather was colder then normal so we decided to do a little shopping.
Noreen M, Lindsey H, Natalie R.

That night Natalie taught us how to do her "Crazy" smile. We laughed and laughed and laughed. I had a hard time getting it down. It may have been because I was laughing so hard.
Allen M, Lindsey H, Natalie R, Noreen M.

The third day was a buys day. We went rented canoes and went on a self guided alligator hunt.
Natalie R, Lindsey H. Noreen M.

We found one!
Alligator and Noreen M.

Lindsey was excited to find a cute turtle.

We had so much fun going up and down the river. We had to go under many fallen trees.
Lindsey H, Natalie R.

Noreen M, Lindsey H, Natalie R.

Natalie R. & Lindsey H. were in a canoe together and Allen and I were in a canoe together.

After canoeing, we took Allen back to his convention and the girls went to Clearwater beach.

Natalie R. & Lindsey H.

Natalie R. & Noreen M.Noreen M. & Natalie R.We got some Henna tattoo's. The fourth day I had my camera but Allen had the disk so I wasn't able to take any pictures. But we went to a Pirates Parade. It was Tampa's city days. It was so much fun. Everyone on the street was dressed up as pirates, every float was a pirate ship, and there were beads being thrown everywhere. We had a blast!
Natalie R, Noreen M, Lindsey H.

Once we got back to the hotel Allen had a dinner for the convention where they were handing out awards. Allen received two awards and his father received two awards.
Allen M. & Noreen M.

The fifth day was our last day there. We went back to Clearwater beach and enjoyed what we could of our last day.
We all did different things. I went around taking pictures, Natalie and Lindsey caught some rays and did some reading and Allen picked up a game or two of beach volleyball.
Allen M.

Lindsey H, Noreen M, Natalie R.

Noreen M. & Allen M.

We had already checked out of our hotel so we took turns changing in the car. Once we were changed we jumped in the car and drove straight to the airport with sandy feet and all. We got back to Utah where it was snowing.

It was a great trip. I miss the warmth and the sun.

Allen's favorite gift is the one he gave to himself

2009-02-01T12:51:00.003-07:00

I came home from work the other day and Allen was so excited. He told me his birthday present had come in the mail. I was confused because I had already given him his present. He pulled from behind his back this blanket he had made for himself for his birthday. I couldn't stop laughing. You have to admit it's kind of funny. When I was showing my sister and her boys, one said..."Who's that!?" I guess they are use to seeing me without makeup on, with my hair pulled back, dressed in sweats.

ANOTHER Brithday party

2009-01-31T21:30:00.001-07:00

My name's Noreen and I like to party!
So we had yet another birthday party today. This time on my side of the family.
It's McKenna's birthday today, Allen's was on the 25th and Jake's is next week so we crammed them all in and had another party.

Adri & Rachael love the camera. It's a good thing the camera is kind to them.

McKenna is so cute. I don't know why but she kept sticking out her tongue. It was so funny.

What rosie cheeks.

Happy Anniversary!

2009-01-30T05:44:00.005-07:00

Happy Anniversary!
Allen and are are celebrating our 11th year of marriage today. We also celebrate/count each month. So in honor of monthaversaries, today is our 132 month of marriage.

It has been a fabulous eleven years and I look forward with great anticipation to the rest of eternity.
I LOVE YOU ALLEN!

Dinner with the Macbean Family

2009-01-25T21:28:00.004-07:00

We had dinner with the Macbean family tonight to celebrate Allen's birthday.
We had a delicious lasagna dinner followed by cake and ice-cream. Allen blew out his imaginary candles and we sang him our traditional 13 part (no one is ever on the same note and we question if we are even singing the same song some times) birthday song and called it good (or good enough).

Love you guys!

Today is such a special day it's birthday time for you...

2009-01-25T06:46:00.040-07:00

Today is Allen's birthday. So I thought I's spotlight him.

Allen is many things:
He is cute! And Confident!

He loves serving in his callings
He has served with the young men of our ward for many years and is now serving in the young men's stake presidency.

He is a talented athlete
He's latest interest is Triathlons (he is planning on doing an Ironman this year) but he played volleyball in college (and plays once a week with friends), he also enjoys playing basketball, soccer...the list goes on and on.

He is a great uncle!
All of the nieces and nephews love him and always want to be around him

He is funny!
One of the things that first attracted me to Allen is his humor. He always has me laughing.
He loves the outdoors!
Camping, fishing, hunting, skiing, boating....

He is a great cook!
He makes the BEST pie crusts ever! He also like to experiment with cooking.

He is a Pilot
He love flying. He thinks it's one of the best things to be able to do something you love to do and get paid for it at the same time.

He was a great Timp Tri Club president
He was such a great president and always had fun training events planed for us. He's also very friendly and welcoming to everyone.

He loves water skiing!
I know I already kind of said this but he loves it so much it gets to be listed twice. He loves it and is really good at it.

He loves motorcycles
A couple years after we were married he bought a motorcycle that didn't work. He fixed it up and got it working.

He is the a WONDERFUL husband and my best friend
Numerous people have commented to me how they have noticed what a wonderful husband he is. And it's true.

There are many things about Allen that I admire and adore. I love him very very much and hope he has a wonderful birthday!

Happy Birthday Allen!

2009-01-23T12:00:00.005-07:00

We celebrated Allen's Birthday tonight with a couple of friends.
We started off by having breakfast for dinner.
(Allen M, Shauna B, David J, Natalie J)

Then we headed to Cabela's where we were going to split up into five teams and see who could buy the best thing for $10. Once we got there it had just closed. (They now close at 8:00 on the weekends. LAME!)
So we then decided to see who could find the best/worst/funniest movie and then we'd go back and watch it.
Here is Allen explaining the rules to the game.
(Natalie J, David J, Bret B, Chad H, Lindsey H, Natalie R & Allen M)

Here we are picking out movies.
(Natalie J, David J, Shauna B, Bret B, Lindsey H, Chad H, Noreen M, Allen M, Natalie R)

Natalie R's movie came in 1st place (The House Bunny)
Bret's came in 2nd (Mystery Science Theater 3000)
And Allen's came in 3rd (Top Secret!)
We came back to the house, set the projector up, moved some of the misplaced/mismatched furniture around and started our movie marathon.Happy Birthday Allen!

Basement

2009-01-15T07:23:00.007-07:00

Allen is finishing our basement, so this means everything out. We have had to rearrange the furniture in our home to accommodate the changes. So our upstairs "movie room" has now become the new "spin room".

It's tight quarters in there with four bikes but it's going to have to work for the next month or two until we get the basement done.

This is what the basement looks like now.

Can't wait to have the basement done. Until then...if you want to watch t.v. at the Macbean's, you'll have to sit on a bike.
But your more then welcome to come!

On your mark, get set, MOTIVATE!

2009-01-11T13:14:00.011-07:00

When thinking of the 5 types of love languages:

1. Affirmation
2. Gifts
3. Acts of Service
4. Quality Time
5. Physical Touch
I don't know what I am. I think I'd put them in the order of
1. Acts of Service 2. Affirmation 3. Physical Touch 4. Quality Time 5. Gifts. Some of them are so close on my list they are interchangeable. But I for sure need all of them. I'm not sure what this has to do with getting motivated. I know one thing for sure about getting motivated and that's I need to "see" it. So I made a little collage to help me get excited about training. I know what I want my body to look like and I know how to get it there, now I just have to buckle down and do it.

On your mark, get set, MOTIVATE!

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T13:08:00.000-07:00

The Bushman's had a New Years Eve party with lots of food, fun, family and friends.
This is where Rock Band was set up.

There was volleyball and basket ball being played.
(Bret dominating the volleyball court - boys vs. girls)

Card and other games being played.
(I was tired and not feeling great - I show it)

Counting down and New Year kisses

Saying good bye to my primary class

2008-12-28T17:00:00.000-07:00

I have one of the cutest classes ever. I teach the CTR 6 class and today way my last class of the year.
Jaden, Linsay, Devi & Jenna (Noah is also in my class but not here today)

May their true colors shine through!

Christmas

2008-12-25T23:00:00.002-07:00

We woke up to a white Christmas. Allen went around the cul-de-sac and shoveled the side walks.

We went over to the Macbean's to open gifts.
We got a lot of gift certificates to Home Depot to help us with finishing our basement.

Jessica got a car. Lucky 16 year old.

That night we played some games with Bret and Shauna. Allen lost the last game and due to his own rule the looser had to make a snow angle.

It was a "White Christmas".

Birthday/Carey Family Christmas

2008-12-21T22:02:00.000-07:00

The day started with Allen and I taking some family pictures for someone. When we were done Allen wanted to take a couple pictures of me. It was kind of fun.

After church we headed up to Mom Carey's (Harvey) for a Birthday/Christmas party.
Adri and Marri, Allen, Quincey, Rachael & Sera, Dale & McKenna, Sera & Noreen.

Opening gifts

Quincey, Noreen & Allen, McKenna, Noreen & Karra

After the family party Allen and I headed over to the Bushman's for a friend Birthday party.
Lindsey made an ice-cream cake for me and everyone marched in singing happy birthday to me like they do at restaurants. It was a great day.

Suprise Kidnapping

2008-12-20T09:00:00.003-07:00

I have to start off by saying that tomorrow is my Birthday.

After a fun night of hanging out, Natalie and Lindsey planned on coming over at 6:30 to workout. I got a call from Natalie at 6:00 saying that her alarm went off early and she didn't noticed that she was 30 minutes early until she was in the driveway. She asked if I would let her in. I stumbled to the door and let her in. A few minutes later Bret and Shauna showed up asking if they could pick up their left over ham that they forgot at our house last night. I was so tired it didn't click that it was a little odd that they were there asking for the ham at six o'clock in the morning. A few minutes later Lindsey and Chad showed up. That's when they told me that they were kidnapping me and taking me out to breakfast.

Oh, my gosh I couldn't stop laughing when the guys put on the pantyhose.
(Allen, Chad, Bret)

Here it is: the official kidnapping

They took me to IHOP. Allen gave me a piggy back ride (hop) into the restaurant and Natalie gave me a foot rub under the table.
(Natalie going a little crazy)

(Allen, Noreen, Shauna, Bret, Natalie, Lindsey, Chad)

I had a great morning! These guys are the best!

Oh, Christmas Tree

2008-12-19T23:52:00.003-07:00

We had some friends over to play games and hung out. As we were hanging out Shauna noticed our tree was looking a little bare. She rounded up the gang and got everyone decorating. Before you knew it the tree was trimmed.

Bret and Chad took turns singing and playing the guitar.
It was like having our own private concert.

Chad on the guitar from Allen Macbean on Vimeo.
This is our tree in the end!
(Bead necklaces the kids put on it before they left, and all)

Party Party Party!

2008-12-13T23:59:00.003-07:00

Allen and I were in charge of two Christmas parties on the same day.
We had our ward Christmas party at 10:00 a.m. and then our Triathlon club party at 6:30 p.m.

Ward Party
AnnMarie, The McFarlands (as Joseph, Mary & Baby Jesus), Bro. Berntson, Bro. Wentz & Bro. Cummings (as the Wise Men)

Timp Tri Club Party
A bunch of us eating and playing games

Natalie, Lindsey, Heath & Noreen

White Elephant Game
The "Pimp" gift got stolen three times.
(Heath, Te Koi, Bret)

Allen ended up with lip boxers and M&M's, My gift (the best gift of the night) Fezzari hat, shirt, water bottle, and race jersey were stolen away from me. Bret won a medium Fezzari shirt that he was nice enough to give me. (I wore it most of the night because Natalie and I were wearing the same shirt. Oops)

We were let up onto the roof for some ice-skating. It was so much fun!
I have never met a group of adults that have as much fun and play like kids.

Above: The train
Below: Follow the leader dance moves
(Shane is doing the bus driver)

I don't remember the last time I went ice-skating, Lindsey was nice enough to hold my hand as I screamed and laughed the entire time I was on the ice.

We had a couple biffs (Chad, Natalie, Shane) but all-in-all we had a great time.

Great parties! Great company! Great memories!

Bushman Family

2008-12-07T18:54:00.021-07:00

(this is the "are you kidding me" look)

The Bushman kids

Noreen

Emily & Hayley
Abbey
The Bushman's

Oh, no you didn't.....

2008-12-07T09:24:00.007-07:00

Just because you entered that comment in as "anonymous", doesn't mean I don't know who did it.
Don't make me whip out some of my pictures from Hawaii, I'll do it....
Love ya Jamie

Nat's turn...

2008-12-06T08:30:00.025-07:00

I posted a bunch of pictures of Lindsey a couple of days ago, now it's Natalie's turn. I have such great friends. And as much as I love all of them I don't think I can do this for all of them but just to let you know, I love you and am blessed to have you in my life.
XOX

11/21/08 (Playing games and hanging out)

11/13/08 (Lindsey's birthday)

10/21/08

10/19/08

8/18/08 (Crazy Nat!)
(Taking first place in her age group)
10/18/08 (Lake Powell Triathlon)

10/17/08 (Lake Powell trip)

9/25/08 (Paint-balling)

9/20/08 (Changing Noreen's flat/riding in a thunder storm)

9/17/08 (Working out at Noreen's)

9/15/08 (Kimono mama)

8/14/08 (Utah Lake)

8/9/08 Utah Half Ironman (taking first in her age group)

7/19/08 Scofield Triathlon (taking first in her age group)

6/6/08 (Club swim at Utah Lake -A little out of focus but still dang cute)

Pictures of Lindsey (That you can steal)

2008-12-01T19:08:00.032-07:00

These pictures are for Lindsey. I noticed that she was taking pictures off my blog so I thought I'd give her some to choose from. Love ya Lindsey! (Nat your next)

11/29/08 (Libbey's wedding)

11/21/08 (Games)

11/13/08 (Big 25)

11/1/08 (Running)

(Lake Powell Triathlon)

10/17/08 (Beaver)

9/25/08 (Paint balling)

9/20/08 (Lindsey burrito)

9/13/08 (Deer Creek)

8/31/08 (Senior Pose)

8/23/2008 (Utah Lake with Amy)

8/18/2008 (Jack Johnson Concert)

6/16/2008 (Lindsey & Bret - I'll show you mine if you show me yours)

6/14/2008 (Bushman's boat - Utah Lake)

6/7/08 (Half Ironman)

6/5/2008 (Taping Brets feet with duct tape)

6/3/2008 (This is why I'm HOT - Utah Lake swim)

Libbey's Reception

2008-11-29T21:51:00.013-07:00

Lindsey's little sister Libbey got married today and I went up to shoot a couple of pictures at the reception.
(Libbey and Hubby - Kasey)

Libbey and Dad

The sisters

Chad

Lindsey & Tea (Teancum)

Allen & Noreen

Noreen & Lindsey

Lindsey & Chad

Lindsey and a co-worker
(I'll get her name and update later......oops)

Tree hunt

2008-11-29T17:02:00.001-07:00

2nd Annual tree hunt with the Bushman's
Last year it was sooooo cold, this year Abby was prepared in all of her winter gear.
She's so dang cute!

While we stand in line to get our tag we eat breakfast, drink cocoa, and play around a lot!
(Anne Christensen, Bret B, Wyatt B, Allen M, Shauna S.)

One of the games they played this year was "lets see how hard we can flick each other". Poor Anne lost. Check out some of the welts on her neck. It's a good thing she's as tough as nails.

Wyatt's just so cute!

One of the things I love about going is that we always have a great time laughing, just hanging out.
(Bret B. & Marissa S.)

Playing in line
(Wyatt B, Anne C, Emily B, Allen M & Bret B)

After we got our tags, off we went on our tree hunt. The kids and Annette decided to ride in the back of the trailer. Looks like fun but it also looks cold.
(Hayley B, Stephanie S, Abby B, Cutie S, Anne C, Wyatt B, Emily B, and Annette)

We found our tree and I cut it down.

On the way home, the people in our car zonked.
(Abby B & Anne C)

We are so glad that the Bushman's have let us join them in this fun family tradition. They are such great friends.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T12:00:00.002-07:00

Allen and I had a long Thanksgiving.
It started at 4:30 a.m. with our 3rd annual Timp Tri Club bike in movie, where we biked to a two hour movie to burn some pre turkey calories.
Then we ran up to my moms house for breakfast at 8:00 a.m.
(Noreen, Jake, Allen, and Cameron)

Marri and I were dressed so similar we had to take a picture.

Then at noon we headed over to Alyse's house for lunch with the Bushmans.
(Harold B. carving the turkey)

Abby B.

Allen M. & Emily B.

After lunch with the Bushmans we went straight over to the Macbeans (2:30 p.m.) for more turkey and then back over to Alyse's house for games. After games we went to a movie (Four Christmases) with Natalie R, Keena S, Shane M, Bret & Shauna B, Chad & Lindsey H. We didn't get home till almost midnight.
It was a long, fun day!

Pie Night

2008-11-25T22:05:00.000-07:00

The Brian & Aubry Macbean family had a pie party. There was a wide selection of great pie.
(We made Blueberry-Peach Pie with Pecan Crumb Topping)

We had a fun time eating and hanging out.

Would You Rather.....?

2008-11-22T03:32:00.001-07:00

A group of us to together and played games till 3:30 in the morning. We stared with a game called "Would You Rather.....?"
It's hilarious!
(Lindsey & Natalie)

Bret & Shauna

Chad's brother and sister-in-law

One of the challenges that Allen got was that he had to have a mustache and glasses drawn on his face and stay like that for the reminder of the game.
(I was laughing so hard I couldn't draw the glasses straight)

The best one of the night was Bret's. He did an interpretive dance of a cat stalking and pouncing on it's pray. Chad was his pray.

Chad was put in a pose and had to hold it for two rounds.

After that game we headed down stairs for some guitar hero.

Classic Skating

2008-11-18T22:00:00.000-07:00

Allen and I were invited to the Stake Young Men/Young Women's (Laurel/Priest) activity.
We went to Classic Skating.
The boys in our ward a hoot! They came out in tight short shorts. They eventually went and put (semi) normal pants on after getting a laugh out of everyone.

Everyone had a great time! Allen and I even got out there and skated up a storm. It has been a LONG time since I've roller skated. WOW!

Family Photos

2008-11-16T21:41:00.010-07:00

The Asay Family

The Morgan Family

The Olney Family

Kissing Cousins

Allen & Noreen
(a little country)

Happy Birthday Lindsey!

2008-11-13T21:50:00.012-07:00

Lindsey turned a big 25 today. We (Chad, Lindsey, Bret, Shauna, Natalie, Allen & Noreen) went out to dinner at the Olive Garden and then back to the house for games.
Noreen, Lindsey, Natalie
We played a game called "Would you Rather". Lindsey had to hold a spoon in her mouth for two rounds. So Allen found the biggest spoon we had but then she just put the handle in her mouth. That will show him.

Allen was put in a pose that Natalie put him in for two turns. He had to stand on one leg, touching his nose with one hand and his backside with the other.

Lindsey had to belly dance for 30 seconds.

She tried to make Allen loose his points and his balance by dancing up to him. He was able to hold his composure.

Natalie's challenge was to lap water out of a bowl like a cat for 30 seconds.

She did such a good job.

I was fortunate enough to never receive a challenge, otherwise I'm sure there would be a picture of me doing something silly.

November Run

2008-11-01T15:00:00.001-06:00

The weather today was perfect for a run. Lindsey and I ran up a little canyon in Alpine to a pond by Sliding Rock. I kept stopping to look at the surroundings. I can't believe how the fall colors pop. It takes my breath away.
On our way back down to her house she commented on how we were dressed alike, with our dark purple short on, gray tank tops, white long sleeve shirts wrapped around our waists, hats, and we even had the same exact water bottles. I thought it was funny and made her take a picture.

Thanks for the run Lindsey, I needed it!

Star Mill

2008-10-30T23:59:00.001-06:00

A couple of us got a private tour of the Star Mill antique store.
This is the candy shop.

It's wall to wall antiques (stuff).

We went upstairs into the silos and there were a ton of pidgins. Allen was getting attached from all sides. We had to be careful not to fall.

The Star Mill has a lot of character and history. I'd like to go back some time.

There were three floors and the basement. This place is huge.

Halloween Party

2008-10-26T00:48:00.004-06:00

Last night Allen and I went to a Halloween party as Marilyn Monroe and Elvis Presley.

Leslie Harrison was Dolly Parton and Shauna Bushman was Dawg the bounty hunters wife.
Leslie, Bret (Dawg the bounty hunter) and Shauna
The king

7 Crazy things about me tag

2008-10-25T11:10:00.006-06:00

Lindsey tagged me with a list of 7 crazy things about me. Here we go:

I'm crazy in love with my husband.
I think that if I go outside in the cold with wet hair that I'll get sick.
At meals I usually eat all of one food item before moving onto the next and I don't eat all that's on my plate unless I'm Really hungry. And when I'm done I find myself pushing my plate away from me.
I think it would be cool to be an EMT. (There's something about being there on the scene of an accident. )
I want to do an Ironman some day.
If I spend more than an hour straight cooking a meal, I loose my appetite for it and don't want to eat it. There's something about the smell that gets to me after a while.
I can't STAND it when people pronounce words wrong like Mountain (Moun'n), to (ta), for (fur), ahhhhh the list goes on and on....and it drives me crazy when I catch myself doing it too.

Sun Valley with the Bushman's

2008-10-24T17:00:00.008-06:00

Allen and I flew up to Sun Valley Idaho with Bret and Shauna for a few days. It is a beutiful little town. Flying in was definatly the way to go. The view from the air was breath taking. The aspen trees were poping with color.

While we were there we played a little tennis.

Noreen & Allen
Noreen
Allen

Bret

Bret & Shauna

Noreen & Allen

The ghost clip I've been telling you about

2008-10-22T23:15:00.006-06:00

This is one of my favorite clips from that night.

Here's a link to it bigger. http://www.vimeo.com/2043565

Look for the little orb (light) on the right side. It goes up and then pauses and then goes toward the stick and disappears. Can you see it? None of us could see the light with our own eyes, it only showed up on the night-vision camera.

Lake Powell Trip Day 5 (Last day)

2008-10-22T22:20:00.006-06:00

The last day we decided to sleep in and watched a dumb movie on t.v. The weather was supposed to be colder and overcast so we weren't planning on skiing. When Allen and I went outside to pack up the car, it was sunny and warm. We decided we were going to hit the lake one last time. I was so excited because I hadn't gone skiing yet this trip. The water was perfect. After Natalie and I went we convinced Allen and Lindsey to go as well, even though they weren't wearing their swim suits, they made due with what they had. They both said it was worth it.

It was a very fun trip! Lake Powell is beautiful this time of year.....

Lake Powell Trip Day 4

2008-10-19T22:04:00.009-06:00

The sand hill
We played a lot on the sand hill but I didn't add any of the other pictures because this was the best one.

I realized that I gotten sunburned. Ouch!

Noreen & Allen
Lindsey doing a back flip off the back of the boat.Lindsey, Chad & Natalie doing back flips off the back of the boat.

Lake Powell Trip Day 3 (Race day)

2008-10-18T20:13:00.018-06:00

Big race day! (Triathlon)

Allen did the Olympic distance.
Natalie and I did the Sprint distance.
Chad and Lindsey volunteered.
(Lindsey sold her bike a week before the race)

Swim

Allen, Natalie, Noreen (18:12)

Bike

Allen, Natalie, Noreen (42:56)
Lindsey being cute

Run
Natalie, Noreen (24:49), Allen
Natalie took first in her age group and would have taken first (women) over all (Sprint distance) if she wouldn't have gone the extra mile (literally) on the run.

After the race we went back on the lake.
Here's Natalie going a little crazy.

Chad killed a fish.
He tried to bring it back to life but wasn't successful so they gave it a proper burial.

We found a great slot canyon that we hiked up.

Natalie, Lindsey, Chad, Noreen & Allen.

In some of these slot canyons the boat would get really close to the walls of the canyon and we would act as buffers so the boat wouldn't hit.
Natalie & Noreen

We found a great canyon that the boat couldn't fit up so we blew up the tube and paddled to the end.
Lindsey, Chad, Noreen & Allen
Then the girls (Lindsey, Natalie & Noreen) went tubing. Oh my gosh! It was so much fun. We caught some good air and had some good wrecks.

Lake Powell Trip Day 2

2008-10-17T20:05:00.008-06:00

The second day we did some playing, tanning, wake boarding, cliff jumping and cruising.

Allen

Chad & Allen Linsdsey & Natalie

Lake Powell Trip Day 1

2008-10-16T19:59:00.000-06:00

We had a late start and some delays in Beaver but we eventually made it to Lake Powell.

Boats don't need tires anyway.

Spooky House

2008-10-16T01:08:00.003-06:00

Tonight a group of friends went to Chloe's Salon in American Fork. We went on a ghost hunt. Here are the highlights:
I had a circuit testing light (we kept calling it the "stick") that I had and a couple of guys had video cameras. We went down in the cellar and started poking around. As we were asking questions I slowly moved the stick around. And then it turned on. No joke. Just for a second and not very bright but it turned on. It was exciting. We didn't get it on tape but it happened to me so I know it happened. Then we moved up to the main floor. One of the guys asked if there was anyone there if they would show us a sign. Right then his camera turned off. The battery was fully charged and had plenty of tape left but it just turned off. Then the another friend with another camera kept rolling as they asked if "they" would touch the stick and make it light up. As we were filming you could see an orb approach me and pause and then come towards the stick and then it disappeared. After that we went up to the attic where there have been sightings of a woman standing in the window. As we were filming we could see what we think were orbs. They kept going between two beams. As we would scan the room the main place that we would see activity was right between these two beams.
Orbs-dust-coincidence...who knows. I had a great time and enjoyed watching the video over an over.
We are heading down to Lake Powell for a Triathlon in the morning. When I get back I'll post the video clip. Then you can decide for yourself what it is we saw.

First snow of the season

2008-10-12T09:17:00.008-06:00

I received a call this morning from Lindsey telling me it was snowing.

Sure enough, it's snowing.
I love our mums.
I got snow down my pants as I was making a snow angel.
WOW that's cold!

Here's the finished product.

Back in the saddle again

2008-10-07T20:42:00.008-06:00

I went up to Jen's house in Heber to go riding with her.

We had an exciting ride. Jen rode Sampson and I rode Stormy.

Stormy was being a little stinker. She was skittish and jumpy. She tried to buck me off a couple of times.

On the ride back down Jen and I swapped horses. Sampson was a doll.

Stormy gave Jen a hard time as we went by some other horses.
I gave the camera to Sera and she shot a couple of pictures.
You can't really see the horse but the sunset is beautiful.

Adri, Quincey and I.

(It was crazy hair day at school today.)

Random me

2008-10-04T09:40:00.008-06:00

This will be fun. Here we go, seven random things about me.
1. My ring toe on my left foot is broken. I broke it when I was a kid and so whenever I straighten it out it hurts.
2. I've been on a couple of drug busts. It all started when I was 20 and my sister Jen (who worked at the Orem P.D.) asked if I wanted to go around buying beer. That was a lot of fun. Then I went on a couple of drug busts with my old home teacher. I LOVED it. I almost rammed a guy who was trying to evade. Oh, those were the good old days.
3. I hav tearible speling. What can I say, I do! :)
4. I love natural disasters. I get so excited when natural disasters happen. I would love to be part of the red cross. One of the most exciting disasters I was a part of was in 1991 when we had a flood in Hawaii. I loved making sand bags and going around making sure everyone was okay. I get excited when the electricity goes out too.
5. I was baptised in the ocean. My brother Don baptised me at Temple Beach, Laie, Hawaii.
6. I've had plastic surgery. It sounds cooler then it is. It was for the cancer on my leg. I had to go to a plastic surgeon for my surgery.
7. I think it would be cool to be a cop, archaeologist, geologist, teacher, marine biologist, stewardess, nurse, beautician, EFY counselor. I don't know why but all of these things sound like so much fun.

Here is an extra random fact. Whenever I play games in the dark (hide and seek, sardines) I get all nervous and tingly inside. Random, I know.

Melinda tagged me and here are the people I would like to tag.

Lindsey
Jamie
Shauna
Marri
Karra
Don
Mel

Marcel Vifian seminar

2008-10-03T22:37:00.001-06:00

We had Marcel Vifian, who was a former number one ranked professional triathlete come and give us some tips on how to become better triathletes.
He had us do some of the bike drills on the grass so if we fell over it wouldn't hurt as much.
One of the drills was where we rode our bikes really, really slow without falling over.

Another drill he had us do was what he called the water bottle drill. We had to ride and pick up a watter bottle without stopping or unclipping. I had a hard time with this one and couldn't get it. I'll have to practice it more. What he's trying to teach us here is balance.

He also gave us some new running guidance.

We also did some swimming but we didn't take any pictures.

It was a good seminar. A lot of good review on proper technique.

Another Pie

2008-10-01T21:06:00.006-06:00

Last night while I was out playing with friends Allen made another pie.

This pie is "Peaches and Cream".

We have so many peaches!
This pie got a 4.5 from Allen, Cheryl and I. Dale & Daniel gave it a 4. We will be baking more peach pies soon. We will also be making peach jam, canning peaches, freezing peaches, drying peaches... if it has anything to do with peaches, we will be doing it.

For Shauna

2008-09-28T20:52:00.005-06:00

Inside joke...Allen really liked that whip cream.

Back Country Camping - Mineral Canyon UT

2008-09-28T07:36:00.018-06:00

Right after work on Friday, Allen and I flew down to Mineral Canyon (down by Moab). Allen has been wanting to take me back county camping for a long time.

This is it. This is Mineral Canyon.
There is a little landing strip right next to the river.

Do you see it?

Saturday morning we noticed sky divers getting closer and closer. There were about 20 of them. They were landing on the run way.

They were so funny. It looked like such a rush.
Maybe some day I'll be as cool as my awesome neighbor (Cheryl) and try it.

We went for a little swim in the Green River.
I took my wetsuit, even though I didn't need it. The water was in the 70's and only got about waist deep.
These are some of the views we had from the sky.
Aren't they cool!

On the way home I shot some pictures of the trees starting to change (I always think of Trix because of Emily J. W. D. M.) I love fall. It's one of my favorite seasons. Especially when it's as warm as it has been.

Here is a little video Allen made of the trip:

Mineral Canyon Airstrip - UT75 from Allen Macbean on Vimeo.

Songs for Mel

2008-09-26T07:08:00.003-06:00

At the bottom of the blog is a play list for Mel. These are some of the songs that I like to listen to when I run. I couldn't find the edited version of Girlfriend by Avril Lavigne so it's not on there. But I really like that song. I hope this helps. Keep running!

Paint balling

2008-09-25T20:59:00.009-06:00

We went paint balling today after work. It was so much fun!
We had Chad H, Lindsey H, Jarvis R, Natalie R, Bret B, Noreen M & Allen M.

The girls
(girl power)

I was so excited, the first game I shot Bret and our team won.
I walked away without getting hit. I didn't know what I was in for.

I soon found out what I was in for. I came home with six (6) welts. The other two are on my right shoulder. Man it stings when you get hit. Jarvis R hit me twice and Natalie R was responsible for the rest of them.
She was out to get me.

We had a great time and can't wait to go again.
Thanks Jarvis!!!

Family

2008-09-21T20:11:00.008-06:00

Allen made a delicious "Peach-Blueberry Cobbler Pie" tonight.

The peaches were straight off our tree.
I think this pie got a solid 4.5 out of 5 rating.
Way to go Allen!

We had a Canadian family get together tonight. Aunt Sandra and Uncle Steve (Jehoda) are visiting family that have migrated to Utah.

Additional calling extended

2008-09-21T16:31:00.007-06:00

Allen and I were called into the Bishops office this morning and were extended the calling as Activities Committe Chair Person(s). It's just for one activity, the Christmas brunch. We accepted and would love to hear your thoughts/sugesstions as to what you think we should do. Please leave a comments. **The Bishop has asked us to keep it as a brunch.**

Skin Cancer Sugery Anniversary

2008-09-21T11:02:00.008-06:00

A year ago today (9/21/2007) I had my sugery to remove the skin cancer on my left calf.

This picture was actually taken in October when my soft cast was removed so it had been healing for about a month.

Looking back at it makes me realize how much it has actually healed and how much better it really looks. I'm so concerned about how it looks. I hope it will keep getting less and less noticeable.

We still joke that I really didn't have skin cancer removed but Allen just wanted me monogrammed with an "M" on my leg to let people know that I'm his (a Macbean).

Sleep over

2008-09-20T22:24:00.002-06:00

After work on Friday Lindsey and I went to a wedding reception and then out for ice-cream with her parents. Then we felt guilty about eating ice-cream, so we went on a long run. We didn't get home until 11:00 p.m. Chad was on a camp out, and we were planning on a bike ride in the morning so Lindsey slept over.

Allen tucked her in like a burrito

She was as snug as a bug in a rug

In the morning we went on a bike ride up into Alpine. As we turned around to head back I noticed that my bike wasn't riding right.
I had my first flat ever! Just so happens that I also had my camera. Natalie stayed back with me as I changed it. The back tire is harder to change then the front because of the chain.

I'm glad I had the experience because It made me realize how long it would take me to do it if I were in a race. I found a thorn in the back tire. Darn those thorns.

As Natalie and I headed back it started to rain. Then there was lightning, and it was close. It was awesome. We were so drenched and dirty by the time we got back to the house. It made me kind of miss riding outside.

Not our normal morning workouts

2008-09-17T07:17:00.009-06:00

I've wanted to take pictures of our morning workouts for a while now but haven't. Natalie came over around 5:15 a.m. and crashed on the couch. We decided that we would take a short nap until Lindsey or Bret came.
They never came.

FHE

2008-09-15T20:39:00.006-06:00

Tonight we had a little FHE / Powell planning meeting.
Natalie and Jarvis stayed and played for a while. The kids found the hand cart and convinced Natalie and Jarvis to pull them around the yard in it. We convinced them to do it in a kimono. It was great entertainment for everyone.

Jarvis, Luke, Haley, and Natalie

Another day of skiing

2008-09-13T21:32:00.006-06:00

Today started off with a run/walk with Lindsey, followed by a bike with Allen and Natalie, followed by some news that made me... well, sad.
In attempt to cheer me up we went boating.
The best picture taken of me today is this one here of my feet (and it's not that good of a picture). We only got a couple of pictures of Allen skiing and wakeboarding. The other two pictures here are of Chad and Allen helping Lindsey put on a wetsuit.

Lindsey

Chad

After boating we went to Park City for some shopping.
There's more to tell but I'm feeling kind of blah so I'm going to sign off.
Later.

2nd Annual Swim Across Deer Creek

2008-09-12T21:14:00.006-06:00

We had our 2nd Annual swim across Deer Creek. We met at Rainbow bay and swam a mile across the reservoir and back making it a round trip of 2 / 2.2 miles. (Depending on who's GPS you are going by)

Because both Allen and I swam, we didn't get any pictures of us in the water, but here is a picture after everyone was done swimming. We had about 65 people there, most of them swam most of the way if not all of the way. We had three kayaks and two boats as support.
(Thanks Moneka and Perry)

After the swim Kim had a WONDERFUL meal for us.
(She is amazing! The food was sooo good)
In this collage we have the food table, Keena (Coach Keena aka best Tri coach ever) striking a pose, Bret waring his 14 year old daughters BAM shirt, and Moneka learning a new I.T. band stretch.

I can't forget to thank Gary (Lord of the swim aka Gary Phelps) and Allen for organizing the swim. The Timp Tri Club rocks!

New Wetsuit

2008-09-11T07:38:00.005-06:00

My new wetsuit came in. Five minutes before the half iron I ripped my old wetsuit. I guess four years of use and abuse is all a cheep wetsuit can take. I'm really excited about my new wetsuit.
The club is going to swim across Deer Creek and back (about 2 miles) tomorrow, I'm excited that I'll be able to go. Last year I only made it across and half way back before I jumped in a Kayak and paddled back. This year I want to do the whole thing. It should be fun, we are having a BBQ when we are done swimming.
This picture's for Allen.

Lindsey Came Unhinged This Morning

2008-09-08T10:09:00.003-06:00

I may have mentioned it in the past but Allen and I have set up our basement so we can bike on our trainers and watch movies as we workout. We have our normal group of people we workout with; Allen, Bret, Lindsey, Natalie R. and me.
This morning we were biking and all of a sudden Lindsey's bike came unhinged. She (and her bike) fell into Allen's lap. Allen and his bike tipped over too but he was next to the wall so he didn't go far. After inspecting her bike it looks like she just forgot to lock the trainer into place. It was funny.

Deer Creek

2008-09-06T12:02:00.002-06:00

Lindsey, Chad, Allen &I went to Deer Creek this morning. We all got to ski/wakeboard on good water. (That's a first this year.) After looking at all the pictures, I realized that I look like a dork when I ski and so I didn't post any of them.Lindsey did an amazing job at both skiing and wakeborading but the most impressive picture of her was of her wreck.

Of course I think Allen's the bomb, so I had to put up nine pictures of him skiing.
I hope to some day look at good as him.

After boating Lindsey and I went to the Women's Expo at UVU, and then we met up with Allen, Chad, Bret and Shauna for dinner and a movie. We saw "The Fly Boys". Bret's step brother is in the movie. He did a great job, it was a good movie.
What a long, fun day.

What it looked like

2008-09-01T22:24:00.014-06:00

The Bushman's came home and found all of the pictures. We thought that it would take them a while to find all of them but we underestimated them. Here are pictures of what they looked like framed around the house.

This cute little one was on the nightstand by the side of the bed. Abbey was replaced by a picture of Chad.

I'm glad that they were good sports about it. We all had a good laugh. And we're still laughing...

We are so funny

2008-09-01T16:56:00.020-06:00

We are so funny!

The Bushman's were out of town over the long weekend and so we decided that we would play a little trick on them. While they were gone we took some cheesy individual and "family" pictures of ourselves. The Bushman's have their four children's school pictures proudly hung in their family room. We replaced their pictures with these.

#1 (lindsey h. - sweet sixteen)

#2 (noreen m. - classic senior photo)
#3 (chad h. - sassy)
#4 (allen m. - deep in thought)

Then we replaced random pictures around the house with these.

(lindsey & chad - engagement pose)

(allen & noreen - what's up doc)

(lindsey & chad - the dip...chad is doing "blue steel")

(back row: chad & allen front row: lindsey & noreen - family photo #1 white button down top and blue jeans)

(chad, lindsey, noreen & allen - family photo #2 the walk away)

(back row: chad & allen front row: lindsey & noreen - family photo #3 lean on me)

We couldn't stop laughing. We don't know how long it will take them to notice all of the different pictures around the house. We love the Bushman's and hope they love us after doing this.

Saturday BBQ

2008-08-30T23:15:00.002-06:00

Marri had another BBQ at her house tonight.

Good food, good company, good times.

Mom & I

Allen, Noreen & Quincy
Marri, Dale, Allen and I had piggy back races. Allen and I won both times.

Spelunking

2008-08-30T16:01:00.013-06:00

Friday night we went spelunking with the Johnsons', Bushmans' and Harrisons'. Natalie J. is a ranger up at the Timpanogos caves and gave us a special "after hours" tour.

Left to Right: David J. Natalie J. Shauna B. Bret B. Leslie H. Jamie H. Noreen M. Allen M.

Check out how funky some of the formations are

The heart of Timpanogos

Temple Calling

2008-08-30T11:56:00.004-06:00

Allen and I were called to serve at the Mount Timpanogos Temple in November of 2006. Today we were released. We have enjoyed the opportunity to serve in such a capacity. Although it was sometimes difficult to wake up at 3:30 a.m. to be at the Temple by 5:00 a.m. we always enjoyed serving and ended our shift edified by the spirit. We are going to miss serving with such a great group of people and hope to some day be able to serve again.

3 Day Federal Jury Trial

2008-08-30T08:48:00.003-06:00

This week I assisted in a 3 day Federal Jury Trial. The attorneys from our firm presented the case with passion. At the end of our third day of presenting our clients case,it was up to the jury to make the decision, and to tell you the truth I'm glad it was them and not me. This wasn't a open and closed case. I was bias of course but I always like to play devils advocate and try and see things from the other side. It was suspenseful. This was our lead attorneys (he was the main attorney on the case) first trial of any kind, as he has only been licensed for a little over a year. The opposing counsel on the other hand has been practicing for ruffly fourteen years and has done numerous trials. They defiantly had experience on their side. Anyway, the jury was sent home at 9:00 p.m. on the third day, and were asked to come back in the morning. I didn't attend court on the fourth day but wished I could have been there. Around 2:00 p.m., 11 1/2 hours of deliberating, the jury found in favor of our client. It was so exciting. It was nice to see that all of the hard work and late nights the attorneys put into the case paid off. It's amazing to see how dedicated the attorneys are to their clients and their cases. We have got some great attorneys at our firm.

Cascade Springs

2008-08-27T20:58:00.013-06:00

The Bushman's invited us to Cascade Springs on Sunday.

We took turns riding Bret's motorcycle

Amy's first time wake boarding

2008-08-23T23:11:00.010-06:00

Lindsey, Chad, Amy, Allen and I went boating tonight. We got out on the lake around 8:00 p.m.
Amy went wake boarding for the first time.

Isn't she beautiful

Chad and Lindsey helped her get all situated in the water and gave her some tips.

Just like that she got up. It was getting dark fast so she didn't have time to show off any wicked moves.

She did great for her first time.
We are hoping to get her out again before she has to head home to Oregon.

After wake boarding we had a cute little picnic and watched a couple episodes of Arrested Development.
It was a beautiful night.

Someone in Provo was having a firework show that we were able to benefit from.
The stars were also shinning brightly. What a night.
It was 10:30 p.m. before we headed back in. It was so dark we had a difficult time finding the marina.

Noreen - sexy swimsuit model!!!

2008-08-23T11:36:00.002-06:00

As everyone knows, Noreen is incredibly sexy and looks great in any swimsuit. What you may not know, is that she is an actual swimsuit model! She has been on Studio 5 (Channel 5's morning talk show) modeling swimwear for Hapari, a swimsuit company. Here is a picture from the photoshoot:This is the screen saver for our computer at home. I love turning it on everyday - the computer that is! Sheesh! Get your minds out of the gutter! I'll put up a few more pictures later when I have more time. I am a very lucky husband to have such a beautiful wife.

Through the eyes of Allen

2008-08-20T07:01:00.004-06:00

Melinda had this on her blog, but the questions were asked to her daughter. But since I don't have kids I thought I'd ask the questions to Allen and see what kind of answers I'd get. Here it is:

1. What is something Noreen always says to you? "ALLEN, ALLEN DEWEY!"
2. What makes Noreen happy? A clean kitchen
3. What makes Noreen sad? When friends don't show up (flake out)
4 How does Noreen make you laugh? She tickles my middle spot
5. What was Noreen like as a child? Curious (you liked to peel paint and poke stuff)
6. How old is Noreen? That's not fair...30 right?
7. How tall is Noreen? 5'7 or 5'9
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Snuggle
9 What does Noreen do when you're not around? Nothing
10. If Noreen becomes famous, what will it be for? A swim suit model
11. What is Noreen really good at? Everything, especially kissing
12. What is Noreen not very good at? Leaving work at work
13. What does Noreen do for her job? Legal stuff (she plays a lawyer on t.v.)
14. What is Noreen's favorite food? Spaghetti with parmesan cheese
15. What makes you proud of Noreen? She has an amazing work ethic
16. If Noreen were a cartoon character, who would she be? The Little Mermaid
17. What do you and Noreen do together? Bowchickabowwow
18. How are you and Noreen the same? We both think Lindsey's short
19. How are you and Noreen different? I'm low stress, Noreen's high stress
20. How do you know Noreen loves you? Is it the way that she laughs - oh no that's not the way... (he was singing) She shows and tells me every day.
21. What does Noreen like most about you? My sense of humor I guess
22. Where is Noreen's favorite place to go? Hawaii

Jack Johnson concert

2008-08-19T20:04:00.006-06:00

We went to the Jack Johnson concert last night.
It was a ton of fun.

We goofed off a lot, but it was a way to entertain ourselves while we were waiting for the concert to start.

Lindsey, Chad, Amy (Chad's sister), M.J., her sister (starts with an "M" , Allen & I

WANTED

2008-08-17T09:04:00.005-06:00

My cute little niece, McKenna has been banned from nursery for biting (and drawing blood) two children at church. She was also the culprit for calling 911 and hanging up, which sent a Sheriff out to the house to check up on things. This all happened in a weeks time.

McKenna does have a softer, kinder side to her. You just have to be cute enough and she'll "steal" a kiss from ya.

Starvation Reservoir

2008-08-16T21:33:00.010-06:00

I was able to join the Priest's on their camp out this weekend. I wasn't supposed to be there so I'm not in any of the pictures.
Allen M., Makay O., Callin O., (Bishop) Jim P., Matt N., Matt C., Shawn W., David P., Sae T., Scott N.

Allen got there early and got the perfect camp site on Indian point.

They played a little watermelon football until the watermelon cracked open.
(To tell the truth, the game didn't even really start before the watermelon was busted)

The Bishop took the boys on a ride of their lives on the tubes. He was going so fast.

There was only one boy who had ever been wake boarding before. They all did really for it being their first time!

All's well that ends well

2008-08-14T21:59:00.004-06:00

Today has been a long hard day for me. I was very excited that we were able to end such a rough day on such a good note.

We went boating tonight with Natalie, Jarvis, Haley & Luke.
This is the best picture of the night. Jarvis crashing at sunset.

Boating with the Natalie and Jarvis

2008-08-14T21:58:00.001-06:00

I'll add some pictures next time of me skiing. I just have such a serious look on my face when I'm skiing, I need to remember to smile. I have such a great time but you would never be able to tell by the look on my face.

Tubing

2008-08-14T21:53:00.001-06:00

Tubing was a blast!

Saying good by to Rebekah

2008-08-12T21:04:00.002-06:00

The Bodens are moving to Omaha this week. A couple of us got together to say good by to Rebekah. We'll miss her!
Left to right: Sina, Makay, Rebekah, Noreen, DeLonne & Jill

Celebrity Morph by MyHeritage

2008-08-12T19:10:00.002-06:00

MyHeritage: Celebrity Morph - Family search - Pedigree chart

Celebrity Morph by MyHeritage

2008-08-12T18:53:00.001-06:00

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities