Archery

We went on a date night with our friends Jeremy and Evelyn a few weeks ago.  We went archery shooting in Orem.

 We weren't very good (Jeremy and Evelyn put us to shame) but we had a great time.

 

The best photo from the whole evening.

Halloween

We don't have much to report for Halloween this year except for our pumpkin.

Can anyone guess what it is?

B.o.B. / Jason Derulo Concert (Featuring IYAZ and Auburn)

On October 12th, Debbie and I took Eliah to see B.o.B., Jason Derulo, IYAZ and Auburn perform at the McKay Events Center in Orem.  Tami purchased his ticket after we called and told her we were going and we were taking her son.  Now, many of you may not know but I (Stephen) am a pretty big fan of Hip Hop music and when we heard about this concert (these people typically do not perform together) we knew we had to go and take Eliah with us!  It was his first concert!

Here is one of the opening acts.  Her name is Auburn and she was pretty good.  She was followed by IYAZ. 

Eliah with his B.o.B. glasses.  We surprised him with the tickets on my birthday in September.  Debbie had told him that she was surprising me with the tickets for my birthday (which he was very jealous of) but when they came over to bring my present we sprung it on him!

During a break in performances.  Since there were four separate artists they had 15 minute breaks between each one.  It was really nice to have a break from the loud music and it helped us be able to hear when we left that night.

B.o.B. performing.  He was pretty good.  (Lots of Rap that we didn't appreciate.)

And Jason Derulo.  He was pretty awesome.  Lots of Michael Jackson moves and was fun to watch on stage.

We had the best time!  Thanks to Daryl and Tami for allowing him to come with us!  Hope we didn't ruin him for life!  If you are thinking you have no idea who these artists are... you do... just look them up on iTunes.  We took videos but they are blurry and you can hear us singing... which we certainly don't need to hear.

A Little Out of Order

We went to a reception for some close friends a few weeks ago and they had a photo booth there.  Here we are in all our glory.

My Trip to Huntsville, Al

I had to travel to Alabama for work.  I was doing the same things as I did while I was in Texas.  There wasn't a whole lot to do in Huntsville.  Nashville was 2 hours away but everyone told me not to bother if I didn't like country music.  Here are some of the things I got to see while there.

My first meeting was at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center.  Here are some of the cool rockets and shuttles located there. 

Some of the workers. This is the same shuttle as pictured above.

These guys are located all over the grounds of this museum.  They also do Space Camp here!

As boring as my meeting was it was a really nice place to visit.

Above is the oldest bank in Alabama. 

 

I have no plans on returning to Alabama in the near future but was treated with lots of hospitality and really enjoyed my time there.

Triathlon

The Scouts/ Young Men in our stake put on a triathlon each year.  Well, it's kind of a mini-Triathalon because each of the legs are shorter than a traditional race.  You start with swimming 300 meters and then you do an 8 mile bike ride and finish with a 2 mile run.
Here is a picture of me at the beginning of the race.   I had to rig up some sort of swim suit/ sports bra combo because I did not want to run with out a bra.

The swimming was a lot harder than I thought it would be.  I have not swam laps since high school so that is what I need to work on before my race next year.
There are no pictures of the second part of the race the biking, I will tell it instead.
Steve and I got bikes literally the day before the race.  I started on my bike just fine but got lost from the group literally blocks from the start of the race.  I headed over the freeway into some farm land and way out to a part of town that I did not know existed.  I left Spanish Fork and went into two neighboring town before I called Steve.  He was working a part of the route helping bikers stay on the course.  As I was on the phone with him he informed me that several people were wondering where I was.  People that were behind me had already passed him and asked if he had seen me.  Needless to say I headed back the way I came and told him that I was going back and going to start the running.
Right as I hung up the phone I crossed some railroad tracks and my back tire blew out.  So I was walking on the highway with a wet butt from the swimming (I looked like I had wet myself).  I made it to the freeway overpass and a lovely older couple offered to fix my tire.   Just as I was about to get it fixed Steve showed up with the car and threw my bike in.  Her drove me a couple of blocks to the start of the run.

I finished the race with a friend of ours (Who also had a tire blow out, not a good day for tires).
I like to finish with pizazz but as you can see I just look stupid when I run.  People told me that all the time growing up but now I have proof that they are right.
Overall it was a lot of fun and I look forward to the challenge again next year.

24th of July 5K

I did a 5K on Pioneer Day while Stephen was out of town on business.  My friend Jessica signed up to do it so I decided to go along with her.  I had planned on walking the race (since I am not much of a runner) but decided while I was there I would see how much I could run.

I completed the 5K in 33 minutes.  The best part was while running up a hill a man dressed in a kilt was playing pioneer hymns on his bagpipes... So random!  We were served Magelby's french toast after the race.  It was very fun.  I wish Stephen had been there.  We will definitely do this again!

My Trip to Dallas, TX

I spent a little over a week in Dallas at the end of July.  I was asked to help with the conversions of Wachovia Bank and re-branding them to Wells Fargo locations.  Dallas was a very interesting city.  The people were nice but I found there wasn't much for a guy to do by himself.

I was off work most of Saturday afternoon so I traveled to downtown Dallas to see the JFK Museum at Dealey Plaza and location that he was killed.  Above is the Book Depository that Lee Harvey Oswald took his shots.  The window on the 6th floor corner is the location he used.

The infamous grassy knoll

The exact location that the bullet hit President Kennedy

The view from the "X" above (taken from the sidewalk)

The grassy knoll and the Book Depository.  There were a few things that struck me about this visit.  The street is very small.  It looks so much bigger on film and photos.  It felt very strange to drive the same route as the motorcade took.  The freeway entrance is not far from the location he was shot.  I am very happy that I took the opportunity to see this in person.  My only regret was paying to see the museum.  It was a audio-guided tour and you can't take pictures.

 I worked very hard in Dallas.  I didn't have a lot of free time to do much else but I enjoyed my visit.

Fiesta Days Rodeo

We went to the rodeo for the first time in late July.  We had a wonderful time with Jeremy and Evelyn.  Thanks for inviting us!

Elder Feller Reports to the MTC

We miss you Daniel!  Check out his blog to read more about our amazing nephew!

4th of July

4th of July weekend was very quiet for us this year.  We had just returned from our trip and were still pretty exhausted.  On Sunday we went to David and Jefra's for dinner and dessert.  It was a nice evening.  On Monday evening we had dessert and Katie and Dave's.   Debbie and I took the "Candy Bar Game" for everyone to play.  It was a pretty good success.  Here are some photos.

Everyone had a few candy bars at the end and everyone was happy.  When that was over we went outside to do some sparklers.  None of us bought fireworks this year so we just watched the kids dance around.  It was fun to be with the family.

Laguna Beach

After a long first day in the park we decided to take a break from playing in the park and head to Laguna Beach to go boogie boarding.  On our way we passed the Newport Beach Temple.  We wish we had known it was on that freeway but we had already passed the exit before we realized what it was.  It was beautiful!

The ocean was not that cold!  We are so used Northern California water that is freezing cold! We hit some sweet waves and had a blast.  Debbie got caught up in a huge wave and at one point a lifeguard came to rescue her, which was pretty hillarious.  We even saw dolphins playing in the surf in the distance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1gDrjRtLDQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLw8UIoysC8

We really had a great time.  We were exhausted after a few hours in the water.  We headed back to the hotel for a long nap before returning the the park for more fun.

Highlights from Disneyland

Debbie and I made a trip to Disneyland at the end of June into early July to celebrate our 5th Anniversary.  We left early in the morning as always, but Maggie and Lucy thought they were coming with us.  Sadly, they stayed home and Debbie's cousin watched them for us. 

"Disney's World of Color" premiered early in June and we wanted to see the show before our Annual Passes expire in August.  We had purchased a meal plan with a Fast Pass included and waited for about an hour for the show to begin. 

The show did not disappoint.  It was truly amazing!  In the words of Debbie, "It freaked my freak."  The magic of Disney has done it again!  It was worth the drive to Southern California just to see that show.  We also attended a little of "Glow Fest," which is pretty much a Rave on the streets of Hollywood in California Adventure.
Here is some video we took of the "World of Color."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dO5jKOhBRLY

Here is the end of the"World of Color."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taoCBhnoglw

Here is a cute picture of Debbie as we were leaving the show.  If you want more information about "World of Color" click here to go to our Disney Blog.

Story Time!!!
I was waiting for Debbie who was in the rest room on our first day and saw this guy walk by.  I thought "I know that guy!"  I thought for a moment and when Debbie came out of the bathroom I told her I saw the guy who played Jimmy on the TV show "The Practice."  His name is Michael  Badalucco (and if he has Google Alerts set up... Hi!)

If any of you know my wife, she started walking fast in the direction I told her that he was walking.
We caught up and I pointed him out to her.  She recognized him and we debated if we should say something.  He was with his kids, eating a Mickey Mouse ice cream bar and we didn't want to be the annoying fans.
Debbie thought it would be good to take a picture of her doing something to get him in the shot... Here is that picture.

He is in the green shirt to the right of the picture.  After I took the picture I went up and asked him if he was in "The Practice" to which he responded "yes."  I told him that I really enjoyed his show and thought he did great work. I didn't want to bug him any more.  He seemed very happy of that.
Anyways, it was pretty funny.  Here are some more shots of our trip.  Captions are not necessary.

We did all the normal Disneyland things but we had to see "Captain EO" which has returned for a while.  It was pretty awesome!
As always, we had a wonderful trip.  It is the best spending quality time with together.  We play hard and make the most of our time together.