Matt's New Hobbie and Happy Birthday Brylie!!!

The other day I got a message on my phone and it was Matt informing me that he was on his way to Jackson to go snowmobiling with a friend!! As much as I love my job, I can honestly say that I was wishing I hadn't had to work that day...that would have been a blast!! Now this may not seem like a big thing but for Matt it was!! You see Matt had never been on a snowmobile in his whole life and coincidentally we just happened to be talking about how he needed to try it earlier in the week!! When I called to see what he was doing he was ecstatic!! For all of you who know Matt, he LOVES any kind of adventure and he had just discovered a new one!!!



Him and Scott had an awesome day, full of exciting trips with the snowmobile!! They didn't get home until later that night and immediately had to put all of the pictures and videos on the computer so I could see!! It was so much fun to see how excited Matt was and to listen to their little stories!!



A big thanks to Scott for inviting him to go!! You have definately made a big fan out of Matt!! I look forward to going with them next time!!

As a little update...Matt started his intership this week working for the same company he did over the summer break!! Thank heavens Matt's boss loves him because we were having quite the time finding him an intership!!! And we can't express how grateful we are to her for taking him on, especially with work being slower these days!! Matt enjoys working with her so it turned out perfect!! I am still at Melaleuca and cannot express how much I love my job!! I don't think I have ever had a day go by where I dreaded going to work!! How lucky we are to be so blessed!!
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We wanted to say Happy Birthday to our favorite little niece!! We love you Brylie and miss you tremendously!!

Sledding with Friends!

So with all the snow Matt and I had yet to go out and actually enjoy it!! So we got together with Adam, Stephanie, Dane and Laurel and headed off to the dunes for some snow fun!! Although it was blasting cold we thoroughly enjoyed sledding the giant hills of the sand dunes!! We have a bunch of videos but everytime I ever try to put those on here it never works so if you see a video that means that it worked, if not please enjoy all of the fun pictures we were able to get!!


Adam and Steph!!


Matt's go at the dunes!


Here we are!


I totally ate snow on this one!!


Cute Dane and Laurel!


Ready to take the plunge!!

After our sled fest we headed over to Chris and JJ's house with Adam and Stephanie for a winter barbeque!! Nothing like a hot steak in the middle of Rexburg's January!! It was a blast eating, talking, and playing games with our fabulous friends!! Unfortunately we left the camera behind, so we don't have any fun pictures but we really are grateful for good friends and good times!!


Matt and his desert ghillie suit!


Matt and his new forest ghillie suit!

We are still truckin' along!! Matt just got over a fun cold and I was lucky enough to pick up on it!! Although I must say that it affected Matt much more than me...a blessing since I have work!! I am grateful that I have only had to miss one day of work instead of 2 or 3!! Matt has been busy working on his new ghillie suit, the forest ghillie suit, that will go along nicely with his desert ghillie suit!! I love how interesting he makes life!! We have been pretty busy, shooting guns, playing with friends and working our little hind ends off but life is fabulous and Matt and I are just as happy as can be!! We continue to love our time here and look forward to more memories to come!!

2008 Recap!!

So I will admit that I am actually copying Liz on this blog!! She did a recap of last year and I loved it so I thought I would do the same!! Thanks for the idea Liz!! So as Matt and I put our little newsletter together we realized that we have been sooo lucky!! We really have had the opportunity to do so many things, even being within our first year of marriage!!

To start off the year 2008 Matt and I were in a little village in Mexico! We were so fortunate to spend Christmas 2007 and the New Year in such a beautiful place! We look forward to going back soon!!

I also had a MAJOR haircut this year!! It was a big deal but I was sick of everyone thinking I was just out of High School!!! I wanted to look my age.....probably something I will never say again but it was fun to have a new look!!


We also moved into our cute little apartment in Rexburg, ID! Not only were we able to move there but we also got to paint it how we wanted!! Everyone that I talked to thought that a green kitchen might be too much, and when we opened the can of paint we too were a little nervous, but I really liked how it turned out!!


We also went to Disneyland for the Cahoon Family Reunion!! What a blast that was!! Unfortunately we lost our camera and didn't find it until the very last day that we were there!! But lucky that we have a fabulous family that made sure they had plenty of pictures of us to share!!

Summer was crazy!! We had lots of fun at my work picnic, riding horses, fishing and swimming the river, and a little campout at Yellowstone!!!



In August we celebrated our ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY!! It was a fun day!! We probably didn't make as big of a deal of it as most people because in all reality we had really been together for almost 7 years!! But it was nice to reflect on all of the fun times we have had together!! I am so lucky to have been able to marry my very best friend!

In the fall we went to St. George, Utah to celebrate my Grandparent's 60th Anniversary and my Grandma's 80th birthday!!! We stopped at Cedar Breaks to look around and take some pictures!! The rest of the fall we spent most of our time in the great outdoors on our hunting excursions!


Thanksgiving we celebrated with Matt's family in Utah and we had a white Christmas in Oregon with mine!!


2008 was an awesome year, full of fun!! We look forward to having another awesome year full of it's own little adventures!!!

A Very Merry WHITE Christmas!!

Well I thought that leaving Idaho and going to Oregon for Christmas would mean that we would avoid driving in snow.........I WAS DEFINATELY WRONG!! We actually chose the perfect days to travel and arrived in Oregon right before the big storm!! There was definately plenty of snow when we arrived and with a little work our little car made it up my parents gigantic hill!! The next morning we woke up to our car buried in snow!!

This is what we thought we left behind in Idaho......this never happens in Oregon!!

We managed to dig it out and do a little last minute Christmas shopping!! Unfortunately our car wasn't able to make it back up the hill so it spent the entire vacation parked at the bottom!!

We brought our Wii with us and had a blast dukin' it out!! Dad and Grif testing their boxing skills.....hilarious!!

Basically Abby was crazy, I do believe she won the match though!

Although our little snow in was unexpected we definately had a blast with it!! How blessed we were to have been able to make it up to Oregon!!! Christmas was fabulous because we were together as a family..well half a family!!

Me and my little baby Oscar!!

Cute mommy!

Uh well not much to say about this pic.....but man do I love the guy!!

My little baby boy!!!!

There's nothing like a nice bowl of mac 'n cheese when you are snowed in!!

My cute baby sister!!

What awesome parents I have....lucky me!!

Matt and Griffin

Big sister and little brother!! Grif you are a stud!

It definately went by WAY to fast and we could have easily stayed for another week!!

And this is what we came home to!! We made it the entire way home without using our cables and then when we were literally 75 feet from our door we got stuck.....figures!!!

I love this season and although the actual holiday is over, I am going to draw it out for as long as I possible!!

Merry Christmas from Us!

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Another Semester Finished!!

Matt is officially done with Fall '08 semester and we couldn't be happier!! It was a loaded semester, 17.5 credits, but Matt was a trooper and made it through!! I am so proud of his hard work and for managing such a heavy schedule!! This upcoming year is his last and I know he is definately looking forward to it!!

So with the end of school came the real beginning to a cold cold winter!! We got our first real official dump of snow the past couple of days and it is only to get worse!! The snow really isn't that bad...its how darn cold it is here!! This will be the first winter that Matt and I actual man here in Rexburg!! We are already freezing and everyone is saying to just wait!! This worries us a little, as of right now our only source of heat in our apartment is our small Walmart space heater! Unfortunately, because our apartments are so old we have to old floor heaters that suck the energy!!! Therefore, it is too expensive for us to run those heaters!!

So far we have managed quite well but with the temperatures dropping we are starting to wonder if only one space heater will be enough!! I guess the good that has come from this is that I am a whole heck of a lot more tolerant of the cold!! For all those that know me, I am NOT a cold person!! I absolutely hate being cold, but because it is unavoidable here my body has had to adapt!! Which has actually been a huge blessing!!

Other than a little worry about the coming winter, Matt and I are doing very well!! I continue to enjoy work and Matt has had a good time with school and his after school activities (of which I am sure you can all guess)! We are extremely excited for Christmas and the opportunity we have to be going to Oregon to spend it with my family!! I cannot even wait!! It will be nice to have a break from real life and be able to enjoy some quality Allen time!!

And A Fantastic Thanksgiving It Was!!

Matt and I were so lucky to be able to go to Utah for Thanksgiving to attend the infamous Cahoon and Sorensen reunions!! It was so fun to get to see Matt's family and to spend a little time with Shay, Chelsea, Jonas, and Grif!! I was lucky enough to get the entire week off and Matt also had the whole week off from school so it was a good long vacation!!

The first couple of days we spent in Provo with the few Allens in Utah!! We had such a blast just hanging out and being Aunt and Uncle to cute little Jonas, who we absolutely could not get enough of!!


And then it was off to spend the rest of the week with Matt's family!! On Thanksgiving day we went to the Cahoon Thanksgiving dinner where we enjoyed a fun little family talent show and I totally dominated in the traditional game of Bump or Tornado or Lightening...whatever you may call it!! The next day we headed up to the Camp Tracy Lodge to experience something that no one has ever experienced unless they have attended the Sorensen Bash!! We started off with a delicious breakfast...which is Grandpa Sorensen's favorite!! It was such an exciting day!! The highlights definately have to be the Family Musical Chairs, which generally ends with a mangled mess formally known as a chair!! I was super stoked to be the winner of the 20 and older group!!! Now many of you may not know what a huge accomplishment is but let me tell you, if you win one of these you are definately remembered!! So I was happy to be the lucky one!! Also the Chocolaholic Frolic definately is a favorite...this involves lots and lots of chocolate!! Yum! And then of course the Parade of the Uncles as well as the family skits!! It was definately a fun filled day!!



Saturday we went with Matt's family to the Body Exhibit which was TOTALLY awesome, if any of you have the opportunity I would definately recommend it!! After that we walked around Temple Square and then ended the evening with dinner at Noodles and our Christmas exchanges....in which Matt and I definately got the best presents: The "You Might Be A Redneck If... Game as well as the voluptuous woman...pictures to come!!!




All in all it was a fantastic week and we were sad to leave!! But thank heavens we are sealed and stuck for eternity!!! Matt and I feel so blessed to have such wonderful families and we love to spend time with them!! And Mom and Dad I CANNOT WAIT for Christmas with you!!! Wahoo!!



As soon as we get more pics from family we will definately post more!!