Alan & Ellen

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Ward Luau!

A couple of weeks ago our amazing ward had an awesome Luau! We were privileged enough to help set up most of the festivities of the day including the cooking of a pig! It was quite the experience!

As most of you know, Alan served his mission in Seattle, WA. While he was there, he had an opportunity to become very close with several different Polynesian cultures. He knows how to cook the food, wear the clothes, and even speak some of the languages! Helping out at the Luau made him feel like he was right back in Seattle!

Our good friend, Emily Shaw took some awesome pictures of the festivities (so don't give us credit for how amazing these pictures are). Here they are for your viewing pleasure!

"The Big Kahuna" just happens to be Mark Brown, the first counselor in our Bishopric. His wife, Ruth, loved watching him show off his stuff!

We were lucky enough to have some Polynesian dancers come and perform for us. They were amazing!!

Wes is our Elders Quorom President and is a very good friend of ours. He planned the entire Luau and did such a great job! He taught us all of his pig cookin' secrets!

As you can see, we are sporting the traditional Lava Lava's (they are soooo comfortable!) Alan is good friends with an owner of a Polynesia market out in West Valley City, UT. So, he surprised Ellen by taking her there to get her own official Lava Lava straight from the Islands!

Bro. and Sis. Eames (aka Eric and Jodi) are some of our amazing friends! Jodi is the secretary in Ellen's Primary Presidency and she is totally awesome! Bro. and Sis. Wilson (aka Anya and Kory) are also some of our friends. Anya is the 1st counselor in Ellen's Primary Presidency and is such a blast! Bro. Shaw (aka Steve) is the husband of Emily Shaw! Emily is 2nd counselor in Ellen's Primary Presidency and she is pretty much amazing!

We have had such a great time in the Lakeridge 7th Ward! We are going to miss everyone so much when we move!

Remember who you are. Do what you can with what you have.

I'm the Primary President in my ward. There have been several times over the past couple of months that I feel like I am at my wits end and I threaten to march to the Bishops office and demand to be released from my calling. But when I feel like I can't go on my dear sweet husband is always there to pick me up, hold me close, and wipe away my tears. He always knows exactly what to say to make me feel better. Here is a great example!

A couple of weeks ago when I felt like I was ready to loose it all, Alan opened his scriptures to Judges 3:31 and read the following to me:

³¹And after him was Shamgar the son of Anath, which slew of the Philistines six hundred men with an ox goad: and he also delivered Israel.

Being totally confused I asked him, "What in the world does that have to do with Primary?" He replied, "My dear, it has everything to do with Primary!" Still totally confused I asked him to please explain himself. He said, "Remember who you are. Do what you can, with what you have." I still didn't get it. Alan explained, "You see. Shamgar was the son of Anath and he slew six hundred philistines with an ox goad. He knew who he was and he did what he could with what he had. You, my dear, are Ellen, daughter of Karen, wife of Alan, and Primary President in the Lakeridge 7th Ward in the Orem Lakeridge Stake of Orem, Utah. You don't have six hundred Philistines to slay but you do have many children to care for. Remember that. Don't try to do everything yourself. Remember that you have teachers, counselors and leaders that are doing the best that they can. So...do what you can with what you have."

I was amazed. What a powerful message to come out of a tiny scripture. I cried...a lot.

Aren't husband's amazing?

Friday, April 24, 2009

Easter Sunday in Utah!

So when we think of Easter we usually think of a beautiful Sunday morning complete with sunshine and warm weather. However, apparently things are different in Utah because this is was happened a couple days before Easter: Thankfully by the time Easter morning rolled around the sun was out and the snow had melted!
As tradition in both of our families, Easter morning pictures are a must! Here are some of our photos from our Easter morning Photo shoot!

Before we set up our tri-pod we had to take our oh so traditional pictures of ourselves. As you can see, it took a little while until we got a good one!
After our photo shoot, we got a visit from the Easter Bunny! Unfortunately we left our Easter Baskets back in Arizona but the Easter Bunny still found our house! We were very surprised to see that our Easter presents came in the form of fruit this year:
We must say that nothing says Happy Easter like getting matching Blackberry's! (get it...fruit...blackberry's? well...we thought it was funny!)

Spring Break '09 at the Happiest Place on Earth!!

We had the opportunity to go to Disneyland for Spring Break this year and man did we have a blast! We got to go with Alan's Dad, Corwin, Alan's step-mom, Paula, Alan's Uncle Brent, Alan's Aunt Sharon, and some of our cousins! This was our first time to go to Disneyland together and we loved it! Ellen had never been to California Adventure before so getting to go was such a treat for her! Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure!
This was a really cool painting that was at the hotel that we stayed at. Disneyland + Music = Happy Ellen! :)
This is Alan at breakfast the first day we were there. He was so excited to be going to Disneyland that he had to wear his Mickey ears all the time. He wore them on the plane from SLC to LB and he wore them alllllll day long the first day we were there! He's such a cutie! :)
After many months of school, tests, work and church callings, you have no idea how happy we were to see that sign!!
It was soooo nice to be in the Happiest Place on Earth in our matching blue polo shirts! :)
Even though we weren't on our Honeymoon, we couldn't pass up on getting the Bride and Groom Mickey Mouse hats!
Honey I Shrunk The Audience!!
We had such a fun time with Corwin and Paula!
Here's Alan with two of his favorite ladies!
After hitting all of the big rides alllll day long, we decided to take a break and ride the Winnie The Pooh ride! It was super cute!
After our little break on Winnie The Pooh, we got to ride Ellen's favorite ride - Indiana Jones!
Our trip to Disneyland would not have been complete without watching the firework show while wearing our Mickey Mouse Ears! Don't we look cute?
Day two started off with an awesome ride on the Matterhorn!
We couldn't pass up our Disneyland vacation without going on It's A Small World!
Here we are in front of the castle!
And we couldn't pass up on getting our picture taken outside the opening gates to the Disneyland park - that's a must!
Before we knew it we were off to California Adventure! Here's Alan by the big "A"!
While we were on our little adventure in California Adventure Alan got to met FloZone from The Incredibles! As you can see, Alan was born to be a superhero!
After a long day full of adventure, we headed to dinner at the Blue Bayou restaurant that is inside the ride Pirates of the Caribbean! As you can see, Alan was a happy boy as he got to enjoy his "Surf and Turf"! Ellen, on the other hand, was a bit upset that the Monte Cristco Sandwich was not on the Dinner menu! Oh well...just means we'll have to go for lunch the next time we are there!
We had a wonderful time in Disneyland and we loved being able to spend time with our family! Here's the last picture from our trip of Alan with two of our cousins, Kris and Evan!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Valentine's Day - 2009!

When we started dating, we decided that when it came to Valentine's Day that we would switch off planning what we did so that we could always surprise each other! It has worked out very well so far and this Valentine's Day was no different!

This was Ellen's year to plan and she decided to set up a picnic in their living room!

Now, not only was it Ellen's job to plan the activity for the evening - she also had to cook. So, she called the Applebee's Car Side To Go and had a great dinner prepared for Alan and herself!

Alan got home from work and was very surprised by what Ellen had done! Then we decided to exchange gifts!
Alan with his Simpson's Valentine Day Card from Ellen!
Ellen with the beautiful card that Alan gave her! It plays their song "Because You Loved Me" This is the song that they danced to on their first date, the song Alan played when he proposed to Ellen, and the song that they danced to at their wedding! Needless to say, as soon as Ellen opened the card and heard the music - she was in tears!!
Alan was very surprised to get the Kung Fu Panda game that he has wanted forever! He loves playing this on our Wii (thanks to Mamaw and Papa for that great Christmas gift!)
Ellen also got Alan a very cool Chuck Norris shirt! Alan and his oldest brother Mark LOVE Chuck Norris jokes - we're sure that Mark will get a kick out of this shirt when he sees it! :)

Now these of kind of hard to see, but Alan surprised Ellen with some brand new earrings which she loves!!
Along with beautiful earrings, Alan bought Ellen two of her favorite Disney movies!
This was a great Valentine's Day and we look forward to many more wonderful Valentine's Days together!

Alan's 24th Birthday!

Okay so remember in late December/early January where we made a post about posting more often? Well...sorry! As you can tell we are a bit behind with our blogging as Alan's 24th Birthday was on January 20th!! Oh well...! Alan celebrated his 24th birthday on January 20th! Growing up, Alan's family didn't really go all out for Birthday's (unlike Ellen's family who spoils people like crazy on their birthdays - no complaining there!). So...Ellen decided to make this the best 24th Birthday that Alan will ever have (mainly because you only turn 24 once...hopefully...!) On the evening of January 20th, Ellen surprised Alan with a very romantic birthday dinner! She had all of his favorites - salad, rolls, chicken cordon bleu, and green bean casserole! Instead of a cake, Ellen surprised Alan with some birthday cupcakes instead! Here's the birthday boy himself and his romantic dinner made by his awesome wife!! Here's Alan's special birthday cupcakes!! :) He loves all sports (soccer is his favorite) and he loved his football cupcakes!!

After a lovely Birthday evening at home, Alan thought that his Birthday festivities were complete...but he was very wrong!

On January 24th, in the middle of the afternoon there was a knock at the door. Who could it be? Why it was Alan's best friend Nathan who came down from Logan for the weekend! Alan was blown away! He was able to spend some great "guy" time with Nathan to which he was very thankful for!

On the evening of that same day, Ellen told Alan that she had made reservations at one of Alan's favorite restaurants Good Wood BBQ in Orem, Utah for Alan, Nathan and herself. But little did Alan know that Ellen had contacted several of Alan's friends and cousins to join in on the festivities! Alan was totally surprised and had a great birthday party! Here are some pictures of the special event!!

Here's the birthday boy with his special birthday treat! :)

Alan and his best bud Nathan who came down from Logan, UT for Alan's special birthday weekend! Alan and Nathan were missionary companions in Seattle, WA where they served!

All of our friends and family at Alan's surprise party!

Alan and Ellen with our cousins Sarah, Andy, and their son Parker!

Alan with our cousin Lisa and her husband Sam! We love them!

Alan with our good friends Eric and Jodi Eames! Eric and Jodi were the first friends that we made when we moved into our ward in Orem, UT! They are so much fun and we love spending time with them! :)

Ellen and Alan with our cousin Elizabeth and her friend! We were so happy that they came to celebrate with us!

Alan with our friends Trevor and Sarah! We love getting together and playing games with these two! Unfortunately, they just moved out of our ward! :(

Alan had such a great Birthday and can't thank Ellen enough for throwing him such a great party! :)

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Johnson Family Pictures

As you all know, we took a trip down to Phoenix for Christmas! While we were there, we had pictures taken with Alan's family! We thought we'd share these with you (since they are amazing...and because we are all incredibly good looking!!).