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Oh....my Christmas list is frightful....

Mon, 1 Dec 2008 07:08:47 -0800

Our Christmas tree is up and all the decorations (we really don’t have much decorations since I have been restricted to one large container for Christmas stuff). Lights have been put up and it looks like we’re very ready for Christmas.

Last night, Mika was so excited for Christmas and he said, “ I can’t believe tomorrow is already the 1st day of Christmas.” It was really cute.

And the holidays begin....

Sat, 8 Nov 2008 16:45:24 -0800

I can’t believe it’s November already. October was a blur and now that Halloween has passed, I know it’s warp speed to Christmas. I haven’t even started thinking about Christmas.

Work has been really busy. Late nights and some weekends. And of course we were taken hostage by Soccer for the past few months. But Mika and Mia both did really well and next year should prove to be really fun as they both move up in the leagues.

October was also filled with our support of Proposition 8. We knocked on doors, hung signs, handed out flyers, and made many phone calls. And now before any of you non-supporters start firing off hate mail, let me please explain my point of view. You may not agree with me, but maybe you can see where I’m coming from.

....It’s actually 3-days later and I’m still having a hard time putting my thoughts into words. If any of you know me...I’m not usually at a loss for words, but the words for this are very important because I don’t want to offend friends, family, nor my God. So I’ve been searching...and Elder Oaks, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of my church has said it the way I want to. Here it is...

“This is much bigger than just a question of whether or not society should be more tolerant of the homosexual lifestyle. Over past years we have seen unrelenting pressure from advocates of that lifestyle to accept as normal what is not normal, and to characterize those who disagree as narrow-minded, bigoted and unreasonable.

Such advocates are quick to demand freedom of speech and thought for themselves, but equally quick to criticize those with a different view and, if possible, to silence them by applying labels like “homophobic.” In at least one country where homosexual activists have won major concessions, we have even seen a church pastor threatened with prison for preaching from the pulpit that homosexual behavior is sinful. Given these trends, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints must take a stand on doctrine and principle. This is more than a social issue — ultimately it may be a test of our most basic religious freedoms to teach what we know our Father in Heaven wants us to teach.”

Hopefully, anyone who really knows me, knows that I mean to post this in a spirit of understand and not judgement.

Now, let’s get to the pictures for this month....

A Crazy September

Mon, 29 Sep 2008 10:31:15 -0700

Some of you may know that I went to China this month for work. We had to film the Schizandra berry harvest which only happens two weeks out of the year...so off I went to China with a video crew and my boss. Our employees from the China office took us around and were so very hospitable and awesome. I’ll give more China commentary when i get to the pictures, but suffice it to say that i thought it was beautiful. The cities were clean and HUGE and all the people were very nice. I learned a few phrases and was told I had a great Chinese accent...which isn’t hard to do when you only really know 5 phrases....you can really practice those.

Then I was off to Utah for Stan’s sister’s wedding. Poor Stan had to drive to Utah (11 hours) by himself with the kids. It was a beautiful and simple wedding and the kids had fun with their cousins. I saw Kyle and Sean and their families as well. We also saw a few friends from our old neighborhood in Orem. And now I’m back and back to work, working really hard as we are launching a new company.

I’m also a tad bit addicted to Facebook. I’ve reconnected with so many friends from so long ago...it’s really fun. Most of us look pretty much the same as we did in elementary/junior high/high school, but we are just OLDER! And we have little ones that are the same age as we were when we met. It’s crazy, but I like it.

Okay, okay...here are some pictures.

Summer Is Fading Away!

Mon, 25 Aug 2008 00:20:44 -0700

I’ve had three friends tell me that my blog is outdated. I realize that! But I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to even download my pictures let alone blog. So this should make you all happy. Here are some of the highlights from summer. It’s been a busy one for me, because work is really hectic. But we’ve had fun, fallen in love with the beach again and played.

The kids started school on the 14th of August and things are back to a schedule. I think the most exciting thing is that we went to Wicked last night (but no pictures). It was awesome. And I have a trip to China in a couple weeks and I’ll be sure to post about that.

Noble Family Reunion 2008

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 08:36:59 -0700

This year, Stephanie and Michelle did an awesome job planning the family reunion. We were in neighboring beach houses at seaside Oregon and the cousins just loved being together. We don’t really miss Utah, but we do miss family and so it was nice to get together.

Just so you know, choosing a few pictures to represent the 587 we have is really a difficult task. So, here they are:

Happy Birthday to Me!!!

Tue, 24 Jun 2008 23:30:34 -0700

For my birthday, I have revamped our website. Since blogging is so popular, I wanted to be able to keep up with my friends and I couldn’t do that unless I could find an easier way. So, I rebuilt our website and now instead of having to import the pictures, I will just create an album and drop the pictures there. So for this page, please go to June 2008 album. You can get there by click here or clicking on my albums at the top of the page.

I had a fun birthday (june 16th for all of you who forgot...and i know who you are). At work, we went to lunch, I had 2 cakes and my co-workers/friends were very nice. When I came home, we headed out to a church activity (FHE in the park) where kind friends brought a lot of cupcakes to celebrate the couple of birthdays that day.

I was really touched. These women at church don’t know me that well (and maybe when they get to know me there will be NO cupcakes next year) yet they treated me like I was one of the bunch. I felt truly blessed to have great friends at work and at home. I felt blessed to feel a part of the neighborhood (ward) and am excited about the opportunity to create even stronger friendships.

Man...where did all that mushiness come from. I’m supposed to have a jolly, fun blog. Oh well, if you keep asking for more...this is what you’ll get....virtual noreen on the verge of virtual tears.
 This is a picture of the 3-d pop-up cards my kids made (even cute ayla) and the cookie pie they made for my birthday. Present from Stan is still pending....but that’s another story for another entry.