Monday, June 30, 2008

Family Cruise June '08

Yo ho. Yo ho. A PIRATES LIFE FOR ME!
So we got bored during the whole emergency drill
spiel.  It's not like we were learning anything of 
importance... just how to preserve our lives.
Here we are relaxing by the pool...
Greg surprised me by having a 
scrumptious VIRGIN daiquiri brought to me... 
no alcohol for this mormon 
(& prego) MAMA!

MAKING FUN IN THE SUN!!!

Greg, our nephew Landon, and 1/2 of me!
Don't be jealous of our sweet LANYARDS, okay?
I laughed so hard I almost did what
he was pretending to do with
the streamers and hydrant.  
NEVER A DULL MOMENT
with GREG AROUND.  Love it.

My foiled attempt at making you smile...
at least Greg thinks I'm funny.  Geese.

    Greg and I enjoying the industrial view of
     Long Beach... or not.  We were actually having
     one of our many Haven-missing-moments.  :(
     

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Our Dolphin Adventure

This seriously makes TOP 5 COOLEST EXPERIENCES
of my life thus far.
Pretty AMAZING...
"What if I get stuck with the Jeffrey Dahmer of 
dolfins and he drags me under?  Pretty embarrassing
to be at the gates and I have to say, 'Flipper killed me'."
-Greg
Oh yeah... we were haulin'... on dolphins...
WE HAD SOOOOOOO....
MUCH FUN!!!

Keep Cruisin'...

Handsome Updike boys... trying to be tough.
Apparently they wanted to be like Hercules
or whoever that is behind them, (one week
of Disney indoctrination and I'm still not sure.)
"Brotherly Love" 
- Does anyone else remember that show? Ha!
My hot husband... LOVE HIM!
THE LUCKIEST
There was a VERY DETAILED crucifix  
when you first walked in the cathedral, and our 
nieces were too scared to go in because they
said they "didn't like to see Jesus like that."
I just love to hear the way they view things.
Once we got over the scene in the entrance, 
we were able to enjoy the beautiful architecture, 
and some sweet stained glass windows...
Some GORGEOUS cathedral.
Here's Lexi, Gracey (& her cute little wave), and I
Here we are with our ship: The Disney Magic.  
Our cute family...
(minus the babies who stayed home)
We all had so much fun. 

Saturday, June 28, 2008

Stake Youth Conference

...and the SELF-PROCLAIMED 
"Coolest Counselors EVER" Award goes to....
US!!!
Here's me & Lori trying to make the 
army-man-girdle/rappel gear look cool.
Mission: Rappelling off of a platform
Minor Details: - 50 feet off of the GROUND!  
Yeah... FIFTY FEET.  Above the ground.
-I did the free fall first... oooohman.  I was "scurred."
-Some army man sargent's yelling at you to "just do it"... not cool.
(Last I checked it wasn't Nike camp... it was a youth retreat at an army base P.S.)
- The person belaying pretty much has your life in their hands.
-I mustered up enough courage assuming it's some pro army dude
below who does this 80 trillion times a day... wrong.
-Take a wild guess as to who my belayer was...
you'll see in the next picture...
FREAKY FRIDAY!!!  
IT WAS BISHOP WILKINS...
it was a true leap of faith, I'm not gunna' lie.
(And here I am to tell the tale, so he wasn't half bad. :)
Still though... it was super scary.
Here I am on the wall... "like whoa"... 
but still nothing compared to the free fall one, I thought.
Greg would've been so proud... 
EEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeWWWWWWWwwww!
Lori and I couldn't stop laughing when we had seen
she'd taken this picture without us knowing!  
Not the most flattering attire... but whatev'! 
It kept us from falling 50 feet while repelling!
Yes... Nacho Libre paid us a visit.  
Hilarious.
Here's me and Linds about to take a dip...
thanks to Lindsey packing an extra pair of 
her man's shorts, I was able to swim.  
(Everyone was asked to wear shorts and shirts over
their bathing suits, and the clothes I brought were being 
put to better use and were being loaned elsewhere... )
so here we are in all OF OUR JUMPING GLORY!!!
I was really worried about Havers relapsing into 
the same separation anxiety she had a couple weeks 
earlier (from when we went on the cruise... 
she was NOT a fun girl to come back to) so I asked Greg 
to bring her for a few minutes during the pool party
so I could munch on Her.  Here she is trying
to walk in my shoes.  It was a funny sight.
Here's Marshelle and the most talented little
girl ever playing their violins.  It was beautiful.
There were so many great speakers... as for this one:
He had 4 golf balls.  In his mouth.  At the same time.  
I'm still not sure whether to be disgusted or amazed.

Friday, June 27, 2008

G.M.G. PHOTOS

We pretty much "Patriotified" the boring Barracks...
Our group was called G.M.G. 
our acronym for Gideon's Mighty Gangstas!
(A whole lot of thought went into 
our name & in case you couldn't tell, we combined
two scriptural references into it as well.  
We're pretty much awesome.) :)
We learned a lot about team building...
and group effort.
Bro. Rutledge pretty much made it possible for
us accomplish this task.  We were swinging a shoe from
a rope before he came, remember? :)
Russ definitely showed his true colors that day...
we all got to see his leadership skills emerge.
Us G.M.G.  G.I.R.L.S before hittin' the rappel tower.
King of the... obstacle.
Jazmyn was our very own Jordin Sparks... LOVE HER!
Adam took a little spill...
Team work... there's the canister before it submarined.
Greg was either stretching out his back or trying to 
retain his cool composure while getting the biggest
ab workout of his life.  That looks like it hurts!
Right before the canister torpedoed...
SPLASH!!!
I believe their thoughts were... 
"Let's just carry on like it didn't happen.
  Now where were we?  How are we gunna' get this across?"
  As Jazmyn looks as cute as ever while the boys sweat it out.
That was some TOUGH STUFF.
We had the sweetest ride on the base...
That big white bus...

with the music turned up so loud that
the speakers were distorting...
It was so hot...
The people who fell in were probably glad
they got wet with how hot it turned out to be that day.
SILLY BOYS!

In case you EVER have the desire to reminisce about 
our Group Songs...here they are:

GIDEON'S MIGHT GANGSTAS
(To the tune of Ice Ice Baby by Vanilla Ice)

Dum Dum Da Dum Dum
Da Dum Da Da Dum Da Da Dum Dum

Alright stop, collaborate, and listen
Gideon's back with a brand new edition
The Spirit grabs ahold of us tightly
Pray non-stop daily & nightly
will we ever stop? - HECK NO!!!
Turn off the lights, & we'll glow

(skip to chorus)

Gideon's Mighty Gangstas 
Dum Dum Da Da Dum Da Da Dum Dum
Gideon's Mighty Gangstas
Dum Dum Da Da Dum Da Da Dum Dum

Boys:Gideon's Mighty Gangstas
Girls:Too hot, too hot.
Boys:Gideon's Mighty Gangstas
Girls:Too hot, too hot.
__________________________________
GANGSTA'S PARADISE
(to the tune of Coolio's more "ghetto" version :)

As we walk through Camp Williams
Without a shadow of doubt
the Gospel is true,
'cause we know what it's about

And it's just perfect for youth like us
'cause it gives us direction
& you know we don't cuss (foo')

At 7:30 in the mornin' we're talkin' to Him
Book of Mormon's in our hands
and we've got no taste for sin

(skip to chorus)

We've been spendin' Camp Williams' life
Livin' in Gideon's Gangsta's paradise
We have devotionals every night
'cause we want Celestial Paradise
(repeat)

Aaaaah, Aaaah, Aaaaaaah, Aaaaaaah, Aaaaaaah
(Repeat)

Thanks for being
"SUPA' GANGSTA!!!"
with us!  Keep in touch!