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.  :(

     

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. 

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.

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!