This summer...

This summer has been BEAUTIFUL! I haven't had school, so it's just been work and FREE TIME! What a weird concept! Here are some things we've done:

We had our family reunion!

With such a big family, it just HAS to be fun!

Tahoe for Fourth of July!

Tried to get a cool pic with my new camera...this is the best I got! Lol. Still need more practice!

But we got a cool creepy shot by using long shutter!

And this was my favorite! It was a boat going by

Then Jr and I went camping up at Loon Lake for our 5th year engagement anniversary!

What a stud!

Then we went to John's Incredible Pizza for my sister-in-laws great nephews birthday (really, he's my nephew too! ;) )

He rode that silly frog about a billion times and LOVED IT!

Megan showing her Indian blood through gambling ;)

Keith making a goal. "OHHHH! WHAT NOW?!"

Partying it up!

 Then, one of my favorite parts this summer! Going up to Klamath for Deans birthday!

We went hiking and found out that these are wood sorrels and they are edible. They taste like green apple. Yum!

Mom and Justin

Me and Dean. I love my brother!

Can you tell she loves her uncle?

 

And this captures Dean. ;)

Then we went to the restaurant Dean works at for a fancy 3 course meal. It was an adventure for sure! Those are shrimp..

Which Drew and Megan bravely tried!

This was the scariest to try. Seafood stew....there were fish heads in there. It wasn't too bad though.

This was my favorite! Kobe beef, squash, salmon (not my favorite but okay) and potatoes!

We found this wild fruit thing and Dean tasted it and decided it was "the most bitterest thing I've ever eaten!!"

We climbed up a big rock on the beach! Look at those muscles!

First Dustin, Drew and I made it....

And then Megan and Cassidy joined us!

Silly Megan. She was afraid to try the shrimp but would eat a washed up seal? (Sorry for the graphicness!)

Jr found he and I in rock form! He was so excited!

And then he found our future child ;)

On the way home, Jr said our mission was to find elk. We did not 15 minutes into the drive!

Dad left a little early so he could bike the 400 miles home. WOW! We ran into him on the way home and talked to him. Megan laughed and said we probably looked like tourists who have just seen a biker for the first time.

 THEN... I went to the State Fair for the first time with my coworkers! What fun! Thank you Lori!

They're so cool! Like mother, like son!

Add caption

I put a spell on you and now you're mine!

I got state fair pins to commemorate this trip!

On the monorail....we may have thrown raisins off of it...

Caution: Read with an open mind only!

I've been thinking a lot about the whole controversy that's been brewing with LGBT rights. In general, I'm a very trusting and accepting (some call it naive) person and I have many friends that are LGBT. However, being Mormon, I also believe in traditional families. I've always been extremely hesitant to talk about my views regarding this, because in all honesty, I have foot in mouth syndrome (as most of you know :) ) and I've been terrified of coming across as judgmental, etc.
This being said, I've run across this video and blog that have really opened my eyes. They are from the perspective of LGBT Mormons. Now, the biggest supporters of LGBT rights are generally LGBT's themselves, whereas on the flip side, it seems that Christians are the dominating group. I love hearing the perspective of these people, because being a member of both groups that can truly understand both sides and give a loving, open perspective, one that I want to emulate.
If you feel the need to comment, PLEASE please be respectful, and I will do my best to give you the same courtesy. Without further adieu, here they are:

The Blog:
http://www.joshweed.com/2012/06/club-unicorn-in-which-i-come-out-of.html

The Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Ym0jXg-hKCI
(Thank you Bethany!)