mostly for our californian friends

okay, so i know that neither of us are the type to go too political on anyone, but this is something we feel strongly about, so we gotta say it...

Californians...VOTE YES ON PROP 8!!!

here's the thing. we love all people, and don't want to deny anyone their rights. but the people we want to protect most are our children. when it comes down to it, that is the most important thing we can do, right? no success can ever compensate for failure in the home...you know, heal the world, make it a better place...(did i just throw out MJ?) anyway, i don't know how many have heard this story, so i'm gonna post it here so none of our friends can claim that they didn't know. choose to take it for whatever you want.

so, there's this book out called King & King...long story short, it is a children's book about a prince who is supposed to marry and can't find a princess...yeah, he falls in love with another prince and they "live happily ever after." anyway, so apparently a teacher out in massachusetts (where homosexual marriage is legal) thought it would be a grand idea to read this story to her 2nd grade class...without pre-warning the parents or anything. parents found out and went nuts. the superintendent completely backed the teacher and said that the she had done nothing wrong. the judge dismissed the lawsuit, saying, "diversity is a hallmark of our nation."

apparently last year the same school started something else by giving kindergarten students a "diversity book bag." in that bag, a book called "who's in a family," which challenged the definition of a family in pictures and descriptions.

now don't get me wrong...we're all for diversity and people having choices, but when those choices compromise what we teach in our home and we're not even given the choice to protect our kids...and i'm talking as early as kindergarten...how is this a "protection" of rights?

there's story after story of the ramifications of legalized homosexual marriage including the pressure on churches to support adoption into gay couples. which is fine for churches who are okay with that, but when the state starts telling churches what they can and can't do...doesn't that violate some other rights?

okay, one more quick story...a few weeks ago we heard a story about a high school teacher down here who stood up in front of her class and said "i just received a memo from the district telling me that i'm no longer allowed to use the terms mother and father or husband and wife in my classroom. so neither are you." yeah. that's so not okay with me. apparently diversity means i'm in the wrong?

i just recently realized that not a lot of people even know that prop 8 is gonna be on the ballot in CA this november - or even what it is. even fewer see that the ramifications go WAY beyond allowing the union of two people who love eachother. so, do what you want with what you know, but we just wanted to make sure that you knew. :)

here are some refences...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/King_&_King

http://www.bpnews.net/bpnews.asp?ID=23077

http://books.google.com/books?id=cRN5NGTmzdYC&dq=the+king+and+the+king&source=gbs_summary_s&cad=0

http://www.protectmarriage.com/

the gemmeLLs!

on 8/8/08...our good friends keith and shannon got married. it was so fantastical to spend such a wonderful day with them. we are super happy for them and so glad they made it. :) the temple ceremony was amazing and the reception was beautiful. they were both so happy all day and it was wonderful to get to see them so in love! congrats to them both!!! here are a few pictures.

i'm also posting some pictures from shannon's shower...just cuz she's super cute. we did a question game where we asked shannon and keith the same questions and recorded his response. i think she missed like 1 question out of all of them! we were all way impressed. and she was just so excited to marry him. it made me happy.

lots more summer fun

okay, last week we accomplished one of my biggest goals in life. i have asked EVERYONE if they know how and no one can ever remember. i always see it done in movies, but never heard of anyone accomplishing it in real life...so this is one i doubt many have done...here goes...we played backgammon. i know, i know. took us FOREVER to figure out the rules, turns out it is WAY simple. but gotta love game night. :) haha. and yes, as usual, dave kicked my trash. i learned when we were dating that he will always keep my pride in check by winning at every game we play.

okay, so while i'm at it...here are a few other highlights from the past week or so. i've been crazy busy studying for the GRE and helping get ready for Shannon and Keith's wedding this week so sorry not to post for a while. we're having so much fun and keeping busy and loving this summer together. :)

On game night, we also decided to play Jenga. We nerds got it up to like 36 levels. yeah. this is what we do on friday nights. :)

i kept recording him every time he took a turn thinking he was gonna knock it down...only to find that i, yet again, would be the loser. wretched. those dang killpack hands of mine!

last sunday we went up to fallbrook to have lunch with dave's family and had so much fun. their house is almost done so we barbequed out by the waterfall. we were all just hanging out afterward and Ryann decided to start walking. she was having so much fun walking around in a triangle and letting everyone catch her. so fun we could be there to see it. here's a video...

so cute!!!

we also got to take Jordy to the padres game and then she came and spent the night at our house. we had SO much fun. we made breakfast and ditched work and went shopping and out to lunch. we want her to come over all the time!

Jordy playing with my camera...such a heimback!


awww. i just love my husband.