Longest Post Ever

I was going to title this post "Ode to Disneyland," but when I went through the pictures from our trip, I decided to change the title because I have tons of pictures that I want to post! As such, I think this may be my longest post ever.

This last week, Tyler, David, Denise, and I went to Disneyland for a fun summer vacation. We were able to go to Disneyland, California Adventure, Six Flags: Magic Mountain, and the beach all in four short days. Unfortunately I don't have pictures from Magic Mountain (Tyler had the camera with him, and he took it with him on the rides), but I have plenty from the rest of the trip to show. Here they are, in as best chronological order I could muster:

High speed? I beg to differ, but the ride sure is fun nonetheless!

Billy Hill and the Hillbillies in Frontierland. In this shot, they're playing their individual instruments, in addition to the instrument to their...left. Can you see it? Pretty cool!

Some of the recent additions to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride:
1) Captain Barbosa (spelled incorrectly, I know)
2) Captain Jack Sparrow
Mickey 2008 graduation cap for the recent graduate:

Tyler? Or Indian Jones?

Our boat died in the middle of our Jungle Cruise. No joke! This is the rescue boat that came to save us. Because the ride broke down while we were on it, we were given a FastPass to any ride we wanted! We used it (wisely) on Splash Mountain.

Tink.

Mickey.

Self-portrait with the hotel we stayed in.

I'm a chicken. I refused to go on this ride with Tyler and David. It's similar to Drop Zone, if any of you are familiar with that ride. It gives me the hebbie-gebbies just thinking about it...

...instead, I went on the "kiddie" version with Denise. If you're wondering, those are supposed to be jellyfish.

Entrance to the rafting ride. We can't remember the name of it right now. Oops, I think it says on the picture. :)

It's tough being a bug. (Still wet from the rafting ride.)

Self-explanatory, I would think. Good thing I'm looking at the camera.

At the beach! It was cold; we didn't go until about 7 in the evening.

Looking for shells.

I took this picture for my mom. She grew up in Huntington Beach, although I later found out that she lived rather north of where these pictures were taken.

Yay, all done!

:)

He's Back!

My brother, Kevin, got home from his mission yesterday, so all of my family in Utah went up to greet him at the airport. We then went back to my parent's house for brunch and visiting. It's weird that Kevin's home - it seems like he never left, even though the two years he was gone seemed long!

Here are some pictures Karen took yesterday.

Waiting around for Kevin's flight to get in (it was twenty minutes late). His flight started in Jacksonville, Florida, went to Cincinnati, Ohio, and then came to SLC. He had to get up at like 1:00 in the morning Florida time to make it home!

More waiting: Nate, Tyler, and Matt. Sorry that your eyes are closed, Tyler.

Here he comes! He's the one on the left with his hand on the rail.

Picture with mom. (I don't know what they are looking at. Maybe Karen was slow taking the picture.) :P

Picture with dad.

The family all together again...this time with the addition of Tyler! :)

Crazy!

Is anyone else surprised by the American Idol results?

Just for Miri

The subject of this post is somewhat old, but in honor of Miri, I'm posting something new. It has been a long time since I posted, so it was about time anyway.

On Saturday, May 10, Tyler and I and much of his family participated in the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure 5k to celebrate Nancy, Tyler's mom's friend, who is currently going through breast cancer treatments. (I should also give a shout-out to my grandma and aunt who are breast cancer survivors!!) Although the race was a little earlier than I would have preferred (I'm not a morning person and we had to get up at 5:45 to meet everyone and get to the race on time), the race was great and I'm really glad I participated in it. My goal was to run the 3.1 miles in less than 30 minutes, and I did it! My official time was 29:30. Not bad - not fast, but not bad for my very first 5k ever. Jessica and Aubrey at work were telling me that there's a 5k in Orem this July, so I might run it to see if I can't improve upon my previous time.

Here are some pictures from that Saturday (and I apologize because I know many of you have already seen them).

The Jeffs.

I had a picture of my stopwatch taken to prove that I did indeed run the 5k in under 30 minutes.

Us at the beginning of the race. There were so many people that I didn't cross the starting line (the balloon arch in the distance) until 1:30 after the gun had gone off.

The runners! And, by the way, our shirts read, "Big or small, let's save them all!"

Us with Nancy.

This race is for such a great cause that I think I might make it a tradition to run it every year!

Day at the Dunes

On Saturday, Tyler and I and a group of our friends went to the Little Sahara sand dunes. Here are some pictures from the event.

Some of the kids there with their families decided to join our guys in jumping off the sand dunes.

Me, attempting a "cool" jump.

I laid on the grown and Tyler jumped over me for this priceless shot.

Me giving it a go on the snowboard. I was actually standing at one point down the hill, but unfortunately that miracle wasn't captured on film (or rather...in pixel).

Trevor on his way up for a spinning move.

Trevor and Tyler going for the ankle/foot grab.

I look like the karate kid. Tyler especially enjoys my pointed toe.

It's not an official day at the dunes without a cannonball jump.

I was kind of chicken when I jumped. I never went very far.

"Full extension" jump.

Trevor and Tyler on one of their first runs.

Aside from the wind, our trip to Little Sahara was really fun!

Graduation: Part II

These pictures are from the second day of graduation, at the Marriott School of Management's convocation. This graduation was looooong. Between the undergrads and the grads, there were over 1000 students graduating. The Marriott School is the second or third highest graduating college at BYU, as you can see by the number of students graduating. I wouldn't have enjoyed sitting at the longest graduation!

Every graduate has to take picture with the BYU signs. :)

This is where I spent two and a half years of my college career.

The procession.

Getting my diploma!

After getting my diploma. I was walking back to my seat when I heard someone yell "Christine!" I turned to see who it was, and lo and behold, there was Tyler, taking my picture.

I wish I had pictures from my graduation BBQ, but I don't. I'll have to get them from my mom so that I can post them here. Yay for being graduated!

Graduation: Part I

It's about time that I post something new. Good thing I have something worth posting and celebrating! Yesterday I participated in Brigham Young University's 133rd Commencement. Elder Bednar was the main speaker. Here are some pictures from yesterday. I'll post more later from today.

Here's the ol' gown.

The program for the 133rd commencement. I'm on page 64 and 74!!

My mom tried to take a picture of me with "Y" mountain behind me, but it didn't work very well. I suggested we take a picture with Portal Y in the Marriott Center. I also decided that I'd pose as a Y, too. Classic.

Tyler and me with the Spanish flag, of course.

Me and Tiff waiting for the procession to start. It was FREEZING outside. In fact, it was snowing at one point.

We were happy when the procession finally started. Here's Brother Samuelson and Elder Bednar walking at the front. If you look really carefully, you can see the front of Elder Bednar's face behind Brother Samuelson's. Maybe click on the picture to make it bigger.

A picture of the pretty Y flower arrangement (from my seat in the Marriott Center).

Brother Samuelson.

Elder Bednar.

The ceremony was great. I'm looking forward to the Marriott School of Management convocation this afternoon!