Playing Catch Up

Wow! Is it already June? Ok, time to get caught up. Let's see how long it takes me. :)

APRIL

Spring Break

During spring break, Nick and Greg went to the Boy Scout national high adventure "Sea Base" in the Florida Keys with the intent of becoming scuba certified. After passing the PADI swim test (200 yard swim, 10 minute float), they spent the first several days in the classroom, watching training videos and taking quizzes. They both did very well on the quizzes and final test. They then received their scuba gear and headed to the pool for the first of five confined water dives. They worked in both the 4 ft pool and the 10 ft pool learning and mastering a variety of skills required for safe scuba diving. These skills included removing, replacing and clearing your mask, low and out-of-air situations, neutral buoyancy, etc. The 4 open water dives followed. Each of the skills learned in the pool had to be demonstrated in the ocean also. Greg was sick of removing his mask in salt water by the time he got certified. Even though he could do it, the residual salt stung his eyes. The craziest skill they had to do was called a CESA (Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent), pronounced “seesa”. A CESA is performed when (heaven forbid) you run out of air and your buddy isn’t close enough to share. You take your last breath of air and slowly swim to the surface making an “ahhhh” sound the whole way up. As you go up, the remaining air in your lungs expands so that you don’t run out on the way up. They both got certified and can go down as far as 60 ft. the deepest dive they did was 50 ft. They were able to see a nurse shark, several eels, many lion fish, and many, many, many other less dangerous but beautiful creatures.

Here is a glimpse of their adventure.

While Nick and Greg were at Sea Base, Megan, Michael, and Lauralee had their own adventures. Well, maybe not Michael. He worked everyday earning the big bucks.

Megan and Lauralee took off on a mini vacation with Genevieve Nelson and her 4 children. They went to the Great Wolf Lodge in North Carolina for 2 days. The Great Wolf Lodge is a resort with an indoor water park. It was a blast!

Megan's 13th Birthday

Also during spring break, Megan turned 13! She celebrated for 2 days straight! She started the day making jewelry with the help of a lady in the ward. She made a watch band, a necklace, and a pair of earrings. She enjoyed eating sushi for lunch. After lunch, Megan and mom spent an afternoon at the salon getting pedicures and manicures. That night, Michael joined them at Genghis Grill for dinner. Megan enjoyed opening presents and eating angel food cake with strawberries that evening. The next day, Megan and Lauralee spent the afternoon at Six Flags. They were there for 6 hours and made it on 5 rides. The lines were long, but the weather was cool – thus, making the lines bearable. What a fun birthday!

Atlanta Temple Cultural Celebration

The much anticipated Atlanta Temple Youth Cultural Celebration finally happened on April 30th, the day before the temple dedication. It was a tremendous experience for leaders and youth alike. Nick and Megan participated in the choir and were literally taught at the prophet’s feet. Michael enjoyed practicing with the choir as he helped the tenors. The hard work by both the choir and the dancers were evident in the performances. Many, many hours of preparation went into a VERY short time period before this event. Greg and Lauralee thoroughly enjoyed helping the youth in our stake prepare for this event. It was sad when it was all over.