What in the Wide, Wide, World of Sports is Greg doing now??

Our friend Josh, has been involved in Off Roading for a long time and I knew it was just a matter of time before he sucked Greg into this crazy world. This past weekend Greg, Josh and Josh's brothers, Chris & Randy went to Box Canyon for some off roading. Box Canyon is outside of Florence, AZ and is a narrow, steep-walled canyon that trails for miles and miles. I pulled the picture above from the internet that shows the narrow 'canyon' you drive through. Greg said, at times there is only a matter of inches between the rock and your vehicle. While he's telling me this, the words "Car repairs" is passing through my mind.

Much to my dismay, Greg came back-GLOWING because he had so much FUN. Question - When will I get used to these dare devil hobbies of Greg's? It's been 9 1/2 years of marriage and I still have all kinds of discomfort and angst when Greg heads out the door to these wild man activities of his.

Here are pictures from Greg's day at Box Canyon, in his 2007 'stock' Toyota Tacoma. Mind you, 'stock' won't be a descriptor of Greg's truck for long after this weekend escapade. Josh has no idea how much this little adventure has cost us!






Greg described Josh's 2005 Jeep Rubicon as 'CRAZY'.






At times, the passengers have to get out and 'direct' the driver on what to do as they manuever the terrain.


In this picture Greg's truck is not even an inch from the rock surface, he's crossing over. Again the words "CAR REPAIRS!" is screaming through my mind as he proudly shows me this.


Greg then shows me a picture of Josh tearing down a hill with a memorial at the base, clearly marking someone's unfortunate demise. He thinks it's funny and now the words "Life Insurance" are screaming through my mind.


I love my husband but why couldn't he just be a coin collector? :)

United Hillsong Concert

Last Sunday night, Lynn and I went to see Hillsong United in Phoenix and it was Awesome, with a capital 'A'.

Hillsong is a church in Sydney, Austraila and they have produced over 40 albums, I only have about 10 of them. Hillsong United is the youth ministry of Hillsong Church and they also produce their own albums under the Hillsong Music Record label, I have 2 of their albums.

I think one of the reasons I love their music so much, besides the lyrical and musical elements is because I can actually sing to Hillsong and sound pretty decent. :)

It's about an hour drive from where we live so were pretty late to stand in this line.


My primary concern with our being so far in line was what kind of seats we would end up in. I'd been here before and the last thing I wanted was to sit in the 3rd balcony. Example:


However, despite everything, we actually got seats on the first floor, back row. It was an amazing thing, it truly was. So here we are:


The highlight of the entire concert for me was seeing and hearing Brooke Fraser LIVE! It was incredible. I made a video of her singing Desert Song and Hosanna, two of my favorite songs. (She's the small white dot center stage playing guitar.)

Here's 'Desert Song':


Here's 'Hosanna':


Here's the entire band performing 'Take It All':


Oh yeah, the other great aspect about the concert...it was FREEEEEEEE!!!!!
I love me, some FREEEEE!

Scrapbook Convention!

Last Saturday, I went to the Creating Keepsakes Scrapbook Convention which was a big deal for me because I've missed it the last 2 years as a result of living in Texas. I've attended the Scrapbook Convention for years but never in Dallas, Texas. Yet ONE MORE REASON I'm happy to be back in Arizona, folks!



I took Nathan with me because Greg was out of town and I was worried how I was going to navigate the crowded aisles. It turned out I didn't need to worry. While the economic downturn has certainly impacted consumerism, it has also left it's mark on a number of industries, the Scrapbooking industry being one of them. Sadly, the aisle's were not nearly as crowded as they were in years past. This picture is shocking because it is so uncharacteristic from the throngs of people normally at the convention.



Discounted signs were at nearly every booth, so my dollars stretched further than normal which was nice.



Even though evidence of the economic status was everywhere, I ran into this lady, definitely in the spirit of Scrapbooking!



To keep Nathan content in his stroller, I gave Nathan my camera. I guess he's going to take after Mommy because he figured out how to turn the camera on and took quite a few pictures. Here's his work:


As I said earlier, my dollars stretched further but I still stuck to my $40 budget and this is what I came home with.


I'll eagerly be waiting for this time next year!

A Glimpse of Heaven on Earth

A long time ago, I attended a church service where a bible passage was read from people in different languages. Where one person left off in Chinese, the next person picked up in Spanish and when they came to a stop, the next person picked up in the next language. It was so interesting to 'hear' that and I remember thinking, that's what Heaven will be like. All ethnicities coming together, speaking the same, even though the languages are different.

I ran across something today, that gives me that very same picture in my mind but this time it's through music. I love it and so I have to share it. Watch this video...it's what I picture heaven will be like.



If you would like to know more about this video, go to Playing for Change.
The Playing for Change community is a group of artists who have collaborated with people in their neighborhoods across the globe to create a multimedia movement to inspire, connect, and bring peace to the world through music.

Hola Bienvenido a Puerto Penasco!

We are back from vacation! And it was probably one of the most interesting vacations we've ever had for a few of reasons:

1. Our first time to vacation with Nathan. It's just different with a little one.
   
2. The first night, I had to hang my head out of the car window to throw up. It's been a while.
   
3. Greg and I didn't fight once. We traditionally fight while on vacation.
   

We went to Puerto Penasco which is a small fishing town off the Sea of Cortez in Mexico. Americans call it Rocky Point and it is just over 60 miles from the US border - a short 4 hr drive from where we live in Arizona. Here's a map from Phoenix to Rocky Point:


Thursday - 4/9
We drove to Rocky Point with 2 other families and arrived late in the afternoon. We immediately walked down to the beach and it turned out to be great timing for pictures!

Here is Nathan's first time to see the ocean and true to form, he was quiet, observant and just took it all in.


Here was a surprising shot of Nathan and Maysen, silhouetted from the setting sun.


Here's a picture from the beach looking back at where we stayed, the red arrow is pointing to the house we stayed in.


Friday - 4/10
We eagerly anticipated a beautiful day on the beach and instead we woke up to wind gusts of 32 mph! You know how you have certain ideas or expectations about your vacation? Well the weather deflated the expectations we all had and we wondered if we were doomed for the entire weekend.

Nathan and I stepped outside to take a walk but we had to head back to the house when we started to get pelted in the face with flying sand!


So we were stuck inside-all day. Here's Nathan & Maysen both looking out the window watching the wind howl.


After being locked inside all day, we had to get out of the house! So we let Greg drive through a sand storm to take us all to dinner (this was the night he started driving like one of the locals). While we were at the restaurant, we got a picture of our group outside on the balcony in the Tsunami (just a progressive exaggeration of the wind). When I saw this picture, I totally laughed out loud, it's pretty funny...


Saturday - 4/11
On Saturday, the winds moved on, the Sun came out and we were on the beach in no time at all!


I just realized how funny this next picture is. Three guys, One girl and who has the ball? The 7 year old girl!








This is a visual of Nathan's issue with his feet. He doesn't like being barefoot on grass or sand. In this next shot, I was trying to put him down to walk but he folds his legs up and refuses to stand on his own because he doesn't want his feet to touch the ground. Quiz question: Which parent does Nathan take after in this?


Sunday - 4/12
Easter Sunday - it was strange being at the beach vs. in church on Easter Sunday! Here are pictures of Nathan's Easter Egg Hunt. I forgot to put his shoes on so you see him 'straining' to reach that egg without stepping into the sand.




Just some extra pictures that are favorites from the trip...

The Auger Family- Yep, I made them do this but it turned out cute!


The White Family incognito!


Nathan, my little cutie-patootie-picture-poser!














Greg and them Horns! See the Longhorns on the smoker behind Greg's average size head?


This last picture is for Lynn...'Aahs-para-Gous'...soon my friend, very soon! :)

Heading out...see you soon.

We are heading out for vacation tomorrow and you will soon see pictures and/or videos of the Hull family with friends frolicking about on the beaches of Puerto Penasco, Mexico! Until then, I leave you with a little somethin-somethin that made me laugh today. Enjoy!

Hi, Billy Mays Here!!!!

Just kidding. :)

I wanted to share this video of Nathan making his 'Rock N Roll' face - he scowls and scrunches up his face while listening to 'Rock' music. He's been doing this for a couple of months now and what's interesting is that this expression is only reserved for 'Rock n Roll' because you'll notice in the beginning of the video he doesn't make this expression while listening to other music.