Families are Forever

Well, we have 3 family reunions down so far this summer, and one kind-of family reunion (the Davis Family Houseboat trip) to go! Life has been quite crazy, but fun as well. We feel lucky to have such wonderful families to share our summer with!
We truly enjoyed our time in Portland, OR, with the Reid Gunnell family (Mom, Dad, Amy, Lisa), the Brian Gunnell family (Brian, Mel, Jackson, Walker), and the Brad Gunnell family (Brad, Cass, baby-on-the-way). We spent a few days there visiting the Children's Museum, shopping, and playing in the nearby water fountains. You can see from the pictures that we all had fun painting each other's faces, playing music, and getting wet! In the middle of our trip to Oregon we drove up to Vashon Island, near Seattle, for the extended Gunnell family reunion. The kids especially had a fun time playing games in the field and going swimming every day. The last day of the reunion was Macie Ann's 3rd birthday, which we celebrated back at the Grammie and Pop's house. As you can tell, even though she got her precious "Cinderella dress" (which I made, by the way -- and which I will NEVER attempt to make again!), she still had a meltdown when Daddy wanted to take her picture. Oh, the drama of being a 3-year-old girl!
We came home from Oregon to celebrate Macie's birthday again, this time pool party style. I made cupcakes with umbrellas, the ocean and sandy beaches, and the highlight of the afternoon was a little fish pinata that the kids whacked with a bat. It was lots of fun to visit with family and friends, and Macie seemed much happier than she did on her actual birthday (thank goodness!). Thanks to everyone that came to help us celebrate!
As soon as I thought things would calm down, Danny decided to take off to Texas for some oil projects, so I was left to fend for myself. Luckily, I'm surrounded by good family and friends, so the week went pretty well. On Thursday we headed down to Cedar City for the Brown Family Reunion, and Macie made lots of new friends. Reid especially loved throwing rocks down the mountain and playing the piano with Uncle Tyler while Macie danced "ballet". My favorite part -- besides visiting with my Grandparents, siblings, and cousins -- was the traditional Dutch oven lamb dinner, and Wow, did I ever eat too much. You never go hungry at a Brown reunion!
We arrived in Provo at 1 am on Saturday morning, and then Melissa came over at 8 o'clock so that I could run my 16 miles (marathon training) before it got too hot. My legs are still sore, but I did it! Saturday night I picked Danny up from the airport and we went to the Tim McGraw/Faith Hill concert in SLC. It was definitely one of our best dates ever -- so much fun to clap to their music and enjoy some time together after a long week apart. Believe it or not -- I was so excited for the concert that I actually wore cowboy boots and a big belt buckle!
And now we are just trying to relax for a little while before our next (and last, for the summer) trip. We hope that you are all doing well, and we would love to hear your updates!