Ho, Ho, Ho!

MERRY CHRISTMAS! Due to popular demand (well, one request other than from Danny), here are some pictures of the Gunnell family Christmas. Macie got her "big girl bike" from Santa, and especially loved her new movie (Mary Poppins) and baby doll (pictured above). Reid couldn't get over his toy train set (see the excitement as he cheers for it?), his bean bag (white thing in background -- already been broken in with lots of jumping), and toy airplane. But he was heartbroken when he opened his new movie and had to wait until the rest of the presents were opened before watching it. As soon as he saw the movie, he said "Come on, guys!" and ran downstairs to the TV! What a tough time it was having to wait until his other presents were opened. We sure got a kick out of the big fella's excitement!
We love you all and hope that your holidays are merry and bright! We are so grateful for the many blessings we have and the many gifts we have received -- especially the Savior's gifts of His life and atonement. We pray that His spirit will be with you this holiday season!
Merry Christmas!

"You know Donner and DANCER..."

After I posted yesterday, Danny reminded me that I'd left out some important pictures -- namely, those of our daughter in her first Christmas dance performance and subsequent Gunnell cousin nativity later that evening. So, for your viewing pleasure, here are some shots of Macie the dancer and Macie as Joseph (this year it was cousin Elizabeth's turn to play Mary). She was adorable in both performances!

It's A Boy!

Well, we have some good news and some bad news. The good news is, after my ultrasound on Monday -- we know that the baby is a little boy!!! We are sooooo excited for Reid to have a little brother to play with (and we know that Macie will be a great big sister to these two little fellas!). The bad news is... the ultrasound tech said that the baby and I are pretty small -- and instead of being 20 weeks along, she thinks I am more like 18 weeks along. So... even though we were sure on our dates before, she predicts that they will move my due date back 2 weeks, from May 8th to May 24th! Can you believe it? Could an expecting mother possibly hear worse news? I'm going to be pregnant for 2 MORE weeks?!?! Auuuggghhh!

Luckily, we had a good week with more good news to soften the blow of the extra-long pregnancy. Danny and I (and the kids) drove down to Vegas for the BYU Bowl Game, and we WON!! That's right, BYU 38, Oregon 8. It was a great game, and we were lucky enough to enjoy it with Danny's dad, Aunt Sherri and Uncle Tracy, Uncle David, and Brad and Cass. Plus, we got to stay the night with my parents, which was an added bonus. Macie opted to watch it on Grams and Grampy's big TV, but Reidy came and seemed to really enjoy himself, despite the cold. Above, I've posted a few pictures from the memorable game! GO COUGARS!

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

Boy, has it been cold in Utah lately!! As soon as we returned from the cruise we were greeted with a barage of snowy days. Yep, it's a white Christmas for the Gunnell family. Here are a couple of photos of the kids playing in the snow with Daddy.

Cruizin'

Here's to the cruise! Here we enjoy the beauty of Roatan island, the iguana farm, a motorcycle adventure, dinner on the ship, and dune buggies in Mexico!

Thanksgiving Kids

Macie and Reid loved Thanksgiving in Oregon! Here is Reidy, cheesin' it up for the camera, Macie and Reid enjoying each other's company, and "big helper" Macie making dinner with Grammie.

Cruizin' thru Thanksgiving . . .

Well, it's been a while since we've updated -- but I'll be short and sweet since our last few entries have been so long.
November was a busy month for our little family -- mostly with vacationing! We celebrated Danny's 31st birthday on the 17th, then headed off to Portland to spend Thanksgiving week with his family. It was lots of fun (and we ate entirely too much!). As soon as we finished stuffing our faces full of turkey, Danny and I left the kids with Grammie and Pops, and we headed off to stuff our faces some more (this time, on a "company" cruise). Our 7 day cruise took us to Costa Maya, Roatan (Honduras), Belize, and Cozymel. We had a blast (except for the last day, at sea, when I got really really sick)! Our favorite stop was Honduras, where we rented scooters with Brad and Cass and explored the island on our own. We tried a jungle zip line with 21 platforms, the iguana farm, Fantasy Island, and then had an adventurous ride back to the boat in a rainstorm. It was awesome. We also really enjoyed cave tubing in Belize, dune- buggies and the beach in Costa Maya, and snorkling and Mayan ruins in Cozymel. We were not ready to return to reality, except that I REALLY REALLY missed our kids. So, we flew back to Portland and greeted them with lots of hugs and kisses. We were grateful to Grammie and Pops for taking such good care of them.
Now that we are home, we've jumped right into the Christmas scene. The night we got home Danny hung the lights outside (Way to go, Dad!), and the next day we bought a tree and decorated the inside of the house. Friday we did all of our remaining Christmas shopping, and as soon as we get our Christmas cards mailed we will be ready to relax and enjoy the season!
We love you all and hope that the holidays find you healthy and happy! Merry Christmas!