4 is a magical number!

4 kids, 4 months since I've updated our blog, a 4 month old darling baby and a 4-yr old cutie, a 34 yr. old spouse, 4 studly Gunnell Ninja Turtles for Halloween, 4 weeks until Christmas (well, there were still 4 weeks when I started writing this blog entry...), 4-give me for taking so long to update this baby... YEP, FOUR IS GOOD FOR THE GUNNELLS!
Since it's been 4-ever since I've updated, its a little overwhelming to think of all the things we've done. (seriously, why haven't I blogged until now? I just sit around all day picking my nose and twiddling my thumbs.) 4-now, let's just hit the highlights of the past few months:
-Fun Korth family reunion at Bear Lake (baby Danny was 2 weeks old)
-Awesome trip to Lake Powell with Davis family (Danny was 3 weeks old)
-Macie began Chinese immersion first grade (Ni hao!)
-Reid started preschool and is already reading us books!
-BYU beat Oklahoma (and we watched the glorious event in our new movie theatre)
-Soccer season - Danny coached Macie's team and Reid was MVP of the preschool league
-We blessed our sweet baby Danny (he's about as perfect as you can get!)
-Davis got the swine flu (this is not a "highlight" per se, in fact -- it was probably the worst week of Davis's short life, but he was a little trooper)
-Mary began a new decade of life and Danny surprised her with a big B-day bash (Thanks!)
-We trick-or-treated the Provo hills Ninja style (Cowabunga! Radical! The boys were Ninja turtles and the girls were Asian princesses)
-Danny celebrated another year of his life (he's getting to be an old man)
-We've enjoyed many fun visits from family and friends!

Danny continues to keep busy with his oil and gas partnerships -- he is currently drilling two new wells and we have high hopes. We've really enjoyed having him home more lately --we're glad that he hasn't had to travel too much since the babe arrived! In October he enjoyed reliving his cheer squad glory days by running the flag at LaVell Edwards Stadium for the BYU Homecoming Game! We enjoyed a fun MTC supervisor reunion at our home in October as well, and hope to have several more. A few weeks ago we celebrated Danny's birthday with a BYU Basketball game (a victory, of course), and of course we celebrated our latest win over the stinking Utes Thanksgiving weekend! :)

Macie is still our star dancer -- you can find her pirouetting to Chinese class, across the soccer field, during dinner and FHE, in our new movie theatre, and at bedtime. We're excited to see her compete with her company team this spring. She is picking up Chinese rapidly and enjoys telling me "Mom, you don't speak Chinese very well!" (that's the thanks I get for trying to help her with her homework!) Next week she has her first piano recital -- and we think she's pretty impressive for only 4 months of lessons. Macie is a beautiful girl on the inside as well as the outside. She is a sweetheart and so very helpful with her little brothers.

Reid is such a cool guy! His new nickname is "speedy Reid" - coined by Aunt Melissa after he proved he was the best little soccer player around. His first game was in September and he began the game with a drive straight down the field and his first goal. He finished that game with 4 goals and 2 assists, he just kept on getting better. Reid is also a little smarty pants -- he is proud to demonstrate his reading skills to anyone willing to listen.He's the most helpful and loving little guy around, if he's not in la-la land. Two quick Reid stories: (1) A couple of months ago, while we were eating homemade hamburgers for dinner, Reid said, "Can I have some pickles? I love pickles. Pickles are my favorite!" I replied, "No.", and reminded him that just days earlier he had refused to eat the pickles on his McDonald's hamburger. "Well, they're my favorite now!" he said. "Please!" I acquiesed, and watched the little guy prove his case by stuffing a large pickle into his mouth. It was hillarious -- but the sweet little man endured that whole pickle and eventually swallowed it after 5 minutes of chewing (imagine Reid with the bitter beer face and you'll have a good idea of what he looked like.). Classic. (2) Last week we decided to work off some Thanksgiving turkey by hiking the Y with Katie and Tyler. As we began the steep climb, Reid ran ahead, shouting at us to hurry up. We made him stop and told him to take it easy, because it was a steep hike and he would get tired. "My legs NEVER GET TIRED!" he quipped, and he ran up the trail again. I was sure he'd be whining and asking to be carried 10 minutes later. But, amazingly, HIS LEGS REALLY DO NEVER GET TIRED. He ran back and forth multiple times up the mountain, and was the first one in our group to reach the summit. What a stud! I'm proud to be speedy Reidy's mom.

Davis has this cheeky smile that could melt anyone's heart. He loves to give mommy kisses and hugs and is such a great little buddy to me. His favorite toys are swords and guns, and he's always keeping us safe from the "bad guys." We find his habit of pushing his swords around in the baby stroller fairly amusing. He has a fabulous imagination -- last week I came into his room and he was putting his blue hammers in his bed for a nap. I wasn't allowed to talk, because they were sleeping. Right. Davis recently suffered from a two-year-old identity crisis, but we think it's over now. For three full weeks he would not respond to "Davis" -- we could only call him "Baby Robot" (or occasionally "baby knight" or "baby Iggy"). Why? We have absolutely no idea. But if we made the mistake of calling him Davis, we were sure to get an earful. "I NOT DAVIS. I BABY ROBOT!" "Mom, Reidy called me Davis!" "STOP CALLING ME NAMES!" I'm happy to have such a creative child, but I am relieved to finally have Davis back to his good old self!

Baby Danny is a dream baby -- very happy, rarely cries, and easygoing. He is especially adorable when he wakes up in the morning -- it's like he's so happy to see me that he's going to turn inside out! I feel so blessed and can't believe how much he's grown -- already over 16 lbs and in the 75th percentile for height. His greatest achievements lately have been rolling over and getting his two bottom teeth -- they are sharp ones! We are so grateful to have his cute little giggle in our home.

And that's the update, in a nutshell. We are healthy and happy and ready for the holidays (well, semi-ready). I'll post a picture update next!