A Simple Summer Summary

You wait too long and get too behind in blogging, and this is what you end up with. A photo journal of the summer events with very BRIEF narratives. We had a FABULOUS summer -- kept busy with mommy field trips and Lake Powell vacations and YW/YM callings and family visits and holiday parties and birthdays. Now that Autumn is here... I'm longing for some of these good 'ol summer days again!

Here's the Summer from July on backwards...

YO HO, YO HO, A PIRATE BIRTHDAY GIRL Macie awoke to balloons and breakfast in bed for her very special #8 birthday! It was a Sunday morning, so we had to rush and get ready for church with a QUICK and EARLY breakfast. She patiently waited to open her presents after church. :)

We celebrated her birthday the day before with a pirate themed party... ahoy, me mateys! I made this chocolate pirate ship cake when I was feeling very nauseated (I was pregnant and VERY MORNING SICK, but keeping it a secret at the time). I don't know if I will ever be able to make or eat double chocolate cake again. At least the pirates all loved it!

All the pirate ladies crowded into the pirate ship I made for girl's camp this year. We named it the "Treasure Seeker." Lots of cardboard and lots of fun!

Dad designed a special treasure map and treasure hunt for the cute girls. They rocked it!

FISHING WITH DAD AND POPS

The boys had been begging, and I mean BEGGING, all summer to go fishing. Why? I don't know. They had never been fishing before, and they thought it would be AWESOME. So, when Pops and Grammie were in town we had Pops lead us to the secret fishing spot. The boys LOVED it and caught lots of little fish in the stream. And the best part was, we didn't even have to eat the fish. Pops took it home to Oregon. Thanks, Dad and Pops! You are the king fishermen!

CARS 2 FOR OUR NEW 2 YEAR OLD!

Yep, that's a Lightning McQueen Cake. Made the day I got home from Girl's Camp. When I was feeling very morning sick. But Danny LOVES Lightning McQueen. Why? I have no idea. Because the CARS movie is stupid and CARS 2 was even dumber. In fact, Danny wouldn't even watch CARS 2 in the movie theatre. We got a full refund on our movie ticket. But he loves books about Lightning McQueen, and toy Lightning McQueen Cars, and anything else CARS related. Go figure. Happy 2nd birthday to our very spunky "baby" Danny!

KORTH FAMILY REUNION

I did the girl's camp thing this year, so Danny got to go to the Korth reunion solo. He said that he and the kids had a great time visiting with all of the cousins. Here are some of the photos of the family trip (sans mom) to Idaho!

THE SAD STORY OF OUR YARD

We love our yard. We love plants and flowers. We used to love deer. But these rascally bucks (and their girlfriends. And their Moms. And their babies. And their cousins. And friends. And neighbors.) have eaten our yard all summer long. Despite the nasty smelling spray that repels humans. It is a tragedy. Someday we hope to get a fence!

WHILE MOM'S AWAY, THE KIDS WILL PLAY
AND OF COURSE, DAVIS NEEDED STITCHES!Grams was amazing and offered to watch all four of our Gunnell kidlets whilst I was away (high up in the mountains) at girls camp. Of course, accident prone little Davis just had to have another accident while I was away. After swimming lessons, he slipped while changing out of his suit and hit his chin on the tile floor. Several stitches later, and he was good as new (with a tiny, under-the-chin scar to show for a battle wound). Mom, I can't thank you enough for watching the kids for me! You were a trooper, and handled it all with grace and calm. You are the best!

LISA-LOU VISITS

Aunt Lisa came to stay for a few days after Aunt Amy had her little baby, and we got to visit with her and entertain her for a while. Trafalga ended up being our premier destination. Go carts, airplane rides, and bumper boats made for a FUN day. We love you, Lisa!

FRIENDS FOR THE FOURTH

Danny's best buds from college came for a Fourth of July visit -- it was so much fun for us all to get together. Above is Danny with Soren and Kurt, and below is me with Kim and Leah. They made our fourth truly Spectacular!

All of our kids gather together on the steps for a group shot. That's a lot of kids for three young couples ... :)

BALCONY BOOTY DANCERS

The Gunnell kids have been known to get a little bit wild this summer. Late summer evenings on the balcony were times for silly jokes, dancing, and lots of laughter!

BIRD LOVER'S PARADISEI took Sally Monson with me as my mother's helper (she is a HUGE BIRD LOVER), and the kids and I hit the Tracy Aviary. It was one of our many field trips we took for "Momma School" this summer, and it was a huge success. I think we'll have to repeat it next year! Look at these fine, feathered friends!

YOUTH CONERENCE

Neither Danny nor I had ever been to Delicate Arch, but we got the chance this June as we both traveled with the YM and YW for youth conference in Moab. The youth had a fabulous time, and we enjoyed the hiking and river rafting as well. Thanks to Sister Cobbley and John and Jaime for watching our kids for the weekend! It was awesome to be out there together in our callings!

Lake Powell: Round One

Lake Powell was awesome this June! We went out on the Classic Dreamer with our friends the Cravaths and the Brobergs, and had a great time on the water. We had to re-anchor a million times because the water level was rising so rapidly, but we had fabulous weather and the best beach ever! The drive there and back was one for the record books-- on the way there the Cravath's car broke down, and then our truck broke down on the drive back! At least the wonderful week made the disasterous driving trips worth it! Here's a fun slide show of some of our happy Powell memories: disappearing islands, frogs and lizards, wakeboarding and surfing, Rainbow Bridge, cliff jumping, haircuts, and lots of fun with the kiddos!

The Start of Summer!

It's August and I am just now blogging May and June and July. Just a leetle beet behind. Oops. Here's a semi short and sweet start to the summer update!

WASATCH ART SHOW

Macie and Reid are superb artists! Here are some of their favorite pieces from the end-of-the-year Wasatch Art Show:

Macie- oil pastel sunflower

Macie- acryllic, mixed media snowman on canvas board

Macie- acryllic flowers on masonite

Reid - grasshopper in the style of Eric Carle, tempera

Reid- self portrait in colored pencil

Reid - motion study in construction paper

END OF THE YEAR DANCE PROGRAM

Reid and his cute partner, Hannah, dance the infamous Kindergarten JELLO dance. He was fabulous!We loved Reid's teacher, Mrs. Whittaker. She told me at the parent/teacher conference that Reid was "an absolute joy to have in class," and that she wished all of her students were "just like him!" Way to go, Reid! What a great year kindergarten was!

Macie dances "In the Jungle" with her second grade class. She was, by far, the best dancer in her grade!
Here Macie poses with her cute teachers, Mrs. Wong and Mr. Evenson. They made learning such fun this year! It was always a blast for me to go and help out in their classrooms, and then share lunch with Macie in the cafeteria afterward. I will really miss these awesome teachers!

SWIM LESSONS

Davis was brave enough to try again this year -- so we started out tame with some basic life saving techniques at Pam Young's swim school. Both Danny J and Davis have really learned some serious swim skills this summer!

Float, Danny! Hold your breath! :)


Swim, Davis! Nice floating!

MOMMA SCHOOL

Each summer I homeschool my kids. This year we had weekly themes -- week one was dinosaurs. The kids LOVED the BYU Palentology Museum and the Thanksgiving Point Museum of Ancient Life. I loved teaching and learning with these smarties! A highlight of the week was "hatching" some dinosaur eggs Daddy brought home for us to incubate. They were SUPER COOL! Thanks, Dad!

T-BALL ALL STAR

Reid finished off the T-ball season with a bang. Here he is with his bat and his team! We think you are awesome, Reid!