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!

Families are forever (pictures)

Reid plays music at the childrens museum, Dad and Reid dig in the pit, we all paint our faces, and Reid expresses his dismay at being dressed like a dwarf for the Gunnell family reunion children's play!

Families are forever (more pictures)

My big helper Macie is painting with me in our office, Reid is posing for the camera, Danny and I smile at the concert, and Reid plays the piano with Uncle Tyler!

Our Summertime Fun!

We've been super busy these past few months (you know how the summertime goes), with trips to Lake Powell, San Diego, and Las Vegas, a wedding, a funeral, and a few holidays in between. Here's the short scoop on some of the photos in the latest blogs:

*Reid has begun to feed himself -- VERY INDEPENDENTLY. He does not want any help. He did pretty well with the yogurt, but when mom left the room, the chocolate pudding got a little out of hand!
*Grandma Davey's funeral was a bittersweet experience for us. We were glad that we were able to visit her one last time before she passed away, and thankful for her wonderful legacy. She will be missed. Visiting with Grammie and Pops was a treat for our kids!
*The Salt Lake City Half Marathon was tons of fun (well, kind-of) for Mary. She beat her goal and took 3rd place in her division. Thanks to Danny, Macie, Reidy, Ange, Mike, Elizabeth and Katelyn for cheering her on!
*Our San Diego vacation with Mary's family was great. We hit the zoo, the beach, the waterpark, and a Padre's game. Macie is still talking about Uncle John and Uncle Brian going to see Jaba the Hippo.
*The Korth Reunion at Lake Powell was short and sweet. Two houseboats = twice the fun! Macie and Elizabeth were twins in matching lifejackets. Look at the fish!
*We continued our 4th of July tradition with the Stadium of Fire (highlight was Taylor Hicks, of American Idol fame), the Freedom Festival parade and carnival, and a family fireworks show! There's no place like Provo for the 4th!
*We'll post pictures of Stephanie and Will's wedding as soon as we can get our new video camera figured out (the pictures are trapped on the memory card!). We are thrilled for the happy couple!

Next week we send John off to the MTC (He's going to the Lisbon, Portugal mission) and then we head off to Portland and Seattle for another family reunion. We'll try and update you as often as possible! We love you all!

Summertime Pictures 1

Summertime Pictures 2

Salt Lake Temple

Our Blog Begins!

Let's see if this works . . .
Our family is trying to catch up with all of the other technology savvy people out there, and do regular updates for our friends and family via the web (i.e.- this blog!). So, following in the example of all the brilliant people we know, we have signed up for this little blogspot webpage. Stay posted for many future updates and pictures!
If you want to have some fun, you can access our old family webpage that was created for a BYU class a few years ago. The link is http://webpub.byu.net/mmd25/Gunnell%20Family%20Web%20Page/Gunnell%20Family%20Web%20Page.htm