A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words ...

I hope that the title of this blog is true, because this week I finally decided that I am so behind on blogging that I am just going to post a whole bunch of our most recent (past 2 months, that is) pictures and let you figure out what we've been up to. As is apparent from looking at our blog, I am a bad blogger. :( Sad, I know. I just haven't found the time to update our little family journal the way I'd like to. So I've skipped it entirely for a few months. We've still had FHE, read great conference talks, and had plenty of accomplishments -- I just haven't immortalized them on the Internet. So sorry. But I do hope you enjoy this latest (and greatest) installment of photos and short blurbs. :)

THE RANCH (MAY)




The kids, Danny, and I all had a blast visiting Uncle Tyler's ranch near Kanab. We hit Cedar Breaks on the way there, and enjoyed hiking and four-wheeling in the hills. Baby Sarah was a doll (as always), and it was super fun to see Grams and Grampy too. Thanks, Tyler! We love you!

CHUCK-E-CHEESE (JUNE)

Reid finally decided to potty-train himself. After two weeks without any accidents (well, I guess he did have one accident when he saw the snake in the garden...), we took him to Chuck-E-Cheese to celebrate. He really really loves that place, although you'd never guess it from the photo we took there!

TRIATHALONS (MAY & JUNE)


Here I am in the Salem Triathalon and the Provo Triathalon. I'm proud to say that I did very well in the Salem Tri, mainly because they cancelled the bike. I beat Danny's partner Kimball by quite a bit, which was kind-of fun (I'm not competitive at all... :) ). The Provo Tri, a few weeks later, took much longer than I expected -- due to a stinky bike leg. But, on a positive note, I did have the best cheering section out there. Thanks to Grammie and Pops, Lisa, Melissa, Ange, Mike, Lizzie, Kate, Cassidy, Danny, Macie, Reid, and Davis for cheering me on. You're the best!

GUNNELL FAMILY REUNION (JUNE)


We loved the Gunnell Family Reunion, held at the Laketown Lodge at Bear Lake, UT. You can see the fun we had at the family luau, out on the lake (watch out for that crazy driver -- he's just like his dad!), and playing in the sand. What kind of bad parent would let their baby eat sand and get it in their nose and mouth...? Oops.

FATHERS DAY (JUNE)


I think Danny had a good father's day. We sure tried. He is the best dad! Here you can see Reid feeding Danny grapes as he relaxes on the couch. The kids also posed with the homemade tie they made for Dad. He was a sport, and wore his "superdad" tie all day long!
I am so grateful for the wonderful father that Danny is, and for the wonderful fathers and grandfathers that we each have. Dads, you rock! Happy belated father's day!

FUNNY FACES (JUNE)




Amy and David requested some funny family photos, so we took these and made a special collage for them. Aren't we lovely?

Here are the videos... WORKING!

It looks like the videos didn't post right on our blog before, so here (again) are Macie's dance recital and the puddle jumping kids! Enjoy!
P.S. - I am going to get on the ball and do another blog update soon, I promise. But I promised myself that I would get my office in order before I do any more blogging. Wish me luck!

Singing in the Rain

With all of the rain we’ve been having lately, the kids have felt seriously cooped up inside our house. So yesterday morning they ventured outside, bright and early, in their PJs and rainboots! Our cracked driveway does a great job pooling the rainwater, which creates huge puddles for jumping. Davis and I came outside to take some photos, and he couldn’t stop laughing at his bro and sis. I guess there is something kid-of funny about jumping in puddles in your PJs. :) Here’s a short video of Macie and Reid splashing around, making Davis giggle.

The Score: Bad Guys-2 Good Guys-2

So, we are in a war with some crummy neighbors. I will spare you the messy details, but Monday night we scored a little victory that had me al Macie’l pumped up. We were winning the game against these punks. But then Wednesday afternoon we had a little incident that evened the score. It was pretty disheartening for me. So Danny and I went new-house-hunting Wednesday night. Not that we’re really serious about moving, as the house we like the most is completely, totally, not really an option. It is kind-of ridiculous looking right now, and it is definitely ridiculously priced, but it has the most amazing views of the valley ever. It really is a great location. If you promise not to make an offer on it (we’re not making an offer either), you can check out the weird house we dream about buyiing and changing at http://coolprovohome.blogspot.com. It is nice to imagine coming home to a peaceful, non-threatening environment. Having a home where our kids would be safe going out the front door without Mom or Dad right behind, well, it sounds pretty appealing right now. Oh well.

Take the punk kids out of our life, and things are great! We planted our annual flowers this week, and decided to try all new varieties this year. We’ll see how it turns out ... we’ve been pretty faithful to pansies and petunias in the past, so this is a real departure for us. :) Saturday we barbequed with our AWESOME neighbors, the Judkins. They are one of the reasons we don’t want to move. Sunday we enjoyed dinner with some of our favorite friends in the ward, the Magleby’s (as in THE Magleby’s restaurant), and they made the best salad EVER! Monday night we cheered on Elizabeth Baird at her “Red Puppies” soccer game, and enjoyed dinner and games with the Bairds. Reid even skinny dipped in their giant bathtub (Liz and Katelyn got a surprise anatomy lesson!).

And here’s the FHE update:

ACCOMPLISHMENTS:

We didn’t do them this week. Check the earlier blogs for the basic list (Davis turned one, Macie's dance recital, Mother’s Day (new computer!), we planted flowers, etc.)

CONFERENCE MOMENTS:

Our past two FHEs we have had our conference talk lessons in the car! Last week we read Elder Wirthlin's "Concern for the One," and this week we read Elder Oaks's "Testimony." Here are our favorite quotes from each, respectively:

"I know each of you bears a concern for a loved one. Give encouragement, service, and support to them. Love them. Be kind to them. In some cases, they will return. In others, they will not. But in all cases, let us ever be worthy of the name we take upon ourselves, even that of Jesus Christ."

"Those who have a testimony of the restored gospel also have a duty to share it. ...Those who have the gift to know have an obvious duty to bear their witness so that those who have the gift to believe on their words might also have eternal life."

Prima Ballerina

Last Saturday we enjoyed Macie’s second-ever dance recital with Center Stage Dance Studio -- she was a superstar! Macie strutted her stuff front-and-center to a song called “Fuss” -- kinda fun for the little girls to act like prima donnas on stage (Macie has plenty of experience acting that way at home, so this dance came quite naturally for her.). After a morning of dress rehearsals and photographs, no naps, and 19 dances before Macie’s class, Davis and Reid were in meltdown mode when she actually performed. Here is her recital in all of it’s glory, (with a bonus soundtrack of crying kids in the background) and here are some pictures of the special event:

A professional photographer took some photos of the live performance which I thought were pretty cute, too. The general link is http://khoggie.blogspot.com/ . The specific link for Macie's class performance is at shutterfly: Macie's performance shots. Macie's class was in the matinee performance, #19 of 40!

Dad, you are so cute

Danny was sick most of last week (not this week, but last), and the kids and I did all we could to try and help him feel better. Macie was particularily concerned about Daddy, and thought that the more notes she wrote him, the better he would feel. They were all very sweet and thoughtful, but his favorite one was a simple note which read “Dad, you are so cute.” Of course, he was quite flattered that Macie recognized his cuteness. I found it amusing when, a few days later, I found an earthworm in the flowerbeds. “Oh, it is sooo cute!” Macie exclaimed! “So cute!” Hmmm. Maybe that note wasn’t as great of a compliment as we initially thought. Macie may not be the best judge of cuteness. But don’t worry, Danny. I think you are “so cute” too!

Happy Mother’s Day

Well, after I spent all day Saturday at the Utah Republican Convention, I think Danny really started to appreciate the job I do as a mother. He had a project to do (power-washing our deck, which looks fabulous now!), and he quickly realized how difficult it is to get anything done with three kids. How mothers with more do it, I have no clue!

Anyway, I got home to a beautifully washed deck, and a home that looked like a nuclear bomb had gone off inside! That evening Danny went Mother’s Day shopping and presented me with the coolest gift ever -- a new MacBook Pro, on which I am writing this blog. Although I feel almost guilty accepting such an amazing present (and part of me thinks I should forgo future birthday and christmas presents because of the extravagance of this present), the selfish part of me is loving it. I don’t know how to use a Mac, but I’m excited to learn. And this nifty computer looks like it has some really nice features. So, here’s a HUGE THANK YOU to my wonderful husband for the BEST MOTHER’S DAY EVER. And, I’ll THINK about forgoing my b-day or Christmas.

And, on a Mother’s Day note (even though I’m writing this a week after Mother’s Day), I think I have the best mothers and grandmothers in the world! That is my totally unbiased opinion, at least. I am so grateful for the fabulous job my mother did raising me (I mean, look at how great I turned out!), the great job Mom Gunnell did raising Danny (he turned out pretty great, too!), and the wonderful way my grandmothers have taken care of me and raised my parents as well. Thanks for being awesome, Moms!

He’s Number One!

Well, Davis's b-day ended up a success, after all of my worries. We got a little too busy to do our weekly update, but it really was a blog-worthy day! We read lots of books, played at Macie's preschool (she had her Mother's Day program in the morning, and she sang fabulously!), went to the Farm Country with Daddy, ate pancakes and bacon at IHOP, played catch with Reidy, opened some fun presents, and smashed a Lightning McQueen cake!

Here are the pictures from our happy day!

I'm cautiously petting my first cow.

Run away! Hungry cow! He's eating Daddy's pants!

My first pony ride. I'm still a little nervous, after that cow scare.

You expect me to eat this cake? I wanted a homemade baseball one.

I guess it's OK.

Finger paints!

Thanks for the new presents! I love them!

I am so happy to have sweet little Davis in our family! Here’s a short list of why Davis is our #1 favorite one year old!:

*His infectious giggles and grins

*His sharp hippo teeth (he’s like the baby in “A Series of Unfortunate Events... he could whittle wood with those teeth!)

*His super snuggling powers

*His bottom wiggle as he crawls around

*His towhead of hair which always sticks straight out in the back, no matter how many times I brush it

*His curiosity and adventurous nature (honestly, I don’t always LOVE this, as it makes for a lot of messes and need for close supervision, but sometimes I do...)

*His sweet babbles “dada” and “mama”

*His slobbery, open mouth kisses

Things are falling apart...

So, this was supposed to be Davis's birthday cake. It was going to be a baseball. It was supposed to be a VERY CUTE baseball. But, as you can see, it has fallen horribly, terribly, irreversibly apart. Poor Davis. I am going to have to buy him a fancy cake from the bakery. Poor me. I kind-of pride myself on making my kids amazing birthday cakes. I've never had a cake fall apart on me before. But, this cake officially qualifies as a baking disaster! Danny thinks that I was frosting it with too much force. From the look of the shattered cake, I would have to agree. And if you'd had the week that we've been having, you might have frosted a cake with a little too much force too. Not to vent too much online (I already did that three weeks ago), but we've had some real struggles lately with our neighbors. I'll spare you the dirty details (call us if you want the full scoop!), but the basic gist of it is that we have been threatened, screamed at, cursed at, yadda-yadda-yadda by some punk neighbors of ours. It's culminated in two visits with the police this week, and resulted in a lot of stress for us. I began to frost this cake 5 minutes after our latest episode with the police tonight. Soooo, I MIGHT have used just a little bit too much force. MAYBE. But poor Davis shouldn't have to suffer for the stupid problems some punk kids are causing. Nothing is working out as planned for his birthday. If he was a little more aware of his surroundings, and realized what a first birthday should be, he would be terribly disappointed.
I, myself, am already terribly disappointed. I do not love him any less than I love Macie and Reid. The sweet little fella makes me happier than I can say. His hippo teeth and dimpled grin and little waddle of a crawl are just too adorable! So, I wish that I could help his first birthday be a celebration worth remembering! We wanted to go to the farm (he loves animals) -- but it's supposed to rain. I wanted to make him a super cute cake -- well, you can see what happened with that. I've spent hours and hours searching for the "perfect present" -- and still I don't know what to get him. If you have any good ideas, let me know!!
Sooo, I'll tell you next week if Davis's big B-day turns out to be a flop or not. Before we started having our neighbor issues, this last week was actually pretty fun. Mike and Angela introduced us to Cabella's on Friday night, and the kids especially had a blast. Danny found all sorts of fun guy stuff he wanted to buy. Guns, ammo, tents, sports stuff, etc. Luckily, we left with very few actual purchases. :) If you haven't been, you should go. It's free, and they even give you aracade tokins to play some gun shooting games!
Saturday night we had an impromptu little party with some of our friends from the ward, and Danny grilled up some very delish steaks. They were so delish, in fact, that the our friends couldn't stop talking about them at Tuesday night's PEC meeting! Nothing like hot-tubbing and steaks after a day of hard work!
Then on Monday, Cinco de Mayo, we celebrated FHE with the Judkins (some of our very FAVORITE neighbors! Thank goodness we do have some GOOD neighbors too!). Yummy quesadillas, black bean salsa, Mexican chocolate cake, maracas, sombreros, and pinatas! We had a wild and crazy party (you know how wild and crazy we are, after all), after our conference lesson, of course. :)
Now, here's the weekly FHE scoop:
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
DAVIS: Mom thought he was eating a stick in the garden. He was actually eating a worm. I'm not sure that this is a really good accomplishment, but some kids do eat worms on dares or bets. So, maybe it means that he is brave? or that he has exotic tastes?
REID: Said his BIG accomplishment was that he jumped on the trampoline. I'm gonna say his accomplishment is that I finally retired all of his 18 month size pants. Yes, that's right, 18 month size pants. But he's THREE YEARS OLD, you say. That's true. But his little bum is so small that he cannot keep his new 2T pants on without his belt notched up all the way!
MACIE: She read her hardest book yet. And she was asked to be a "guest dancer" for another studio's dance recital at the Covey Center for the Arts next month! When I ask her about her dance classes, she says "Mom, I danced my heart out!" Played her last spring soccer game!
MOM: This was a less productive week... I got my voice back just in time to sing for a fireside Sunday. I almost finished planting the garden with Danny and the kids. I had my back adjusted (after over a year of having a "bad back!") and so far it is working. And I mailed everyone their birthday presents LATE (boo! This is a reverse accomplishment. Sorry to my Mom, baby Cassidy, Mike, and my Dad. If it makes you feel any better, remember what I said about not knowing what to get Davis. Well, by the time I am done typing this blog it will be Davis's birthday, so I am late getting him his present too!)
DAD: Helped Mom plant the garden. Fixed the back door. Having a phenomenal start to his softball season -- leading his team in batting with an average of .769! We love to cheer him on!Go dad!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK:
We read Elder Ronald A. Rasband's talk (of the seventy), entitled "Special Experiences." The winning quote is, "Remember when you first knew that Joseph Smith was God’s prophet of the Restoration? Remember when you accepted Moroni’s challenge and knew that the Book of Mormon was indeed another testament of Jesus Christ? Remember when you received an answer to fervent prayer and realized that your Heavenly Father knows and loves you personally? As you contemplate such special experiences, don’t they give you a sense of gratitude and resolve to go forward with renewed faith and determination?"

Two LONG weeks

How did only two weeks pass since our last blog? So much has happened, it feels like it's been 2 months! As Danny said on our anniversary Sunday ("it's been six LONG years"), these have been "two LONG weeks". But both have been "LONG" in a good way. :) I think. With the Bean Museum, the carnival (the kids had their first roller coaster rides!), the Children's Museum with the Bairds, bowling, and the library -- the kids and I kept very busy! We managed to enjoy ourselves during Spring break, even without our favorite person (Daddy) around. He actually ended up flying to Denver early Wednesday morning, and made it back at 1:30 AM Saturday -- just in time to cheer me on for the Salt Lake City Half Marthon. I ran together with Mike Baird and his brothers -- and although the training took me on a different path than the triathalon program I've been on, it was a fun time! Angela, who got us all pumped to run in the first place, cheered us on with baby Cassidy. Amy and David drove down early from Logan to celebrate at the finish line, and we all had an awesome day together! And, after the "big kids" had finished our 13.1 miles, the little kids took on the "kids marathon" (a couple of blocks around the Gateway) with Danny and Amy. Sunday rounded out the week with baby Brody's blessing (he had the most adorable white and baby blue tux with TAILS!) and celebration with Brad and Cass. We are going to really miss them!
Then last week we enjoyed FHE at the Tulip Festival with Daddy, the Utah County Republican Convention, book club, stake conference, Tyler's graduation from BYU and visits with Katie, Sarah, Grams and Grampy! It was so much fun having my family around, and even though the visit was not nearly long enough, it was still wonderful. We've missed Katie and Tyler soooo much, and really were glad to have them stay with us for a few days! Hopefully we'll get to see them in a couple of weeks at the ranch?!
The Republican Convention kept me busy all Saturday morning, but it was fun for me to be invloved and talk with all of the Senators and Congressmen. If only we could get better people to run for office... It's frustrating, because even when you do find a genuinely good candidate (which is once in a blue moon), then enough people don't vote for them to get the nomination. It's a mystery to me how to solve this problem....
Well, as I was at the convention Danny was helping Brad and Cass load the moving van. We were able to go out to lunch with them and Angela and her girls before they left, and then we headed off to Stake Conference for the night. It was all about being good parents and having reverence for the sacrament, and it was really quite good. But by the time it was over, I was feeling terribly sick. Soon my voice was completely gone and I had THE WORST COUGH EVER. SERIOUSLY. THE WORST COUGH YOU'VE EVER HEARD. Well, maybe not the worst one ever. But it was pretty bad. And it REALLY REALLY HURT. I couldn't sleep all night and I kind-of wanted to slit my throat, it hurt so bad. Luckily, I'm married to a wonderful man who could give me a priesthood blessing, and I've been gradually getting better since then. Poor Danny got sick on Sunday too, although his was some yucky GI trouble and not the nastly flu/cold thing I've got. So, Sunday was quite the "Happy Anniversary" for us -- laying around moaning in our sick house. Next year will be better, no doubt. :).
Here are some pictures from the past two weeks of fun -- there were so many I just put them into a slide show!

We haven't stopped our FHE lessons and accomplishments (even though I haven't blogged them), so I'll play catch-up now and consolidate:
GUNNELL FAMILY ACCOMPLISHEMENTS:
DAVIS- The teeth finally broke through! He went on his first roller coaster and ate his first mud pie (while helping Danny with sprinkers).
REID- He went hot-tubbing! Petted a king snake, turtle, and chameleon. Hated his first roller-coaster. Did the "kids marathon" with Danny.
MACIE- Loved her first roller-coaster. Got Strep throat, but recovered quickly. Played with lots of friends. Sang baby Sarah to sleep.
MARY- 1/2 marathon. Republican delegate to convention. Finished putting blinds up and re-caulked bathroom. Braved a BLIZZARD (seriously, and I was 2 miles away from BYU) with three little kids to get to graduation. Celebrated 6 years of wedded bliss.
DANNY- Ran "kids marathon" with Reid. Batted 8 out of 9 in his softball games. Closed BIG deal with Fidelity (Finally! Huge Hip-Hip-Hooray for this partnership and for all of his hard work!) Celebrated "six LONG years" with me. :) Fixed the sprinklers.

The conference talks we studied the past two weeks have been the talks from the sisters: Last week was "My Soul Delighteth in the Things of the Lord" by Susan W. Tanner, and this week was "Righteous Traditions" by Cheryl C. Lant. Here are the fave quotes (respectively):
*" 'My soul delighteth in the things of the Lord' -- His law, His life, His love. To delight in Him is to acknowledge His hand in our lives. Our gospel duty is to do what is right and to love and delight in what is right. When we delight to serve Him, our Father in Heaven delights to bless us."
*"Our traditions of Sabbath day observance, family prayer, family scripture study, service and activity in the Church, as well as patterns of respect and loyalty in the home, will have a great effect on our children and on their future. If our parenting is based on the teachings of the scriptures and of the latter-day prophets, we cannot go wrong.... If our children know where we stand and we always stand on the Lord’s side, we know we are where we need to be."

"Spring (Break)" in our step...

I'm happy to say that my mood is much improved from last week's blog! Danny is home for a few days (Hooray!) before he has to go back to Woodbadge, and we've had a fun and active weekend! I'm planning on having a super-fun week as well -- it is "Spring Break" at Macie's school and dance, so we are going to live it up! Today was the beginning of our Utah Spring Break Adventure. We hit the Farm Country at Thanksgiving Point, and the kids had a blast, as always. We've been several times before, and as usual, the pony rides were the highlight. Macie's favorite animal was a peacock. Reid's favorite was a cow -- the fake one that he could "milk" in the barn. I think he would've made a pretty cute cowboy. In the car on the way there, he and Macie were both practicing saying "Yee-haw!" It was adorable. I never thought I would be pleased to say that my children were acting like hicks, but it really was the cutest thing. I guess I am finally assimilating into Utah culture. Oh dear.

The rest of the week we plan on hitting the Bean Museum and library, Kangaroo Zoo, the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point (with Daddy), maybe a movie or bowling, and the Discovery Gateway Children's Museum (in SLC). Hopefully we'll have as much fun as we did today!

FHE INSTALLMENT:

Tonight we enjoyed FHE with our good friends and neighbors, the Taylors, so we didn't do Gunnell Family Accomplishments. Here's a brief summary of our week, though:

DAVIS: Cute as ever. Still has a huge gap between his teeth. Would win the Piston Cup of crawling. Who needs to walk when you can crawl that fast? Starting to sleep through the night (finally!).

REID: Mommy's big helper. Played lots of soccer and basketball this week! Very competetive in our FHE soccer game tonight. I stopped his potty-training and put him back in diapers. But I still love him.

MACIE: Wrote her very first book, coming up with the story and writing it all by herself. The only thing I did to help was assist with spelling words such as "however" and "mysterious" and "mermaid". She is so smart, I can't get over it. I'm sure that I couldn't have written a book when I was 4 years old.

ME: Met and discussed issues with several candidates for Legislature and Congress. Ran 12 miles (it's been a while since I've run that far!). Read a fair number of books. Cooked some yummy new recipes. Managed to make it through a week without seeing much of my hubby. Worked in the yard.

DANNY: Traveled to Colorado to negotiate oil deals. Excelled in Woodbadge (the hard-core scouting leadership deal that claimed him Thursday - Saturday, and that will take him away again this week.) Won his first 2 softball games of the year (a double-header late Thursday night that he got special permission to leave Woodbadge for). Set apart as YM president.

And that's about it. We also enjoyed seeing my parents for lunch and Macie's soccer game on Saturday afternoon, while they were in town for just a few short hours! We can't wait to see them and Katie and Tyler again in just 1 1/2 weeks for BYU graduation!

For our lesson tonight, we were plesantly surprised that the Taylor's also enjoy conference talk lessons. Tonight we read from Elder Bednar's talk on prayer, "Ask in Faith". Here are the winning quotes (I picked two):

"I long have been impressed with the truth that meaningful prayer requires both holy communication and consecrated work. Blessings require some effort on our part before we can obtain them, and prayer, as “a form of work, . . . is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings”. We press forward and persevere in the consecrated work of prayer,... by acting upon the things we have expressed to Heavenly Father."

"... A common element in many of our prayers is a request that the missionaries will be led to individuals and families who are prepared to receive the message of the Restoration. But ultimately it is my responsibility and your responsibility to find people for the missionaries to teach. Missionaries are full-time teachers; you and I are full-time finders. And you and I as lifelong missionaries should not be praying for the full-time missionaries to do our work!
If you and I would truly pray and ask in faith, ...—if we would pray with the expectation to act and not just to express—then the work of proclaiming the gospel would move forward in a remarkable way. "

My pity party...

I am depressed tonight. Should I be depressed? Of course not. Yet, I am. Do you ever just feel low, even when everything is really actually pretty great in your life? If you do, then you can relate to exactly how I feel. This is not a very smart mood in which to write the weekly family blog. It makes it seem like our whole family is depressed, or depressing, when the family as a whole is actually quite happy. However, I made a goal to blog today, so here I am typing ...
I will start by getting all of my whining and complaining over with, so that I can focus on the happy things. Here is my miserable pity party:
Danny is gone. The whole week. Today and tomorrow he is in Colorado for work, and Thursday through Saturday he is gone to Woodbadge. He will be gone next week for Woodbadge too. He is missing the dinner date we had planned for Wednesday night, and I can't even go by myself because the babysitter just called and cancelled. The window people left my house REALLY DIRTY. I cannot stand a dirty house. My back hurts because I had to move some VERY HEAVY furniture that was displaced by the same window people that left my house dirty. I just ate a bowl of ice cream because I am depressed, and now I am feeling fat because I ate a WHOLE BOWL of ICE CREAM at 11 PM. Macie yelled at me today and said that I am not a nice mom. I am quitting potty-training Reid FOREVER because he likes to wet his pants. And my kids did not get to bed until 10 PM tonight.
That's it. Not really so bad, when I take a step back. It is easy to see all the blessings in-between the not-so-good things. Danny's gone? Well, at least he's working hard to support our family and magnify his calling. It could definitely be worse. He's not in Iraq, or anything, after all. He's missing our fancy date? Well, at least we had the money to buy tickets for the charity dinner in the first place. And we'll save money now by not paying for a babysitter. Plus, after eating that bowl of ice cream, the last thing I need is a big dinner anyway. Speaking of the ice cream, I am grateful for food -- extra food, at that. Considering how much of the world lives in poverty, what a blessing it is to be living at this time and in this place. Now, onto those "window people". I am definitely happy about getting new windows. Even if my house did get dirty. It is worth it to have beautiful, clear, clean, fresh windows! And I probaby needed the exercise that lifting the furniture gave me. Maybe I'll build some muscle out of it? Finally, my kids. I am so grateful to be a mother, even on the rough days. And, I guess it's OK that we stayed up so late, because we did enjoy watching American Idol together, reading lots of good books, and snuggling close together in one big bed!
Thanks for indulging my little pity party. Now I'll get to the good stuff. Last week my mom visited for a few days, we enjoyed General Conference, and we had a fun get-together with the siblings and cousins as a "farewell" event for Brad and Cass (leaving for Baylor Law School April 26th). Last night for FHE we enjoyed some melt-in-your-mouth steaks that Kimball and Rebecca Hodges grilled up for us, and the kids had a blast playing with Emma and Edison. Here are some pictures of the week:

Grams and Davis at Kangaroo Zoo -- she treated the kids to an evening of fun!

Macie and Reid enjoy jumpin' at the Zoo too!

What a good daddy! Reading books to the kidlets in-between conference sessions.

Taking my conference notes with a smile - Elder Ballard was talking to me!

Reid violently interrupted conference Sunday afternoon. Davis looks scared, doesn't he? :)

Davis holds hands with cousin Cade. They could totally be brothers ... almost twins, by their coloring!

All of the Gunnell cousins get together for a photo-op: Reid, Walker, Cade, Jackson, Davis, Macie, Katelyn, Cassidy, Elizabeth, Brylie, and Brody. Who knows when this will happen next? And will the couch be long enough?

Grandma Gunnell graciously hosted this crew for the goodbye get-together. Amazingly, I think EVERYONE is smiling (and I didn't even photo-shop!).

FHE INSTALLMENT:

Since we joined FHE forces with the Hodges we decided to forego the Gunnell Family Accomplishments this week, but I will list our weekly conference quote. Our lesson was on Elder M. Russell Ballard's talk, written specifically for young mothers (Gee, I wonder why I liked it?). Since it is only available in mp3 format, I just wrote it down as I heard it. Hopefully, it is not off too much.
"Let us remember that the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children. The scriptures and the teachings of the prophets and apostles help all family members to prepare together now to be together through all eternity. I pray that God will continually bless the women of the church to find joy and happiness in their sacred roles as daughters of God."

Slackers...

Yes, we have been slacking on the blogging for a few weeks. But we do have some clever excuses. First, last Monday we hosted an evening of hot-tubbing for Katelyn Baird's 3rd birthday, sooooo we considered the family party our FHE for last week. We would have updated after that, but we were also busy with Easter (and I spoke in church Easter Sunday), egg hunts, soccer games (Danny coaches Macie's pre-K team on Thursdays and Saturdays), Eagle courts of honor, baptisms, an 100-mile bike ride through Moab (go Danny!), the Republican caucus and training (I ran our caucus, and I'm the precinct chair once again), work trips (Danny flew to Denver & Houston to seal some deals), book club (I hosted a very yummy dinner party at our house -- while Danny was gone!), more church talks (Danny taught the combined adults & youth on Sunday), a visit from Amy and David (now living in Logan), a new calling (Danny is now the Young Men's President), and just the general busyness of everyday life! It's amazing how much stuff can happen in just a few short weeks! Here are the photos documenting all of the fun we've had:







And for this week's FHE installment:
ACCOMPLISHMENTS:
DAVIS: Has successfully boycotted naps for one whole week (this is not a happy accomplishment for me, but Davis seems quite pleased with himself.). I think he is getting new teeth.
REID: He turned three! (old news, but still his favorite news.) He played basketball and soccer with his new hoop and goal!
MACIE: Created a beautiful book at preschool that describes her five senses. She gave lots and lots of her Easter eggs away to little kids that didn't find many. (I was really proud of her!)
ME: Hosted a delicious book club, hosted a great Republican caucus, and was elected Precinct chair and delegate again. Gave a good church talk.
DANNY: Plans to partner his huge Twilight oil deal with Fidelity. Sold another 7 1/2% of the Keystone oil deal! Rode his bike 100 miles through Moab! Traveled to Houston and Denver. Called as Young Men's President. Gave a wonderful combined lesson.

(President Eyring Gratitude Moment)
*One of the highlights of the past two weeks was arriving home from Las Vegas and finding that our favorite neighbors, the Judkins, had taken all of our remodeling garbage to the dump for us! Whoo-hoo! We love them and are grateful for the friendship they've given our family!

Quote of the Week: (From Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin's talk, "The Great Commandment")
"The most cherished and sacred moments of our lives are those filled with the spirit of love. The greater the measure of our love, the greater is our joy. . . . consider your sacred duty to teach others to love the Lord and their fellowman. This is the central object of our existence. Without charity—or the pure love of Christ—whatever else we accomplish matters little. With it, all else becomes vibrant and alive."