We've got video!

I finally figured out how all of those smart bloggers get video on their blogs! Whoo-hoo! Our first video clip to post is Macie's dance recital from last weekend -- she was GREAT! Yep, I was definitely a proud parent! Even though she is the youngest in the class (all of the other girls are already 4 or 5 years old), of course I thought she was the best! Aunt Katie and Uncle Tyler came to support her and cheer her on (THANKS!) -- and she was elated. I was surprised by how many people there were at the show -- we had to wait in line for 45 minutes to BUY tickets to the recital (isn't that suppossed to be a FREE perk of paying for dance lessons, a COMPLIMENTARY dance recital??!! Apparantly not anymore...), but I guess it was so crazy because it is a "prestigious" studio. As if the little kids really know the difference. Anyway, Macie was fabulous, and I hope you enjoy her little show!

Dancing Queen - Macie's First Dance Recital

"SONG OF THE HEART"
May 19, 2007

Our Sweet Baby

Momma & Poppa

Happy Anniversary!

Happy Anniversary Danny! Who knew that 5 years of marriage could pass by so fast?! We celebrated the day with some proxy sealings at the temple and an overnight stay at Sundance. The next AM we hiked Stewart Falls -- it was tons of fun! Thanks to Katie and Tyler for watching our kids!

Down at the Ranch

*The view from one of our 4-wheeling excursions*

I had to post some fun pictures from our recent (Easter weekend) trip down to the Foote Family ranch near Kanab, UT. We had such a blast, and are super grateful to Katie and Tyler and the Foote family for inviting us to come!
Highlights of the weekend trip included 4-wheeling around the Virgin river, in-and-out of the gorge and up and down mountains (Danny and I had a "special" 4-wheeler -- the Rhino -- which was basically like a super fancy golf cart with great shocks and 4WD...perfect for a pregnant lady with two little kiddies in tow!), fun hikes down and up steep hills and in slot canyons, a homemade Easter egg hunt, marshmellow shooting and ring toss games, beautiful star-gazing, and WONDERFUL company and food. Macie ate so many pancakes while we were there that I thought she was going to explode (and she kept on saying, "Mommy, I really like the ranch. They have DELICIOUS food here!"). It was an awesome weekend, and Danny can't stop asking, "When are we going to the ranch again?"

*Kenneth Linge borrowed Tyler's camera for a moment to shoot the curves of my belly against the curves of the canyon. They assured me that although I cringe at the curves of my belly now, I will like this picture later. We'll see...

*Macie's cheesy smile in her "My Daddy Loves Me" shirt -- it's her favorite item of clothing lately!

*Reidy boy insisted on trying on every helmet (all 6 of them!) while playing outside! He looked like a little live bobble-head doll.

*Our "Easter Bunny" get's ready to hide tons of eggs in the field for the kids to find. Aunt Katie brought chocolate eggs too, so the kids were really excited for the hunt!

*Reid and Macie donned their bunny ears to hunt for the Easter eggs. What a pair of cuties!

*Macie and Uncle Tyler cheese it up for the camera, while Aunt Katie smiles by the "Rhino".

*The awesome night sky is captured by Tyler on camera.

Splish Splash!

I just couldn't resist posting this picture of Reid from yesterday -- we came home from swimming at the rec. center (our FHE activity!), and the kids got into the bath like normal. But before we knew it, Reid had climbed out and grabbed his flippers from the swimming bag! He wanted to go swimming in the bathtub! Who could resist that big cheesy smile?!

Happy Birthday Reidy-Boy!

Well... our little boy is now in his "terrible twos" -- that's right! -- Reid turned 2 years old on Monday, and we celebrated with a small family party of hot dogs, chips, ice cream, and cake. What more could the little guy want?
Of course, we all spoiled him, and he was thrilled with his many gifts of balls, bubbles, swords, books, Buzz Lightyear, and a trampoline (which he has to share with Macie, of course). He's 100% boy, alright! Thanks to all who sent gifts or came to the party -- as you can see from the photos above, Reid really had a wonderful day. Of course, he was tired out by the time it got dark (after a full day of jumping on the trampoline, who wouldn't be?), but he still had enough energy to blow out his candles 5 or 6 times! Danny kept re-lighting the cake, Reid would excitedly blow the candles out each time, and then command "Dad, AGAIN!" It was lots of fun!

I still can't believe that my baby is two years old! What's even more unbelievable is that we will have a new little baby in May! The doctor says that things seem to be going well, and that she doesn't anticipate any problems. So, hopefully baby Davis will come without incident. I just hope he decides to come on time ... I am not looking forward to being pregnant any longer than I have to!

We've got a new look!

I was finally able to figure out how to get a new header on our blog, courtesy of Adobe Photoshop, of course, and a little help from my friend Amy (she's got such a cute blog, I just had to ask her how she got it that way). So, now every time you visit our page, you'll see our cute new header! Enjoy!

Beat Those Utes!

Go Cougars! The ballgame on Saturday was a blast, especially because we creamed those Utah Utes. Now our family is headed off to Vegas to cheer on the Y as we face other ball teams in the MWC tournament!

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

Happy Chinese New Year! We celebrated the holiday with our little family for FHE last week, and the kids really had a blast. I checked out some books from the library so we could learn about Chinese customs and traditions. Then we ate some Chinese food for dinner, fortune cookies for dessert, and marched in our Gunnell Family Chinese New Year parade. Danny led the procession around the living room, kitchen, and hallway -- holding up the kids homemade dragon masks in the front, while we followed wearing the dragon's body and tail. If only I could figure out how to get video on here, I'm sure it would be a hit. The whole while we chanted "Gung Hay Fat Choy!" I think this will be a new family tradition -- it was a blast!

A Preggo Picture

Although I've been postponing the time when I had to do this, I've had entirely too many requests for pictures of my pregnant belly. So, here it is. Baby Davis in all his glory . . . and me with 2 1/2 months still to go! Lately I've been feeling as if my middle is going to explode ... so I hope I can endure this to the end!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Here's a little Valentine's Day shout-out from our cute kidlets! We hope that you all had fun (we enjoyed the BYU Basketball game as a family...how romantic! ha! I guess it proves that I really love Danny, to for-go a romantic dinner date for a sporting event instead...)

A New Year, A New Update . . .

Although it has officially been 2007 for over a month now, I haven't updated our little family blog, and I've been feeling a little guilty. So, even though I have little to report, here is our "new"- new year's update!
As you can see above, we started off the new year (or finished off the old year, however you choose to look at it), with a fun family trip to Disneyland with the Davis family. We'd traveled to So. Cali for my Grandpa Sandy's 90th birthday party, and decided to hit the Magical Kingdom the next day. Macie and Reid were both sick (it was soooo sad), but they still felt well enough to enjoy the "happiest place on earth." Reid and Daddy's favorite ride was Buzz Lightyear (shown above), and Macie liked It's a Small World and Autotopia. I got super sick on the Teacups, and would not recommend them for pregnant women (I may have been smiling in the picture above, but that was BEFORE the teacups had started. I assure you that I was not smiling when they were done.). Overall, it was a blast. We are grateful to the Davis family for taking us there!
Since we've been back in Utah, we've had LOTS of COLD WEATHER. In fact, we weren't able to take off our Christmas lights until last weekend, because we've had constant snow on our roof! Yesterday it reached 44 degrees, and as far as I know, it's the first day we've broken freezing here in Provo for a month! Yuck. I don't enjoy the snow and cold very much, but Danny has made it a fun time for the kids (at least someone enjoys it!). Most every weekend he takes the kids out sledding, and they've made several snowmen this winter. We still have one giant snowman that has been standing in our backyard since before Christmas! I did have fun 2 weeks ago when we tied the sled to the back of our car with a rope and went "sledding" around the frozen streets in our neighborhood. It was a clever idea, and I'm glad that Danny convinced me to try it out. :)
Last week Danny was in Texas for his bi-annual Oil and Gas Convention, and I was home-bound here with two VERY SICK children. I mentioned that Macie and Reid were sick at Christmas-time, and unfortunately, Reid has been mostly sick since then as well. We've taken them to the doctor and they've been on antibiotics and other medications, but only Macie has seemed to recover well. Poor little Reid has become skin and bones and I am worried about our "Big Fella" -- he's definitely not "big" anymore. Still, he is mostly cheerful -- when he's not coughing or experiencing GI troubles. He is such a joy to have at home. Reid is talking more and more each day, and is very snuggly and loving. He has also recently begun saying the prayers at dinner and bedtime, which has been very fun for Danny and I. Macie continues to delight us as well, although her independence sometimes exasperates us. It is difficult having 3 "bosses" in the house -- Danny, Me, and Macie! She has recently decided that she loves to dress-up, and I included a picture of her last week in the Cinderella costume I made for her birthday. She's has lots of fun pretending to be a princess, and can't wait until Mommy finishes decorating her new "princess" bedroom.
Well, that's about it for our little family. I guess the only other news (and it's really good news) is that they've decided to keep my due date at May 8th. I guess I am measuring right-on, and the ultrasound tech that said they would move my date back 2 weeks only used the abdomen to measure the baby's gestation -- instead of taking into account the limb length or skull size. Brilliant -- way to scare an expecting mother. Anyway -- for now they tell me to stick with the 8th -- so I am. And I'm very happy about it too. :)
We hope and pray that all of our family and friends are doing well. Please keep us up-t0-date on your lives as well!

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!