Before Summer Ends...

Before summer ends, I guess I better document that we DID actually have a summer!  Unfortunately in all the fun, busyness, and excitement of summer I rarely took my camera anywhere!  So I've searched all my loving family members blogs in order to "borrow" pictures!  Thanks, Mom, Chelsea, and Jadi for the pictures!  I'm not going to give much detail, I think the pictures say enough, otherwise we could be here all day recapping the ENTIRE summer in one post!  So sit back and enjoy re-living summer, before it ends!



 My wonderful mom took my sisters and I out for the night!  We had SUCH a good time at the Nashville Tribute Band concert.  Not sure what I did more of, singing or crying.  LOVE their music!

 I was so proud of Jack and Eli!  They rode their bikes the WHOLE way through the kids parade on the 24th of July.  What big boys!

 It wouldn't be summer without a trip to Bear Lake.  As always it was amazing! 

 Eli, the digger with the hat, never stopped "working"!

 These boys have spent ALL SUMMER together.  If Chelsea is at work, they are with me.  If I am at work, they are with her.  BEST FRIENDS!

 Relaxing with a popsicle after a hard day of play!

 Don't let this angel face fool you!

 Summer means farming!  Good thing Grandpa has so many helpers.

 Grandpa takes ALL the kids for a ride at the Bisel Family reunion.  I think a few more kids climbed on before he actually left.  What a daredevil!

 During the reunion we stained the fence that is in front of the property my Great Grandpa and Grandma settled over a hundred years ago.

 Playing in the mud and washing off in Grandma's creek can't be beat.

 We got as much use out of our Seven Peaks passes as we could!  (Though we might try one more time before they close!!!!!)

I had the BEST childhood growing up around so many cousins.  Now we only get to see each other a couple of times a year.  But when we get together it's just like old times.  I'm pretty sure we could stay up all night talking and being silly just like we did twenty (something) years ago!

Second generation of cousins, playing all the same games their parents did.



We had a great Gunnerson family reunion at the cabin.  It has been a couple of years since everyone has been together, and we had a WONDERFUL time!

Getting bigger every year!

All the Gunnerson grandkids with Grandpa and Grandma.

Liv had a fun time at the cabin playing with shoes!  Her favorite pasttime.  

Eli takes a whack at the pinata.

 

So there you have it, our summer in one post.  It has been a great summer and we were able to spend so much time with our families making memories.  I hate to see it end.  Good thing it will come around again next year!

New Baby and Pinewood Derby

A very original title, I know.  But nothing else really seemed to fit these two random events!  At the end of May my baby sister had a beatutiful baby girl, Ayla Noelle.  Liv just LOVES Noelle so much and always wants to be holding her.  We call them ebony and ivory, and just adore how different they are.  Noelle takes after her mom and dad with her beautiful olive skin and dark eyes and hair.  Liv takes after her dad with his fair skin, blonde hair, and blue eyes.  So different, but both so cute!



 Liv is SOOOO happy to be holding Noelle.

 I hope Noelle can survive so much "love" from Liv!

 It didn't seem that long ago that Liv was my precious newborn. 

Ah, the pinewood derby.  A right of passage for any Cub Scout.  Although we knew about the Derby for quite some time, our busy lives kept Rick and Luke from doing much work on the car until just the night before!  Rick was actually out painting a second coat after midnight!  

 Luke's car was on the end in lane six.  Yep, my little cougar went with a blue and white BYU design!  Suprisingly, being a BYU fan here in Utah puts you in the minority.  I'm so sad that Luke has actually come home from school upset because of what kids say about him liking BYU.  Oh well, I just tell him that we are nice no matter what.  But I seriously almost got in a fight during the Derby when some Utah fans actually BOOED Luke when he won an award for biggest cougar fan.  Really?  You are gonig to BOO a 10 year old boy for his pinewood derby car?  Really?  It just goes to show the CLASS of Utes.  Classy, really classy.

They had quite the set up going for the Derby.  Everything was computerized and official!  All the cars raced in every lane and all the times were automatically entered into a computer so we could have results down to the hundredth of a second! 

 Here is Luke with his awesome BYU car!

Luke didn't win, but did come in sixth. There were 41 entries, so he was actually very happy with how he placed.  He won most of his heats, so he came away feeling very proud of his car.

Life on the Farm

Most people know I was raised on a dairy farm.  I have many wonderful memories of working alongside my dad, mom, brothers, sisters, and grandparents as we did all that goes into living on a farm.  One thing that I remember well is bottle feeding new calves.  I can still smell the sweet smell of the milk, feel the warmth of the bottle in my hands, and smile when I think of letting the calves suck on my fingers.  As I've said many times, one reason that Rick and I were eager to move back to Utah was to allow our children to have many of those same experiences.  My dad recently lost a mother cow who had just had a calf.  This calf now needs fed twice a day from a bottle.  With a quarter acre fenced off, a shed for protection, and three strong boys, our home was the best place for this calf to come.  It's quite a responsibility to take care of a calf, but that is what I love most about life on the farm... learning how to work and be responsible.  The boys have really taken well to this new responsibility, even being irritated with me for mixing the milk for them when they KNOW how to do it.  Thanks to my mom for the wonderful pictures of the boys learning to feed the calf.  To see more pictures of this day, and hear her version of the story click here.

 Elijah and Evan watch as Luke goes to try his hand at feeding.

 Noah pays close attention as he waits for his turn.

 As the oldest grandson, I'm sure this is the first of MANY learning opportunities on the farm.

 Noah holds the chin just right to help the little calf drink.

"Awesome!" 

This expression is permanent on Elijah's face.  He's the happiest kid I know!

Christmas in April

I feel like most people out there have completely given up on blogging.  I haven't.  I mean, I wasn't intentionally giving up.  I just got too busy, then too far behind, then too unmotivated.  Well, I'm back!  And since my last post was Christmas Eve, this post is about Christmas.  Yes, even though it's April.  Hopefully you will stick with me over the next few months as I play catch up!

Christmas Morning



After Church

My little Christmas Doll

 

Testing out my new Christmas present...

(Liv was so hard because you had to sit completely still with the shutter open for such a long time!)

Christmas Eve

WAY back when I was in high school, my mom decided to start our family Christmas tradition with a Christmas Eve dinner. She wanted to make sure that as we grew up, got married, and had children we would know that Christmas Eve was a special time with our family. And what a special time it is. We always have an amazing candle lit dinner, a program, and open a "special gift". Early on, the program was short and consisted of each of us playing a little something on the piano. As we got married we sometimes threw in our spouses. One year Rick and I even mixed things up with a recorder duet! Now that we have children we are off the hook and get to sit back and enjoy watching our children perform. This year in addition to the program we had a wonderful nativity program complete with speaking parts, vocal solos, and beautiful violin music. I'm so greatful to my mom for the traditions and memories that we have and continue to make.

All the grandkids in their new Christmas pajamas.

You may have noticed in the above picture that Noah was really doing his best posing for the camera!
The nativity cast.
Here are my little cuties!

Luke was the wisest wiseman, Noah was Joseph (and couldn't have been more pleased that Mia was Mary), Elijah was the happiest little shepherd (despite what he looks like in the picture), and Liv was a beautiful angel (just like she really is!).

I was so proud of Noah because his part included singing a solo. I was certain that he wouldn't want to do it so I made Luke practice it just in case. But, Noah practiced and practiced and performed his heart out that night. It might have been a little off pitch, but to me it was perfect. Elijah also sang a solo (which was suppose to be a duet with his partner shepherd who really just wanted to be a pirate and left the production in tears) and if you listened REALLY carefully, you could almost hear him! Oh well, it was the best a little shepherd boy could do.

The food was amazing, the program was great, the nativity was touching, but the best part of the evening was spending time with my family. The best gift ever!

Let the good times start!

Christmas is just three days away and I'm not sure who is more excited, me or the kids! Last night Chelsea invited us all over for the first of MANY parties yet to come. She totally out did herself with cookies, candy, and gingerbread houses. I'm not sure how she does it all while tending MY baby girl! The kids had a blast frosting cookies, decorating gingerbread houses, drinking caramel apple cider, playing together, and eating gumballs by the dozen. Thanks Chelsea. You are always one for a good time.