Gunnell Family Fun

Thanksgiving

2011-11-29T08:07:00.000-08:00

We let Sam and Jacob take our Thanksgiving pictures this year which may have been a mistake. But here is the best of what we got out of them.
We had Alan's cousin Liz and her husband JD and their little girl Cami who is about a month younger than Nathan come visit. Also, we had my uncle Tracy from Dallas come down too. We are so blessed to have such great family living close enough to come visit.
Nathan, Cami, and Sam with his head cut off.
JD, Me, and Alan getting stuff cleaned up after dinner
Hanging out with the kids in the playroom, Alans feet, Cami, Liz, Jacobs back and JD's legs.

We forgot to take a picture with the Egberts but I remembered at the last minute to take one of the boys with Tracy. This made me realize that next time I think I will be taking control of picture taking and we can try letting the kids take pictures when they get a little older.
Thanks Tracy and the Egberts for visiting we had a blast!

Camping

2011-11-29T07:59:00.000-08:00

So we finally took the kids camping a couple of weekends ago, we met up with our friend Jason in a campsite in Somerville, TX. It was on a little beach and because of the drought this year the lake was significantly smaller than normal, but this allowed us to find some pretty neat Clam shells. The boys made a collection of shells and brought one home to keep.

For some reason we did not get any pictures of us with our new ginormous tent that we had to buy for our growing family. The boys loved every minute of their experience, from skipping rocks to making s'mores, they love camping.

Cute Nathan

2011-11-29T07:35:00.000-08:00

So, I was feeling kind of guilty that Nathan has not gotten any professional pictures for a while, I did do professional pictures of Sam and Jacob when they were his age. Anyway, I decided he needed to have a special post all about him and his almost 18 month old self. He is such a special boy. So sweet and loves his big brothers. He likes to put on other peoples shoes, wrestle with daddy and the boys, sing, dance, read, tease his brothers and roll around the ground with a big smile on his face. He can say a couple of words, like Dad, Mom, Jakie, (he has a word for Sam but it sounds like "that"), dog, tree, ball etc.
We love our Nathan!

Halloween

2011-11-29T07:11:00.001-08:00

The boys were so excited for Halloween this year, they dressed as Robin Hoods and Nathan was a karate kid. Here they are waiting to go out trick or treating.
We had fun celebrating Halloween by decorating pumpkins and having a Halloween party with our friends Hallie and Jason, unfortunately we did not get any pictures of the party because the battery on the camera died, but we had fun bobbing for apples, and eating donuts on a string.

Soon after Halloween was the boys 50th day of school so they got to dress up like they were from the 50's, they wore white t-shirts and rolled up jeans and slicked back their hair.Later the next week they wanted to dress as cowboys and so I had these shirts for them to wear and they passed around their one cowboy hat so they each got a turn to wear it.

Baby Girl

2011-10-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

Yes, it is true, we are pregnant and having a girl, I am 20 weeks along now and the baby is due at the beginning of March. We have some very excited little boys here eager to meet their new baby sister. They have been praying for a baby sister for a couple of years now and so they were thrilled to know it was a girl. I will keep you updated more on baby #4 as the weeks go on.

Soccer

2011-10-18T18:15:00.000-07:00

The boys started Soccer for the first time. It is so funny to watch all the little kids all chase after the ball. Both boys have each scored a goal and helped their team a lot with assists.

Taking a water break
Nathan thinks he is such a big boy and he wants to go out and play too. Here he is chasing after the ball to kick it. His new favorite word is ball and he carries the boys soccer boys around the house yelling "ball" and then putting it down and kicking it. It is so cute to watch.

Starting Kindergarten and other news

2011-09-15T14:01:00.000-07:00

Samuel and Jacob have started school and have loved it. Sam has Mrs. Chippi, and Jacob has Mrs. Huettel (who is replacing his teacher Mrs. Williams who just had a baby.) They love PE, art, gym, recess, lunch, and centers the most. But they do fit in actual school work too.

Getting on the bus
Waiting for the bus

Nathans hair was starting to look like this...

So we decided he needed a haircut, so this is the final result. I learned that cutting a wiggly one year olds hair is hard.Here are my little guys ready for church, aren't they adorable.

We have had picture day already too, and this was what the boys looked like in the morning, I am hoping their actual pictures look something similar and that they don't have crazy hair or something.
Nathan was a little jealous of the boys new backpacks, so he decided to borrow one of their old backpacks. He is also decided to start walking more which is a big relief for me. A little note about Nathan, he LOVES shoes, he has only a few words, which are DAD, Mom, cheese, and shoes (I think he also says dog but it sounds a lot like Dad so I am not sure.) And these are the things he loves the most so I guess it is fitting. He also loves to jabber, he is so funny and I get stopped in the grocery store ALL the time from old ladies who want to talk to him because he is so vocal.

The Bees Knees

2011-08-21T20:09:00.001-07:00

So we discovered this week that we had bees. A lot of bees. We had to call out a bee keeper to find out exactly how many we had and what damage they made. The guy was amazing he found the problem by feeling around for warm spots and listening for the bees. This is where he found the bees, luckily they were not in between walls or somewhere extremely difficult to get to them. However he did say they went back in this area about 5 feet. You can see where they are here because it is the section without insulation, it is hard to see the bees and comb because he was using a smoker.

Here he is vacuuming up the bees
Just a small piece of honeycomb that he pulled out. He pulled out 20 pounds of unusable honeycomb and honey and about 4 pounds of honey with comb that was usable.

More comb
This is the comb he gave us, we extracted the honey from this and got a mason jar full. It was a crazy thing, we still can't believe we had literally hundreds of bees living in our wall and under our floor.

Samuel and Jacob turn 5

2011-08-21T19:51:00.000-07:00

The boys were so excited to turn 5. They asked for bikes and they got them, they obviously didn't get to ride on them until they saw them in person in Texas, but they did get some bike helmets from their grandma which they had to wear right away.

Aunt Karen made them some fun capes
This is the wonderful Dinosaur Train cake Grandma Jane made for the boys, isn't it awesome

The boys wanted all of their family that could make it at their party. Uncle Richard, Uncle Braden, and Aunt Karen and their families joined us along with Moma and Papa, Grandma Jane and Boppus, Uncle Evan, Aunt Sarah and Aunt Audrey, and some of our friends, Liz and Rob and Wendy and James and their families.
We played games, ate food, ate cake, and played at the park.

The boys loved their birthday party and were so excited to have all of their cousins with them, thanks everyone for coming out.

Utah Trip part I

2011-08-21T19:11:00.001-07:00

Our three week long trip to Utah was a blast. I spent the first half of it with the kids at my parents house. The first stop we made was to Smith and Edwards to tryout the saddles and hats.
We visited lots of family, here we are with Grandma and Grandpa Fisher

We played a lot of wii with cousins

We had a sleep over with Bryn, Cody, Abby and Macy

We visited the Trains at the Ogden Union Station

Nathan met his cousin Ethan

We hung out with Afton, Mei, Ben, Ethan, Richard and Courtney

We celebrated Courtney's birthday
Grandma Jane and Boppus visited us there
We played in some fun balls

We went to visit Grandma Montierth at her new home, the boys especially loved playing with the marble game

Nathan learned to drive

We hung out with our friends Clay and Broden in Logan

We went with Uncle Braden's family and Moma and Papa to a water park with Aunt Marilyn's family

We had a great time hanging out with the Montierth side

Utah Trip part II

2011-08-21T18:26:00.001-07:00

Finally Alan joined us and we went down to Orem to visit with Boppus and Grandma Jane and all the other family members down there.

It was so nice to just hang out outside and play in the grass

we got to visit with Grandma and Grandpa Redd

we love our aunts and uncles!

We celebrated Grandma Jane's birthday and Pioneer day

We got family pictures taken with the whole gang, here is a cute after shot at the Timpanogos Temple
We went to the Bean Museum

Aunt Audrey got her mission call to Philadelphia Pennsylvania
And we went on a fun hike to Bridal Veil Falls

We visited the Dinosaur Museum

Pre-Utah photos

2011-08-21T18:12:00.000-07:00

So before we went to Utah we had fun decorating our house with Moma and had a fun visit from our friends Shane and Ashley.
Nathan in Sam and Jacob's newly decorated room.

Ashley and I
The boys on the 4th of July
Jacob in his room, it isn't a lot of decoration really, but they were excited about the letters, new lamp, and curtains.
the boys playing all together, this was one of the first times they really ever played together, now it is a more common occurrence.

This Month Flew by

2011-06-29T14:05:00.000-07:00

Wow, that went fast, but we have had a good couple of weeks. First we had our wonderful Audrey come and visit. We were so excited to have her and we did some fun things with her. We went to our pool, went to the beach, went to a fun store and restaurant, and just played and played and played with her. I am afraid we wore her out, but we were grateful she took her vacation to come see us. We love you Audrey!

Nathan woke up one morning during Audrey's visit with some kind of bug bite and he looked like Quasimodo for the rest of the day.

Nathan also turned 1 during her visit. We made him this sock monkey cake with a mini sock monkey cake just for him.
He likes cake by the way, surprise, surprise.

He got quite a lot of gifts from family, Sammy and Jakie saved for weeks to buy him some cars for his birthday. He really liked opening presents and seemed to realize they were for him. He still loves everything he got and plays with "his" stuff more than the old stuff we had from Sam and Jacob.

After Audrey left Moma came to visit. Here she is with the boys in their matching shirts. I took other pictures with her in them but they were mostly of her in her swim suit and I didn't think she would appreciate them on here.

Alan also had his 29th birthday and we celebrated by going to the Johnson Space Center.

The tram ride was a big hit. It was hot but the boys really liked seeing mission control and the big rockets. They have been playing space all week so I guess that means they had a good time.
These are just some pictures of the boys, they are growing so fast, I cannot believe they are getting so big. Samuel and Jacob turn 5 next month and go to Kindergarten in the fall so they are now learning how to read and that has been an adventure. Nathan has been teething and now has 4 teeth.

I'm a Big Boy Now

2011-05-30T05:25:00.001-07:00

Nathan is getting so big, he will turn 1 year in a little over a week. His teeth are really close to actually making their appearance, it looks like he will get 6 around the same time, but they have been at this point for about two or three weeks, so who knows when they will put him out of his misery.
He is a fun little guy. He is very active (although he is still too scared to actually walk unassisted) and starting to get more and more verbal. He can say da da and maaaaa, which is not necessarily meant for me, it is just what he says when he is upset and wants something, although I am the one who fixes the problems so maybe it is really meant for me.
He also thinks he is as big as his brothers. He wants to be just like them and LOVES it when they play with him. I am always finding him trying to sit with them on the couch or following them around as they play downstairs. This annoys them a little but usually they just think he is really funny. And his favorite thing to do is play with their toys up in the playroom, their toys are obviously much superior to his own, probably because they are off limits.
Here is a picture of Nathan playing the piano with his brothers, he thinks he is such a big boy. I love how he is on his tip toes and still is struggling to reach the keys.

I threw these next pictures in just for fun. Samuel and Jacob went on a camping trip to our backyard with their daddy this last week. We have been having a very very bad drought here, as is evidenced in our terrible straw-like grass. But this night it was actually a little stormy. The boys lasted through a movie (complete with camping treats, apparently they sucked down a whole bag of gummy bears in just a couple of minutes) and an hour of sleep before they were complaining about the wind and the sprinkling of water, so Alan brought them inside to finish sleeping. It might have been short lived but they were happy and all had a good time.

We are looking forward to some fun visitors coming soon, sooo exciting to see family!

Catch Up

2011-05-14T18:09:00.001-07:00

So I know I haven't blogged in a while and we have been very busy so here is my attempt to cram it all into on blog entry.

We have been very busy looking for a house to buy and then going through the process of buying it. But, we have also had some visitors and other exciting things thrown in.
I made this little outfit for Nathan, it turned out kind of big, and I think people think he is a girl when he wears it, but I still think he is adorable in it.

Our friend Jason stopped by for a visit and taught the boys a little about baseball.
He even got some one on one time with Nathan. I love the looks on each of their faces.

Alan's brother Evan got home from his mission and came for a visit too. This was his first time meeting Nathan and they became quick pals right away.
The boys and Evan at the park.
Evan in his Lederhosen.
The castle Alan, Evan, Samuel and Jacob built at the beach.
Jacob

Evan got buried by the boys.
Nathan
Samuel

We got to celebrate Evan's birthday.
And we ended his trip with a little egg decorating.
Easter morning was a lot of fun. Nathan holding his gift from the Easter Bunny.
The boys with their chocolate bunnies.
Jacob on the hunt.
Sam with a bucket full of eggs.
Nathan in his Easter outfit.
All three of my guys in their Eater outfits. This is our traditional Easter picture on our rocking chair. This may be the last year of this particular pose because it was really crowded and this was the best picture I could get because everyone was upset for being so squished.
Samuel and Jacob attempting a smile.
We also ended our little preschool, here are some of the kids who we came to love.
We moved, like I announced at the beginning of this post and here are the boys in the truck.
And in front of the truck.
Nathan looking cute at our new house.
Nathan eating Chili, this was pretty hilarious, he had it everywhere. This kid really loved it too.

So we are still getting settled into our house, when we get things set up more I will probably post a couple of pictures.

Minda, Mother

2011-05-08T06:20:00.000-07:00

I think this might be the best time to make my first post. I want to let everyone know that I have the best wife and mother to our children I could ever imagine. It is not easy for her to be home with our three crazy boys. I know that one day they will learn to appreciate her, like I do for my own mother, and all the time she spends to make their lives better. Honey I know that it isn't easy and simple, but they will thank you and hold you in reverence for the work you do. I know I do. Happy Mother's Day , I love you !

Blue Bells 2011

2011-04-03T16:42:00.000-07:00

Sea World San Antonio

2011-04-03T16:23:00.000-07:00

Alan has been working a lot lately and we decided to take a little mini vacation this week with the boys to Sea World so that we could spend some quality time together. They have been working really hard to get enough points on their point chart so that we could go.
Needless to say they were VERY excited about the trip.

Here are my guys waiting to watch the sea lion show.Jacob on the Carousel

Sammy on the Carousel
The dolphin and Beluga Whale show.
The big boys on the spinning fish ride. They got to ride more rides this time than they did two years ago when we went. They were pretty happy to get to ride the big boy rides.
Jacob on the mini Ferris Wheel, if you look really carefully behind the pink fence you can see Alan waiting with Sammy and Nathan.

The Shamu ride, this was a big hit last time we went and apparently is still their favorite. You can only see Alan in the back.
Watching the dolphins swim around.
Here is a random picture of Nathan enjoying a french fry, he is a big fan.
A fun picture of my boys hanging out with their blankets their grandma made for them.

Our New House

2011-03-25T06:41:00.000-07:00

So, over the past month we have put offers on three homes. The first we found out right away that we were outbid. The second we had to wait for two and a half weeks or so before we found out that we were outbid. But finally we put a bid on this home and eventually (it took almost a week) we found out that for sure it was ours, that is if the inspection goes ok this weekend.

We are excited for this new adventure, and glad that the search is over.

Some things we have been up to

2011-02-28T13:00:00.000-08:00

We had Valentines day and shared a special heart pizza for the occasion. Alan bought me some nice flowers and the boys had received their presents earlier in the month because they knew they were coming and I gave in, I was excited for them to use their foam swords.

Nathan is growing like a weed and is into EVERYTHING. He thinks he is a big boy just like his brothers and he tries to play with them, they love him and all but don't like the way he "plays" with them. But he and Mom often have fun playing together on the floor, that is until Dad comes home and then he crawls right up to him with the biggest smile, he sure loves his Dad.

We are currently looking for a house to buy and looking forward to that adventure.

Sam's Rest Time

2011-02-28T12:53:00.000-08:00

Our kids don't always take naps anymore, instead we make them take a rest. That means that they get to play quietly with toys in a room apart from one another, a rest from each other, and a rest away from Mom. Today Sam came out of rest time all excited to show me how he had put his Playmobile people together holding hands. He wanted me to tell anyone who reads this that they are holding hands because they love each other. He is such a sweet boy.

A Whole Lot to Catch Up On

2011-02-10T10:35:00.000-08:00

So I am finally blogging again, Yay! Check out the Christmas post below, but here is a little about what we have been doing since Christmas.

Nathan is starting to feed himself now.
Isn't he the cutest.
The boys are back in their routine, here they are with their dinosaur hair. They love preschool and are having fun with their friends.
Nathan is now cruising around the furniture and it is scary. He crawls and gets into EVERYTHING. He is a little Houdini, he can find the smallest thing and stick it in his mouth, I am constantly sweeping the kitchen floor and yet he still can find something to stick in his mouth.
Samuel and Jacob still love their brother but think it is great fun to pick him up and bring him to me whenever they feel like he is going to get into their stuff.

Christmas 2010

2011-02-10T09:13:00.000-08:00

So this post is completely our of order and I can't figure out why I can't move the pictures, but this is what we were up to at Christmas time.

Celebrating my 31st Birthday
Hanging out at Aunt Karen's House

Aunt Sarah, Nathan, and Aunt Karen
Cousins Caleb and Gavin, Sammy, Jakie and Grandma Jane
Cousin Caleb, Boppus, and Nathan
Cousin Fara, Papa, Nathan
Cousins at Moma and Papa's house sledding
Cousin Carter
Cousin Brady
Cousin Leilani
Samuel
Jacob
Uncle Robert and the cousins in the snow
Daddy and Nathan
Cousins on Papa: Brady, Afton, Samuel, Jacob and Leilani on the couch
New Baby Cousin Ethan
Mommy and Nathan, Aunt Marisa and Baby Fara in the background
Jakie and Sammy with Uncle Robert
Brady, Jacob,Sammy, Mei, Leilani, Afton, and Carter on Christmas Day
Opening presents on Christmas Morning

Christmas Eve production of the Christmas Story. Samuel, Jacob and Gavin as the Shepherds, Wise Men and all the other characters.
Baby Nathan as Baby Jesus, Aunt Sarah as Mary
Daddy as the Donkey, with some help from Caleb.

Wonderful Aunt Audrey

Cousin fun

Sledding with Dad and hanging in the snow at Grandma Jane and Boppus'

Nathan loves the piano
We had a great trip and the boys were really good driving the 24 hours there and back. Nathan was not a fan of his car seat and did not want to get back in it for many days after we got back to Texas.

We love our family and are happy we got to see a lot of them.

Christmas Photo Shoot

2010-12-18T14:45:00.001-08:00

Sam
Sam
Jacob
Jacob

Nathan

Nathan
Jacob
Sam

My friend Jennifer took the pictures and my boys loved hanging out with her son Quentin after the shoot

Father and Sons Campout

2010-12-18T14:38:00.001-08:00

Alan took the boys on their first father and son campout and they LOVED it. They camped about a half hour from our house right on the Brazos River and the boys spent their time throwing rocks into the river and playing with their friend Shazer, and of course spending time with Dad.

Decking the Halls

2010-12-18T14:06:00.001-08:00

We have been busy with all our holiday festivities and in all that business I lost the cord for our camera and couldn't download pictures, I finally found it and now you will be bombarded with all that we have been doing.

Raking leaves, the boys were kind of helpful, but Nathan was not thrilled with being in the leaves.
Thanksgiving dinner, it was the first one I did on my "own," our friends the Rustens also came to celebrate and they helped with some of the food too so I guess it wasn't totally on our own. It was all very delicious.
We put up our tree, this is the first year Alan allowed me to put up a fake tree, after last year with the boys and I having terrible allergies I guess he decided it was better not to have really grumpy kids.
Alan and the boys chillin.

Cute Nathan. Samuel, Nathan and Jacob.
Our heat went out a couple of times and it got pretty cold in the house we all got used to sitting around the fire. The boys really wanted to drink their hot cocoa by the fire.
We went on a fun hay ride with some friends to see some Christmas lights.
Our ward Christmas party was a lot of fun. Nathan dressed as an Elf.

There was lots of dancing and a fun time seeing Santa. I wasn't supposed to be in the picture.

We are excited to be celebrating Christmas with family in Utah.

Almost All About Nathan

2010-11-11T07:20:00.000-08:00

Nathan had his 5 month birthday this week so I thought I should post some pictures of him. They say that your second child (in this case my third) gets a lot less photos of them then their older sibling as a baby. I don't know if that is the way it is with us, I was pretty busy with my first to get too many photo shoots. Nathan is a little more cooperative than his brothers were and for that matter he is more cooperative than they still are. But, just to make sure I am getting some pictures of him here they are.

Nathan is crawling. But it isn't the typical crawling you normally see in an infant. He crawls backwards and sideways mostly, occasionally he will go forward but usually right after he makes that attempt he will go backwards twice as far as he went forward. He also loves to do push ups by getting up on his toes but this often ends in a face plant. He is a very funny boy, and yes that is a long drip of slobber coming from his mouth.He doesn't like to sit normally either, this is his way of sitting, he will "sit" like this for minutes watching his brothers, he loves to watch them. They are quite entertaining and when they are not around he doesn't like it.

We got some pictures of Samuel and Jacob on this sheep skin when they were about this age and we thought it would be fun to do one with Nathan too.
I never really got a good shot of him in his blessing outfit, so I finally put him in it again and took some pictures, I know he looks really old to be in a blessing outfit but he still is cute.

All tuckered outNathan loves his feet, he has "found" them recently and plays with them all the time, sorry about the shadows I am still trying to figure out the settings on this camera.

Ok, so I said this is almost all about Nathan, here is a cute picture of the boys in their footie jammies. Jacob is wearing brown with construction vehicles and Sam is wearing white with Dinosaurs but the boys thought it was awesome that Nathan was wearing brown with dinosaurs it was kind of a mixture of the other two.

Their little feet.

These little boys are growing so fast, I can't believe how fast the time goes. Next year Sammy and Jakie will be in Kindergarten and Nathan is going to have to deal with being the only one home. They sure do love each other.

Halloween Festivities

2010-11-01T08:05:00.000-07:00

We started our festivities out with some fun Family Home evening Halloween activities.
Alan trying his mouth at the donut/string game

Sam and Jacob liked using their tongues
I was the best at this but I think I had the best angle.
We tried bobbing for apples but only Mom and Dad were able to do it.

Daddy took control of the pumpkin carvingFinal result

Nathan in his dragon costume. Isn't he a doll!

Sam and Jacob with their Knight costumes
The whole medieval family with our little dragon.
We also made some fun ghost cupcakes.
We had fun trunk or treating at the church and the kids were most excited about getting swords and of course the candy. All in all it was a pretty successful Halloween, but we are glad it only comes once a year.

A Perfect Day at the Beach and Other Pictures

2010-10-19T06:02:00.000-07:00

My first college roommate Tami moved to San Antonio for a couple of months and she came to visit us a couple of weekends ago. We had a really fun time hanging out at the park and going to the beach. The weather was beautiful, it was the first time the boys had been to a salt water beach.
Abby, Sammy, Jakie, and Kaiya making chalk pictures in our driveway.
The kids were acting like little ducklings holding Alans hand and walking back to our cars from the park.

The whole Crew: Tami, Jacob, Abby, Minda, Kaiya, Alan, Nathan, Samuel, Kevin

Alan hanging out with Nathan
Tami and I (Don't mind my horrible squint)
Kevin and Kaiya
The men and the kids
Jakie
Sammy
Our family minus Nathan who was sleeping
Alan was in charge of helping the kids build this sand castle

Tami and Abby

Sammy
Jakie
Nathan

Thanks for coming guys! I also through in a couple of other random pictures
I had to get some things done and I asked the boys to watch Nathan for me for a minute and just let him sit in their playroom and watch them play. They threw a fit and so I decided for my sanity that i would put on a baby Einstein and let Nathan watch, well pretty soon the boys were right there next to him. I was hoping he would fall asleep but he really liked it and started screaming once it was over, at least I got a lot done in that half hour time period.
Nathan has started solids and LOVES them
Cute picture of Nathan
Our little BYU baby (even though BYU is doing terribly in Football this year)
Sammy and Jakie love trying on Dad's shoes

What we've been up to

2010-10-01T14:49:00.000-07:00

So, we have just been hanging out around here, the boys started their new preschool which is once a week, this last week it was at our house. Alan has been busy working and I have been busy cooking, baking and taking care of three little ones. Here are some pictures of us hanging out the other night, the boys thought Nathan sitting in their chair was funny and I have to admit he looked really cute in it.

Accident Just Waiting to Happen

2010-09-15T08:44:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I think it is obvious that I am not a perfect parent, although my kids have only had minor scrapes and bruises for the most part (Sam almost broke his arm one time jumping off the couch) I know that being the mother of 3 boys sometime I am going to have to deal with some kind of major accident or something involving my boys and blood (I am not looking forward to this and Alan knows he will have to take care of this when it ever happens.)

I know it is inevitable some time in their lives, but now I am starting to think that Nathan is going to really give me a run for my money. This kid has been holding his head up practically since birth and standing since birth. If you have ever held him you know that he LOVES to stand. He started rolling over from front to back at almost a month and a half. Yesterday I noticed that he was starting to get to the point where he could roll over from back to front, but I really thought he was still a month away, I mean he is only 3 months old. Well, I should have taken what I saw yesterday and taken it to heart and not put him on the couch this morning and walk away. I was making breakfast and I heard him cooing happily and thought he was fine, but all of a sudden he started screaming, I thought the boys might have jumped on him or something, but no, he had rolled from his back to his front and then from his front onto the floor. He is all right, luckily the couch is not very tall.

But if this is the way things are going I don't even want to know what will happen when he is crawling at 5 or 6 months, with his brothers (who never look in front of them when they are running, they are completely oblivious to anything around them, especially little old ladies in the grocery store who they always seem to run into despite my constant attempts to warn them that they are about to run into someone) running all around a little crawling baby I can just see what my future lies. I feel bad for poor Nathan, but if he would just stop growing and stay my little baby then this would not be a problem, too bad that is not going to happen, he is already grown up so fast he doesn't feel like my little baby anymore. Well I guess all I can do is pray that he isn't injured too bad and try to teach my boys how to watch out where they are going.

Our Utah Trip

2010-09-09T06:01:00.000-07:00

We have had a great two weeks with family in Utah. We stayed the first week with Minda's parents in the North Ogden area. The boys had fun with Papa and Moma doing all sorts of things.
Riding the big bikes with Papa
Papa's new tractor- the boys thought the ride was too bumpy but I think they thought the hydrolic arm was cool.

Nathan hung out with Moma while the bigger boys were playing with Papa.

We took the new Frontrunner train from Ogden to Salt Lake and hung out in Temple Square.

Jacob and Papa on the train
Samuel, Nathan and Moma on the train.
We visited a lot of family. Here we are with Grandma Montierth, Papa and Moma.
Here we are with Grandma and Grandpa Fisher.
We took a hike near Moma and Papa's house. The boys got tired way too soon but we all had fun anyway.
Papa playing with Nathan.

Moma, Papa, with their German visitor Anke, she and her husband Detleif spent the week with us there too.
Bubble time
Reading with Papa
We went to visit Minda's brother Richard and his family in Lehi. Here is cousin Afton holding Nathan.
We went with them (minus Richard who was at work) to the Dinosaur Museum and had a blast.
Papa and the grandkids.
Sam, Mei, Jacob, Afton and Ben in the front.
Playing in the dirt.
More dirt.
Making a dinosaur.

Next we headed down further to Orem to spend some time with Alan's parents and sisters.
Aunt Sarah and Nathan.
Grandma Jane with the grandkids, Jacob, Caleb, Gavin, Sam.
Aunt Karen with Nathan.
Grandma Jane and the grandkids playing baseball.
Alan spent a couple of days with us at the end of the week, here he is with Caleb reading at Karens new house in Eagle Mountain.
The Gunnell/Reid boys Nathan, Jacob, Caleb, Gavin, Sam.
We went to BYU one morning, the boys in front of the Y.
The Bean Museum.
Reading with Bopus.
Aunt Audrey and Nathan.
Bridal Veil Falls.

Napping with Bopus.

We also had Nathan's blessing at the Gunnells house. Here is Nathan with Grandma Montierth.
The boys with Grandma and Grandpa Redd.
Bopus and Grandma Jane with their grandkids.
Cousin Brady at the blessing showing off his lost tooth.
Uncle Bryce and little Carter.
Aunt Maile, Moma, and Leilani with Nathan, Aunt Karen, Uncle Chris and Great Aunt Susan and Great Uncle Jeff in the back.
Baby Nathan in his blessing outfit.
Our little family after the blessing.

We were grateful for all those who traveled far and near to be with us for Nathan's blessing and we hope everyone had a good time visiting. We already miss our family but are glad to be home with Alan.

Fun Pictures

2010-08-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

Sammy and Jakie got new church clothes and so they had to model them for us.
I did a little photo shoot with Nathan, love the drool.
I love this look he has.
Cute dimples.

Alan wearing his Mr. Bean suit he got in Finland (used of course) he was excited he could still squeeze into it.

Are you serious?

2010-08-18T14:14:00.000-07:00

We put our kids to bed at about 7:30 and usually they play with their stuffed animals in their room quietly until they fall asleep, but recently they have been getting a little crazy and so I have had to set some limits. But last night I found out what my boys really think about what I tell them,
So this is the conversation that took place last night before bedtime.
Me: Now I don't want you guys dumping out your laundry basket to play with the basket like a boat, you guys get too crazy when you do that at bedtime
Jacob: Noooo, Mommy I have to play with it. (more screaming and moaning and whining following)
Me: I said no, you will just have to play another game
(at this point I left the room to go into Nathans room to gather up toys that had ended up there during the day and I heard this...)
Sam: Don't worry Jacob we can dump it out when Mommy leaves, she won't know.
(my mouth literally dropped open at this comment, he's 4 right?)
Me: Sam I can hear you you know and I will come and check to make sure you haven't dumped it out.

I just couldn't believe that he could be so devious, my sweet little Sam has a dark side to him. Hmm... well I did check on them later and they did obey me so I guess they must not be too bad yet, but it makes me wonder.

Slip and Slide

2010-08-08T08:14:00.000-07:00

Thanks Hallie and Jason for the fun birthday gift!

And here are some cute pictures of Nathan just for fun.

5 Year Anniversary

2010-08-06T17:51:00.000-07:00

It was our 5th year anniversary last Friday, the day after our boys birthday, we had intended on actually celebrating on the actual day but yet again we could not actually celebrate it. Oh well, we will someday, hopefully soon. But, here is to 5 wonderful years being married to the most wonderful husband I could hope for. I love you Alan!

Birthday Boys

2010-07-29T16:57:00.000-07:00

Today was Jacob and Samuel's 4th Birthday. We started off the day with some pancakes that spelled out their names per their request.

I spent a good portion of yesterday making them this lightning McQueen Birthday Cake that they asked for months ago, so I went with the theme and got a tablecloth, plates and wrapping paper all in the lightning McQueen theme.

I have been really hesitant about getting the boys little legos because of all the small pieces and because I don't know if they are really old enough to build with them without me having to do most of the building. However we relented and gave Sam a small set of legos that he can build two cars and a gas station with, we will see how this goes. Alan was really excited because he loves legos and so he had no problem helping Sam figure out how to build them.
The boys got a ton of presents.
And this fun talking card from our friends Hallie and Jason, Sam was leary of it at first but by the end of the night we had to put a ban on opening the card because he kept opening it to listen to the message.

Jacob blowing out his candles.Sam blowing out his candles.
We got a knock at the door right before bedtime and there was a package from their Moma and Papa, Alan started in on building the castle they got from them and they were so excited about it that it took a lot longer to get them to bed than usual. Alan is now at work putting it together so that they can play with it tomorrow. He is such a great dad!

We love our little boys and are happy they had such a great day!

Rolling Rolling Rolling

2010-07-23T05:10:00.000-07:00

Nathan is now 6 weeks old and it feels like he has always been a part of our family. He surprised us this week by making his first little milestone. Samuel and Jacob did not roll over (front to back) until they were about 4 or 5 months, I remember it so well because it was about 5:30 am and I was keeping the boys as quiet as possible so that Alan could sleep. Well Nathan is definitely a different baby than Jacob and Samuel, he is much bigger and apparently stronger because he can roll over. When I discovered this I put him on our ottoman because it is soft and luckily I was right next to him because he would have rolled off if I hadn't caught him. Here is a little video of Nathan rolling over. Ignore my high pitched baby talk.

Fourth of July

2010-07-07T06:08:00.000-07:00

This Fourth we didn't really do anything all that exciting, I got these shirts for the boys to wear so I had to get a picture with them wearing them. We did go to a ward activity in the morning where only about 15 other people attended, we were hoping to meet some people, and we did, but not as many as we hoped to meet.

Our next door neighbors were kind enough to let us watch their fireworks display, and there were a lot of other displays we could see through the neighborhood, one neighbor decided to do fireworks until 1 in the morning which we were less than thrilled about. I thought this picture was kind of cool because you can see the smoke from the fireworks.

Here is just a random picture of Nathan that I just took this morning for those who want more pictures of him.I thought this was a cute picture of Alan snuggling with Nathan.
Yesterday the boys woke me up yelling excitedly "Mom come to our room we have a surprise for you." These words can send fear into a mother, because more than not a surprise is not a welcomed surprise, I mind raced through the possibilities of what kind of surprise they could have possibly been working on. But oh what a nice surprise I found when I got there. The boys had worked together to make their beds without even being asked. They were really sweet all day yesterday too, so I hope they are starting to get back to their normal selves and settling in.

More Pictures of Nathan

2010-07-02T09:12:00.001-07:00

Alan's Birthday and Father's Day

2010-07-02T08:55:00.000-07:00

We were really excited to celebrate Alan's birthday this year. We made him a banner and got him a couple of presents. The boys also made him some homemade cards.
We cooked Alan one of his favorite meals and for dessert we had cheesecake with raspberries, yummy.

Father's Day we celebrated with another one of Alan's favorite meals. Here Alan is hanging out with all of his boys.
Sammy and Jakie made him some ties for Father's Day. They are liking their new Sunbeam class, but miss their Waco friends and teacher. But they were excited to give Alan his ties.
We love you Alan!

Nathan in the NICU

2010-07-02T08:19:00.000-07:00

I thought I would post some pictures of Nathan's stay in the NICU to document it a bit.

Here is Nathan all hooked up to the machines. He had to be on oxygen for the first two days and then he was just hooked up to the heart monitor, oxygen sensor, and IV after that.
Cute Boy!
Mom and Nathan
Dad and Nathan
Papa and Nathan
Moma and Nathan

Nathan when we were taking him home. He is such a good baby, he sleeps 5-8 hours a stretch at night which is wonderful, and he doesn't usually fuss too much unless something is wrong. His brothers really love him and maybe smother him just a bit.

Home Sweet Home

2010-06-24T14:21:00.000-07:00

So here is a little update on our little Nathan. He came "home" last friday, meaning Alan and I got to take him out of the hospital and drive the 3 1/2 hours to Sugar Land (near Houston) where he moved us in the Saturday before. My parents came and helped us by watching the boys for us for the week in Sugar Land while we stayed in Waco with Nathan. It is really nice to have him with us and to be in our new home. Alan started work on Monday and the boys are starting to get back into a normal routine. I hope to be able to post more pictures of Nathan and some of our place here sometime soon. Things are still a little crazy with me not being able to really do as much as I would like because of my c-section and trying to juggle Sammy, Jakie, and a new baby and with Alan trying to help me and also trying to get into the swing of things with his new job, so I don't know when that will happen. Hopefully soon.

Our New Little Man!

2010-06-09T06:52:00.000-07:00

We had a little boy early Tuesday morning!! We cannot be happier to have him as an addition to our home. We were sad that he didn't come naturally, but he didn't likely because he was so big. Nathan John Gunnell weighed in at 9lbs 8oz and 22in long born on June 8th at 1:34 am. He was 10 days overdue, but he would still have been a big baby despite the extra time.

Nathan just before they took him the the nursery for some more tests. He has some awesome bushy eyebrows!

Minda with him just after he was born waiting in recovery.

Both of the boys were able to come and see him and hold their new baby brother. They were really excited for him to come. So excited that it was a short little time before we had to have them go.

Jacob holding Nathan!

Sam holding Nathan!

Grandma Jane was also able to come and see him. She wasn't left alone too much during her turn though.

Minda has already been discharged! We are really grateful for the speed of her recovery so far. This is also significant because Nathan had to be moved to the other hospital in town for further treatment. He has had low platelet counts, so much so that he needs to be in the NICU for almost a couple of weeks to kill the infection that is causing him trouble right now. He is already making improvements since his transfer to Hillcrest early this morning. He is strong and we are feeling confident that he will be okay, but we are not past the point of really worrying about him.

More post to come I'm sure and pictures too.

Preschool Party and Bowling

2010-06-05T18:13:00.000-07:00

Recently the boys finished up their first year of preschool and we celebrated at Chuck E Cheese with a little party with their classmates. It was one of the first times the boys had ever been to Chuck E Cheese and they loved it. We had a little awards ceremony with the families and the boys were really excited about it all.
Jacob opening up a little graduation present.
Sam with his present.

Since we have had Alan's mom staying with us to help us with the boys while I have this baby (yes I am still pregnant) we have been doing some fun things. One thing we did was go bowling with Grandma Jane.
Daddy and Jakie
Sammy and Grandma Jane

Here I am bowling in an attempt to get Nathan moving. I won by the way, kind of surprising considering my condition.
In preparation for Jane's arrival the boys made their own beds, it was really cute because they were helping each other and were so proud of themselves.

Now we are just waiting to see if this baby will come on his own or if I will have to get a c-section, which I am definitely not excited about.

Still Pregnant

2010-05-26T17:16:00.000-07:00

Yes, we are still pregnant, the due date is Friday and we are ready any day now. I have tried walking and moving around a lot to encourage any sign of a contraction but to no avail. We are moving in 2 1/2 weeks so we really want this little guy to come in the next week, pray for us that he does please.

If you have any great ideas on how to get this little guy motivated to leave my uterus please leave a comment.

Celebrating

2010-05-13T04:55:00.000-07:00

Ever since last summer our boys have been mildly obsessed with going to the chain restaurant Chili's. I don't know exactly why, maybe it was the big chili on the sign that was intriguing to them, I really have no idea. But somewhere along the way Alan and I told them that when Daddy gets a job we would go to Chili's. So then every time we passed a Chili's the boys would remind us that when Daddy got a job we would go to Chili's, this was usually followed by a lot of yeah's and hoorays and clapping. I don't know what exactly they thought would happen when we went to Chili's but they were exited about it. Well, as many of you know Alan took a job offer at a company called Microseismic, it is in Houston and we are moving there in about a month, so we realized we needed to take the boys to Chili's. In fact that was one of the first things they told us when we told them about the job.

Here our the boys and Dad waiting for a table, the boys loved the little device they give you so you know when it's your turn.Sammy and Daddy at our table.
Mommy and Jakie, this kid loves to make funny faces and so it is hard for me to find "nice" pictures of him.

The boys loved coloring before the meal and getting their own cups with straws. I don't know if it met their expectations, but it was nice to celebrate Alan's new job. Congratulations Alan!

Guesses anyone?

2010-05-11T16:08:00.001-07:00

So I am nearing the 38 week mark of this pregnancy and I thought I would play a little game on here to see you can guess the weight of baby Nathan John (yes that is his name) and his length and the date you think he will come. I don't know if there will be a prize or not for this, mostly because we are moving as soon as this little guy is born and I don't know when I would get to that but if you win you will have the satisfaction of knowing you are a great guesser.

So leave your guesses in the comments section. If it helps any (and I don't think it will) Sammy and Jakie were around 17 1/2 inches and between 5 lbs 5 oz and 5 lbs 14 oz and they were born 5 weeks early and my due date is May 28th for Nathan.

Randomness

2010-05-04T05:49:00.000-07:00

This week the boys have been very involved with making train tracks and running cars and trains over them.

Sam has worked really hard on his drawing skills. If you can't tell this is a picture of his mommy. The circle in the middle is baby Nathan in my belly, he even drew the umbilical cord if you can see it.

a little better picture of it
I was busy making a baby shower cake, it was the first I have done for pay, it was challenging because of the humidity here, but it turned out alright I guess. I didn't think of taking a picture of it until it was already in a box.
I thought it was time to document how big I am, I wanted to compare how big I am now at 36 weeks with how big I was with the boys when I delivered them, that was around 35 weeks but I didn't get a picture then, this will have to do. I have already packed my old pictures so I will have to wait to show a side by side of both the pics. Friday I will be at 37 weeks. Yikes, that is really soon.

This is just a random picture of me reading to the boys, I have been reading to them a lot because I haven't been able to play with them and find myself sitting a lot more than usual.

The Traditional Easter Picture

2010-04-24T06:14:00.000-07:00

We have taken pretty much the same picture in the same spot for the past three years so I have to share how the boys have changed over the last couple of years. It is funny because the shirt they are wearing is the same shirt they are wearing in the last picture, I guess we need to buy some new shirts, they look way too small on them now.

2008

2009
2010

Photo Op

2010-04-18T04:35:00.000-07:00

Over the last couple of weeks I have had this photo bug where I have felt the need to document more of the boys lives in pictures. This may have to do with the fact that I know that there is a baby coming soon and that my focus may be on other things, but whatever the cause the boys haven't exactly wanted to be the perfect models for me in fact I think they have felt more like victims of my insistence on always taking pictures.
This last week we went up to visit my Uncle Tracy and Aunt Glenda in McKinney Texas after dropping Alan off at the Love Field Airport. We got there a little early and decided to go to the park and wait for them to get home from church. Obviously this was the perfect opportunity to take pictures, right? Jacob was less than thrilled about it and Sam wouldn't sit still.

This is a typical Jacob scowl which he has perfected through the years and really loves to pull out during a photo shoot. Unfortunately this was the only "usable" shot because all the other shots were of the back of their heads. Later that week we went to the zoo and I once again attempted to take pictures of the boys. Sam was willing.

Jacob was not.
I attempted to get him to cooperate several times, I will not tell you I am above a bribe to get a good picture, but even that didn't seem to work. So Sam in his brilliance decided to take things into his own hands and get Jacob to smile.

This seemed to do the trick.
Unfortunately Sam decided all of his good pictures were taken by then so this is what I ended up with.

Oh Well, I will just have to try again. Lucky them.

Bluebell Picutes

2010-04-09T10:16:00.000-07:00

It was time for new Bluebell pictures since the bluebells are out in full bloom now. Samuel is the one in green, Jacob is in blue. It is a lot of pictures so if you like pictures great, if not sorry.

Easter

2010-04-09T10:01:00.000-07:00

Our Easter festivities started on Saturday morning with dying eggs. I saw in a magazine a fun way for kids to dye eggs that made it easier for them using a whisk. The boys had a lot of fun doing it themselves.

Next we had an Easter egg hunt in the back of our house, the boys had so many eggs that they didn't all fit in their buckets.

Here are their Easter baskets that the Easter Bunny brought. Our battery died the night before Easter morning so I didn't get any Easter day pictures, but we had a fun meal and dessert with friends. We all had a great time.

Felt Tent

2010-03-30T10:48:00.000-07:00

So I was recently inspired by one of our friends blogs (Missy and Lyndon to be precise) where she made a tent for her girls out of felt. I have long had a fascination with the little felt food I had seen on etsy and thought that the idea was great but I really didn't have the desire to actually make anything out of felt until I saw Missy's blog and the wonderful job she did. I looked online and found some ideas and this is what I came up with. I have been working on it for a while and just recently finished (for the most part) it. (I still have to make the corn to go on the stalk.)
Front door, mail box and bird feeder
The garden, with carrots, cabbage, soon to be corn, and flowers. All the pieces remove and that is the kids favorite thing about it.
Apple tree with basket, the apples are supposed to go in the basket when not on the tree, but they usually end up as ammo for the boys to throw at each other.
The fish pond, the fish have paper clips in the mouths so the boys can use their magnetic fishing rod to catch them.
The boys enjoying one of the windows, as you can see the flowers didn't stay in the flower box either.

This was a fun project but I am glad it is almost completed, it took a lot of figuring out. And don't look too close because I made a lot of mistakes, but the kids don't seem to care.

Relaxing Saturday Morning

2010-03-26T13:07:00.000-07:00

Alan has been pretty busy with school, his thesis paper, different conferences, looking for jobs, making posters, giving talks etc. that we don't have a lot of family time. But last Saturday Alan took part of the morning off from his usual work to just hang out with the boys and they loved it. Here are the boys in their pjs reading the Very Hungry Caterpillar.

Alan built the boys this marble ramp thing we saw in a Family Fun magazine. It didn't really work but they had fun making it. And we are still having "fun" picking up all the marbles that can be found in every crevice of the house. It's a good thing that there are not any little ones about yet to eat them.

It's Baa-aak!

2010-03-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

Since I have lived away from Michigan for pretty much the last 12 years of my life I thought that I had lost most signs of my Michigan accent. I know sometimes when I am excited or talking too fast little hints of my accent come out. I can hear myself speaking like that sometimes and have to stop and correct myself. Especially on words like back or bag which I tend to say with a long a at times. Alan occasionally will catch me too and will laugh a little because he knows that it annoys me. Well apparently I must speak this way much more than I think I do because recently I have noticed my son Samuel speaking with the same long a on the same words I tend to say in my accent. I have to admit it grates on my nerves a little.

Anyway, I would like to hear from all of you Michiganians who have lived away from Michigan to see if their kids do the same thing. I would especially like to hear from all my sister in laws (because I doubt my brothers would actually write anything on here) to see if their kids have picked it up too.

Let me know!

S'more fun

2010-03-08T10:51:00.000-08:00

Our little Jacob is such a funny kid. He loves to watch commercials on tv, well both he and Sam do really, but especially Jacob. They always ask me if we need to buy the stuff they see being sold on the infomercial type shows or tell me we need to get a snuggie or other new fangled gadget. But on Sunday his little obsession really showed its colors. We give our kids a little bag of snacks on Sundays during sacrament meeting if they have been good until after the sacrament. Alan gave Jacob some teddy grahams, some wheat thins, and a couple of little marshmallows in his bag. Jacob preceded to take out the teddy grahams and put a marshmallow inside of them and eat it like a s'more. I was very amused and he kept doing this throughout the meeting with his wheat thins too. I wondered where he got the idea to do that, but really didn't think too much of it because we had had s'mores before. But this morning we were watching some program on tv while the boys were eating lunch and Jacob yelled at me to look at the tv. I looked and saw an advertisement for this:

It is a microwavable s'more maker. He kept telling me that is why he made the "marshmallow cookies" that he had made in church because he wanted one of these. I had to laugh, it was pretty ingenious of a 3 1/2 year old to put all that together, at least I think it is.

Anyway, this past week the boys had a lot of fun going to BYU games (the BYU baseball game vs. Baylor and the BYU basketball game vs. TCU in Fort Worth), and they also got to go to the zoo, it was finally warm enough to go outside.
Jacob wanted to show his stuffed animal (a leopard named Jack) the real "leopard" (really a jaguar, but we told him it was a leopard because of his stuffed animal). So he brought Jack along to see him. Sam also brought his bear to show the bear at the zoo too, but I couldn't get a good picture of them together. The Jaguar was really active that day and was close to the glass, the boys were a little nervous about that but we got some good pictures of them with it.

Here the boys are at the new orangutan section of the zoo, they love jumping on the chimes and swinging on the ropes, they seemed more interested in that than they did with the orangutans which were also out and about, we hardly ever see them moving around. The lions were in good form too, we saw them roar which is something we have only heard from far away before, it was awesome to see it up close.

First Baseball Game

2010-03-03T15:29:00.000-08:00

Last night we went to the boys first baseball game, Baylor was playing BYU and so we had to go out and support our cougs and the bears too. Sammy decided he was rooting for the cougars and Jacob wanted to root for the bears. I totally forgot the camera but our friend Hallie took some pictures of us at the game. Thanks Hallie.

Sic 'em bears!

The boys had a lot of fun until the last hour or so when their tiredness overran the funness factor. BYU won 7 -5 but it was a little hairy there at the end when Baylor made a run for the win.

Winter Wonderland

2010-02-24T14:11:00.001-08:00

We got about 3-4 inches of snow here on Tuesday and the kids were so excited. We have had snow a couple of times this winter (very odd for central Texas) but nothing like this. The kids couldn't wait until there was enough snow outside to play in it, but once there was and I let them out to play they didn't want to stop. They have been asking for snow and have wanted us to visit their grandparents in Utah to play in the snow. When Sam saw outside that it was snowing he jumped up and down yelling "Mom it does snow in Texas."

The boys went out twice during the day for a very long time each time and then out with Dad again when he got home. They made this snowman together ( I made one earlier for them but they just knocked that one down.)
The boys throwing snow at Dad. This was their favorite thing to do, they kept throwing snow at everyone and everything they saw, they couldn't get enough throwing. Well, that is until Sam got snow down his back which he didn't like at all and started to cry, he got over it and kept playing.

The boys wanted to go out in the snow again today but the snow was basically ice and it wasn't much fun to play with. Now the snow is pretty much gone, it was short lived but the boys had a blast.

I thought I would also include a pregnancy picture for those who don't see me too often, I never documented how big I was getting with my first pregnancy so I guess this is a good thing to do. I feel a lot smaller this time around, I am about 27 weeks in this picture.
The boys have also really enjoyed watching the Olympics. Their favorites so far have been speed skating, ski jumping, and the bobsled. We have been cheering on the US and Finland of course. We were watching the team nordic combined when Finland was winning so we pulled out our flags and our laplander hats and cheered until they sadly lost. Oh well, it was fun watching the boys run around yelling "Go Finland!"

Better LateThan Never

2010-02-18T11:58:00.000-08:00

So I haven't blogged in almost 2 months and I was procrastinating and procrastinating, so I am now just posting things that I should have posted a long time ago. We had Christmas, my birthday, and a party for a friend of ours, my Grandmother Montierth came for a visit, our boys got sick, they got better, and then got sick again, and then got better again, our baby continues to grow every day and Alan has continued to look for employment when he is done with school this spring. So that is pretty much the update of our lives over the past couple of months, I hope I will be better about blogging and keeping you all updated.

30!?!?

2010-02-18T11:52:00.001-08:00

So I have to say I had serious doubts about turning 30, it isn't like turning 30 makes you suddenly old or anything, but for some reason I was really dreading it. I have to admit I moped around a little every time anyone mentioned it (ie: Alan).
Alan asked me what I wanted to do for my birthday and we decided we would go out to lunch while our wonderful friends Hallie and Jason watched our kids and then we would go out and buy me some new shoes which I desperately needed. The morning of my birthday I awoke late to a semi clean house and Alan making a chocolate cake. Then I was showered with gifts from Alan and the boys, (Alan went a little overboard this year on the gifts.)
Alan continued to clean up the house and we relaxed a bit until our friends came to watch the boys. Our lunch was wonderful (Chuy's is pretty good food, a little crowded, but good.) I actually found some shoes I liked and then Alan kept telling me we should go walk around the mall for a bit. I didn't understand why he would ever suggest that since he HATES the mall. I told him I would rather go to another store and get some stuff I needed since we were close by.
We got home and there Hallie was grabbing the stuff from my arms as soon as I walked in the door and then a bunch of wonderful friends jumped out and yelled "Surprise!!!"
I was completely surprised too, I had no idea. I thought Hallie had planned this whole thing, but she didn't know any of these friends so I was really confused until someone said Alan had planned it all. He was so sweet to do that, and everyone was so nice to participate in my birthday festivities. It was fun to talk to everyone and Alan did a great job on the cake.

Christmas

2010-02-18T11:36:00.001-08:00

This year for Christmas Moma and Papa came to visit from Utah. We had a lot of fun with them and were sad to see them go.

The boys in their new Christmas jammies and robes on Christmas Eve.

The boys with some of their loot.
We had some friends over on Christmas Eve and on Christmas, here the boys are hanging out with Hallie and Jason (our friends from Baylor) and Jason putting together some train stuff they got for the boys. They love Hallie and Jason.

Alan and Sam on Christmas morning.
Here the boys are a couple of days after Christmas with their friend Brylee making a gingerbread Christmas tree.

And the verdict is...

2009-12-30T20:00:00.000-08:00

I guess it is kind of fitting that this being our 100th post we get to announce that we are going to be having another boy. We had an ultrasound this afternoon and as soon as the technician got a good view of the baby I looked and said "that there, that means it is a boy, right?" She said "yes, it looks that way." He was definitely not shy, and we got a great video of him taking some nice big gulps of the amniotic fluid, the technician kept saying "yum, yum." And then we got a view of him with the umbilical cord in his mouth. I guess he is practicing for eating on the outside.

Anyway, we are excited for this little one to come.

JUMP!

2009-12-13T09:32:00.000-08:00

As you can see we have been celebrating around here. Alan finished another semester and we are excited for his last semester of school (cross your fingers).

The boys had a great preschool activity last week and got to dress as pirates and go look for the true meaning of Christmas. They had a blast.

We set up our Christmas tree.
And believe it or not, it snowed here for about 30 minutes one day and here are the boys enjoying the little snow that fell. If you look closely at the second picture you can see a little snow piled up against the fence.

We took a ride on Cinderella's carriage as we celebrated with the season at a Baylor tree lighting ceremony where no trees were actually lit.

You May Have Noticed

2009-12-03T13:59:00.000-08:00

That we changed the title of our blog page. Before it just said Alan, Minda, Samuel, and Jacob. Not only was this a really boring name it was also a bit inaccurate. We are adding another member to our family sometime in the end of May. Yes, that means we are pregnant. Almost 15 weeks now.

Many of you may already know this but we thought we would let the rest of you in on the little secret. For those of you who would like to tease us about having another set of twins let me put your minds to ease, it is only one this time around (I made the ultrasound technician check multiple times to make sure.)

We are extremely excited about the baby and maybe a little nervous about the timing. Alan graduates from school in the middle of May and the baby's due date is May 28th so it cuts things awful close. But we are looking forward to the adventure.

The boys are very excited and love to talk to the baby, it is very sweet. We will see how sweet they are when they realize what it means to bring a new baby home.

The new name I picked for our blog is not really all that exciting either so if any of you have any really great ideas for a new name leave me a comment on what you think it should be.

Silly Pictures and Heritage Family Farm

2009-11-29T09:54:00.000-08:00

The boys are so ready for Christmas. They have been asking when Christmas will be here since before Halloween. We decorated for Christmas while Alan was out finding deals early on black Friday. The boys found these hats and have been walking around only answering to the name Santa Claus and they love it.
The other day Sam was having a hard time napping and he decided he would sit by his door against his dresser and wait until I let him come out of his room. Well I guess he fell asleep there as he waited because when I went to get him he was really out of it. I picked him up and carried him to the couch and he fell asleep on the couch. I came back a little while later to check on him and I found him totally asleep standing like this against the couch. We have never really ever had a good sleeping picture of the boys so this was a first for us.

Alan got out some old rubber boots he has so he could have dry feet as he went out to do field work. The boys thought they were really cool and have been wearing them all around the house. Here is Jacob sporting the boots.So our boys are deathly afraid of dogs but we took them to the Heritage Family Farm last Friday and they fell in love with this puppy (thanks to Hallie for the help with the puppy.) The farm was a lot of fun we got to see how to make yarn and fabric, we learned about making cheese, saw a demonstration on how to make cider, saw how to do some blacksmithing etc. The boys really loved the petting zoo the best though. Sam was so cute he kept kissing the dogs nose. (This dog was so sleepy it almost looked dead but it was breathing so we knew it wasn't.)
Sam sitting on a bale of hay.
Jacob and Daddy on a bale of hay.

Making Spirits Bright

2009-11-23T13:40:00.000-08:00

My kids surprise me everyday with something they pick up from who knows where. The other day I was utterly confused though when Jacob came to me and said "Mom what are spirits?" I thought wow that is a hard one to explain. And so I tried to explain to him in the most simplest terms what I thought to be an acceptable answer. He looked very confused and looked at me like I was from outer space. I wondered where he had learned that word and I asked him and he said. "Mom spirits are bright." I was really confused about how he would have come up with that on his own. So I asked him what he meant. He said "Jingle Bells, making spirits bright."

When I realized what he was talking about I just had to laugh at myself for confusing him so much. It was a pretty simple question actually that he had asked. Oh well I guess I better learn to do some investigating as to what he is really asking next time.

New Couches

2009-11-14T13:06:00.001-08:00

We got a call earlier this week from a family in our ward who were getting new couches and wanted to know if we wanted their old couches. Since our couches didn't match and the "new" couches were in much better shape then our own we took them up on their offer.
There are a lot of pillows and the boys have discovered how much they love playing and hiding in all the pillows. Here is a picture of them playing in the "forest"(that is what they call the pillow fortress they make for themselves.)

I thought this was a funny way to watch tv, but they love to sit here and watch tv like this.

Pumpkins and Halloween

2009-11-02T12:52:00.000-08:00

Alan, Jacob and Samuel worked on our Jack O'Lantern this year. Dad Cut the top and the boys helped scoop out the guts. They did not really like that very much because it was so messy but they had fun watching dad. They told us they wanted a happy pumpkin so Alan worked on that for them.

I love this funny picture, Sam is pointing to the pumpkin while Alan has this cheesy smile and Jacob just looks confused.
Halloween night, the boys with mom and all their loot. I made them monkey costumes but everyone thought they were bears or dogs until they saw their tails.
Trunk or Treating, the boys in their costumes and their bananas.
These last two pictures were just some cute pictures of the boys that I thought I would throw in.
The boys in new jammies wrestling with Dad

The Pumpkin Patch and the Zoo

2009-10-18T06:36:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Alan took the day off of school and we went to a "Pumpkin Patch" about a 30 minute drive away. When we got there we realized it wasn't really just a Pumpkin Patch (this was all they had for a pumpkin patch) but it was a lot of little activities for the kids.
(Believe it or not this was the best picture of the boys I could get with the pumpkins)

They had a cow ride, the boys rode all by themselves and loved it. Afterward Jacob informed me that he was very proud of himself, maybe that isn't the best thing to teach him.

They had a golfing area, but the boys are still not very good at that, and also this duck race area. The boys loved this. They raced their ducks using the pumps and Jacob again was very proud of himself, clapping and shouting when the duck got to the other end.

Sam struggling with the whole race concept.
Jacob intently focusing on the race.
They had a hayride and we had fun with our friends that were also there at the farm.

A couple of days ago the boys and I went to the zoo. I realized it had been a while since we had taken pictures of them at the zoo, so I brought the camera along with me. The boys with Nemo, although Nemo seems to be missing in action.
This is the boys at the new exhibit at the zoo. We got new orangutans and a kamodo dragon at the zoo and they have statues of each.
Here are the boys on the Chinese horses they have to go along with the whole Asian theme of the exhibit.

These are the kids we went with minus Brody. I love this action shot of Brylie and Atticus, it was the only shot I got with all four of them.

McKinney Home

2009-10-17T16:43:00.001-07:00

So my wonderful Aunt Glenda and Uncle Tracy are trying to sell their home in McKinney Texas (just north of Dallas) and so I am posting their homes blog in case you know of anyone in the market for a wonderful historic home in North Dallas. Even if you don't know anyone looking, her house is amazing and they did a lot of the work themselves, it is gorgeous, so check it out.
www.northbradleystreet.blogspot.com

Fire Trucks

2009-10-14T17:08:00.001-07:00

We have been trapped inside a lot lately because of so much rain so it was nice today to get. We went to the library for story time and today they were talking about Fire Men and Fire Trucks and afterward the Hewitt Fire Department brought over a truck and a rescue vehicle for the kids to check out. Sam was a little hesitant because he thought he would have to ride on it and he didn't want to. Jacob was so excited the whole library time and when it was time to go he started clapping, it was really cute.

Jacob and Sam with their new fire hats.
Jacob liked how big the tires were on the truck so I took his picture next to one.

The boys watching the Fire Men talk about the hoses.
When they got home they found our garden hose and pretended to be fire fighters, Jacob told me he wants to be a Police Officer, a Fire Truck Man, and a Doctor (that's a tall order.) Sam told me he wanted to be a big, big, big Fire Chief.
Funny Boys!

Clothing Bandits Strike Again

2009-10-07T05:47:00.000-07:00

So you may recall that a few weeks ago Samuel and Jacob got a little wild when we had people at our house for visiting teaching. They removed all the clothing from their dresser and then started tearing their playroom apart including tearing up some of their books. Well yesterday I was watching my friends two little boys. My boys and her boys were having a great time watching Bob the Builder and playing with their cars and trains. Then I suggested that the boys all go play in the playroom while I got some things ready for dinner. I checked on them just to make sure we didn't have a repeat of a couple of weeks ago. But apparently I wasn't quite on top of things as I thought I was because when I went into their bedroom this is what I found. Every article of their clothing strewn throughout their room. Now I beg you what is a mother to do? I am totally out of ideas as to how to get them to stop taking their clothes out of their dresser, so if any of you have any good ideas please share.

2009-09-23T16:27:00.000-07:00

A better Picture of Alan with his poster

AAPG Student Expo Houston

2009-09-23T06:29:00.000-07:00

Alan has been spending a lot of time working on this poster about his research project to present it at the AAPG Student Expo in Houston. And when I say he spent a lot of time I mean he hardly slept last week because he was working on this poster. But it all paid off because out of the 95 people who presented he won first place! Congratulations Alan!

Not so cute

2009-09-17T11:00:00.000-07:00

There are days when I think that these two little guys are just so dang cute (for those of you without kids, when you have kids you will think the same thing about your kids I promise you.) But today was not one of those days.

I knew my visiting teachers were coming today and I knew they would bring their children and so I intentionally didn't clean up the playroom (it wasn't too messy anyway) because I knew it would just get messy again. I put the boys table in front of their bookshelf so that my sweet innocent little boys would not be tempted to pull all of the books off of the shelf (this is something they have done a couple of times before.) But I was going to outsmart them this time. I also shut their bedroom door thinking that they would contain all of the mess in just the play room.

Well, the visiting teachers came and their children were very sweet and nice, my boys kept bothering me and finally when I went into their room like they asked me I saw every article of clothing that they own strewn all around the room. I got upset, but because the VTers were there I contained my anger and told them to put everything back (yeah right like that was going to happen.) Then finally when the visit was over I went into their room to help them pick up their clothes, I asked them why they had done it and they said that they wanted to show their friends their clothes. After this fun adventure I then went to assess the damage in the playroom.

The room was in shambles (I would have taken a picture but I was too livid). I expected it to be messy, but this. This had Samuel and Jacob at their worst written all over it. All the books were
off of the shelf and scattered around the room, some in pieces now. Every toy was off of the toy shelf and all over the room. I asked the boys who pulled the books off, they said that they did, I asked them who removed all of the toys from the shelf they said that they had done it.

To say I was upset would be an understatement. It took an hour and a half to clean up the room, I made them help and that is probably why it took so long. Needless to say reading books will now be a privilege and not a right in our home.

These cute little boys I am sure will do it again in the future, although they repeatedly were telling me they would never do it again.

Anyway, I am sure I am not the first or the last parent to have a child act out like this it is just frustrating when it is your kid doing it.

Just a little venting

2009-09-12T10:29:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I know this blog is dedicated to keeping people up on what our family has been up to but I hope you will excuse me a moment to just vent a little. (Warning: If you don't want to hear the venting skip this entry.)

I just want to preface this entry by saying I do not mean to offend anyone who has been in the opposite position of me in this next story.

So it has been very rainy here for the past couple of days and going places has been a challenge with two little boys but they have taken it in stride and wear their new jackets with their hoods up and really don't complain too much.

Today we were out and about and I realized that I needed something from the grocery store. I usually avoid the grocery store on a Saturday because it is usually a nightmare but today I decided to brave it. With the rain it was even more difficult but I thought they have been so good with the rain why not.

We get in the store and the only real problem is this woman who is basically shouting orders to her poor husband. They have all three of their young children, one in a cart (even though it holds 2) a stroller with a child in it who probably could fit in the cart, and another child walking around. They have the whole aisle blocked up and this poor man is just trying his best to keep up with his wife.

I didn't think much about it until I went to leave. I pulled out to go to the exit and a minivan was in front of me and suddenly stopped popped its trunk and lo and behold there was the husband hopping out to load up his family and groceries in the car. Normally I would think it quite chivalrous of a man to go out in the rain and pull a car around. But by him doing that it cut off a man pushing carts from the parking lot to the store, another car who couldn't go by because the man pushing the carts was cut off, and me who was now stuck behind him. I looked over to the woman and her kids none of them were wearing anything other than t-shirts and shorts so I didn't see why if the rest of us had to brave the rain why did this woman feel she had the right to be treated differently? Here I was with my children going to the store without a husband and was able to make it to my car with my kids in the rain, why couldn't she do the same?

Now I know that I may be alone in this opinion but I was thoroughly annoyed, what do you think? Do you think it was ok for her to do that? Do you think it was as rude as I did?

Autumn is Coming

2009-09-06T07:07:00.000-07:00

Earlier this week I was walking with a friend and she noticed that the trees were starting to change. It may be in the 90's still but autumn is coming. And what goes better with Autumn time than caramel apples. So I decided to make some for the boys. Samuel loved his but Jacob didn't have the patience for it (surprise, surprise.)
Here is Jacob, I had to help him a bit to start the apple.

Here is Sam with his apple. I know he is dressed the same as Jacob, it was the day of the BYU game against Oklahoma and so we had to show our school pride. Alan got to go to the game which was at the new Cowboys stadium in Arlington TX. BYU beat Oklahoma in a big upset, be we were so excited that they won. Go Cougars!

This week was a milestone for our boys. It was the first day of preschool. We are participating in a home preschool with two other moms and their 3 year olds. This week it was at our house and I got to teach. The boys were excited to bring their show and tell items and to put their new crayons, scissors, and glue in their backpacks. They had a lesson on their name, their age and the primary colors. We are excited for them and they are excited to be going to school like Daddy.
Our boys have some wierd obsession with diving. Ever since the Summer Olympics 2008 and we watched the divers the boys have loved diving all of their toys and building diving boards to dive their animals off of them. We recently have been swimming a lot and so Alan bought them some goggles and now they think they can dive off of the furniture and swim around the house in their goggles. It has been really funny watching them "swim" all around.
This week I also decided it was time to get pictures taken again. It has been since they were about 20 months since I have attempted to get pictures taken at a studio. But this time I had a plan. Because the only picture studio that I know of that I can afford is in Walmart I decided the boys could pick a treat of their choice if they took good pictures. So here are the boys with their candy dressed in their little outfits for the picture. (I know Jacob looks a little wierd in this picture, we are still trying to figure out this camera and it sometimes casts wierd shadows.)
Sam with a gummy worm mustache.

We have also been launching more rockets. This time our friends the Gunnells came with us. Yes they too have the same last name, and yes we probably are related somehow. We like to joke about us being family. Anyway they too are fans of rocket launches so they invited us to launch rockets together. We went to a park to launch the rockets. Here are our kids playing with their kids on the merry go round.
Sam, with Cassidy and Brody in the background.
Jacob alone on the merry go round.
Jacob, Brylie, and Sam.

First they had a successful launch and recovery then we launched ours and it landed in a pond (we think) or maybe a cow ate it, we aren't sure, at any rate we no longer have a rocket. Alan is in search of finding a new one and the boys ask about buying a new one almost daily. Anyway, we had fun launching them anyway, maybe next time Alan will use a smaller engine. Thanks for thinking of us Brad and Cassidy.

Funny Faces

2009-08-27T06:25:00.001-07:00

I noticed the boys were making this funny face when we were at the zoo and looking at the fish in the big tanks. I think they got this from the movie Finding Nemo when Darla looks into the tank, but I am not sure. It is funny though that they have all of a sudden started making this face and they now do it all the time.
Samuel learned how to be a "wheelbarrow" this week.
The boys looked so darn cute on Sunday that I had to snap a picture.
Jacob announced this past week that he wanted to go camping, so we pulled out their little indoor tent and got out their new sleeping bags and had a camping experience, we ate marshmallows by a little candle that we used as our bonfire and the boys read each other stories in their tent, it was really cute.

Family Visit

2009-08-19T13:32:00.001-07:00

As you can see the boys were very excited to have their grandparents (Grandma Jane and Boppus) and aunts (Sarah and Audrey) come and visit.

(by the way thank you Aunt Marisa for the cute birthday shirts!)
I realized that we didn't take a whole lot of pictures of the family on our camera, but here are some that we snapped. Here is Sam traipsing about in the water, we went to Lake Waco and hung out at the beach.
Jacob making sandcastles.
A sandcastle that he didn't make, I think Alan built this beauty.
We did snap this great shot of us in bathing suits. We had a blast.
Here are Audrey and Sarah in their suits. (You will notice there are no shots of Grandma Jane posted this was upon request.)
Here is Boppus reading to the boys, there was a lot of reading done by both grandparents and both aunts.

We took everyone to the local museum, showed them around Baylor, saw the Baylor Bear, showed them the suspension bridge downtown and hung out a lot at home.
Here are Sarah, Sam, and Audrey by the bull near the suspension bridge. We also took the girls to Six Flags where I decided that I am not as young as I once was.

Thanks for coming to visit, we had a great time. If anyone else wants to come our way you are welcome we'll fix up the extra room for you!

Here is a little treat from yesterday, I was outside putting some laundry on the line and when I returned this is what I found. This is every shoe that was in our front closet lined up in a perfect order. Apparently our shoes are now snowmobiles and every toy needs a snowmobile to ride around in. They crack me up.