1st Day of Kindergarten

Oh Matthew.  My sweet boy started Kindergarten.  

There were no tears, but my heart aches.  

I can’t believe how much I miss him even if it is just for a few hours.

So many thoughts.  All carefully recorded in my journal.

I love this boy!  And I love his dad.  And I love that Darin took the day off to see Matt go to school.  

(He actually took it off because I felt really sick that morning...not sure if I was really sick or just 1st day of school jitters).

Back to School Dinner

Sunday we had our first Back to School Dinner.

Our Gunnerson Family Theme for 2014 is:

 “Kindness begins with me.”

After dinner we sang, THIS song, and talked about ways to be kind.

We showed the kids our new “warm fuzzy” jar and told them every time they do something kind we will add a “fuzzy” to the jar.  When it is full we will do a fun family activity. (Yet to be determined).  After our little lesson, Darin gave each of us a Father’s Blessing.

(Side note: I spent probably 30 minutes writing and re-writing this phrase on the chalk board.  I did a really fun caligraphy writing and finally got really happy with how it looked.  Then, right before dinner, Andrew colored ALL over it, and I had to just write it in a hurry.  I now realize that the message is what is important, not the font.)

Ogden Temple Open House

Our family made it up to the open house for the Ogden LDS temple.

It is BEAUTIFUL!!

I loved watching Darin talk to the kids in whispers as they walked from room to room.

I loved holding Andrew as he waved to EVERY volunteer.

But the best was seeing his reaction as we went to the celestial room.

"Ooooooo!!!  Ooooooo!!!" is all he kept saying as he pointed to different things.

I love this family of mine!

If you'd like to learn more about LDS temples, click HERE.

Bishopric Dinner

A week and a half ago Sister Ita, the 1^st counselor’s wife, sent me a text to ask what she could bring to the bishopric dinner.  I told her I hadn’t heard anything about a dinner but I’d check with Darin and let her know.  Darin didn’t answer so I called the bishop’s wife and she said they were going to do one but it got canceled.

 

A few days later I got a call from the clerk’s wife asking the same thing.  Again, I told her I hadn’t heard of anything.  On Thursday, Sister Ita was driving by and again asked what she could bring to dinner.  I told her I didn’t know anything about a dinner, but Darin was just pulling up from work.  I asked him if he knew about a bishopric dinner and he said, “Oh ya, sorry, I forgot to tell you, everyone is coming to our house for dinner.”  Darin is always great at keeping me in the loop, so it was funny to me that he forgot this kind of important detail—that we were having15 people over for dinner!

So, I sheepishly returned calls and told the wives that they were right, and we threw together a quick dinner.  It was a really fun night, and great to be together. 

Landsaw's gave Andrew his very own Drumstick.

He LOVED it!

HO Gunnerson Reunion

We had a wonderful Gunnerson Reunion this weekend.
It was fun to be with the family...although a lot of the family was REALLY missed!!

I made these jumbo pictures of some of the Gunnerson ancestors.
I was happy with the way they turned out.

There was a BEAUTIFUL flower garden next to our pavilion. 

Cousin Cooper and Andrew.

I loved this display of some of the old things from the ancestors.

Dad wrote numbers next to the items so you could match them to the pictures.

The kids had fun at the park.

The adults had fun at the "Adult Meeting."

Thanks for the fun reunion mom and dad!

Trip to the Cabin---Music to my ears!

We spent 3 days up at the cabin.

There are so many things I love there.

The scenery, the food (especially dutch oven and tinfoil dinners), the activities, just being with family, and more.

However, one random thing that I love is the cabin music collection.

I don't know what it is, but the music just sounds better there than anywhere else.

The secret of life is enjoying the passage of time. Any fool can do it, there ain't nothing to it. Nobody knows how we got to the top of the hill.  But since we're on our way down, we might as well enjoy the ride.

There is a young cowboy, he lives on the range.  His horse and his cattle are his only companions.  He works in the saddle and he sleeps in the canyons, waiting for summer, his pastures to change.

It all happened so much faster than you could say disaster… And you can either sink or swim, things are looking pretty grim… We're breaking and rebuilding and we're growing.

 The light was leaving. In the west it was blue. 

The children's laughter sang and skipping just like the stones they threw.

I'll find the things they say just can't be found.  I'll share this love I find with everyone.  We'll sing and dance to Mother Nature's songs.  I don't want this feeling to go away. Please don't go away.

 Now he walks in quiet solitude, the forest and the streams, seeking grace in every step he takes.  His sight is turned inside himself, to try and understand the serenity of a clear blue mountain lake.

It was just another night with a sunset and a moon-rise not so far behind to give us just enough light to lay down underneath the stars.  Listen to all the translations of the stories across the sky. We drew our own constellations.

Frozen Camp

Lindsay had so much fun doing "Princess Camp" that we had to sign her up for Frozen Camp.

This time she did it with her Hodgkinson cousins (7 and younger).

Thanks CAA for another fun week!