Mom

...Perhaps strength doesn't reside in having never been broken..but in the courage required to grow strong in the broken places...

Mom, you da best. I love you. xoxoxo

November 1st 2006....

Sometimes in the craziness of life I forget the anniversary of the best day ever. In fact every year Stu and I have to look at the pictures to remember the exact date, but we will NEVER forget what happened on that day and how we felt as we were sealed as a family for time and all eternity. So thankful for those blessings we received then, and continue to receive from the choices that we have made. Thankful for a husband who was worthy and willing to take me to the temple, and for my children who remind me everyday of the true meaning and purpose of this life...love you my little grape slushies xoxo...that is all:)

~Spoooky Fun~

So Stuart and I started doing INSANITY the workout. And true to its name it is. We both came severely close to puking after our first workout, but decided to continue on doing the workouts daily. After the third day we were walking like zombies we were so sore. A great start to our halloween festivities. Saturday night there was a big Halloween party at the Hacienda(lodge on post). Stu and I decided to go as the Mad Hatter and the March Hare. The party was pretty fun, Stu and I sang karioke "Jackson" by Johnny Cash and June Carter. Stu was so good, I just couldn't channel the perfect June Carter voice I normally do, I was too nervous...next time..then we won first prize for best couple costume!!WOOOO! 100 bucks! It was a Halloween miracle! On Halloween we dressed the kiddos up and went down to the PX parking lot in a hay wagon to trunk or treat. Afterwards we went to the theater on post and watched the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. The kids liked it, I thought it was boooring. Then we went back home and Trick or treated. Afterwards Ava came in and dumped her loot out and said, "Me and Ella are gonna divorce our candy" I was like???? "do you mean separate?" She was like "ya". haha!

Pandamania!!!

Our little Beaner turned six years old yesterday...I can't believe she is that big. For her birthday we went up to the Oakland zoo with some friends over the weekend then on her actual birthday we had a little party down at the splash park. She loves panda's lately so of course it was panda themed. We barbequed, played in the water, drank minty lemonade, and watched Ava's newly found hula hooping skills. She is awesome! I just love that little girl so much. She is so sweet(most of the time) and smart, and such a good big sister and helper to me. While lying in bed last night I thought about what I was doing exactly six years ago, and recalled holding my new precious little Ava alongside my sweet husband. She was and is such a blessing in our lives and we are so grateful she is part of our family!!!

Berry-licious Day!

We decided that on our way to pick Auntie Trisha up from the airport in San Jose, we would stop and do some berry pickin! It was so much fun. We went to Gizdich Ranch in Watsonville. While driving to the ranch there were berry fields everywhere. The air smelled like strawberries! We got to the ranch and there was a cute red farm house, an antique shop, a berry store, a barn/eatery and a lovely little picnic area in the midst of an apple orchard. There was a broke down tractor for the kids to climb on and a haystack tunnel for them to run through and fall off of. Also a sand box wherein Ava and Ella played for an extended amount of time. After playing for a while we went to the Olallie and Boysenberry fields to harvest some goodness(the strawberries and raspberries were closed:(). We got some little buckets and a pull wheelbarrow and started to pick/secretly devour(just a few)boysenberries. They were huge and juicy the kids loved 'um. We picked until our bucket was full. Then we crossed the little dirt road to the Olallie berries which are a mix between logan and boysenberries. These where even bigger than the boysenberries, but a bit more tart, so we only got like half a bucketful. After picking we made our way back to the barn and ordered some sandwiches and strawberry shortcake, and apple raspberry pie. The dessert came out first and we couldn't wait so we ate it first. The strawberry shortcake was DIVINE. I hearted it will all my heart. The pie was good also, but my pie crust is better. After we were done we headed to San Jose to pick up Trisha. The kids were sooo excited. They were jumping up and down as soon as they saw her coming out of the gate. She is the best, so grown up and pretty, and already leaving me today to go hang out with boys from my ward. Oh well. I'm going to attempt to make some freezer jam now with all my berries:)

My Little Beaner....

Graduated Kindergarten!! She is one smart cookie!

The other day I accidentally posted Kayla's post to my blog...ha haaaa.

Today we joyously drove 40 minutes to the Dr's to get all the kids caught up on their immunizations...Ava of course has been having a freak out about this upcoming visit ever since I warned her about it three weeks ago, but she assured us after the promise of a "white slushie" she would be brave and wouldn't cry before the shots, only after. Which was fine with us. Truman went first and he was brave and only cried for a little. The girls were in another room having their turn with the doctor(whom we really like so far). Then it was time for the girls. I took Ava into the other room to distract her while Ella had her turn. I had Ava apply lip gloss to my lips and purposely talked and laughed super loud as to muffle the screams of Ella coming from the other room which worked. Ava didn't even noticed, although I could hear Ella and it makes my heart cry always to hear any of my kids cry from pain. After Ella was done I took her and comforted her whilst opening her sugar-free lollipop, while Stu tried to coax Ava into the room. She started out by saying "No, I don't want to yet"..."No, I'm scared!" "no no nonono No no NOOOOO!!!!" I could hear Stu struggling with her to calm down, and I honestly smiled a little because she was being so hysterical and dramatic and the things she said...hope that doesn't make me sound mean..but anyway they finally were able to give the shots to her and she cried for about two seconds afterwards. After we left Ella said to Ava, "and I'm never gonna get shots ever again" Ava responds "next time Ella I will put a force field around us so they can't. Cuz I can do that..really.." ahh..poor kids. Glad thats over with. After wards we drove down to Pismo beach and got out of the car and realized it was cold and windy and we were all dressed for oh, I don't know beach weather. So we went to the local Old Navy and bought the cheapest long sleeved jackets and shirts possible..I got Tru a long sleeve christmas snoopy shirt for 97 cents and fuzzy pants for 3 dollars! go me! We got the girls some leggings and Ava a jacket for 10 bucks,(El already had one)and then they had to get flipflops 2 for 5 so its ok. Then we went to TJ maxx and I got black leggings and a jackety shirt for ten dollars. Then we went to the beach looking super styly. It was fun and everyone came home with sand in our butt cracks.

Happy late Mother's Day all you Mama's!!

We had a good week last week. On Friday was Zone conference. We got to drive into Charleston, and it was truly lovely. Everything is sooo incredibly green here. And the Charleston Capital building is so cool! It was good to get "re-motivated" in our missionary efforts. The mission has been struggling with finding and teaching lessons with members present, but I am pumped and ready to work hard this week! On Saturday, we went tracting and it was such a pretty day! Sunny and breezy! We tracted one street, and it took us all morning! We talked to sooo many people and found a few potential investigators. I've found that my fear of talking to people has lessened, and I have really been trying hard to start teaching at the doorstep. Its kind of really fun! Ya meet them, and then start telling them about the restoration of the gospel! Everyone was so nice to us that day. It was a true blessing!

Also, last week, we walked to the library and talked to a lot of people. But on the way, we passed 3 ladies, and didn't talk to them (even though we felt like we needed to). So, I was kind of bummed about that, BUT the Lord blessed us, and ALL THREE were there on the way back, about an hour later!!! And we were able to talk to them and give them a card. How cool is that?

At Church yesterday, we had like 10 people come up and talk to us about their friends they want us to teach. BONUS!!! We have a lesson scheduled tonight with a boy named Tanner who is 11. His parents are both members, but he's never been baptized. Victory!!! We were so happy yesterday!

A member of the ward passed away last week, and we went to her funeral. Her name was Kay Ann. How weird is that. I did not like seeing that name on a funeral program!!! :) It was sad for all of her family, but a nice service. Before my mission, I had never been to a funeral before. Now I've been to 4! Crazy!!

PS next P-day is on TUESDAY the 17the because of transfers on the 18th! I can't believe the transfer is almost over!!!

Oh, also the ward had a party and auctioned of desserts for the YW to earn $ for girls camp, it was the most hilarious thing I have seen in a while!! The prices went so high so fast!! I think the most expensive thing was that a coconut cream pie sold for over $60!!! They raised over $500!! Everyone was laughing so hard the whole time!! I love the ward here, they are totally great.

We saw Matt this week, and all seems to be the same with him. We're working on strengthening his testimony of the gospel.

I love being a missionary. I can't wait to call home next week!!

The Church is True,

I love you!!!!

Love, Sister Kayla Gunnell

Easter

Saturday morning we ventured out to Redwings horse sanctuary, which is only about twenty minutes from our home. They had a fun easter egg hunt for the kids, a yummy breakfast, and we took a lovely tour of the sanctuary. It was awesome. They have over 90 equines, that have either been rescued, or neglected, or relocated. It was beautiful and the girls loved looking at the horses and donkeys and ponies. They were also tiny baby bunnies hopping around everywhere. I have decided that I'm going to volunteer at the sanctuary when I can, I'm pretty excited about it! Ava one the prize for finding the most easter eggs, she was very excited. After that we went into town to get some groceries for our Sunday dinner. I invited the missionaries over so I had to be a little fancy. We had ham, asparagus, rolls, cheesy potatoes and delish jello-ie cheesecake desert. They loved it so it was a success. And can I just say that I love looking at the produce we buy and seeing that it was grown in the next town. Everything tastes so much better here. I'm just sayin..

Ahhhh...I'm loving our new home. I love the beautiful area we live in. We went and explored the two local lakes the other day, and they were beautiful! We now wish we had brought our kayaks with us. I love how much family time we have been able to spend together. Stu works in cycles, he does nine days and then has four days off, so it's nice. Also his commute is only a five minute bike ride away. Here's a few photo's from our lake adventure...

So far so good!

After a long 14 hour drive we arrived at our new home in Jolon California Monday the 14th. So far we have really liked the base and all it has to offer! Our house is really nice, 4 bedrooms 3 bathrooms. There is a playground outside of our backyard that the kids love and constantly want to go to. There is also a skate park and a splash park down the street, with a soccer field and basketball court. Our neighbors all seem friendly, except most of them have yappy dogs, and everyone else that works on the base seem happy and helpful. Even tho we are really in the middle of nowhere, it is beautiful. The drive up was so pretty...blossoming orchards, vineyards, and rolling bright green hills everywhere you look! There is a lot to do around here if you don't mind driving a bit. It takes twenty five minutes just to get to the freeway. Ava might be able to go to kindergarten next week..we will see. The first four days here were warm and sunny, about 72. Now its raining and cold. I'm so glad my mom was able to come out with us. She has been such a big help and I couldn't have made the drive without her. We're really going to miss her when she leaves tomorrow. Well that's all for now. I will post more pictures of our house when we finish unpacking and decorating and such. So far we are loving our new California home!

California here we come!!

Yay! Finally we got orders and are leaving this Saturday to California...guess I better hurry up and pack.....

Seriously.....

I don't even want to blog because I'm so annoyed about our situation right now. But I guess I will because I'm trying to pass the time till I know what to do. We are awaiting orders from the military to move in March. Stu got promoted and we will be going to Ft. Hunter Liggett in southern Monterey county California. He will be training deploying soldiers there. Supposedly they were trying to move his start date from the 24th of March to the 1st, but we still haven't got any orders, so I guess unless we get them tomorrow we won't be going till the end of March. If we do get them tomorrow, we will have to haul butt to get packed and move out there. Anyway hopefully we will know soon.