Adam's Homecoming

After the beach house everyone packed up their cars and headed out to St. George to hear Adam speak in church about his mission.  He did very well.  Even sitting in the back of the chapel wrestling Mac, I got a bit teary eyed.  I suppose that there is something sort of special about Adam.  He was quite young when their dad passed away, and so all the brothers ended up stepping in.  Adam feels like the culmination of all the brothers, the product of their hard work.  He is a good man.

There is really only one difference I've noticed in him since he's returned.  He's almost ... dare I say ... social.  That might be stretching it, but he did come up to me and ask, "Allie, how are you?  What's going on in your life these days?"  I think that's the first time he's ever said that to me.  Aww.

Apparently though, I have trained myself to only pull out the camera if my son is involved, and so I have no pictures of Adam's little homecoming dinner party.

What I do have pictures of ... is the 24th of July Ivins parade.  We are lucky we made it to Utah for such an important event.

 This ended up being the only bummer about this trip ... the parade was at nine in the morning and it was already ninety five degrees.  Are we really considering living here???

The driving was not bad at all.  I talked myself hoarse reading "Catching Fire" to Mark as we drove.  Time flew ... though I have to say, enough with the love triangles already.  Twilight gave me enough of that to last twelve lifetimes.  If you don't like the guy like that, tell him and let him go already!  Let him be with somebody who will love him like you obviously can't!  Sheesh.

Beach House 2010

The Gunn family has had a tradition of going to a beach house every summer.  But as there are now 33 people in the Gunn clan, it has been moved to every two years.

This year there were several new faces, including five babies, Zack's tan-legged, beautiful blond flame Ashley,

and wonderful, wise Grandpa Rand.

Matt even flew back from Haiti, just to see us.  (Never mind Danika.)  The cookies were plentiful as was the fruit, and of course the meals were all up to Mama Gunn's standards, so they were amazing.

The hot tub was a great babysitter,

enabling all the adults to catch some rays.

 

But some kids stayed in too long.

 

Much too long.  Several kids ended up getting diarrhea ... we're thinking it's from this water.

 

We braided hair, explored beaches, boogie boarded, created masterpieces, fought over books (namely the Hunger Games), corralled babies, and ultimately talked Ashley to death.  She might need a break from us before she decides if she really wants to become part of the family ... but we certainly hope she does.  It's too late for Rand, he is stuck with us now.

Mac and Eva were adorable.  This was my favorite photo shoot:

The Battle of the Belt arrangements were extra intense this year, so the ladies decided to watch the games safely perched out of reach.

We decided we preferred it this way; we could laugh at them all we wanted and not get the evil eye.  

Unfortunately we did not account for the marshmallow guns.

We all came together for the Tissue Pull however, and we cheered our hearts out.

Adam may have won the belt (a-gain), but he is not very good at Penny Hose.  Thank heavens for our Minute to Win It.

Junk in the Trunk was probably the best game we played.  Do make sure your kleenex box holes are a little smaller than ours were, though.  Seven seconds it definitely not long enough to watch those little hotties shake it.

The Gunns in Real Life talent show was precious as always, and Ben and Katie's rendition of "The Gunn Family" never fails to disappoint.  I wish I could remember it all, but let me share the chorus:

"We are the Gunn family, 

no shots, raw milk, and babies,

the natural way is true ..."

It was quite funny.

The drive home was, of course, exhausting ... but our trip was just beginning.

Bummer

So, the air conditioning went out.

 

It kind of makes us very sweaty.

 

But Mark insists that sweating is good, 

 

and since we love our landlord and he is saving for a trip to Jerusalem, we haven't called him yet.  I think we might have to sometime soon though.

Return of the Last Elder Gunn

He is here, he is here!  Adam Gunn, the youngest of the six Gunn brothers, has returned from his mission to Sao Paulo, Brazil.  We have yet to see him, but we got to hear his sweet voice on the phone.  Some favorites from the conversation:

Me: So did you bring us presents?
Adam:  I brought you some foot creme.  (All he has said in his letters home to me is that he wants a foot massage.)  Oh, and I got some flip-flops for Mark.
Mark:  You didn't have to get me anything.
Adam:  Well I wasn't thinking of you, someone just gave them to me and they're too small.
Mark:  And mine are so little?
Adam:  Well, yeah.

Me:  Adam, when will you come see us?
Adam:  In a week.
Mark:  You don't want to come down now?
Adam:  Well I heard Zack and his girlfriend are coming early.
Me:  Yes I think they are!  You should ride with them.
Adam:  No way.  I don't want to be a .... a...........
Mark:  Third wheel?
Adam: (laughter) Oh yeah that's the word.

Me:  Too bad you don't have an accent.
Adam:  It's not like it's hard, you just talk.

Me:  Well I hope you watch lots and lots of PG-13 movies tonight.
Adam:  Yeah, after I get released I want to watch Batman.
Mark:  Don't do it!  Anything you watch now you'll hate.  You'll feel like it's dark and evil and you will never like Batman again.  (Speaking from experience?)
Adam:  Well I brought this cheese bread (crinkle crinkle), I brought it so I could eat it and watch Batman.  Looks like that might not work though, this bread didn't really make it ....

Oh, Adam, we can't wait to see you!  Here's a before the mission picture:

Can't wait to post an after.  I hope he'll put on those overalls for us.

Happy Birthday America

In California they celebrate the fourth on the fourth, no matter what day of the week it happens to fall on. 

Weird, right?

I thought for sure the whole world shut down on Sundays.

Well, the good Shaw family was kind enough to set us up with some tickets to the local high school's fire works show, including VIP food passes.

We got to walk past a very large man in dark sunglasses who gave us a slick nod as we nervously walked passed the fence.  We saw the local politicians, a nice man from Wal-Mart, and most importantly, the family whose house had just been re-done by Clean House.

Mac and I received some sweet tats in honor of the day.  Mark has had his fill of tats I guess.  (Mine says "City of La Habra".  Sweeeet.)

The Shaws also provided great company, blankets, a lively game of Catch Phrase, and prime seating at the fireworks.

I worried Mark and I would spend the evening clamping Mac's ears shut and attempting to sway, cuddle, ooo, and ah, but I was completely wrong.  It was late, Mac began to be tired and fussy, but once the popping and flashing lights filled the sky, he froze.  He spent the entire time staring and stroking my hand.  I don't think he blinked once.  It ended up being the perfect combination of fear and fascination; he seemed to love it.

Our noisy neighbors had no effect on him at all that night ... he was too exhausted to be bothered by any yells, bangs, or pops.

Then today I went to the gym, and a young gal saddled the bike next to me.  She had an iPhone, and after she had selected her tunes, she put it to a picture of a young man all decked out in his military camo.  There was desert behind him.  She stared at that picture for the rest of her workout.

I ran through a million questions I wanted to ask her, but also thought of a million ways she would find me offensive or obtrusive, and so succumbing to that shy girl somewhere inside me, I just walked away.  Now I really would like to say thank you to everyone serving in the military.  And thank you to your loved ones.  It hardly seems fair that I get to enjoy my little family, our government aide, and without hardly a thing to worry about.  Thank you thank you thank you for giving that to us.

Even in California

You can tell that it's summertime.  Here there may be a mere ten degree difference between dreary winters and smoldering summers, but it is an important ten degrees.  

Family comes.

Beaches are more enjoyable.

But sometimes they are too crowded.  When that happens, you simply make your own beach.

These ones are sometimes better; you are a little free-er.

 

It's also a good time to work on crawling.  Or rather, scooting.

Summer is a very good time for reading.  Mark and I have devoured the little bookstore by the library.  Now Huckelberry Finn and Dan Brown are keeping Mark from studying, and yet he still seems to ace (more or less) every test.  I am currently working on "Villette" by Charlotte Bronte ... it's quite the mouthful.  Or perhaps eye-full .... it is a very dense read.

Mom's club now includes beach days ... and I will be at the next one, whether or not anyone else is.

 

We now get to interview for renewed temple recommends.  I have to say I have given quite some thought to it this time around.  It is good to be able to spend some serious time reflecting on your own strengths and faults, and attempting to find little actions that will somehow help you develop as you know you should.  I have been grateful for it.

Apparently big binkies cause allergies in the summertime.  Luckily we have not lost all of our small ones.  I am thinking we should get rid of them all together, but am at a loss as to how he will fall asleep without one.

Summertime is wonderful for grilling with friends.  And learning interesting facts about eighties movies.  I very much want a "Scene It" game now ... perhaps not the eighties.  Something that happened after I was three would be better.

Even Ikea is more magical.  Sales sales sales sales sales sales sales sales sales ......

I hope you are enjoying your summertime.  Our ten degree increase is being quite enjoyed here.

More Mac Updates

My dear friend Chelsey posted THIS today and I cried a wee bit.  Motherhood is so wonderful and so hard ... it's easy to feel like a failure.

Good thing Mac likes me so much.

Went to the doctor today, and Mac still has a big head (75th percentile), fairly tall (60th percentile), and even skinnier than ever (10th percentile).  Shocked I replied, "I nurse him five times a day, and he goes through four jars of baby food, as well as bits of whatever I'm eating ..." 

"Well," Dr. McKenzie says, "He must have just started crawling."

No.  He is not crawling.

But he IS scooting ... and rolling .... and cruising!  He loves to walk along things.  He definitely prefers fingers to chairs and tables as anchors, but he is moving on his own.  I asked her about the development of his corpus callosum, and she informs me that crawling does seem to correlate with reading skills, but that I can crawl around with him a bunch whenever he happens to decide to do it.  Even if it's after walking.

I love this doctor.