Happy Birthday Gunnar

Looking back, here is Gunnar at one day old. He was so cute. Okay he looked like a monkey, but he was a cute monkey.
Here he is at almost 2. This was taken right before we moved to Ohio. He is always this happy. Nothing has changed.
Here he is in Kindergarten. Isn't he the cutest thing?


And here he is today. Yes he has a broken arm, it is amazing what playing dodgeball with a big exercise ball can do to you. He also has bandages all over the other arm due to a nasty fall he took going down hill on his scooter. But look at him he is still smiling. Gunnar happy 7th birthday. I love you.

The Bunch

The last week of June, the Kalke's drove out to the west and stayed with us for a week. We had so much fun, going to the Wild Animal Park, the Zoo, the beach and swimming. It was so fun having them. Unfortunately this is the only picture I have. So go see the Kalke's blog for more pictures. From left to right: Kaleb, Michael, Mayson, Asher, Jorden, Gunnar, Axel, and Rhyan. 8 kids is a lot of kids.

The WAP

This is my cousin from Sweden, Jenny, and her friend Katarina. Jenny is the blonde on the right. They came out here to see how we live and what did we do we took them to our favorite spot the Wild Animal Park.
Here are Axel, AJ and Elli waiting patiently for the tour bus to arrive. They are so adorable.
This is my mom, Jenny, and me. Don't we all look good!!
Aw yes, my little big man Jorden looking as adorable as ever.
Axel cruising in the stroller with his brothers, Gunnar and Michael.

Gunnar's Birthday Party

We had to move at the end of June so we decided to have Gunnar's birthday party in June so he could invite all his friends from school. From left to right is, Francisco, Gunnar, Carson, Luke and Michael. The only person missing was John. And we did miss him. But the boys had a great time. We had it at Chuck e cheese and might I say it was by far the best place for a party ever. We didn't have to do anything and our house was still clean when it was all over. Why do I have parties at my house again?? Gunnar had a lot of fun though and loved having all his friends there.

Like Grandma; like grandson

Okay so I couldn't resist posting this picture. He is licking off the syrup from his plate. How cute is that. My mom can sometimes be caught licking her plate too. So I had to grab this picture for posterities sake of course.

Catch up

Wow it has really been a while since I updated this blog. I thought I would catch you up on our life. Sorry there aren't too many pictures but I just haven't been taking any. So here goes. As I stated in my last posting, we have been neck deep into baseball. Having 3 boys and a husband all playing baseball has really consumed our lives. We are at some field every day until way past bedtime. As crazy as it has been, it has been fun watching everyone play and seeing how much they have improved over the season. We were also given notice by our landlords that we have to be out of our house next month, so we have been frantically looking for something to buy or rent. Thanks to extra credit Michael is going to move on to 4th grade. We are very excited about that. He is a smart child just very lazy and doesn't like to do his work. Life just never slows down. So now we are anxiously awaiting school to get over, baseball to end, and a miracle to happen. Then life can slow down again right? Yeah right then soccer starts, woohoo!!!!

JJ and I had the great opportunity to go with our Stake on their pioneer trek. We were a "Ma and Pa" to 10 wonderful youth in the stake. At times it was really hard but they were all troopers and we made it to "Zion". I loved it so much I can't wait to do it again.

Easter Sunday

Not a bad shot for taking it ourselves don't you think? We always take a picture on Easter Sunday of our family and here it is again. What a good looking group of boys I have. They were all such good sports to dress up in their suits for me.

How do you say cute in your language???

Why Elliot of course!!! She has got to be the most adorable thing ever. She is such a little drama queen already. Man do they start early. But I sure do love this little girl. And so do all the boy cousins.

Easter

My sister, Jenny, and her family, Conor, Aiden, and Elliot, joined us for Easter this year. We had an Easter egg hunt in the backyard and the kids loved it. Way to much candy was has this year.

Gunnar's first missing tooth

Gunnar lost his first tooth. He was biting a lego apart and suddenly he noticed his tooth was hanging there. I proceeded to take a tissue grab the tooth and yank. Out it came and so did the tooth fairy. He was so excited to get his name on the tooth chart at school.

Beach Time

Here is Jorden and Sierra playing ball. JJ is the pitcher with Axel helping.

Here is our "parking spot" Kim and I enjoyed the sun, me a little too much.

Gunnar learned how to use the skim board. He did really well.

Here are 5 of the 8 clowns. Gunnar, Jorden, Michael, Bailey, and Sierra.

Gunnar and Michael racing the waves.

The Bunkers

At the end of our Spring Break we got some surprise visitors. JJ's best friend from high school, Jamon came down and we got together for a few days. It is so fun because their kids are the same ages as all of ours. Some even to the day. Here is Axel and Jackson hanging out on the skateboard. They thought they were so cool

This is Jorden, Jackson and Sierra.

Jayden and Michael

Bailey and Sierra

Trip to Arizona

We took advantage of spring break this year and went to Arizona to visit my brother Brian and his family. It was so much fun. They have a park right out their front door so my children were in heaven. Jorden was feeling a little under the weather so he spent most of his time on the swing.
Here is Bryce and Michael. Bryce loved having Michael play with him on the slide.
And here are two of the three babies all born with in days of each other. (See my January post of 2008) These two, Axel and Bryce are actually the two twins. They were born the same day, only hours apart and a few states too. These two where so fun together. They would hold hands and walk to the park together. It was fun to see them interact. We can't wait for AJ to come this way and get all three together.
Here is my niece Brynnly. I had so much fun getting to know her. And having her get to know me. Right here she is singing, "I love you, I love you, I love you," I loved it!!! She loves anyone who will sit and push her on the swing till she decides she is done. Which honestly I don't know if she would ever be done.
And here is a picture of the boys playing hoop with Uncle Brian and Aunt Tiffany. Okay Tiffany is just watching but they all had so much fun. Brian and Tiff, thanks so much for taking us in and letting us mess up your home. We had so much fun and can't wait to see you again.

Two wheel bike rider

It is official, Jorden can now ride a two wheel bike. It only took him a few tries and a lot of cries, (I know what you are thinking, Jorden, cry? No that just doesn't ever happen!!) But he finally mastered it. And thanks to Gunnar and our neighbor Bryce he can now start all by himself too. We are so proud of him.

More Baseball

As you can see baseball is a family affair. Many of Michael's games are at night. It gets pretty cold. (50 degrees out here) We all bundle up and enjoy the game. Most of JJ's family lives in our same town so they come bundle up with us. This is my brother-in-law Todd and my neice Eva. That face is saying, "Why did you bring me out here in the cold again? And at my bedtime?"
Oh so cute. This is JJ's sister Michele with JJ and Jorden.
And the rest of the troopers, Gunnar, Axel, cousin Reese, and Jorden.

Pinewood Derby 2009

Here we are at our second Pinewood Derby. Well Michael and JJ took first place this year. It was really fun. I have to say that this year JJ did a great job with having Michael help with the car. Michael picked the design, he wanted Bumblebee the Transformer and then he sanded and painted the car along with having the responsibility of spinning the wheels enough so that they would spin for a total of at least 25 seconds.
Here it is coming down the track at break necking speed. He took all of the heats that day until he raced his Grandpa's (Poppy) car. (JJ's dad joined us for the fun) Well Poppy's car smoked us. So now we have something to aspire to for next year.

Baseball Season is back

We are smack dab in the middle of baseball season. Originally I signed up thinking how hard can it be. We might have one practice a week for the older boys and then 3 games on Saturday, no big deal. Little did I know what I was getting myself into!!! I have 1 to 2 practices a week per child plus 2 games a week per child. Yes we are all baseball. The worst part about it however is that the coaches all have decided, (I do think they have conspired together) to have practices all at the same time, same day, and in completely different locations. This gives a new meaning to Taxi Mom for sure.

The boys do love playing though and Axel is a trooper to hang out at the ball parks with me. Michael is playing for the Texas Rangers. Here he is right before hitting the ball out of the park. Okay so it wasn't out of the park but he hit a pretty good one.






Gunnar is playing for the Chicago Cubs. He absolutely loves is and is doing really well. Isn't this a great shot of him. He looks so "mean and serious", yeah right, just looking at this picture makes you smile.








And last but not least here is Jorden. He is playing for the Oakland Athletics. Yes the A's!!! He loves that he gets to play baseball just like his brothers. And I have to say his hand/eye coordination is pretty good too. He just might out-do his brothers.

Pay It Forward

Pay It Forward...My friend Misty is playing a game on her blog and I decided to do it too. So this is how it works - The first 3 people to leave a comment on this (my) post will receive a hand made gift from me during this year. When and what will be a surprise. There's a small catch...You knew there would be didn't you? Post this on your blog then come back and leave a comment, telling me you're in. Fun, huh? Remember, only the first 3 comments receive the gift. Come on! You know you want something from me!!