Easter

 I love Easter.  It's such a wonderful time of year.  My spirits are lifted by the season and the reason we celebrate.  I ran across this quote by President Joseph Fielding Smith that I love.

"Some of us find it so hard, so terribly hard, to do the little things that are asked of us, and yet He was willing to carry all that tremendous load and weight of sin....that we might escape."

I am as guilty as the next for being this way sometimes.  I am so grateful for repentance and mercy so that I can continually improve and progress.

Our Easter was filled with fun along with a great lesson about the Savior with our children.  I love that we can have both.
We had 4 egg hunts but I only got pictures of the last one at Grandma and Grandpa Taggart's house.

Since Emma had already had 3 previous hunts, she opted out of this one to help little Eden find her basket full.

The "big kids" even got to hunt for eggs.  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for having a $pecial one just for u$!  Because I was busy looking for eggs I handed the camera over to Emma and these are her pics.  You may want to squint to see if that helps with the blurriness.  :)

 After our hunt we all went inside to open our treasures when JayDee started being creative with Eden's hair and no one could resist the cuteness.

Now that's what I call festive!
 

Fied Trips

It's that time of year for field trips.  I have been lucky enough to go on quite a few and thought I'd share some pictures of the fun places we've been able visit.

Isaac

Isaac got to visit the local fire station. He had lots of fun exploring a fire engine and ambulance.  My friend Melissa took most of the pictures.  I only got one not so good one.

Emma

For Emma's field trip I was actually substituting for another 3rd grade teacher.  Emma was a little bummed that I couldn't be her parent chaperone but I saw so much of her while we were there I might as well have been.  The 3rd grade field trip was to the Living Planet Aquarium in Sandy.

Our favorite exhibit was the new river otter display.  They were adorable! There were 3 of them and they are all brothers.  Awwww....

 Of course you can't not love petting the sting rays.

Then we ate lunch after at a nearby park.  Fun day.

Ethan

With Ethan I got to go on two field trips.  Both were really fun but very different.  The 5th graders at our school get to do the funnest stuff.  Really.  First up was to the Utah Symphony and the new Natural History Museum.

Here's my group of handsome boys at the symphony all dressed in their Sunday best.

Letting loose a little at the museum.

Ethan smelling a native plant.

This was pretty cool.  They were making an earthquake to be measured my a seismic reader by jumping all together.  Ready.....Set......

Jump!

Field trip #2 a few weeks later was to J.A. Biztown.  If you've never heard of this it's pretty awesome.  On the top floor of the Discovery Gateway they have built an entire city that is run by 5th graders for a day.  Local businesses sponsor the city and get to have store fronts.  Each 5th graders applies for a job weeks before and are then assigned to a job that they will run the day of the trip.  They have to dress like business professionals, they learn how to balance a checkbook register, pay bills, sell items, get a loan, etc.  The whole town is interconnected and helps them understand how economy really works.  Examples of some of the businesses are Clear Channel broadcasting - a student got to be the DJ for the day and play actual music throughout the city.  Deseret News, Zions and First Securtiy Bank, Larry H. Miller, Alphagraphics, Smith's, Salt Lake City School District, Merit Medical, Select Health, there was also a restaurant and City Hall.

Ethan's job was Sales Manager for ReAl Salt Lake.  There store was really cool. 

Check out the awesome wall!

I haven't been able to go on one of Hannah's field trips yet but the school year isn't over yet! 

We went on a family field trip too!  Baby Animal Days in Wellsville at the American West Heritage Center.  We've never been before because we're too cheap but this year JayDee was given a free family pass so we decided to go even though it was freezing cold and snowing. 

Train ride

Pony rides

 Turtles (How cute are they?)

Sheep

Bunnies

We had lots of fun and were happy we went on such a cold day because we didn't have to wait to do or see anything.  The day before and after our visit the event was packed! Between 7- 8,000  people on each day other than ours.  So their are perks to freezing.  :)

Ski Day

March 9th, a day to remember for sure.  JayDee and I used to be quite the ski bums.  I learned to ski very young and loved it.  I spent a lot of time skiing in my younger years thanks to a good friend who had an in at a local ski resort. I became so proficient at the sport that I was even able to "keep up" with a cute boy that I met in college who thought he was all that on the mountain.  In his own words, he was very impressed with me and couldn't believe that he had found a girl who was as daring as he was. He had to snatch me up so we could ski into the sunset together. 

That's how our story started but it certainly didn't last long.  Thanks to school, then kids, then school again and more kids, our daring days on the ski hill were practically non-existent.  In the 13 years that JayDee and I have been married we have probably only skied 5 times.  Deplorable I know.  And of those 5 times, only 2 (including this one) have been in the last 10 years.  We have actually discussed how sad this fact is.  We let something we both love fall by the wayside.  But with the rising cost of this particular hobby we just didn't have the funds to go and we certainly hadn't been able to teach any of our children.

Fast forward to Friday, March 9th.  With some ski passes that JayDee and I earned being models for Snowbasin's new summer activities marketing (Thanks RLT Photography) and a Ski Utah 5th grade passport for Ethan.  We were able to spend an entire day skiing.  And what a day it was!  It was the perfect ski day.  Blue skies, warm temperatures and a natural born skier.  I had hoped Ethan would take to skiing easily and I wasn't disappointed.   He did amazingly well.  I knew we would be spending the day on easy runs, teaching and guiding Ethan so I wasn't expecting much fun but I had the best day. Even though we spent most of the day on green runs, Ethan wanted to ride the gondola before the day was up.  So our last run of the day, we rode to the top of the mountain and got some blue runs in.  Impressive for a first timer! He was a little intimidated by the steepness of a couple of the runs but took them like a champ!

Ethan's ready to hit the slopes.

Here is Ethan on his second run of the day.

Here we are at lunch out on the patio.

Did I already say how amazing the weather was?

Taking a break to watch some people do the half-pipe.

Speaking of half-pipe.  JayDee finally got up the courage to give it a try by the end of the day.  Although, skiing is like riding a bike and JayDee and I felt like we had never taken a 10 year hiatus from the sport, our bodies had different thoughts on the matter.  We weren't quite as daring as we used to be being a little more worried about how our bodies would take the beating being much older this time. I only took one jump this day and although I didn't fall, I certainly didn't get much air and the landing wasn't pretty.  JayDee took a few more than me and then attempted the half-pipe, half-committed I might add. In his defense, this thing was huge and he does have a family to support. I thought I was recording the whole time but actually only got the bottom half, right after a stunning fall.  So this is JayDee getting up and finishing the pipe a little more deflated than when he started. :)

We had so much fun! It was good to be reminded how much we truly love skiing.  We hope to go again very soon.  We have 2 more complimentary passes from Snowbasin so we'll be trying to sneak in another day on the mountain before the snow melts. :)

Valentine's Day

Alright, alright...I know it's almost April but I would be sad if I didn't do an itty-bitty post about one of my favorite holidays.  Although it is one of my favorites, how can you not love a holiday dedicated to love, we don't go all crazy.  Around here we do try to make sure the love is felt every day of the year but there is just something special about a day set aside to celebrate "us." The "us"of course includes our children.

Aunt BriAnne started off the celebration the Saturday before Valentine's Day with a fabulous little Valentine's Tea Party.  

What a lovely table!

And just look at this spread

 

These were especially delicious...

Red Velvet Cheesecake Swirl Brownies

We had quite the delightful time!

And in case anyone is wondering, Ethan was invited to this party and was planning on attending and then had a friend come over at the last minute and opted to do "boy stuff" instead of coming to the tea party. Silly boy.

The Monday before Valentine's Day, JayDee and I decided to take the kids out to dinner thinking we would beat the crowds by not going on Valentine's Day, yeah that didn't work out too well.  After we were finally seated we had a good time though.

On Valentine's morning the kids woke up to a few festive decorations, a bag of goodies and Valentine smoothies with Valentine straws for breakfast. Mmmmm....

I received, by delivery no less, this lovely bouquet from my sweetheart.  He professed his love for me and his excitement for out upcoming trip on the card.  It read: "Thanks for the memories and T - 65 days until we make more! Love you!"

We're not really rose people around here.

And what would Valentine's Day be without a poem?  Emma was able to check that one off our list year with this literary masterpiece she wrote at school.

 Awww love.

Grateful. So Very, Very Grateful

Life's been trucking away around here.  A friend of mine, that I don't see very often anymore, mentioned a while ago that she knew I must be busy because I hadn't done a blog post in quite a while.  Boy was she right!  I mentioned in an earlier post about substitute teaching a lot in December, well it didn't stop in January.  Actually, I subbed even more in January.  15 out of the 18 days of school in January I was teaching.  So with all that time spent at the school and coming home to my many mommy duties, I have not had any time for blogging, but my schedule is opening up significantly here in February so I thought I better sit down and record the miracles that have been graciously placed at the Gunnell Family's doorstep.  

My mind has been caught up recently with thoughts of Heavenly Father's love for me and my family.  It seems that recently my humble prayers have not only been answered but that my cup overfloweth.  I don't want anyone out there to think that I'm begging for pity with my outpourings here, I just want to remember how I feel right now.  How we've struggled and how miraculous a gift prayer is. 

It is no secret that horticulturists don't make the big money.  Most people, if they even know what a horticulturist is, would ask what can you do with a degree in that?  Well, in all honesty, not much.  JayDee is brilliant at his chosen field and we are lucky to work USU Extension.  County agent jobs are few and far between and it's about the only job out there that feels like it was tailor made for JayDee.  But with that said, Extension is not the job for you if want to have a very comfortable lifestyle without financial struggles on one income.  It was important for us, when we started a family that I stay home and raise our children.  So the financial burden of supporting a family rested solely on JayDee.  He has always taken this role very seriously and worked harder than most to support us.  This has meant a lot of time away from us.  Which hasn't always met with appreciation here at home (namely me).  It wasn't that I was mad at him for always working but more that I was frustrated that no matter how hard he worked our money woes, if you will, never got any better.  Was there any relief in sight?  For years, it seemed that the answer was always no.  We didn't wallow in self-pity.  We did the best we could, lived our lives and exercised a lot of faith and most importantly always acknowledged God's hand when he picked us up and made up the difference. 

For years, we've prayed for our burdens to be lightened, for some opportunity that would make all the difference.  To kill the suspense right now, nothing like that has happened.  What has happened is that Heavenly Father, knowing us and loving us as a perfect father does, has opened the windows of heaven.  Did we win the lottery we didn't enter? No.  Did a wealthy relative die and leave us a large inheritance?  No.  We've received something better.  A true, complete and unshakable testimony that our Great Creator, the God of the whole universe, our Father knows us individually (Allison and JayDee) and loves us, imperfections and all.  What is important to us, is important to Him.  No matter what it is.  

Is this new news to me? No.  Have I always "known" this? Yes.  But when it is made undeniably clear by the power of the Holy Ghost it's like a whole new truth.  It connects the mind and heart and a sure testimony is born.  I am so grateful.  Heavenly Father has really blessed us lately and it has been so clear to us that it has been as if the heavens opened and we could literally see God's hand come right out of the sky and lay a blessing at our feet.  

One of these blessings, is that since JayDee has been working for Extension, he has been on what is called the tenure track.  A five year probationary track to prove yourself. The University gives you five years to do a whole list of things, publications, program development, research, etc. to prove your commitment and worth to the University.  If, after the five years, you have proven yourself to multiple committees, colleagues and university officials you are granted tenure.  Which in essence means that you will always have a job.  Tenure also comes with a promotion and raise in pay.  Like I mentioned, JayDee has been working his tail off and because of the stellar job he has done he was granted the opportunity to go up for tenure a year early, 4 years instead of 5.  He has sailed through every phase of the tenure process so far and although official word hasn't been given yet, I am confident that he will earn tenure and our family will be that much better off.  Heavenly Father heard us. He expected work from us but we gave it and he is blessing us. Did it come quickly? No. All in due time.  We didn't give up and neither did Heavenly Father. I am so grateful.

Another undeniable blessing: This past October JayDee was informed of an opportunity through work to go on a trip to Holland in April. Holland?! Really? JayDee couldn't believe it. 18 years ago JayDee served his mission in Holland and Belgium.  All our married life we have talked about going back.  It was never a question of "if" but always a "when."  As amazing as this opportunity seemed, it was terrible timing for us.  JayDee didn't want to go without me and I didn't want him to go without me either, and even though work would pay for JayDee, if I wanted to go we would have to come up with that money on our own.  How could we make this happen?  I had no idea.  We don't even have $1 to save at the end of a month.  How could we save enough to send me on a trip overseas?  It seemed impossible.  We toyed with the idea that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity that we couldn't pass up.  We'd just pay for it with a credit card.  That option just didn't feel right to me.  How could we possibly think of making our family's financial situation even worse for a trip, even if the trip would be amazing and so meaningful to both of us.  I just couldn't do it.  So we decided that if we couldn't save the money to go, I wouldn't go.  The only thing we knew we could do to possibly even have a chance at making this work was to get on our knees and pray.  So that's exactly what we did.  We prayed specifically for the opportunity to work.  We didn't expect Heavenly Father to miraculously make us rich.  We asked for another kind of miracle, give us the opportunity to earn the money we need.  

Within days, the calls started coming.  I have subbed for 2 1/2 years.  It's been very hit and miss.  I signed up to sub because it was a very flexible option for bringing in a little extra money and it was teaching, which I love.  In the past 2 1/2 years I have never had as many job opportunities as I have had in these past 2 months.  I would be at the school for one teacher one day and have 2 other teachers stop me in the halls and ask me to sub for them other days.  I actually spent 2 solid weeks in one class. I just couldn't believe the miracle that I was witnessing.  I just kept thinking, "Is this really happening?"  The best part about it is that going to Holland is not a requirement to enter the Celestial Kingdom.  It is in no way, shape or form a saving ordinance and a trip to Holland won't even make me a better person, so why does Heavenly Father even care?  Because, what's important to me, is important to Him.  I'm his daughter and he wants me to be happy.  I was humble enough to ask, I had faith enough to believe and he saw fit to give me this very meaningful gift.  I am so grateful.  

He not only brought jobs my way but also provided a way for my Isaac to be taken care of while I am away.  I have the best neighbor who graciously watches him.  He is well cared for and loves being there, which makes dropping him off not hurt me so much.  Another blessing I am grateful for. 


All these answers have come about so quickly it seems it makes me wonder what we did wrong before.  I obviously know the answer to that is nothing.  This just must be our time.  Heavenly Father knows what we need and when we need it.  I guess that's what enduring to the end is all about.  Work hard, do your best, have faith and pray continually and it will come.  He is always there waiting for us to come to Him.  He won't infringe upon our agency so we must ask. It's an astonishing, amazing and miraculous truth.  I'm grateful to know it.