Christmas-Post 1

So much has happened over the last two weeks that i'm going to have to make two posts in order to fit all the pictures on here that I want. Last week of course was Christmas. Like usual, David and I spent the morning together, then went to my parents around 8a.m. and opened a ton of presents from my side of the family and then went to David's parents house for more presents and games. This year, there wasn't anything huge that I was hoping to get. I had wanted a kitchen aid but told David not to get one for me. We then contemplated getting a new t.v., but again I told him to hold off because it wasn't a necessity. So many of my family members including those on my husbands side, and my husband, were so generous and put so much talent and love into the gifts they bought me. Thank you to all of those who brought magic again into my Christmas and suprised me with things that I never asked for but made my Christmas amazing. Below are some, but not all of the favorites that I recieved:

David suprised me with a beautiful Diamond necklace.

And....an organizer so I can get rid of some of the boxes in our apartment

My wonderful mother and mother-in-law bought a BOSCH and ice cream maker--boy was I shocked to get both of these because they were something I have wanted to badly but never thought I get for a few years! Thanks moms!

My ever so talented sister-in law Fawn (yes thats you :)) spent the last creating a masterpiece stocking for me. It is absolutely beautiful and something I treasure, thank you!

Nutcracker

So as many of you know, David and I have been so excited to watch the Nutcracker, as we love seeing ballet's and play's. We just don't get to very often due to cost and time. We met up with two couples in our ward at Applebees for dinner and then David and I split off to go to the Nutcracker as the other two couples weren't able to get tickets. We had to park at a church by the Mesa Arts Center and there were only 4 cars in the lot so I was praying that no one would break into our car. (Shame on anyone if they ever did-especially in a CHURCH parking lot!) When we got inside, there were tables set out with decorations, toe shoes, nutcrackers etc for sale. Side note, the lady I babysit for has literally hundreds of decorations on her tree, each unique to things she loves or events that she's been to. So back to my story: I have decided that I want to start collecting ornaments of things that remind my husband and I of important events or memories that we have shared over the year. We happily purchased a little ballerina ornament and my husband said later that he also bought a nutcracker which he was going to suprise me for Christmas, but couldn't wait. Then we went in for the performance. The dance moves were amazing and so were the sparkles on the costumes (sparkles draw me to them like a magnet). I have realized more and more just how grateful I am that each of us comes to earth with specific talents, and that people are willing to share them so that we may all benefit from them! So thank you to all those hard working men and women dancers who have spent countless hours to bring happiness and joy at this Christmas season to all of us!

I was watching CNN this morning and they were showing clips from Georgia of a man who has been passing out food to hundreds of people who were waiting for hours just to get one bag of food! And I think of how many people I've heard complain about the presents they aren't going to get this year. I am SO grateful that I don't have to worry about my next meal, or a warm place to live. I may have a tiny one bedroom apartment, but we are doing ok-and we have enough. This will be my last post before Christmas, so I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and pray that each of us will remember the Savior's birth and all that he has blessed us with! I want to thank each of you for being such a blessing in me and my families life. You have each used your talents, your kindness, your love, and your friendship to bless our lives!

Lost and Found

(David's story)

On Natalia's (my little sister's) 18th Birthday I lost my wedding ring. She had been playing 007 with some friends (a more involved game of tag) and had added water balloons into the mix. While they were all looking around the land for the last people to make it back to base I snuck out with some water balloons and set up my ambush. I waited unit Ta(my sister) and a small group were walking inder a tree and then launched a volley of balloons into the branches over head, showering the unsuspecting victims. Return fire instantly wised past me as I ran for it. As I was running, one of ta's friends called me a stupid @$$ (0) and so I slowed my retreat. Auston grabed my arm as I was turning around so I swung him off but in the process my ring flew of my finger. Enraged by the punk kid who was running up just behind Auston I disregarded my ring and ran at the kid. After tackling the kid down and giving him a nice sternum rub with my knee I let him run off to now look for my ring. It was too late. I wasn't even sure where exactly I was when it flew off. Two nights of searching went by (only time I had available) it was sunday and fast and testimony meeting. The overal topic, as there often tends to be one, was about prayer and finding lost things. I got up and explained that I knew what I needed to do to find my ring and shared why I think I lost it in the first place. It was my anger and pride that kept me from stopping right where I was and finding my ring. As i shared my thoughts on not letting things distract us from whats most important I looked down at Lynette and felt so much love for her and thought of what that ring represents. "I never want to let myself get distracted from how important Lynette is to me and damned with my pride if it ever gets in the way" were the feelings going through my head. After the meeting was over a sister came up to me and said she felt inspired to tell me to look for it at night and I would see the gold shine. I had to laugh at that because I had been looking at night with a flashlight for two nights now under that very hope yet to no avail. Monday morning I woke up early and before work went over to the land and layed out a grid of where the ring might be. Loren Lilly (my uncle) had given me his metal detector but the grass was so thick that the air space made the thing go off all the time renduring it usless. There I was raking every inch of my grid, back hurting and eyes straining when the sun came out of the clouds and the comment from the sister poped into my head about the gold shining. I looked up to see a glint in the grass up top the hill. Excitement ran through me as I considered the possibility, yet as I got just overhead the beautiful glint was no more then morning dew. Devistated that I had to return to the raking I lifted my head to find the ring not two feet away from the dew drop. Elated I picked it up and crammed it onto my middle finger where I have to bruise the nuckle for it to come off. Surly the ring is not our marriage but I learned a good lesson about focusing on what's important, not letting my anger or pride distract me and to rely on the lord and the inspiration he gives. I hope this Christmas we will stay focused of the Birth and life of Christ and not let the many distractions turn us away from what's most important.

Happy Thanksgiving!

David and I got to enjoy a wonderful Thanksgiving and family reunion with his family the last three days. While I enjoyed the time we spent together, I am also grateful it is passed, because I have come home every night ready to drop around 8p.m. (horrible huh ;)). Thanksgiving morning we ran the 2 mile turkey trot at Red Mountain Park, me pulling David to go rather than play football at his uncle Kelly's. Neither of us have really run a whole lot since we've been married, but it is a tradition that several members of my family have done every year...it was nice and cloudy outside, fresh rain had fallen...and so...we had to go!

I'm sad to say it took us 25:00minutes to run two miles and I'm sure david would have gotten done quicker but I had two cramps almost the whole time and made him stop every so often for a breather. The rest of the Thanksgiving was spent with his family doing a gigantic obstacle course, paintballing, a family talent show, and lots of yummy lunches. Several of you guys (like Crystal Lily said) went to the reunion so I will leave it at that. I will hopefully get some more pictures from family members that were taken at the reunion and post them. But for now, enjoy some of our Turkey Trot pictures. I am proud of us even though we took so long to get done---we finished! Our goal is to get in shape this next year and take better care of our bodies.

***Update: We have already purchased tickets to the Nutcracker and are going Saturday December 20th, 7:30p.m. at the Mesa Arts Center. Any one who wants to can join us (perhaps we can meet for dinner prior to the performance if you guys want to). Tickets again are between 8$-26$. We got the 14$ tickets. Let us know if you decide to go that night so we can meet up :) Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Kiara hanging out with Uncle David

Elders Quorum Party

Yesterday David and I had the opportunity to go to his mom's ward's Elders Quorum Party where they fixed ribs and other yummy foods. Here are some pictures taken by David's uncle. Try not to be too jealous ;)



On the other hand, I have never seen "The Nutcracker" before and we are so incredibly excited because we found some relatively cheap tickets to performances at the Mesa Arts Center as well as the Chandler Center for the Arts (8$-24$). Anyone who wants to join us is welcome...we're thinking Saturday the 29th of November or Saturday the 20th of December.

So....Saturday, I spent the afternoon doing some early Christmas shopping and babysitting until 10p.m. Came home and slept a long long time. Apparently David turned off my alarm in the morning which was set for 7 and around 8:15, I thought to myself, wow i've been sleeping forever...looked at the alarm clock and flipped out because I only had 30 minutes (nearly impossible) to get ready and I had NEVER heard the alarm go off. Church was absolutely wonderful, had a return missionary speak that was so "with it". By that I mean that he carried an amazing spirit with him and the way he worded things was amazing.

Later that evening, I went to my parents house with david and we made carmel popcorn balls which were extremely delicious (sorry for lack of pictures, batteries in camera aren't working). David taught my little brother battleship, and as always, I think David won with little Kyle not too far behind.

And....after battling a sore throat all weekend my mom and david made me go to the doctors (even though I feel SO much better) today. I tested negative for strep throat but still have these(DON"T GET GROSSED OUT) white patches covering my tonsils like bread got stuck all over them. Doctor said to take good old amoxicillin even though I am getting better to reduce a future occurence of a bacterial infection (he thinks I have viral right now). I feel nearly back to normal even without drugs but I want my tonsils to get rid of the nasty white stuff. Anyways, now that you have had several nice details.... :) Want to wish everyone a most wonderful week!

Halloween

Hello all! Sorry i'm a little late on posting Halloween pictures, but I was waiting on my brother to post them to his website as I forgot my Camera most of the night. Thank you Chris :)

Halloween this year wasn't what I had wanted it to be, largely because I hadn't had anything I could really dress up as and all the costumes I found were much to skanky for my liking. Therefore, the day before Halloween I decided I would be "Bella" from twilight (hence my "team edward shirt" that I made). I tried to search for a bracelet that Bella got from her two admirers with a wolf and crystal heart charm---but to no avail. I decided next year that David and I are going to plan ahead and be something very cute---who knows, maybe I will be Giselle from the disney movie "Enchanted!". Hope you enjoy pictures of my family below....
Me and my sexy vampire husband with our niece Kiara

Above is our niece Kiara who was dressed as a turtle (great job Jessica on the making the outfit!)

Below is little Hailey dressed as a pumpkin.

Nikki, Karen, Hailey and Fawn (the pumpkin guts! :))

Post 2---the Zoo

See previous post for some more of my weeks adventures! Today I had the opportunity to take two of my cute nieces to the zoo. Growing up, my aunts and uncles on both sides kept to themselves and as a result, the kids in my family never got to have a strong relationship with any of them. It's been my goal to take our nieces and nephew on little outings every now and then to build our relationships...so...that said here are some of the zoo adventures with the Nikki and Karen, the kids I stole from Fawn :)

The Giraffe Exibit-Stop #1

My brother Kyle, his friend, Karen and Nikki

Kissing Monkey Buddha (Above)
Mom, look what the chickens hatched! (Below)

The girls were SO CUTE petting the goats and feeding them!

Lots to catch up on!

I have decided that I may have to do a couple of posts to catch up on my oh so eventful fall break. David and I have tried to come up with "projects" that would help us grow together...something fun that would take time to complete, so we have taken it upon ourselves to "fall decorate" and make black shelves for our bathroom and living room. Anyways, i've done a lot of shopping at Hobby Lobby and last weekend we were able to put together the shelf and decorations on and above our entertainment center.

The wooden sign on the shelf says "Bunzell, together we make a family"--made at an enrichment activity by yours truly :) We were so thrilled to have this put together..makes our apartment look so much more homey.

Then, yesterday (Friday) my sisters work had given her extra tickets to go to the Arizona State Fair so due to my sisters chronic lateness, we spent about an hour and a half there, but thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, just me, my mom and sister. Just FYI, don't ever go into the haunted house, it's not worth paying 5$ to see 4 skeletons in cages scream.

Stacey (my sister) and I pictured below rode the flying swings which I will never do again...made me sick! Certain parts the machine tilted you back and it felt like you were going to fall out!

My mom and I after the water ride. She said I had to sit in front since it was already soaked when we got on and she knew there was more to be splashed on it. Thanks mom :)

We then visited some very cute but stinky and fresh smelling goats, pigs, cows and chickens

Little "Sweet Cream"--the baby calf was born Tuesday of this week so it was four days old when we got to see her....how cute she was!

Baby Jewelry

Hello all!

Fawn said I really needed to post something new even if it was to say that I didn't have anything to say! I will try to write something somewhat meaningful :) I apologize their are no pictures this time. We are still waiting to buy some rechargeable batteries for our camera which tends to eat every batteries energy up quicker than you can snap your fingers. Any suggestions as to good kinds?

Last weekend, my husbands young adult cousins---JD, Eli, and Michael came over to our house to eat some yummy "Cafe Rio" burritos. It was so funny because the boys were so eager to eat normal healthy food, and boy did they wolf down the burritos. I'm glad they enjoyed it and profusely uttered so many compliments-it made me feel good about the small amount of cooking I have done lately, not because I haven't wanted to, but because i'm never home until it's time to go to bed.

Also, on behalf of my best friend Sharianna, a new blog has been opened. Sharianna is selling baby jewelry which can also be made into adult size jewlry upon request. I encourage you all to take a quick gander at her site if you are in need of special baby shower gifts or a present for the holidays as Christmas is soon approaching. Sharianna can customize the bracelet to look however you want it-with charms, crystals, pearls etc, and in many colors. The bracelets and necklaces are adorable! Here is the website should you choose to take a peek: http://www.delicatedelightful.com/

Congrats to Megan and Thomas on the birth of their baby girl Audrey Elizabeth and to all the new mothers and old mothers to be :) I am so excited to announce that my brother and sister in law are having a little boy in March!

Labor Day Weekend

For Labor Day Weekend, David and I spent lots of time helping my parents move furniture from the walls and paint their bathroom and kitchen. The kitchen we painted a light sage green on one wall and then my mom wanted a light purple for her bathroom. All in all, everything turned out beautifully. Our muscles were sore and we were tired from stretching for so long but I decided that the pain is well worth it if I can tone my belly and bootie!

On top of painting, I decided that I was too "gold". For those of you who have taken the "True Colors" test you will understand that a person who is gold is very VERY time organized and really hopes that others around him/her are as well. They expect others to follow rules and they try to make their homes "homemaker-ish"...nurturing and teaching their children good values. Also, they really want to have a little orange (adventurous and spontaneous) but they don't know how to. So using all the strength I could muster, I decided that I wanted to go hiking. David, Sharilyn, and myself hiked a moderate-easy hike at South Mountain on Monday and you can see that by the end of our journey, we were ready for a hearty energizing meal! :)

1: Preparing for the battle(are we going to cruise like the girl behind us? Hmm maybe not)

#2: Don't look too much at my scary morning face, the make-ups not on yet :)

#3: I've decided that Sharilyn is just too dang cute! And so is David, of course ;)

#4: Pioneer Children sang as they walked......and walked....and walked....and walked...

#5: After the hike pose: Can you tell we're tired?? (Ok, so maybe we over-dramatized just a little)

Creme Broule!!

I'm sorry i'm behind again...I will probably produce two posts today just because there are so many pictures. David and I decided to experiment with food and make creme broule for the first time. We got a kit for our wedding and I thought "how silly....i'm never going to use this!" Anyways, we tried it and it was absolutely delicious. We added strawberries and sugar to the top and for those who haven't had it, the texture is like a warm custard....you must try it!

I will post pictures below of our creation. Right before school started, (several months before) I started getting so excited about food and creating wonderful meals like I have seen so many talented ladies do on their recipe blogs. I wanted to make wholesome meals and a variety of them and it was so fun to experiment. School has taken over my life so the cooking frenzy is sadly on hold until I have a little more time. For any of you who have some yummy recipes please feel free to send them to me. I'm ALWAYS looking for ways add to my recipe collection!

Picture #1:

Picture #2: With strawberries added!

New Changes in my Life

Hello all!

Just wanted to let you know I am still alive. I'm sorry it's been awhile since the last post but my life has gotten so crazy over the last week or so it seems I have been sucked into a whirl-wind. Last Wednesday as many of you know, was the first day back to school for the Gilbert school district and myself. I just started my new job as a speech language pathology assistant at Pioneer Elementary school just off of Greenfield and Baseline. I will start doing therapy sessions with kids next Monday and lately have been doing lots of "busy" work while being stressed that i'm not being allowed to do what I am required to do in order to get my masters degree and become certified as an SLP. I haven't slept well since last Tuesday with stress of not knowing what to do.

I just want to say how incredibly grateful I am for my sweet husband David who has been so supportive of all the new changes taking place. He has been my voice of reason when I am all stressed out and upset for no good reason. I love you David!

Good News!!!

No, I am not pregnant ;) I wish I would have had my camera tonight, but sadly I forgot it in the rush to get out the door. Tonight was my littlest sisters city championship meet. She has been swimming competitively since she was about 6 years old and now swims during the summer on the Poston Swim Team as well as in the fall for the Mountain View Team. She has been working really hard for so many years and lately (i just found out) has been reading many books on how to perfect her strokes based off of the way Olympians swim.

She has had numerous swim meets this year and was able to win a high enough place in each won to make it to the championship tonight. Anyways, Heather won third place in the IM stroke out of all the city (8 laps of butterfly, backstroke, breaststroke, and freestyle), fourth place in freestyle, and 1 PLACE BREASTROKE!!!! First place in her age group out of the entire city!! Go Heather!

Journey to the Center of the Earth

On Friday, I did my usual babysitting after work. MY supervisor who I babysit for has had me watching her little girl for the last 3+ years and it has been so much fun to see her daughter grow up. Anyways, her and her husband informed me that they were going to see "Journey to the Center of the Earth" in 3D and that they wouldn't get home until 10:45. When they got home, they said the movie had been really good and that the special affects were really worth seeing. When I got home, I told David what they said about the movie and he thought it was a cool idea to see a 3D movie so he suggested we go see it over the next week.

Saturday came and he texted me at work saying he really wanted to go see the movie-TONIGHT! So we went to Rubio's for dinner (since I was tired of being rushed to fix meals all way-you mom's know what i'm talking about!) and then arrived an hour early at the movie theater. It was a good thing because a line had already started forming...so we waited...and waited...and waited.

The movie started and said to put on our 3D glasses-some of the scenes made my eyes go kind of crazy because of the way the 3D was done so close up. Anyways, sitting behind us again (see last post) were two men with big bellies. We took a picture with David's cell phone but can't figure out how to download it. One of the men looked like our mechanic "Robert" who has a scruffy long beard, a big belly, and looks like a biker dude. In the middle of the movie, a scene plays where the three main characters are on a ship in an ocean in the center of the earth and these aweful looking fish with razor-sharp long teeth jump onto the boat and they are HUGE! Couldn't find a picture on google, sorry.

Somehow the teenage boy Sean gets seperated and lands on an island...and before we know if the camera jumps to showing one of the evil looking fish and it scared the whole audience, but as soon as the fish popped up, the biker guy said "Ah!! D*mn it!" and the whole audience including David and I died laughing. You could hear his voice above everyone else and he sounded terrified; it shocked the biker guy so bad that he said the "D" word. (One of those hilarious had to been there moments). He sounded more scared than the little kids.

Anyways, I recommend the movie in 3D to all :)

Who would have thought!!?

My brother called me up last Thursday to see if we wanted to go to a Phoenix Mercury game (his thank you gift for feeding his dog while they went out of town several times). I had never been to a game before nor had I ever heard of anyone else going to a Mercury game so I kind of dragged my feet, said thanks, and we went. I was so amazed at how active and lively the crowd was. The Mercury had their own hip-hop team which came out several times during the game to perform-how fun that was!!! ( I told David I wanted to dance like that!).

As you can see, we had a man behind us with a rather large belly---but him and his friend were both very knowledgeable about the Mercury so we got to listen to some stats about the team while we were there.

The Mercury played the New York Liberty and were behind them point wise nearly 10 points the entire game
Towards the end of the fourth quarter, the score closed in to 8 pts. difference and then 6 pts, but unfortunately we lost. Needless to say, we had a really fun time and even enjoyed a yummy mint brownie cold stone treat while we were there AND won free state farm water bottles because our section yelled "FARM" louder than the section that yelled "STATE" :) We were both excited to win something!