Bragging rights feel so good!!!!

It's times like these when I love being a BYU fan and games like Saturday that keep me a fan despite rough times. We had the coolest experience (thanks to Danny and Mary!!) of going to the BYU/Utah game in "luxury" seats. We had a great meal before the game and snacks ready for us under our seats in a small cooler. At halftime, we got hot dogs and the whole game long, the best view I have ever had at a game. All I can say is it pays to be able to afford awesome seats like those!! Maybe one day when we're rich we will have seats like that too.

Wave to everyone!!

Brylie has recently learned how to wave and I just love how she waves to anyone and anything but most especially to Brad and I. It makes a parent so proud when they learn things like waving because everyone can enjoy! Sorry it's so shaky as I was trying to wave and video at the same time.

Lots to report...

We had the amazing opportunity to go with Brad's job to Cancun for the week with the employees and their spouses and we got to take Brylie. We had a ton of fun and had many adventures all along the way. The week went so fast! It's good to be back as trips can do a lot to mess up schedules. I am so grateful for how well Brylie did and how patient Brad was with me as I got frustrated with her more often than usual and I think she was quite frustrated with me at times too. We had a great vacation and are grateful to Liberty Pioneer for the week long excursion and fun times!!! Enjoy the photos! Chichen Itza ruins, Xcaret (Brad with the birds) and the beach. What an adventure!






Law School news

On another great note, we got word from Baylor and Tulsa Law Schools that Brad has been accepted and also awarded full ride scholarships!! There are several other schools he applied to which we haven't heard from yet. Both Baylor and Tulsa have great oil and gas law programs so they are perfect for what Brad is looking for. I am so proud of him and his efforts! He is so humble and such a great person! We are truly blessed to have him as ours!!! Way to go, Brad!!!

My favorites...

There is one thing that is just my favorite thing and that is my baby girl. I'm sure this will change once I have my baby boy too...then I'll have to figure out how to say it. But I am so grateful for her and what a blessing and addition she is in my life. I add this picture as I absolutely adore it! Don't you just love this baby...and want to kiss her all over!!! I do!

Two babies!?! Reality check...

So Brad has kept in touch with his MTC companion and we were lucky to spend some time these last few days with him and his family which consists of a 1 month old baby boy. I had the opportunity to babysit him for a few hours yesterday and today and get a feel of what is in store. I was very grateful for this chance as I have been very nervous as to how I would be able to handle two babies. Brylie was quite jealous, so much so that we went out and bought a boy baby doll for her to get used to. All in all, it will be a challenge but with divine help and sticking to a strict schedule, I know it can be done and won't be as bad as I initally thought. But I do want to tell my sweet mom and dad how much I appreciate all that they did and went through having 6 kids. I never realized how hard and trying children can be. I also have tremendous respect for them, my inlaws and all my friends and family who have kids because they know the stress it can be and hid it so well that I am on my 2nd so soon after the 1st. At least I know I have many to ask advice of, all of whom I love and respect. Thanks to you all!! And here's a cute picture of Brylie. I tried to take in-home portraits like that one time and she is way too mobile now. This is the best we got but I will take it! I love her to pieces! She is my best girlfriend!!

The Family Photos, at last...

I don't know if they are worth the excitement because they just didn't turn out very good and there weren't very many to choose from in the end. Better luck next time!!

This is the one we ended up choosing! We all look the least crappy!

Then they got some of just Brylie and me and Brylie and Brad. They turned out good but it's not the family!!!!!!!

And the Gender is...

So of those that voted, 27 of you think we are having a boy and only 15 of you think we are having a girl. I think that by this photo, you can all tell what we're having (and if you can't, bless your heart and your eyes)!!! We are happy to announce we are having a boy!

Family Portraits...

Well, I don't have a copy of our portraits because they don't come until the 7th of November which is quite a down fall!! And I don't know how excited we are about the actual photos. We went to Sears because I had a coupon and first of all, the photographer was the age of my youngest brother. No offense Mac, but I was quite nervous about him taking our family photos. So we get in there and start to get ready. Now Brylie had had and 2 hour nap just prior to the photos so that she would be happy. She was quite happy until the kid freaked her out with the toys. And after one wouldn't work, he would go to another and try the same lame noise, "Hey" and then shake the toy in her face. Now we won't blame the kid entirely as Brylie suddenly became the worse girl I have ever seen. She is finally getting her bottom R tooth so she is more onery than normal. Anyway, the kid told us he had to take 6 different positions to keep his job and then proceeded only to take one or so in each position. Then he would say, "That was a good one so we'll move onto the next position." All in all, we felt bad for the kid as Sears doesn't require any skills to be a photographer, just a quick training session with another photographer during someone else's session and then your done. There was one thing we thought might have helped this experience be better. I think if we go during the day (our appt was at 6:00pm) the more experienced photographers will be working and would better know how to work with kids. Hopefully our pics will turn out worthy of our wall!! I will post them as soon as we get them!!

Only a cold...

Well, this last weekend, we have been laying low in the house as Brylie is sick and not feeling well at all. It started on Friday when I noticed she had a little cough. Nothing big I thought but I remembered this is how her RSV started when she was first born. So she started to get a runny nose but she was acting ok so we decided to go to the Ward Halloween party which was quite fun! After some good food, we decided that Brylie was starting to act a little onery and we left. That night, she went to sleep as usual but woke up only a few hours later with a croupy cough. I decided to sleep in her room as advised by our pediatrician's website for croup so the night began. Brylie would sleep for 20 minutes or so and then cough herself awake and wiggle and cry and so I held her in sitting upright positions to allow for her to breath and be more comfortable. All in all I probably got 4 hours of sleep or so and she probably got 5. The next day, I was beat, and so was Brylie. She didn't play much, all she did was snuggle and rest on me the whole day. I didn't do much but hold her and watch TV. Thank goodness for Tivo! Anyway, Brad took than night and said she seemed to sleep a little better and so today, she slept in her own bed all night long and didn't wake up once and she is acting like she is feeling better except for the yucky crust that has appeared on her nose and refuses to leave. This is one time when it's hard for me because I hate seeing her sick and hurting and miserable. Luckily, she won't remember this and hopefully Brad and I will forget. We love our little girl!!!

A Smile for the Holiday

Yesterday we decided to get some pumpkins that we could decorate so this is our trip to the pumpkin patch and the pictures we took. Brylie was a little afraid when she wasn't being held so we couldn't do more "smiley" alone pics. Next is the decorating part which we are excited to do for FHE.

Boy or Girl?

On October 26th we get to find out what we are having, boy or girl. So I thought it would be fun to set up a vote. Cast your vote below and share your excitement with us! I will surely let you all know after we find out!

Too good to be true?

You never know how smart your baby really is...you hope that they are smarter than all the rest and then when you see another doing something more advanced you worry about your own. Well, here is my little genius speaking quite clearly if you ask me at only 8 months. She has been saying this for a while and I have also heard her say, "MOM" when she finished all the applesauce and wanted more. I have also heard her say "Hi Cass" which I don't encourage and then both Brad and I have heard "Hi Dad" on a number of occasions. It is so fun to see the changes in our baby girl. She is growing up so much! She can now crawl backwards and go from sitting to crawling position and back to sitting. We really can't leave her on the couch or bed anymore and we have to block the stairs so she doesn't fall down. We just love her and can't wait for there to be two! Anyway, enjoy the video!!

We think you'd all like to know...

We've been debating when to shout to the world the news we have known for a couple months now that we are expecting another baby again only because we are still quite shocked ourselves! As this obviously wasn't planned, I can't help but think that Brylie had something to do with it. She gets so excited when she sees someone her age or size nearby--even the dog--and she gets a smile on her face. I can see her up in heaven telling this next baby "I'll get you down here as fast as I can, buddy!" We could say that we are attempting to catch up to Brad's siblings who all have three kids by now....we should at least have two, shouldn't we? Well, ready or not, come March 23rd we will!! We hope you are as excited (and shocked?) as we are!!!

We're all sleeping through the night....FINALLY!!!

So this has been going on for some time now but I didn't want to jinx it by blogging too soon!!! HIP HIP HOORAY!!! I can't tell you how excited we are especially me as my sleep was interrupted every time the girl woke up. It all started one night when the girl had woken up every hour and finally at 4:00 am, after I was out of milk to nurse her and had made a bottle, I realized, "she's not hungry!!". So I knew it was the night we let her cry. So I did just that and I went down to the computer and google searched 'helping your baby to sleep through the night' and I found this awesome article http://www.mindspring.com/~drwarren/sleep.htm that answered all my questions and told me simply what to do. Needless to say, she cried the first night for an hour straight...she did take after her stubborn mother, I dare say. But every night thereafter, she cried for less and less time and woke up less and less until now where she is put in her crib with her binky in her mouth and turns her head and falls asleep without even one squak!! Everytime I lay her down, I come out of the nursery amazed and comment how we have such an angel as a daughter! I am so blessed!! Thank the heavens!

GO COUGS!!!

It's here again! BYU football season and you can bet that we are gonna be at every game possible except when it's 100 degrees in the stadium and the girl won't take it! Then we'll make an appearance, go home and enjoy the game there. BYU was always the team we routed for when I was growing up but I never imagined I would marry into the DIE-HARD fan club better known as the Gunnells! They lovingly overlook that I went to the U but I would never cheer for them even then. I am glad to cheer for a school with such great values and standards and proud that this is the team my family chooses to whole-heartedly follows in every sense of the word possible! GO COUGS!! 2007 BYU Football Schedule

09/01/2007 Arizona 3:30pm Versus

09/08/2007 @ UCLA 4:30pm Versus
09/15/2007 @ Tulsa 7:00pm CSTV
09/22/2007 Air Force 1:00pm MTN
09/29/2007 @ New Mexico 6:30pm CSTV
10/13/2007 @ UNLV 7:30pm MTN
10/20/2007 Eastern Washington 3:30pm MTN
10/27/2007 @ San Diego St. 7:30pm MTN
11/03/2007 Colorado St. 12:00pm MTN
11/08/2007 TCU 7:00pm Versus
11/17/2007 @Wyoming 12:00pm MTN
11/24/2007 Utah 12:00pm Versus/CSTV/MTN

Schedule thanks to Jessica Croshaw.

Another one bites the dust...

And by biting the dust, I mean gets married! Yes that's right! Paige and Matt are officially husband and wife!!! They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on August 22, 2007, bless their little hearts and IT'S ABOUT TIME, dang it!! They've only been dating for 6 years! We couldn't be happier to have Matt as part of the family for real now as we have always thought of him that way from the beginning! The ceremony was awesome and the whole day was one of those where you are so happy all day long and so glad for the day to be over with! And I'm just the sister.

All the grandkids...

So last weekend we went to Logan for the blessing of Cade Ryan Gunnell son of Brian and Melanie. That same day, we were able to get this darling shot of all the grandkids on the Gunnell side. Ten all under the age of 4.

Just pressing on ahead...

Not much new going on but I wanted to change things up for those who come to the site hoping for something new and don't find it. Today although it may be boring, it's a change. Brylie continues to grow and grow and grow...I think I may be feeding her too much because she is so big for a 6 month old. She could get away with being a slow nine month old if we wanted. But we won't make her grow up faster than she should as children need their childhood.

We or atleast I can hardly wait til next week when our families come to visit. The Gunnells for Brad's graduation and the Allens for Paige's wedding. Lots of big events that surely will call for pictures to add to this site. All is well in the Gunnell home and we look forward to what is to come! Can't wait to see the families!

Wanna a carrot?

So we got the ok at Brylie's last check up that she could start on stage 1 baby foods so we decided to try her out on the less sweet foods so that we won't spoil her taste for veggies. Although if she takes after her dad, it will be a trial getting her to eat fruits. Anyhow, here is her first video eating carrots. Enjoy!!

She laughs...

So this was a few weeks ago but I just figured out how to edit our home videos and so instead of this clip being 9 minutes long, it is the short yet blissful 36 seconds of pure fun as we experience the girl laugh.

Cass' 10 year high school reunion already?

So this last Saturday was my 10 year high school reunion which still blows me away! I can't be this old already! Now I know what my mom means when she says she doesn't feel as old as she is...I don't either. We went to Thanksgiving Point and had a very good dinner (the tickets were $40 per person) and fun company. I think it could have been done a little cheaper (we were only there for the company right?) and in a place where bringing kids would have been invited. Anyway, I got to see some of my long time friends who hold some dear unforgettable memories and some of the punks who haven't seemed to change much at all. All in all, I am very glad I went as I was able to reconnect to some very good friends!