Our Little Fishies

If you ask Kylie and Ellie what they would like to do today, most likely their answer is, "Go SWIMMING!"  We have been blessed with two little girls who have taken to the water like a fish to, well, uh water!  It is fun to see how much they love being in the water (I do too!)  Both of them have become real brave and adventurous as the summer has progressed.

Ellie loves splashing, going down slides and can even go under the water (when she closes her mouth!).  She will walk right into the deep end of the pool without hesitation (yes, we have to watch her closely!).  And at the kiddie pool, she just walks around looking for adventure.  Even in the "deeper" parts, she will sit down in the water so it comes up over her head for a second and get back up by herself......smiling the whole time.  For a while, if made me so nervous!  Now, it is cute and I just stay real close in case she needs some help getting back up.  When we are at Seven Peaks, Ellie gets excited and points to the big water slides, wanting to go down them.  Oh, not for a few more years El Belle!

Kylie would really stay in the pool all day if we let her.  She loves the freedom her floaty gives her (thank you Gma A) and swims everywhere by herself.  We have worked a little on her "scooping" so that she can learn how to swim, but she just likes to do her own thing most of the time.  She has always loved going down the slides at the pool and this year does them by herself.  Because she is so excited though, she sometimes forgets to close her mouth. :)  And most recently, she has learned to jump off the diving board!  After doing so, we were watching some diving on the Olympics and Kylie got real excited and asked, "When will I learn that?"  Though, she did try to jump off backwards already, I think she needs to learn how to swim without her floaty before we teach her about reverses, flips and twisters!

Well, I put together a little video with some of the footage I have taken of the girls swimming this summer.  We haven't taken the video camera to Seven Peaks yet, where they are the most active in the kiddie pools and slides, but this still shows their undying love for the water.  And, I suppose, there will be lots more swimming this summer.....

Olympic Gymnastics

Anyone who knows me, knows that I love gymnastics.  Yes, I did gymnastics when I was younger and competed all through high school....but nothing compared to what you see the elite gymnasts on TV doing.  Ten plus years later, I still miss being up on the balance beam, springing off the vault and doing back-handsprings on just about any flat surface (including church dances to show up the boys).  I sometimes wish I could do it all again.  We had an amazing, fun, and united team, many of whom I am still friends with.  I think if I had a second chance, I could do even better...but maybe not, since I am much too tall for the sport :)  I can still do a pretty good handstand and can flip around on the trampoline, but I must now live vicariously through those gymnasts on TV.

It has been extremely fun to watch the Olympics this year.  That's what we do most every night (and thanks to DVR, we can watch anything we missed during the day as well).  Without say, the USA women's team has been amazing!  I, of course, was super excited when they won gold and when Gabby won gold in the all-around.  I must admit that I even teared up a couple of times.  I also love the reminiscing the nation is doing about the 1996 Olympic champion team....the Magnificent 7.  Those Olympic Games were very memorable to me, especially as I had watched the gymnasts all year prepare and compete.  I especially remember how fun and crowd-pleasing their floor routines were (no offense to the gymnasts now).  And then there was Kerri Strug's final vault....so courageous, so historic, so memorable. After the Olympics, the gymnasts on both the women's and men's teams did a tour, which was super fun to go see.  Anyway, to complement my trip down memory lane, I have been watching a few of the routines from 1996 on YouTube.  Very enjoyable.

After 16 years, this is the routine that has always stuck in my head...

And there was Shannon Miller's flawless beam routine....  No full-twisting flips in this, but look at her handstand skills!  She won an individual gold with this routine.

 

The Big 3-0

Well, I have hit my 30's.  I don't feel old, but 30 definitely sounds old!  I guess I have to start acting more mature.  :)  I had a wonderful birthday with my family.


The day started with blueberry muffins, but as soon as they came out of the oven, we had to get Chris to work.  So, the girls and I ate our muffins outside the library...... (we had to stop there to pick up the girls' prizes for the summer reading program.)

 

The girls and I went swimming at Seven Peaks while Chris was at work.  We had so much fun playing in the kiddie pools and floating the lazy river.  After Ellie's nap, we headed up to Salt Lake.  Since Chris had to photograph a bike race at Snow Bird and I wanted to go on a birthday hike, we decided to drive to the top of Little Cottonwood Canyon and hike to Cecret Lake.  It was such a beautiful area.  I really want to camp there someday.  It is known for it's summer wildflowers (though this pic doesn't do it justice...it was my little point and shoot).

 

Kylie was super excited that we got to walk through water.  For some reason, she really loves getting her shoes dirty and wet.  When we started this hike, she kept saying, "This is a hike?  But where are all the puddles and mud?"  She was remembering our last hike to Stewart Falls, which was very muddy.

 

Cecret Lake

While Chris went to take pictures for work, the girls and I found a picnic table to have our dinner.  But there was this amazing park there, so we didn't eat much. :)

 

Later that night, our siblings came over for cheesecake, presents and Just Dance on the Wii.  It was my birthday and I got to choose!  And Chris even played/danced.....(He loves me!)

 

The day after my birthday we headed down to Vegas so that Chris and Josh could help Dad B. move his chiropractic office.  Sunday we got to celebrate my b-day again with BBQ kabobs, chocolate and berry delight desserts, the Olympics and the best card ever.......  (everyone contributed to the list, but Chris and Kylie colored it!)

Thanks everyone for the awesome birthday!  You are the best!

Bunker Reunion

We had the Bunker family reunion July 21-25th in Heber, UT.  It was a beautiful area and it was fun to hang with family we haven't seen since the last reunion three years ago.  The four days were packed with fun, games, swimming and just running around.  Here are a few pictures to capture our reunion...

The whole gang

 

 

Cousins (missing a few though)

  

Cousins and spouses

 

2nd Cousins

We had the first ever Bunker Family Olympics, which included a couple basketball events, a sack race, a three-legged race (which Becky and I dominated!) and a relay race.  The team I was on won!  Go Red Lions!

 

 

 

Ellie's favorite event was trampoline!

 

On Pioneer Day, older generation at the reunion taught us games and activities that they did when they were kids, like making homemade ice cream, shooting BB guns and bow and arrows, and doing the hula hoop.  Later, the youngest generation taught the older ones their kind of games...lightening basketball, texting "shorthand", Angry Birds, and Rock Band on the Wii.  So fun!

 

Homemade ice cream in a mason jar and then put in a paint can to roll around.

 

 

 

 

And the reunion wouldn't be complete without some swimming, where Kylie learned how to jump off the diving board...

Grandma B's birthday

I know I am way behind on posts....we have been gone more than we have been home these last few weeks, so needless to say, I haven't had time to download pictures and get them posted.

Saturday, July 21st was Chris's mom's 50th birthday!  The Bunkers arrived in Provo Friday night since the big Bunker family reunion started Saturday evening.  Becky didn't want to make a big deal out of her birthday and we were just "planning on" going out to lunch as a family.  BUT...we had been planning something else!  We had a big b-day bash for her complete with lunch from Costa Vida, chocolate cake and lemon bites, a picture slideshow, cute decorations (made my Nicole, Casey and I!), and lots of family and friends.  Boy was she surprised!

 

The girls made Grandma a super sweet card (literally)!

It read:

Grandma, Happy birthday!  We are extra excited we get to be with you on your special day.  There are mounds of reasons we love you!  You are always so sweet to us.  You make us smile and laugh and snicker.  You also spoil us good and plenty.  You even think we are cute when we are big, messy goobers.  We love you to pieces.  Love, Kylie and Ellie (Your sugarbabies)

 

I took some pictures of the surprise birthday party, but it was with Dad B's camera.  But Nicole and Josh posted a couple on their blog. 

And make sure to check out Chris's slideshow in the previous post if you haven't already watched it (or if you want to see Becky's cute childhood pictures again).  It was super fun to look through her pictures...and even some slides from Grandpa Rowe's collection. 

We hope you had a memorable birthday Becky!  We love you lots and lots.  You are the best mother, mother-in-law and grandmother!  

Becky Bunker's Getting Old...d...er

My dear Mother recently turned 50.  My family put on a surprise party for her and we decided to put together a slideshow.  We love you, Mom.  Happy Birthday!