The Amazing Race

The Gunters in our ward put on the most epic group date of all time. It was our own mini Amazing Race, complete with teenagers recruited to run many of the challenges. 

 

We were the incredibly attractive light green team. The first challenge was to record a 1 minute intro video with a randomly assigned theme. We were motivational speakers. The funniest was the Baldwins who went on a rant about preparing for the Amazing race by rolling around in cacti and drinking their own pee. None of us realized that the videos would be shown at the end so we had a real laugh watching them. 

The next challenges had us driving all over Rancho and doing things like drinking an absurdly large gas station slushie, finding balls while blindfolded on the tennis court, hoola hooping, and balancing eggs on spoons in our mouths. 

The most intense one was when Aaron bravely ate two jars of baby food- he got peas and pear. I had to eat shots of rice crispy cereal in dixie cups until I found three that had smiley faces at the bottom. I think I made it through 26 or so cups. After that Aaron had to memorize an exact pattern of 9 playing cards and then we had to count all the rocks in a bucket. We were pretty close to last place, so our bucket had been counted a few times and somehow had an extra rock mixed into it. We somehow figured that out and got to go to the final challenge- the fire walk!

We had to take our shoes off and walk barefoot over legos to the finish mat in their backyard. Genius. 

Things Annie Loves

Annie is a girl who experiences emotions very strongly. When she's sad, it's the weeping on the floor inconsolably kind. When she is happy, she prances and sings and exclaims her love for the whole world. Here are some of her many loves.

 

Getting ALL WET. She is always down for a trip to the pool, and always sneaking away to hang out in the hot tub!

All things unicorn! She has a stuffed unicorn named Princess that she sleeps with every night. This face paint at Mila's birthday party was one of the best things to ever happen to her. 

The only thing she loves more than face paint is getting wet. The two activities did not blend well together. 

Butterflies and colors! Aaron was a champ helping her make these awesome wings. 

Her first time writing her own name by herself!

She loves her cousins! This picture is from when we saw them riding bikes to the park while we were in the backyard. Naturally this ended in a reunion on the wall. 

Sometimes we would drop Elliot off at Prenda at Claudia's house and Ethan would ask to come hang out with us. I loved Ethan days. 

Science experiments. Especially ones with food coloring and messes. 

Going to the park! Aaron frequently takes her and Isaac after dinner. 

Isaac. Oh how Annie loves Isaac. She loves him passionately and aggressively, and he loves her right back. 

Serenading the little fella with a trumpet duet

Annie is fun to have around because she gets so genuinely excited about everything. She gives the best hugs and cuddles. When Elliot gets hurt, she goes and gets his blanket for him to help him feel better. She has a heart of gold and I'm so glad that she's in our family!

Isaac's Croup Saga

Isaac had a 10 month ordeal where he was sick pretty much continuously. It started August 2021 when we took 15 month old Isaac to the ER in McLean with a bad case of croup- I wrote about it here. The steroid treatment knocked the attack down to the level of a normal cold. One that WOULD NOT GO AWAY. We were sucking his boogers and running a humidifier in his room for months. He had another croup flare up the week of Thanksgiving, but we were able to control it by giving him lots of steamy showers and home remedies. It would ebb and flow, but never completely went away. He was coughing pretty bad during Christmas and our spring trips. 

He developed croup for a third time when Rachel and Savannah were at our house in April. He had been fine other than a stuffy nose throughout the day, but woke up struggling to breathe. It didn't get better when I jumped in the shower with him, so I took him to the ER. 

 

They gave him a steroid treatment that cleared it right up, but they made him stay for observation until around midnight. My attempts to turn off the lights and have a snuggle nap on the hospital bed failed, so I got to have a late night hospital room party with my favorite 2 year old. 

They mentioned that we could get an inhaler that would be able to stop croup attacks. We got one perscribed and were instructed to give him two puffs every morning and night and to double that if he was having croup symptoms. The only problem was that he HATED the inhaler. It was the kind that comes with a spacer, so you put the facemask over his mouth and nose then have him breathe in the medicine. It took two of us- one to pin his arms and legs in a bear hug and one to put the thing on his mouth and puff it. Then we would suck his nose with the nose frieda. It was a daily torture session for the little fella. We gave him a piece of chocolate afterwards and eventually he stopped fighting it, but man was that rough for a while.

We did have to use the double dose to stop a croup attack a few weeks later, and it worked! We didn't have too much faith in the 2 puffs every day though - it didn't seem to do much against the baseline lingering cough. We gave up on it, and eventually it cleared up around the end of May! He has been cough free for three months now. It's a whole new Isaac. 

Our best guess is that Isaac had some underlying sinus/lung infection. It put him more at risk for catching every cold out there, and when he caught them it hit him harder than it did the rest of us. I'm thinking that his immune system was a bit stunted from being born during our Covid quarentine phase, but who knows. We are just glad that he's finally doing better! 

Rachel & Savannah

Two days after my parents left, my cousins Rachel Larsen and Savannah Williams came to visit! Technically their moms are my cousins- daughters of my Aunt Jean. Rachel and Savannah are both working in Gilbert. Rachel is a teacher and Savannah is a nurse, and they are totally a blast as demonstrated in the following picture:

We took them to see Tubac since Rachel is prepping to teach Arizona state history. I love the little museum at Tubac and the 1800's schoolhouse. We got a kick out of the old "rules for teachers" that prohibited unseemly behaviors such as marrying or going to barber shops. 

 

These kids are always down for a photo booth

Especially when there are mustaches involved

Isaac desparately wanted to get this ancient ball out of the museum display. His obsession with balls is ferocious. 

The next day, Aaron took Elliot and Annie to a stake campout. The main event was a cardboard canoe competition. I thought my concrete canoe knowledge would come in handy, but apparently our noble vessel sunk as soon as it got wet. The only boats that worked were the ones entirlely coated in duct tape. 

While the campers were gone, the rest of us went to the clubhouse for a round of mini golf. It was extra challenging becuase Isaac was constantly trying to steal our balls. 

Brightly colored balls? Things to hit them with? Outside? With fun cousins? Isaac was all in.

The next morning we met up with our campers and did a little hike in Saguaro national park. Aaron and the kids kept taking big swigs of water and then whispering "spicy" as quietly as they could. Savannah bought some prickly pear chocolate from the gift shop for us to share. 

Savannah and Rachel are so cool! They are only a few years younger than me, but somehow we never hung out at the family reunions growing up. It was awesome getting to know them and showing them around our area. We hope to see a lot more of them!

Mimi & Grumpa Visit

Mimi and Grumpa came to visit for a week in April! Mimi came prepared with a science experiment kit complete with a labcoat and all the materials needed for the experiment. The biggest hit was dragon breath- bubbles blown through a cloth over the cut off end of a water bottle.

Dragon bubble breath!

Annie was not very good at the "don't inhale" rule. We had to wash soap out of her mouth several times.

Skittle rainbow wash experiment

These kids love their Grumpa snuggles and "Just for Laughs" prank videos

Isaac was a big fan of Grumpa's whiskers

We had a surprisingly fun venture to Sprouts! Dad had never been to Sprouts before and was like a kid in a candy store. He loaded us up on Keto chocolate treats and probiotic drinks. There is a pet store next door to Sprouts that I like to stop by- it's like a free mini zoo and the kids love it.

Grumpa stuck a tissue through the hole and got a cat to play with him. Can't do that at zoos! I'm not sure if you are supposed to do it at pet stores either, but we got away with it. 

They got to come to our ward easter egg hunt and potluck!

Isaac found one egg and then kept throwing it and saying "ball!" over and over again. Luckily he has older siblings to help him find eggs and teach him about the wonders of candy. 

This girl knows the deal

One of many rounds of board games

We went to our favorite Marisco's place, JPS seafood. It used to be a hole in the wall, but apparently they had just opened up a nice new sit down restaraunt down the street from the seafood market we used to get the food from. 

Dad and I both ordered a plate called the "Embarazada." We joked that they picked the name because it gives you morning sickness the next day. Dad came down with a stomach bug. I'm pretty sure he picked it up at the ward potluck because Mimi got it a whole week later. Food poisoning doesn't do that, so JPS's reputation is in the clear! I will eat the Embarazada again!

The two Kimberlys. These girls both love people, talking, and beautiful things. It is so often that Annie will say something or notice something, and Aaron will say "she is such a mini-Kim Johnson"

While Grumpa was recovering from his stomach troubles, we took an evening walk to the safari park. I love the lighting on my little monkeys. 

 

This swing chair by the arch is our favorite hidden spot in Rancho.

Mom tried to take some spontaneous family pictures for us. This was the best we were able to pull off. 

Me with that man I love

You have a 98% chance of getting a picture of Aaron like this one if you ask him to take a picture of you

Me with the best Mom and Mimi in the world!

On the Road Again

 We decided to be brave and drive the 9 hours home from St. George in one day. It went shockingly well!

We went to Sacrament Meeting in St George and then loaded up the car. We made one stop to stretch our legs at Horsehoe Bend. 

The rock stacks were ON POINT

Bloods by the Bend

Peak photography skills right here...

It snowed as we were driving through Flagstaff! We needed to stop for gas and a bathroom, so we got to run through it in our mad dash from the pump to the convenience store in our tshirts and shorts. The kids and I laughed our heads off - it was a real rush. 

This was great little trip! We packed in a good deal of adventure in a long weekend and would do it again!

White Rocks, Red Rocks, Allsops

The next day was "climb on rocks" day! The morning outing was a short hike along White Rocks Trail in Snow Canyon. 

Cuties!

We had a blast exploring and climbing around

Why is it that walking on rock is so much more fun than walking on normal ground?

Elliot and I left the little kids behind and climbed way up to the top of the stone hill. It was fun stealing some one on one time with my big guy. I love having a kid old enough to do so much fun stuff!

At the bottom of the rock hill was a giant ampitheatre of sand! There were people attempting to sled down it. Our kids mostly called it "brown sugar" and made cakes out of it. 

Riley and Annie, sand chef extrodinaires

I think he was going for some kind of exfoliation treatment. There was SO much sand in his diaper. 

There were also some neat caves for us to explore

We're good at family pictures.

So good.

 

Allsop-Blood group picture!

We de-sanded and napped the kids at the rental house, then went out to dinner and Pioneer Park. 

Elliot and Tyson being fierce

So fierce

Aaron contemplating the beauties of creation

Dads at their most majestic

The main reason for going to Pioneer Park was... THE CRACK!

The crack is this... well, crack that you can climb through. It was narrow enough that I had to turn sideways through most of it. That was a problem because I was helping Annie, so I would have to give her these awkward left handed boosts. Next time I'll face the other way when going through! 

Aaron pretending to emerge victorious at the top of the crack. A highlight was Riley saying "I hope I don't get SQUEEZED!" in a rather manic voice.

I think that the version of Elliot that emerges when he is outside exploring is my favorite version of Elliot. 

Nature's Bunk Beds

This trip was just splendid! I'm so glad we thought to go!