our new england celebration!

on september 14th, jon and i left for new york city to board our first cruise ship ever. we traveled to halifax, nova scotia; bar harbor, maine; boston, massachusetts; newport, rhode island; and back to nyc. beautiful places and a very relaxing experience. we're not sure if it was a little too relaxing or not (is that possible?), but after attending a 14 inning yankee game (we left after the 13th!) we returned home to a cooler, more beautiful las vegas.

highlights:
1- getting off the ship in halifax after spending a day and a night rockin' and a reelin' traveling in the atlantic through a storm! (luckily we never got sea-sick)
2- hiking the coast of maine with a darling tour guide and lunching on lobster rolls
3- venturing into the heart of boston via subway, and being amazed at how clean it all felt
4- seeing a very good movie and visiting the aquarium in boston
5- hiking the coast of rhode island (any physical activity was wonderful) and admiring the "summer cottages" from their backyards
6- enjoying beautiful weather and a piece of the country we haven't explored before
7- spending eight and a half days with my sweetheart and loving EVERY minute of that!

in loving memory

lovable matthew.
biggest heart.
contagious smile.
generous and patient.
obedient soul.
amazing example.
friend to all.

we are so grateful to be your forever family!
we miss you!

first-born

kristen celebrated her 25th birthday yesterday! i know, i know...how can a mother be a day late? i just got back in town this afternoon so in case it can still count...HAPPY, HAPPY BIRTHDAY kristen dear! we are so lucky to have kristen as our first-born. there is something very unique and wonderful about your oldest child. besides being responsible and helpful and motherly, kristen has also developed the qualities of forgiveness and understanding. she recognizes the difference between her childhood and the way the younger girls have had it, and mostly she is just really happy for them that things have gotten easier:) kristen, by nature, wants everything to be fair, and she doesn't like people "getting away" with things, but she has demonstrated great restraint in being able to turn her head at a lot of things her siblings seem to "get away" with. (i'm not sure lauren will be so lucky:)) i think some of the sweetest moments of my life this far, have been watching kristen be a wonderful, confident, loving mother to lauren. anyway kristen, thanks for being an amazingly beautiful daughter (both inside and out), and thanks for making this next season of motherhood so wonderful for me. WE LOVE YOU! happy day!

homecoming 2007

Bonanza High School's homecoming dance is scheduled for October 13th. Last night Megan got asked!!!! This particular young man called to ask Jon's permission if he could ask her to the dance. Isn't that quite unusual? They aren't getting married or anything! I chalk it up to fear of the father. I am wondering what these boys think?
Anyway, Megan was already sound asleep when the doorbell rang at 9:45 and a trail of bananas led down the front walk. I went to wake her up and she was delirious! "What time is it?" I know she thought it was the middle of the night. Anyway, he had a very cute idea and now we have a thousand bananas. I'm trying to convince her to make him some items using the bananas to give to him when she answers him!!! (banana cream pie, banana bread, banana-peanut butter muffins) We'll see!

twelve years, eight months, and seventeen days

since everyone posts about their children as they grow older, i thought i should report on hailey today. i took her to see doctor tuggle because of a little bump on her arm that won't go away, and before we left she had taken three shots to catch her up on immunizations. she told me on the way home that she thought she was the bravest of all the girls about getting her shots. sadie gets tears rolling down her cheeks and i guess we're going to have to get megan in and see how she does as a young adult getting poked!

Successful Sunday Dinner...

believe it or not, i made a good meal and since it is out of the new family cookbook, i wanted to let you know it's yummy! Creamy Bow-Tie Pasta with Chicken and Broccoli was a hit with my family (those who are left:) and it was really fast and easy. thank you amber for the recipe. also, i'm probably the only person in the world who didn't know this sooner, but this kraft grate-it-fresh parmesan cheese thing is wonderful. easy to use and freshly grated parmesan cheese in a flash. try it you'll like it!!!!

welcome jessie!

thursday night i hear we had a really fun bridal shower for our newest member of the family, jessie lee. i am so sorry that i really was so sick, i couldn't show my face and join in the fun! i really couldn't believe it! but hailey took a couple cute pictures and so i wanted to share them and tell you, it looked like fun and it looked like jessie was treated very well by those who came out to meet her.
to those who took over, and made everything beautiful and wonderful in my absence, i love you! thank you from the very bottom of my heart! there were many who helped, and now i know why i had asked so many of you to bring something, because as it turned out, if it would have been all me, nothing would have happened! thanks again, and jessie, some day, you and i are going to party. i love you!

100%

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY!!!! Sadie got 100% on her math quiz Friday. WAY TO GO GIRL!!!!!!

young woman service auction

our ward young women are going to california to see the play wicked. to help with the cost, each of the young women chose a service they would do and then it was auctioned off to the highest bidder. the auction was last night and actually it was very successful! in preparation for the auction i asked megan what service she had chosen to do. she decided to auction off a date! i made sure that she understood then, that she would need to plan, and pay for this date, and make it a very fun night for whoever she ended up going with. she knew all that (HA!) and she recruited another friend from our ward to make it a "fun double date". before the auctioneer started the bidding for each item, he would call the girl or girls up to explain what they were "selling", so to speak. as megan and her friend got up, her young woman's president looked at me and said, "megan really could use some more confidence!" we laughed, and then megan introduced the idea, and told everyone it was going to be a really fun "surprise" date, so bid really high. much to everyone's surprise, one of the boys asked if he could bid for the date alone or did he have to have a partner? this kid is so funny - i guess it was a fantasy come true to be out with two women at once. the problem was, going it alone, he didn't have as much money to spend! long story short, they are going on two dates. one with connor; alone (his bid $100, thanks to a nice friend in the ward) and one with travis and matthew (i think the bid was $60.) anyone with fun ideas for megan and christin, quickly share them please.





hailey auctioned a night of babysitting with her friend sadie (it went for $60 i think) and a month worth of family home evening treats to be delivered each monday for use after the lesson (another $40 - $60). crazy!!!



after each of my girls checked out the sad, sad minkie blanket they assured me that it really wasn't "that bad". so i actually unpicked a little of it, and corrected the biggest mistake, and it sold last night at the silent auction along with a stewart family cookbook (sorry your pictures and recipes are now in hands outside of the family:) and some burp clothes. my talents are very few!! oh well, it was a very fun and funny evening!

1st Annual Jon & Susan Bunker Family Reunion

Can you believe I didn't take one picture of my family this past weekend? I still have to record what happened. :)

Before Sadie left for college she really wanted to see Celine Dion one more time, but the show was dark. So dear, sweet Jon got the great idea to get tickets for all the family and make a weekend of it. Yeah!!! It was way fun!
He sent out an official email with an outline of the plans, and everyone teased him for turning into his brother Bill!
We started with dinner Friday night at Mama Jo's, then a TCBY (over-the-topper), and a chance to see Celine Dion one more time. I tell you I like the show more every time I see it. This time was different because I knew three of the dancers, Stacey, Peter, and Andre. (they were teachers of Sadie and Megan) It was fun seeing them preform...they are all amazing dancers.
Saturday, we got to watch the USA play Argentina in the semi-final game. Great players doing amazing things with the basketball. Then, dinner at in-n-out, and all the kids minus Hailey, and my sister Rhonda were off to see the Justin Timberlake concert. Jon, Hailey and I got to babysit Lauren. I think they loved it!
Sunday, after church we had a yummy dinner and then opened some birthday gifts for boy wonder, Mr. Tod.
Monday, before Tod and Sadie returned to Utah, we saw a movie and ate some more food.

It is really very fun to have children that you enjoy being with. Everyone gets along (pretty much:)), and everyone was game for the activities that had been planned. I'm hoping Jon is already working on next years reunion. I'm not sure how he will top Basketball, Golf and JT though! Good Luck Big Guy!!