the competitor

megan has her first day of nationals this morning! we are with her in spirit! sadie is with her in person :). i'm not sure about tod and kristen. but we say; kick some booty, knock their socks off, let it rip, tear it up, and kick it! we will miss sitting through five hours of dancing just to see her do her thing. REALLY!

here are a couple of her dance pictures from this year!

on the road again!

yesterday, we dropped hailey off in ogden with sara and anna for efy! she was excited...i hope it turns out to be a great week! there is no air conditioning and everyone shares to same bathroom. she thinks she is really roughing it. :)

then we got on the road. we take i-80 almost all the way to santa rosa.


i got to see the great salt lake up close for the first time. we were passing towns i had heard about all of my life! wendover (not very pretty), wells, battle mountain, elko, winnemucca , and fernley, to name just a few. the drive was actually quite pretty once we left utah. a lot of space that is uninhabited! a lot of sagebrush and mountains.


in case you don't know, i have never been north of alamo/hiko/caliente, nevada. every summer i threaten my family that i am going to reno and lake tahoe. yesterday i finally made it! we stopped for dinner in reno and figured we had about a 3 1/2 hour drive left to santa rosa. we decided to call president stoddard to see if we could sneak in early and get a head start in unpacking. as it turned out, they were still living in the house, so we decided to go let me see lake tahoe and head to santa rosa this morning.


the drive was absolutely gorgeous! this was my first peak at the lake!


this was from a scenic outlook! jon is good at spotting each and every golf course we pass! making mental notes for the future :).


this was as close as we could get! it was so pretty!


we spent the night in truckee, california. we have had a gorgeous drive this morning through donner pass, by donner lake...i really feel like i have had a little taste of wyoming beauty these past couple of days driving. dead skunk aroma, millions of pine trees, blue water of lakes and rivers...it has all taken my breathe away.

we just crossed the boundary of our mission! YIKES!!! We have passed davis (of uc davis), woodland, and now dixon. at first i started to feel a little sick to my stomach...but now just wonder. we meet the stoddard's at 2:00 (2 1/2 hours from now), and then i believe we will be in charge. holy cow, what have we gotten ourselves into? :)

gratitude

my heart is full to overflowing for the great blessing and opportunity of spending the last few days at the missionary training center. it is a very special, spiritual place! granted, i was only there three and a half days and i got to leave at night with my husband, but as we passed through the front doors for the last time to leave, i was very emotional. it has been an unforgettable experience. the brethren, the teachers, the training, the other new presidents and their wives, the music...it all has filled me up to over-flowing. i know it will be hard to believe that i am saying this, but i am really excited to get started. i can hardly wait to look at all of our sisters and elders and couples and start loving real people instead of what my mind has imagined them to be. what a great opportunity to serve! how very, very blessed we are to have this opportunity!

yesterday, elder packer spoke to us first thing in the morning. his talk was wonderful, and as he got ready to close, a really sacred thing occurred...he gave us an apostolic blessing. it was very specific about very many things and the spirit poured out over every one in the room. i will never forget it! there wasn't a dry eye from a single parent in the audience. i know it was something special because every one, all day and night long would refer to this blessing, and that we needed to hold on to the promises given. as i was able to pick my pen back up a little later i wrote, "i would give three years of my life in a heartbeat to receive the blessing and promises i just received."

then bishop edgley spoke about working with our couple missionaries. i kept thinking about aunt verla and uncle charles and i am so grateful for the wonderful instruction he gave us about how we could help them to love their missions so much that they want to go again and again and again. every hour we were filled with more instructions about how to help in this area or that area and how this or that would be vital to the success of our missionaries and the work. we are fired up about many, many things; we just have to figure out how to make it all happen. how to have time to do and teach and inspire others about it all.

we had dinner with elder christofferson and his wife, with several other couples last night. then, as we were getting out of the car at the hotel we heard some young girls yelling, "elder bednar, can we shake your hand?" he and his wife had just gotten into the elevator in the parking garage. they were cute with the girls and jon and i were laughing...glad they were running towards them rather than away from them. but as they were getting off the elevator we were coming off the stairs and started chatting. twenty minutes later we think we might be related :), and the thought hit me so strongly; "our church leaders and their wives are the nicest, most genuine people on earth. they aren't full of themselves, or condescending. they are encouraging, loving, supportive, helpful, and WISE! we are a blessed people to be lead by men who love God and not themselves!

this morning we had a final meeting where the twelve and the missionary committee answered some questions that had been written by the new presidents and their wives. elder perry was conducting. he has amazing energy! he is pretty funny! he and elder holland and elder hinckley fielded the questions and asked various members of the twelve and seventy to answer them. it was great! and as he was about to close he asked all of the twelve who were in attendance to take 2 1/2 minutes to bear their testimonies to us! it was powerful! each one of them gave us a tiny jewel of advise to think about and use as we serve in our missions. the only ones missing were elder packer, elder ballard and elder hales.

our sacrament meeting was attended by the first presidency and every member of the quorum of twelve apostles except elder packer (he is still resting and healing from something). after we partook of the sacrament the prophet spoke to us for an hour about how we might best motivate our missionaries. he was wonderful! it was wonderful! i am full to over-flowing!

i have a lot to read and study...YIKES! i was probably the least prepared wife at this seminar. for real. but i can go forward from here and do my best and learn and grow each day for the rest of my life, right? i love you all. the church is true! thanks for your love and prayers, we can really feel them, and we definitely need 100% of the Lord's guidance! tomorrow we are off to santa rosa (well reno really) but on our way none the less!

the missionary training center

well, it has been two wonderful, full days of instruction and encouragement and expectations and reality from people who know what we are about to embark on! the music has been exceptional! the mtc choir is totally unbelievable and they have sung beautiful arrangements of "this is the christ", "come thou fount of every blessing" and "joseph smith's first prayer". can anything invite the spirit like beautiful music?

wednesday night i got really sick (something i ate didn't agree with me!) and was up most of the night. when it was time for my alarm to go off i could tell jon was awake so i told him i wasn't sure i could go that morning, i had been throwing up and sitting on the potty very frequently. i decided to try and get ready and see what happened. i threw up another time while getting ready and as we walked out the door to leave i had to run back in and throw up again. kristen, mike, lauren and beau got a terrible good bye from me. i am so sorry! sick, i know, but i need to remember what happened. thank goodness for a missionary son who had told me stories of working when he was very sick, and i kept telling myself to cowboy up, and if i didn't start feeling better i could always leave.

i am so grateful i made myself go! president eyring was the first speaker. i really love him, and he was perfect. i struggled through the first couple of hours but then felt much better! after a little lunch i went and laid down in the car and took a little power nap, and i was a new woman. that afternoon was one of the best teaching sessions we have had. unbelievably we did a lot of role playing (which i dread and hate) but this time i really felt the spirit as i participated. we spent a whole hour practicing how to invite someone to be baptized! it was memorable to say the least!

this is how jon described the day:
"We just got home a few minutes ago. All I can say for now is that it has been an absolute incredible day. Beginning with President Eyring this morning we have been talking about our purpose as a missionary. We had a break out session in the morning and all afternoon and I am pumped! Although I border on being afraid of failure and letting the Lord down and all the general authorities, most of me feels humbly confident that I can really figure out what I am supposed to do and what my purpose is. I felt for the first time a little ray of sunshine and possibility that I might actually be able to be a missionary. We both did lots of role play and by the afternoon I found myself losing my fear and my inhibitions and really enjoying the role playing. I saw Elder Anderson in the hall and he came up to me and hugged me. I started to weep and tried to tell him how grateful I was for him and that I was surprised he even remembered me and he told me that he was actually looking for me and he told me that I was one of his. Well you can imagine what that did to my emotions! He spent 15 minutes talking to mom and I and there were all kind of other people coming up to him and he just gave us his undivided attention. It was so humbling. Elder Holland sat through one of our sessions and at the break when mom and I walked out to get a drink, he stopped and complimented mom on her role playing and shook my hand. I don't want to wash it off!

Guess who is the other 70 assisting Elder Clayton over our area? ELDER ARNOLD!! I told him how much you enjoyed him and how much you enjoyed your mission and he was so excited to put the connection together. After the session he came up to me and gave me a big bear hug. Elder Clayton told us that it is amazing to travel with Elder Arnold because it takes hours to get out of an airport or a taxi because he talks to everybody and he gives out 20 pass along cards every day. Then Elder Arnold reached into his pocket and pulled out a bunch of cards and said, "I'm ready at all times and I talk to everyone". He is off the charts!"

at the end of the day we had an hour of question and answers with elder clayton and elder arnold and their wives. the last person to speak was elder clayton's wife. she touched my heart! she talked about the blessings our children would have as they sacrifice, probably more than us, to have us leave and change their lives for this time. she promised we would see the blessings and that it would be a wonderful thing for those children we are leaving behind and those children that are coming with us. i cried. i knew that already, but the spirit bore witness of the truth of her words as she spoke. it was a tender mercy.

today we started with president uchtdorf. i really like him too. :) and we ended in a devotional with all the missionaries at the mtc where elder holland spoke. yes. it is everything you can imagine and more. i get a little tired from time to time, but for the most part i am staying focused. we have met some really sweet people. we have found a possible "friend" for tod...he will hate that. two sets of parents setting their children up.

anyway, it is fun. hard to believe in a day and a half it will be over, and we will head for santa rosa and really start this work. holy nellie...that makes me a little freaked to think about. it will all be good! i am a believer!

setting apart

it really happened! today was a sweet, sweet experience! spending some time with elder oaks and elder clayton was beyond words. they were so kind and wise. i was so at ease in their presence, even with all of my weakness and imperfection. it was a perfect day! michelle took a few notes for me as we all talked. i love what she wrote down for me to remember. elder oaks set jon apart and then elder clayton set me apart. i was a little surprised at the focus he spent on me being a full time missionary and companion to my husband. i guess i had mostly been thinking about being a mother to all of our missionaries and making sure they were ok and such, but he gave me an awesome blessing about being bold, "that my heart would be filled with missionary desires, that i would be fearless in talking to others, that i would warm people up, and be perceptive and helpful."


after some picture taking we had a fun lunch, said good bye to brent and michelle, and headed for the mtc. we got our name tags first thing, and then some other helpful information, and a schedule for the next three days! i am pretty excited to be able to spend the next three days in the presence of the brethren. (unforgettable experiences)


who loves these grandchildren? lauren got an A+ today during our "special blessings". she was so very quiet and reverent. beau slept for the first 15 minutes or so, but he was even great after he woke up. I wish they could remember it...


after we finished at the mtc we met up one more time and then said good bye to tod, sadie and megan. i think my heart might break in two! this is the way jon put it, "my heart is breaking to say goodbye for a time but my joy in having each of you as family and friends in this life and eternity fills me to no end. i love you." i will just say ditto!

we're on our way...

we are driving to salt lake right now and i had to share jon's conversation with my brother brent. it gave me a chuckle. lifted the gloom and tears for a moment. so jon answers the phone and says, "i've got your sister strapped to the hood of the car. it's the only way i could get her to come with me." then he laughs and says, "yeah, i thought she was going to crawl in the hospital bed with your mother. she didn't want to leave!" a little more laughter and then, "she's laying here in the fetal position, i don't know what i'm going to do with her!" the reason why that is so funny to me is because i'm not quite that bad, yet!

when tod left on his mission, i sort of went into panic mode when we waved good bye at the airport. i came home and wandered around the house, going from chair to chair, not far from my husband's side. he would answer the phone when people would call and say, "well, she got out of bed today!", and "she finally put on a little make up today!" it would make me laugh, and i started to heal and deal with it all because of his faith and encouragement and love.

i'm so lucky to have him by my side again. we will be ok! i'll let you know when the tears stop, i'm not planning on that happening any time soon. i hope i can open my eyes tomorrow! elder oaks has probably never dealt with the emotions of the stewart's and bunker's, i hope he can handle us! :) it's good to have hailey with me today. i will miss her until she and megan and sadie come to join us!


p.s.- i am loving my new little laptop and verizon wireless card! i can be productive 24/7. we're in the middle of nowhere and have a strong signal! SWEET!!!

new york city - bunker reunion

dance recital, 2009

bunker dance center had their annual dance recitals on june 12 & 13. there were two shows on friday and four on saturday, culminating with megan's senior recital saturday evening at 7. of course, my father's funeral was friday morning, and we had to leave megan in las vegas as we traveled to alamo to the graveside. as you can only imagine, it was very difficult for megan to stay behind, but she knew she would never be back in time to be there for her team! it was very difficult for her!

as we were driving back in town, i told our car load of people that i was going to megan's 8:00 show, to scream and yell for her, to try to pump her up a little. i was so happy to be there, with jon, sadie and hailey. it made my heart feel good to watch her on the stage. she is amazing!



saturday we mostly tried to get packed for our trip to new york and then went to the big show that evening. hailey and i went to the show at 3:00 so we could hang around in the theatre to hold our seats. you know that is always torture! it was such a great show! the girls all danced beautifully...i will sooooo miss watching them! my mom got to come, though i think the volume of my yelling along with the music, was a little difficult for her to take! megan had all kinds of fans this year, between her family and friends. she is so blessed they all came out to support her! the only people missing from the picture were melanie b. and her friends, the slade's and the schlauder's!



megan you were beautiful! i hope the videos can do it justice, because i am going to need a little fix every once in a while in santa rosa. hailey and i will have to take an evening now and again for dance video watching! CONGRATULATIONS! You were graceful and talented and so beautiful to watch! I LOVE YOU!

Saying Goodbye

I just wanted to write a few words about my dads viewing, funeral and graveside service. Thursday night we had a viewing for him and it was so great to see so many friends and loved ones who gathered to share their love and memories. My mother was a rock through all of it and enjoyed the opportunity to visit with many friends who came from far away to be with us. These are the flowers, in the shape of a heart, that she picked to give dad from her. I thought they were absolutely beautiful!


Friday we had his funeral. It was a very sweet experience. My brothers and sisters ALL did such a great job in honoring and remembering dad! I got to sit close with mom in case she needed a little moral support with Larry and Craig and Patt. Again, she was so peaceful and enjoyed the whole thing. The love I feel for each member of my family just keeps growing, which seems impossible - but is real. This experience has been very uniting and actually uplifting!

We drove to Alamo, Nevada to the cemetery, where he was laid to rest. He loved his home town and the people who live there. It was sweet to be gathered again. As the service concluded everyone got a flower from one of his arrangements for a keepsake, and we went to have a dinner that the ward there provided for our family. We had a really nice day! Here are a few of my favorite pictures from the day.

Graduation Day!

I am so proud of Megan! She is now, officially, a high school graduate! It was a very nice ceremony today. She graduated at the Orleans at 9:00 this morning! What a cutie pie. She has been a little upset that she is the first Bunker girl to graduate in yellow. I was glad when I saw her walking in with a white sash that said high honors. They have changed a few rules since Sadie and Kristen graduated. They need three years of a foreign language to graduate in white. I wouldn't expect anyone to take three years of a foreign language! Not at Bonanza any way! :) Hermana Barnish is a toughie!

We had a great morning! It is hard finding your graduate among the masses outside the arena though! Lunch at Cheesecake Factory was wonderful and all in all I think she had a special day! Congratulations again Megan!!!

Here are a few photos from the day...
Megan's adoring FANS!






Pretty pleased with herself!


The four sisters.


Miss Lauren excited to graduate herself one day!


Little Beau getting in the mood!


Megs and her Big Daddy!


The traditional picture.






Oh HAPPY day!