Zions

 This last weekend we backpacked down the Zion Narrows with my family (minus Austin, plus a friend, Alisa). It was easily one of the best vacations I've had in a long time. I've never done a long backpack hike with David before, and it was so fun to do it together. The kids stayed with David's sister and had a great time getting spoiled rotten. I was so impressed with my mom and dad. It was a 16 mile hike through the Virgin river, with slippery rocks and having to wade through water armpit-high at some points. We had a few scares with potential injuries but we all made it out alive and happy.

Olivia and Walker are doing great. Olivia is 3 1/2. She loves all things princesses. She will often ask, "how does a princess eat? walk? go potty, etc?" We are working on being nice to her little brother. It is a work in progress but she's liking to play with him more and more. She is still in nursery and excited to go to primary next year. One Sunday in Sacrament meeting she pointed to the podium and said, "I want to go up there and I will say 'All flavor' and everyone will raise their hand." She is so silly.

Walker is as cute as a button. He is almost 10 months old and in the 68th percentile, as of his 9 mo. well check. He loves to wrestle, until Olivia starts with the pile-drivers. This weekend we hit a turning point while David and I were gone and one thing led to another,  which led to having to wean Walker earlier than both he and I wanted. He is doing okay with a bottle, but I miss breastfeeding for sure and I think he does too.

Summer has been extremely busy and truthfully I am ready for life to slow down a little. But who am I kidding? Does it ever really slow down? We have had a lot of fun this summer.

Our Sweet Kids

 Rachel Coleman took our kids' pictures and as always, did an incredible job. I love LOVE these pictures.

Walker Gunn

 Walker is 4 weeks old now and doing great! He was born 10 days early on Saturday Nov. 3 at 6:30 a.m.

Quick summary of his birth:

David was in Las Vegas for a car show with his dad and brother and planned to come back Saturday afternoon. For no particular reason other than to avoid paying for an extra night at a hotel, they decided to head home Friday. But before they left Vegas, David's brother Andrew surprised David for his birthday and took him on a bunch of roller coasters. They went on a few and had planned on doing 1 more, which would have taken a couple of extra hours because of a long line, etc. But David gets motion sick and didn't feel like doing another so they just started for home around 6 p.m. Friday.

I started having painful contractions around 9 p.m. They were pretty irregular but on average about 7 min apart. I called David and said, "you'd better get here fast." He got home around 2 a.m. and that's when my contractions really started getting intense and they were about 2 min apart. We called my mom to come stay with Olivia and we left for the hospital around 4 a.m. When we got to the hospital, I was dialated to an 8!!! I got the epidural and Walker was born at 6:30 after only 7 min of pushing.

Many prayers were said in those hours until David got home and it is a miracle he made it. We are so blessed!

 

 

Olivia really is a great big sister. It has been an adjustment for everyone but she has been so helpful, sweet and loving.

We spent Halloween night in the E.R. getting stitches on her head. She fell into a corner of the wall in our hallway and got 5 stitches. She was a champ though! She is so tough.

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Highlights

 Happy autumn! The leaves are beautiful and we are enjoying the cool weather. I am especially looking forward to it because the closer we get to Thanksgiving... the closer we get to having this baby!

We still have our cat Lynx, who has turned out to be a good pet... for a cat :)

In between conference sessions last week, we took a drive to a nearby canyon to go for a little walk. It was refreshing and beautiful.

 Last month we went camping with the Francis's. These dads are so awesome. The kids loved fishing in the paddle boat with them.

We also took a little trip to Ontario, OR for Nadine and Naomi's baptisms. Olivia had a great time with her cousins. Here's Burke and Olivia!

 

David is growing out a beard until the baby is born. It has been about 5 weeks now and it is a lot more full now than in this video. The most common reaction from other guys is that they love it and they think he should keep it. Women usually ask how I feel about it. Truthfully, David doesn't like it very much and neither do I. But he can so he might as well... for now. I still think he's handsome. But in my hospital bag I'm going to pack a few razors-for him.

 

Summer 2012

So I selected a bunch of pictures to post and this is the only one that came up. Sometime when I'm feeling more ambitious and I feel like doing that again, I will add more. We have had a great summer. It has been busy, like summer usually is, but we've had fun. Right now we are harvesting and canning and getting ready for baby! His name will be Walker Gunn Stevenson, after his great-grandpa. We are so excited and are trying not to count down the days so it will go faster.

It's a.......

BOY!!! Growing healthy and on schedule, according to the ultrasound. As the lady was measuring everything, the head, the abdomen, the heart, after a few min she said, "so you know what you're having, right?" And I said, "no, is it obvious?" She said yes and then showed me. Obviously we had no idea what we were looking at. We are excited, of course.

Potty training is going well. We just finished the first week and I think she's getting it. Yay!

2 Weeks of adventures

 Last weekend the 3 of us went camping near Coalville to a remote little pond with a paddle boat! We were so secluded and we enjoyed just being together. Olivia flew the kite by herself and the wind was so strong, I am amazed she held on.

 

 We caught 4 fish with her little fishing pole. We told her to kiss the fish, thinking she would refuse, but she actually tried and we had to stop her!

This weekend David took his scouts on some trails above our house and ran across a rattlesnake. Being the protective/brave/crazy person he is, he killed it with a stick, brought it home, and skinned it. He's going to make a hat band for a cowboy hat out of it.