Dunkley Family reunion--June 2016

Every other year was have an awesome Dunkley Family Reunion.  My mom started this tradition and up until this year, she hosted it at her house.  They are always really fun and almost every cousin comes from all over the country for it.  This year we started out the reunion on Friday night at Boondocks.  The first couple hours we spent outside on go carts, in batting cages, riding the bumper boats and playing miniature golf.  At 10pm we came inside and we had the whole facility to ourselves.  We had a blast! We are really fun cousins and they all married super cool people too.  We spent the night playing laser tag, eating pizza, riding the 4D roller coaster and playing the arcade games.  

The next day we met at my cousins Stake Center and had a party.  Benson was at Hodia Diabetes camp so he missed the first part of this party, but joined us half way through.  We had a photo booth, family history room, played basketball (lightning--its Dunkley tradition to play some kind of game--either volleyball or basketball), and had a program at the end.  Each family reenacted a story about Grandma and Grandpa.  My family told the story of how my Grandpa Dunkley can't lie.  He went on an airplane ride with my Dad to McCall-- a route he has flown hundreds of times.  My mom told my Dad that Grandpa was not allowed to fly because he's 93 years old and shouldn't be flying.  When they landed my mom asked Grandpa how the flight went and he said Great! She asked if he flew and he couldn't lie-- he said he landed the plane and it felt so great.  Grandpa and Grandma are people of integrity.  They have always held high morals, spent their lives serving others in the community and within the church and even though they have been very successful with their career in building Dunkley Music, their greatest achievement is their family.

 Grandpa and Grandma are truly amazing! 91 and 93 years old and they are still going strong.

These girls are so awesome! We have the best cousins.  After the party we went and put the kids to bed and met at Heather's house with the adults and spent the night laughing and playing games together.  I really lucked out with this awesome family.

Bensons endocrinologist appointment---June 2016

This kid makes me laugh! We were waiting for the Endocrinologist to come in and he was making the funniest face. 

Zions national park-June 2016

We have been looking forward to this family trip all year long. We went to Moab, UT a couple months ago and were excited to check out two more national parks; Zion's and Bryce Canyon. We left after Spencer got off work and headed for St. George. Mom really wanted to see St. George since she had never been there and so many people talk about how wonderful it is.  We were able to meet up with some friends from Minnesota -- the Wilcox Family -- and hike around the Dixie rock.  Then we headed for Zions. We got an amazing hotel at the entrance of the park with spectacular views of the canyon.

Reece, Benson, Tanner and Carson.

ZIONS CANYON

Hiking the Narrows.  We made it 1/3 mile past the trail.  Most people thought we were pretty brave taking the kids-- but our kids are seriously awesome hikers and super fun to take on hikes.

Reece thought he was on top of the world. He had a great book, a stunning view and perfect weather.

Look at these two darlings.  They were out cold in the same position.

The Emerald Pools.  We decided to hike to the upper pools-- a much more difficult hike.  It was pretty warm outside and most people stopped at the lower pools. Feeling ambitious, we decided to go to the top. We were glad we endured the extra mile straight uphill because the view was spectacular.  The kids had a great time playing in the water and many many people commented on how impressed they were with our boys for making the treacherous climb (especially considering the hot temperatures).

HELLO BEAUTIFUL! I love this picture. The 5 loves of my life with a beautiful view.

The kids thought this tree was the coolest thing they'd ever seen. 

And she is out!

Spencer was determined to stop by Bryce canyon on our way home.  We had already done a lot of hiking in Zions (kids were so impressive with their endurance), so when we made it to Bryce canyon we decided we needed to just look at the canyon instead of doing the hike we had planned.  No worries, we plan on coming back to visit the canyon another time.

We ended our trip at the BYU bookstore.  Kids picked out something fun and then we took the kids to the Science building where Spencer spent a good chunk of time while studying at BYU.  Walking down memory lane was fun-- especially now that we have added 4 kids to our family.  Life is so good.

June 2016-Lava Hot springs

My cousin got married in Idaho Falls so we decided it would be fun to take the kids to Lava Hot Springs on our way.  It was one of those perfect family vacations.  I remember playing with the kids in the water and thinking, "this is what life is all about".  The kids were happy, our family was happy, and life was simple and wonderful.  The sun was out and we were enjoying the fresh air and beautiful scenery around us.  We are so blessed-- I hope my children always remember how blessed we are to have such a great family where there is so much love and support.  

 Kate is hilarious and will eat whatever she can find. Love her.

Two little girls were scared to jump off the high dive so Benson "showed" them how it's done.  The girls father thought Benson was the cutest thing in the world.  Little show-off! haha

 This climbing wall was the best.  Even Mama had a great time climbing it.

 On our way to the wedding we stopped at the Idaho Falls Temple and enjoyed the rocks and beautiful scenery.  I kept finding myself thinking about how awesome my family is.  I love spending time with them.

Last day of School 2016

This year has been awesome! The kids had amazing teachers, met great friends, learned a ton and had  some neat experiences.  We are so blessed to live in a place where the kids can attend a school with loving teachers, be in a safe environment, have good friends and be so close to home.

Peruvian Park Elementary

Sandy, UT

SALTA program

Reece 4th grade-- Mrs. Murray

Benson 2nd grade-- Mrs. Brann

Benson had a great teacher. She really loved him and helped him through some tough transitions into a new school.  She was persistent and creative in coming up with new ideas that by the end of the year really make a big difference.  Benson loved her and had great classmates.

 Reece's teacher was named "teacher of the year" for the district and later took runner up in State. She was truly amazing.  She taught him to be more responsible and taught him many life lessons that will lead to success.  She gave him confidence and was so loving. She was diagnosed with stage 3 breast cancer in November and missed very few days of school.  She came with a positive attitude, took the kids on the journey with her, and showed true strength and courage through her fight. We were so blessed to have her as Reece's teacher.

These are our traditional "last day of School" pictures by the front door. They always have to get a few silly pics in.  These two boys are so lucky to have each other at school.  They are best of friends!

Kate LOVES shoes.  Especially her Daddy's shoes.  As soon as Dad walks through the door she is at his feet wanting a hug.  She yells "daddy, daddy" until he picks her up.

Tanner is my partner in crime. He entertains me while we watch the boys play baseball and soccer.  He's such a funny kid. He can talk a million miles an hour and is quite entertaining while doing it.  Such a happy kid!

FIELD DAY-- last week of school.  I was able to volunteer at field day and it was so awesome.  They started the fun with the fireman spraying the kids with their hose.  They soaked it up.  Then the classes rotated through different activities.  I was in charge of the water balloon toss.  I LOVED being with my boys and watching them play with their buddies.

Reece and his buddy Hannah. His best buddies this year were Hannah, Cami, Jacob and Max.

To celebrate 100 years of national parks, Bensons class picked a park and created a poster about it.  We had just taken a family trip to Moab so he was stoked to do a poster on our adventure.  I was so impressed with his hard work and creativity. He really got into this project and had fun doing it.