John & Becky Bunting

Last week we went down to Upland & Claremont, CA for John’s cousin’s wedding. (Kevin) As I was watching his bride, Meghan, come down the aisle she was beautiful. I think it was her smile. Their little girl, Elena, was a cute little bridesmaid, along with all her little cousins. I stole these pictures from Leo & Vickie’s camera so when I get back to our computer (John’s busy playing Battlefield) I’ll see if we have any more good shots. We had a great time at the wedding. Friday night was the rehearsal and dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. Saturday was the wedding (full mass) and the reception was held in Meghan’s mom’s backyard. It was a delicious dinner and hor de vores and drinks. They had fun buckets full of toys and candy for the kids and a kid’s table with crafts and games. It was all very well thought out and I think it all turned out beautifully. John and I stayed at my Uncle Gary’s house on Friday night. On Saturday Mariah decided to come stay with us as well because Grandma Sherrill had pushed her out of the bed the night before. Well, on Sunday we had the “day after breakfast” and then we were headed for home. We enjoyed visiting with the Sherrill family and their friends. Thanks for all the food, Larry and Vivian!

Grandma Sherrill; Meghan, Kevin & Elena; John’s cousin Brian and his wife Candace

Other interesting things going on:

The Arroyo Grande LDS chapel has been completed. A wing was built on the west side of the building and new carpet and paint, etc. throughout. We have been meeting in San Luis Obispo for the past year (well, we’ve only been meeting there since May when we moved out to CA). Everybody was really excited to get back in the building. We went to the open house on Saturday and we got a history of the building. The original part was built in 1960 and additions were made in 1963, 1966, 1981, and 2007. We’re very grateful to be back in the building and have church at 1:00 instead of 3:00 and only have to leave 15 minutes early rather than 45.

More exciting news at church - Vickie was released as Young Women’s president in the Pismo Beach ward. I think she’s been serving there for 4 years. Her new calling is…Stake Primary President. I wonder which one will take more work? I think she’s a little nervous because she says she hasn’t been in Primary since John was little. That’s quite a while.  Also, I don’t think I ever mentioned that I got a calling as primary pianist.  I really love serving in the primary.  I was sad when we left Utah and I had to stop going to primary, so I think they knew what they were doing when they put me in there here in CA.

It’s been 34 years since my mom and dad went to the Ogden, UT temple to be married. It was just the two of them, but not for long. Marcy was born 10 months later and Josh one year after that. In the past month three people have joined the family, putting us a total of 21 with one on the way. (Can’t wait for Lindsay and Brian to have their baby!) It’s hard to imagine when it was just mom and dad. I really enjoy having a large family with lots of brothers and sisters.

So, continuing with (lots of) pictures from my Idaho/Utah trip…I have to mention that my newest niece, Oakley Marie Anderson, was born on July 20. After the reunion in Island Park I drove to Utah to visit with Josh and his family and meet the baby. Colton rode with me in the truck, and I was not prepared for travel with a child. He had not eaten dinner and had been traveling all day, and I didn’t have any food he liked. He spilled his entire water bottle on the floor and I had to just keep driving. Finally, he decided he would accept a peanut butter sandwich with no jam (too dry for my taste). So I made him the sandwich while I drove. It was really tricky.

We made it to Bluffdale and I met Oakley. She is very cute, and when I was there all she did was sleep and eat. I think I heard her make a noise maybe two times. On Sunday Josh and I took the three older kids to church, but first we had them pose for this adorable picture. Kari stayed home with Oakley.

That night we wanted to get out of the house, so we drove to Orem to visit some good friends, Roger and Bonnie Wilson. I love this picture of Kaci, McKay, and Colton as we were driving to Orem. They were pretending to sleep and in this shot McKay has a really mischievous look on her face. The Wilson’s were neighbors with the Bunting’s in Southern California and have been good friends ever since. I met the Wilson’s before I met Leo & Vickie. The Wilson’s have a framed family photo of the Bunting’s in their den from when John was about 10 years old. Do you think that is a little weird? Leo, Vickie & Mariah were actually at the Wilson’s because Mariah was attending string camp that week, so it was nice to see them there.

On Monday I drove back to Pocatello to work on a star quilt for Jeff’s wedding. It was fun to quilt with all my sisters and my mom (and my cousin, Tonya, and of course Brian). We finished the quilt that day and I stayed in Pocatello so McKenzie could cut and color my hair on Tuesday. She cut it all off! It’s pretty short, but she did a good job. But I don’t know if I’ll have her take that much off next time.

On Wednesday I was back at my mom and dad’s and I was sick. I had a sore throat, congestion, and I was really exhausted. I did make a quick trip to the Minidoka county fair to see my cousin, Staci, show her 4-H pig. She got the top place in her initial showmanship group and her pig was 3rd overall. Attending the fair brought back a lot of memories, but it seems to be a lot smaller than it was when I was in 4-H. Anyway, after the fair I went home and slept the rest of the day. I was pretty bummed because I was going to go boating with my friend Karlene that day and I’d really been craving a freshwater swim ever since I left the coast.

Thursday, August 2, was Dad’s birthday and I think he enjoyed it. He got the spend time with his grandkids, which is something he really enjoys. Even better, they made a giant chocolate chip cookie together. Abby was a lot of help in the kitchen! Lindsay made him the cake his mom always used to make…German chocolate layers with white icing in between and on top and coconut icing around the edges. It’s hard to replicate Grandma’s work, but I think Lindsay did a pretty good job.

Now for the most exciting day. Jeff and Megan were married on Saturday, August 4. Everything seemed wonderful to me. The ceremony was short and sweet, with some great advice. Megan was a beautiful bride, and Jeff looked pretty good too. Of course, Kierra was cute as could be. They are a great little family and we wish them the best!

Here are some shots from the wedding. 1) the whole family (minus Marcy, Kari, Holly and John). 2) Jeff and his new family. 3) Me with my cute little niece, Ellie. 4) Megan and Jeff cutting the cake. 5) Megan and Jeff with all the girls and Colton. (Kari made all those purple dresses and I helped with the gathering on Abby or Ellie’s, not sure which one). 6) I had to share this one, don’t they look happy?

Well, it was a long trip and I wish John could have been there the whole time. I really enjoyed being with my family and I can’t wait to see them again. Maybe Christmas… I love you all!

Make sure you check out Josh’s blog and encourage him to keep writing. We all know he’s a great writer! Right now things are kind of rough with all the hospital visits, but they have a new baby and she’s adorable. joshandkari.blogspot.com

I know everyone is dying to know what I’ve been doing the past two weeks. Well, I’m dying to share the pictures. John and I left for Idaho on Saturday, July 18…spent the night at the Travelodge in Reno and got to my mom and dad’s house on Sunday evening. On Monday we set out for the Knoeppel family reunion. My mom was a Knoeppel (uh oh, now you all know my mother’s maiden name). The Knoeppel’s do not live near each other, so we don’t get to see them very much. We have Uncle David in Washington, Grandma and Uncle Jordan in Kansas, Cindy in Utah, and Lori and her family in Missouri. So every three years we have a reunion. We have been to places like Montana, South Dakota, Missouri, and now Island Park.

On Tuesday we had the traditional Knoeppel Olympics, which started with a real Olympic event - archery. Then we moved on to the more serious relay races. Here’s John and McKenzie sweeping the marshmallows. Later we went for a ride on some four-wheelers. After my nephew, Colton, wrecked his bike John had to drive it home.

On Wednesday I drove into Idaho Falls to take John to the airport and he went on the exciting trip he’s already written about. Lucky for me he hasn’t given me any trouble about booking him that trip since he had to take it. While I was in Idaho Falls I got to see my friend Karlene and her little boys. We were best buddies in jr. high and we don’t see each other much now, but when we do it’s like magic.

The rest of the reunion was fun with a trip to Yellowstone and games with the family (but I missed John). We watched Old Faithful in the rain, but a more spectacular geyser went off a few minutes before Old Faithful did. The Beehive Geyser is very unpredictable and usually goes off every couple of days. We got lucky and were able to watch the Beehive shoot straight into the sky. My brother’s girls (Kaci & McKay) and my cousin’s daughter (Lilli) had fun riding together in the back of the van.

I had a lot of fun at the reunion and I’m looking forward to the next one.

I have never been on a diet but if I ever did this might be the one to try.

Its called the Master Cleanse detox diet.

“The Master Cleanse involves eating no solid food and drinking a mixture of fresh lemon juice, cayenne pepper, and grade B maple syrup for a recommended minimum of ten day.”

Sounds tasty and you lose weight; FAST!

If anyone tries this let me know.

JLB