Bye Bye Oahu

Well we left the island yesterday after living there as a married couple for 2.5 years. And boy oh boy it was a bit crazy. Somehow with seeing friends and playing a bunch we got home late Monday night and then didn't get very much cleaning done. So Tuesday morning we got up and started cleaning and then it was crazy with baby and our sweet neighbors even came over and helped us watch Ansley and clean and somehow we got checked out of our apartment. Well we knew we had to leave at 11:00 but somehow we thought the flight was at 2:40 anyway we didn't end up leaving Laie until 12:30 or so and then we like "Man we are grateful Levin budgeted plenty of extra time." Turned out Levin planned just enough time. We were standing in line with all of our worldly belongings minus some boxes we shipped in four suitcases and 2 carry-ons and then Levin looks up and see "Last call for San Fran" Well we missed our flight and I was pretty much almost hyperventilating. Not a good feeling. Levin helped me keep my cool which is why I married him and then we got up to the counter and we were presented with 2 options: wait until the next day and catch the next San Fran flight or catch a later flight to Phoenix, AZ. Well price wise it was more to go to AZ but to us it just made more sense instead of staying at a hotel, blah blah, mess mess. We made the change and then sent Keri (Levin's sister who lives in Phoenix a text saying we were coming.

It has ended up working out we were supposed to fly to San Fran and spend a few days with my grandparents and we are sad to miss out on that time with them, but we always love spending time with Keri. We will still get to see my grandparents at my sister's wedding in L.A. this weekend. So we are going to drive to L.A. on Friday from AZ, attend the wedding and then drive back with my grandparents to Napa because and then leave out of San Fran back to South Carolina.

Ansley has been such a trooper. She pretty much screamed the last half hour of the flight (of course when we were landing and I couldn't get up and walk around) but other than that she was good. We originally weren't even sitting together but ended up with 3 seats and we made a little bed/play area in the middle seat for Ansley.

We like Arizona and still can't believe we are here. It is such an unexpected treat to get to spend time with Keri and celebrate with her...she just got her dream job at Make-a-Wish Foundation!

Here are some photos of the baby getting into some old Halloween candy on moving day and its colder here on the Mainland than in Hawaii so she had to get some winter gear.

Levin Graduates

Well its official Edmond Levin Gunter from South Korea...I mean South Carolina graduated with a BA in psychology from Brigham Young University Hawaii. Seriously the announcer said South Korea and it was hilarious, everyone including President Henry B. Eyring started laughing. Levin thought about putting on his card Suma Wrestler (like Suma Cum Laude or something) but he didn't have to cause he got his name read twice and the most recognition out of everyone ;) The proceedings were very nice despite all the rain and flooding that hit Laie in the days before. We are so happy to have had the chance to be here!


Amanda and Ansley

Gunters in Hawaii Fall 2008

Travis and the brothers

Troy and Levin

Troy's son Linken

Happy Family

Handsome Graduate!

Outside the CAC

Levin from South Korea

Lives Changed

Well we are so fortunate to have been in Hawaii and made friends that we have made but I think the ones we will miss the most will be the Neilsons. When we first got here I didn't have a job, we lived in a rundown studio in Hauula and I had no friends and was pretty depressed. Then Heavenly Father sent me a visiting teaching companion that helped me become myself again. Jessica will agree that we were both sent to each other to support each other. She had just had a baby when we met and she had been sick during her pregnancy and funny enough she didn't know very many people either. Well our friendship blossomed and our husbands got along and we had wonderful times together over the past two years. Now William is 2 and they are expecting number 2 and we have little Ansley. Life doesn't get any sweeter than this, watching eternal families growing!


Hannah, William and Ansley

6 month stats

Well the little one is still little wearing the same clothes now for awhile. I just started putting her in 6 months onesies and the length is good but they just hang off of her. At her appt today she weighed in at 14 lbs 5 oz. and 25 in long. She got some more shots and officially I can see a tooth! Bottom right tooth. Doctor explained how much meds I can give her. The past few nights have been pretty rough with teething but so far so good now that she is properly medicated! She just might skip real crawling all together. She has started really pulling herself up and I expect she'll be cruising before I am ready for her to. She laughs at us tons more and has quite the little temper. She is eating well...done with the veggies now on to the fruits. She gets mad if we are eating and she isn't ;) She also fake coughs which cracks me up! It is so funny! I think we will have to get bumpers for the crib in South Carolina!

LET ME OUT!

She has, from the very beginning, been a hard baby to confine. From the humble beginnings within Amanda and all the kicking she did there to the present day, Ansley objects to being closed up in a confined space. This morning, as Amanda was on the computer and I was laying in bed, I heard a sharp "Levin!" I looked over at Amanda and she pointed me towards Ansley's crib where to our surprise she managed to get her elbows over the edges of the crib at the corner. We didn't think to take pictures of this accomplishment before we lowered the mattress to impede her efforts. We did, however take photos of what her new efforts to escape look like. These are just a few shots of a couple different angles of the mastermind at work.

Crazy inbetweenness

So I was lamenting to Ellen earlier that I'm in a way weird limbo stage. We just had house guests and naturally the house is a wreck afterwards but I have no motivation to put things away, because I know we are leaving crazy soon! It's a really weird place to be ready to leave but you have so much stuff left to do that you are not ready to leave. Well, over all I would say we are ready to leave this paradise. Back to the good ole south at least for now. I did bring some boxes home today and i started separating things (a bit of pre packing) and a huge give-away box! Starting over is somewhat tragic in and of itself but also very refreshing and liberating to just get rid of all the junk we have accumulated while we have been here. It's just ridiculous the amount of stuff we have in our house. Alas Levin is strongly encouraging me to make cut down our life to just one suitcase a piece. I really am going to give it a try but I say it is going to be the hardest try I've ever done. Our whole life with a new baby in only two suitcases and a few boxes....

Wedding Bells

Ellen Wagner (not for long) and Joseph Peeples

Just wanted to give a shout out to my sister Ellen who is getting married in a few weeks!!!!! We still haven't met the boy but I can tell he's a keeper! We actually don't get to meet him until the day before the wedding! Can't wait to see you guys soon! Set to get married December 20th in the Los Angeles California Temple.