The Gunter Family
2024 Year in Review
2024 Year in Review
You know, every year, and maybe this is getting worse with age, I look back and think, “finally, a more steady, normal year” or “we really didn’t do that much this year, did we?” Then I start looking through photos and I go, “Wait? That was 2024? Really? Oh yeah, I guess so.”
This year was no exception. The BIG big thing this year was a 5 week trip for 6 of 7 Gunters (Hailey was in school in Hawaii, poor thing) to Southeast Asia. It was… unforgettable. The kids were absolute champions when it came to travelling, including taking 40 hours to get to our first stop in Bali. Everyone enjoyed pitching in and working together to raise money and prep the house (which we Airbnb’d) to make the trip possible. See a highlight video below.
We loved getting to spend time with extended family with a Cook reunion in Newport Beach in February and a Gunterfest in Albuquerque in July this year. Natalie also took the younger 3 (I, Hailey and Abby had to work) up to the Washington coast to enjoy sand, sun and more family time this summer.
It’s been an amazing year full of things both good and hard: health concerns (more later) and trials but also faith and adventure and joy and we’ve loved it. Above all, we're grateful to reflect on this year to see the tender mercies of God's goodness and the ways that we've been blessed by our faith in Jesus Christ.
We celebrated surviving 20 years of marriage in October. Normally, Lewis would try to “go big” for something like that but given financial circumstances and, oh yeah, spending over 10% of the year away from our home already, it seemed wise to keep it local. There was still a game of celebration involving a scavenger hunt tracing the first steps of our relationship and some awesome friends (thank you again to those of you reading this now!) putting together a thoughtful video memory for Natalie.
We’ve also crossed a line that Lewis never thought we would. That’s right, we’re working together on a side business! We’re still in the prototype development phase but we’re launching a customized meditation app with the support of a friend.
2024 was pretty epic. The year kicked off with a “bro trip” feat. special guest, dad! We met up in Cancun then travelled to Valladolid where we ate great food, explored cenotes, and mostly survived the speedbumps and fleas.
Tempus Escapes officially opened to the public in May this year and customers have loved it. While things haven’t skyrocketed the way I hoped, it is great to hear strangers loving the room and creating memories. The box is operating profitably and is mostly hands-off though I’m still looking to find it a new home with hopefully higher foot traffic. If you’re in the area and want to check it out, hit me up!
Getting the box opened was a huge milestone but the company is far from being in a state to support a family so I began contracting with my old company, Sift, in October. The financial stress of 2 years without a paycheck is pretty significant but it also helped me to grow in some ways and build some habits that I could not have done otherwise. I started a regular habit of taking ~30 minute walks with no phone/distractions and got into cold plunging in nature over the summer. And in the process, I’ve seen miracles (though not the ones I anticipated but I guess that’s what makes them miraculous) - friends and family have stepped up in a big way and I’ve found peace in the midst of the unknowns and the anxiety.
The family trip to Asia was an absolute blast to plan and execute and it was incredible to spend so much time with family without the distractions of daily life. It was a slice of heaven, honestly. I kind of love watching the highlight video as it brings back the memories in a powerful way.
In October I started a contractor role at my old employer Sift. The escape room is still up and running but not at a state where its revenue is supporting a family. It’s been a little strange but I’m super grateful to be generating income again.
Other highlights: Enjoying BYU sports (seriously y’all what is happening in Provo?), volunteering with Natalie at Lifting Hands International and being a furniture-acquirer for local refugees, serving in the temple, working with the Young Men group at church, and visiting family in South Carolina for the funeral of my aunt.
Next year will be more normal, right? Love you all!
Time seems to move faster and faster every year. The first part of this year most of my effort went into preparing our home for renting out on AirBnB while we were on our trip. I loved spending time with our families in California, New Mexico and a trip to the Washington coast - any time I can get near the ocean is a great time.
The Asia trip was the highlight of the year. It was phenomenal. Can’t overstate it.
Shortly after returning from the trip I was asked to lead our local congregation’s women’s organization as a Relief Society President. I love the opportunity to get to know and serve the women in my neighborhood.
The biggest life change for me this year was having Caroline start first grade this Fall which, for the first time in over 19 years, means I have some free time during the day. It goes a lot faster than I was anticipating but I’ve really enjoyed being able to volunteer in kids’ classrooms, attend field trips, and work with Lifting Hands International.
I’ve picked up some new hobbies like knitting, watercolor, and pickleball. I also got to do some beautiful hiking in late summer into fall and enjoy regularly serving in the temple.
This year I finished my first year at BYU-Hawaii and loved every second of it. When I wasn’t in school, I was skating, surfing, tanning or diving for shells. I made some great friends and loved exploring the island.
Last year I started experiencing what I now know were focal seizures. I didn’t think much of them but in March I had my first of several grand mal seizures. When I got home I was diagnosed with epilepsy. Luckily the doctor was able to get me on some medications that have helped quell the seizures but the side effects have been a bummer, not the least of which is that I was not able to return to school in September as planned. I’m very looking forward to going back to school in January.
Since I’ve been home I started working at the Nike Outlet and absolutely love it. I have the best coworkers and enjoy interacting with (most) customers. In general, I still enjoy working out / lifting, spending time with friends, and sleeping when siblings let me.
I’m a senior in high school and it’s hard to believe this is my last full year living at home before going off to college in 2025. Life has been crazy between theater tech, school, time with friends, my church volunteering, and work, but I’ve been able to balance it all. School has been hard with 4 AP classes but I’ve managed to maintain a 3.96 GPA. I love spending time with my friends and the other social components of being a senior including dances, Senior sunrise, and other activities.
I still love being involved with theater tech. I worked backstage for our school production of Monster Calls and the lighting director for Hadestown. It’s my fifth show in which I’ve worked on lighting and I really enjoy it.
Other highlights from the year include: getting college applications in, family reunions in California and Albuquerque, getting my wisdom teeth removed, hitting a 365 day Duolingo streak, and celebrating 2 years of working at Costa Vida (dad appreciates the sweet pork coming home at night).
This year has been amazing. I’ve grown a lot and learned about myself. I’ve made new friends and grown closer to extended family. I started the year with performing in my third musical, The Music Man and headed to Asia soon after. Asia was warm, and I loved all the birds I saw there. I found a city I enjoy being in in Kuala Lumpur. I learned about Buddhism, saw elephants and caught frogs.
This year I developed a love for regency romances and started going on regular sunset walks. I joined the advanced climbing class and got hired to teach Mominis (the 3-4 yr old climbing class). I made a new friend group and love hanging out with them, including at my birthday party which we had at Lifting Hands and got to pack boxes for refugee camps. I love singing and playing music, including playing the guitar, ukulele and piano. I had three choir concerts and two choir festivals and really enjoyed my song writing class. I also got to play my second role as an old British lady (after Mrs Potts in Beauty and the Beast) as Professor McGonagall in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. It’s been an amazing year with lots of great memories.
I had an awesome time in Asia. Cold plunging with my friends and family was fun. I had a fun family reunion with the Gunters. It was a funny time picking my nose and playing with my tablet case on the trip. I also had a fun time at the beach with the Cooks. My first time with karaoke was fun. LHI (Lifting Hands International - an org we volunteer with) was really fun to help people that I didn’t know and a great community of people who are so nice.
This year I got to start riding shotgun. In March I got to do a play with my school. I started (indoor rock) climbing. I had a couple of bowling experiences and a couple fun birthday parties too. I think that’s it!
This year I went to Asia. And I got to see elephants. I went to DreamWorld and Escape Penang. I rided on eleven airplanes. I got to see lots of temples and I also saw a bus with a Bluey character and I LOVE Bluey. We went to many fascinating things. My favorite was Escape Penang. My favorite house that we went to was a house next door to a neighbor that made us breakfast and had a lovely pool.
I went cold plunging and when we did General Conference, we went up to the mountains and cold plunged and cooked tinfoil meals and I had the best time because it was really nice and warm and I got to snuggle in my hammock.
I started first grade and was really sad because I missed Miss Jensen. But now I’m in first grade and I get to see her sometimes and I also get to see my preschool teacher a lot. And that’s about this year!