Flu and Merry Christmas

Life has been a little crazy this week. I am sitting here typing this with one hand and holding my sleeping baby who is sick with the flu. My husband husband has also been sick with the flu. So between trying to take care of them as well as my two other children. It has been a little crazy. Because of this, I haven't had a chance to get my Christmas cards in the mail. So just in case I don't I am posting my Christmas card on this blog for all of you to enjoy. Merry Christmas!

December 10, 2009

Dear Family and Friends,

Yeah, it is Christmas time once again! We hope that your year has been a great one! This year has just flown by, but it seems that is just the way life is now. It never slows down and each year comes to an end all too quickly. Our year has been full of lots of fun and everyday life. We also have much to look forward to in the New Year.
Courtney is now eighteen months old and is as busy as ever. She is getting in to everything. Even at this moment she is pulling CDs out of their cases. I’ll have to watch her close or she will try to stick them in the VCR like she has done in the past. She has learned to climb on chairs, open the refrigerator and if we leave the bathroom doors open she is often found playing in the toilet. Jeremy’s cell phone can testify to that (Well if it could talk.) She is learning to talk quite well. One of her favorite words is “candy.” Maybe this next year we will make sure she learns the word vegetable. Courtney gets to spend most of her days with just mom but loves it when her sisters and dad get home and can play with her. We have really enjoyed getting to know her better and discover her personality throughout the year.
Shaylee is now five. In May she graduated from preschool and in August she started kindergarten. She is really enjoying school. She has gotten to go on field trips to the firehouse, the bus barn, the apple orchard and the museum. She has been making friends and comes home telling us all about the kindergarten drama. She has even learned to read and write a little. ;) She enjoys painting quite a bit and playing with her sisters. She is as sweet and loving as ever. She is always one to give great hugs and kisses.
Kelsi turned seven this year and is growing up way too fast. She is in the second grade and doing quite well. She is also our little artist and is becoming increasingly interested in drawing. She has discovered a love for wearing gloves. Just look at her picture. We often have to ask her to take them of for dinner, or other times when what she is doing would be better to do without gloves on. Drama must be a girl thing because Kelsi also comes home with stories of all that is going on in the second grade. I guess we are just grateful that they tell us about it. We hear about who likes whom and whom she is going to marry and other fun details of her life. She is a great help with her younger sisters and loves playing with them.
Cindy keeps busy trying to keep the kids fed and the house running. She has finally started to get the hang of having three kids. It really helps that the older two are able to help so much. She is enjoying reading several new books she got for her birthday from her family and sewing whenever she can. She is also spending much of her time de-junking the house to prepare for the house we are having built here in Thatcher. We’ll hopefully be moved in by spring 2010. It isn’t going to be a big fancy home but it is going to be our first home and we are excited.
Jeremy is as busy as ever. For some reason this time of year is a busy one at work. He is still working for Freeport-McMoRan, which we are grateful for considering that so many people have lost their jobs. The company is currently doing well and isn’t planning on any more layoffs. Jeremy is still out numbered at home but doesn’t mind so much. He loves his girls and is grateful they are part of our family.
We all look back on this year and know that both good and bad have come to us but it is amazing at times how it is the good that stands out the most. We are blessed to have each other and family and friends. The love we share as a family and with you is the best gift we could ever hope for. We hope that you have had a wonderful year and that the New Year brings much joy and happiness to you and your family. Thanks for being part of our lives! We love you all! Merry Christmas!


Love,
The Hunt Family
(Jeremy, Cindy, Kelsi, Shaylee and Courtney)

Merry Christmas!

Gila Valley Temple

I just recieved this e-mail. How exciting! I can hardly wait. It is such a blessing to have temples at all let alone one just a couple of miles away.

Dear Gila Valley Arizona Temple Mailing List subscribers:

The First Presidency has announced the opening dates for The Gila Valley Arizona Temple as follows:

OPEN HOUSE: Friday, April 23 to Saturday, May 15, 2010 (except Sundays)
CULTURAL CELEBRATION: Saturday, May 22, 2010
DEDICATION: Sunday, May 23, 2010 (three sessions: 9:00 a.m., 12:00 noon, 3:00 p.m.)
OPENS FOR ORDINANCES: Monday, May 24, 2010

Additional information will be provided as it becomes available.

Sincerely,
Rick Satterfield
LDSChurchTemples.com

http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/gilavalley/

More Halloween Fun

Here are just a few pictures of the girls Halloween costumes. Shaylee was Hannah Montana.
Kelsi was Miley Cyrus. She came up with her costume.

Courtney was our little lady bug.

Between the birthday party that Shaylee got to go to, the ward party and the school party we all had a fun and busy night.

Pumpkin

Here are a few pictures of our pumpkin carving fun. The girls had lots of fun and were great helpers. Courtney even got in on the action.

More Halloween fun to come.

The Fair!

Yesterday we had a great day at the fair. First we checked out all the animals.

Courtney liked the ducks and walked around saying "quack! quack!"

We didn't go on too many rides. Actually we went on only the "Merry Go Round." We wanted to save our money for other things. It cost $3 a person to ride. I had to pay just to stand on there with the girls. (That is my arm sticking out from behind Kelsi.)

Kelsi and Shaylee each had an art project from school put into the fair exhibit. Kelsi's is in the yellow one just to the right of her. It was a collage of all yellow things cut out from magazines and then there was glitter over the top.

Shaylee's was the one right above her head with the two people on it.
When we saw the same Hawaiian Ice place as there was last year we had to get one. We got strawberry cheesecake flavor with a scoop of ice cream on the bottom and cream on top. We all enjoyed it.

One of the highlights of the day was the FREE(yeah!) face painting. The woman that was doing it did a wonderful job. If she doesn't charge too much we may consider having her come do it for our girls birthday parties next year.

She did lots of other designs that you could choice from but both of the girls really liked this butterfly. I think they turned out really cute.

Courtney and Daddy were very patient while the girls got their faces painted and spent some of the time sitting in the grass eating cotton candy. Courtney saw this picture of her and Daddy this morning and said "bite, yummy." She is so cute and learning to say so many things. We had only minor hiccups in the day but overall I think it was a good day.

I Can Read With My Eyes Shut!

This is how we found Shaylee Sunday night when we went to turn the lights off. I think she decided to take the title of this book literally. We couldn't help but sneak a picture and smile. Too cute!

Message to the Tooth Fairy (A.K.A The Molanator)

Dear Tooth Fairy,

Please bring the tooth to your place where you're living and please bring me some money real quick until the morning.

Love,

Shaylee

Yes, Shaylee lost her first tooth. She was nervous that it would hurt and didn't want me to pull it. It popped out on its own with some gentle wiggling by Shaylee. She is excited and keeps going to look at the gap in the mirror. I hope we get a better tooth fairy than we have in the past. Twice she forget to come until after Kelsi woke up in the morning.

Schools in Session

The girls have had a great first week of school! They seem to be really enjoying it.

Shaylee started Kindergarten and has Mrs. Stone. I have heard many great things about Mrs. Stone and think it will be a great year for Shaylee. She is already making friends and really just adjusting well to her full day of school.

Kelsi is now in second grade and was surprisingly a little bit more nervous about starting school this year. She is doing great though! She is seeing old faces on the play ground and making new friends in her classroom. Kelsi has Ms. Morris who is a new teacher at the school this year but I think it will go well.

Burned Biscuits

My mom sent this to me in an e-mail and I really enjoyed it so I thought I would share it with anyone who may be reading. The author of this message is unknown but I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

When I was a little child, my mom liked to make breakfast food for dinner every now and then. And I remember one night in particular when she had made breakfast after a long, hard day at work. On that evening so long ago, my mom placed a plate of eggs, sausage and extremely burned biscuits in front of my dad. I remember waiting to see if anyone noticed! Yet all my dad did was reach for his biscuit, smile at my mom and ask me how my day was at school. I don't remember what I told him that night, but I do remember watching him smear butter and jelly on that biscuit and eat every bite! When I got up from the table that evening, I remember hearing my mom apologize to my dad for burning the biscuits. And I'll never forget what he said: "Baby, I love burned biscuits." Later that night, I went to kiss Daddy good night and I asked him if he really liked his biscuits burned. He wrapped me in his arms and said, "Your Momma put in a hard day at work today and she's real tired. And besides - a little burned biscuit never hurt anyone!" You know, life is full of imperfect things.....and imperfect people. I'm not the best housekeeper or cook. What I've learned over the years is that learning to accept each other's faults - and choosing to celebrate each other's differences - is one of the most important keys to creating a healthy, growing, and lasting relationship. And that's my prayer for you today. That you will learn to take the good,the bad, and the ugly parts of your life and lay them at the feet of God. Because in the end, He's the only One who will be able to give you a relationship where a burnt biscuit isn't a deal-breaker! We could extend this to any relationship in fact - as understanding is the base of any relationship, be it a husband-wife or parent-child or friendship!

"Don't put the key to your happiness in someone else's pocket - keep it in your own."

Moms aren't suppose to get sick.

This week has been full of the stomach bug for us. It started with Shaylee who spent Monday night throwing up and most of Tuesday sleeping and recovering. Wednesday, she threw up again and went to bed early and on Thursday she woke up late and started feeling better. She had a miserable few days though. Thursday night is was Courtney's turn. I had her in bed with me nursing her when she threw up all over me, her and the bed. Thankfully she didn't get it as bad as Shaylee. Friday she was pretty much back to normal. It was Friday afternoon and evening when I started not feeling so well. Luckily I wasn't struck hard by it until after my husband got home from work. He was so good to me. He stepped in and took care of everything while I rested in between trips to the bathroom. I really think there ought to be rules about moms getting sick. It just shouldn't be allowed. It was a rough night for Jeremy. He pretty much took care of Courtney throughout the night. She is used to mommy at night and so it was a new experience for the both of them. Thank goodness it all worked out. I spent the day recovering on Saturday. Jeremy was such a dear. He went shopping, washed the dishes, feed the girls, cleaned the bathroom and took care of just about everything. I tried to help but he was pretty insistent about me resting. Thanks for taking such good care of me Love! The bad news though is I think he wore himself out. He hasn't been feeling good since last night. I think he caught the bug. Hope he recovers soon. I guess we are a family who has learned how to share. Too bad it had to be the stomach flu. Luckily Kelsi hasn't got it. We hope it stays that way.

P.S. Whats with getting the stomach flu in the middle of the Summer. That just isn't right. Aren't we suppose to get a break from this stuff.

Is my bum larger?

On June 8th little Miss Shaylee turned 5 years old. She is so excited to be five and asked when she gets to start Kindergarten. She also had another quite funny question for me when she turned five. It started out with her explaining to me that she was much bigger now that she is five. In her sweet little mind she has grown four inches over night. Yep, all she had to do was turn five. Shortly after this she was getting ready to go potty and turned her bum to me and said something like this "Is my bum larger?" I couldn't help but smile. Only a five year old would want such a thing. Oh and how grateful I am that, if we are lucky, our bums don't get larger every year. I would have a 29 year large bum. Imagine if you lived to be one hundred. Oh how I would hate to see that.

Shaylee had a great birthday. Here are some of the pictures to highlight the event.

Shaylee got a remote control Wall-e that can communicate with Kelsi's Eve. She was sure excited about that.

She had a birthday party that was Luau themed. We played pin the bananas on the palm, I mean banana, tree. She saw the parrot pinata and was determined it was the one she wanted.

The Lilo and Stitch cake went well with the theme. It was a marble cake with strawberry filling and butter cream frosting. Nice and sugary, just the way the kids like it. If you notice real carefully Lilo is quite flexible. Her body was facing opposite of her feet. You got to love a bobble hula dancing Lilo.

Shaylee is growing up so fast and we love her and having her in our family. Happy Birthday Shaylee!

Swim Lessons

Kelsi and Shaylee started swim lessons today. They had lots of fun and look forward to continuing the lessons throughout the summer. Thanks CG and Gramps for helping out with the lessons so the girls could have this opportunity!