Christmas Letter 2011

Getting our Christmas letters in the mail is not one of my strong points.  So, her it is for those that follow our family.

Dear Friends and Family,

   Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  We hope that this Holiday season brings joy, peace and good health to you all.  This time of year is a great time to reflect  back on the year and prepare for the new one.

   We still love our house and enjoy living next to Great Grandma Edington.  We didn’t get the landscaping done like we had hoped this year but I am sure one day it will get done.  We are just grateful we have a place to live that is our own.

    The girls are doing great! Courtney is three and loving life.  She is home alone with mom during the day and enjoys that time.  She does miss her sisters when they are at school though.  She is excited that someday she will get to go to school also.  More often than not she wants to bring a lunch and backpack in the van when we take the girls to school so she can pretend she is going to school now.  She thinks that just about any word starting with the letter C has to be her name.  She is a very talkative, happy girl and a joy to have in our home.

  Shaylee is seven and in second grade.  She enjoys school for the most part and is getting better on her reading all the time.  She has made a big improvement from the start of the school year.  At the end of last school year, in May, Shaylee became our first child to break a bone.  She got knocked of the bars at school and fell and broke her collar bone.  Sad to say, we didn’t realize it was broken for five days.  She would favor it and complain of it hurting but we thought she had just strained it.  It was when she screamed out in pain trying to pull up her pants that we decided it might be more serious and had her checked.  Luckily it healed pretty quickly.  She did have to miss out on playing baseball for the first time though, maybe next year.  Shaylee is a wonderful child and very tender hearted.

   Kelsi turned nine this year and is in fourth grade.  Fourth grade has been a new experience for her.  It has been a little harder than what she has been used to but hopefully it has been good too.  They do things quite a bit different in fourth then in the lower grades.  She has a homeroom teacher and a different teachers rotate in and out of the classroom teaching different subjects. Overall she enjoys school, especially the social aspect of it.  She loves to read, draw and color.  Kelsi is growing up fast and is a wonderful helper around the house.

   Another interesting tidbit, both Kelsi and Shaylee learned to ride their bikes without training wheels this summer.  They are both doing very well with it and love riding them now.  They even rode them in the people parade the Town of Thatcher put on for the 4th of July.  It was great fun!

  Jeremy is still working hard to provide for his family.  He is doing a great job.  We have been so blessed by his job and are grateful that he has it.  On those days that may be a little tough or long we just have to remind ourselves how blessed we are that he has such a great job.  We are also blessed that he does find time to spend with the family also.  He has started having daddy daughter dates with each of the girls and it is an exciting night they each look forward to.

   Cindy continues to be blessed to stay at home and take care of things there.  She has found a little time to help out at the schools also.  She gets to help with PE, PTO and Box Tops.  It has been fun for her to get out and be a little more involved at the schools.

  We are truly grateful for the year we have been blessed with.  Not everything that happened this year has been wonderful but much of it has.  We are thankful to our Heavenly Father for helping us along the way this year and we look forward to celebrating the birth of our Savior, Jesus Christ.  What a gift and blessing He is and what a gift it is to have you all as friends and family.  We love you and wish you the best in 2012!

Love,

Jeremy, Cindy, Kelsi, Shaylee and Courtney Hunt

Odds and ends of November

   Here are a few odds and ends of the happenings of November.  We had several busy weekends in November.  The first weekend we headed to Pomerene  for my nephew Matthew’s baptism.  We are so proud of him and it was great to see everyone. 

   We got spoiled the next weekend also when we got the chance to go to Tucson with the whole Edington family, all 33 of us, to see the Wizards of the Rings (A fun take on the Lord of the Rings with jokes, singing and dancing.) at the Gaslight Theater.  If you have never been to the Gaslight Theater and you like that kind of theater I highly recommend it.

   All the cousins where so excited to see the Gaslight had extended a special welcome to the Edington family on they sign outside of the entrance.  Some of them even had to get a picture with it. 

  These are just a few fun shots of the girls outside the theater.  Nothing like posing in a wood cut out to look like someone else.  So fun!      Another fun thing the girls enjoyed was the night we let them eat dinner under the table.  I know probably not the cleanest thing to eat off the floor under the table, but they had a blast.  Luckily no one ended up sick or anything.  I guess you could say I am just trying to boost their immune systems.        In November, Shaylee became our first child to have braces.  She had to get them on five teeth on top.  She had a cross bite that needed to be fixed.  With the dentist and orthodontist suggestions, we decided to take care of it sooner rather then later.  Luckily she wont have to where them for very long.  She will probably get them removed at the first of the new year.  She has been a real trooper about it.  She gets very nervous about dentists, orthodontists and doctors but she was so brave during the whole thing.  She was excited to pick the color of the bands on them.  She started out with pink and then got red for Christmas. 

   Courtney has discovered a new joy, body art.  I guess it is a phase they all go through at one point or another.  She came into me one day and said “Look at me, I’m funky!”  Silly girl. Love her to death but we are going to have to nip this one in the bud before it gets out of control.  If you look closely at this second picture you can see she drew all over her face and even her eye lids.  She is my child who thinks that every time mom is putting on makeup she needs makeup also so she can be “beautiful.”  She is a particularly big fan of lipstick or gloss.  That has also been know to end up all over the face.

   In November we also had a big yard sale.  We had a bunch of toys that we where growing out of.  One job the girls had was going through the stuffed animals they have and picking out the ones they could live without.  I thought this picture was a fun picture.  This is probably only a third of the total stuffed animals they had before the yards sale.  We got rid of quite a few but I wouldn’t mind getting rid of a few more.  I just have to convince the girls of that. 

  This is just a silly random picture of a tomato that started sprouting.  I don’t remember ever seeing a tomato have it’s seeds sprout from the inside out.  It had been sitting in this bag in the kitchen and just started growing.  Thought it was kind of weird and interesting. 

  I know some of these things are kind of random but isn’t that the way life is.  You never know what you get from one day to the next.  Especially if you have kids.  They make life crazy, tiring, frustrating, funny, fun, but most of all a great joy.    

Halloween

We had a great Halloween this year.  We tried to just keep it fun for the kids.  A few days before Halloween we carved a pumpkin.  That is always interesting, but fun, with little ones. 

I regret to tell you that I didn’t remember to take a picture of it after it was finished.  It was a wolf howling at the moon. We did one just like it a Halloween 2008. They sure grow up fast don’t they.

Here are the pictures from this year.  Shaylee was a witch.  She really wanted the green face and black hair so we went all out this year.  She really enjoyed her costume this year.

Courtney’s costume changed several times. For the longest time she wanted to be the “Lady in Pink” from The Backyardigans episode about the Super Spy.  We tried to find her something pink she would wear for that but didn’t have any luck.  Not because of the lack of pink in our house but because she just couldn’t find what she wanted.  So she picked the outfit above out of our dress up box.  I guess you can call her cute costume a Halloween fairy.  She also got to dress up for the library story time.  She settled on Super Girl for that one. Oh, the joy of having dress up clothes on hand.

Kelsi loves huskies and decided that is what she wanted to be for Halloween.  This one was a little more of a challenge in that it was tricky for me to make her look like a dog and not a cat.  I don’t have much experience with face paint but I think in turned out alright.  Regardless of what people thought she was dressed like she turned out cute and had fun.  

We dressed up on Saturday night for the ward Trunk or Treat.  It was a great success.  The girls loved going around.  Courtney just kept saying “I love this trick or treating!” It is always fun to see all the kids dressed up. 

On Halloween day we started the day out with Jack O Lantern pancakes.  Not perfect, but the kids had fun with it.  I can honestly say that I am not going into the pancake shape making business any time soon.

Shaylee’s school had crazy hair day that day also.  This is what we came up with.  You can’t see, but we also sprayed it with some pink hair color in the back. 

We decided not to go out again on Halloween night.  We stayed home and played fun Halloween games.  The first game we played was a musical hat game where you walk around in a circle to music with a witch hat on the floor.  You take turns stepping on it and whoever is on it when the music stops is the winner.

The next game we played was pin the face on the pumpkin.  We all worked together to put the pieces of the face on. The girls seemed to enjoy doing this.  We came up with quite an interesting Jack O Lantern.

 

Here is the end result.

We also played a game of Halloween bingo called “Trick” and “Don’t Eat Feet,” which is just like “Don’t eat Pete.”  For our treat we frosted Halloween shaped cookies. It turned out to be a great day. Filled with sugar and lots of fun.  We all hope you had as wonderful Halloween as we did!

 

Busy Weekend

This weekend was a busy weekend for our family.  Saturday started with me making a quick trip to Pomerene for a funeral for my great Uncle.  As far as funerals go it was a nice one.  He had been having health problems for a while so in a way his death was not unexpected and I am sure a welcome relief from the pain and suffering for him.  It was good to learn more about him and remember him for the good man he was. 

After the funeral I rushed home because the in-laws were coming to town.  They actually got there about an hour or so before I got home.  This is always a fun treat for the family.  We ate at Casa and visited. The guys also went to the EAC football game against Snow College.  They said it was a great game and EAC won so overall it was a good day.

On Sunday we had our primary program.  The girls did a great job.  There is nothing like primary program sacrament meeting.  I here the children sing every Sunday but it doesn’t matter, for whatever reason, hearing them sing in sacrament meeting brings tears to my eyes.

After sacrament meeting we had to come home early because Courtney and I had to travel to Gilbert for an early Monday morning dentist appointment.  We decided to travel at the same time my in-laws were headed that way.  (Thanks!) We had a wonderful visit with Grani in Mesa and then headed over to stay with the Sholley’s in Gilbert over night.  It has been a wonderful blessing to have them live so close to where we take Courtney to the dentist.  More then once they have let us stay with them when we have come down for dentist appointments.

Today, Jeremy stayed home with the older two and got them off to school and took care of things at the house while Courtney and I were in Gilbert and up early and to the dentist by 6:30 am.  Courtney’s appointment was to get crowns for the top four teeth.  She has had trouble with them for quite a while.  They tried filling them but the fillings kept falling out.  So, it was determined that crowns would be the best option at this point.  Very frustrating, especially considering that a little less then a year ago they sedated her to fill them and today we had to pay to sedate her again.  Not a fun experience and not a very cheap one either.  Each time is $550 just to sedate her and insurance wont pay for any of it.  They don’t think it is necessary even for a two or three year old. I can testify that it wouldn’t be possible without it.

Well, the work they did on Courtney ended up being more extensive than planned.  They did the four crowns but they also ended up having to do root canals on two of those teeth and four fillings in the back.  They figured they better get as much done during the sedation so she wouldn’t have to be sedated for dental work any time soon.  My hope is that it is never again.

I must say I think they did a pretty good job.  Courtney pulled through beautifully.  All she remembers is the shot.  She kept talking about not wanting a shot again. 

For those of you who have never experienced your child being sedated I hope you never have to.  It is a scary thing.  I know that the people that do it are professional and  know what they are doing but it is still not fun.  It is a weird experience to watch your child go from a happy playing child to being floppy and having a blank stare on there face.  In a way I am glad that I am not in the room when she is all hooked to wires and tubes and being worked on. 

I am glad to be home and have it all done hopefully never having to mess with those teeth again.       

October is here!

 

We decided to do a fun project together as a family to help us get ready for Halloween.  Found this Q-Tip skeleton project on the internet and it was easy and fun for the whole family.

   

August……falling into September

So, this is the third post today.  Just trying to play a little catch up.  Blogging doesn’t come easy for my because I don’t feel I am a very good or clever writer.  I guess that is really why I don’t do it very much.  I have decided, more than anything,  blogging is more a of a way for me to journal the happenings of my family.

So on to August we go.  The biggest event of August was the start of school.  The girls wanted to look extra special for the first day of school so we put curlers in and braided hair.  Courtney even wanted curlers in but they only lasted about 30 minutes before she was pulling them out.         

They went to bed early to get their beauty sleep.  Not that they need it.  I think they are pretty cute girls.  I am a little bias though.

   

They picked out some pretty cute outfits for the first day and were ready pretty early. 

Shaylee started 2nd grade and is in Mrs. Morris’ class.  Shaylee was excited to be back and Mrs. Morris is a great teacher.  Kelsi was so excited to be back to school that she ran off ahead of me and I didn’t get a picture of her with her 4th grade teacher, Mrs. Crandall (who also seems like she is going to be a great teacher).  I had to sneak a couple from outside of the door because so was already in school mode.

I think it is going to be a good year. They are growing up way too fast. 

Courtney is enjoying her time at home with me, but at times I think she misses having someone other than mom to play with.

I have been a little busy with the start of school.  I have been the Box Tops for Education coordinator for both of my girls schools for a few years now but this year they decided to make me an official part of the PTO doing Box Tops.  I have also been doing PE every other week for Kelsi’s class and about once a month for Shaylee’s class.  I don’t mind it.  It is nice to be involved with the schools and get to know the teachers and students that my kids are around so much.

As we are now into September I am excited for the cooler weather.  The stores are full of fall and Halloween decorations and the excitement of the holidays.  I love the feeling of fall in the air.  It is a wonderful time of year. 

July

I forgot to mention in the last post that my youngest sister got married at the end of June.  She is very happy and we are happy for her.  She is the last of my siblings to be married.  I am grateful for all of my brothers and sisters and that they were all able to be Married in the temple to wonderful eternal companions.

July was a fun month. First off was the 4th of July celebration. 

Our town starts the celebration early.  Cannons go off at 5:30 in the morning and the fire trucks drive around town blaring their sirens.  To some it is annoying, but not to me.  It is kind of fun.  It is also a lot cooler outside and the festivities can be enjoyed more.

By 6:00 am they have a people parade.  People ride their bikes, golf carts, wagons, etc. down the road on a specific path to the middle school football field where they have a patriotic program.  Luckily the parade route passes the corner by our house.  So we decided we would watch the parade and join in when the people on bikes past by.  Just a week or so before this the girls learned how to ride their bikes without training wheels and were so excited to decorate them and ride them in the parade. 

       

Courtney got to ride in the bike trailer with her cousin Emily.  I had the song “God Bless America”  playing.  That is one of my favorite patriotic songs.  Sad to say it was lost in all of the noise of vehicles and fire trucks.  It was a fun thought though.  Courtney heard it over and over and for weeks after she would sing it.  I loved it.   At the patriotic program Courtney and Emily got to be in the Grand old Flag march.  They let all of the kids that wanted to march out waving flags while the song “You’re a Grand Old Flag” played.  It was cute to watch them.  They were probably the youngest out there.  They got to be in it because they happened to be at the right place at the right time.

    

After the wonderful program they had a watermelon bust.  Then the fire trucks soaked anyone who wanted to be.  (Occasionally someone who didn’t intent to be.)  The kids loved it.

After the fun, we spent the rest of the day at home relaxing until we joined some friends for dinner.  Sadly Jeremy had to work and didn’t get home until late.  It was a great day other than that.

In July we also made it up to St. Johns to spend time with Jeremy’s family.  Sad to say I didn’t get any pictures.  That is something I need to get better at. 

On the way up we saw the burned out areas of the White Mountains.  It was sad to see the areas that where burnt so bad.  The fire fighters worked extra hard.  You can tell because so much of Alpine and other areas were saved.  Some areas you couldn’t even tell there had been a fire.  Others you couldn’t hardly believe how bad the damage was.

We stopped at Luna lake for a lunch picnic.  The water levels where very low from the water that was used to fight the fire.  It was beautiful there otherwise.  We even saw some little chipmunks that we shared our lunch with.  The girls really enjoyed that.

In St Johns we just relaxed and played.  We visited Jeremy’s Grandma Hunt and enjoyed seeing her.  She was in a wonderful spirit and it was a good visit. It was lots of fun to see family and spend time with Jeremy’s parents.

One more exciting thing that happened in July was that Kelsi got her ears pierced.  I have always told my girls they don’t have to get their ears pierced and that I want them to do it if and when they want to.  Kelsi and Shaylee have both wanted to, but have been very nervous about doing it and that is why it took this long for Kelsi.  Shaylee was going to do it the same day Kelsi did and even got as far as having them mark her ears, but decided she wanted to wait until she got older.  Which is perfectly fine with me.

 

July was a great month.