Hanging Out With The Hunts

Christmas Time

2012-01-08T17:52:00.001-07:00

December was full of lots of fun and holiday cheer. We decorated our tree the Monday after Thanksgiving. We have a manger that we put in front of our tree every year to help us remember the baby Jesus. During the month the girls get to add hay to it when they do kind things for others. We try to fill it with lots of hay so it will be supper soft for baby Jesus when appears on Christmas Eve. This is a tradition that I remember doing in my own home as a child. The girls really enjoy it as well as mom and dad.

The weather has been surprisingly warm for December so we have been spending some extra time outside. One of the projects that the girls enjoyed doing was making a “rock garden.” I can honestly say it is thriving. It is actually doing much better than our other garden did and they did it all on there own.

We got to see Santa twice this month before Christmas. The first was the ward party. This year our ward had a breakfast instead of dinner like we usual do. I had never had a breakfast ward party before. It was kind of fun. They had a really good breakfast and a program put on by the primary children. They also had a brass ensemble playing Christmas music while we all gathered and ate.

The second time was breakfast with Santa at the Manor House. The breakfast was super simple just cereal, fruit and muffins but the kids enjoyed it and most importantly they got to see Santa. An added bonus was that is was free.

A fun thing I learned from Kelsi this month was about double rainbows. She told me one morning that she learned at school that when there is a double rainbow one is opposite the other. At first I thought she was mistaken or was thinking of something else. I have seen tons of double rainbows and had never noticed that. Well, that same day it rained and there was a beautiful double rainbow out behind our house. Guess what, she was right. It is amazing what we miss when we aren’t really paying attention.

On Christmas Eve day we made some sugar cookies. The girls had a blast cutting out the Christmas shapes. They also discovered by accident that you can make fun shapes on you face with a cookie cutter and flour when Courtney accidently put a star on her face. (She bumped it a little before we could get the camera.) The other two had to try it also.

That night we had our traditional Christmas Eve fiesta. Both Jeremy and my families have a tradition of Mexican food for Christmas Eve so we have decided to continue it. We try to keep it simple with just the five of us so we pick one or two things that are our favorite.

We, like so many others, have a tradition of getting new pajamas on Christmas Eve. These are the ones we got the girls this year. They came in a set that had a matching nightgown for their doll or stuffed animal. I thought they were supper cute.

Jeremy and I got a wonderful treat that night. The girls decided to put on a program for us. They sang songs and danced to Christmas music. They planned it out all by themselves. They even made programs for us to follow.

After their program we went to look at Christmas lights for a little while. When we got back we did one of our favorite Christmas Eve traditions. Jeremy read from Luke chapter 2 about the birth of Jesus Christ and then we followed the star. We take the star off the tree and turn off all of the lights except the Christmas tree. We take a flashlight and shine it on the star and follow it around the house as Jeremy holds it up high and walks around. Meanwhile I try to sneak a doll wrapped in a blanket into the manger under the tree. (This year was the first year I got caught.) We follow the star until we end up back at the manger under the tree where the baby Jesus is now at. The girls always talk about this and want a turn to hold the star as we follow.

Christmas morning was really good but busy. We opened the presents from Santa first. Then we had breakfast and got ready for Church. The girls were so good to be willing to hold off opening up all of their presents before 9:00 am church. They did get a few minutes of playtime in with there new toys from Santa before we had to get ready.

Courtney’s main thing she got was a wooden train set. The older two got Legos and a a few other things. Put this all together and you have instant Christmas mess. I guess it wouldn’t be Christmas without it.

Over all we had a wonderful Christmas and were blessed to not have too many of us get sick until after Christmas. Courtney had the stomach flu a couple days before Christmas but the rest of us waited until after. No fun, but we survived.

We hope you all had a wonderful holiday time. Tomorrow it is back to the grind. The kids head back to school. That means no more lazy mornings for mommy.

Christmas Letter 2011

2011-12-25T17:55:00.000-07:00

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

2011-12-18T20:10:00.001-07:00

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

2011-11-02T09:43:00.001-07:00

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

2011-10-24T21:05:00.001-07:00

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!

2011-10-02T12:50:00.001-07:00

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

2011-09-18T16:34:00.001-07:00

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

2011-09-18T16:01:00.001-07:00

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.

June

2011-09-18T14:53:00.001-07:00

In June Shaylee turned 7. It amazes me how fast my girls are growing up. I love seeing them grow, but it is hard to realize that every birthday brings them one year closer to not being kids any more.

We had a water party for Shaylee to celebrate with friends. We had water squirters and slip and slides for the kids to play with. We also had pizza, cupcakes and ice cream. I think it was a success.

Happy Birthday Shaylee!

We planted a garden this year. I was so happy with how it was growing. We had corn, tomatoes, bell peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, yellow squash, watermelon and cantaloupe. We got a little produce from it then we started having ant problems. In spite of our best efforts the ants started destroying everything before it had a chance to ripen. We also had a shallow roots problem. We ended up pulling up everything because it was dying or being destroyed by ants.

What little we did get off we enjoyed. Maybe next year we will have more success. I am not giving up anytime soon though.

May Happenings

2011-05-29T20:13:00.001-07:00

During the first part of May Shaylee’s school had a first grade music program. It was a Disney extravaganza. They sang and danced to several Disney songs. Shaylee got to dress up like a cowgirl and dance a western dance. The costume worked out pretty well because we had everything from a a couple of years ago when Kelsi was a cowgirl for Halloween.

The first picture is one of her and her friend Kushi.

Jeremy turned the big 34 this May. He is an old man. Just kidding. We are both still spring chickens. Sort of. He had to work that day and leave town the next day for work for a few days so we made the most of the day we had.

Courtney loved helping open his presents.

I am so thankful for my wonderful husband and the love that he shows to us. He works hard to take care of us and does a wonderful job. We miss him when he has to travel for work (luckily it isn’t very often) and are very grateful when he gets to come home. Happy Birthday Love!

Another exciting but not so good thing that happened on Jeremy’s birthday was that Shaylee was pushed off the bars at school and broke her collar bone. The bad thing is that we didn’t even realize it was broken until five days later. She didn’t complain too much at first. She would just favor it and wouldn’t lift it up above shoulder level. For a few days I would help her with her shirt. I thought she was doing better. I even took her to her first(and last for this year) coach pitch baseball practice. On Saturday she was trying to pull up her pants and cried out in pain. At that point we knew that something more serious was going on. So off to the ER we went. After an exam and x-ray it was determined to be broken. Poor girl. Bad mom moment not to have realized it sooner.

We later decorated her sling with some iron on stars, hearts, and peace signs. I will have to get a picture of it. She is doing really well with it. It will be three weeks tomorrow that it happened. The Dr. said she can now go without the sling she just has to be careful. Three to five weeks more and she should be all the way healed. What a way to start her summer break.

Courtney also had her third birthday. She is growing up so fast. When we asked her what she wanted she would tell us M&M’s. Well, she got those and a few other things. Oh, the kind of cake she asked for was a blue cake with Cinderella on top. It ended up being a chocolate cake with blue frosting and sprinkles and of course Cinderella on top. She really enjoyed her birthday and it was fun the watch her excitement. She is getting old enough to actually know what is going on and care.

We are going to have a great day tomorrow and hope you all do too. Happy Memorial Day!

Last week or so…

2011-03-22T15:35:00.000-07:00

Last week was an interesting week. On Monday I got to help Shaylee create a Cat in the Hat costume. An hour before school she let me know that for love of reading week she can dress up like a story book character and that she wanted to be the Cat in the Hat. Luckily we had some pieces from a black cat costume that we used at Halloween. We just had to add the hat and gloves. The girls had some white gloves so that was also easy but the hat had to be quickly created out of what was on hand. This ended up being a white brimmed had and red and white foam.

Not too bad for short notice. She also had a black tail hanging out the back that I didn’t get in the picture . The mask with the ears didn’t work with the hat so it was left at home.

It was also a bit busy because I was getting ready for Kelsi’s birthday party. We had it a week early because of spring break. We didn’t think very many would be able to make it during spring break and we are going to be out of town part of the week.

Getting ready for parties always takes a lot of work for me. There is the shopping for party favors, cake, ice cream, decorations, plates, cup, etc., etc. Your child wanting one think while you are trying to keep it in a budget. Luckily my children are pretty easily pleased. Kelsi seemed to be happy with it all in the end so that is what really matters.

This year I decided to make her a piñata instead of paying $15 or more. It was actually pretty fun and easy to make as long as I didn’t try to make a fancy shape.

At first I was going to try to make a pony or a flower but the more I thought about it I felt simple was best, this time around. Maybe after I know what I am doing I will attempt something other than a balloon shape. I even had a little helper. They problem was that she kept tasting the paste. Luckily it was only made of flour and water.

It worked out well and Kelsi seemed to be really happy with it.

It wasn’t as strong as one from the store but I could add more layers of newspaper next time or let each child have fewer turns to hit it. It works better than store bought ones do for little kids. It seems that at times it takes a force of nature to get some of those piñatas to bust.

I am not a fancy cake maker so this is what she got.

She was thrilled because it was topped with a Littlest Pet Shop that she got to keep. All the kids ate it up. We only had one piece left which we saved for Jeremy. So it must of tasted somewhat good.

We had 10 little girls here plus my 3. It was great fun and luckily everything went well. They each even got to make their own pocket purse to take home. Thank you Family Fun for the idea.

I survived one more Birthday party! Who knows how many more to go.

This week the girls are home for spring break. We went to the library today and they are trying to keep busy so mom doesn’t put them to work.

Merry Christmas From The Hunt Family

2010-12-22T19:23:00.004-07:00

Dear Family and Friends,

Well, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all. Some might say it is too late to write a Christmas letter but I say it is never too late. If you don’t get it by Christmas then it can be considered a New Year letter. We hope you are all doing well and that 2010 was a great year for you. We are all well and had a great year ourselves.

It is amazing to me how fast time flies. I was looking through the past four Christmas letters we wrote and couldn’t believe the changes in our children and family. Some of those memories seem like they happened just yesterday while some feel a life time ago.

This year has brought some new and exciting memories for the Hunt family. One of the biggest and most exciting was watching our first home be built and then purchasing it in April. We have truly enjoyed having a home of our own. Now over the next year we get the fun of working on the landscaping. We look forward to creating many happy memories here.

Now on to the girls, Courtney is two and is busy as ever. She has quite the imagination. The problem is that it often manifests it’s self at bedtime when she is supposed to be trying to go to sleep. She will take on conversations with me about all kinds of fun, scary and exciting things all when I am trying to get her to calm down and go to sleep. She loves to play and has really started learning how to play with others. She is often heard saying “come play with me.” She is excited about life and you can’t help but smile when you see her excitement.

Shaylee successfully passed Kindergarten and is now six and in first grade. She got glasses in the Spring, but really only has to wear them when reading and doing school work. She is making lots of new friends and learning to read better all of the time. I am excited for her to be able to read because she really enjoys books. She has a very kind and tender heart and we love having in our family.

Now for Kelsi, she had a big year. In March she turned eight and was baptized. This was a very exciting time for her and our family. We are very proud of her choice. She also finished second grade with success and is now in the third grade. She was nervous about starting at a new school but has been doing great! She is growing up fast and learning to be quite the helper. She often jumps in and helps me with things even when I don’t ask. She is a great help.

Jeremy and I love our new home and are busy as ever with his job and home responsibilities. We are looking forward to a new year and all of the fun it brings with three beautiful, lively and fun filled daughters.

We hope that you all have a wonderful year and enjoy the simple joys of life we have all been blessed with.

Love,
Jeremy, Cindy, Kelsi, Shaylee, and Courtney Hunt

Kelsi's Pictures

2010-11-18T19:52:00.002-07:00

A friend of mine, who is starting up a photography business, took some pictures of Kelsi and is going to be taking some pictures of our family on Saturday. If you want to check out the pictures of Kelsi here is her blog. Rachel Belle Photography I think they turned out great.

It's about time...

2010-11-14T16:25:00.024-07:00

Okay so blogging and reading blogs hasn't been a strong point for me lately. So now I will do a little catching up. I have probably lost the few followers I had because of the lack of blogging. So here is a picture overview of the last few months.

July

4th of July fun!

Just relaxing

A bit of silliness.

24th in St. Johns. Watching the parade.

Loved this float. Abe actually stood up and sat down. It was neat to see a parade that actually had some real floats. Not just political and business ads.

August

Back to school

Kelsi is in 3rd

Shaylee is in 1st

Build a Bear Workshop

We has a trip to Tucson for the Gaslight theater and Build a Bear. We all had a blast. The girls each made a stuffed animal and we watched Space Wars at the Gaslight Theater. It was a farce on the movie Star Wars. It was so much fun. If you have never been to the Gaslight Theater in Tucson, I would highly recommend it. They do a great job of entertaining in a family friendly way.

September

Was a slow month for pictures. I don't think I took many at all. This month was full of school and more school for the girls.

Kelsi did get to make some eatable art at school that she really enjoyed.

October

Riding the Merry-Go-Round at the County Fair

Shaylee's art project her class did for the fair.

The amazing juggler at the fair.

Dress up fun with Courtney

Kelsi's school program about tall tales and heroes.

Halloween

Courtney as Super Girl.

Shaylee as a black cat.

Kelsi as a black cat.

The three of them.

November thus far hasn't been too bad. Courtney and I did have to make a trip this last weekend to Gilbert for dental work. Poor Courtney had cavities that needed to be filled. Being that she is still so young she had to have an IV sedation. She did very well and I am grateful she wasn't awake to deal with how many times she was poked to get the IV in. She has about 10 or 12 puncture wounds from them trying to find a vein that would work. All she remembers is the initial shot they gave her to put her to sleep.

The highlight thus far for November has been the official adoption of my nephew Samuel to his parents Jason and Kelly Edington followed by their sealing in the Gila Valley Temple as an eternal family. What a wonderful blessing that is.

November has a few more exciting and fun things yet for us and many things to be thankful for.

Summer Fun

2010-06-29T19:22:00.007-07:00

So far our summer has been full of swimming, dancing and playing. Kelsi and Shaylee took swim lessons again this year. They did really well but have decided they don't want to do session two this summer. I guess we will just go to the pool and practice what they have learned and start again fresh next summer. Courtney spent her time playing and making friends at the kiddie pool. She would carry around a pair of goggles and call them her "giggles." She rarely wore them but had to have them. It is hard to see them in this picture because they are clear, but they are in her right hand.

Kelsi had to face some fears this summer by jumping in the deep end and swimming across without a lifeguard in the water. She did pretty well but would panic halfway across when she came up for air.

Shaylee had fun and just worked on perfecting some of the basics. She went off the diving board a couple times this sessions but was still very afraid of doing so on her own and refused to the day I brought the camera.

They all love to swim and play in the water so I guess we are going to have to do a lot of practicing during the rest of the summer.

They have also been taking dance. They have been wanting to do this for a while and we finally broke down and signed them up. The really seem to be enjoying it. I'll post a video of it soon. I tried tonight but it didn't work.

Hope you all are having a great summer!

Kelsi's Baptism

2010-05-23T14:26:00.007-07:00

I have a little catching up to do but we will start with Kelsi's baptism. In February Kelsi got to go pick out a beautiful baptism dress with her Grandma CG. She tried on several but the one she liked the most in the beginning was the one she ended up picking in the end.

Here are a few of the ones she tried on.

Here is the one she ended up liking the most. I think she picked out a very pretty dress. She looked beautiful in it.

Here are some pictures we took for her baptism announcement in her beautiful dress.

Kelsi turned eight on March 24th and was baptized on the 27th.

Kelsi and her Dad(Jeremy)

Kelsi got to share her baptism with a friend Briley.

Kelsi got to have her hair done up special for the day by her Aunt Tamra. The flower was from her Aunt Jennie. Thanks to all of her wonderful family!

We are so proud of your choice to be baptized. You are growing up way too fast. We Love You Kelsi!

Watch for more updates soon. Hopefully! ;)

My New Life

2010-05-04T10:32:00.000-07:00

Little Miss Runaway

2010-03-21T21:27:00.004-07:00

What do you do when your child somehow escapes nursery and none of the leaders notice until my husband brings her back after finding her wondering the halls? Well that is what happen today. After Sunday school Jeremy had a feeling to go and check on Courtney in the nursery. When he looked in the window they have there for the parents to spy in he couldn't see Courtney. He at first thought maybe she was too close to the door for him to see, but he could hear her and couldn't figure it out so he started down the hall a little ways and there she was. He expected to see me come around the corner at anytime but I didn't. She was there all alone. He quickly went to the nursery room to ask if they had known what was going on and apparently they hadn't known she was gone and thought maybe she got out when one of the leaders had taken another child to their parent. They asked Jeremy if he wanted them to take her and he said no that he would hang on to her for the rest of the meeting. They got a little huffy and got Courtney's shoes for him.

It is hard to trust other people with your children especially when something like that happens. We are grateful nothing bad happened. I also can understand that having several little children in nursery it can be hard to keep track of them all. She doesn't know how to open the door so it isn't like she could have gotten out all on her own. I know that never sending her back is not necessarily reasonable but what do you do?

What's in your VCR?

2010-03-21T21:07:00.007-07:00

I ask what is in you VCR because you might be a little surprised to find out what I found in ours today. (Or maybe not if you have or have ever had a 22 month old.) So here is the story. We have one of those VCR and DVD combos and I went to put a VHS in the VCR and it went half way in before it got stuck and wouldn't go in the rest of the way or come out. Because
of the jam the machine shut off and wouldn't stay on if I tried turning it back on. After unplugging everything I leaned it forward a bit and out slid a DVD. My first thought was okay that must have been what caused the problem. I still couldn't get the VHS out and was starting to think we were just going to have to replace the system. Well, with a little pushing and pulling I finally got the tape out. Everything seemed to be working fine now so I put the tape back in only to have it get stuck halfway in again. My first thought was that there was damage and that was causing the problem. Luckily I was able to get the tape out and Jeremy suggested that maybe there was something else stuck in there. Well, sure enough there was. Our little pack rat had been busy and we found her secret storage area. Along with the DVD she had stuck a pen cap, a pecan with the outer shell and some other thing that I was unsure what it was. It was hard and greasy and I think it may have been bologna at one time. Oh the joy of a toddler.

The House

2010-03-21T19:44:00.004-07:00

Well, we are almost ready to move in. The paint has been changed to a much better color. The cabinets and plumbing are finished. The appliances are in as well as the tile and carpet. The light fixtures and electrical outlets are all in too. There is just a few minor things left for them to do like touching up the paint and putting up the mirrors. The builder is hoping to be able to hand us the keys this week! We are so excited! We still have a few things to finish up with the bank but the builder is going to let us move in before that and just pay rent or the interest on the construction loan until that is all worked out.

Our House

Carpet and tile. The tile needs to be mopped but that wont be done until after the construction is complete.

Plumbing fixtures in the girls bathroom.

Our kitchen and appliances.

Pretty in Pink

2010-03-03T19:15:00.004-07:00

Well things have been going pretty well with the house. All of the walls are up. The drywall, taping and texture has all been completed. The shelves are in all of the closets and pantry. They painted the inside this week. We went last night to see the finished product and the first thing the girls said when we walked into the garage was something like "Yes! Our house is pink!" That was not what color we wanted our walls. We picked out a color called canyon dusk. It was suppose to be a light brown with a tint of red in it.

Needless to say it turned out different than we expected and pink is not going to work for us. Last night was spent picking out new colors with the help of our contractor. He was very good about leading us toward colors that were more like what we wanted in the end. The new paint was ordered and I traveled to Tucson today to pick it up. I brought back 9 five gallon buckets of paint in the back of my mini van. Hopefully by this time tomorrow the problem will be remedy. Oh the adventures of building a house. I would probably be laughing if it wasn't such an expensive mistake.

March is Here!

2010-03-01T11:58:00.002-07:00

This month there's going to be a lot of busy excitement going on in the Hunt household. To start the month of, this week Jeremy and I have our 10th anniversary. It is crazy to believe how fast the last ten years has gone. Thinking back on everything that has happened in that time I see how much we have changed as individuals and as a family. It is amazing. I am grateful for every day.
Also this month Kelsi is turning 8 and getting baptized. She has grown up so fast and it is crazy to believe how much she has changed and what a vital part she plays in our family. We are all very excited for this opportunity she will have.
The month will also be full of cleaning and packing because if everything goes as scheduled we will be receiving the keys to our new house on March 31st! So Easter weekend may keep us busy moving in.
We hope all are well and that March brings great things your way!

More Pictures

2010-02-12T06:56:00.003-07:00

I know you all are probably sick of pictures of the house and are wondering if there is anything else going on in my life. Put yet here I post more pictures.

It is coming along nicely.

2010-02-07T20:43:00.006-07:00

Our house is looking more and more like a house almost every day. We have a roof (just the wood), framed walls on the inside and out as well as most of the electricity lines in place. The plan is for them to do the stucco this week as well as the shingles on the roof. On the 15th they will start the dry wall. We are so excited and look forward to being able to move in at the end of March or the first part of April.Facing the kitchen. To the right is the master bedroom.

In one of the kids rooms facing the closet.

Garage

Looking up into the roof.

Back of house.

We Have Walls

2010-02-01T17:03:00.004-07:00

Well at least the frame of the outside walls.

More to come soon.

Courtney Cowgirl

2010-01-31T11:42:00.003-07:00

Courtney got this pony for Christmas and has really enjoyed it. We thought it was extra cute when just put on the hat and hopped on. She started saying "cowgirl" and "yee haw." Hope you enjoy!

To Cry or Not to Cry

2010-01-28T09:50:00.002-07:00

So I have a little problem. My problem is my sweet little fitful sleep monster. Yes, my sweet little Miss Courtney does not sleep well and never has. At 20 months old she has probably only had half a dozen nights on which she has slept through the night and maybe a dozen or two on which she only woke up only once. On an average night she is up two to four times a night and on several nights she has been up five or six, or more times. Most times she goes back to sleep quickly once I get her and rock her, but on a few nights it takes an hour or two to get her back to sleep.

I know that this is a problem that I have created. More or less I unintentionally trained her to be a bad sleeper. I trained her to be so dependent on me to go to sleep. For the first year and a half of her life her crib was in my husband’s and my room. So she had easy access to mom. First it was the nursing to sleep for bed and naps. Now it is the rocking or bouncing to sleep. When she was still in my husband’s and my room it got to the point where my husband would sleep on the couch just to be able to get some sleep. He would offer to help and even try but that seemed to turn out worse because she would just cry and cry and I wouldn’t get any sleep because I knew if I would just take her she would stop. So now I am up throughout the night getting her back to sleep.

After twenty months of this I have decided it is time to really do something to train her to sleep better. With the older two we used the “cry-it-out” method and I can testify that it works. But it isn’t easy to sit in the other room while your child is screaming for you. The experts say to go in every few minutes to check them and comfort them without picking them up but that only seems to make things worse. They cry even harder once you leave again. So eventually we got to the point where we would stop going in. After about three nights of this, each night getting better, we finally had success. They would go to bed with very little fuss and sleep well through the night because they no longer needed me to rock them to sleep. We tried this with Courtney but it didn’t work for a number of reasons. Reason 1) Her sisters couldn’t stand the crying. They would feel really bad for her and start crying and have a hard time going to sleep themselves. 2) Courtney got hysterical and had a hard time being calmed. 3) There was only so much of the crying that my husband and myself could handle. Maybe it had been too long since we had last been through this being that Courtney and Shaylee are four years apart in age.

I can honestly say that I don’t mind rocking her to sleep. It is actually quite enjoyable most nights. The biggest problems are that 1) I have to put her to sleep. That makes it hard for me if for some reason I wanted to go somewhere in the evening and needed to be able to have someone else take care of her. 2) She wakes up so many times, which sleep expects say is normal but most of us know how to just roll over and go back to sleep. That doesn’t work for my sweet baby. She needs me to help her and to be honest I am tired.

So now I am reading a book about the “No-Cry” method. We will see if it has any good suggestions. In the end “To cry or not to cry?” That is the question. And those tears may not be just Courtney’s.

"How Firm A Foundation"

2010-01-25T13:19:00.004-07:00

Okay so my sister Amy called me about 7:45 this morning and started singing "How Firm a Foundation" to me. I immediately knew that our foundation for our house was being poured. She has the wonderful opportunity to be living next door to where our house is being built so she often keeps us updated on the progress. Here are a few pictures of it.

They should be framing the foundation area for the garage tomorrow and pouring it on Wednesday or Thursday depending on the weather. The lumber for the framing arrives Thursday afternoon or Friday! It is so exciting to finally see the progress and know that in just over two months we will have our own house.

Our House

2010-01-20T21:11:00.006-07:00

Well, our house is finally on it's way. We are having it built by Hughes Custom Performance (Brian Hughes) and are so excited and can hardly wait. Here are some of the pictures from the first few days of building.
They are going to have to move that electrical pole that is smack in the middle of the property. There goes another $1500 or so. It is for a good cause in the end.
There is a little bit of a hold up right now because of the rain. He can't pour the cement until the weather is good. He should get that done the first part of next week and the framing should start the end of next week. If everything goes well we will move in March 31st! We are so excited and look forward to owning our first home. More to come.

Flu and Merry Christmas

2009-12-17T09:43:00.003-07:00

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

2009-12-13T09:37:00.002-07:00

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

2009-11-10T20:56:00.002-07:00

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

2009-11-09T22:00:00.005-07:00

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!

2009-10-11T08:34:00.007-07:00

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!

2009-09-01T08:48:00.004-07:00

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)

2009-08-29T14:45:00.006-07:00

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

2009-08-20T09:08:00.007-07:00

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

2009-08-16T15:35:00.003-07:00

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.

2009-07-12T14:42:00.003-07:00

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?

2009-06-11T19:50:00.005-07:00

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

2009-06-01T14:05:00.001-07:00

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!

Birthday Fun

2009-05-24T16:31:00.006-07:00

Here are some pictures showing the birthday fun.

The girls decided they would blow out Courtney's candle for her.

Kelsi and Shaylee both had lots of fun celebration Courtney's birthday with her. We all love her so much and are glad to have her in our family.

Guess who is 1!

2009-05-21T08:18:00.012-07:00

Courtney was born May 20, 2008. It was a Tuesday morning at 6:54. She was 7lbs 2oz and 19 inches long. She came out bright eyed and ready to eat.

June 2008 Courtney at one month old. She was getting used to the world around her and being loved by her sisters and parents.

July 2008 Two months old. She was becoming more interactive and smiling.

August 2008 Courtney at Three months old. She was the baldest out of the three. That is okay, right? As Jeremy would say there is nothing wrong with being bald.

September 2008 Courtney at four months old.
Having more floor time and discovering the world around her.

October 2008 Five months old. She made a cute little pumpkin for Halloween. She definitely had the checks for it. She was sitting up really well by this time and full of smiles.

November 2008 Six months old. She was actually starting to get a little hair. In some lights it has a red tint.

December 2008 Seven months old. Courtney's first Christmas.

January 2009 Eight months old.

You never know what you will find when you actually get the laundry done.

February 2009 Nine months old. She was getting more and more busy all of the time but she is always full of smiles.

March 2009 Ten months old. She was a pro at crawling by this age and getting into anything see could get her hands on.

April 2009 Eleven months old. This was the month in which Courtney had her allergic reactions, Erythema Multiforme. We are so glad to be past that. She is doing tons better. We hope to never have that problem again.

May 2009 ONE YEAR Old! We made it. We all survived her first year. It has been great and we are glad she is part of our family. Happy Birthday Courtney.

Due to the length of this post there will be another soon with highlights of the birthday fun.

Graduation

2009-05-20T08:58:00.007-07:00

Last night little miss Shaylee graduated from Busy Bee Preschool. Let me tell you, she is one busy bee. She and another little boy kept playing around. They were shaking the projector screen on the stage, then during one of the songs they were trying to knock each others hats off. I felt so bad. I apologized to the mom of the little boy and she told be it was no big deal and that her and her husband couldn't stop laughing about it. I guess I just needed a little perspective. One set of parents finding the humor in it and Jeremy and me ready to put her in a time out. One thing is for sure we will have fond memories to smile back on of the event. This is a picture of the before mentioned projector screen. I caught this shot of the shadows of the preschool kids with the flag in the back. I know I may be silly but I thought it was kind of a neat little picture. The kids sang patriotic songs and songs about the things they learned. One of Shaylee's favorite was the months of the year song. I'll have to catch in on the digital camera and post it sometime. She has been singing in for weeks now. They all had a little part that they said. We were supposed to practice them ahead of time with the kids but when I asked Shaylee to tell me her part she wouldn't because she said it was a surprise. She did great! I guess she didn't need my help on that one. She is growing up so fast.

Shaylee's favorite part was the cookies and punch. After it was all over and time for refreshment she didn't even come over to see us she went straight for the cookies and punch. What a cutie!Kelsi also enjoyed the cookies and punch.Grandma Buck came to show her support. Thanks for coming! We are so proud of her and how well she did in Preschool. She is looking forward to Kindergarten and I know she will do great there also. Here is Shaylee with her teacher, Susan Norton. She does a great job with the kids. It has been a joy to have her teach both of my older girls and hope she is still teaching when it comes time for Courtney to go to preschool. One thing that Susan said she learned from Shaylee was that if you smell water you need to be careful so you don't get water in your nose. Thanks Susan for a great year at preschool!

Stay tuned someone is turning one today and there will be a special birthday post.

Guess who...

2009-05-07T14:38:00.004-07:00

. . . got student of the month for April. That is right Kelsi. I am so proud of her. She is doing great in school and loving it.

This is what she got. A certificate and a new backpack with pencils, crayons, glue and erasers. I am so very excited for her.

She says it is her 2nd grade backpack.

Track Meet

2009-05-01T12:45:00.014-07:00

Kelsi had her first grade track meet this morning. She did great and had lots of fun. She participated in the ball bounce, the jump rope and the 50 yard dash. They also had a class relay in which all kids and classes participated.

The first event was the ball bounce she had 53 bounces in 30 seconds.

The next event she was in was the jump rope event. She got a little discouraged with this one but she had fun. I filmed her with the digital camera and forgot that you can't turn it sideways when filming. In the screen it turns it the right way but not when you upload it, so sorry for the sideways picture.

After the jump rope was the 50 yard dash. I was so busy trying to get it on film that i didn't see who won. Next time I'll have to film from the finish line so I can see the results.

I almost missed filming Kelsi's run in the class relay because I was busy watching the race. Her class did great. They won!

Kelsi ended up with two 1st place ribbons and a 5th and 6th place ribbon. One first place was for the class relay and one was for the ball bounce. The 5th and 6th place were for the jump rope and the 50 yard dash but I am not sure which one was for which. She did great and we are so proud of her.

Shaylee had fun watching, running around and playing in the dirt.

Courtney was really good but she got tired toward the end. She ended up falling to sleep in the stroller for awhile. She was a real trooper.

Afterward we got some lunch at the Eaglesroost (a snack bar by the school). Eagleburgers, french fries, a hot dog and snow cones. It was great fun!

Erythema Multiforme

2009-04-25T16:29:00.004-07:00

You may be asking yourself what is erythema multiforme. Well you can read more about it at wikipedia.com or dozens of other sites but basically in Courtney's case it is a bad reactions to amoxicillin, and that is what we have been dealing with for the last week and probably will continue to for the next week. Hopefully no longer then that. Here is the story. Last Saturday Courtney started breaking out into red spots we thought maybe she was having an allergic reaction to an otter pop(red dye) we let her try. We called the doctor and he said if she was breathing fine we didn't need to worry but to watch her and give her Benadryl. We proceeded in that way. The spots didn't go away completely with the Benadryl but overall see seemed to be happy. Later that night she got a little fussy and she threw up a couple of times. Once again we called the doctor he basically said the same thing as before so we put her to bed and all seemed to be well for the moment. The next morning she was looking quite a bit better and we thought she was doing pretty good. We gave her the last dose of a ten day cycle of amoxicillin, not knowing that was what caused the problem. Within a couple of hours she was miserable. The spots had come back worse and her hands and feet were swollen. They were so bad that if you barely touched her feet or hands she would cry. That was when we decided it was time to see a doctor. We went to the ER, where they actually got us in to see a doctor fairly quickly. At the ER they gave her Benadryl and a steroid to help get the swelling and rash under control. They also ran a urine sample test. After four hours of waiting and testing I was told that she had a severe urinary tract infection and erythema multiforme because of the amoxicillin. They gave her a shot of a different type of antibiotic for the urinary tract infection and after watching to make sure she didn't have bad reaction to it, we were on our way home.
We were surprised about the amoxicillin being the culprit because she had been taking the amoxicillin for 9 days for an ear infection before she had the initial reaction. She had even taken it a couple of months ago for an ear infection and never had a problem. I guess it isn't uncommon for this the happen though.
The first four pictures of the spottiness and the swollen red ankles and feet were taken Sunday after we got home from the ER. She was looking better than she did before we went to the ER. Poor baby.
Throughout the week she has been to see the doctor twice and has been taking Benadryl to sooth the symptoms. All we can really do is is treat the symptoms and wait for it to clear up on its own.
Each day she seems to be getting better. Last night she had a breakout but it was different than the initial one. She had bigger areas of skin that were pink with small raised bumps and a few welts(the last picture shows on her back one of the bigger ones she has had). The breakouts usually don't last very long. Today she has had a couple of breakouts but overall she is looking better every day. We look forward to her not having any more breakouts.
The last three pictures were taken yesterday evening when she had a breakout.
For now she will not be given anymore penicillin type antibiotics. We are grateful it was not more serious and look forward to her being all better.

Highlights of the last couple of weeks

2009-04-06T09:29:00.005-07:00

Kelsi turned 7 on the 24th. Happy Birthday Kelsi!

She had been asking for a remote control Eve since before Christmas and guess what she got. We didn't get it until the afternoon of her birthday. Sorry, should have flipped the one of it in the box.

Kelsi had a music program for school. She was our little blue bird. She had shorts to wear under her tutu but decided not to wear them. She loves those pink boots. She wears them practically every day. Too cute.

Courtney is very snuggle and has started crawling. If I can figure out how to attach video I'll share it with you.

Shaylee is being creative in her dressing. She has her pj top under the jumper and purple pants. Isn't it great. You can't help but smile.

Aussie Chicken

2009-03-20T13:08:00.004-07:00

You know those wonderful cookbooks that you get from church or school fundraisers that are full of tried and true recipes? Well, I love them. Many of our favorite family recipes come from those books. Not long ago I received one of those cookbooks from my husbands Aunt Mary (Thanks!) and we discovered a yummy chicken recipe. It is called Aussie Chicken. It is kind of like a honey mustard chicken with bacon and cheese. If we all use our imagination we can pretend that it is low fat, unless you don't care about that kind of thing. I should of taken a picture but we were all too busy eating to go get the camera. Okay here it is.

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2 inch thick
2 tsp. seasoning salt
6 slices bacon, cut in halves
1/2 cup prepared mustard
1/2 honey
1/4 light corn syrup
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 Tbsp. dried onion flakes
1 Tbsp. vegetable oil
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
2 cups shredded Colby-Monterrey Jack cheese
2 Tbsp. chopped fresh parsley

Rub chicken breasts with seasoned salt. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place bacon in a large deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until crisp. Set aside. In a medium bowl, combine mustard, honey, corn syrup, mayo, and onion flakes. Remove half of sauce; cover and refrigerate to serve later.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place the breasts in the skillet and saute for 3 to 5 minutes on each side or until browned. Remove from skillet and place the breast in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Apply the honey mustard sauce to each breast, then layer each with mushrooms and bacon. Sprinkle top with cheese. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and chicken juices run clear. Garnish with parsley and serve with reserved honey mustard sauce. Makes 4 servings.

I didn't use mushrooms because I didn't have any. I also didn't garnish it with parsley. It was delicious though. Hope someone out there enjoys it.

To The Zoo

2009-03-17T12:51:00.009-07:00

This weekend we had a wonderful time at the Reid Park Zoo with my family. It was great to see everyone, except Jason and Kelly :(. We had lunch at the park and then wandered the zoo. It had been over ten years since I had been to this zoo and it was fun to share it with my kids and husband.

Here are some of the highlights.

They had a place where you could feed and pet the giraffes but it cost $2 and the line was too long so maybe another time.

The Girls had fun climbing in and on top of this turtle shell. We couldn't play long because several people wanted to get pictures of their kids on it.
This egg must have been a double yoke. I guess that means we will have good luck.

There were fun things in the learning center to do and see.

We also enjoyed some Cookies n' Cream and Banana Split Dippin' Dots. A nice little treat that we rarely get.

I bet you have never seen such exotic animals. They are the Shaylee Cheetah and the Kelsi Giraffe.

You "otter" go and see this animal. I know cheesy.

They had all kinds of fun and exotic birds.

The peacocks were everywhere and this one was so close you could almost reach out and pet it.

I don't think this one is really called a monkey but whatever type of primate it is he and his pals were swinging all over. It was pretty fun to see. At one time it almost look as if they were playing tag. Thanks everyone for making it a great day!

Happy Anniversary to Us!

2009-03-04T08:38:00.004-07:00

As of about 9:15 am we will have officially been married for nine years. Time as gone by so quickly. The last nine years has brought so many adventures and so much joy to our lives. I would be naive if I didn't say that it has also brought challenges but it has been all worth it to get to where we are now.
In our first year of marriage we lived in three different places. First with Grandma and Grandpa Edington (Thanks!). The second was in the Wesley Taylor Hall at EAC where Jeremy was Head Resident. The third was a little one bedroom apartment, of sorts, behind the Perkins home on College Ave. Part of the time in the one bedroom apartment Jeremy's brother lived there with us. Poor guy had to sleep on the futon in the living room. We all have fond and interesting memories of that time in that little apartment.
During our second year of marriage we graduated from EAC after which we did a little house sitting for about a month or so in which we moved out of our little apartment, put most of our things in storage and moved into the Matthews home. That was a fun time. We enjoy their beautiful home and pets. Shortly after that we moved up to Flagstaff to further our education at NAU. We moved into a one bedroom apartment in Campus Heights right in the middle of the NAU campus. We lived in the apartment until October when we moved into a Two bedroom apartment on Campus Heights because we found out we were going to have a baby. While Jeremy went to school I worked almost full time at Jo-Ann's Fabric and Craft store. I really enjoyed working there. Not only did I get a discount but I got to learn a lot about different project, people and fabrics. Jeremy enjoyed his classes and started working on his degree in accounting.
Shortly after our second anniversary and heading on into our third year of marriage Kelsi was born. That was an exciting time that came with a lot of adjustments. I stayed at home with Kelsi and Jeremy continued working on his degree. Parenthood brought much joy and a few challenges with it. Toward the end of the year we found out we were going to have to move again because they were planning to tear down the apartments we were living in so we moved into a different two bedroom apartment in Campus Heights. (Which later we found out wouldn't have been necessary because they ended up postponing the date of the demolishing of the one story apartment building we were in.) This move was done in December with a little snow on the ground and climbing up a flight of stairs. Jeremy also got his job at the NAU bookstore during this year.
Our fourth year of marriage Jeremy continued on with school and work. We survived our first year of parenthood and found out we were expecting baby number two. Jeremy also started a second job at Coconino Community College as an accounting assistant. It gave him some experience in his career field. That year he was also kept busy with his calling in the bishopric of our young married college ward. We met lots of new people and really enjoyed this time in our lives.
Year five brought with it the terrible twos for Kelsi, graduation from NAU for Jeremy, another move and the birth of Shaylee. Kelsi went through some hard times dealing with a new move and baby that created some sleeping problems that kept us up for hours in the night trying to get her back to sleep. Jeremy graduated from the NAU college of Business with great excitement to be finished. About three weeks later we moved to an apartment off campus off of Woodland Village Boulevard and then a week or so later Shaylee was born. She had a rough start and had to stay in the NICU for five days. That was one of the scariest and hardest times of our life. We were juggling between children and worrying if our child was going to be okay. Thanks to a wonderful pediatrician we were helped to understand what was going on and felt comfortable bringing Shaylee home even though she was going to have to be on oxygen for a little while yet. Adjusting to two children was tricky at times be we loved having them both in our home. Jeremy started another job working for FedEx for which he was up very early. That was an interesting time for him. That Christmas we had our first full size Christmas tree and tons of snow. The girls loved the snow. Jeremy and I not as much.
Our sixth year of marriage was a little bit more of a challenge but it ended well. Jeremy got a job with Concord Mortgage company in Scottsdale. So we pick up and moved to Anthem just north of Phoenix. We thought we are doing great. The job paid well but it was not enough to meet our needs. We were renting a house that was too much money, we bought a new car for Jeremy to drive the 45 min commute to Scottsdale from Anthem to Scottsdale and we didn't have health insurance. We ended up in the emergency room three time in the six months that we lived there. The bills added up and so did the stress. The job was getting Jeremy no where. They had him filing papers or doing little jobs. Some days he had hardly any thing to do at all. Those were the days that made it hard to want to go to work. The commute wasn't very enjoyable either. We loved living in Anthem and being close to Jeremy's family but it just wasn't working for us financially. We were grateful when in November Jeremy started a new job with Freeport-McMorRan (used to be Phelps Dodge). We got to move into the current home we are in and this job and life style suits us much better. We are definitely not big city folk.
Since this post is getting extremely long I will sum up the last three years. We have been fortunate enough to not have moved. Jeremy is still working for Freeport-McMoRan. Courtney was born last year. We keep busy with work, school for the girls and just every day life. We love our three little girls.
I love my husband so very much and am grateful for the love he shows to me and to our girls. Life has been an adventure with him. Ten moves and three kids later I can say I am grateful for the adventure that has got us to this point in our lives. Sometimes we got lost in the deep valley's of life but, with the help of each other and our gracious Father in Heaven, we were always lifted up again to the peaks where we got to enjoy the view and could see the path on which we were to go. Thank you Jeremy for loving me and supporting me. Thank you for being okay with the fact that I am not perfect and helping me to become a better person. Thank you for choosing me even though I didn't make it easy on you. Thank you for being you! I love you!

Homemade Something

2009-03-04T08:32:00.002-07:00

Secret Homemade Something!
Here's how it works:The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make! But I'll try really hard.
2- It'll be done this year.
3- You have no clue what it's going to be, and neither do I, but I'm sure it'll be great :o)

The catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 5 people who do the same on your blog. The first 5 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a homemade gift by me!

Cookout Fun

2009-02-18T13:28:00.005-07:00

A couple of weeks ago we had a get together with Amy's Family and Tamra.

While the men manned the grill cooking the steaks and hot dogs ...

Amy and I prepared baked potatoes...the girls played...Tamra tried the drums on Guitar Hero.

Before too long the kids were ready to eat and starting in on the chips.

The steaks were very tasty thanks to the Marinade and the cooks.After the tasty dinner we roasted marshmallows around the grill, and made smores.

Yummy!There was a slight chill in the air but the fire from the grill kept us pretty comfortable.

We also introduced them all to Tim Tam Slams.

Over all it was a great evening.

Gila Valley Temple

2009-02-15T21:27:00.004-07:00

Here is an artist's rendition of the Gila Valley Temple that will be built soon. We are very excited about the temple. If you want more information check out this website. You can even sign up for e-mail updates. http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/gilavalley/

Tim Tam Slam

2009-01-27T11:16:00.007-07:00

A Tim Tam Slam was something my husband learned about from one of his companions while in Australia on his mission.

First you need Tim Tams Australia's favorite cookie.

Then you bite off one corner of the cookie.

Then bite off the opposite corner.

Using your Tim Tam like a straw you suck up the hot cocoa (While in Australia Jeremy used Milo).

As soon as you are able to suck up the hot cocoa and the cookie is all soft and mushy you shove the whole thing in your mouth. That is were the slam part comes in.

The end results are a little messy but fun and delicious. The girls had a blast and were asking for Tim Tam slams for breakfast the next morning and several days after.

Shaylee's Busy Day

2009-01-24T21:27:00.005-07:00

Shaylee had a busy day yesterday. It started out like any regular day. She got up, ate breakfast, and played until it was time to take Kelsi to school. When we got home I let her watch a movie while I got a few things done and put Courtney down for her morning nap. When I came back to check on her I noticed she had a reddish-purple mark on her arm. Upon closer inspection and talking to her I discovered that she had given herself a hickey on her arm. Yes Shaylee's first hickey (and hopefully her last) was given to her by herself. I tried to take a picture but couldn't get it to turn out so well.

Then around lunch time I was feeding Courtney and Shaylee runs in with a panicked look on her face telling me to hurry quick because the house was flooding. I run in the bathroom to discover that the toilet was overflowing. So the next little while was spent cleaning up that mess. Sorry no pictures for that one either. I was too busy cleaning up the mess.

You would think that was enough for one day but not for Shaylee. I had let her paint at the table with watercolors hoping to keep her out of trouble. She got bored with the watercolors and went on to the other paints that were in the same box. Not only to she paint beautiful masterpieces on paper she felt the need to paint one on her arm. Thank goodness it was all washable so the clean up wasn't too bad.

Somewhere in the mix I managed to get some laundry done and it is amazing what you find when you do. Just take a look at the pictures.

The day in the life of a four year old whose mom is too busy with the baby sometimes.

Stay tuned Tim Tam Slams coming soon.

I HATE Scorpions

2009-01-23T18:44:00.002-07:00

I have several things to blog about but today I choose one. I HATE scorpions. I was stung just yesterday by one of those evil things. I was minding my own business washing my hands in the kitchen. I went to dry my hands on the dish towel hanging over the oven handle when there was a sudden stab of pain shooting through my wrist and hand. Ouch and again I say ouch. Just thinking about it makes my wrist hurt. The horrid thing was hiding on my dish towel between the two ends of the towel. I have been stung twice before but this was probably the most painful one. My hand and forearm tingled with the feeling of pins and needles. Let me just say it again. I HATE SCORPIONS. Here is a list of the reasons why.

1. It hurts when they sting!
2. They can be anywhere and I mean anywhere. We have found them in the sink, the tub, on the floor in all rooms, the wall, up in the closet, on the couch, in the laundry basket mixed in with clothes, on Kelsi's backpack and several other places I am sure I am forgetting.
3. They could be deadly (certain types) for my children especially my baby if she is stung. Shaylee was stung once and didn't have a bad reaction, thank goodness. Kelsi, Courtney and Jeremy haven't yet and it is not a fate I wish for them. I rather be stung several times over than to have my children be stung even once. I am too scared for them.
4. The are ugly.

I hope a scorpion sting is a fate none of you have to face. Kind of ironic my astrological sign is Scorpio.

Stay tuned more posts coming soon.

Shiny cars

2009-01-08T14:40:00.002-07:00

Shaylee has a fascination with shiny cars. In particular the color red. Our neighbors have a bright red Corvette and a red Mustang. They are owned by college boys and are at least ten years old. She is often talking about wanting a car like one of those. Well, the other day we were walking to school when she saw someone drive by in a big navy blue truck. It was one that had the over sized tires. After it went by she told me she wanted to buy that truck and sell it so she could buy it again because she liked it so much. It just made me smile. The logic of a four year old.

It Was The Best of Times, It Was the Worst of Times

2009-01-01T15:59:00.017-07:00

Our Christmas tree

This holiday season made me think of the line "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." Yes we had a lot of fun with Christmas programs, parties and the general excitement that comes with the holidays, but we also had to deal with a case of the stomach flu. Yuck! I had a slight case of it the Tuesday before Christmas. Jeremy got it the day after Christmas and Shaylee the worst of all the day after that. We ended up taking Shaylee to the ER because she couldn't keep even water down and was getting dehydrated. She had to have blood drawn and an IV to pump her up with fluids. I can now say that we are grateful to be on this end of it and continue to hope that no one else gets it.

All dressed up for Church

Enough of the worst part of the holiday here are a few highlights of our best part of Christmas. Around about the middle of the month I took the girls to the school for family reading night to hear a Christmas story, sing songs, have cookies and cocoa, and of course sit on Santa's lap. We also enjoyed Kelsi's School Christmas program. All the first graders sang "Hip Hop Reindeer," "Jolly Old St. Nicolas," "Jingle Bells" and a few others. The "Hip Hop Reindeer" song was cute they had some of the students dressed like reindeer dancing hip hop moves. Kelsi was also suppose to ring a bell for the song "Silver Bells" with several other children but didn't make it on stage. When I asked her later what happened she said to went the wrong way back stage and missed it. The poor teachers had to keep track of over 400 students on stage in the Fine Arts Center at the College. They had to rotate them around, each grade level getting there turn on stage. It turned out to be a really great program. I guess technically you can't call it a Christmas program because the also included at least one Hanuka song.

Family Reading night on Santa' s lap.

Cocoa

Shaylee's preschool program was held at the Methodist Church in Safford. It was also a very cute program as always. Here teacher does a great job with the kids. The couple of weeks before the program where spent helping Shaylee learn her part which was "P is for Presents the wise men lay before Him." She said her part perfect. Loud and clear so everyone could hear her. She also spent several of the days before had singing bits of the songs she was learning for the program. One line she kept singing was "reindeer, reindeer shake your fluffy tail." The "shake your fluffy tail" was always done with her shaking her own tail end. It makes me smile just to think of it. There were also a couple of times she yelled "mom, clap." I guess I wasn't doing it right or soon enough.

The Shirt that was made with the white shirt talked about in the last post.

Picture of all three preschool classes in program.

It is fun to see my kids learn and grow and be involved in school programs. They are growing too fast.

We also saw Santa at the ward party at which he told about the birth of the Savior and the importance of remembering the real meaning of the season. This time Courtney sat on Santa's lap. It didn't go so well. She looked up at him, then looked out and that was the end of it. She cried and cried until I got her.

Christmas Eve we made a trip to Pomerene to see my family. We had a Mexican fiesta at my grandma Barney's home for lunch which was followed by the traditional presentation of the nativity by the children and a visit from Santa. Kelsi was so excited she got to be Mary this year. This is a privilege that is reserved for the big girls. She wasn't the oldest girl there but she was the oldest that hadn't got to be Mary before. She did a great job. Shaylee got to be an angel. She also did a great job. Courtney got to be a spectator. Actually I think she was asleep for most of it. This brings back great memories. Growing up Christmas eve was always spend at Grandma Barneys in this way. This was the first year without Grandpa. I am extremely glad that we got to be there to show our love and support to Grandma. She is doing great in spite of a crazy year for her.

Kelsi as Mary with her cousin Payton as Joesph.

Sheppards come to see baby Jesus.

The entire cast.

Kelsi on Santa's lap Christmas Eve at Grandma Barney's home.Shaylee and Santa

Courtney and Santa (She's not to sure about the bid guy in red.)

That evening we were home for our own little Christmas traditions. We opened the traditional Christmas Eve present of pajamas and Jeremy read the nativity from Luke 2. We also followed the star. It is a tradition we started two years ago. We turn off all of the lights except for the tree and take the big star off of the Christmas tree. Jeremy takes the star and holds it up high and shines a flash light on it. We wonder through the house following the star that leads us back to the tree under which the baby Jesus is lying. It is something that we really enjoy and the girls each want to take a turn holding the star and leading the way. It helps remind us to come to Jesus.

Kelsi and Shaylee's pajamas. They came with a matching robe. They were High School Musical for Kelsi and Hannah Montana for Shaylee.

Here is Courtney in her pajamas.

We hope your Holiday's went well and we wish you the best for the New Year!

My Morning

2008-12-02T12:32:00.003-07:00

This morning Courtney had her six month checkup. Here are the stats. She is 26 1/4 inches long and 18lbs 2 oz. Crazy how fast she is growing. She had to get three shots. Two were her regular immunizations shots and one was the flu shoot which will have to be repeated in a month. She didn't like much of her appointment at all. She smiled while she was being weighed. But when I laid her on the table for the Doctor to look at her she started fussing and reaching for me. She was fine as long as I was holding her but she didn't want anything to do with the Doctor. The shots were not so very pleasant, as I am sure you can imagine. She calmed rather quickly once I picked her up but wasn't happy when I had to put her in her car seat. She is now sleeping and we hope that she wont have any problems because of the shots.

After the Doctors office I had to run the Wal-mart real quick to pick up and white shirt for Shaylee's preschool class. They are decorating it for their Christmas program. If the do it the same way they did when Kelsi was in preschool it is very cute. I will have to post pictures later. Anyway, at Wal-mart I grabbed the shirt plus a few other things (It is a rare occasion when I get out of Wal-mart with only what I went in for.) and headed for the check out. It was a little after eleven and I needed to hurry so I could go get Shaylee at my grandma's house, feed her some lunch and walk her to preschool. I got through the line fairly quickly but realized when I was walking out the door that the white shirt, the one thing I actually needed, was sitting in Courtney's lap unpaid for. So, back in line I went. Once I had finally paid for the shirt and the cashier had given me the receipt I was in a hurry and started out the door when I heard the cashier say "Mam, you forgot your bag." Oh the irony. I guess I was in too much of a hurry. I finally did make it out of there with everything paid for and in my possession and was able to get Shaylee picked up, feed and to preschool just in time.

If I had planned better I would have gotten Shaylee's shirt yesterday, but I didn't. I guess technically I couldn't because my keys were in my diaper bag which was locked in the van. I guess it was a good thing I didn't have to go anywhere yesterday. So, now I am enjoying a few moments of quite and calm.

"My dad is soo bald"

2008-12-02T09:17:00.004-07:00

I was told this story by our primary chorister. Two Sunday's ago in primary Shaylee went up to sit by her during closing exercises. She said down and turned to the chorister and said "I have an uncle Shane. He is my dad's bother. My dad is so00 bald." While saying "sooo bald" she moved her hands back a forth above her head. Kid's say the darnedest things.

More Halloween Pictures

2008-11-06T09:48:00.006-07:00

Here are some more pictures of our Halloween fun.

Here is our pumpkin all carved.
This is what it looked like all lite up in the dark.

At the carnival they had these little goats for the kids to pet.
Kelsi got to dress up for her party at school but had to leave the toy guns at home. She brought her stick horse which she has affectionately named Poka Horse.

At the school they have a parade where all of the kids dress in their costumes and walk around the block while all of the parents, grandparents and any others who want can watch. It is really quite fun. There was a lot of Hannah Montanas, princesses and super heroes.

Halloween Fun

2008-11-01T21:08:00.003-07:00

I know there are probably a million blogs showing cute kids dressed up for Halloween so here is ours among those million.

Courtney our little Pumpkin

Shaylee as Mulan

Kelsi as a cowgirl

The girls really had a fun time. We went to the carnival at the school where they had a "Trunk or Treat" and fun games and prizes for the kids. Kelsi, Shaylee and a friend of Kelsi's, Britney, all wanted to go in the haunted house so we got in the line to go in while Britney's mom watched Courtney in the Stroller. As we got closer and closer to the door the girls got more and more nervous. When we got about half way there from our starting point. Shaylee decided she was not so sure about this and she went over with Courtney. We continued on through the line and when we got to front they let the people in front of us go in and Kelsi heard someone scream and she quickly said "I'm not going" and walked over with Shaylee and Courtney. So I ended up going through with Britney. It wasn't to scary for me but it would have scared Kelsi and Shaylee both. And the last thing I was going to do was make them go in. I did get a little startled once when someone grabbed my ankle. After the carnival we went to the park for our ward party where we ate hamburgers and hot dogs and had another "trunk or treat." We didn't stay there long because Courtney was quickly letting us know that it was past her bedtime and she had enough Halloween fun. I'll post more pictures later.

Pray for the Mattices

2008-10-26T15:57:00.005-07:00

Just yesterday a friend of mine had a graveside for her six month old child. As I sit here feeding and looking into the eyes of my healthy very much alive little baby girl it just makes me want to cry. I can only imagine the pain that must of come from her little boys death and will come for a long time yet.

Let me tell you a little bit about the events of this boys life. Allan was born in April about three months earlier than he should have been. But before he was ever born they knew he was going to have to be a fighter to survive. Allan was born with his intestines growing outside of his body. That wouldn't have been too major of a complication if he had been a little older when he was born. Being that he was so young it added other complications. Many of the doctors were surprised as he survived first one week, then two weeks, then a month, then two months and even 6 months. He was a fighter surgery after surgery and complication after complication he kept hanging in there. With each day there was a little more hope that he would survive. At one point there was even talk about how maybe in a month they would be able to bring him home.

Home, something they longed for. They spent their time back and forth between Tucson and here trying to be with him as much as possible but also having other responsibilities. Thank goodness for the Ronald McDonald house. It was a place for them to stay and have food anytime of the day they needed. This was a practically free service provided to those who have children in the hospital for long stays. If they had to rack up hotel bills while there they wouldn't have survived financially.

Allan, after surviving through all of the other complications, contracted pneumonia which was the last thing his little body could handle.

As my husband and I talked about all that had happened to this little family and this little boys life, my first thought was that it would have been easier for his parents if he had passed on shortly after birth than to survive this long and get their hopes up just to have him die of pneumonia. I quickly changed my mind as my husband expressed his feelings. He said if it was him he would look at each day with the child as a treasure or a gift, even though it would be hard. We have to be grateful for each day we have. After the hurt is healed or at least lessened the memories of the moments they had together will still be there.

Say a little prayer for the Mattices and live each day to the fullest.

Want to save some money?

2008-10-20T15:07:00.003-07:00

I know times are hard so here is a way that may help your family save some money. Check out www.couponsense.com . I have been doing this for over a year and have saved lots of money. I have even got quite a few things for free. Toothpaste, enchilada sauce, bread, dressing, pasta, pasta sauce, toothbrushes, paper towels, toliet paper, softsoap and many other things I can't remember at the moment. You may say oh, no, I am not clipping coupons. Well guess what you don't even cut them out until you are going to use them. This is a great place to make your shopping list and know what coupons to clip to. It compares all the ads from several different stores such as Safeway, Bashas, Frys, Target, Albertsons, Sprouts, Walgreen and you can customise it to your needs. If you want to try it here is a introdutory special. The 1st month is only $4 if you use this referral ID 1703625. After that it is 15.09 a month. It works better if you have more grocery stores to choose from and don't mind shopping around. Hope it helps you. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

The Fair

2008-10-17T08:27:00.006-07:00

Last Friday Jeremy and Kelsi both had the day off. It was Fair Day. I guess it is such a big deal around here that the schools get out, so Jeremy decided to take the day off and we made a day of it. There was a parade in the morning that we didn't go to because we thought we would beat the crowds at the fair ground. But when we got there nothing was open but the animal exhibit so we decide to go get an early lunch at McDonald's. We wished we would have gone to the fair. After that we headed back to the fair grounds where we wondered the animal exhibits and then the other exhibits which had opened by then. Kelsi's class put an art project in that we got to see. We had a really fun day but were worn out by the time we headed home around 2:30. All three girls feel asleep in the car. Here are a few picture highlighting the event. I would have gotten more but I hadn't empty the memory card so we were limited to a few.

Enjoying our strawberry cheesecake flavored shaved ice with cream on top and a scope of ice cream on the bottom. Yum!

Kelsi's class art project. She is pointing to her hand.

Riding the Merry Go Round.

Cute little train that they rode on.

Here they are!

Up, Up and away on the Ferris Wheel.

Courtney was such a good girl that day. It made it lots of fun for everyone.

Sorry, no pictures of me. I was the one behind the camera.

Vote Yes on 102

2008-10-14T09:35:00.002-07:00

Found this on a friends blog. Very touchy proposition but very important. We could go into a whole debate on same sex marriage and there would be many views on the subject. For a person who believes in God and has an understanding of Gods purpose and plan for us I understand why such a choose is not best for each of us as individuals or for society as a whole. But how do you help someone understand that when they don't believe the way you do? We can argue until we are blue in the face but that would solve nothing. First people need to know that it is not about hate. Just because you don't believe a certain behavior is acceptable doesn't mean you hate the person or group of people involved. I don't feel that smoking or drinking is okay but if a person chooses to do so it doesn't make me hate them. But should I back down and say smoking and drinking is okay to make them feel better? No. We can except people as individuals but we in no way have to agree with certain behavior choices or allow them to be taught to our children as acceptable behavior. My mother was telling me about how in California they are talking about teaching kindergartners sex education and telling them that there are certain parts of our body that are made to bring us pleasure and that it is okay to be involved in certain behaviors that I personally feel are unacceptable, to induce that pleasure. Where do we draw the line? I am grateful to live in a small town where my children are not exposed to such teachings. I will teach my children about sex and homosexual behavior, but it will be in a way I fill best. I will teach them to treat all people with respect and try to help my children understand that respecting someone doesn't mean excepting inappropriate behavior.

Red Box

2008-10-08T08:34:00.004-07:00

If you have seen those big red movie renting machines in places like Walmart but have never tried it now is your chance. I received this e-mail with a promo code for a free rental. It only works if you have never rented from them but here it goes.

I've Been Tagged!

2008-10-07T12:56:00.009-07:00

So I have been tagged by two different people, Amy Richardson and Jennifer Howe . They are not exactly the same but very similar so I am going to combine the two into one following the rules of both the best I can.

Jennifer's: Taggin‘ It Up Rules 1: Each player starts with 8 random habits/facts about themselves. 2: People who are tagged need to write a post on their blog about their eight things and post these rules. 3: At the end of the post you need to choose 8 people to get tagged and list their names.

Amy's:

1. Some of you already know this but I used to go skinny-dipping in a bucket when I was two years old. I would fill five-gallon bucket with water strip down and hop in and that is where my mom would find me. When I was younger I actually was embarrassed about this like if I had done something horrible wrong. In a way it is a wonder I never drowned.

2. I would love to travel the world. There are so many places in this world that I would love to see. Just even to go back east would be quite the adventure.

3. My fingernails feel very claustrophobic at times. When I got married a dear friend of mine did my nails for me. I had on beautiful, long, painted fingernails. At to luncheon after my sealing in the Mesa Temple I was tearing them off because I was literally feeling claustrophobic. Just the other night I had a band aid on one of my finger tips that I had cut on a piece of card stock and I started to freak because my finger was feeling claustrophobic and I couldn't get the band aid off. Instant relief though once I did.

4. I broke my collar bone playing basketball in High School. I was hit just right by a San Carlos girl in the shoulder and that was enough to do it.

5. I collect unique salt and pepper shakers. I have one set that I got when I was a little girl. It is of two mice. One dressed like a cowboy and another dressed like an Indian.

6. I like surprises. My husband often wants me to pick out my own gifts because he doesn't know what to get me but I like surprises. I rather wait until my birthday or special occasion to open my gift then to get it sooner.

7. My birthday this year is on Election Day. I was also born on the day that the Iran Hostage crisis took place. For 444 days after I was born my parents knew exactly how old I was because they would announce on the TV how many days it had been since the hostages were taken. For my birthday present go and vote.

8. I hate deciding what to make for dinner. I don't mind making it I just hate deciding. Particularly if I am cooking for people other then myself.

Now for those of you I tag. No pressure only play along if you feel like it and you don't have to follow both sets of rules. You can take your pick. Anyone not included that would like to play I tag you also. Go forth and have fun!

1. Amy Evans

2. Amy Hunter

3. Jennie Sholley ( If your blog is up and running now)

4. Sara Price

5. Jennifer Garcia

6. Jennie Witt

7. Christina King

8. Marisa Rasmussen

Whats up

2008-09-23T12:19:00.012-07:00

So I am hearing it is time for another post. It is amazing how fast time goes by when you realize it has almost been a month since the last post. I am such a slacker.

To start off Courtney is now 4 months old. She had her four month well child check yesterday. She is growing like a weed. She is 25" inches long, 15 lb 10 oz and her head is 41 1/4 cm around. She has more then doubled her birth weight and grown about 6 inches.

Courtney also tried rice cereal for the first time yesterday. With Kelsi and Shaylee we waited until they were almost 6 months but we decided to try it sooner with Courtney because she seemed so interested in it.

Aren't those checks adorable.

She really liked the cereal and would fuss until I gave her more.

Shaylee is still enjoying preschool and doing well. She has a little trouble with her writing skills but is learning quickly. She often out of the blue will start talking about something she learned that I hadn't any idea she even knew about. She loves playing with mom when Kelsi is gone but misses Kelsi because mom isn't always able to play when she wants.

Kelsi is doing well in school and got a 100% on her very first spelling test ever. She is becoming a better reader all of the time. She still enjoys the social aspect of school quite a bit. She is going to be our social butterfly.

Here are some other random pictures of the things we have been up to lately.

Who are these strangers among us?

Wanted

Color: Blue

Height: 6 Inches

Weight: Depends on how full it is

Dangerous. He may soak you. Known to dress in disguise.

Labor Day we cooked on the grill, made smores and played Boccie.

We had lots of fun.

Where have all the cooties gone?

2008-08-28T12:52:00.002-07:00

Where have all the cooties gone? I ask this question because my first grader who is only six came home yesterday and informed me that Billy broke up with her. She then continue on by telling me he said they could still be friends though, as if that would make me feel better about the whole thing. What is happening? When I was in first grade all of the boys had cooties and you had to have your cootie spray ready at a moments notice just in case one touched you. Now it seems that kids are growing up too fast. They are wanting to pair off and be "boyfriend and girlfriend" in the FIRST grade. I was hoping I wouldn't need to have " the talk" with her until she was like 20 (Ha! Ha!) now am I going to have to discuss such things with her before she goes to second grade, or so it seems. Is this what tween culture has done? Made it so glamorous to have boyfriend or girlfriend? No more High School Musical for her. (Ha! Ha!) Oh how I wish she would just go back to being my little baby. I am not ready to deal with all of this puppy love stuff. Oh cooties, where could you be? If anyone has found the lost cooties please send them my way.

School In Full Swing

2008-08-27T09:05:00.004-07:00

Well, I had every intention of posting a back to school post but that didn't happen in a timely manner so I post a little now about school.

Kelsi is in Ms. Moore's 1st grade class and enjoying it. She is very social and has already had to have her desk moved to a different place in the classroom. She likes that she doesn't have to walk back from lunch with her teacher like in kindergarten. She has also informed me several times that in her words "Friday's rock!" because there is no homework and they have show and tell.

Shaylee is enjoying preschool. I was a little concerned at first because about a week before school was to start she cried for a good 5 to 10 minutes about not wanting to go because she would miss me. As the day got closer she seemed to be handling the idea better. That morning when I was getting her ready she surprised me with her deep concerns about school. She turned to me and said "Mom, will the other kids be nice to me? Will they play with me?" It about brought tears to my eyes. I had never realized she had such fear over such things. It all went well and yes the kids were nice and played with her. She now loves it and looks forward to it.

Picture Tag

2008-08-15T10:33:00.006-07:00

The rules are you have to take ten pictures of the following things. And you have to do it right away. No straightening, cleaning, or wiping your child's nose. And then tag five others.

I was tagged by Marisa and I have to admit that I wasn't able to do all this imediately. The baby was eating and life got in the way. I didn't go straightening anything for the pictures though. Here it goes. Don't expect anything amazing. I like a clean house but with three little girls and one of them being only 2 1/2 months old life gets in the way.

1. The Fridge: Not perfect, but not too bad.

2. The Closet: I guess I need to put Courtney's dress away.

3. The Bathroom: I am the one who uses this one the most but I promise the potty seat isn't for me.

4. The Laundry Room: Technically it isn't a real laundry room. The washer and dryer are in the kitchen. I am just grateful to have them.

5. The Kitchen Sink: Not too bad, but not as clean as Marisa's.

6. Self-Portrait: Who likes taking pictures of themselves??? Not Me!

7. Favorite Room: I am not sure I have a favorite room. I am not very talented in the decorating aspect of homemaking so here is a picture of my favorite wall in the living room.

8. What are your kids doing right now?

Courtney is sleeping.

Shaylee is watching Peter Pan.
Kelsi is at school. Sorry no picture.

9. Dream Vacation: There are lots of places I would like to visit but one in particular is the Holy Land.

http://www.holylandphotos.org/

10. Favorite shoes: A little well worn. I had to take them off my feet for the picture.

Now I tag......Nora Morgan, Jennifer Howe, Melanie Guymon, Jessica Barnum and Amy Richardson

Baby Blessing

2008-08-05T08:17:00.005-07:00

We had Courtney's baby blessing on Sunday. Everything went really well. We spent the day on Saturday hanging out and swimming with Jeremy's family and Sunday after church we had Mexican food with my family. The kids seemed to really enjoy both days. Thanks to everyone for their love and support.

Christmas in July

2008-07-29T13:13:00.004-07:00

I decided to get out the old baby toys. The older two have had more fun with them than Courtney has. It was like Christmas. I'll have to start boxing up other toys and bringing them out later so they don't want new toys all of the time.

Courtney had her two month appointment on Monday. She is now 12 lbs 4oz (90th percentile) and 23 inches (75th percentile). She has those cute little chunky legs and double chin. She is growing fast and we have to enjoy each day we have.

Courtney is 2 Months Old

2008-07-20T14:03:00.004-07:00

Courtney is now officially 2 months old. She is growing fast and learning and changing more each day. We are learning more about her personality all the time. There are times when she is fussy and I try just about everything then decide to check her diaper. Discovering the source of the problem I proceed to change her and she lets me know of her approval. While I am changing her she will be smiling at you as if to say it is about time you figured it out. She is definitely her own little person that lets you know what she likes and dislikes. She has also recently discovered her tongue. She will lay there sticking her tongue in and out of her mouth trying to get you to do the same. When you finally stick your tongue in and out she just smiles or continues to play the tongue game with excitement. We love her and are grateful to have her in our family. Happy Two Months!

Remember Me

2008-07-18T18:08:00.000-07:00

I have seen this pop up on 2 different blogs today, and it looked cute so here it goes.Here's how you play:1. As a comment on my blog, leave one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot, anything you remember.2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory of you. It's actually pretty funny to the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you.

Mishaps, Mistakes, and Mommy

2008-07-14T09:43:00.004-07:00

I am quickly discovering that when mom is taking care of the baby my other two think it is a free for all. Just a few days ago I was nursing the baby when Kelsi walks in with a pocket knife, telling me that Shaylee had it. Yes, it was open. It scared me terribly. I knew where it had been. It was high on a shelf in the kitchen supposedly out of reach of my four and six year old. It was in a little wire basket with the scissors that I didn't want my children using without permission. They needed a pair of scissors and instead of asking they pushed a chair up there and got them. We are going to have to be more careful where we put things.

The next thing that happened while I was taking care of the baby needs a little back story. We have planted two tomato plants. Our two tomato plants are not doing very well but we got a couple of tomatoes of them the other day and were planning to use them for BLT's. (Sad to say these may be the only ones we get.) Shaylee decided she needed to try one so she got a toothpick and tried to cut off a piece. She did this by poking holes in lines. After trying this in several spots on the tomato and discovering that it wasn't working she threw the tomato away. Shortly thereafter, I found it in the trash and discover the story behind it. I guess see decide it best to use a toothpick in light of the experience explained above.

The next event happened with Kelsi. She was watching the baby on the bed for a minute while I was helping Shaylee with something. Shortly after I left, Kelsi comes in saying she had tried to change the baby's diaper and there was a lot of poop and she got it on Courtney's clothes. She had taken Courtney's diaper off and laid her back down on her clothes. It was a mess but hopefully a lesson learned.

I should have more pictures coming soon. We just got our camera back. We had to send it in to get it repaired. Shaylee had poked the lens shutter until it got jammed. We thought it was going to cost us at least $100 to fix but to our surprise Canon fixed it for no charge. Thank you Canon!

Hunt Family Update

2008-06-22T14:11:00.004-07:00

Kelsi graduated from kindergarten in May and is missing her friends and school. She is growing fast and surprises us often with how much she knows and understands. She is a great big sister and loves to play with Shaylee and hold Courtney anytime I will let her. She is looking forward to starting 1st grade in August. In the meantime she is enjoying swimming, reading, coloring and playing.
Just the other day Kelsi was with me and she said, “Mom your butt is big.” I just smiled and replied, “Yes, I know,” reminding myself that I just had a baby and that she is only six. She then said “You’re having another baby and it is by your butt this time.” I couldn’t help but laugh. “Kids say the darnedest things.”

Shaylee is adjusting fairly well to having a new baby sister and loves her very much. It has been a little bit harder for her than it has for Kelsi. Shaylee is not only adjusting to a new baby, she is adjusting to having Kelsi home all the time. Since last August it has been just Shaylee and mom home most days.

Shaylee is our drama queen and I am unintentionally hurting her feelings on a regular basis. Anytime I tell her no or don’t let her have what she wants when she wants it she gets a cute little sad face and says, “Mom, you hurt my feelings.” Just a couple of weeks ago she was having a particularly hard day and had to go sit on my bed. For a while you could hear her crying and screaming and then it stopped. She came out and said she was sorry and that she wasn’t fussy anymore. I noticed she had something in her hair. I shortly figured out that it was baby oil. I asked her what she had done and she said she gave herself a blessing so she wouldn’t be fussy. I couldn’t do anything but smile.

Courtney is now one month old. She is growing fast and is now 8lb 12oz and 21 inches long. Just a little over a week ago she gave us her first smile and no it was not a gas smile, it was real. She has been cooing and smiling on a regular basis ever since. She is a real good baby and has already had a few nights when she slept for 5 or 6 hour stretches. We are all enjoying her in our home.

Jeremy and I are doing well also. I am feeling almost back to normal and keeping busy and out of trouble as much as possible. Jeremy is still working hard and grateful for the time he has at home to enjoy his family.

Grandpa Barney

2008-04-05T15:53:00.000-07:00

My Grandpa Barney died this week. He was 81 years old, yet he didn't die of old age. He was killed doing something he loves, working on his farm. He was getting his cows ready to sell, which he was heart broken about, when one of the cows didn't want to cooperate and rammed into his chest breaking his sternum and causing him to fall and hit his head leading to severe brain damage. The doctors did what they could but not much could be done. It was time to let him go, but his memories will live on.
Memories of Grandpa Barney are many, but here are a few that stand out. I remember him giving money to someone who was in need even though he wasn’t a rich man himself. I remember him giving watermelons away when he could make more by selling them. I remember learning to pick watermelons on summer mornings and him splitting one open for us every now and then to eat the heart out of. I remember learning how to start an irrigation pipe and being so proud of myself when I could final get one to work. I remember horseback rides and milking cows. I remember him letting us drive his truck on the farm. I remember his pet tarantulas and having one thrown on me once. I remember his silly camp songs like “Catalina Magdalena,” “Boom, Boom Ain’t it Great to Be Crazy,” and “Pile of Tin.” Most of all I remember the man he was. The love he always shared, and the joy and humor he brought to life even when there was work to be done. He was a great man who was loved and will truly be missed.
There was a day this week when I was having a really hard time and my two little girls found me crying. They both lovingly put there arms around me to provide comfort and my oldest, Kelsi, turns to me and with such great faith said, "Mom, it's okay, he will live again real soon." It is truly a blessing to know that this life is not the end. That we will all be resurrected again someday and that through the grace of God and if I do my best to live righteously we can be together again someday.

The Hunts

2008-04-03T21:29:00.001-07:00

We are the Hunts. Not sure what to say yet. Just getting started.