The Hunt Chronicles

Trying to Find Balance

2010-11-14T15:03:00.000-08:00

I had a realization today. I need to make time for the things I used to love. Since I started working and going to school I have completely lost touch with the things in my life that I used to live for; like outings with my kids, reading (for fun), sewing, and keeping a record of my family (both the one I was raised in and the one I am raising). So here is my new goal: to find some way to organise my time and energy so that I have time once again to enjoy the life I used to, while enjoying the new things as well.

So I guess I am starting here, on my much neglected blog.

I love school! More then I ever thought I would, and I had high expectations to begin with. I love running across things that I have learned about in my daily life and being able to appreciate the new knowledge I have gained. And by the way I never thought I would run across so many things having to do with cellular biology outside of school. It also makes me wonder what great things I am missing that I don't already know. It fuels my desire to learn, and bolsters my ambitions.

I love teaching my kids and learning from them each day. I am amazed at how smart they are, and how much they retain. Some of my favorite moments with Tressa are when she is telling me about the history and science lessons she learned in school. There are even times that we are learning about the same things, which she thinks is super funny. And I can't help but smile when Aspen tries to explain the aspects of her day, she sometimes manages to mix things up so that it become a deciphering game trying to figure out what she is talking about.

I love it when my kids cuddle with me. Jocelyn is the most affectionate and cuddly child I have ever seen. She often crawls into bed with my on the days I am still home just so we can cuddle, And on Sundays I watch her sitting on her teachers lap softly rubber her arm (her teacher assures me that she loves it). And I am particularly blessed to have all my children be so small still. Tressa might hate it at times but she sure does take advantage of being small enough to still be picked up or to curl up on my lap.

I love my husband! He has been so good to me. He has picked up the slack in all the areas I have had to leave behind as my life got busier. He has taken on sole responsibility of getting the girls ready for school everyday, even the ones I am still home for because he lets me try and catch up on some sleep. And I don't know too many Dads who can actually pull of a decent ponytail. So I guess it is time to move on to braiding.

I got a special lesson in appreciating him again this weekend. He had to go away on a softball tournament leaving me alone with my girlie's. It is fun to have some alone time with them but tiring and stressful as well. So naps are always a plus. I do have a question though. Are my kids the only ones who sleep so oddly?

Josie, will always end up sleeping with no cover (this time is less covered then normal). I am convinced that she is going to freeze when she grows up, moves away, and her Daddy no longer checks on her each night to fix her blanket.

And I have no idea how Tressa ended up in this position (she is the lump on the other side of the cascading hair)

Not So Fun Firsts.

2010-01-25T11:24:00.000-08:00

So I am officially the laziest blogger in the world. I have decided that since it has taken me so long to update this thing I am going to cheat and post up the story of Aspen's broken arm she got in January by posting my English assignment. Two birds with one stone and a little extra time for me. (Oh and don't judge my writing I am not a English Major.)

Not So Fun Firsts
Chandelle Hunt

Another day making grocery lists and running errands. Daddy is at home with you, which makes the trip smoother and much quieter. I have forgotten my phone again but see no need to turn around to get it; I can be without it for an hour. I buy the food and load the car glad to be on my way. I am so tired. Driving through the lot towards the exit I see a silver Civic pull in and head straight for me. It takes a minute for me to register that it is Dad and then to wonder what he is doing here. He looks upset, and I start to feel frustrated wondering why he has followed me here. Did I take something he needs? As he pulls up beside me and rolls his window down to match my own I hear the second half of his sentence. “…the medical cards?!?!” Wonder turns to fear as I realize he is searching for our insurance information. Aspen has broken her arm. There is no doubt.

You are crying in the back seat with soft whimpers and large tears. He takes you to the insta care facility near our home and is turned away because of a long wait with the instruction to take you to the emergency room at Pioneer Children’s Hospital. I am with you now and am sitting next to you in the back seat trying to support your arm as we drive along. Every bump, every turn causes you to flinch and call out. You grow pale and listless, and I feel so helpless to do anything for you. Daddy lifts you carefully from the car and for the first time I hear you truly scream from the pain of being moved.

It is your turn to be seen and the nurse removes the homemade sling to reveal your arm to me for the first time: the arm is bent and folded in an unnatural way that sends a wave of nausea through me. They send you to the radiology department with a kind student who explains what they will need to do while we walk. The first image is taken easily but now the nice student looks confused. She’s trying to figure out how to rotate your arm enough to take the second and more important image. As she begins to rotate your arm your eyes fill with panic and betrayal before you cry out in pain. It makes me cringe and feel panicky so I try and calm myself and then you. It doesn’t take more than a few seconds to calm you though; you have always been very strong. After a few more tries I am feeling very anxious and frustrated that they keep hurting you when it is not working so I ask if you can have some pain medication before we try again.

We go to your room where the nurse comes to give you the medication through an IV. I explain what is going to happen, and you promptly tell me you don’t want a shot. With the help of the nurse who charms you by telling you about her baby that “even shares your name” you finally agree to get the IV, partly because you were told that the IV will prevent other “shots.” After preparing your little arm you are told to look away if you are scared, but you keep your eyes fixed on the needle determined to know what is happening. The drugs settle in as you sit in the wheel chair resting your arm on Floppy for support.

Back in the radiology department, we have a new student. She is not as friendly. Going straight to work she takes the first picture and then again rotates your arm. You cry. The pain medication doesn’t seem to have helped much. “Stop, stop no more” you keep telling the student, but she barely even notices your objections insisting that “it just needs a little bit more.” I am wondering if the x-ray is worth this and wanting to tell her to leave. Finally, she gets the picture she wants, and you are released. I wish I could hold you but know that moving you will hurt. We hear Daddy talking about the pictures so you ask to see them, always curious and never wanting to be left out.

We have been at the hospital for hours now, waiting.

After what feels like an eternity, the Doctor comes in to explain what happens next. I smile to myself because he has a strong southern accent. “We are going to put her to sleep while we try and set the breaks. But this type of break can be hard to set so we might need to take her into surgery and put pins in her …” The nurse explains all the drugs that will be used and assures me that they will have people in there just to watch you breathe. I don’t feel reassured. They put you to sleep then evict Dad and me from the room. Apparently parents have passed out before. I am passing the hall trying to see the monitors and ignore the sight of the Doctor pulling and shoving your arm together with enough strain to flex his arms. Once again I feel helpless. At last I see them preparing the splint for your arm and breathe a sigh of relief that the bones have lined up.

You open your eyes, look at me, then roll over as if to go back to sleep. Able to smile now, we work on getting you to stay awake. Ready to leave and checking out your only concern is if you get to keep the yellow blanket. You do, so all is well.

A few days pass, and the pain is subsiding. You are learning to use your left hand, and you fight me about wearing the sling. Getting home late at night I send you to get your PJs while I finish getting your sisters’s bags ready for school the next day. You haven’t returned. As I enter your room to check on you, you jump with a start and throw your arms behind your back. Realization hits me that you should not be able to do that. Your brace is off.

Four phone calls and a babysitter latter we are on our way back to the hospital.

Kids make me laugh

2009-12-23T11:16:00.000-08:00

These stories are for me to remember them, so you might not find them funny at all but they where for me so I am putting them down.

The other night on the way home from Grandma's Josie complains from the back seat that her tummy itches. So I try and help by thinking of what might be causing it, and since we always rely on our own experiences most I proceed to tell her that she might be itching because she is growing and her skin is stretching (my tummy always itched when I was pregnant). She looked confused so I start to explain further about growing pains and growth spurts when she cuts me off quite abruptly and says "No, I think it is just my pj's".

I felt rather silly, while laughing, because that simple thought had never crossed my mind.

Story number 2- We found Aspen standing on a chair to avoid my Mom new puppy, who also happens to love eating toes. Jon picked her up and carried her away while she layed on his shoulder and cried. Jon asked why she was crying and she sobbed back "the puppy hates me".

Story numbwer 3-I have a tendency to act like a complete goof while alone with me family. Especially if it is just my kids and I am cooking something. I sing and dance and pantomime and usually my kids laugh their little heads off. The other day I started pirouettes and singing when I see Josie lean over to Tressa and whisper "Crazy Mom is back" and so I laughed and asked "What, you think I am crazy Mom just because I act like a dork while I cook?" Well now Aspen thinks it is terribly funny to call me Dork Mom-well chant it actually. Maybe I should try being all serious and see how long it takes them to beg me to be my normal "dork"self again.

Moab

2009-10-06T11:09:00.000-07:00

We finally took our kids camping. Jon has always been afraid to take them fearing that they wouldn't sleep. Which after listening to the babies crying in the tents around us I can now admit he might have been right. But our girls did great and loved it.

Dead Horse Point at Sunrise

Newspaper Rock

My darlings

Hiking

Aspen hiking (well sort of)

Taking the Junior Ranger oath

Aspen leading the way on the hike. She felt so cool finding the piles of rocks that showed the way on this hike.

Aspen being tough

Climbing at delicate arch

My love

Baptisms, Birthdays, Teeth and Hair

2009-08-10T11:31:00.001-07:00

I know it is a random title but this will be a radom post. We have been having a busy couple of weeks and I am now in catch up mode.

On July 25th Tressa was baptized and became a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. It was beautiful. Everyone who she asked to participate really went above and beyond to make it a wonderful day for her. Uncle Daryl gave a wonderful talk on the 4th article of faith and her cousin Breanna bore her testimony on baptism before she was baptized. After Uncle Dan sang the most beautiful version of I Am A Child Of God that I have ever heard to her, literally. He made her come sit up front with him while he sang to her while her cheeks went adorable red. Then our dear friend Jonas gave a talk on the Holy Ghost. Every thing was done in a way that she could understand and I know she felt very loved. She even got a cute white bear from the Primary to help her remember to bare testimony of Jesus. I think it couldn't have gone better.

Aspen turned 4 on the 4th of August, her much looked forward to Golden Birthday. She is the funnest person to give stuff to because she is always so excited and shows it.
Aspen decorating her own cake. She loves to write her name.

Tressa in hair disaster #2. As you can see she rolled her long hair up in a small rollbrush and got it stuck. In the end I had to cute the little prongs off the brush and work her hair off the end. I was so scared that I was going to have to cute her hair off.

And lastly Jocelyn has lost 2 teeth this week after months of not wiggling them. I finally got her to be brave enough to push her tooth back farther and it popped out. She was so excited to have gotten it out herself.
The next tooth was even looser and she wouldn't touch it. So during Aspen's party Grandpa Bob tied string to her tooth and knocked it out. And just like that we have a little girl who is very likely to get her 2 front teeth for Christmas.

Uncle Dan's Beautiful Song

2009-07-28T00:30:00.000-07:00

Dance, Dance, Dance

2009-07-07T16:45:00.000-07:00

Our Little Lady's dance recital was at the begining of June. And what else can I say then that they did a wonderful job had a great time and looked adorible.

I have been trying to upload the videos for a couple days now and can't get it. So I will post them later! Sorry Susan.

My little tree!

2009-07-03T08:01:00.000-07:00

First off I am way behind on this blog and will hopefuly be getting it up to date soon. But for right now I just wanted to post up the pictures I took last month of our little Tree.

This is last September

And below are the ones taken in the beginning of June!

Disney Train Tour

2009-06-25T21:24:00.000-07:00

This week we went to see the Disney Train Tour that they are hosting around the country as a promo for The Christmas Carol movie they are making. It was free so of course we had to go. And just to make it extra fun we rode the FrontRunner (our local commuter train) up to Ogden for the event, and I have to say I loved riding on the train with my kids. We talked and looked around and I even got to read. What a better use of my hour then just pushing the gas pedal down.

The line was ridiculasly long but we ran into some friends and were able to take turns in line so it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. Once we were finaly inside the train I found out that it was far more interesting to me then the kids. However they did like making themselves into caracters from the movie but I think they would have liked it more if they could have been a girl.

Renaissance Festival

2009-05-26T08:41:00.000-07:00

On May 16th I took advantage of Jon being gone for the weekend and took my girls to the Renaissance and Fantasy Festival for some good old fashioned 16th century fun.

The main attraction was the full contact jousting by the Knights of Mayhem. Full contact jousting with a dramatized set up for fun. We where assigned to be from Scotland and were routing for Sir Killem (note how well the name makes for chanting while he chargers toward the other night in an attempt to knock him to the ground KILL-EM KILL-EM!) It was more fun then I thought it would be. But my favorite was a loud mouth audience member who kept spouting off in a Scottish accent taunting the Irish. She was not part of the show but really should have been. The only let down was the tournament ending in a draw, but I guess if you want to watch someone really joust that has to include the possibility of no one winning.

The girls dancing with some local gypsies!

The fairies who kept sneaking up on us.Old fashioned puppet show

Magicians

And what could be more 16th century then a styrofoam sword battle?This is a local group that gets together to battle for fun, and believe it or not it actually did look fun. Not the Princesses leg in the air-that is because it was cut off already. Jocelyn's favorite part was watching the archers shoot the others with arrows (again styrofoam).

It was a great day and I am so glad that Jon saw the signs for it and called to tell me I should go. It was the perfect girls activity. And I even got to dress up for the day. They even gave me a good excuse to be such a geek. 50% off!!

THE almost MIDNIGHT MASQUERADE

2009-05-14T15:57:00.000-07:00

Josie's Princess Party
I am not sure why but I can't seem to bring myself to host a strait from your local Disney store Princess Party. Tressa's turned into a Nights and Ladies jousting tournament and Josie's ended up being a dance. Neither of which ever had a single mention of a Disney Princess. Oh well, maybe with Aspen I will be able to conquer my phobia of all things pop-culture.

With that being said, Josie's party had to be the best children's party I have ever been to. Not because of my great party planning skills but simply because the kids made it so great. The played, laughed, screamed, and generally had a ball with absolutely no tears (at least not until their rides showed up to take them home). They listened and participated, they cheered for each other and never complained about anything. About half way through the night I was began to wonder if it was the calm before the storm, but it never came. Not to say that it wasn't crazy and chaotic-but it was happy and fun craziness, which is so much fun. So to all of our little princess guests and their wonderful parents who taught them to behave so splendidly. THANK YOU!

And one more huge Thank You to Krista who stopped by to say hi and stayed to help with , well everything. I really don't think it would have gone so well without her.

And finally some pictures of our

Almost Midnight Masquerade
All the little Princesses running out to meet each new arrival.

The beautiful corsages that one of the Mom's brought for each girl Wish I had thought of it myself. They were such a hit and looked absolutely darling on their little arms.

The girls dancing

Making the masks (which they didn't get to wear because the glue wouldn't dry in time).

Aspen's mask that had so much glue it didn't dry for a week! She loves glitter glue.

Presents and Cake

The Prince

Josie reading the cards her friends made her.

Little girls screaming over presents (be glad it is a picture and not a video)

Loving Aunt Krista in her beautiful mask.

(Which I still have if you want it Krista)

Jojo Turned 6 Today

2009-04-21T20:46:00.000-07:00

It really is hard to believe how fast time passes at times. I think I still see all of my girls in my mind as they were when they were 2, which isn't so hard to believe since they are all stay so conveniently small. All the same though I couldn't help but become more then a bit nostalgic and pull out all of her old baby pictures and wonder at how big she has grown. Each day I wish she could stay small forever and at the same time want time to pass more quickly just so I can see what she will do in her next stages of her life. But since I can have neither, I am just grateful that I live when I do, it would be so sad not to be able to record her life with pictures and movies as she grows.

Jocelyn's Birthday Video

Easter Week!

2009-04-20T19:27:00.000-07:00

As most of you know we have asked the Easter Bunny to come on the first day of spring so that we can celebrate Easter Week with out so much distraction. And I absolutely love it.

Some of the fun things this year where the annual LOA (love one another) table, reading and discussing the Parable of the ten virgins by light of two oil lamps (yup you guessed it-one was full and the other was not) and watching the low one burn out. We practiced the hymn I know that My Redeemer Lives every night after dinner and on Sunday that was the closing hymn. It was so cool to have all of our kids be able to sing the hymn, especially little Aspen. And they are still singing that song in the car while I drive. I think I want to make song practice a part of every dinner now. We were supposed to celebrate passover on Thursday but me and Aspen were sick so we did Pizza and a movie instead of me cooking all day. But on Saturday night we had our Jerusalem dinner and ate out of community bowls on the ground by candle light. I love eating this way, we always talk more, stay longer, and truly enjoy dinner not just the food.

On Easter Morning we had a little devotional and then the kids watched the Living Scriptures Easter video while I made breakfast. And as a special treat we were fortunate enough to be able to have Great Grandpa Hunt over for dinner.

I love the peace and togetherness of this week-and I am already planning new things for next year that I learned from some friends. This year was extra cool though because it started with General Conference which really set the mood for the rest of the week.

Big Ballon Fun

2009-04-03T13:05:00.000-07:00

The hour without power

2009-04-03T12:40:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we participated in the Hour Without Power. Which turned out to be a super fun night with the girls. We cooked in the dark, ate in the dark, did dishes in the dark-well not dark but with candle light. They thought it was especially fun to brush their teeth with a candle lighting the bathroom. I never knew all I needed to do to make the bedtime routine easy was turn off the lights. Well now I know. I enjoyed the calm of the night so much that I never turned the light back on. After the kids went to bed I snuggled up on the couch and read by the glow of a single oil lamp. The perfect way to end a day.

Our Spring Celebration

2009-04-03T11:20:00.001-07:00

I know we jump the gun on this every year but dear Mr. Peter Cottontail has come and gone leaving behind him all the joys that come with spring.

It took Tressa forever to find her basket, she was getting pretty frustrated but as usual nothing but a smile remained after she found it.

These are some of the special eggs left by Mr. C. He had a Noah's ark theme this year and made us all find the mates to the eggs in our baskets. It was fun to watch the girls try to give hints as to where each others eggs where.

And the all time favorite dyeing of the eggs.

After all the fun we got the girls all dressed up in their new dresses (which I forgot to take a picture of) and headed to church. And as it turns out church was only half and hour long because of the Draper Temple dedication. The girls were pretty bumed that church was over so soon but were plenty happy to go home and get started on all their candy.

And best of all our appricote tree blossomed the same morning. My kids sang the "popcorn song" all day. And being Utah it couldn't stay spring long. It snowed several inches the same day in the night.
I love this tradition. What time do you ever feel like celebrating more then in the spring.

Space Bingo

2009-03-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

We hosted Tressa's first book club meeting on Saturday the 14th. I am so glad that I thought to start this group for her. Even though in after thought mode I have thought of a lot of things I wish I had done the result of what did happen was great.

We read a book titled Space Bingo, which the author Tony Abbot sent us all signed copies of after I emailed him about the book. Thank You Tony! It was a cute story about time travel and kids doing great things. The kids talked and laughed and ate an enormous pile of Zooble and Krell (PB and J's-2 loafs worth). But best of all they enjoyed reading the book, shared their ideas on it, and learned from their friends.

Next month Zildy is hosting and we are reading My Fathers Dragon, one of my favorites, and I can't wait to see how Tressa likes it.

Safe Kids Fair

2009-03-22T12:20:00.000-07:00

A few weekends ago I took my kids to the Safe Kids Fair . I loved this fair, there was so much to do and best of all-it was free this year.

Here are a few of the things my kids got to do.

Face Painting

Pit Crew

Run through a bike safety course

And defend against the dark side!

Safety Fair Pictures

2009-03-22T10:22:00.001-07:00

Kids- they really are funny aren't they

2009-03-04T12:38:00.000-08:00

This week I have been noticing more often then normal all the funny things my kids do and especially say. So I wanted to jot some down to remember them.

Josie- Last Sunday at church Josie's Primary Teacher came up to Jon and told him this story.

Josie was using the color yellow to color a picture in class.
Teacher " I like your picture Josie"
Josie "Thanks, I'm using a church color"
Teacher "A church color?" not understanding
Josie "yeah, yellow is a church color. I learned about it in school. The art teacher told us."

Teacher, still not understanding, leaves it be and moves on to realize a moment later what she had missed. Yellow is a "primary" color. So in Josie's mind that knows primary as being a class in church naturally connected the primary colors she learned about in school to her church primary. I love little kid logic.

Tressa-
Tressa found a disposable waterproof camera , that we used while we were in Hawaii, the other day and started playing with it. Which reminded me that I still need to have the pictures developed, so I told her not to play to much with the knobs just in case they could damage the pictures.
So she started asking how to see the pictures.
I told her I had to get them developed.
She asked how she saw them in the camera.
I told her you can't see the pictures in the camera because it was a film camera.
She then told me to go load them on the computer.
I told her I can't.
She asked if Dad could.
I said no, that the film had to be developed.
She asked why.

Finally I realized that she didn't get what a film camera was. So I tried to explain how the camera's I grew up with worked. We even showed her some negatives. I don't think she really got it since every camera she has ever sat in front of has shown the picture in the screen on the back right after it was taken. In fact the most common phrase at our house when a picture is taken is "Can I see".

It is odd for me to think how much the world has changed in my short 27 years that my very bright daughter wouldn't understand how things in my childhood had worked.

As I am writing this I realize how often the confusion on their side takes an epiphany on my side in understanding where they are getting confused or where their logic is coming from to fix the misunderstanding, instead of the other way around. Almost every time what they are saying makes sense from there perspective and I have to figure out what that perspective is so that I can explain the difference. Sometimes I think my kids are too smart for their own good, but most of the time I marvel at the way their brains work and the conclusions they come to on their own. Even when they don't get it right-or maybe I am the one that is wrong. After all yellow is a church color in many ways.

Aspen's First Hair Cut!

2009-02-17T22:43:00.000-08:00

Before

(about a month before)

After

She is donating her hair to locks of love. so I guess this is her first real hair cut and her first charitable act all in one.

Aspen has been asking to have her hair cut short for a few weeks now so we decided to let her do it. She picked a picture and we took her down to the SL Community College and whacked it all off. She loves it!

However our printer is almost out of ink so her picture came out slightly purple in tone so she was telling every one at the school that she wanted the purple hair cut. She is a bit sad that it isn't purple now (which little girl wouldn't want purple hair though) so I told her we would get something to put purple streaks in her hair, temporarily.

Now I just need to learn how to do short hair and everything will be great.

Prince Charming Anyone?

2009-02-17T22:41:00.000-08:00

Last Days of the Family Visit and the Cabin.

2009-01-15T18:12:00.000-08:00

The beautiful Chalea and Cayanne

On New Years Day most of my family and my Mom's joined us at my in-laws cabin for a day of snowmobiling. It was great! I didn't take any pictures though, sorry. Jon and I stayed up there the rest of the weekend and really enjoyed just relaxing and playing with the girls. It was like heaven! I really think I would be happy living in a place like that forever; small kitchen and all. And as a special treat we got to have Jesse and Wendy stay with us the first night before they headed out for Chicago. And I stayed up way to late talking and working on my puzzle with them, considering that I also worked at 3:00am that day.

As you can see they love our puppy cousins very much!!

The girls discovered all the fun you can have with the small yellow saucer sled that is kept up there. They got to ride down the hill next the the cabin and be pulled behind the snowmobile on it. They went fast, laughed a lot, and ate a good helping of snow in the process. They always wanted to go again though so crashing must not be so bad after all.

Tressa

Josie

Josie after the bump

And of course Jon proving that Dad's never have to grow up.

Aspen on the sled and of course....

a hot cup of cocoa to warm them up!

New Years and Family Visiters

2009-01-15T09:26:00.000-08:00

After our very quite Christmas things got very busy. My Mom and Bob came down from the mountain and my brother and sister came in town from Chicago by way of Arizona. We also had the pleasure of having my uncle Dennis and his amazing wife Zina come to visit as well, which was very cool because I hadn't seen my uncle in many many years and had never met his wife (mainly because they were living in Italy for the past 5+ years). So here we go.....

Monday the 29th we did sort of a modge-podge of everything. We ate bagels at my Mom's in the morning, hung out through the day and shopped in the afternoon, and eventually had our family party that night. My brother (in-law) gave me an entire scrapbooking kit, all individually picked out-not pre-packaged. So everything fits things that we have done and now I get to start scrapbooking now that I have everything I need for a while. Thanks again Jed. We had almost everyone together for once. My step-sister Lisa was the only one in absence since we had Dan and Dana on video messenger during the party. Don't you love computers.

The next day we lunched at Hires after meeting at my house, which is were the first of my Mom's family joined us; my Grandma, Uncle Dennis and Zina (don't you love her name). Then back at my house came the rest; Aunt Brenda, Aunt Cathy, Uncle Steve and Marylynn, not to mention we already had my Mom, Jesse, Wendy, Crystal, Jed, Persause, and Colton already there (and of course the usual 5 of us). With no warning I suddenly had a full blown party at my house (during nap time) which luckily was clean but we had no food for such an event. At least we had cold water. It was really quite fun. We played a board game and talked. I really wish people did more of this sort of thing. And to cap off the day we went back to my Mom's and played a card game while eating a bunch of random but delicious food from the local deli section.

The next day was New Years Eve and we headed out to Liberty Park and Tracy Aviary with Jesse, Wendy, my Mom, and Dennis and Zina. It was very cold but I loved it anyways because I have never been to the aviary before.

After the park we went to a cute little cafe across the street and then headed for the dog park because my brothers kids, Chelea and Cayenne are two beautiful and well tempered Australian Shepherds. The girls had more fun here then any were else that day. They played fetch, got toys back from the other dogs at the park that liked to steal, and were amazed by all the cool tricks that the dogs could do. Aspen was in her element, she never cared how big a dog was or what they were doing she would just run through them all telling them what to do. This was only a problem with one dog who took a licking to her and kept licking her face and even knocked her down once. He was very big.

It was interesting and annoying to watch how people take care of their dogs. Most of the owners were just letting their dogs run around without even really watching them; so we ended up with all these dogs trying to take our toys, get pets from the girls, and basically just getting in the way or our dogs play time. I understand why the dogs wanted to be by us. We had 7 people playing games and throwing balls but it still was hard to watch since their interference made Cayenne very timid. It was exactly like taking my kids to the park. Kids steal toys, beg(or demand depending on the child) to be pushed while I am pushing Aspen, and are constantly following me and my girls around while their parents sit on the side and do nothing. Interesting but annoying.

The kids were pretty beat by the end.

That night we had my Grandpa Roberts over for dinner and then I went to bed at 9:00 PM-yes on New Years Eve; I had to work at 4 AM the next day!

Our White Christmas...

2008-12-30T08:07:00.000-08:00

This year we got a lot of snow right on Christmas. It is great. On Dec. 27th we took the kids for a drive up the canyon for lunch and I just have to show off why Utah is so great.

This was not the highest spot for the snow wall on the side of the road, but it was the safest to take the picture.

I love the view from our front window!!!!!!

2008-12-30T08:04:00.000-08:00

Christmas at last!

2008-12-29T19:45:00.000-08:00

Ok so I am finally getting Christmas up on the blog.

First off is the tree I guess. Which we were very late putting up and late taking down as well. It is eclectic and changing through the years just how I like it.

Below are pictures from the annual sing-a-round at Monticello Academy where our girls go to school. Always very cute, especially since by the time the date of the show comes I already know all of the songs from listening to them sing them in the car. I love that they enjoy singing. And that Aspen learns everything that they sing around her.

Tressa loves this song!!

Don't you love the echoy gym used for an auditorium in schools, and don't forget the extra-echoy intercom announcement during the performance. hehe-I love school, so much to smile about.

Josie is the little one in the middle (no hat). Sorry that she is hard to see.

I had to put this video up to show that girls will still be girls. And I just love Shayden to death. Check out his bows.

And of course, their adoring fans!!!

2008-12-29T19:00:00.000-08:00

Then came all of that glorious white stuff which is much funner when you are under 10.

Tressa making good use of both our shovel and the steep snow covered driveway, even if it wasn't in the way Daddy intended.

Aspen throwing her first snow clump

Me-reading (what else would I be doing while the kids are entertained elsewhere?)

The girls favorite thing to do while I am reading....distract me

Jon's playing with the kids. Not quite fare but lots of fun.

2008-12-29T18:21:00.000-08:00

Next up was the Hunt Family Christmas Party which is held every year on the 23rd. We had a big dinner at Aunt Toby's ward house, visited with all of Jon's cousins, and watched the children put on a little nativity play.

Tressa and Aspen are far left as Angles, and Josie is on the right as a sheep.

Josie in her beloved sheep costume.

I also figured out the best way to really capture and event is to give the camera to a 7 year old. Tressa got some really cool pictures of everyone without anyone really caring that she was taking them.

2008-12-29T07:00:00.000-08:00

And finally we get to Christmas Eve, which since this was our German Christmas year means that this is when we opened all of the presents and had a big dinner. And since all of the pictures for the actual even are on my other camera I will have to add them latter. But here are some pictures of the girls going to bed in home-made PJ's (courtesy of Grandma Verna) and their brand new IKEA down comforters (which worked out well to give them this year when they got to open them at night).

We spent Christmas day doing nothing but relaxing (reading for me and Jon), playing in the snow, and making cookies. We had no one to go see because no one was around to go see. And although I would never want to spend every holiday this way it was really nice to spend one doing nothing but being together with my girls and wonderful hubby. The one down side of the day was that Jon used the last eggs without telling me so when I went to go make Sausage Casserole, our traditional breakfast, there were none to us. So we had to have waffles instead.=(

The only way Jon knows how to make cookies-by eating all the dough

Josie talking to my brother Jesse and becoming and inventor at the same time
Below is a picture of my flour bucket, if you will note the suspicious white powder around the bottom I will explain. I had just refilled the bucket so that we could have flour for the cookies, so it was still open. Aspen meanwhile was going around playing her recorder that we gave her the night before. She came over to the bin stuck her new recorder into the fine white powder and blew. The rest I think should be self explanatory. She looked so shocked and guilty we could only laugh.

And they were dancing yeaaaahhhh.....

2008-12-15T13:40:00.000-08:00

Tressa

she is the one in the red and she isn't even the smallest this year

Josie

Josie is the 3rd from the right in black

Jon said I had to post this picture up for his family. While getting Josie ready I couldn't resist curling her bangs in the good old fashioned 80's style (which means up instead or down). And as you can see she really didn't like the end result, but it gave everyone a good laugh. The girls laughed even harder when we showed them a picture of Aunt Angie with her bangs done even higher in her "volcano bangs."

St. Nicolas Day

2008-12-06T12:51:00.000-08:00

This year we started a new tradition in our home. We will be picking a different country each year to learn about their Christmas culture and to try some of their traditions in our home. This year we picked Germany because my Sister Dana is from Germany and so we know a bit about their traditions already and simply because Germany is the coolest place for Christmas anyways. I think we made a good choice, it has been fun to teach our kids about where Christmas stockings, Christmas Trees, Advent Calenders, and a lot of our Christmas carols came from (since they all started in Germany).

So since we are celebrating German style that means that this morning we got to celebrate St. Nicolas Day. Last night our girls set their shoes, well snow boots, out by their bedroom doors before they went to bed and this morning when they woke up their boots were filled with small gifts and candy. I didn't get many pictures because they woke before we did and came running into our room very excited to show us what they got. It was very unorganized and chaotic which just made it that much more fun. Every single thing seamed to be the greatest treasure to them, and I had so much fun watching them squeal and giggle through the morning.

It was quite a lesson to me as a mother as well. Everything they got was simple and small but I have never seen them so excited in their lives.

Zoo Lights

2008-12-05T23:28:00.000-08:00

For Co-op this week we only had one family so we decided to take advantage of our zoo membership and take all the kids to see the lights at the zoo. And I have to admit that even having 2 more kids is harder to do, but luckily the kids were all well behaved and we got through it with out loosing anyone. Phew.

The lights were actually pretty cool. Most were zoo themed and a lot of them moved, but what I liked most was the colors. Everything was so bright. And of course the kids loved it all. They especially got a kick out of seeing the free roaming turkeys asleep on top of the monkey enclosers. I am not sure why they liked that so much but they did.

The turkeys are the blobs on top of the net

And as usual they spent the longest time looking at all the bugs and snakes in the Reptile and Bird House. I couldn't blame them though since it was WORM inside.

Tressa and Katelynn looking at some big bug

Rattle snake with his dinner

This is Aspen looking through the glass-Jon loves this picture.

A little work but a LOT of fun. Thanks girls for being so good.

Thanksgiving-just a bit late....

2008-12-04T19:24:00.000-08:00

I know I am late with this and it is even more inexcusable because of what happened on Thanksgiving day in our family.

My little sister Crystal (more commonly known as Beaner or Cootie) had the very first boy to join our family since my older brother were born. I was beginning to think only girls were allowed. We have 5 little girls and now finally one beautiful little boy on my side. ( Jon's side isn't any better there are 6 girls and 1 boy there). So anyways she had him early Thanksgiving morning and named him Koven! It was a great way to start our day and we got to hear our girls telling us how thankful they were for Baby Koven the rest of the day.

My sis was very trusting and let everyone hold the baby (I think it is the first Aspen has held, she felt so big)

And then as usual Jon put up a fight to let me have a turn because the baby was happy with him ...

But of course I got him eventually...

And as though she planned it just so they could see him our sister Dana and brother Dan got to stop by to see the baby on there way in from Denver. Which was good for us to since we got to see them as soon as the got in.

And of course the proud Mama eating her lovely hospital provided Thanksgiving Dinner complete with Pumpkin Pie, which Crystal hates.

Our other Thanksgiving events were fairly routine.

Jon played in a Turkey Bowl early in the morning with both old and new friends...

We cooked and ate dinner at my Mom's. Jon's parents are still on their mission in the PI so we were lucky enough to claim his little Sis Krista for the event. It was really cool to have both families together even if it was just a piece on one side. Thanks Krista for coming with us.

It was a great Holiday. I am Thankful for my family and especially for my beautiful little girls. I am Thankful for all the many blessings that come from living in this day and age and for a big brother who taught me to learn as much as I can. I am Thankful for a Mother who showed me that raising a child with love is possible and for teaching me to do things my self, even when I don't know how at first (for those of you who don't know my Mom she is the ultimate do-it-yourselfer). And I am Thankful for a husband who continues to love me even as life gets busy and hard.

Happy Holidays!

Jocelyn's stage debut!

2008-12-04T19:12:00.000-08:00

Josie was picked to play the lead in her classes Thanksgiving play at school. And she did great. I think the teachers are crazy though for doing such a big production with such little (active) kids, but I glad they did because it was really very cute to watch.

Josie played Elizabeth and she remembered all of her lines (but not always when to say them) and looked like she was about to burst from the excitement from being on stage.

After the play they had a Thanksgiving dinner for the kids and their family. Aspen thought it way pretty cool to be able to sit at the table with Joe and the picture below is my favorite from the day. They choose different flavored pies and then decided to share.

I've been photo taged!!

2008-11-23T08:33:00.000-08:00

So what you are supposed to do is go into your picture files on your computer and pick the 4th picture out of the 4th file. This was a little complicated for me because my pictures are subcategories by year and month. When I went into the 4th year and then the 4th month, it was empty. I didn't think that would be very fun to explain. So I did cheat a little but I have kept to the 4th by 4th rule.... So here it is

This is a picture not taken by us. It is from my lovely sister-in-law Dana (she takes the cutest pictures of my kids and always gives me copies-thanks Dana) This picture was taken up at my Step-Dad's Mountain Property when we had most of family together. From left to right, Jed (my little sister's husband), my big brother Dan, Jon, Tressa, and Aspen. And it looks like they are eating breakfast to me.

When I see this picture it reminds me of two things. First how much my little ladies have grown in a year (especially seeing Aspen in her little piggy tails that I loved so much at that age), and of how much we enjoy going up the mountain there. It is a place of relaxation and fun. I spend a lot of time sitting on the porch reading while the girls beg everyone they can get to listen to them for a ride on the ATVs. There are a lot of ATVs up there too since Grandpa Bob loves to fix them. We play ultimate Crockett, bochi ball, and sit around the fire and listen to Dan and Will play their guitars together. When we do go out on the ATVs we always go up to the top ridges that I have shown before that have the most amazing views. I love this place for its simplicity and because we are always with family there.

So I guess I will tag Dana and Dan, Zildy, and Katie. Hve fun.

I have gone back to work, but still get to be Mom!!!

2008-11-17T13:17:00.001-08:00

I have go back to work for the first time in 7 years (8 if count the time I was sick with Tressa) at Einstein Bagels as the baker. And I love it. I go to work at 3:00 AM and work until 8:00 AM every morning, So Aspen does have to go to a sitter but only for 45 minutes so its not so bad.

I still get to be home with my kids all day long but now I get to have some time away as well. I have been looking for a job I can do with out giving up my job as mom for a while so this is perfect. Jon of course has been wonderful with the change and now gets the girls up and ready for school every morning. He even spent an evening practicing how to do ponytails and bobbles, then sent the girls in to show me how pretty they were. I know this is a lot harder on him but I really appreciate that he has supported and encouraged me to do what I want so that I can have some time away each day.

The picture is of or me in my uniform which Tressa and Josie think it is cool that I have to wear a uniform now just like they do. My favorite part of the uniform though is the back of the shirt...

I find this just a bit funny since I don't drink caffeine. But I guess that is what you get when you work in a place that serves coffee right.

Fall leaves....

2008-11-02T20:32:00.000-08:00

This weekend we helped some of our best friends, Shane and Ashley Pitcher, move into their first home. It was great to spend time with them and to finally see there new baby Emmalee, who was also blessed on Sunday afternoon.

Well after everything was all moved in I stayed to help start getting things put in order. I ended up sitting on the couch with Tressa for a minute who fell asleep on my lap, so I just stayed their for a while. Shane was busy setting up his surround sound (always the first thing needed in a home I guess) and Josie and Aspen were back playing in the newly formed nursery. Josie walked in after a little while and told Shane "you have got to come see what Aspen is doing." Not the first thing you want to hear so Shane took off to see what was going on. He came back a second later with a plastic cup that had bright orange paint in it, that I recognized from seeing it earlier on the bathroom counter (it had a little bit of paint still in the bottom of it). And the rest of the story came from him...

He had gone into see what Aspen was doing and there on the cream colored carpet in front of her is a pile of green leaves painted orange (the same color as the paint in the cup) from the Aspen tree out front that is starting to change colors. And Shane being a lot calmer and nicer than me just crouched down and asked "what are you doing sweetheart". So she looked at him and simply stated "these leaves hadn't been painted yet" with a look that finished the explanation with -so I am helping them-. He said he couldn't be mad after that.

As it turns out he didn't need to be mad anyways. When he picked up the pile of painted leaves there were only a few tiny dots of paint on the carpet, which came out easily with a wet sponge. I am glad he was the one to go back though because I am sure I would have been mad, but I wish I had been there to hear her simple explanation of needing to help the leaves change colors. Kids have the cutest ideas about the world. I just want to know who she thinks usually paints all the leaves.

All Hallows Eve!

2008-11-01T22:28:00.000-07:00

Halloween Morning!!

This is Frankenstein. (Made for Jon's work party)

My Little Monsters!

Boots

Dora

Princess Aurora

Our friend Shayden as Harry Potter

Bumblebee(I took this one for you Dan. The whole thing is home made and looked awesome.)

And a cute little cow chasing the dog.

2008-11-01T22:27:00.000-07:00

We went Trick-or-treating this year down at my Mom's place with my little sis' and her daughter Persaus (who is the little cow mentioned above). My mom thought it was pretty funny to note the Crystal had finally "had a cow."

We had lots of fun seeing old friends and of course the kids got a ton of candy since there are tons of Grandma's to spoil the kids and not many kids to be spoiled in the area. Aspen's bag is heavier then her sisters for some reason this year. Either she snuck candy out of theirs while they weren't looking or the candy presenters thought she was extra cute this year and gave her more.

We actually forgot Aspens hat to her boots costume and had to improvise a little, so I took her long locks and made some ears and a pluff of hair on top of her head with it. She seemed to really like it so I guess it worked.

And of course I can't resist putting up the picture of my baby sister with her big tummy up. She is due in December with the first Boy grandchild in the family. Isn't she cute.

So I guess it was just like every other Halloween. They played dress up all day , ate tons of sugar, stayed up late, and had tons of fun (at least until they realized how tired they were) and are already planning what to be next year. I love this holiday!

2008-11-01T22:26:00.001-07:00

Surprise Visiters

2008-10-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday night or I guess I should say Wednesday morning we had a couple of surprise visitors. Our good friends Jonus and Zildy Manuel dropped off their kids at 1:00 AM so they could go to the hospital to welcome another member to their family.

It was so much fun for us because our girls were very excited to find out their friend had spent the night, so we immediately had 3 very happy girls.. And we got to be their when Shayden and Jazzy found out that their Mom had her baby. Jazzy smiled but didn't react to much beyond following her brothers enthusiasm (apparently she didn't realize that the baby was born yet because she had been told that it wouldn't be there until after Halloween) but Shayden was priceless.

Jonus had called and since we didn't answer he left a message announcing the birth of the baby. So we sat the kids down and played the message for them. As soon as Jonus said that they "had a brand new baby brother" his eyes popped and his jaw dropped and stayed there for the rest of the message and then some, and then our house exploded with kids screaming and running about celebrating the new babies birth. It was a great experience to be on this side of the event and be able to share in the kids joy. Thank you Zildy and Jonus for giving our family this opportunity.

One more funny thing I want to mention is about the babies name. I took Josie and Aspen with me to see Zildy and the new arrival the next day and they still hadn't settled on a name for the baby boy so Zildy told Josie there standing Joke that the babies name would be baby Chacho if they couldn't think of another name for him. Well Josie happens to love this name and went about the rest of the visit saying as much as possible, "Hi Baby Chach, I love you Baby Chacho, Baby Chacho is so cute, Bye Baby Chacho." So I half-joked that we were going to have a hard time getting her to call him anything else once they did choose a name for him. As it happens they have named they baby now and I told Josie the new name and she is refusing to call him anything but Baby Chacho. Time will tell if we can fix it.

T'was the week before Halloween...

2008-10-28T20:50:00.000-07:00

10 points if you can find Dora

Halloween is upon us again and my girls are so excited about everything that comes with it. But what girl doesn't like an excuse to play dress-up.

They have already dressed up twice for parties and on Sunday we put spider webs around our door. Which of course is extra fun because they think they are scaring Daddy since he is sooo scared of spiders.

And as you can see we carved our pumpkins tonight, well Jon and I carved our pumpkins while the girls helped with whatever they could. It was really a lot of fun for me, I haven't carved a pumpkin in years.

We have also been involved in another great Halloween tradition of cookie-doorbell--ditching. We were hit a couple of weekends ago, so we set up our attack for the following Monday. It has also become tradition to dress our girls up for this to hide who they are in case they don't get away in time.

Our Little Bandits

Family Pictures, maybe??

2008-10-21T23:01:00.000-07:00

This last weekend we tried to take some pictures of our family since we haven't done any formal ones for a couple years. And since we can't afford the price of a photographer and couldn't find anyone to come help in typical do-it-yourself style we went up to the mountains with our family and a tri-pod. It was not the most productive way to get this done but at least it is done. So I thought it would be fun to put some of the "bloopers" from the day.

Our first and last night with Elder and Sister Hunt!

2008-10-13T21:49:00.000-07:00

On Saturday night Jon helped empty the last few bits out of his childhood home as one of the last steps towards his parents exit. As part of that we now have a new bed, snow blower, grill, and his Mom's beautiful piano (I just wish it came with the beautiful music she played on it). So as his parents home got empty our home got a lot fuller.

Sunday night was the big night of last good byes to Grandpa and Grandma. We went to the church to see them be set apart as missionaries and to have our last family dinner. And I have to give props to Jon's sisters for the dinner. They made the families traditional Halloween dinner of chili, garlic bread, apple juice, and doughnuts. It was great.

Angie, Krista, and Jon

Grandpa teaching the children (no this was not staged)

Me and Ellee

Aspen and Lexi in their fort!

Bre's Baptism

2008-10-13T21:35:00.000-07:00

The long awaited date has finally come and gone. Our niece Breanna was baptized on Saturday in Logan, which was also the marking date for when my in-laws would be leaving on their mission. Tressa was so excited about Bre's baptism and wanted to nothing but tag along with her all day. And I think it was the perfect activity to have right before Grandma and Grandpa leave with everyone hanging around, talking, eating, and celebrating the great day.

I am so proud of you Breanna. Thank you for setting a good example for my daughters.

Tressa's First Mug Shot

2008-10-10T22:25:00.000-07:00

100720083348

Tressa got her first BIG injury. She fell off some rocks at a friends house and landed on her face, obviously.

Just some randome pictures...

2008-10-04T14:22:00.000-07:00

Tressa's Bug Friend

Aspen sneaking food

Cute kids after school

Cute Kids and The big farewell!

2008-09-29T13:58:00.000-07:00

On Sunday we had two big events for our family, one a whole lot bigger then the other. At our ward we had our annual Primary Program. It is always so fun to see the little cuties doing their thing. They sing songs that they have been practicing all year (our church does most of them in sign language as well since the song leader translates for the deaf-which is a cool bonus). And all the kids have little speaking parts, which is interesting for us because Tressa is very stage shy but for some reason in the program she always does her part with out freaking out. She told me it is because she knows that she is supposed to. If only she knew that she was supposed to bear her testimony after she drags her Daddy up to the stand with her. And of course Josie jumped right up and said her part in a very LOAD voice. I love them both so much, but even more so when they make me laugh! Tressa even got to have her picture printed onto some of the programs.

The best part though was seeing Jon's parents waiting for us in the chapel when we walked in that morning. The girls were so excited to see them and I know it meant a lot to Jon that they would take the time on such a busy day to show our girls how much they love them.

Right after the program we had to leave to make it to Jon's home ward to listen to his parents talk in church one last time before they leave on their mission to the Philippines. They have been looking forward to and planning for this day since they were married over 30 years ago. And they couldn't be happier. It was really cool to have two ladies that Steve baptized during his first mission to the Philippines 35+ years before there to see him off today.

So I guess it is 2 weeks and counting until they enter the MTC and say good-bye for 18 months.

My Favorite Night of the Month is Back!

2008-09-25T07:34:00.000-07:00

Pioneer Theater Company has started another seasons run, Whooo Hooo. I love that I get a chance to go and usher for them and even more that I get to watch all the plays for free.

This season is looking really good they are doing Noises Off, Romeo and Juliet, and Miss Saigon (and of course many others), but now for this months play.

It was so good to be back at the theater to see My Fair Lady. This wasn't my favorite play I have seen there, but only because I have seen so many amazing pieces they have done in the past. I did however love the character of Professor Higgins. He played the part that it was easy to forget about the other characters. I found myself wishing that I had my daughter their to enjoy the cute little story about a poor girl becoming a princess. Tressa would have loved it and now I am going to have to rent the movie so she can watch it with me. I also loved seeing all of the cute old couples coming out to see one of their old favorites that has lasted through the years simply because it is that good. I hope that is me someday. And of course all the costumes at the race and ball were funky and outrageous and therefore wonderful to look at.

Tree Time Again

2008-09-22T17:11:00.000-07:00

It is September 22nd, so it is time to check up on our little tree again. And just for fun I am putting up some of the earlier pictures of the tree for quick comparison.

June August

September

On the road again....

2008-09-21T22:50:00.000-07:00

We finally made it to Denver so that we could visit my big brother Dan and his beautiful wife Dana. They moved there last spring for his job and I have been wanting to take a road trip to see them all summer. But this timing was probably better since last weekend was his 30th birthday.

The trip was both great and awful at the same time. We had a lot of fun visiting with everyone and going on little outing but while we were there all of my kids, Becky, and even I got sick. So it was all very interesting.

We arrived at their house at around 1:30 in the morning, after getting a little lost thanks to my GPS, got hugs and kisses then went to bed. And since we got to bed so late my kids slept in until the late hour of 6:30AM. Seriously what normal child wakes up that early every day. It's okay though because I have learned to live without sleep. Later that day we went to Aurora Reservoir and tried to play in the water, but it was very cold. Tressa dove all the way under the water and ended up freezing for a very long time, which I think had more to do with the fever she developed that night. Once the kids were worm again we played at the park and even took out a paddle boat for a while. The kids thought it was great and I was exhausted. My legs were so sore from a work out with a friend earlier in the week so moving the boat was very hard for me, but at least I got a workout in on vacation.

The rest of the time we ate great food, played guitar hero, talk, played with and held baby Naomi, and of course listened to Dan and Will quote Monty Python and the Holy Grail. It was so nice to see them again. My girls really miss having them around and I do too.

The drive home is when the real adventure started. We were about 1 hour out of Denver going home the long way on I70 when Aspen threw up, and that was just the beginning. We ended up stopping 30 to 60 minutes so she could use the bath room or to clean her up from another gastrointestinal mishap. She went through 7 set of clothes and one time in KFC even managed to mark me as well. All in all it took us just over 13 hours to get home, and of course she woke up at 6:30AM the next day and was feeling great. She was so brave through it all though, she never complained about having to keep driving and rarely cried.

It was a good trip but I really hope it goes better next time we visit Denver.

P.S. If you want a laugh ask my girls were wind comes from. Uncle Will was very instructive on the purpose of the wind mills we passed in Wyoming.

Co-op, Crazy but Fun!!

2008-09-21T22:48:00.000-07:00

When ever I tell someone about our little co-op group for Friday Nights they always say how nice it would be to get out every Friday and how hard it must be to have all the kids on my day to watch the kiddies(there are 10 kids when all of them come). But I really love the days that we GET to watch the kids as well. It is just one big party at our house once a month. They are load, crazy and very messy but nothing makes me smile more then to see the games they make up and all the silly things they do. Sometimes we have rough nights but for the most part it is great. So thanks kids for being just wonderful- I love you all.

So the reason for this post is to show what happened the last time we hosted. I decided to forgo the traditional Mac & Cheese dinner and cook German Pancakes (or Poppi Pancakes) instead. The kids quickly came when called for dinner and when it wasn't on the table already they proceeded to chant for their dinner. I was so funny.

This was with just 8 off them since Christean's kids were not their since as usual Christean was being the goodly servant and helping out someone in need. We sure missed her girls.

And hear are some pictures that little hams decided to show off for.

These pictures aren't from the same night but I want to share them anyways. This is McKenna and Aspen Anderson (and yes my kids really do call her Aspen Anderson) playing in our castle turrets while I watched them one day. Aren't they cute.

One year older, another day gone.

2008-09-21T22:45:00.000-07:00

August 31st was my birthday and I turned 27 years old. I am getting dangerously close to 30 but I just can't seem to care about it. My age has never bothered me, except for feeling to young for my place in life sometimes, but I am sure that will change.

I had a wonderful birthday this year. Jon sent out Little Ladies up to the mountain with my Mom on Friday night so that we could go to dinner with some of my high school friends. It was so much fun to get together with some of them again. We ended up staying out way to late since we didn't have to hurry home to our kids.

However when we did get home and Jon went to put new sheets on the bed our water bed sprang a leak! So we ran to Walmart at 2 am to look for a patch kit or anything that could help us for the night. We ended up with a quick fix patch for tires. We went home tried to patch the bed with lots of duct tape then laid towels under the corner with the leak and went to bed on the pull-out down stairs. Needles to say we didn't get much sleep that night and the patch didn't due much good, so we spent the whole next day that we were supposed to be at the cabin with out girls emptying the bed and looking for a new bed and mattress. Not the most fun of days but it was really nice to spent the day with Jon working on something together. It has been years since we did that. We finally finished our work and headed up to the cabin around 6 o'clock to enjoy the rest of the holiday weekend.

The cabin was what it always is, relaxing and fun. We rode ATVs, read, ate, and slept. And again they loved riding the child sized ATV that Grandpa Bob got. So below are all the pictures form our labor day weekend.

Aspen on the 4 wheeler...

2008-09-21T21:42:00.001-07:00

The First Day of School

2008-08-25T20:52:00.000-07:00

The first day of school. What can I say, summer is over and school has once again taken my little girls away from me to grow up. I really hate being away from them so much in the day but I know it is what is best for my kids.

So, Tressa stared second grade today and is feeling extra big this year because Josie is at her school now as well.

Which of course means that Josie is in Kindergarten and she couldn't be happier. She gets to have Ms. Jones who was Tressa's teacher last year so she already knows her which is a plus.

Aspen is on her own for the first time in her life and had a lot of fun doing it, but we did go to the park with her friend so not much of challenge there.

Josie's first day of school-at 8:00 AM

Got up at 6:30, got dressed, did hair, ate breakfast, and was out the door by 7:30

Hung up her backpack and said good bye to mom. Spent all day learning!

Walked in the line at the end of the day!

"Mom guess what I learned? R...E....D....spells......RED!"

Then she introduced me to her new friend Page and insisted that I take a picture of her in her backpack. All said and done the first day of school went as well as could be and not a single tear was shed.

Raging Waters

2008-08-20T23:21:00.000-07:00

We are in our last week of summer and I was looking for something to do with my kids today so I called my friend Katie to see if she wanted to go to the park with me. She answered the phone by saying "Your coming to raging waters with me?" At first I thought she'd gone crazy then I remembered that she told me she was going before and I just forgot. So of course I went with her. It was a great deal too just $20 for 2 people.

It was sooo much fun. The kids love playing in the wave pool and went on as many slides as they could. Tressa turned out to be quite the dare devil, she went down the huge slide by the Roller Coaster called the Acapulco Cliff Dive that grown men were chickening out on. Katie took them up thinking none of them would go, but they all did (after she bribed them with a dollar). And not only did Tressa go down it but she went down it first. That's my girl-quake at the thought of speaking in front of a class but throw yourself down the steepest slide. But really I was shocked when I saw her coming down it. And of course they all begged to go again so this time Katie had to go down it too. Yeah Katie!!

Thanks again for inviting us Katie we all loved it!

Welcome home Mommy!

2008-08-19T23:12:00.000-07:00

I only went for a bike ride but Jon had them ready to ambush me when I got home. It is moments like these that I remember all the reasons why I want to stay home with them.

Swimming MFT#7

2008-08-18T23:15:00.000-07:00

This week we went swimming (so no pictures because I was in the water) at Cottonwood Heights pool. I haven't taken my kids swimming without Jon before so this made me a bit nervous, but by the end I was sitting to the side of the pool just watching my kids play because they were doing so well. I stayed almost till closing with Katie and her kids and then we went to her house for ice cream. Yummm

Tressa reading...

2008-08-15T23:11:00.000-07:00

Our Tree in August

2008-08-12T21:20:00.000-07:00

Look how it has grown! The leaves have made a great come back from the storm damage and it seems to grow a few inches every day. These pictures are 3 weeks after the last one.

The Cabin Getaway MFT#6

2008-08-11T22:04:00.000-07:00

This week me and the girls got to host a 2-day getaway for the other families at Grandma and Grandpa Hunt's cabin (thanks again Steve and Susan).

The birds

The deer

The baby deer!

The moose

Shayden's Moose

The girls

The boys

The smiles

The tears

The Moms

Zildy (isn't the belly cute!)

Katie

Chandelle (no picture because I am behind the camera)

And of course, The View!

It was such a great time that I now want to do one with just the Moms! :)

Lagoon!!!!

2008-08-06T21:28:00.000-07:00

Wednesday morning and Tressa and Josie were still gone so I decided to take Aspen to Lagoon, just the two of us. I even got in cheep because a lady came up to me in line and offered to sell me one of her discount tickets for only $20. Yipee

I felt so free running around with Aspen this day, people probably thought I was a bit crazy but it was so much fun. Aspen decided that she wanted to go to Lagoon-a-Beach first, so we did. She went down the slides so many times that I started to worry she was never going to get off. We rented a tube and rode around the lazy river for a long time because she like to get off the tube and walk while holding onto my legs. It was especially funny when she could push me under the waterfalls, or at least she thought so. And of course everyone around was ohhing and ahhing at her and her cute little (well big) cheeks.

We spent the rest of the day going on as many rides as possible. Aspen even went on the Tidal Wave, which she was very excited to do until the boat got high enough to see the water and gears below, then her eyes popped and she clung onto my arm until we went down again. This continued happened every time the boat went back until it got lower again. She never cried or complained but her little hands were literally shaking as she held mine. She got off with a big smile on her face and said she had fun but when I asked if she wanted to go again she said NOOO! I am proud of her for even trying it. She acted the same way on the Lady Bug Bop too. However she loved the log ride and made us stand in that long line twice. She went on almost all of the rides and really like it when she got to ride with another kid. The highlight of her the day was when she got to ride in the Yellow Boat.What a fun day.

Thanksgiving Point Garden

2008-08-05T19:46:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday the 5th Grandma Susan came and picked Tressa and Josie with her go up to Logan for a few days so me and Aspen where on our own. So we went down to Thanksgiving Point for "2 dollar Tuesdays" planning on going to the dinosaur museum but when we got there the line was wrapped around the building, which promised for a very crowded time inside. So we changed the plans and went to the Gardens instead. I was very happy about this change since I have wanted to see the garden at Thanksgiving Point for years but it cost to much, hurray for "2 dollar Tuesday"

The garden is beautiful and huge. My friend Zildy who we went with said that it was a place where you could have hundreds of people in and still feel peaceful at. The best part though was that Aspen loved it! We walked all over the place and she never got in her stroller, we took tons of pictures of the flowers, waterfalls, and her. She even took some of me. She rolled down the ampa-theater hills and splashed in the water falls. We even spent some time in the children's garden, which was not nearly as cool. But she did find her own way out of the hedge maze. And when the day was done, hours and hours later we stopped at the nursery and she picked out her own plant to take home as a Birthday present.

It was a great day and I really enjoyed having only one kid for the day. Thanks Zildy for telling me about the special event (as usual)!

Splash Park MFT #5

2008-08-04T20:17:00.000-07:00

On Aspen's Birthday we took all the kids to a really cool splash park in Herrimen. I forgot my camera though so no pictures. The kids had a lot of fun but it was a bit hot for the adults because there was hardly any shade. The real kick for my girls this week was that their cousin Breanna was able to come with us for the day. She lives in Logan so we don't see her often. It has been a real treat for Tressa to have her here to play with, she even got to sleep at Grandma's house with her.

Aspen's Birthday Marathon!

2008-08-04T20:16:00.000-07:00

Aspen turned 3 on Monday, August 4th but it seemed like we were celebrating it for a week. On Saturday before her birthday we met my family at Murray park to have a little party with doughnuts, lemonade, and of course presents. My brother Dan and his beautiful wife Dana came to visit from Denver to see Aspen for her birthday and to go to our new niece Naomi's blessing, so Aspen was very excited to see them. My mom gave her 5 or so different balls which she immediately through to the side just for the fun of it. She ended up playing with the balls for the rest of the time we were there, she would through them and then make her sisters go get them. Fun huh. Thanks everyone for coming.

On Sunday we went to the blessing and the over to Jon's parents for a family dinner to celebrate Jon's sister's and Aspen's birthdays. Krista was born on the 3rd and Angie's is the 5th so Aspen was born right between them. Makes it easy for Grandpa to remember. It was nice for my girls to be able to play with their cousins for a while. Aspen and Lexie are only a few weeks apart and they are so cute together. I wish that they lived closer so they could play more often.

Finally on Monday morning we celebrated her birthday as a family. We had German Pancakes and she opened her presents. Tressa gave her a beach towel, Josie gave her a yellow My Little Pony, and Jon and I gave her a large stuffed pony that is carried in a little purse. She named it "Silty" and is still carrying it everywhere. I love the name she picked. It seams to be a talent of hers to be able to come up with unique and creative names. Her sisters never would pick names for their toys and just called their bears "beary" but Aspen names everything, she even named herself "Ruffles" for when she is pretending to be a dog. She loves to play like she is a dog just don't ask for a kiss while she is or she will lick you like it or not.

Susan took Tressa and Josie to Logan with her on Tuesday the next week so we did several other things with just Aspen (Thanksgiving Point Garden and Lagoon). We didn't plan them for her birthday but Susan just had really good timing so that it all felt like one big long birthday party for Aspen (which is also why we didn't have a real party for her this year). But the last official thing that we did for Aspen's birthday was to take her out to dinner with just her Mommy and Daddy. I always love those individual times with my girls.

The Salt Lake Temple MFT#4

2008-07-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

7-28-08

This weeks field trip was Jon's idea, and it went over better then I thought it would with the kids. This week was extra fun for my girls as well because our cousin Lindsy was able to come with her 4 kids since they were visiting from Idaho. We met at the South Visitor Center with our lovely tour guides for the day. One of which was from the Philippines. Tressa was very excited about that since her Grandma and Grandpa Hunt are leaving for their mission to the Philippines in October. I called ahead of time to set up the tour so that the Sisters could gear the tour for our kids. And they did a really good job I thought. We sang songs together, and they asked the kids lots of questions, and at the end bore their testimonies of the Gospel. My girls especially liked going up to see the statue of Christ. I love the Temple at this time of year. The flowers, trees, and fountains just make everything feel so peaceful. I planned on taking my kids on a tour of the Conference Center while we were there but Aspen got sick so we had to cut the day short. I only wish the Sisters had been able to do the pin drop demonstration in the Tabernacle, but I guess that just leaves something for them to see next time.

Our Tree in July

2008-07-22T21:15:00.000-07:00

I forgot to take any pictures of the girls next to the tree this month but here is our tree after the hail storm/flood on July 22nd (1 month after the last picture). The leaves got pretty torn up but it is still doing great.

Rain Rain Go Away!

2008-07-22T19:38:00.000-07:00

This day was crazy. It was beautiful until early afternoon, then it dropped a ton of rain and hail just in our little town, and then turned sunny again. But the girls had fun trying to bail out the water to keep our neighbors and our garage from flooding. In the end our neighbor found a pump to rent (after calling 10 stores) so we could get rid of all the water.

Bowling MFT #3

2008-07-21T09:07:00.000-07:00

7-21-08

Another Monday Field Trip. And my girls had so much fun bowling for the first time. We went to Fat Cats (after lunch at the park of course) and let the kids bowl with the bumpers. Josie and Aspen also used the little ramp things most of the time since the balls are still a little heavy for them.

No one had a very high score, but who cares.

At the Zoo again

2008-07-17T15:53:00.000-07:00

7-17-08

My dear friend Zildy needed a sitter for her kids because the normal sitter was at girls camp, so took her kids for the day. And lucky them because it was a day that we were going to the zoo. I could take them for free with our Zoo Pass so off we went.

The kids spent over an hour in the stinky snake and bird house (by the way it is the porcupine that makes the whole building stink). They were fascinated by all the different snakes and I had to drag them out. I think it is because the snakes are fun to find since they don't sit out in the open. But then again it could be because they are so pretty. Tressa and Shayden really liked finding where each of the dead bugs on the wall were from by using the colored dots on the cards and the dots on the world map. Don't you love it when kids are learning without realizing it!

After the zoo we went to Liberty Park for lunch and swimming since lunch is Free and the Manuel's hadn't been able to go before. More splashing, sitting, and chasing . This time they chased my empty water bottle, which floated better and longer then the cardboard boat. But wasn't nearly as cute or creative. Mean while I read in the shade. So everyone had a great time.

Liberty Park MFT #2

2008-07-17T12:18:00.000-07:00

7-17-08

This week we went to Liberty Park for our "MFT". Zildy was out of town so it was just my and my friends Chistine and our munchkins. The one with the big cheeser in the middle is Brooklynn (B-Bop) and her big sister to the left is Katelynn(Katie-Kat). Liberty Park is the coolest park in the summer. It has Free Lunch for the kids, a big play ground, a splash park, and an area called The Canyons. The canyons is a series of man made pools and rivers only a foot or 2 deep. The kids love it. And it is built in the shade of big trees so we adults love it too! Josie liked to climb into the small pools at the top and just sit in the cool water. While Tressa played with Katie-Kat chasing Kate's home made boat down the water ways. Aspen and B-Bop just splashed as much as they could. It was a great day with lots of wet fun!!

Monday Field Trips have begun!

2008-07-07T17:29:00.000-07:00

My friend Zildy and I decided to do a weekly outing for our kids this summer. Which later became known as the Monday Field Trips-since the where on Monday. We started them in July and had one every week until school started. Once we got a plan in place Zildy made some calenders and we invited some friends and neighbors. Our friends came often, our neighbors never did. Oh-well

7-7-2008 The first MFT we took was to a candy factory which I can't remember the name of. Zildy and I took our kids to a park down in Pleasant Grove called Discovery Park that morning. We got lost due to the switching street numbers between the city's in Utah County and it took much longer then we thought. But the kids had fun at the park for the little bit of time they had there.

We had to run to get to the candy tour on time and were still a few minutes late. Luckily the rest of our group were on time to hold out place. The candy factory was really fun. We all had to wear those silly blue hair net things to be able to walk around on the tour. We ate lots of samples, talked with our friends and learned some new things. For instance- each jelly bean takes between 7 to 21 days to make. And to be a jelly bean maker you have to train for over a year. hehe I love trivial knowledge. It was a great start to our summer field trips.

At the mountain with Gandma and Grandpa

2008-07-01T21:57:00.000-07:00

On July 1st I took the girls up to Grandpa Bob's place up the canyon from echo lake. I have to admit being a full time Mom has some benefits-like being able to take my work anywhere I want anytime I want. It was so nice to spend the time up there with so few people and just relax. Bob has bought a child ATV so the girls all took a turn riding it. It was quite fun to watch their faces when Bob would use the remote to set of the alarm when they went to fast. Aspen had to ride with me on it with her so she kept repeating "I can do it, I can do it." Of which I have no doubt since she does power slides on the hot wheel ATV we have at home. But I still wont let her, and neither will Grandpa (thanks Bob). The girls spent the rest of their time helping to cook, begging for big ATV rides around the mountain and swinging on the big beg swing Bob made. They even picked my a bouquet of wild flowers!

The thing I love most about this place is the view from Skyline Road which runs on top of one of the mountain ridges. Nothing but mountain peaks and canyons can be seen in every direction and it is beautiful to say the least.

Hanna "Man"tana

2008-06-25T21:09:00.000-07:00

I couldn't pass up recording this for posterity. Jon dressed up as Hanna Montana to try and win tickets to this years Stadium of Fire for our girls. He love them so much he really would do anything for them. He didn't end up winning but we all had a lot of fun anyways. Not many little girls can say they got to put make-up on their daddy.

Our Tree in June

2008-06-24T21:01:00.000-07:00

I planted a Royal Empress Tree last year and I want to document how it grows. I was told it grows very fast. This is sort of a project to show my little ladies how plants grow and change. So here are the pictures from June.
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Summer has come and gone!

2008-06-23T23:26:00.000-07:00

So I am finally going to hop on the blog train, and what better time then the end of summer when my girls are going back to school. Tressa is in 2ND grade now and Josie is my cute and very excited Kindergartner. But first our summer....

Tressa and Josie had a great year in school. They learned a lot made new friends and got a little older.

My girls primary activity in June was a talent show. It was so cute. Josie sang "oh, boy I've got Joy" with her friend Jazzy, and Tressa did her ballet routine up to the point where she didn't have room to leap and then was to shy to do any more. But she did her dance at her class talent show all the way through later in the week. Both were great practice because the next Wednesday was the big recital. This was the first dance recital for both Tressa and Josie and they did great. Josie shook her hips and shimmied like she was the star of the show. Which she was. She defiantly has no problem performing. And Tressa took a great leap of faith just to get on the stage even though she was scared and then dance beautifully. It was a great success.

For Tressa's Birthday she wanted to go hiking with some friends. So we took a day to scout out the hike with her sisters. The place she wanted to go doesn't open its roads until July so it was a bit of a bummer so I took them up to Jon's favorite waterfall instead. The loved the hike and did great at it. They are all natural climbers so that helps. The waterfall was over flowing, so it was incredible to look at but impossible to cross in front of to the other side, so we had out picnic on an island of land in front of it instead.
Since the hike couldn't happen we went to the Zoo instead with Tressa's friends McKenna and Laurel from school. They had a lot of fun and were very hyper being together after the 3 weeks out of school.

Tressa's big present this year was a night out to dinner and shopping for a new bike with her Grandma's. This turned out to be harder and funner then she thought because apparently 18-inch bikes are very hard to find because not very many stores stock them. After several hours of looking at different stores they ended up at the first store and got the only girl bike in her size that they have in stock. She loves her new bike and was all smiles that she got to stay out so late and spend so much time with her Grandmas. I am just glad she doesn't have to ride her 12-inch bike anymore. Her little legs would have to peddle so fast to make the small tires turn with any speed and she had to sit up very tall and straight since the handle bars where so close. I always thought of the theme music for the wicked witch from the wizard of oz when she rode it.

Dun da da nu nuu nu....