The Hunt Family

Christmas

2012-01-24T21:20:00.011-07:00

My next few posts are going to be out of order, but there are a few things from the past year I would like to share and I decided the order isn't important, as long as I get them posted.
Christmas this year was a lot of fun. My parents rented a cabin for all of us to go to for our Christmas present this year. We had never done something like this, but we talked about it, planned it, and it actually worked out really well! We had a blast and it was so much fun all being together away from home. We went to Island park (near west yellowstone)and the cabin was awesome. We didn't have snow at home, but there was sure a lot of snow there! And we all enjoyed having a white Christmas.
This is a picture of the first night we were there. My dad was playing a game with the grand kids--which was surprising because we have to beg, and beg, and beg him to play a game with us adults--we probably just aren't as fun :)

The kids had a blast playing outside in the snow, and it was COLD! But they stayed out for a long time before they would come in from being cold. The cousins don't get a lot of time to play together, so they really took advantage of being together:)

We went into the town of West Yellowstone on christmas eve, there was hardly anyone else out and about, but it was fun walking around a bit. This is a picture of us at the Idaho/Montana border.

Also on Christmas, everybody got new jammies. My brothers were warning us that they had gotten speedo-type jammies, trying to scare us. And we were scared, believe me! But when they came down, this is what we saw...

They were actually footie pjs. How they found their sizes? I don't know, but I'm glad they did because we all laughed for a very, very long time! And the kids were glad that Santa and his elves decided to show up :)

A few pictures of christmas morning, lounging and opening presents.

Since all the guys got the same gift, they had to close their eyes before opening them.

We also went sledding later in the day.

Easton had fun whether he was sitting watching, or going down the hill with one of us. He was just happy to be there.

And finally, on the way home we were able to get some pictures of Josh's favorite scenery--The Tetons. Seriously like every 3 seconds he would ask me or the kids, "can you see them now?", "look over there girls, do you see them?" "Sara, do you see those big peaks?" "YES dad, we see them, ok???" Pretty funny. The pictures aren't great, as they were out the car window as we were driving, but they are beautiful.

Before we left, we had some pre-christmas fun with our family in Pennsylvania. We skyped with them so the kids could open their presents and talk with them a little. We miss you guys so much!

We hope everyone enjoyed Christmas as much as we did! We wish everyone the best in this brand new year :)

More Family Visits

2012-01-24T09:06:00.008-07:00

We were lucky to have Uncle David (Josh's Brother) and his girlfriend, Jodi, come and visit us for a week. Although I didn't get a whole lot of good pictures, we did have a lot of fun.
One place we visited was Hardware Ranch to see the elk. There were a lot less elk there this year than what we have seen in the past because we have not had much snow. But there were a few, mostly cow and only a few spike. But it was a fun ride.

We also were able to go skiing with them! All except for Easton, he's still a bit small. But it turned out to be a nice day and we had fun. We did this last year and I thought I would have remembered how hard it is to help someone ski while snowboarding...pretty much impossible. However, somehow I thought that this time I would be able to do it, despite my fruitless efforts last year. Well, I just have to share this because it is so funny. I get to the top of the bunny hill, and decided that if I'm going to help, I will have to walk down the hill holding onto them instead of trying to snowboard down. I decided I would have to carry my snowboard with one hand and hold onto Alma with the other...not my best idea. Halfway down the hill I stepped on Alma's ski and made her fall, then I gracefully fell over her. Luckily we came up laughing :) Another time, I was waiting for Josh to get back from the big runs to help us and the girls were done waiting and ready to get back on the hill. So, we went up the magic carpet, (the thing you ride to get up the bunny hill) --me without my snowboard this time- and on the way down I held onto the back of each of their coats and tried to help on the way down...we all ended up tangled on the ground..again. But no one got hurt and we all got (another) good laugh out of it. And finally, my last shining moment of the day, I had just snowboarded down the hill and was trying to walk back over to go back up and I look down and my snowpants are halfway down my legs...luckily I had pants on underneath, but still embarrassing. All I can say is, I hope everyone had a good laugh because I was sure trying hard to get one :)

Saralyn's favorite things to do while skiing: Making snow angels and eating snow :)

Josh was very patient with Alma, and after a few runs with help, she was able to do it all on her own. Good Job Alma!

And Saralyn's other favorite thing to do? Go into the lodge and get snacks :)

Thank you Jodi for successfully helping Saralyn down the hill a few times.

We also went to Lava Hot Springs and Park City while they were here. I didn't get any pictures, but it was fun. The hot springs were especially relaxing :)
On the last night we went bowling. We were the only ones in the bowling alley and it was alot of fun.
Josh--this is funny because I told him to wait so I could get a picture, and when he went to throw his ball he almost fell! He said it was my fault of course because I made him nervous. This roll didn't turn out so good, but besides this one, he did get quite a few strikes!

Saralyn

Alma

Easton

David

Jodi

Sorry some of those bowling pictures are blurry, I don't think I had the flash on. And I am realizing that I need to make a better effort at getting more pictures when we do fun stuff, or even just everyday stuff!

Anyway, we all had a great time and are so happy that David and Jodi were able to take some time off to come and visit us. It is always so much fun to have visitors and it mixes up our routine a little, gives us an excuse to have a little fun too :)

Family Pics 2011

2011-10-02T22:06:00.007-06:00

We just took family pictures today, and there are still a lot of pictures that I want to post from the summer and the first weeks of school, but I want to first post these pictures and I will try to get to the rest soon, before I have too many more pictures and get even further behind. We took these ourselves and I think they turned out ok :)
Easton thought it was hilarious, for some reason. We couldn't get him to sit still. He thought it was so funny to fall backward whenever he started laughing. Oh, and lesson learned? Don't choose a place that has sticks, rocks, and water...notice the wet pants and shoes :)

Saralyn and Alma were very patient, even when we said "this is the last one" about a dozen times :)

These are just some last minute pictures we took when we got home. I might try again with the kids together when they aren't so sick of smiling :) They turned out ok i think.

I took one like this last year and I really liked it so I thought I would try it again

Fun with Family

2011-08-17T23:24:00.005-06:00

These are pics from when our family from Pennsylvania arrived. Needless to say the kids were excited to have them here with us!
Aunt Becca, Alma and Easton

Grandma and the kids just dancin'

Grandma helping get Easton to sleep :)
Another day we went to Ogden for a day of fun. We had planned to go swimming, but the pool we were going to go to had a super long line and we were going to have to wait for a lot more people to leave before we would be able to get in - and it was HOT! So we decided to make a better plan and we found a "splash pad" to have fun in. It's like a playground...with water! We all had fun and cooled off.

Easton and his own idea of fun :)

Haircut

2011-08-17T23:12:00.004-06:00

Although I didn't manage to get any pictures of Easton's first haircut, this is close (it was his second) and Grandma Nancy was even there to see it :)
Before

After

Where did summer go?? (post #1)

2011-08-17T22:53:00.005-06:00

Well, Alma starts 1st grade next week and I don't know where summer went..I think I must have blinked and missed or something! I'm so sad school's almost here, but Alma's excited and I guess that's what matters:) Anyway, I wanted to highlight the fun things we were able to do this summer. I wish we could have done more, but I'd say we had a good time.
We started it off with swimming lessons. Surprisingly a lot of people around here have pools in their backyards and one of our neighbors recommended a teacher, so we jumped at the chance and we didn't have to drive to Ogden everyday for two weeks!...which is definately a good thing

Alma jumping off the diving board-- YEAH!

Saralyn on the last day with purple popsicle lips

Saralyn striking a pose

They had a blast and I'm sure would have been happy to go every day of the entire summer if it was an option :)

Memorial Day campout

2011-06-26T16:56:00.004-06:00

For Memorial Day the Briggs fam usually tries to go camping, so camp we did in the rain...and snow...but it was fun! mostly :) Anyway, it's always fun to spend time with family away from the everyday distractions. Great Grandma and Grandpa Anderson were even able to come with us this time!
Easton eating a delicious ear of corn (with a little help from Dad)

Saralyn asleep with Great Grandpa

As I mentioned, it snowed and rained quite a bit and thankfully, we had some trailers to hibernate in :) G. Grandma and Grandpa invited all the great grandkids to come and watch a movie in their nice warm trailer :) They had a lot of fun and were grateful for the warmth :)

Trip to the bathrooms with Grandma Briggs

Aunt Megan and Uncle Tyler roasting marshmallows

Alma and Saralyn...just chillin' (literally)

Hanging out with Uncle Tyler

Great Grandma snuggling little Kenzly

All in all, it was a pretty fun trip. Next year, however, I think my vote may be to wait a week or two and hopefully miss out on the snow :)

School's Out!

2011-06-26T16:21:00.007-06:00

Alma had a wonderful teacher this year for Kindergarten. Her name is Mrs. Stevens and I think she was the perfect match for Alma. We were lucky because this year was actually her last year teaching before retirement! Alma was a little bit shy and nervous about doing things perfect at the first of the year, and Mrs. Stevens made her feel better and helped make her very first year of school GREAT! She loved kindergarten and can't wait for 1st grade--although I think I can ;) I'm going to miss her when she is gone all day, but I guess I'll have to find someway to survive:) She's growing up so fast!

Alma and her teacher

Saralyn also had a fun last field trip with her preschool. We went to a farm here in town.
They were a little nervous at first to pet the horses, but after they got used to it they thought it was pretty cool.

We went into the milking area and they got to see the cows being milked. It was pretty funny, we were all standing there listening to her tell us about how much milk they make and how often they are milked and I guess one of the cows got nervous or something and pooped and we all got a little splattered! Luckily, none of us got it to bad, just a few speckles here and there, but yeah, we all went home and had a bath

This is how Saralyn looked for a big part of the field trip "Mom, it STINKS!"

We also saw goats...

And baby cows that the kids got to name :)

What a fun (although stinky) trip!

2011-05-13T23:08:00.004-06:00

Joy School Fieldtrip to Hogle Zoo

2011-05-11T08:40:00.015-06:00

Since we were at the end of the alphabet we thought it would be fun to take the kids to the zoo. It was a nice day and we all had a good time :)
First picture of the day ( we had one girl we hadn't met up with yet, and one that couldn't come)

Picture by the elephants, can you see them?

For some reason they were fascinated with the water hole, even though there were no animals in it.

It was fun seeing Easton's reaction to the animals. Mostly he would stare and point and say something that sounded like "ohhhh".

Looking at the giraffes

Lion head drinking fountain

Here are the kids are looking at a peacock. The fence wasn't very high, so they were able to get really close. But I guess the peacock didn't like that because all sudden it let out the very loud, long, and shrill scream! The kids actually froze, you should have seen the look on their faces! Once they were able to the ran away as fast as they could. I guess they probably won't get that close again :)

Saralyn seeing what size of gorilla she would be. I think she is at the adolescent stage. oh my, I can only imagine what that will be like! I'm glad I have a few years o prepare :)

There was a pretty fun playground for the kids to play on. Saralyn and Easton certainly enjoyed it!

Yard Makeover

2011-05-11T08:05:00.005-06:00

We have been wanting to fix up our front yard for a while, and what better time than now right? Some of the things we wanted to do were: remove ugly tree, level the yard so it wasn't a sinkhole, make a nice flower bed, and possibly a sprinkler system in the front.
This is the before picture

We were going to try to do it ourselves, but after we thought about it we figured we'd probably save money by having someone come and do it for us right the first time :) Plus I think it would have taken us at least a month and it took the awesome company we hired a day and a half! So we were happy, very happy.
This is what it looked like in the process...

And these are the beautiful after photos! Yay!

Josh and I decided what we thought would look best (mostly Josh, he's really good at that kind of thing)and then we planted them after they were done with the landscaping. We are so excited! It adds so much to the house :) We love to just go out there and look at it. The neighbors probably think we're a little weird, but oh well! Actually all of the neighbors have been telling us how nice our yard looks, and we definately agree :)

Dance Recital

2011-04-18T07:43:00.002-06:00

Sarayln had a dance recital on Saturday at an assisted living place here. It was kind of a practice before the big performance in May so they could get used to performing. Saralyn had fun and she followed her teacher very well! I was behind all the residents, holding my camera above my head to try and get her, so needless to say, it's not the best video. But, it is better than nothing :) So, enjoy!

He's 1!

2011-04-10T14:38:00.007-06:00

Sorry for the delay, Easton's birthday was on Friday, April 8th and he is one! It seems like yesterday that we were making the trip to the hospital to welcome him to our family. It was fun to celebrate with him, although I don't think he quite understood what was going on. He did enjoy everyone singing to him though :)

He didn't like the icing on his finger

We were all kind of caked out from the previous two cakes, so we just made some fun cupcakes instead of going all out with a big cake. And would you know, he didn't even know the difference :)
He is such a smiley, snuggly little guy. He loves to give loves to his family and makes us smile every day. We love having him in our family and are looking forward to another fun year with him.

We love you Easton!!!

Happy Birthday Saralyn!

2011-04-05T23:09:00.005-06:00

She's 4! I can't believe it, she has grown up so fast :) Saralyn is the sweetest little girl who is kind to everyone. When we are out running errands when Alma is at school, she always makes sure we get her a sucker at the bank, or a treat at the store. She is always sharing with her little brother and trying to make him smile. Last night she was with Daddy (Alma and I were out Birthday shopping) and she said "Do you want to watch a boy movie dad?" and she picked out an antler hunting video and sat down and watched it with him. How sweet is that? Also, this past weekend we were visiting family in Burley and she was making sure grandma was comfortable b giving her a pillow for her back. Those are just a few examples, but she is always doing these kinds of things for her people around her.
Saralyn we love you and our family would not be complete without you!

A few pics from the past of the little sweetie...

FYI Saralyn is holding her cute little cousin Kenzly in this pic.

Girls Night Out

2011-03-11T22:11:00.005-07:00

So, the high school here put on the play " Beauty and the Beast" and the girls were very excited about it. Alma saw half of it with her kindergarten class and she just had to see the rest. So of course with her talking about it nonstop, Saralyn became super excited too. I invited Daddy and Easton, but Daddy thought we would have more fun without the wiggly little guy. :) So we made it a girls night out and had a really fun time together. Thanks for the fun time girls!
Saralyn wasn't feeling well, as you can kind of tell from this picture. But she didn't let that stop her from having a good time.

The Beast showing Belle the library

They had some pretty cool costumes. Of course the girls' favorite was Belle's fancy dress.

Another shot of the costumes. Mrs. Potts and the Wardrobe/Opera Singer
Beauty and the Beast, Happily Ever After :)

Look Mom, no training wheels!

2011-03-08T08:09:00.002-07:00

Ever since the first few days of warmth where the snow was starting to melt Alma has been wanting to get outside and try to learn to ride her bike without training wheels. We have tried it a few times in the past, but she was nervous and not quite ready. But this time, she was determined. So, I strapped Easton on by back, Saralyn on her tricycle, and off we went. I ran alongside her back and forth down the sidewalk the first day, and she did really well, but still didn't want me to let go. The next day she was a little more brave and I could let go a little here and there and by the end of the day, she was pretty stable on her own, I only had to hold on to help her get started. She was so cute because when she was a little tipsy or scared she would tell herself "I can do this, I can do this..." Positive self talk can do wonders! :) After that it snowed again and was too cold to go out, beside the fact that her bike was covered in ice because we didn't put it away. (oops) So when it did warm up again, we were out again. This time she wanted to try getting started by herself. This time there were a few tears of frustration, but I was very proud of her because she didn't quit. It didn't take her long before she was doing it all by herself. Here is a video of the great accomplishment! I had to put on two because I don't know how to combine them into one video yet.

Trip to Jackson Hole

2011-03-08T07:52:00.002-07:00

These pictures are from our tri[p to Jackson Hole a few weeks ago. Josh posted these on his "bragg blog" but I thought i'd post them here too for those who haven't seen them yet. It was a long drive, but we all enjoyed the time together. We visited Josh's previous boss and good friend Jim Webb who was so kind to let us stay at his place. It was fun visiting with him. We also walked around the square a bit an went to the visiters center. The next day we took the kids to the National Wildlife Art Museum. The kids really like it. There was a separate area where the kids could color, do a puppet show, and put on animal costumes. Easton took a long nap there too while we were able to enjoy all the artwork. We then drove home and got to see elk near the road on a feed ground in Alpine. It was a very enjoyable trip for all of us.

Jim and Josh

The kids and Kerrilyn looking at an elk display.

The girls holding up a big 7 point elk shed.

The girls coloring at the art museum.

Doing a puppet show for mom and dad

Dressed up in animal costumes.

Easton taking a nap.

Elk on the feedgrounds near Alpine.

More Walking

2011-03-01T17:28:00.001-07:00

Another video of Easton walking. He's pretty much got the hang of it now, walking more than he crawls!

Big Boy!

2011-02-25T16:08:00.008-07:00

Hopefully this is better.
Here is cute video of Easton that shows off his crawling technique and his attempts at walking. He is actually doing really well walking now, but I wanted you to see this one with the crawling first. When he first started trying to walk, he would take a few steps, but it was just too slow for him, so he would go back to crawling. It's fun to watch.

Fishing for suckers :)

2011-01-05T22:36:00.003-07:00

Okay, so don't get grossed out. I swear I washed his hands really, really good after this one. He had this sucker and somehow he ended up with it still in his hand as he was roaming around the house (he is usually confined to his high chair with food, especially sticky/messy food). And when it got quiet, I knew we were in trouble. So I went to find him and this is what I found...

If he could talk, I'm sure he would have said "trouble? not me, I'm just trying to get my sucker!" (I swear it IS a sucker, you may have to look close to see that)
And just for the record, no I didn't give it back to him :)

Thanks Aunt Mel and Uncle Ryan!

2011-01-05T21:41:00.007-07:00

For Christmas Aunt Melody and Uncle Ryan sent the kids a plant kit with three different kinds of plants. It was a really neat gift and they begged and begged to plant them. Each of them had their own to plant and they have already started to sprout. The kids loved it! Here are some pictures of each of them going through the process.

Alma Preparing the dirt

At first she didn't know if she wanted to touch the dirt, but after she got into it she had a good time.

Adding the seeds

The finished project

Saralyn

She jumped right in as soon as she could and wasn't worried one bit about getting dirty :)

Planting the seeds

Finished!

Easton
Well, obviously, I helped him a little. He liked to feel the dirt, and strangely seemed to enjoy how it tasted :) He always has to taste everything anyway, but after he tasted the dirt, he seemed to want more, it was pretty funny.

Tasting the dirt

Tasting the dirt some more...I really didn't just let him sit there and eat it, but he's a fast little bugger! It was hard keeping his hands out! A little dirt won't kill him, right :)

Thanks again guys! And thanks to everyone else who sent such thoughtful gifts. The kids really had a fun Christmas :) We love you all!

First chocolate chip cookie...

2011-01-05T21:29:00.003-07:00

I think it's safe to say he enjoyed it :)

Easton

2010-12-24T19:57:00.002-07:00

Here's a cute video of Easton.

Christmastime Fun

2010-12-15T08:38:00.008-07:00

We've been having some fun this season! Saralyn was able to dance with her dance class at the festival of trees. She had a lot of fun and we enjoyed watching her.

We also had a Christmas party for Saralyn's joy-school. Alma was lucky because she got to be a part of the fun since she is in afternoon kindergarten. The kids had fun making crafts, playing games, and eating sweet treats (with a few healthy foods mixed in).

Alma is having fun in school learning Christmas songs and making fun Christmas art projects. She still loves school and her teacher. I can't believe how fast the school year is going! And she continues to be a big help to me around the house,
and most of the time loves playing with Saralyn and Easton.

And as promised, here is a pretty cute picture of the little munchkin :) He is so much fun! He loves to be a part of the action and is always on the move! We had to blockade the stairs about a month ago, but if he happens to find a way around it or if we forget, we find him near the top with a mischievous smile on his face.
Right now he is working on getting 3 new teeth and has been a little more cranky than usual,but most of the time he's our little ray of sunshine, who makes us smile everyday :)

Thanksgiving

2010-12-04T09:04:00.006-07:00

Thanksgiving was very nice and relaxing. We went to Burley and had a fun time with everyone. It was pretty cold on Thanksgiving, so we mostly stayed inside and relaxed, playing games, doing puzzles, and watching movies. In the evening all the guys went out and shot clay pigeons together. It's so nice to be able to share the holiday with people you love.
Friday, Josh actually wanted to get up early and go out shopping. I was very surprised because usually I have to twist his arm to go out shopping on a normal day! But we had fun. We left all the kids with grandma and left at about 4:15 am. We didn't find any super good deals, I think we were a little late for that :) but it was fun to be together.
Saturday Josh really wanted to take the kids skiing, so that's what we did. I was worried that they wouldn't like it. But I have learned you have to let them try and decide for themselves if they like it or not. It was actually free for them to ski, so we just had to rent their skis. And we just stayed on the bunny hill helping them.

Alma was pretty nervous at first, but once she went down once she loved it! And after a couple times down with help, she was doing it by herself! I was very impressed

Saralyn loved it too. She wasn't scared at all, and completely trusted her daddy to take care of her. After a few runs she was hungry, cold and tired so we went into the lodge and warmed up a little.

They had a lot of fun and I'm sure we will be doing it again soon :)
We also had a family gingerbread making contest, but for some reason I forgot to take pictures. Oh well, we had fun. Gingerbread house was Santa's beach house/ shack with a surfboard resting against one side of the house and a sled on the other.
And I guess I was really lousy of taking pictures of Easton too. oops. He didn't go skiing with us, of course, but I'm not sure why I don't have any others of him. I'll be sure to take more and post them for you all to see. He is growing so fast! We have already had to barricade the stairs because he loves to climb up them as fast as he can. He hasn't had any falls from too far yet, so hopefully we can avoid that. He is also getting four more teeth! in addition to the two that he already has. I can't believe that just a few months ago he was a brand new baby! We love him so much and he brings a lot of happiness to our family.
That's all for now!

Halloween Photos

2010-12-04T08:44:00.005-07:00

Well, we had an interesting halloween. The kids and I went to Burley on the Thursday before Halloween so the girls could trick or treat with their cousins, Kylie and Jordyn. We were planning on doing "trunk or treat" on Friday at my mom's church because that's easier than going around to all the houses. Well, Saralyn woke up sick that day and she was sick all day. So, Easton and I ended up staying with her and Alma went with Grandma and cousins the party. She even took Saralyn's bucket and brought it back to her full of candy. And, I didn't remember to take the camera with me, so I don't have any pictures of Alma dressed up, but she wore the same costume as the previous pictures, so hopefully that will do.
So, we have a bunch of pictures of us carving our pumpkins that we grew ourselves! We carved them on Halloween night and it was so much fun. The girls even enjoyed getting the guts out--not with out a few comments of "ewww this is gross!

Cleaning out the guts with dad

"Ewww it's all over me!"

"I love my pumpkin!" (don't you love the extra too small peanut costume that she insisted on wearing? )
Big smiles!

I don't think I need to tell you who carved this elk pumpkin

Alma's pumpkin

Saralyn's pumpkin

Halloween Party

2010-10-21T19:04:00.007-06:00

Saralyn had her halloween party at preschool Tuesday. Since Alma has afternoon Kindergarten, she was able to join in the fun too!
All the kids helping the witch mix up her potion made of crushed dragon bones, ghost sweat, and other spooky things

Saralyn stirring the potion--sorry this picture didn't turn out too good

Alma stirring the potion

All the kids in their costumes

Our cute little fairy

We all had a great time! More Halloween pictures to come:)

Surprise visit

2010-10-21T18:57:00.002-06:00

Grandma and Grandpa and uncle Tucker came for a visit this past weekend to see Alma for her birthday (to see all of really). but I didn't tell the girls they were coming so they were very surprised and happy when they saw them. Thanks for coming guys! Grandpa even helped us get the back porch closer to being ready to paint and the holes in the walls filled in upstairs! Thanks for all the help Dad! :) We love you guys!

Birthday Girl!

2010-10-21T18:42:00.004-06:00

Alma turned 6 on October 12! We had so much fun celebrating with her!

When I asked Alma what kind of cake she wanted she said "well Daddy likes ice cream cake so I'll get that kind... i like them too!"

Thanks everyone for remembering and wishing her a happy birthday :)

And of course she had a fun time opening her presents :)

Alma, we are so blessed to have you in our family. You make us all smile! You know how to cheer us up when we are sad. You are a great big sister and your siblings love you very much!

Fall Colors

2010-10-17T11:33:00.003-06:00

Here's a few pictures from around our home of the fall colors.

Family Pictures

2010-10-09T21:36:00.004-06:00

Kids Photos

2010-10-01T20:00:00.008-06:00

Here's a few pictures we took this evening of the kids.

Cowgirls

2010-10-01T19:55:00.001-06:00

Alma and Saralyn got to go to their friends house the other day and ride their pony again. They were even brave enough to do it by themselves!

Cute Quote

2010-09-27T23:09:00.003-06:00

Daddy: Can you girls play with Easton for a little while?
Girls: Yeah, sure. He can be Prince Charming.

How cute is that? Here is a photo of our little prince :)

First Day of Kindergarten

2010-09-22T13:43:00.002-06:00

Wow!! Can you believe it? We are officially the parents of a kindergartner! This picture was taken on her first day. Alma is our sweet girl that is growing up so fast. She is so smart and always excited to go to school. Almost every day she draws a picture for her teacher that says "I luv u". We are so proud of her and the good example she is to her sister and brother. :)

Our trip to Pennsylvania

2010-09-22T08:58:00.016-06:00

For two weeks in August, we had a wonderful visit to Pennsylvania. The main reason for going was Melody's (Josh's sister) wedding. But luckily the kids and I were able to go a little early and spend time with everyone. I still love it there just as much as I did before, and it was sad to leave. But we had a lot of fun and are so grateful to everyone that helped us get out there. We have quite a few pictures, so enjoy!

We were so excited to see great grandma and grandpa :)

Aunt Sarah and her boyfriend Zach took us to a really cool amusement park called Knoebles. It is more for kids and more old fashioned. It was a lot of fun. Once the girls warmed up to the rides,they really enjoyed it.

The ball pit was the first thing Alma was brave enough to try :)

There was also swimming there. It was a little cold that day, but they went swimming anyway. Although they weren't quite ready to try the waterslides, they still enjoyed it

Although he couldn't ride the rides, he did enjoy being outside.

This is the Pagoda (not sure if I'm spelling that right). Was supposed to be a restaurant but ended up being like a museum or something. Anyway, they took us to see it while we were there. I thought it was pretty cool.align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_TgRz5yZ7RuA/TJofNyMAgDI/AAAAAAAABsw/XCH-rGzRHbI/s400/IMG_1428.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5519758614966861874" />

Next was Melody's bridal shower. Easton was invited too :) We had fun riding go-carts, playing laser tag, and doing lots of other fun stuff

Here we are relaxing at Grandma's house

Playng dolls with grandpa Bruce

Reading books with Uncle David

Painting Lily's (yes, the dog) toe nails :) (in case you're wondering, no she wasn't crazy about the idea)

Grandma Jeanette took us to a really cool park called Lake Tobias Wildlife Park. There were tons of different animals and they also took us on a "safari" ride through the park and we were allowed to feed the animals which came right up to the bus. It was really cool. They had animals in enclosed areas like a zoo, that we walked around to see and they also had some animals in a small "petting zoo" area that we went in with the animals and fed and pet them. We all loved it!! Many, many pictures...
What do you get when you mix a Zebra and a Donkey? a Zedonk! (really, that's what they're called)

The girls feeding the alpaca. That's how close alot of the animals came to the bus! Awesome

Elk

Fallow deer. They had so many of these!

Texas Longhorn

Taking a break at the playground

Feeding the mini horses

The goats were so funny. When we were going into the petting zoo, we asked if we could take the stroller in and the woman at the entrance said "we don't recommend it because the goats will eat it". We were like-What?? Okay...so we went in (without the stroller) and guess what happens? One of the baby goats kept nibbling at saralyn's shirt! and at Grandma's pants! so funny:) needless to say, that woman did know what she was talking about

Lemur

Feeding the goats

Ahh...so cute

Easton thought it was pretty cool too

Bears playing in the water. They had pretty nice habitats for the larger animals, with lots of room to roam.

Tiger...ROAR!

Capybara - Worlds largest rodent

Then Grandma Nancy and Aunt Becca took us on the Straussburg Railroad train ride. It's an old-fashioned train that takes you on a ride through a bit of the countryside. It was fun and relaxing.

We also stopped at a few Amish stores. This Amish buggy was outside one of the stores for people to look in.

More time with grandmas and grandpas

Easton with Grandma Jeanette

Great Grandma and Easton

Great Grandma and Grandpa and the kids

The girls were flower girls for the wedding and this is the best picture I could get of them walking down the isle. I wish I would've gotten more pictures of them, but of course, I never had my camera at the right times.

The had a really cool park that we went to a few times while we were there. Here we went with Grandma Jeanette and Grandpa Randy. The girls really enjoyed it :)

Anyway, after all that... we really had an awesome time! Thanks again everyone for the fun and the time that you spent with us! We can't wait to come back again :) We love you all so much.

Pony Rides

2010-09-22T08:51:00.003-06:00

Some of our friends here in Utah have some ponies and they invited the girls to come and ride them one evening. I thought they (especially Alma) would be too afraid...but once Daddy coaxed them enough to get on the pony, they had a blast!!

Daddy trying to convince them that it really is fun

Alma and her friend McKinlee

Saralyn: "I can do it by myself!"

Thanks for the fun guys!

Camping Trip

2010-07-26T09:28:00.005-06:00

This past weekend we decided it would be nice to get away from the heat and go up to the mountains where its cool and have some fun. So the girls and I got everything packed up and when josh got home from work, we took off.
Here we are sitting around the campfire

A pretty sunset picture

Easton was a little fussy, but when we sat him in this chair toward the fire, he was mesmerized as you can see

We went for a "little" walk which turned out to be a really long walk and decided to take a shortcut back to the car. In this picture, we are about halfway up the hill. It doesn't look very steep, but it was. Luckily, we survived and still had smiles on our faces :)

And of course, the girls' favorite part was picking flowers.

When they pick flowers, they often tell me "Remember when we got baby-sat at great-grandma's house? She always let us pick flowers to give to you". I don't think they will ever forget that. Neither will I. Every day that I would pick them up from there, if there were flowers to be picked- whether it be johnny jump-ups or apple blossoms, or whatever they could find- I would go home with a fresh bouquet of flowers :)
More scenery pictures

We tried to get a family picture, this is the best one we were able to get with the timer

Anyway, besides the many mosquito bites we got, we had a very nice time and it was fun to get a way for a little while.

Our Garden

2010-07-26T08:51:00.007-06:00

Well, I posted when we planted our garden, and it has changed a lot since then!! It is growing so well and we are so excited! We were all out there together pulling weeds last week. The girls don't enjoy that part too much, but they do help. And they are so excited to see the plants growing.
Alma was very diligent at pulling the weeds. Even with a few complaints of "my legs hurt" or "I'm getting really tired" she still insisted that she pulled every weed in her row before the stopped.

Saralyn was a good helper too. Although she was easily distracted with the bugs that she found to play with, she did get her share of weeds pulled.

And little Easton was just happy to be out there with us!

This is one thing that got the girls really excited: when they could actually see the tomatoes on the plants starting to grow

And here is one that shows about half of the garden.

It has been so much fun to be able to have a place to actually plant our own garden. It is even kind of fun to have a yard to take care of and for the kids to play in. We love it!

First trip to Bear Lake for 2010

2010-07-26T08:33:00.008-06:00

We love going to Bear Lake. The girls have been asking since spring when we are going to go. So, finally we had a free weekend and we packed up and went for the day. When we first got there, it was a bit cloudy and looked like it might rain. But after a while, the clouds went away and it was a beautiful sunny day :)
Just a few scenery pictures.

Easton's first feel of the cool water.

All the kids had a blast on the tubes.

Saralyn was very happy to be there!

Beautiful sunset on the way home

We all had a wonderful time and can't wait to go back again...soon!

Finished Product! (well, the outside anyway)

2010-06-16T21:46:00.001-06:00

Thanks again everyone for all your help! We definately couldn't have done it without you guys :)

Just wanted to share....

2010-06-15T13:02:00.000-06:00

I know you all just love the hat :)

Easton's Blessing Day

2010-06-08T07:59:00.000-06:00

We blessed Easton on Sunday, June 6th. It was a very nice day spent with family and friends.

Grandpa Briggs, Uncle Brandon, Aunt Megan, and Great-Grandpa Anderson

Grandma Briggs and Great-Grandma Anderson

Uncle Scott and Aunt Joy

The kids found some mud back by the garden and were having a great time playing in it

Josh and his best friend Colter

Colter's wife, Amanda, holding Easton. They are expecting a little one soon too

Colter and Amanda's little girl, Anna, holding Easton.

Uncle Tyler and Uncle Tucker were there to but somehow I missed getting pictures of them. Anyway, we had a very nice time and would like to thank everyone for coming to support us. We love you guys! :)

Grandpa's Visit

2010-06-08T07:53:00.000-06:00

When Grandpa Bruce was here he wanted to take the girls to do something fun so we took them to Chuckee Cheese's. They had a blast! Thanks for the fun time Grandpa! We Love You!

Our first garden

2010-06-07T20:04:00.000-06:00

Now that we are officially home owners, we were all way excited to have our very own garden. The girls are always finding "seeds" outside from the trees or dandelions and are wanting to plant them and watch them grow. So when we told them it was time to plant the whole garden they were way excited! :)

Doesn't he look like he's loving it?

Happy Birthday Daddy!

2010-06-07T20:00:00.001-06:00

Josh's birthday was on June 3rd. We had a little party at home for him with pizza (thanks to grandma) and ice cream cake--Josh's fav. The girls are always so excited whenever it is anyone's birthday. The kids and I went shopping earlier that day for him (I know, last minute) and we ended up at the mall and walked around quite a bit and the girls didn't complain at all!! I was very proud of them, it made the trip much easier! Even Easton didn't complain too much :)

Good bye lean-to!

2010-05-16T18:51:00.000-06:00

We were so lucky to have family come to help us "redo" the back porch. Grandpa Bruce even came from PA to help us out... THANK GOODNESS!! Here are some pictures from start to almost finish.

He is Loved :)

2010-04-23T07:31:00.000-06:00

We have all been very much enjoying Easton. The girls love him to death and are always asking to hold him. Alma holds him and sings to him and tells him stories. Most of the time, if he's crying, she can calm him down or if he's already calm, her singing usually puts him to sleep. Saralyn likes to hold him too and has learned the great value of a "Pinkie" (a.k.a. binkie or pacifier). And when he starts crying she starts yelling "Ahhh, mom he needs his pinkie!!" It's so cute. And when she's had enough it's "mom, I'm done"
But as you can see, she loves him :)

Here are a few more pictures...
When he's awake, he always has his eyes open so wide, just looking all around
One of his first real baths actually in the tub with water, not just a sponge bath

Here he is with our midwife. She called him her "Bullwinkle Baby" because Josh mounted her moose for her. She was the best and we are so grateful for the people that recommended her to us :) Thanks again!

One more cute one

Sweet Baby Boy

2010-04-11T20:42:00.001-06:00

Our Baby Boy is here at last! Easton Joshua Hunt was born on Thursday, April 8th, at 9:48 pm. He weighed 7 lbs. 10 oz. and measured 20 1/2" long. He has a lot of blonde hair and blue eyes. His birth was a memorable experience for all of us. He was due on Monday (Saralyn's birthday) and was making us all very anxious by Thursday. So our doctor decided it would be good to get things moving along on Thursday and after our appointment recommended we do a lot of walking. So all day Thursday we did a lot of shopping with Sharolyn (Kerrilyn's mom). We then went out to Chili's and Kerrilyn ate some jalepeno's and spicy chicken. Although Kerrilyn was having some contractions, they were not very regular and soon passed. So we went back to see our doctor again that afternoon and then went home. It was still a very nice day so the girls played outside and Kerrilyn did a little bouncing on the neighbors trampoline. Then I decided it would be good to do some more walking. So we went for a long walk together around home. We were both very tired from walking all day already, however, I asked Kerrilyn if we should still keep walking and we agreed it would be good since she was beginning to have regular contractions that were just beginning to get stronger. After more walking Kerrilyn rested at home to see if her contractions would continue. Within a few hours she firmly stated "it is time to go". So we quickly got everything in the car, dropped the girls off at our friends house in Morgan, and drove back to Ogden to the hospital. During the 20 minute drive the contractions continued to get stronger and of course we had to get every red light on the way there. We arrived at the hospital at 9:13 pm and within a short 35 minutes our baby was born. Our doctor literally made it time just to recieve the baby as he came out. Kerrilyn had no pain killers and did an amazing job of giving birth! I am still so proud of her. She had no complications and is recovering very quickly. We spent the the night at the hospital. In the morning Sharolyn and I went and brought Alma and Saralyn to see their new brother. Saralyn's eyes were the size of a silver dollar and Alma was very happy to have a new brother. Both girls were very gentle and protective when they got to hold their little brother. Kerrilyn's grandparents Val and Marla Anderson also visited us on Friday at the hospital which was very special. Later Kerrilyn's dad, Mike, and her brothers, Tyler and Tucker, drove down to see the new baby too. Since Kerrilyn and the baby were healthy and showed no signs of needing to stay at the hospital we were able go home Friday night. It was nice to sleep in our own beds. Sharolyn was a lot of help when the baby woke up during the night so Kerrilyn and I could get a little more sleep.
We are so thankful for his safe delivery into our family and are grateful for the gifts and help that we have received.

Baby update...

2010-04-07T10:04:00.000-06:00

No baby yet. He must want to be fashionably late or something. Anyway, we are still anxiously awaiting his arrival :)...

Happy Birthday!

2010-04-07T09:54:00.000-06:00

Our Saralyn turned 3 on Monday!! And she was so excited! Now, she is growing up and not a baby anymore (as she continually tells us). She is our little cutie that loves to run and play. She likes to hike with daddy, help mommy cook, eat cookie dough, read books, and I'm sure she will be an awesome big sister to her baby brother. She can count to 11, sing songs, tell stories, dress herself, draw pretty pictures of her family, and ride a big girl bike. She brings sunshine to our lives and we love her so much! Our family wouldn't be complete without her :)
Getting ready to blow out the candles

We love you Saralyn! Thank you for making us smile :)

Easter

2010-04-07T09:45:00.000-06:00

We had a very enjoyable Easter weekend. We didn't go anywhere too far because I was so close to my due date. So it was just us for Easter, but we had fun together. Here are some pics of our day.
The girls getting ready for a delicious Easter dinner

Playing outside with bubbles between conference sessions

Coloring eggs

Enjoying their spoils from the easter bunny

Between watching general conference, relaxing with eachother, and getting out to enjoy the fresh (slightly cold) air, and visiting with family over the phone, it was a very nice weekend. We hope you all had a nice Easter too!

Spoiled Already

2010-04-01T10:18:00.001-06:00

He's not even here yet and he is already spoiled by grandma! Oh well, they tell me that's what grandma's are for. :)

Baby Belly Picture

2010-03-30T19:58:00.000-06:00

As much as I am not a fan of taking pictures of myself...especially when I am more or less nine months pregnant...but I figured I need at least one with each baby. :) It's funny because I think I got one, maybe a few more, with Alma. Then with Saralyn I was going to take a few more just so I could see how big I was at certain points, but it never happened. I never really feel like taking one until it gets to the end and I think - "Oh, I guess I probably will want to see what I looked like, sometime down the road." And if not me, maybe the kids will want to see it. So I feel kind of bad for not taking more, but oh well. Here's a picture we took a week and a half ago. I know, I look thrilled, right? But really, how would you be feeling? :) ...
(note: I just looked at a preview, and this picture really doesn't do justice to the little guy. Honestly, he feels alot bigger than he looks here but this is all I have for now. Maybe I'll have to take another and post it before he comes. )

Anyway, it's getting very close, as you can see on our little countdown above. We are all very excited and can't wait to see him and hold him and all that fun stuff. I'm excited to see how the girls are with him because they have been so excited this whole time. It will be fun. :)
We will keep you all posted! Stay tuned....

New Home :)

2010-03-12T08:39:00.000-07:00

I told you we had a lot of news to catch up on! We have been kind of looking for a house to buy or at least a bigger apartment in Morgan (preferrably before the baby arrives). But all the house here have been out of our price range and so we kind of gave up for a while. Well, a few weeks ago, we saw this house in the paper to rent, or to take over the payments to buy, so we decided to check it out just to see if it was even an option for us. It is an older house, but it had some remodel done on the inside. So it wasn't one that we would have to fix up before we could move in. It was actually in better shape and had more space than most of the houses that we had looked at in Ogden. So we were all excited, then frustrated because we didn't see how we could afford it - really. So, we did the math and tried to figure out how much I would need to work (substituting) to be able to afford it. Then Josh went to his boss to ask if he could come in during the evening about once a week so that I could work during that day. He told him that we were trying to get into a bigger place and this is what we had figured out. His boss said he would rather pay Josh what he needs to be able to afford the house...and he was very accommodating. Now we can afford it with Josh's job alone. I'm still going to sub now and then (we'll see what happens when the baby comes) because I think it's a good way to keep my skills up without having to work full time with the kids. The whole situation just worked out perfectly and very quick! With in 1 1/2 weeks we went from not even thinking about moving (in the near future) to being completely moved into our new house! The girls really love it too and it is so nice to have more space. :)The timing couldn't have been more perfect!

Outside

Looking down the street

View in front of the house

Backside of the house

Backyard and storage shed

The front room

The living room

In the living room looking into the front room

The kitchen

The hallway from kitchen to bedroom and bathroom

Our bedroom (still have to put up pictures and put some things away)

The bathroom

The back porch (laundry room, storage room, and mud room)

The stairway

Upstairs

Looking toward the storage and toy room

The 1/2 bathroom upstairs

The extra bedroom upstairs

The girls bedroom

Tooth Drama

2010-03-11T10:08:00.001-07:00

Well, the other stubborn baby tooth finally came out, but not without a fight! Here's the whole story...
It all started when Saralyn bumped her and it started bleeding. And, in Alma's world, that is the worst thing that could happen! Alma and the sight of blood do not mix - no matter how much I assured her she would be okay. She was positive it would bleed forever! Our sweet little girl is terrified of pain and she worried herself sick of how much it might hurt. This started on a Thursday. She wouldn't eat anything because it might hurt her tooth. By Friday, she was not eating or talking - ALL DAY! I could barely get her to drink anything. Friday night, Josh and I tried to hold her down and pull it out - well, I'm sure you can guess how well that went over. Needless to say, that tactic didn't work.Saturday morning she woke up crying because her stomach was hurting (having not eaten since Thursday morning, I would have been feeling the same way!) This broke my heart! I could see how badly she wanted to eat, but she was so scared that she wouldn't. We even made cookies to try and get her to eat and help pull the tooth out, but when they were done she just looked at them with this really sad face and walked away :( Anyway, I had been putting the dentist off because I just knew this extremely loose tooth would come out on it's own. Since that didn't seem to be happening, I luckily found a dentist that was open on Saturday until 12:00 that was able to squeeze us in (afterI called and broke down in tears becasue I didn't want my daughter to starve..I know, I am so much like her it's scary). Anyway, the dentist did an excellent job calming her down (he gave her a gas mask and turned on the cartoons) and before she knew it her tooth was out.

I actually had to tell her that it was gone because she didn't even feel it! So we survived. Saralyn was kind of funny because when we first arrived at the dentist, she kept asking me if she was going to get "poked" too. What a sweetie, she thought they were getting shots and she was worried! She really worries about her big sister, and Alma does the same for her. It's nice to see how much they really love eachother, even if they do have their "arguments" every now and then. :)

Potty Training...Done

2010-03-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

First I want to start by saying Saralyn is potty trained!!! We started working at it a few days after Meloday got here, and by the time she went home, Saralyn had going to the potty down almost perfectly :) She does have an accident once in a while, but it's usually because she is too busy to remember that she has to go. :) She doesn't even have to wear a diaper at night or during naps. Don't ask me how I got so lucky, she did that part on her own. I would just check her in the morning and she was always dry, so I just left her in her panties and she hasn't had one accident! Good Job Saralyn! We are so proud of you :) Here's a couple pictures of the cute little stinker
"Take a picture of me Mom"

Melody's Visit

2010-03-04T08:20:00.000-07:00

Since I have been such a slacker, I am going to take post about one event at a time (hopefully I'll be able to post once a day for the next few days) and hopefully I won't get burnt out posting and you all won't get burnt out reading :)

We all had a very fun time when Josh's sister, Melody, came to visit us during January and part of February. (And wish she could stay with us all the time!) She was able to stay for quite a while and it was so fun having her here. We miss her and are so thankful she took the time to come and visit us! We showed her some of the fun sights here in Utah, and Josh had fun hiking her all over his antler mountain! I have discovered that I am not a wimp, Mel didn't like hiking in snow up to her knees either! :)
She and the girls did have a fun time building a snowman. I haven't been too excited about getting outside, so the girls loved having her help them.

One place she wanted to see while she was here that we hadn't gotten a chance to see yet was Antelope Island. We had a good time and saw all kinds of wildlife - bison, coyote, eagles, deer ("big bucks!"-josh), but strangely no antelope. Hmm...

Anyway, we had a fun time together. We also took her around to see a few of the places we enjoy, but it was mostly fun just having her around. :)
Josh had a few animals in a taxidermy competition in Salt Lake City, so we had some fun going there and looking around. He did really well with two first place ribbons and a "Best of Show" award. He was excited, to put it lightly :)
Fallow Deer

Whitetail Deer

We also went ice skating again, which the girls loved! thank goodness daddy and aunt Mel were there because mommy wasn't much help, except to take pictures :)

During the time that she was here I started substitute interpreting here and there and she was so helpful in watching the girls when I was called in. I cannot express how grateful I am to her for that and just being so willing and excited to spend time with the girls. They know they are loved! :)
Speaking of being loved--Melody's awesome boyfriend proposed to her the night she got home!! Congratulations you guys! We are so happy for you. And much to our surprise, our wonderful family all pitched in to buy our plane tickets to come out during that time! We are so blessed! Thank you guys so much, we hope you all know how thankful we are to you. And we are very much looking forward to that trip and the time we will be able to spend out there with all of you!

Family Fun

2010-01-07T07:57:00.001-07:00

We have been so blessed this past year to have so much of our Pennsylvania family come and visit us since we moved to Utah. Over New Year's we had a wonderful time with Grandpa Randy and Grandma Jeanette. They were able to visit for five days and we all had a great time! Thanks, you guys, for coming! It means so much to all of us! This is a long post, but there are pictures included, so you should survive :)
The first place we took them to was Park City. We had fun looking around, and the girls did pretty well for how much we walked. The highlight of the trip were the candied apples. To fill you in on the story: Alma has two teeth that are growing in behind her two of her baby teeth. The baby teeth are loose, but they just didn't seem to want to come out. So, we told her that if she ate a candy apple it would help it come out faster. So, of course there was an awesome candy store in Park City with about 10+ different kinds of candied apples. So, each of the girls picked a m&m covered apple.
Alma getting ready to dig into that delicious apple

Saralyn...thinking....

and going for it!

Well, the apple didn't actually pull the tooth out effortlessly and painlessly, but it did make it extremely loose which was great. So the next morning, we were eating breakfast and Alma takes her first bite of sausage (she loves sausage) and it comes right out! The blood scared her a bit and she didn't finish her sausage,but after she was over the shock, she was way excited for a visit from the tooth fairy :) (whom generously gave her a dollar for that tiny little tooth!)

After Park City we took them to temple square in Salt Lake City to see the lights. Well, most of the lights weren't on but it was still fun to see and there weren't many people there so it was pretty relaxing.

A few lights were still lit.

We thought this reflection looked pretty cool.

The next day we went to Hardware Ranch which is like an elk refuge where they feed the elk during the winter. They take you on a wagon ride right through the elk so you can get an up close look at them.
One of Josh's favs (for obvious reasons)

This poor guy was named Maynard. His one antler was down over his eye. They weren't sure if it had broken or just grown that way. Later this year after that one falls off and the new one grows back they will know. If it grows back the same way, it's a genetic defect. If it grows back normal, it was probably just broken somehow.

The girls in the visitors center.

Here are the horses that pulled the sleigh/wagon through the white and drifted snow :)

The girls enjoyed petting the horses and seeing them up close

We stopped to get a few quick pictures on the way home.

The next day we kind of took it easy and just enjoyed a relaxing day
The girls and Grandpa playing with the gift they gave to Saralyn.

The girls and Grandma playing barbies- Thanks for being a good sport Grandma :)

Saralyn helping Grandma with the dishes.

That evening we went for a drive looking for deer. Although we didn't see many deer, we got some beautiful pictures of the sunset.

Grandma and Grandpa gave Alma ice skates for Christmas. So we decided to all go ice skating together. I couldn't ice skate with them so I took the pictures. But they all had a fun time. We had no tears!
Grandma and Alma after the first time around

Grandpa and Saralyn - all smiles :)

Alma being brave and standing by herself on the ice

Saralyn taking a break with mom

After the first trip around the ice, Alma decided that she wanted to try it by herself and she did for most of the time that we were there. She did a very good job for her first time skating. I think she will remember this for a long time :)

I think the smiles on their faces show that this trip was a success!

Thanks again, Grandma and Grandpa for coming! We had so much fun with you here and we know that we are loved. We love you guys!!

Christmas

2009-12-29T10:33:00.001-07:00

We hope you all had a very Merry Christmas. We had fun telling the girls the story of Christmas and trying to help them understand the reason we celebrate. It's fun to have them retell the story and see what things stand out in their mind. I am thankful for my Savior and for this time of year that we have to focus on Him. I hope that in the coming year I can be more like Him in the things that I do and say not just at Christmas time, but the whole year through. I am so blessed to have a wonderful husband and two little girls that are good examples to me and remind me of what I should be doing just by how they are. I love you guys :)

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-29T09:30:00.000-07:00

Good news everyone, our wonderful family gave us a new camera for Christmas! So no more excuses, right? Anyway, I'm going to start this post with Christmas Eve. We stayed home and had some fun together. We went out to one of our favorite restaurants and basically just had a relaxing day. Josh didn't have to work so that was nice to have him with us. Later we made a gingerbread house.
We bought a kit and were trying to make it like the picture. It was fun, but I think it would have been more fun just to let the kids do whatever they wanted. But we had fun anyway.

The girls lasted about 15 minutes, but they were so excited about the present they got from Great Grandma and Grandpa Hunt that they decided to let mommy finish it. :)

The Hunt's have a family party on Christmas Eve every year. And, although we couldn't be there, we were able to talk over the computer (Skype) and they got to watch the girls open their gifts. Not quite as good as being there in person, but better than nothing.

This dollhouse is cool because they can play on both sides and not be in eachother "space". It makes it very nice :)

Christmas day was fun. The girls were so cute. They were excited and talking and laughing together in their room when they were supposed to be sleeping. When it finally got quiet, I went in to see if they were finally asleep, and this is what I found...

They almost never sleep together, only on special occasions or if they're "scared". I thought it was cute.
Anyway, we actually had to wake them up and remind them what day it was...

We were trying to leave for Burley by 9:00, that's why we didn't let them sleep in, although it would have been nice. After they saw what Santa brought, we got on Skype again and talked to Grandma Minnick and they opened their presents from her.
Here are some pics of them with a few of their gifts...

It was fun to talk to everyone in PA and we miss you all very much!

After all that excitement, we drove to Burley to spend the weekend there. It was nice to spend time with family and the girls had fun playing with their cousins.
One of their favorite things to do at Grandma and Grandpa's house is get in the hot tub with their Uncle Tucker...

He's the one behind the pink tube. He's an awesome uncle and they love spending time with him and all their other aunts and uncles :) They are very blessed to have so many people that love them!

We also had a gingerbread house building contest on Christmas. Here are what we all came up with...
Uncle Tyler's creation

Uncle Scott and Aunt Joy's creation (notice the hot tub..nice touch)

Uncle Brandon, Aunt Megan, Kylee and Jordyn's creation

Our creation

Of all the other fun things we did, most of all it was nice just to be with family. Whether it was on the phone, computer, or in person, it's the best thing in the world to know that you have people that care about you and love you. We want you all to know that we love you too!

Well, what can I say...

2009-11-11T10:23:00.000-07:00

Yeah, yeah, I know. It's been..a while. But still I don't have a camera that works and I like posting when I have pictures to go along with it. I guess that's a bad excuse.
So, what have we been up to the past two months? (hopefully I will be able to post pics of these events once we figure things out) Alma started preschool in September and she loves it! She goes twice a week for 2 1/2 hours. I soooo did not want to send her because, well, I guess I'm selfish :) I was actually glad that she missed the deadline for Kindergarten because I love having her around and want to put off school as long as possible. :) But we finally decided it would probably be a good thing for her and it has been. She has been learning a lot and making lots of new friends. It's fun to hear her talk about what she did each day.
Next was her 5th birthday on Oct. 12. Family from Burley came and helped us celebrate and we had lots of fun. She is so excited to finally be five! And Saralyn, of course, can't wait til she turns five too :) Saralyn is learning things so fast! Except for potty training...she is NOT interested! Hopefully soon! But besides that, she speaks in sentences and picks up on everything anyone says--especially her big sis. They both love to play "Babies" lately and are always talking about their baby brother. So...yes, I would say they are excited :)
Now, at our last appointment, we were able to find out what our little one is going to be. And.....IT'S A BOY (I guess I kinda spilled the beans earlier, oh well)!! We are excited, and a little nervous. What am I going to do with a boy?? Oh well, I'm sure I'll have a lot of fun figuring it out :) It's been fun trying to think of names and stuff. Our midwife actually wanted to trade her part of the pregnancy bills (all appointments + labor) for a "Bullwinkle" (moose head)! So we were way excited. Josh actually has already finished it and taken it to her house. She absolutely loved it! And she has promised us a beautiful baby...I'm sure she'll hold up her end of the deal :) She's awesome! Thanks to those who recommended her, we couldn't have found better!
Halloween was fun. We went to trunk or treat in Burley on Friday (Oct. 30) because my brother Tyler, had a football game on Halloween night--which they won!! Both girls were very cute little witches with green faces. So we had a very busy and fun weekend.
Now we are into November and looking forward to the Holidays!

What?? where did summer go??

2009-09-02T10:26:00.000-06:00

Well, I can't believe that it as been so long since we last posted. I do have a few reasons for this. First of all, I can't seem to get the camera to load any pictures onto the computer for me. That's kind of a lame excuse because we have had a lot of visitors and a lot going on these last two months. So, I'll write a little, post the few pictures that I do have, and then, I'll get Josh to sit down and help me figure out the camera thing. So this first part is going to be a lot of reading, so try to...endure :) You won't be disappointed...

So, we had Grandma and Grandpa Minnick and Aunt Becca out here with us for a whole week in July!! It was so much fun and we are so glad they were able to take some time to come and see us out here in Utah. We did a lot of sight-seeing while Josh was at work and really just enjoyed being together. Here in Morgan there is a place to rent tubes and go down the "river", so we decided to have a go at it. Well, it turns out that was not such a good idea. Grandma had some trouble and it was pretty scary--don't want to go into it too much, but we are very happy that she is okay. Josh and I acutally both had one of the girls with us on our tubes, which we thought would be fine. It was, mostly, except when we both got dumped off and went under the water. Thank goodness for life jackets!!! We were all safe, but it shook me and the girls up a little. I have a tendancy to "freak out" when I feel like I'm going to hit a tree, rock, or some other obstruction that may cause pain, so I told Alma to help me stay calm and we would be fine. So the whole way down she kept saying "It's okay mom, don't freak out" "calm down mom" ...she was a good helper and it did make me stay calm. :) Anyway, besides that the vacation was a lot of fun. We took them to one of our favorite places, Bear Lake, and although it was a little windy, we had a blast and they loved it too. Who says you need an ocean to go to the beach? :)

Anyway, our next visitors were Great Grandma and Grandpa Hunt. They came the first part of August and stayed with us for the weekend. It was so nice to see them and I know the girls loved having them here. We took them around to see the sights and enjoyed talking and catching up. Before we left, the girls would stay with while Josh and I were at work so they became pretty close during that time and they were excited to see how much they had grown up. I do have a few pictures from there visit that they sent to us.

Gifts from family in PA

They really wanted to see temple square in Salt Lake City so that was one of the trips we took. It was really nice and we all enjoyed it.

Of course we had to go spend some time at "our" park :) That's what the girls call it because it's right behind our house.

So, we all had a wonderful time! Thanks for coming out to see us, it means a lot! We love you all!

And if you have continued to read this far, your in luck because you will get to hear our exciting news....................................we are having another baby!!! We are so excited, especially the girls. They are so exited about their new brother or sister. They always pray that the baby is healthy and will come out soon :) And they are always pretending to carry a baby around and take care of it. I'm glad they are so excited and hope it will last when they baby actually does come. I know they will be my two best helpers :) That's another reason I haven't posted much lately. Sitting at the computer typing and looking at the screen just didn't seem appealing to me. I have been a little sick and haven't wanted to to a whole lot. But it's getting better each day, thank goodness and I know it could be alot worse. The girls and Josh have been very patient with me..Thanks guys! :) I guess that's enough for now, I will hopefully post some more picutures of our fun summer soon.

I almost forgot. Josh and I celebrated our 6 year anniversary on August 22. We took the kids to my mom's house and we went camping for the weekend. We got some fun pictures I'll be sure to share!

Bear Lake

2009-07-12T21:18:00.000-06:00

Here's a video of Kerrilyn, Alma, and Saralyn at Bear Lake.

4th of July Weekend

2009-07-05T11:57:00.000-06:00

This Friday Josh got off work early and surprized us when he got home and said, "Let's go to Bear Lake!" So we got our things together and headed off quickly. It took us about 2 hours to get there and we took a scenic route through the mountains to get there which was nice. The girls had a blast collecting little shells and playing in the sand and the water was perfect! Later we went out for dinner and finally got home, very tired, at 11:30pm. Saturday we all went to the parade in Morgan and the girls got lots of candy. Then we went to the park behind our home where there were games, hair coloring, face painting and all sorts of fun stuff for the kids to see and do. They fired cannons and the fire trucks sprayed people out in a big field. It was a lot of fun. Saralyn and Alma both got their faces painted and their hair colored pink and purple. Later, we decided to go for a hike and roast hot dogs and marshmallows. When we got home we went to the park again and the girls got to light their fireworks and we watched all the big fireworks.

Jobs...

2009-06-29T12:03:00.000-06:00

We decided that the girls needed some more "responsibilities"...at least Alma, and you can't have Alma do it without including Saralyn. Because, although most people wouldn't consider jobs around the house fun, Saralyn refuses to be left out. So helping with the dishes is on of their jobs, and Saralyn loves it! Even if it's not her turn, we still have to figure out a way for her to help. Although it takes a little longer to get done, it has actually been working quite well and they are both awesome little helpers!

Josh's Birthday

2009-06-29T11:57:00.000-06:00

So, the important event that I have not yet posted about was Josh's birthday. The girls and I had a fun time making the cake, and you can see how well Alma is learning to write! We had a fun time celebrating our Daddy!

No matter who's birthday it is, Alma always has to wear her "Birthday Dress" for the special occasion :)

We Love You!!!

Memorial Day Campout

2009-06-29T11:46:00.000-06:00

Okay, so I know that Memorial Day was like a month ago...but oh well, better late than never, right? I have a few things to catch up on so here goes. On Memorial day all of our Idaho family went camping for four days. It was a lot of fun, the girls loved it!! It rained quite a bit, but it didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves.
Here is Saralyn teaching her cousin how to do Alma's dance...

My dad.. Master Chef!

Campfire pictures...

Mom was actually trying to keep the rain off her head, but we all got a good laugh out of it.

And here's Josh, just happy to be outside

Alma - Superstar! :)

2009-06-22T12:04:00.000-06:00

Okay, I have some cute pictures to show you all of Alma dancing. Some of them are at practice, and the others where she is all dressed up are at the Dance Revue they had a couple weeks ago. I have a video of her dancing, but I tried to post it and couldn't figure it out, but I will! It's actually recorded on my Dad's camera so as soon as I can get to that camera and figure it out, you will all be able to see it, it is way cute!!!
This step is called "boogie-woogie"

She does this as they sing "on the good ship, lollipop.."

"...and there you are, happy landing on a chocolate bar..." as they brush off their little bums...so cute!

She really did a good job at the Revue. I was nervous because they had a practice performance for the senior citizens and she was so scared. I tried to explain what would happen and so she wouldn't be so nervous, but it didn't work. As we were going out to the car she was screaming "I don't wanna go!!!" over and over. So I tried to calm her down and we finally agreed that she could sit on my lap and then decide if she wanted to do her dance with the other girls. Well, luckily they had ice cream surprise and that fixed everything!! Thank goodness for icecream!! otherwise it may have been a very tramatic experience! just kidding, I'm sure she would have been fine, it would have just taken a little more convincing...or bribing :) Anyway, enjoy the pictures!

A Fun Visit from Family

2009-05-27T17:41:00.001-06:00

Well, this is extremely late, but a few weeks ago Uncle David, Aunt Sarah, and (as Alma says)"Best Friend" Zach came to visit us here in Utah all the way from Pennsylvania! We had a lot of fun with them and are glad they took the time to come visit us as they traveled across the country. The cute picture of the girls on the side is one they took, and I'm going to add a few from Sarah's blog because I haven't put ours on our computer yet. Besides her pictures came out way cuter! Anyway, thanks again, guys, for coming to visit! We very much enjoyed it! We love you guys!!
Okay, so this was the first hike Josh took us on. It wasn't too bad, except when we got to the "top" it started pouring rain! so we hurried as fast as we could to get down the mountain. This is a way cute picture of Alma and Zach with the beautiful rainbow that followed the storm. Alma's hair tells the story :)

Now, this is the second (and last for some of us!) hike we went on. Josh insisted that the first hill was the worst and the rest was downhill...oh, he also said there wasn't much snow....hmmm interesting. Obviously there was snow, and I swear, we didn't start going downhill until we turned around to go back to the car! Thanks Sarah and Zach for suggesting we (not including Josh and David of course) go to Jackson Hole to finish out the day. The girls were very happy with that decision (and so was I!) Anyway, Josh and David had a fun rest of the day up there and we enjoyed ourselves in Jackson.

Alma was the smart one and hitched a ride with Uncle David for a good part of the day!

Sarah and Zach with their "I can't believe he thinks this is fun" grins. Trust me, I was feeling the same way! Way to be troopers though. :)

When I told Alma that they were coming to visit she said, "Zach?...He's my BEST friend!!" I thought this was a cute picture that shows how she feels :)

We went shopping and there was an underground fountain that kids can play in. Of course I couldn't keep the girls out of it! Zach and David had fun playing with them too! They really had a good time playing!

Flying Kites and Playing at the Park

2009-04-23T21:44:00.000-06:00

These pictures are from last Sunday. Both of the girls got kites for Easter and this was our first chance to fly them. It was such a beautiful day, with the perfect amount of wind for kite flying. The girls loved it! It was so nice for all of us to be outside together just having fun.

Alma was so cute. She was so excited. She thought she had to run continually to keep the kite up, so she was running all around as fast as she could go. And while she was running, she said, "This is my best kite-flying day!" It was fun to see both their reactions.

While Alma insisted on doing it all by herself, Saralyn was content to sit with Daddy and have him help her with her kite. She also had fun going back and forth to make sure everyone was doing okay. Saralyn's is the small green and blue one. When you can see it, it is an owl. Alma's is the ladybug.

After we finished with the kite flying, we let the girls play on the toys for a while. They had a blast! and of course Daddy had to get in on the action!

Fashion Statement?

2009-04-16T10:21:00.000-06:00

Oh the joy when your kids decide to think for themselves. As Saralyn chose what she wanted to wear today she was faced with a dilemma when she found two beautiful pieces of clothing that she wanted to wear. I'm sure she was thinking, "Which one should I wear?" Well, instead of choosing just one, why not choose both and make a bold fashion statement? All I can say is it fits her personality! It's a good thing I have two great kids to keep me laughing!

Birthday Continued...

2009-04-16T09:04:00.000-06:00

Well, while we didn't get to the decorating Alma wanted to do, we did have a nice relaxing day. And, boy, am I lucky. I got snow on my birthday! in April!!! No, I was not seriously excited about that, but hey, I guess that's what you get when you live in Utah, huh? Anyway, it was a fun day and when Josh got home he surprised me by having a babysitter set up and took me out for a nice dinner - which almost never happens! So I was happy.

Happy Birthday to Me!

2009-04-15T13:52:00.000-06:00

Well, today is my birthday! I was pleasantly surprised with some beautiful flowers this morning from family in Pennsylvania. Thank you sooooo much! They are beautiful and an awesome way to start out the day. I don't think my girls really understood at first that it is Mommy's birthday. Saralyn kept saying "no, mine" thinking it was her birthday (again). And we had been telling them that it was going to be my birthday soon, but when the flowers came, it looked like a light bulb came on in Alma's head and she said, "mommy, is it your birthday TODAY?" I said yes and then she said "oh, well we need to decorate!" I thought it was cute. Anyway, here's a picture of the pretty flowers and hopefully I will have more pictures to post later on.

Nature Walk

2009-04-13T15:02:00.000-06:00

Josh and his buddies went out looking for antlers for a good part of the day on Saturday. So, although I had my friends Becky and Amanda to visit with, we were pretty much inside most of the day. So, on Sunday I told Josh that we had to get out of the house to do something so I wouldn't go crazy. Well, you might be surprised, but what did he suggest? A "nature walk" (haha). I, like you,thought, yeah sure. And if we happen to stumble across an antler I guess we will take it home. But believe it or not, we did not come home with a single antler! We just had a nice "walk" (hike would be more appropriate word for it) and enjoyed being outside because it was a beautiful day. So we were all happy and I'm sure it did us all some good.
Anyway, we didn't get too many pictures. But the family picture above was from that hike, and this is just one more of us walking together.

Happy Easter

2009-04-13T14:41:00.001-06:00

We enjoyed our Easter and hope you all did too. We got each of the girls a book that talks about Jesus and kind of explains what Easter is about in kid terms. Saralyn still doesn't fully understand, I'm sure. But Alma really seemed to get that it wasn't all about eggs and candy, although she enjoys that part. We were asking her on the way home from church if she learned what Easter was about. She said yes. We said, "Is is just about getting candy?" and she said, "No, it's about Jesus". We asked her, "what did Jesus do on Easter?" and she answered "He came alive again." I was very proud of her for listening to what we, and also her sunday school teacher, were trying to teach her. It's so much fun to see how much they can learn and what they can remember and then the questions they ask about what they learn.

Anyway, here are a few pictures of our Easter.
We had some fun coloring eggs on Saturday...

These are the finished product. Alma did the glitter eggs, and Saralyn put the faces on hers.

Our egg hunt expedition...

Grandma Minnick sent some cute Easter dresses complete with hats for the girls to wear to church. Thanks Grandma! So cute. I love how Saralyn is looking up to her big sister. I took about 3 pictures, trying to get them both looking at me, but every time I snapped the picture, she was looking at Alma. I decided that was pretty cute and shows how much she adores her.

Eating the Cake

2009-04-06T15:05:00.000-06:00

Sorry, my posts are a little out of order, but if you continue reading you're sure to get all the inside scoop on the 2nd birthday of little "Saralyn-ie" She had a lot of fun....and a lot of sugar!
We got a few more pictures of Saralyn blowing out the candles and eating the cake so...enjoy!

Doesn't that look delicious? If you look closely you can see the drool that may or may not have landed right on the cupcake. Good thing the candle was on a cupcake and not on the cake. Pretty good skills with a camera catching that kind of action, though. Good job Daddy!

She's 2!!

2009-04-06T14:48:00.000-06:00

Saralyn's birthday was on Sunday and I am still having a hard time believing she is already 2! But she had a blast, as soon as she realized the cake and the balloons were for her. The cake (posted below) was awesome. However, we were up until about 2:30 making it (by we, I mean Amanda was actually working, I was watching and trying not to mess anything up). Anyway, of course, Saralyn woke up at about 2:00 AM, and I'm pretty sure she thought it was time to be awake because usually when she wakes up in the middle of the night she finds me in bed, not in the kitchen with all the lights on. Well, I tried to keep her away so she didn't see the cake, but it didn't work. She was in awe. And when we finally decided to go to bed and finish in the morning, she was very upset because she did not get to eat any! I thought it was pretty funny... well I though it was funny in the morning after I had some sleep! Here are some pictures of the celebrating.

This was her face when she first saw her bike

When she was opening her other presents and saw what is was, it was always accompanied with a very energetic "YAAAYYYY!!!" Even with the cards! it was great :)

She thought the sunglasses were great and she HAD to have them on while riding her bike..too cute!

Alma was right there eager and willing to help if Saralyn showed any signs of needing help with opening her gifts. She's such a good big sis!

We missed having family around because for the past two years we have had a lot of family for the birthdays. But we got to talk to all of them over the computer using SKYPE and we also enjoyed having our friends there to celebrate with us!

The Barbie Cake

2009-04-06T14:33:00.000-06:00

Our friends Colter and Amanda and their kids, Anna and Nathen, came down to visit for the weekend and Amanda made this cake for her birthday. I thought it was pretty awesome, so I want to show it off! :)

The barbie was really cute, but we couldn't figure out what was going on with the hair. Saralyn loved her anyway!

Well, "I've been tagged"...

2009-02-16T11:59:00.001-07:00

So...I guess I'm supposed to show you all the 6th picture from the 6th folder on our computer...may be scary
Hey, I warned you didn't I? Josh thinks is it's "so awesome", I however, fail to see the beauty of it :) Here's a cute one to make up for that hideous thing (sorry Josh)

Since they are so cute...I added two. This was taken last summer, I think. We went canoeing and when we got to the end, Josh's family surprised us lunch at the park. It was so much fun. If you are reading this, I hope you know that we sure do miss you guys!!

I think I'm supposed to tag 6 people too, so...
Amber Campbell
Teresa M.
Amanda H.
Sarah S.
Jaime B.
Aunt Grizzly
...TAG! your it!

Long awaited trip...

2009-02-13T14:24:00.000-07:00

Ok, so Josh and I have been wanting to take the girls to Jackson Hole, WY to see the elk on the elk refuge (I'm sure that won't surprise anyone, knowing my husband). Josh and I had been before and it's really cool cuz they take you on a sleigh pulled by horses right through the elk. We thought the girls would love it. So when we finally made it there (after about 4 hours of driving) we are on the sleigh, about ready to take the first picture and what happens? The battery dies, of course. And I didn't think to grab extras when I was throwing everything else together. Soooo dissappointing! But we still had fun and we even saw some coyotes too. The day was beautiful and clear. Pretty good temperature for February and we could see the Tetons. So besides the whole camera mishap, we couldn't have picked a better day. The girls thought it was fun...for the first about 20 minutes then they seemed to have seen enough. But they didn't do too bad for the second half. I'm really glad we took the time to go up there. It was fun to go back to Jackson, since we hadn't been there for a couple years. Before we moved to PA, Josh worked there during the summers and we spend a lot of time there, so it was fun to be back.
It was actually a double good trip because we got to spend some time with some good friends too! Becky, Jeramy and Hayden and Colter, Amanda, Anna, and Nathen...Thanks for the fun time!! We were so happy to be able to spend time with you guys! Thanks to Darren and Jerolyn for letting us invade their home too! You guys are awesome! :)

Family Home Evening

2009-01-30T15:25:00.000-07:00

Last Monday, the girls thought we had a pretty fun Family Home Evening. We were learning about how we are children of God, and how special that makes us. So, for the activity, we made crowns that said "I am a child of royal birth" and we all wrote on each crown, something special about that person. They had a lot of fun with it and they looked so cute we had to take pictures. Mommy and Daddy even got in on the fun :) Anyway, they seemed to learn something from it. And lately (since we started trying to have family home evening every week instead of hit and miss) Alma always gets so excited about it and asks when we are going to have it. By watching her, I am learning how important it really is. Thanks Alma! :)

P.S. Don't you love the blue eye shadow? She is soooo into make up...uh-oh :)

Comforting big sis

2009-01-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

A few days ago Alma was throwing a fit about something and started crying. So, Saralyn decided she needed to give her a hug to help her feel better. But she didn't just give her a hug and was done. She actually hugged her until she stopped crying! It was so cute to see her wanting to help her big sister! I thinks she learns a lot from Alma, because Alma often does the same thing for her. Hopefully they don't grow out of that.

Hogle Zoo

2009-01-30T14:56:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we wanted to go to Jackson and take the girls to see the elk refuge and ride the sleigh, then go for a hike. But, it decided to snow everywhere we were wanting to go, so we changed our plans. Instead, we took them to Hogle Zoo and it was a lot of fun! It was a little cold, but it was nice that there weren't many people there. We could go anywhere we wanted without having to face the crowd! Anyway the girls really enjoyed it. Here are some fun pictures we took while we were there.

Our camera wasn't fast enough to get really good pictures, but we got a few okay ones and a few blurry ones. We'll let you see, just for fun.

Saralyn was afraid of a few of the animals and we would put her up close to the glass and she would try to push herself away. It was pretty funny. But they both really love animals and it was fun to see their expressions with all the different ones.

That little monkey is really blurry, but he loved cameras. Whenever anyone would put their camera up to take a picture, he would put his face right up there trying to figure out what it was, I guess. Anyway, we had a good time!

Dance Pictures

2009-01-22T17:32:00.000-07:00

Alma just started ballet/tumbling at the beginning of this month. Of course, she loves it. Here are some pictures I took before we went to class. Once again, Saralyn wants to be just like big sister! :) They both like to dance around a lot. I especially like it when they both put their hands over their heads and twirl. They are so sweet!

Learning to Help

2009-01-22T17:27:00.000-07:00

Alma wanted to help me with the dishes the other night, so she did. But of course, you can't have Alma without Saralyn. So we figured out how to let Saralyn "help" too. :) These were taken when we finished. I thought they were pretty cute.

Bunk Beds! We must be CRAZY!!

2009-01-07T18:50:00.001-07:00

The girls have been sharing a twin bed ever since we moved here in October. They have been doing okay with it, some days were better than others. But just before Christmas Grandma and Grandpa Briggs brought down a bunk bed that my sister was going to let us use. Oh boy, were they excited! Saralyn was right there climbing up with Alma. I was worried about how that would work because I knew I wouldn't be able to keep her off of it and I didn't want her to get hurt. But she seems to have a little monkey in her because she does just fine. She did fall off once and hurt her leg (she limped for a couple days) but other than that she does great. Alma thinks the top bunk is awesome! Hopefully we don't have any serious injuries, but for now it seems good. And, surprisingly (haha), they sleep much better with their own space! :)

Santa

2009-01-07T18:44:00.000-07:00

I know this is a little late, but I wanted to show the pictures of the girls seeing
Santa. We went to the library to see him and it was packed! We were standing in line waiting for our turn (kind of, Saralyn doesn't do lines well), and Saralyn saw some of the kids with candy canes. She looked at me wanting me to give her one, and I pointed to where they were getting them - Santa. So what did she do? Pushed her way to the front of the line to get her candy cane. She didn't realize, however, that she would have to sit on some strange mans lap to get it. As you can see from her picture, she wasn't too excited about that. Alma, on the other hand, wasn't scared at all. But when it was her turn she told me that she forgot what she wanted to ask for. I told her it was okay, he probably already knew anyway :)

Warm Days

2009-01-07T18:24:00.001-07:00

It seems like all our pictures are out playing, but we love it!After all that snow we got, today was an especially warm day. The snow was really melting fast so we decided to go out and take advantage of the nice weather and the snow before it all melted. I'm sure we will get more snow, but we needed the excuse to get outside!

Because all the snow was melting so fast, it was super heavy!! I almost couldn't get the middle snowball up on the bottom one. But I managed and Alma thought it was great sitting up there on top (with me close by, of course!)

Second attempt at blogging

2009-01-04T00:02:00.000-07:00

Well, I tried once and it didn't work out too well. Hopefully this time I will be able to keep up better. For anyone that's interested in Josh's work, I made a blog for him to post pictures of his mounts, antler lamps, and anything else like that. (He really likes to post pictures, I figured this way it might work better. We'll see) Right now, it's called "Josh's Bragg Blog" but I have a feeling he may change the name. Obviously he wasn't here when I did that...I'm sure he'll love the idea! :)

Enjoying a very white Christmas day!

2009-01-03T23:28:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas!

2009-01-03T23:24:00.002-07:00

Although we couldn't do as we planned and go to Burley on Christmas day (because all the roads were closed) we did make good use of the snow. After we built frosty, we had a grueling snowball fight and had lots of fun!