Summer 2014: Week 8

This week band camp started. There may have been protest about needing to RIDE bikes there after the car rides to swim team every day since school let out.

This week was party week: Nathan's work party & the swim team party. Both fun & involved more swimming.

Also notable this week was our day in Cheyenne. We went for the pancake breakfast, which is part of Frontier Days. We stood in line for awhile with 10,000 of our closest friends to eat a free meal. It's pretty impressive that they host this event every year. It's very organized and was fun.

This is only part of the line . . . they keep you moving in lots of switchbacks so it doesn't feel as long.

Then, we went to a friend's house to watch the Thunderbirds.

They were not at Frontier Days last year due to budget cuts, so we decided it was worth it. Mostly it was cloudy, which delayed their start, but also made the weather very comfortable.

We met up with cousins there and ate popsicles while we waited. Then, back to Grandma's house for lunch and cousin time. We went to see the animals the cousins raise through FFA.

Andrew and I did some school clothes shopping online this year. We'll see how that works out when they arrive. Also, I am in denial about needing to do school supply shopping. It's so soon!

Saturday we had two fun outings. First, the longest bike ride our family has ever done. We rode between 9 and 10 miles on some of the lovely trails here. We left from home this time, but have discussed renting a trailer to take our bikes somewhere even more scenic. Someday. . . . It took awhile to get out of the house--checking every tire and helmet, but was a lot of fun. We will have to do this again. I have a photo but have been asked not to post it . . . email me if you want to see.

Then, in the afternoon, we went to the pool. Always more fun with Dad there.
While we were there, Caitlin broke her 5th bone while playing catch with a tiny football. The proximal phalanx of the left 5th finger. It's going to be just fine . . . . good thing we are friends with the ortho guys.

The sling is a little over the top for a broken pinkie finger, don't you agree?

Sunday was Nathan's birthday. He asked for cinnamon rolls for his treat. Caitlin was SO excited about that.
We are saving for something so the birthday gifts were minimal. BUT, the kids worked hard all day Friday to contribute to Nathan's gift from them, a pocketknife to replace the one TSA took last year. I knit him a reversible hat for his winter camp-outs with the Scouts.

Striped on one side

Grey on the other

So glad he's part of our lives!

Summer 2014: Week7

Our favorite scouts

Deer at the campsite

Rainbow . . . it rained a lot

This week was Scout camp . . . which meant boys, dirt and fun for Nathan.

For me it meant insomnia and quiet after bedtime. My best sleep this week was Saturday night when they were home.

The boys left early Monday morning (5 am meeting time at the church). They drove to the closest scout camp, Bendelatour. They had no cell phone reception, which was a blessing and a curse. Andrew was in Rifle, Archery, Environmental Science and Emergency Preparedness.
He finished all the requirements for them, and made headway on the cooking merit badge.

Monday we went to the orthodontist . . . Bryn is ready for the next phase. We hosted my brother, sister in law, and mom for the night.

Tuesday we had my mom here. She read and sewed and my kids love having her. We drove my mom to meet my brother & sister in law closer to the airport.

Wednesday I spoke to Nathan in the morning and we spent time with friends in the afternoon.

TH was the last day of swim team practice & piano lessons. Took my sewing machine to be repaired. Spent time with the same friends as Wednesday, one more day.

FR we were lazy all day, except for these parts: Picnic at park with friends for lunch, grocery shopping with 4 children, feeding the sister missionaries (our first garden zucchini!!), and working as a team to can 16 pints of chicken. All sealed & no breaks. My girls loved helping . . . in the past I've not let them touch the raw chicken, so they enjoyed that step.

SAT morning the boys called around 9 am. They were coming home! We put the last 8 jars of chicken in. Andrew showered and got ready for a baseball game. I dropped him off for his ride to the game and went to the temple, a friend went for the first time. Nathan took the chicken off the heat, fed the kids lunch and went to the game. After dinner, we went to see the Secret Garden--a choral version. Our friend played Collin--the main reason we went. Late night . . . . but worth it.

SUN I subbed in Bryn's Sunday School class and learned that 12 & 13 year olds are different from who I normally teach. She also said that she didn't want me to be her regular teacher . . .

Summer is flying now!

Summer 2014: Week 6

Andrew had two baseball games, W and TH. On Wednesday he struck out once and walked twice. TH afternoon, he got contacts. TH night he struck out once and hit two singles. One of those was an RBI, and once he came in. What a miracle! I feel bad for not catching it earlier, but better late than never. The video below is the first hit. The second was even stronger. So proud of him for sticking it out so long without contacts.

Friday morning, Andrew hung out an extra long time at the swimming pool. He brought UNO cards and a friend brought doughnuts--a little party to celebrate the end of the season. There was plenty of goofing off, too. But no one slipped and cracked their head open, so we are thankful for that.

This week Bryn had volleyball camp at a local rec center. This meant she went to swimming from 7:15 until 8:30 and got out of the pool to go to the gym. For this week only she changed age groups and ability levels. She really felt the difference in the workout.

For me, it meant additional driving. On TH, I drove over 100 miles getting everyone to their events. Summer is no joke when you are a mother with lots of children.

Caitlin's big fun was Go-Kart camp.

She signed up last summer but we had to cancel due to broken bones. A friend went with her and after 2 hours, they'd learned all about driving go Karts. Not really surprising that the girls were outnumbered: 3 girls and about 10 boys. Caitlin also had an Activity days party at the swimming pool.

TH night my brother and his wife came to town. They are considering a move to the west and we were fortunate enough to have them stay the night. Fun to chat and catch up. We will host them one more night next week on their way home.

FR night we went to Denver to look at a couple of pianos & ate dinner. In typical CO fashion, there were afternoon thunderstorms as we were driving. Saturday was a get ready for Scout Camp kind of day.

Sunday I will teach Gospel Doctrine. Nathan is scheduled to set up chairs before church, help with a deacon's quorum presidency meeting after and a scout committee meeting in the late afternoon.

Only 5 more weeks!
The school emailed me a reminder about the early release that's happening the first two weeks of school since the K-8 buildings don't have great air conditioning (or none at all).

Hunt Family Reunion: 2014

Big Bear Cabin, Bear Lake (found on VRBO.com) with the Hunts flag collection. They are very patriotic, you know.

TH afternoon we spent picking up food. We used Sam's club click and pull feature. It was awesome. If you are hosting a lot of people and want to speed up the shopping, its a great way to go. We got to the cabin around 5 or 5:30, and Tara, Nathan and I made dinner. It was Chicken Hoagie Sandwiches--which were a big hit. Probably our most successful menu . . .it's the recipe people asked for.
Then a few minutes to talk about the schedule. After Hot Potato and Musical chairs, we went to bed early.

FR morning we met for photos. Apparently the traffic was poor due to parades, so we started a big late b/c our photographer could not get through. Don't have her photos back yet but hope to share them soon.
After photos, we changed clothes and put some red white and blue in our hair. Boys started building their forts for the fireworks competition.We also made giant bubbles--which was a lot of fun.

 

 

 

Nancy's traditional flag cake

Friday afternoon we went to the beach. We were able to rent a water trampoline. The big kids just loved it. Hunts brought 2 canoes--and people rode out and back from the trampoline all afternoon. Great fun. We left a little early to get a head start on dinner:
Jalapeno Cheddar Turkey Burgers

Fireworks battles

We only did our own fireworks. Pretty sure we were driving home when the big ones went off. Chad knows someone who uses simple fireworks to create a battle. They use cereal boxes, etc. to build a fort. Then you are partnered up with someone for your battle. You are given a bag of fireworks similar to the person who you are fighting against. There are some plastic animals inside. The winner is the one with animals left standing after the fireworks have all gone out. It was pretty cool, but all of Andrew's animals melted when his fort caught fire.

Sunset on the 4th

Saturday morning was not so early--we had some open time for games and more bubbles. Made sandwiches for lunch, ate Raspberry Shakes in Garden City and then headed to the beach. One of the best things we did was get the phone number for the shake place. We called in our order at 10am. They made them, stuck them in the freezer and all we had to do was pay them when we arrived. The line for the beach was even worse than on the 4th. This day we'd rented a boat that pulled a banana sled behind it. Each person got to go on the boat and I think everyone had a chance to get on the sled . . . which was fun, too.
We came home to Pork Carnitas.

After dinner was a group meeting. We called it SST (story, skit, or talent). Each family got 10 minutes to have the stage. Nathan told a story about one of his inspiring early ID ancestors, Josiah Call, that he remembered hearing as a child at a family reunion.

Eddie really wanted to have a dance party with glowsticks in the dark. My three youngest and two of the Seattle Hunts shared this bunk room. We had a short dance party on Saturday night.

Then, a meeting to de-brief the reunion. Some stayed up to pack, others to make a model Stephen had brought, some went to bed.

Sunday morning was a scramble to get out in time for 9 am church. We did it with minutes to spare. All 26 of us were able to sit on 3 rows far back in the gym. Joining our sacrament meeting was Elder Quentin L. Cook, whose family owned land at the back of the church property. The bishop estimated 1000 to 1100 people in that meeting. Pretty cool.
He said that the gospel changes hearts, and a changed heart can become a broken heart, and a broken heart is healed by Christ, which can be a turned heart--turned to others. I hope my kids remember hearing him & feeling the Spirit in that giant sacrament meeting.

Although my photos are few, it was a great weekend. 26 people is a lot to take care of and things went almost as smoothly as possible--a little better planning could have improved a few details. It will be nice to not be in charge next time! It's a lot of work, but worth it.

Summer 2014: Week 5

This week was a blur . . . putting together final details for Nathan's family reunion.

26 people.
One big house.
Lots of fun.

Nathan and I worked to prep lots of the food. We cooked Carnitas (remember how last time we suggested having parts catered or purchased?)
and grilled chicken. LOTS OF IT. Formed 36 turkey burger sliders.
Questioned why we didn't delegate more.
Remembered it's cause we like the details to be ours.

Nathan took scouts cycling and Bryn had a church activity cooking.
(There are differences between men and women).

I shopped for all the last minute things:
Simple dawn
Hair ties
Adam's peanut butter
and knitted while sitting in the orthodontist's office.

Remembered that last week I wrote a poem (which is dedicated to Caitlin):

Hustle your bustle,
Or my muscle
Will
Hustle your bustle.

This week I bought Andrew a shirt from the men's department at Target. It fits!
I predict that in a year he'll be taller than me. Not ready for that, but it's coming.

Nathan had Wednesday off. We tried to get out early, but ended up leaving just before noon. We hadn't really packed, and that can slow you down.

We drove across WY and watched "How to Train Your Dragon."  We have two secret with movies in the car.
#1 Redbox
#2 We save them for the late afternoon before dinner when everyone's a little cranky about having been in the car so long.

We stopped in Kemmerer, WY, which does not have a lot of options, but enough. We chose a local diner, Adimiah's, and should have all eaten Mexican food, because it was obvious our server's native language was not English. We didn't, but it was great food. We got to Bear Lake around 7pm, which was early enough to drive up the hill to check out our cabin and get one shake so we could see which size was best.

7:00 PM, Weds

 I really love Bear Lake. It's so big and changes colors throughout the day.
We drove to Logan and got to our hotel late. Fell asleep even later.
 The next morning we found this hiding behind the blackout curtains.

 And this on the bed. It was the only moment in the hotel room he sat still.

 My mom's sister lives outside of Logan, so we went to visit. It happened to be time for the fresh peas, so we ate several handfuls. So good. Wished you were there, Mom.

 My uncle's hobby is precious stones. He had the girls pan for some--which they found and brought home. They were in heaven. When we left, Caitlin asked, "Mom, can I be his apprentice?"

 While they looked for rocks, I had my aunt take me to my grandparents' grave site. Sure love them.

 When we stopped at Aggie Ice Cream, we were not surprised at all to run into two of Nathan's brothers--getting ice cream before lunch. It was a treat to meet up with them.

The rest of week 5 is in the next post--about the reunion.
One of our friends in the ward has 8 children and they had a reunion here. So we let one of their daughters' families stay at our house. In exchange, they watered our garden for us. So great.


Week 5 down, 6 to go.