December

Eddie's Birthday

This month has been a whirlwind. Eddie celebrated his birthday at the beginning of the month and enjoyed every minute of it. He didn't really understand what was going on when people called him and sang to him during the day, but that night, after everyone sang to him and he blew out his candles and opened his presents, he was really into the birthday thing. We haven't been able to get him to stop singing Happy Birthday since! I think the funniest part is that every time he sees a candle lit, he just HAS to sing Happy Birthday and blow out the candle!

Christmas

Christmas was also quite an experience this year. We were actually able to really enjoy an extra long holiday because Kyle's family celebrated on Sunday instead of Christmas Eve like we have in the past. I think we all enjoyed the day, especially in the crazy snow. What made the week even better was having so much snow that Kyle couldn't go to work up until the day after Christmas. I loved that he was able to be home during the snow and we could enjoy being together as a family and helping others. On Saturday before Christmas, the snow was really deep and it was blizzarding outside really badly. We came home from my parent's house and there was a neighbor of ours out walking with her shopping cart trying to pull it through the snow to the grocery store. We offered her a ride to the store because she had to go that night or she wouldn't have food for the week. We sat at the Starbucks and had hot chocolate while she did her shopping and then took her home afterwards. We also had our own trials with the snow and Cavan and Casey had to help us a few times get out of the snow, but Kyle still had the opportunity to help a co-worker go Christmas shopping because he didn't have a vehicle that could get through the snow. It was also nice that Kyle was able to drive me places and I didn't have to try to drive myself and hope I didn't get stuck because I just know that I would have if I had to drive on my own!! (Can you imagine - me at 37 weeks pregnant, trying to dig my way out of the snow and put chains on the truck by myself? I don't think so!!)

Christmas Day was a nice relaxing day for our family. We woke up and got to see what Santa brought our family. Celeste baked in her new Easy Bake Oven and Eddie played with his cars all morning. We had a light breakfast and got ready to go to Nana and Papa's house. We had brunch at Nana and Papa's and opened presents there. Grandma came to Nana and Papa's house and then came to our house with us to see what Santa brought. We took naps after Grandma left and then had dinner over at Nana and Papa's house again. It's nice being close to our family, so we don't have to travel far and we can go home when we need to for whatever purpose we have! The new year is now coming and with that, a new baby will come as well. We are all excited for that, but what a flurry of excitement this month has been for our family!

Thanksgiving

I haven't written in so long, not even for Halloween, that I need to at least write for Thanksgiving. Yesterday we spent the day with my family, since most of Kyle's family was in Idaho. We enjoyed the day over at Cavan and Sarah's house with everyone except Mike, Brooke, and Adam (we missed them as always!) It was such a nice day that we didn't even notice we were leaving at the kids' bedtime instead of before, so we had to fight to keep them awake and from fighting once we got home.

Our family has so much to be thankful for. We have great extended family that love and support us. We are thankful for Kyle's job and the fact that he still is working, not just full time, but over time frequently to give us the comfort of knowing that Kyle will have a job for a long time. We are grateful for each other and the love of being a family. We are grateful for the gospel in our lives and the fact that we can be a family forever.

Our Beach Trip

Kyle had some time off before starting his new job, so we took a day trip to the coast. It was a beautiful day and we had a great time. The only thing we planned on doing for sure was going to the cheese factory, other than that, we didn't have any particular plans and just played it by ear. It turned out to be a gorgeous day at the beach. There wasn't any wind and the sun came out while we were on the beach, so the kids were able to take off their shoes and socks and play in the water and sand. They absolutely LOVED it! They found fun seashells and barried their feet in the sand.

At dinner time we drove up to Astoria and went to this great little place called The Wet Dog. They were VERY kid friendly and they had the very best clam chowder ever! I totally enjoyed it and am ready to go back and get more!!!

We had such a nice time as a family. It was a wonderful day and we really lucked out with nice weather. I can't wait to do it again!

Kaelynn's World Premier!!

Cavan and Sarah had their baby and she is so precious. These are the pictures that we took of her while she was still at the hospital.

Celeste's 1st Day of School!

I am finally downloading the pictures of my baby getting on the bus for her first day of school! I can't believe that she is a kindergartener now! She LOVES school. She loves music, gym (sometimes), library, and recess (of course!). She says that the stuff in the classroom is boring, but then she starts talking about playing with the toys and today she came home and spelled DOG all by herself because she learned how today at school! I love that she loves school, but I just can't believe she is growing up!

My baby is growing up!

I was just thinking today about the fact that my baby girl is turning five in a few weeks and we are getting ready for kindergarten to start in September. My little girl is big and getting bigger all of the time! Where has the time gone? I'm so excited for her to go to school, but she's my baby, I just can't believe it!

We'll have pictures of her birthday party and of her first day of school coming up soon, so stay tuned!

New Pictures!

We finally have some new pictures to post! I have been meaning to for a while now and now it is time. Kyle doesn't want me to, but I have to show you just how beautiful a princess my son could be. His sister was wearing a princess dress and he needed one too! Then he decided he needed to try a few on just for kicks! I promise though, Kyle will make sure that he loves football and nascar and NOT princesses!

Javen Roy Dover

It's a beautiful boy! I'm the first to write about it, but I don't have many pictures, because we used Mom's camera for the still shots, so you'll have to go to her site for those. It was amazing. Roy'l was brave enough to invite Mom, Cameo, Sarah and I, along with her own mom and sister to be there and she asked me to video tape it. What a special honor! I enjoyed being in the room and the calm that was there. Roy'l felt it all and took it like the strong woman that she is. I was impressed and amazed with how well she did. I know I had my baby naturally, but in the end I probably would have taken meds if they had let me, but Roy'l did it for real! She didn't complain horribly and she was even fairly nice when she could have been very mean and some points. What a blessing that baby is and how wonderful that we have added another baby to are rapidly growing family. I love you Casey and Roy'l and I know that I am going to be so in love with Javen. Thank you for letting me be a part of your blessed day!

The sun is out, the kids are playing on their own and my house is a mess. It's a happy day!!!!

Back to Work

Well, Kyle is going back to work. It is more of a have to thing, than a dream job thing, but he's willing to do what he has to for his family. He will be going back to being an appliance tech for Sears/A&E. It's not where we had hoped to be, but it's a job and we know the ins and outs of the company now and he'll only stay until he finds something else to do. We're still hoping to hear from the City of Portland or Kaiser, either of which would be a pay raise and a greater amount of responsiblity, but totally worth it for him. Please pray for us as we are praying for something better. Because of the job he won't be able to do his radio show anymore though and that is probably the hardest thing to think about for him. It didn't pay much and he was in the back room on the phones, but he loved it and the guys think he is great. They want to keep him on doing the website and possibly driving the cars for video footage though, so he can still be involved and get free tickets to things! I think not doing the show is what makes the appliance repair job a bad deal because there is no way out of working Saturdays. Oh well, Kyle will do what he needs to for his family and we'll make it through until something better comes along. Just letting you know, you don't have to worry about us, we have an income and Kyle has a job!!!

Conference Weekend

We definitely enjoyed General Conference weekend. The messages were so wonderful and just what I needed. I am so grateful for Prophets and Apostles who lead and guide us to make ourselves better. I'm grateful for their love and support of everything we do when we are trying our best. I know that President Monson is a true Prophet of God. He is such an amazing man and will continue to lead the Church wonderfully.

Children's Songbook

I just wanted to tell anyone who is interested that you can get some of the Children's songbook songs on your playlist if you are interested. I was helping my friend Kayley create a blog because she is moving and I want to stay in contact, so she was creating her own playlist and typed in Popcorn Popping just to see what they had and it was there. So I typed in Children's Songbook and was able to find some of our favorite primary songs for fun!

That's all for today except that I'm really sad that Kayley is moving away and I have to get a new visiting teaching companion and new friend that has kids the same age as my kids to play with. I still have a few weeks though, so we'll play as much as we can before her family has to go!

Easter Sunday

We have finally got something working on our blog. THANK YOU MOM!!! I was so busy for a while that nothing happened with it. This last week I had my Enrichment Activity, since I'm the leader I started feeling a little overwhelmed, but at the same time, not really knowing what I was actually supposed to be doing. I decided that I need to take a little time for myself and really do something fun. What is more fun than blogging and playing on the computer!?!

Today we had a nice Church service and then we came home and got to relax for a while. Kyle and Eddie had naps and Celeste and I worked on things around the house. Celeste loves helping me in the kitchen, so she helped make the deviled eggs for Easter Dinner at Nana and Papa's house. She doesn't like to eat eggs, but she loves to color them and help make them! Dinner at Mom and Dad's was very nice with Cavan & Sarah, Casey & Roy'l and Cameo and Leann. Marla called to wish us a Happy Easter, but it was too late to go visit today. Marla and Erin had steak for their Easter dinner (personally I think it's not such a bad idea to have steak for Easter dinner!)

This last week we had a sale on Ebay, so that kept me really busy with decals. We have decided that while Kyle is still not working that we are going to do our best to get the decals going well, so that if he does have to take a pay cut, it won't hurt us too much in the long run. I would really like to help more financially if possible from home. I love being home with my kids and being able to help our friends by watching their kids. There is just something about being able to stay home with my kids and watch them grow up. I get to see their habits and skills change and grow from a tiny baby. I also understand my kids so well just from being able to be with them and communicate with them on a one on one basis consistently.

Well, it is late and I am tired. Easter is an amazing holiday to celebrate. We hear way too much about the death of our Savior through other churches during this time of year, but we don't always discuss the resurrection. What a remarkable thought that through Jesus Christ, the Savior and Redeemer of the world, we can ourselves be resurrected and live with not only our families for eternity, but our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as well.

I do have to apologize if this doesn't make sense at all. I wrote it late and am too busy during the day to work on a post more!

Hunter Family Pictures

We had our pictures taken by one of Kyle's co-workers right before Eddie's 1st birthday. She wanted the pictures of our kids for her website, so she took our pictures for free - great deal huh!?! If you need your pictures taken for anything and you live in the Portland area, her name is Nina and her website is itzmeagain.com or her email address is itzmeagain@gmail.com I figure that putting her info on our blog is the least I can do since she came to our house and dealt with the kids to take our pictures when all she really needed was a few pictures of the kids! She did great. The slideshow of pictures is coming, as soon as I figure out how to do it!!!

The Creation!!!

And so the journey begins! I've thought about a blog and since my sister-in-law Brooke has promised to show me the ropes to make it original, I am willing! Why Emerald Lane Hunters? Because we live on Emerald Lane - what a thought!



The Hunter Family consists of Kyle, Michelle (Dad and Mom), Celeste (4 1/2) and Kyle Edward (Eddie 1). We'll get pictures up soon. Oh, our family is also joined by our dog, Grim. He's a lab/retriever. He's bigger than both kids, but such a sweet dog, I can't leave him out!



We have a good life here on Emerald Lane. We're just around the corner from Michelle's parents and across the street from Kyle's Mom's work, so we get to see grandparents on a regular basis. What a blessing that is for the kids. They have parents who love them so much and grandparents that would do just about anything for them within walking distance.



Kyle and Michelle have a vinyl decal business on the side (kind of a night job for Michelle!) We get pretty busy with that after the kids go to bed, but we'll do our best to keep up on the blog too. Hunterdecals.com is our website, so if there is ever a question about decals, that's what we have so far, however we are ALWAYS updating it, so check back often for anything new that may be coming. (good way to promote the website, right!?!)