Celeste turns 10!

Today, my baby girl is double digits! She’s in fifth grade this year and so far, is loving it. She’s a sweet big sister and a wonderful help to Kyle and myself. I love her so much and hate that she is growing up so quickly. She loves to read, dress up, swim, play with her friends, do art of any kind and she has recently started sewing. I’ve had to hide any fabric I have plans for because if it’s out, she’ll use it! She’s just learning, but she can sew straight lines with a sewing machine, which at her age, is more than I could do. She mostly enjoys making pillows and bags because they are all straight lines, but I’m waiting for the day when she asks me to teach her how to make clothes because it’s coming soon! She’s also learning to cook from recipes. She’s had a few mess ups, but she’s learning and I love that she wants to do it.

She loves shopping, shoes, make-up and anything girly. She loves Monster High, zebra print and pink. She is planning to start playing the viola this year at school, which I am very excited about!

I couldn’t be more proud of this sweet, spunky young lady who has a knack for getting her baby brother to sleep when I need her help and willing to play with her older brothers when they are getting on my nerves.

Ocean Trip and Hunter Family Reunion Week 1!

Yes, we’re getting to the end of our first week of our vacation! We were able to spend some time at the beach with Grandma Hunter in a hotel right on the beach!

Kyle and I were able to take a walk on the beach after swimming at sunset. It was so beautiful to watch the sun set over the ocean. We haven’t ever done that together before, so it was really nice. After that, we walked the boardwalk by ourselves. Most places were closing, but we enjoyed wandering around without kids for a little while. The next day, we actually went to the sand to play. Thomas was introduced to the sand and LOVED it! He crawled around putting his hands in it and letting it fall through. He also covered himself nicely in it (as most babies do when they love something!)

The kids didn’t want to leave when it was time to go, but we were done when Thomas ended up with sand in his eyes. Thankfully we could promise them that we would be back the next week with the Dover cousins, so they got over their sadness quickly!

Saturday was a big day for the extended Hunter Family. We have officially gotten big enough to have to have a family reunion! Of course, we live the furthest away, but Kyle’s brother lives far enough away to not be able to come home all the time. There is also a wedding coming up and a student who just graduated and will be heading off for bigger and better things, so it may be awhile before we have everyone together again.

We also have my friend, Amanda take family pictures for us. We needed an updated picture with Thomas in it. It’s also been awhile since the grandkids have all been updated, so even though it will probably be out of date soon enough, for now, Grandma can have all of her grandbabies in one picture. Here are the pictures from our photo shoot!

The WHOLE Hunter family. We have definitely gotten big!

All of the grandkids with Grandma.

The original Hunter kids with Mom.

The oldest and youngest cousin. I LOVE THIS PICTURE!

Water Fun–Week 1

We had the opportunity to spend some time on the Columbia River with the Dover family. The kids loved going out on the Wave Runner and Thomas LOVED playing in the water, as he normally does. He is definitely a water baby! We loved all of the time we were able to spend just playing and letting the cousins get reacquainted and play together. Later in the evening Cavan took out their bounce house for the kids to play in.

Look how happy Tommy is in this thing. He enjoyed bouncing and crawling around all over the place. We’re seriously considering finding something like this for our family here for birthdays and special occasions because the kids had the best time and were totally worn out at the end of the evening.

When we lived in Oregon, we had been to Grant park many times, but Celeste had never been very interested in the Ramona books yet and didn’t understand the statues that were there by the sprinklers. So, we decided to take a picnic when Grandma and Auntie Erin got off work. We packed a dinner and enjoyed an evening at the park. The kids were ready to play in the water, but it was quite cold, so they played on the other toys more than anything. Celeste did want to get pictures taken with the statues though, to show her friends here in Kentucky.

Next post will finish up week 1, I promise!!

Oregon Vacation–Week 1–The Gorge

We started the week by Kyle taking the older kids on a hike in the Columbia Gorge with other cousins and aunts and uncles. I had planned on going, but Tommy needed to sleep so badly that I stayed back so he could have a good nap. It was a great day for them though and Kyle got some great pictures.

Later that evening, when everyone got back from their hike, we had a late barbecue with the family. It was warm enough to bring out the slip-n-slide and send the kids down the hill.

I had originally planned on doing the whole week in one blog, but there are way too many pictures, so I’ll have to split it up over time because they would be REALLY long blogs if I didn’t!

Holiday Road Trip Part 1

One would think that taking a baby in a car across the country along with his three older siblings would be torture and the parents would be insane for trying such a thing. Well, we must be insane, but we are all still alive, so it couldn’t have been that bad, right?!

This year, Kyle got even more ingenious than normal. We sold our truck and purchased a minivan before the trip (a story for another time) and Kyle installed a DVD player and a sensor bar for the Nintendo Wii, so the kids could play games while we were driving. I was a little worried about the Wii because I know that they can fight, but I went with it.

The kids did a great job playing for the most part. It was actually a lot of fun watching them play together. Celeste thought for sure that she would win because she’s older, but Eddie plays a lot more at home. (Do you see poor Gordon? He’s so unhappy with an ear drum that is causing him pain. I felt so bad that he had such a hard time.)

We did stop a little a long the way though. It made the trip longer, but it was nice to get out and enjoy just a few sites along the way.

Gordon wasn’t interested in going up to the arch, so Celeste and Eddie went with Kyle and the two younger boys and I stayed back. I love the picture of all four of the kids with the arch behind them though.

Our first glimpses of Mt. Hood from the road. It was so exciting to see that view!

Can you believe we didn’t take the camera out while we were visiting Utah? I can’t. I think we were just so excited to be out of the car and the kids were so excited to play, that we didn’t even consider the camera, even though there were so many family members there to visit with and we could have taken pictures.

Next blog…Vacation – Week 1!

Thoughts On a Well Loved Grandpa

Today I received some sad news that has been a long time coming, in my opinion. My grandpa Joe has passed away. I don’t know that I feel as sad as I should about it, but I don’t think I feel bad about not being as sad as others may be.

You see, my grandpa was a great man. He didn’t have to love me or be the grandpa that he was to me. As a child, he and my grandma put together the best gift boxes for Christmas. They were individualized for each grandchild and well thought out. He and Grandma came to my baptism even though he is Jewish and my grandma was a different religion from me. (I’m sure Grandma pushed him to come, but he came and at least pretended to be happy to be there!) I know he called all of the granddaughters Sweetheart, but it was the way that he said it that I loved and really felt that he knew me individually. The grandpa I knew and loved took me out to dinner while my parents were out of town. He also “fixed” my car for me until my dad could come home and do a better job of it when I was a teenager. I’m sure some of the concerts he came to were because Grandma made him come, but I could always count on them being there. He didn’t have to come really. He could have stayed home, but he didn’t because he loved my grandma and he loved me.

He was a stubborn man and watching Grandma get frustrated with him for not hearing her because he couldn’t hear much of anything was humorous in it’s own right. I don’t know how much he couldn’t hear and how much he chose not to hear, but I didn’t mind repeating myself, even if he did have a grin on his face when he asked, “what?” for the third time. I know there was a time in his life that things were different, but the grandpa I knew loved me. He loved my daughter and even seemed to enjoy my boys over the last few years. He always commented on my kids’ beautiful blonde hair and blue eyes. He even found a Kewpie Doll that he thought looked just like Celeste and wanted her to have it because it reminded him of her.

There is a joke in my family that my last name never should have been Dover, it should have been Chubin. Why? Because even though my dad’s biological dad is a Dover, my dad walks, talks and acts just like his step-dad, Joseph Chubin. Grandpa Joe raised him as his own. My dad learned to work on cars along side Grandpa Joe and he even learned to cook like Grandpa Joe. (Not always a good thing, trust me, there are stories!) Grandma and Grandpa even passed on things that my dad later had to overcome, but my grandparents were proud of him for it. They supported him when he decided to join the Mormon church because drugs and alcohol were no longer a part of his life when he did that. Grandpa Joe often stood in the background of many things in my life because that was the kind of man he was.

The past few years, he had been slipping though. I was able to spend some time with him when my family went to Disneyland in 2011. (The picture is of Grandpa Joe trying on hats in Disneyland.) He happened to be visiting my aunt who lives not too far from there, so they came for a day. I could tell then that things were getting worse. Since then he has never gotten better. He couldn’t live on his own, but he didn’t really want to live with anyone else. I think he had been ready to pass on since my grandma passed away years ago.

There are some things I believe as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I believe that my grandparents are finally whole again. I believe that my grandma was there to meet him when he left this earth and that they have been reunited. He has led a good life and was a good father and grandfather to so many. I have wonderful memories of him and so many funny stories that I can pass on to my children about my grandpa. He was a thoughtful soul who I started missing years ago when his health and mind started going.

I’m so glad that I was able to know him and love him. I’m so grateful for the memories and the good times with him. I’m also thankful that he is finally at peace with my grandma. I am sad that he has died, there is no denying that, but I’m so happy that he can finally be where he wants to be and his spirit is no longer in a broken body.

May your Spirit live on, Grandpa Joe, in all who knew you and loved you. You are missed on Earth, but reunited with those you have missed for so long already, and for that I am happy for you. I love you!

Tommy Is On His Way!

Our little Thomas is growing up! He’s been rolling around for a while and has finally gotten himself on hands and knees to rock back and forth. He’s also able to scoot backwards all over the place, which is becoming a problem when the other kids don’t keep their toys picked up. He’s sure cute though and the kids love watching him try to crawl. They are his biggest cheerleaders and he loves doing anything that gets his siblings’ attention.

Eddie and Gordon Are Playing Soccer

I haven’t blogged in so long, but I have to write about Eddie and Gordon playing soccer.

Gordon is such a good runner and loves getting to the ball. There are a few boys on the team that will take the ball about from any one, including their own team members, so that kind of stinks, but my boys haven’t complained about it too much, so I’m not going to worry about it. In fact, I think it makes my boys fight harder to get the ball, which is good for them.

I love this age for sports with this program. The coaches are able to run on the field with the kids and help them along the way. It also means there are three adults to help keep the kids safe and teach them as they go along. The boys are pretty excited every Saturday morning to go play a game, but practice is a different story. Almost every week we have to threaten our kids to get them to go to practice, but once they are there, they love it. Their coach is great with them. She’s a kindergarten teacher, so she knows and understands these kids and is so wonderful in helping them learn to play soccer and learn team work at the same time.
I’ll post more pictures after their game this weekend. Last weekend’s game was cancelled for the Derby, so we’ll start again this weekend with more pictures to come!

Thomas is 6 Months Old!

Today Thomas is 6 months old and how did we celebrate? By taking him to the doctor!

Tommy is doing very well. He weighs in at 17lbs 15oz in the 58th percentile, his height is 27.125” in the 70th percentile and his head circumference is 17.25” in the 63rd percentile. He’s rolling over very well and would probably sit up on his own if he would sit still long enough to do so!

He loves to laugh at his siblings when they do silly things, although they don’t even have to do something silly to make him laugh. He is ticklish on his chest and back and loves to eat his feet if he can. He drools like crazy, but we haven’t seen any teeth nor do we feel any coming through any time soon. The poor boy had to have shots today at his check up, although I’m not sure he really cried over the shots as much as the fact that the nurse had to hold his legs down in order to give the shots to him. He hated not being able to move his legs and when she was done, he kicked like crazy to make up for it.

He had the same beautiful blue eyes that his siblings have and gets compliments all of the time about them. I love being able to dress him in blue to make them stand out even more. He’s a wonderful boy who already is showing his personality and I love it!

Easter

This year Easter was pretty quiet, but nice for us at the Hunter House. Saturday morning we got up early and went to the primary Easter Egg hunt.

That evening we colored our eggs and enjoyed an evening together.

Easter morning the kids woke up and had to search the house for  their Easter baskets. They also received some pretty practical gifts from the Easter Bunny this year. Eddie and Gordon both got soccer balls because they are starting soccer soon. Celeste got a new pair of high heeled shoes because she is in love with shoes. (She gets it from her Grandma Marla!) Thomas got new sunglasses and some teething gel for when he starts teething. He looks adorable with his glasses on.

We were able to get a family picture in our Easter clothes before life got too crazy after church as well. That evening one set of missionaries from church needed a place to go for dinner, so we had them over. Because there are two sets of missionaries assigned to our areas, often some of them don’t always have dinner appointments and we couldn’t allow that to happen on Easter! We hate when they don’t have Sunday dinners, but to not have a place to go on Easter Sunday is horrible, so they came over for the afternoon/evening. Neither of them even got packages from home for Easter, so thanks to my couponing and growing food storage, as well as the fact that I don’t throw anything away, I was able to find some old Easter baskets in the basement and put together some things for them. They didn’t get anything really big and exciting, but they went home with some snacks, candy, and some after Christmas clearance items that I picked up to use for last minute birthday gifts or for other occasions. We had them join the kids on the egg hunt in the back yard as well. It really wasn’t much, but it was better than not getting anything for Easter from anyone! Hopefully it was just a fluke and their families just sent out their packages late, but if not, they at least got something. Next year I’ll be more prepared and have better stuff ready to go incase the missionaries don’t have any place to go.

From our family to yours, HAPPY EASTER!!!