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!!