Cousins' Camp Fireworks Show

This was one of the best fireworks, and had one of the best reactions, thanks to Brittany!

Cousins' Camp 2009

This year for cousins camp we went down to Virden, NM to visit with Grandpa and Grandma Payne. It was a blast! Here are some things that we did:

Climbed the big tree in front of G&G Payne's House,

Rode the Riding Lawn Mower,

Had a Weenie Roast,

Watched Some Fireworks,

Made a Chain of Cousins,

Went for a Hike at Caneaster,

Swung on the Swingset,

And had lots of photo shoots,

It was great to get together and hang out with all of the Hunt cousins, grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, and uncles that went. We made a ton of good memories that we will remember forever. I can't wait until our next Cousins' Camp! I would like to thank all the family members that made it possible, especially G&G Payne for letting us intrude their house, and Grandma Hunt for running the show, despite not always feeling her best. I would also like to thank the Paynes' good neighbors for letting us stay at their houses overnight, and taking family pictures. I think it is safe to say, "A Good Time Was Had By All!"

Cross Your Fingers...

Well, here goes my attempt at blogging. Hopefully I will be able to figure it out soon. Wish me luck!

Merry Christmas to All

The last week has been filled with Christmas cheer and festivities, starting on Saturday. The Hunt clan was invited to gather at our house for a pre-Christmas party. My mom, so thoughtful and creative, presented to each of us some homemade gifts. The first was an apron, with a note explaining that it is a symbol of a shield or armor (like an apron is a shield for our clothing against everyday messes) and the aprons strings are to remind us that we have loving family ties. The second was a yellow handkerchief, representing the ensign Brigham Young raised as a standard for virtue. Thank you, Mom for making these tangible reminders of your love and faith. And thanks to Dad for keeping Mom from being lonely while she worked on her masterpieces.


Ally brought Paul for over for a brief visit Tuesday evening. It will probably be the only time we'll get to see him between his transfer from London to San Jose. While they were here, they helped my kids put together a pre-cut gingerbread house. "That's got to be the ugliest gingerbread house I've ever seen," Ally commented. She followed up with, "But it has to be the funnest ever!" as the walls tumbled, like the foolish man's house.

About midway through the day on Wednesday, I called my sister-in-law Lari. We decided that if everyone felt up to it (no commitment), we would head over to her house for a Christmas Eve bash. Duane's reading of the nativity story reminded me of my favorite part of Christmas Eve growing up--my dad reading from Luke 2 and realizing the miracle of Christ's birth, life and resurrection. The serious part was followed by fun. It was almost midnight when went dashing through the rain in our 8-seat minivan, trying to beat Santa's sleigh to our house.


It wasn't any surprise that Cami was the first one up (and second and third and fourth throughout the night) on Christmas. Can you believe a 15-year old still gets so excited? Fortunately, she let Darren and I sleep until just after 7.

Griffin left a letter out for Santa. In spite of his written request for "sox" and "see moncees" (sea monkeys) reasoning that he "did so much jobs," he was thrilled to get a DS (think upgraded handheld Gameboy).
Makenna could hardly wait to read her new books, and she's made lots of movies with her little flip video camera. And who would have dreamed that the girl who refuses to wear clothes embellished with flowers, hearts, ruffles, lace, ribbon, etc. would want bracelets and sparkly nail polish?












Always enthralled with Lego contraptions, Emmett loved his new beach house set (even though his face lacks the appropriate enthusiasm in this picture--he's probably trying to figure out his first step in building).


Cherise and I found some slippers that look like those old-fashioned sock monkeys. We thought Cami would be jazzed to have a pair. Instead, she said they were scary, so she gave them to Makenna (see bottom left corner of picture below).

Fortunately, she found other footwear more satisfactory.













Cherise got the Jordin Sparks CD and robot shirt she wanted (quirky fashion sense, huh?)

As for Darren and me, the best thing was probably the long (okay, not-long-enough) winter's nap we got. And the rain. And happy kids. And good parents. And the true meaning of Christmas.

Oh, and it has been rather nice to be a stay-home mom for a few days and get a few out-of-the-ordinary things done...like this blog, for instance.

Talented Turley Kids

Last week, each of our four oldest children had the opportunity to perform in front of an audience.

On Saturday, December 13th, in spite of losing her music for 10 days (and not practicing), Makenna did a marvelous job with "Deck the Halls" at her piano recital.

Emmett had memorized "Little Drummer Boy," and didn't need the music to practice or perform.

Cami's piano teacher wanted her to perform near the end--I think because she's getting so good!

Cherise doesn't take lessons from the same piano teacher, but her opportunity came a few days earlier in the week. On Tuesday, she played "Prelude in C Sharp Minor" by Rachmaninoff at an orchestra concert in front of a packed house (about a thousand people). She did an amazing job, especially on the fast and furious passages! Her orchestra conductor, trying to encourage her to bow more vigorously on a violin part, reminded her that she "pounded the snot out of the piano." Darren and I are so proud of all the hours she has spent practicing and her courage to tryout and perform in front of so many people.
Darren and I are grateful that our children are accomplishing things we didn't!

Oh, What a Beautiful Morning

Here we are, lounging on couches and recliners in our pajamas, with windows open to let in the refreshing breeze and with bellies full of waffles and homemade custard as we watch General Conference on TV. It has been wonderful to hear the inspired words of our living prophet and his counselors and apostles.

The last few days have been filled with happy events too. On Thursday, my parents drove the 3 1/2 hours from their home to ours to experience one of Cherise and Cami's orchestra concerts for the first time. The concert was really long, but soooo good. Sabbath Prayer from Fiddler on the Roof gave me goosebumps, and a smile didn't leave my face the entire time the symphony was playing Irish Legend. What made the concert even more enjoyable was that Arlene kindly agreed to babysit, so we could leave the concert-disrupters home with her. (Check out her blog to view Griffin's testimonial.)

So very graciously, my mom rose early the next morning to make Cherise her favorite breakfast, biscuits and gravy, for her birthday because there was no way I was going to be able to pull it off and still make it to work on time.
Birthdays at our house involve lots of scrumptious (but fattening) food, so Darren, who had taken the day off, took lunch to school for Cherise. Later that evening, she brought over some of her friends to partake of the garlic mashed potatoes and lemon pepper chicken Darren and I had fixed. And then there was Pumpkin Goo for dessert. Yum.

While I was at school Friday afternoon, and trying to plan for next week with my co-worker Lynn, we found a worksheet for beginning sounds, copyrighted in 1971. One of the pictures on the worksheet was a typewriter. Lynn laughed and said that our kindergartners probably wouldn't even know what it was--they would think it was some kind of weird computer. Totally unaware of my discussion with Lynn, my own children found an old typewriter I had been meaning to toss, and pulled it out. When Cherise's friends came over, it was so funny to see how excited they got over it. They thought it was the coolest thing! Who knew that a typewriter could be the center of attention at a 17-year old's birthday party?

According to Cami, the Book Title Should Be...

No offense, Stephenie Meyer, but Cami was just judging your latest best-seller by its cover and felt that a more appropriate title, based on the front picture, was Breaking Pawn. Cherise enjoyed the name change so much that she has been using it as wallpaper on her cell phone.




In other unrelated news, for those who haven't heard, we have our first cast in this family. (I'm not counting the ones Darren had before we met, and Makenna's broken collar bones couldn't be casted.) Emmett came home from school on Thursday, Sept. 11th saying that his wrist hurt. In P.E. that day, he had been riding a wave board, or rip stick--one of those skateboards that pivots in the middle--and things were getting a little out of control with kids trying to knock each other off their boards, when another boy came flying toward him. The impact caused Emmett to lose his balance and land on his right wrist. When he told me it hurt, I responded that if it should still hurt the next day, I would take him in to the doctor. I didn't hear a word about his wrist the following day (Friday), and on Saturday morning, I asked Emmett to mop the floor. As he swished and swiped, he complained that his wrist was hurting.


Yeah, yeah, now that he's having to mop, of course it hurts, I thought, but I took a peek at it anyway. It was definitely swollen, and repenting of my earlier lackadaisical response, I took him to Urgent Care. The X-rays showed that it was indeed fractured, and the nurse put on what she termed a "half-cast"--basically a plaster splint on top and bottom, held on with ace bandages. The splint extended halfway down his fingers, and made it impossible for him to hold a pencil and his bow for his bass. It was with much relief that he got his real cast the following Thursday after the swelling had gone down because now his fingers aren't covered, and he doesn't have to write with his left hand anymore. Cool cast, Emmett!

And a happy birthday to you, Mom. I hope you enjoyed our "Three Cheers to Grandma on Her Birthday" song. We love you!