Maggie's Baptism

To end our crazy July activity, Maggie was baptized on July 11, 2009, at our stake center here in Lyman, ID. Many thanks to our wonderful relatives who traveled from near and far to be here (especially Nana and Papa, Gram and Grandpa, and Ron and Mary Beth from Cedar City!). I couldn't have done it without your help! And Maggie appreciated your show of support on such an important day. It was a great day from start to finish. Highlights included a hootnanny divine pancake breakfast (with sour cream, lemon curd and fresh strawberries - Kars, wish you were here! YUM!), a lovely baptismal service (Sophie gave a talk and all the grandkids sang "I like to Look for Rainbows"), a gourmet buffet lunch with help from all the cousins, watching Spencer lick the frosting off of at least 30 of the mini frosted cupcakes Nana made, and of course an impromptu dance later in the afternoon in the Larsen Family Barn. And eating a Hungry Heifer at Big Juds later with Mom and Dad, and actually meeting Big Jud himself who helped Papa change his tire!

We wish everyone could have been there, but we had an awesome turnout to support Maggie, and her baptism was really what it was all about. Congratulations on this big step, Mags! We are so proud of you!

Yellowstone!

I love that we live so close to major geographical stunners like the Tetons and Yellowstone. We recently took a road trip with some friends through these amazing places and had to post some pics. Highlights included being charged by a bison as we were driving along the highway, walking around the hot pots by Old Faithful, getting up close and personal with a whole herd of bison, and exhausting our camera batteries with gratuitious photo taking. Let them serve as an advertisement to come visit us in Idaho!!!

And oh, we also did the Rexburg 4th of July parade. Had a great time! There's Sophie in red, cousin Gracie Hunter in pink, and Maggie in blue polka dots. We love to dance, especially on a float!

Summer Stuff

After we left Aspen Grove we went down to Grandma and Grampa Larsen's house in Richfield for some more frolics. Highlights included sleeping with Scottie and Kenzie, the Westies; rock climbing and riding the tractor train at Danish Days in Central Valley; and four wheeling to the pioneer cemetary!

Aspen Grove

Well, I have a lot of catching up to do. As you can see, it's already July and I haven't covered any of June's many and varied activities, almost all of them blog-worthy. So here goes.

Dad scheduled a week-long Hunter family reunion in June up in Apen Grove, a gorgeous mountain retreat high up among the peaks of the Wasatch Mountains. I kinda had my doubts about going there - I had vague memories of dated A-frame cabins, group party games which traditionally I detest, and limited dining options. But after a week of the Aspen Grove experience, I'm won over.

It's a great vacation for families. You can stay in a rustic A frame if you want, but Dad got us suites in the new Beckham Lodge right next to the dining hall instead. All the rooms had two bedrooms, bathroom and sitting area, and all opened up to a great room where all the adults congregated in the evenings after the kids were asleep. The food was okay - I could have used some more options but really very edible. (Plus Mom stocked up our community kitchen with all sorts of goodies to tide us over!) And best of all, there were kids camps which took the kids for us every day for two three-hour sessions so the parents had time for themselves! Even Spencer (2) and Kate's 6 week-old Wyatt had their own places to go. It was so great! I got to nap, hike with Gary, swim, and generally refill my bucket before joyfully gathering my offspring from their camps every day for some quality family time. LOVED it.

Highlights:

-The scenery was UNREAL beautiful.

-Hiking with the fam!

-All the activities (playgrounds, basketball and tennis courts, paintball - have you recovered from your battle wounds yet Joe? - ropes courses, arts and crafts, archery, swimming, miniature golf, badminton, etc etc etc)

-Frontier Night! We got to ride a mini train, pan for gold, get our faces painted, listen to Indian tales in a teepee, play in the awesome western villiage, play pioneer games, and throw axes at pieces of wood! Hm, I probably wouldn't make that great of a pioneer...

- Spencer loved the guns! (of course)

-Be with my dear family! (get wrestled to the floor by Josh as usual; watch Papa teach Josh MD some super special surgical tips; play Settlers of Catan with Pete and Josh; talk with the sisters and mom; watch So You Think You Can Dance with everyone up at the Lodge; hold brand new baby Wyatt; watch Soph and Jack be the sweet ones together; play Take Two, Scum and Five Crowns with everyone...)

Thank you Nana and Papa for WONDERFUL memories!

My Garden is Growing!

Lovin' the garden this year! It's such a miracle to me that all this comes from teeny tiny seeds...

Giddyup Cowgirl: Maggie's Horsy Birthday Party

So I know it was almost a month ago, but here's some pics of our Maggie who turned 8 this year! She wanted a horse party so Gary made her a horse cake:

And I supervised her 14-kid party out in the barn which entailed a horse pinata, horse relays, Pin the Tail on the Donkey, Herd Your Horsies (sweeping balloons with brooms through an obstacle course) and Horse Horse Mule (duck duck goose). It ended, of course, with a big ol' barn dance complete with hula hoops and Maggie's favorite dance, the Cha Cha Slide. We had a blast, even me! And Maggie got some special presnents this big baptism year: a set of blue scriptures with her name embossed on them from us, a carrying case from Gram, and a new bike from Nana and Papa. Happy Birthday Mags!