Aspen Grove 2012

My dear grandmother, Nanny, went through chemotherapy last fall. One of the things they helped her plan to get through it was a big family reunion the next summer, with all the cousins, at Aspen Grove, a family resort up Provo Canyon, right next to Sundance. Nanny pulled through, and to celebrate her awesome strength and determination, almost all the 22 grandchildren, with their spouses and kids in tow, gathered at that beautiful place for a week of family-focused heaven. No cooking, no cleaning, kids off doing crafts, trying ropes courses and climbing walls, and swimming during the day with their groups, and adults free to chat, sleep, read, hike, play tennis, swim, play games, eat ice cream, do Zumba or yoga (with me or Hills :-) ).... all in one of the most beautiful places on earth. This is our third time to Aspen Grove, and it keeps on getting better and better!

Our favorite things about Aspen Grove this year included: cousin and extended-extended family time; the amazing, wonderful, caring group leaders who absolutely showed our kids the best time; the family talent show (did we really get up and sing "Corner of the Sky" in Clayton 6 part harmony??  That takes me back...); the beautiful weather; the always-stunning scenery; painting a Christus statue at the craft hut for us and one for Grandpa, who's sister just died; badminton; the metal bear and turtle statues; the family dance on the last night; watching Spence get up with his group and actually sing and dance on stage (a first! "Kookooburra sits in the old gum tree, being as happy as he can be..."), sitting and chatting by the pool with all the cousins while the dads played the water games with the kids; watching Uncle Josh and Uncle Spencer Holt busta move at the dance party the last night; and the ice cream! Oh the ice cream! Graham Canyon and Coconut Joy and the chocolate one whatever it was called... mmmm.

 Me and my Nanny (and Aunt Diana, sporting the official 2012 Hunter family reunion t-shirt). Note the ice cream in my hand.

We all loved painting at the craft hut this year, even Spencer!

 Oh my gosh I loved our kids' counselors. Not even kidding, I was kind of weepy when it was time to say goodbye. They are amazing young people and really took care of our kids!

And best of all... family time. I love my family!

Spring Stuff

This spring was pleasant and busy and full of good things. The Footworks Spring concert was our best yet. Maggie graduated from 5th grade and is now officially a 6th grader (yikes)! She worked hard to earn some horseback riding lessons on the side from our neighbors, the Hines. Sophie, below had a BANNER year, due in part to her fabulous 1st grade teacher, Mrs. Perkes. Sophie bloomed this year. Don't know if it was the teacher, the Ireland experience, just getting more mature, or a combination of the three, but all of a sudden Soph went from the middle to the top of the class, got all sorts of writing and citizenship awards, and had half the boys in her class madly in first-grade love with her. (Trust me, I was there, I saw it when I took treats in for Soph's half birthday. One boy shocked my socks off when he said, when he thought I couldn't hear him, "I just REALLY want to kiss Sophie right now!" umm, what??? Her favorite boy was Carter, shhh don't tell, but he didn't try to kiss her. That I know of.)

Spence graduated from Miss Kari's awesome Kinderready Kids Preschool. He did so well! Last year at his preschool graduation he could barely look at me, never mind sing all the songs and do all the actions (too shy). This year he sang right along with the other kids and even posed for pictures! sort of. He knows all his letters and their sounds, and can sound out simple words. Very ready for kindergarten indeed! I'm so proud of my little buddy!

Then Sophie and Spencer played AYSO spring soccer. Look at my handsome little dude, with his best buds Ben and Ammon. This was our first foray -ever - into team sports and Spence LOVED it! Soph not so much, she's more of a dancer, but Spence ate it up. He scored four goals in one game, and then scored none in another, but ususally he averaged one or two goals per game. I just loved the unbridled joy all over his face at every game and practice, and I've already signed him up for Fall and Spring of next year.

Spence likes wearing his soccer socks all the way up. Way to focus on the ball, buddy!

Then we took our first summer jaunt down to Gram and Grandpa's house - always a favorite! Dogs, four wheelers, no chores, and it's the only place in the world where they get to watch Spongebob Squarepants - a Gram's house ritual. Maggie got to try her hand at actually steering the four wheeler this year, which was slightly terrifying, but at least Gram and Liesl were there to set her straight!

 We went to the Fremont Indian Museum just south of Richfield about 20 minutes - so cool. Petroglyphs and hiking and an awesome kids' museum and good company = great times!
 

 Gram helping Spence get all decked out

 They have these great, paved, marked hikes easy enough for the kids to take, with markers pointing out all the different markings on the walls from about 1,000 years ago.

We had tired, busy, happy kids!

My Awesome Hubby

I've realized that I have very few posts on here about my awesome hubby. Since we just celebrated our 16th wedding anniversary (with thai food and Men in Black III), here are some of my many favorite things about him:

 *He understands, loves, and knows how to use technology. Which means when I have questions, I can to go him!

 *He is a loving, caring, patient dad who is always willing to carry his share of the burdens, even when it means wearing a Baby Bjorn.

 *He's the fun dad who will do the scary/dangerous/exciting things with the kids that mom would rather pass on, like high dives, wrestles, roller coasters, etc. I take care of the dishes, meals, laundry, chores, extracurricular lessons, studio and homework and then I'm done for. That's when Daddy steps in to provide the party atmosphere with a game of blanket tag, tickle torture, frisbee, legos or steamroller. Thanks heavens for dads!

 *He is handy AND handsome! Double threat guy. With his talented hands, mad skills and engineering brain, he can install flooring, fix plumbing (well, kind of), paint houses, install disco lights, lay carpet, build a dance floor and storage cabinets, and generally make himself useful. No, more than that... he's indespensible!

 *He makes me feel funny. I've never really been the funny girl before, but when I'm with my hub, I'm suddenly the wittiest girl on the planet. We giggle and tease and joke and have have movie quote conversations and I know he'll always get my jokes. (sometimes he's the only one, but he does get them). I LOVE the way he makes me laugh! We have the best time together, especially on our marathon dates (temple, dinner, movie) or watching late night movies together in bed.

*He gave me three beautiful, good, WONDERFUL children. How I love my little family!

  *He was the one who suggested we bring home a dog when we did. He thought  the kids and I needed a dog...and he was right.

 *He is the world's best sand castle builder...

 ... and the funniest picture poser. It's that mad creative side of his, I think.

*He can drive on any road, at any time, in any weather. This cliff in Ireland, for example (yes that's two lanes, with a massive dropoff on the right, on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the street), or up the Malad pass two days before Thanksgiving in a blizzard, or through the streets of Paris at rush hour.

There's many more, but that will do for now. Happy anniversary sweetie! I love you!

Maggie's Report

Do we know how to do a 5th grade history report or what? :-) Maggie chose the subject Marie Antoinette because she loved her Versailles bedroom and the quaint Hamlet when we visited them last summer. I helped her trace the side panels and arrange the feathers at the top, but she did everything else. Tres bien fait, ma chere! Love the powdered hair.

I just spent a half hour with my darling five-year old boy on my lap, listening to every new song he's learning at preschool. It's not often that Spencer will perform like this. He sits close to me, one hand on The Mole on my neck, and sings them in his quirky, semi-raspy voice that makes me want to gobble him up and hold him forever. Then before leaving for preschool he ran to me, gave me a great big hug and a kiss, and answered "you too!" when I said "have a great day."

Ah, the golden moments mothers treasure. Sure do love you, little buddy!

Cooking Habits

I read recently that most families have about eleven dinner meals in regular rotation. Hoping that I do NOT fit in to this statistic, I hereby list our "regular" menu items in no particular order:

1. beef stroganoff (on noodles or potatoes)
2. apricot chicken
3. Wingers chicken fingers, mashed potatoes, wedge salad
4. chicken coconut kurma
5. chinese chicken salad
6. tomato soup and cheese sandwiches
7. spaghetti with marinara and mizithra (thank you Spaghetti Factory)
8. Irish pasta (with cream, ham and peas)
9. steak, bearnaise and asparagus (on special occasions)
10. lettuce wraps (of various kinds)
11. boboli pizzas of various kinds
12. taco soup
13. Pasta parma rosa
14. chicken and rice soup
15. potato soup
16. ranch (hamburger) stew
17. tacos
18. chicken spinach salad wraps
19. blackened mahi mahi with coconut rice and mango salsa
20. chicken and spinach couscous
21. PF changs orange chicken
22. pad thai (does it count that these last two are store-bought? pad thai is totally my comfort food)
23. homemade mac n cheese
24. dinner for breakfast (turkey bacon, hootnanny pancakes or crepes, smoothies)
25. rice crispy chicken
26. Nanny's Swedish meatballs
27. stuffed zucchini
28. "green" (tomatillo) enchiladas
29. Italian crock pot chicken
30. BBQ chicken drumsticks

And there we go, a whole month of "regular" recipes I use all the time, not to mention the hits (and misses) with which I frequently experiment. There's a lot of room for improvement, and it's a lot of chicken, I grant you, but since pork and red meat are slipping slowly out of our eating habits, and I don't know many ways to make fish, that's how it goes.

What It's Truly All About

On Sunday morning, Gary's parents' basement flooded. They went on anyway to church to fulfill callings. When Boyd went to Priesthood meeting, the leader had heard that they needed help. He then and there decided to hold Priesthood at Gram and Grandpa's house, taking all the men with him to help rip up carpet, carry out boxes, and set up fans. They stayed for hours until things were under control.

That, my friends, is what our church is all about.