The Trip to Utah

Wow, what a wonderful trip we had visiting so many loved ones in Utah! I can hardly believe the time has come and gone...we truly miss everyone! It was hard to come home. Since we have been back, I have been making hours up at work and catching up on life, but I have finally been able to download the pictures and update everyone on our fabulous visit. It took several hours to upload all these pictures!
Arial view of the Great Salt Lake and Rocky Mountains

The trip began when I flew with the three kids to Utah (with a brief stop in Chicago). The kids and I all waved hello to my dad who now works right across from the Sears Tower. When we arrived in Utah, my mom and sister, Jessica, met us at the airport to help me maneuver 3 pieces of luggage, 2 carseats and 3 children to the rental car. Thank goodness! It was such a happy reunion and we drove the 10 minutes to Jessi's house in giddy excitement. The cousins' reunion couldn't have been better! Emma and Matthew were instantly inseparable and remained that way each waking moment they were together. Often the question was asked, "Emma do you want to go into this store?" and the reply was always, "I'm doing whatever Matthew is doing." Totally adorable. The other kids were enjoying playing together as well and made the most of every moment.

Since we had the pleasure of arriving in Utah on Grandpa Dallin's birthday, we travelled to his home to enjoy Cafe Rio (my favorite restaurant in the world) and a nice family reunion. Everyone looked terrific. We also loved getting together with some of the McCune side of the family, which was amazing. It had been nearly a decade since I had seen many of my cousins! What a great posterity for Grandma and Grandpa McCune!

Grandpa's Birthday

When Steve arrived in Utah we enjoyed a birthday celebration at the Lion House, which was the house that Brigham Young lived in. That was very cool and what an opportunity to see so many family members travelling from California, Utah, Texas, Illinois, Virginia, and New Hampshire! What a neat experience.

We then enjoyed time in Vernal with Steve's family, which was great. We had a fun time with Grandma and Grandpa, Grandma Winder, Uncle Joe, Gary and Hang, and all of the cousins! We celebrated in style with Steve's extended family as we enjoyed a cook out on the Green River at Sarah and Max Young's house. We also had a prehistorically good time at the Dinosaur museum, which is neat because Vernal is known as Dinosaurland. The biggest T-Rex in the world was found there! What a great time and, as usual, too short!

After Steve went home, the kids and I had a nice time crafting with my sisters Jessi and Liz. We were getting things together for "Simple Gestures" which is Liz's business that she has in Dallas. Grandpa Dallin helped us so much by donating wood and other supplies which we turned into beautiful blocks, magnet boards, and other organizational tools. We are currently working on making some clocks that are fantastic!

Sadly, the time came for us to leave each other and the kids were all heartbroken to leave their cousins. The sisters also felt so sad that we can't share our lives together like we were able to do this past trip. Living far away is just rotten! Still, we look forward to being together again and hope to allow our kids to nourish the friendships that they have been able to develop.

Since we have been home, we have celebrated Steve's birthday by getting him a new grill (which we will finally use tonight if it doesn't rain). We are so happy to have him and love and appreciate everything he does for our family. He is a teriffic husband and father and makes our lives fun and interesting. What a lucky lady I am!

ENJOY SOME PICTURES FROM OUR TRIP!!

The girls


Easter outfits

Her highness

Just kickin' it with Uncle Joe.

Wow!

Spooked out by the T-Rex!

Emma and Lauren standing beside a prehistoric creature that is unique to Vernal. An Herbivore that is also a sabertooth!

Look at those toes!

At the Dino museum

Easter egg hunt

Tractor driving

The Easter Pinata (a new family tradition)

Emma sees a wild cactus

Standing on the Green River

I took this baby out on the farm for a while.

Sharing a manly moment.

Don't worry, in Utah you can get your learner's permit at age 3 as long as you only drive off-road.

Emma riding "Peanut" at Bart's house.

Running free at Gma and Gpa Hunting's house in Vernal.

Steve's birthday watch.

A good looking group!

Almost all of the Dallins: Steve arrived an hour later!

What a treat to see our friends the Williams who drove down from Rexburg, Idaho, where Jason is a professor. They moved there last summer and we have missed them so much! The kids had a marvelous time and couldn't believe that they were actually together!

We loved our time at the Hogle Zoo in Salt Lake City!

All the cousins together at Astro Burger. Yum!

What happened to the HFB?

Of course, now that I have 20 more hours a week to spend on things other than coursework I have less to share on the Hunting Family blog (or HFB as it is affectionately called by Steve and his coworkers). So here is an update on the last 6 weeks!

Lauren started preschool and is loving it! Unfortunately, when I asked her how she liked her first day she proclaimed, "Guess what, mom!? We didn't learn anything! They don't have a board!" Seems that she doesn't believe learning can take place unless she is seated in front of a chalkboard/whiteboard with lectures and drills. She learned this little tidbit from her sister, Emma, who practices school with Lauren by drilling ABCs and spelling using our whiteboard.

Emma has been doing great in school. Her reading skills are amazing and her vocabulary and spelling has been phenomenal! She is now benchmarked at the end of 2nd grade for vocabulary/reading and will likely reach mid-3rd grade by the end of this 1st grade year. She is being challenged in the "Walk to Read" program where her spelling words have included "wildflowers and woodpeckers".....I am thrilled that she finds it challenging and difficult as it pushes her to work harder.

Dallin is a funny little squirt! He loves to sing songs like, "Clean up, clean up everybody share" and the entire ABCs and Twinkle Twinkle Little Star songs. He also walks around yelling, "Daddy, where are you?" which is hilarious because he will do it when Dad is sitting 2 feet away from him. Another sweet skill that Dallin has is coloring on the wall. I haven't been pleased with that one....

Steve and I are also doing well, though just as busy as ever. I guess that is what happens when you are trying to make up for 2 1/2 years! Fortunately, we are looking forward to spending some much needed quality time with our families as we all travel to Utah to celebrate Easter and birthdays! What a great opportunity and we can't wait! The kids and I will be gone for 12 days and Steve will be able to go for 5 days. Don't be jealous.....

A Magical Journey

Wow, what a fun trip to Disney World! Our family has never taken a trip together (I can't count weekend jaunts) without going to visit family so this was a fun first for us. And of course we were celebrating a new chapter in our lives! Unfortunately, we were plagued with illness (fever, chills, earaches, and all the goodies). The kids polished off a bottle of Motrin and a bunch of Sudafed...the cold and flu meds were good, too. Anyway, we should have known that it would happen! We had a rough time sleeping the first couple of nights, with kids waking every few hours, but still managed to drag ourselves to the Magic Kingdom and Epcot.
Once we were able to have our health back, the trip was AWESOME! Some highlights include dinner with the 5 princesses, churros, meeting all of the characters, watching the awesome shows, Fantasmic! (Lauren's favorite), The Safari, meeting Mickey Mouse!!, playing on the playground at the hotel, swimming, the TV and Patch at the hotel, hot chocolate in our all-you-can-drink mugs at the hotel, riding the bus to/from the parks (Dallin's favorite!), the fireworks, the colorful castle, did I mention churros?, water fountains, talking with Crush the turtle, eating Mickey Mouse ice cream, autographs, shoulder rides, fighting for the stroller, snacks in line, the incorrectly labelled timing of the Winnie the Pooh ride (yeah, it said the wait would be 30 minutes....OOPS, it meant 90 minutes), Cinderella's Carousel, Dumbo, Pooh's Thotful Spot (playground that the kids couldn't get enough of!), the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area, Mom and Dad ride swapping on the big rides, The Barnstormer at Goofy's Wiseacre Farm (Emma's favorite ride), and souvenirs!
So, in a nutshell, we had an exhausting trip because we couldn't stop or we'd miss out on the fun! Everyone was ready to come home and get some much needed R and R. Sadly, Mary got food poisoning and spent Thursday enjoying that lovely plague. Today it was back to work and back to good health. The Huntings are indeed quite Happy.