HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!

Thirty-six years ago, Rod and I were married (sealed) in the Los Angeles Temple (LDS) and it's truly the best decision we ever made!!  Our life together has certainly had LOTS of adventures and amazing experiences, and some have even been extremely difficult.  However, we often say to each, "I'm SO glad we're in this together!!"  Life can be hard, it can also be VERY good!  We are truly grateful to be "in it together!" 

Each year we go out to dinner on our anniversary, and take our "Predictions" notebook with us.  We write down our predictions for the coming year, for ourselves, our children, our country, etc.  And then we look at last year's predictions and see if we got anything right, AND we record all the things that happened that we didn't predict.

A couple of the "non-predictions" for 2015 were our beloved Silverado and her foal dying.  That was awful!  The legalization of Same-Sex Marriage, equally disturbing, but on a very different level.  We are not against equal rights; we are against government declaring changes to what God has established.  

We also broke with tradition this year...by eating at Texas Roadhouse...we usually eat at a Mexican Restaurant.  Next time I'll tell them to "hold the pepper" on my steak, rather than pouring the whole bottle on there...it was cooked really well...just had to wash all the pepper off in my water glass!  Same with the sauteed mushrooms!  Oh well.  Live and learn!

We had gone to a few stores before our dinner...including Deseret Industries where we got a couple of books for $1 each!  We also bought some new towels at Kohls while they were on sale!  We came home and made our own Anniversary dessert of hot fudge sundaes, and had some beautiful flowers and a card dropped off by Nat and Rj...from all of the kids.  

 Another memorable anniversary!!

Christmas 2015

We held our 20th Annual Hunt/Schram Christmas Eve party on the 24th, and it was great!!

There always seems to be SOMETHING we're dealing with, and this year was no different.  Julie was about 10 days post-op after a rather extensive surgery and a difficult recovery.  Yet...she came to the dinner!!  Talk about a trooper!!!

 We held the dinner at Hardison's home next door to us.  We had 25 people there...and all but 3 were adults.

Hardisons had the perfect room for our gathering.  Dave's large recliner chair was perfect for Julie to sit in and was much more comfortable than a regular chair.  I think that's the only reason she was able to stay the whole time.  I was very grateful to Hardison's for their generosity and willingness to host our dinner.

The other's who came were Faith and Devon, Ryan, Holly, Heidi and Michael, & Lydia (Heidi is pregnant and due in June), Rod and I, Kristy, Mil, Hans, Dezmond and Cayman, Nat and Rj, Sharon McPherson, Jackie Coyle, Doris Jones, Roxi Wellhoff, Glen and Norma Hovey, and, of course, Dave and Belinda Hardison.  We missed Harrison and Neldon who both had to work.

The food was good...ham, Elsie's potatoes, pomegranate salad, pretzel salad, apple/banana salad, rolls, tossed salad, and then oatmeal cake with carmel sauce and whipped cream.  Delicious!!

But the program was the best!!
 We dressed up Lydia as Mary (in a linen headdress and a baby)

Dezmond in a beige headdress as Jospeh,


Sticky (the stick horse that gallops and whinnies) which was the donkey that Mary rode.

"Baby Jesus" was placed in the wool-covered carseat (manger), as Rod read parts of Luke 2 while Mary and Joseph and the 

donkey walked in. 

Everyone loved it.  

Nat and I played a violin/piano duet of Away in a Manger

Holly and Heidi sang What Child Is This



Norma Hovey played Silent Night;










Rod played O Come O Come Emmanuel on his flute

and then we all sang several Christmas carols.

Dezmond led with his music stick,  and he also sang a solo of Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer.   His bowing afterwards was great, too!

 

After the dinner, and cleaning up, the kids and Rod and I went home and opened presents together.   Of course, there were the traditional pj's... 

We got a good laugh when Kristy explained that her gifts were out of her closet and headed to DI, then she decided they would make great gifts!  The really funny thing was when Kristy opened one of my presents, I explained it had been in my closet and was going to DI, but then I thought it might really work for Kristy!!  It was a cool pair of cream and black pants that I just wouldn't wear...Ahhhh, we think alike....and then Amelia and I gave each other the same gift...a Ann Romney cookbook from Deseret Bookstore!!  That was funny too!

Dezmond and Cayman LOVE the marble track we got them for Christmas...and the light sabers that Nat and Rj  got them!!

Rod and I got a new phone system for the house...which I love!  I gave him season tickets for two to Tuacahn; he gave me some beige pants that I really like and some riding gloves.  He also got me some new horse brushes that I really needed!!  Hooray!!

EJ and Lena Patino sent the boys two ceramic fire trucks that are banks...they think they're pretty cool!!

Christmas morning, after opening presents at home with Kristy, we went to Kirchhausen's and had breakfast together, then watched the movie Christmas Eve with Jenny Oaks Baker.  It was a fun and relaxing morning.  Then we headed home and relaxed some more!!!

And to finish things off, Dezmond took Cayman for a Christmas ride in their new Porsche!!!

 

We love making memories to last a lifetime!!

Thanksgiving 2015

Thanksgiving Week was wonderful!!!  Dallin and Erika came down from BYU early, and Brandon, Tannya and Nikki and Kate came down early also!  We got some horseback riding in, garden picking, puzzle putting together, cousin time, and Thanksgiving Day, complete with food prep and fun!!




We were thrilled to have Thanksgiving Dinner up at Hans' and Mil's home.  It was lots easier for me...harder for Mil and Hans.  THANK YOU, KIDS!!!  So the roll call went like this:  Rod and Patrice, Hans, Mil, Dezmond and Cayman, Brandon, Tannya, (Rosie, not born yet!), Nikki and Kate; Kristy, Dallin and Erika; Sean, Rochelle, Bailee and Kennedy, and Dave and Belinda Hardison (our neighbors).

We missed Nat and Rj, who went to Washington on a little trip,..Jaimi and Mike and kids were in Texas.

Patrice Hunt - Conference Center Organ

What a truly amazing experience!!  The only thing that would top this is if I could play for General Conference!!!  *_*

HALLOWEEN HIGHLIGHTS!!!

A couple of days before Halloween, I drew Dezmond a "treasure map" to follow, to help him draw his name.  He asked if it was Pirate Pete's treasure map.  I assured him it was, and my Halloween costume idea was born!!

Cayman just felt TRAPPED!!!

Amelia and I had picked a BUNCH of green beans from the community garden, and she snapped at least half of them, so I decided to bottle them before they dried out.  It didn't take long, and was a perfect way to spend less than an hour before the Trick-or-Treaters started to arrive!

Denzel and Cayman came over, and showed off their costumes!  Amelia was SO creative making Dezmond's robot costume...he loves playing "Ro-bot!" with Grandpa, and he loves the color RED!  It was the ideal costume!!

During one of the rounds of Trick-or-Treaters, a deep male voice asked how I was doing while I handed out the candy.  I kept in "pirate character" as I answered, "Arrrrgghhh!!  I don't know...I can't see you!  Who is it??"  He told me his name, and I squealed as I jumped up to give him a hug!  It was one of Denzel's good friends from high school!!  I invited him in, we talked about him, about Denzel, about life changes, etc., and three hours later, we were saying good-bye!!!  There's some far-reaching things going on here!!!

Miracles Never Cease!!

"Holy Toledo!!" were the words that jumped out of my mouth this morning!!  And that was the understatement of the year!!  Here's why.

A couple of weeks ago some friends were visiting at our home for a few days.  In the course of one of our conversations about the jewelry sales shows they do, I mentioned to EJ about "the only fine piece of jewelry I've ever owned besides my wedding ring" getting lost a few years ago.  It had a safety clasp on it to keep it from accidentally coming undone and falling off, but I had noticed on occasion that the clasp went on the wrong side, bypassing it's safety feature.  And then one day the necklace was gone.  Rod and I looked everywhere.  It wasn't to be found.

A similar thing had happened about 12 years ago.  We looked and looked to no avail.  TWO YEARS later, Rod was digging in the dirt where we sunk our trampoline, and VOILE!!  He found my necklace in the dirt!

Now, you have to understand the background to the necklace.  About 27 years ago, Rod bought me some pearls.  We could not afford them, but he wanted to do something nice for me.  The only problem was, he had spent a lot of money for something I wouldn't wear.  (I wasn't really in to pearls...)  After awhile, I asked if I could return them.  (I also didn't understand the importance of graciously accepting a gift!!)  He said he didn't mind, so I returned the pearls...however, the store wouldn't refund the money, so I was stuck with a piece of jewelry that I didn't feel was helping us be financially responsible.  Over the next couple of days, I looked over the jewelry counter, chose one necklace, then would return it the next day.  And that happened a couple of times.  I was in tears at the jewelry counter, feeling so "temporal" and also a bit "unworthy."  Why would I wear something so fine as any of these necklaces?!?!

And then I spotted something that changed the whole scenario.  There, under the glass, was a beautiful gold necklace, with a script letter "H" on it.  My heart soared as the thought hit me, "Now THAT I could wear, because it will always honor my husband!"  (Since our last name is "Hunt!")  And so, I "bought" that very special necklace, and have worn it more days than I have not worn it...that is until it was lost.  I was so very disappointed when the necklace was lost a second time.  However, with Denzel's death, perspective changes a bit, and the necklace was truly a very temporal thing.

So, I had this not-so-detailed conversation with EJ, and had the thought, "Well, at least Heavenly Father knows where the necklace is."

This morning I was getting cleaned up for the day, and got a little side-tracked getting rid of some of the accumulated bottles of this and that under my cosmetics drawer.  There was old bubble bath, extra bottles of polish remover, old lotion, etc.  I even had TWO jars of jewelry cleaner...for a woman with one wedding ring and no other "cleanable" jewelry!  Sheesh!!  So, I went to throw the "emptier" one in the trash, when the thought came into my mind, "Stop..."  That was weird!!  Why shouldn't I throw the extra cleaner away???  I opened the lid to pour out the liquid, and HOLY TOLEDO!!!!!!  There was my long lost necklace!!!!  I still can't believe it as I write this story!!

Heavenly Father DID truly know where it was.  And I was given the very tender mercy of having this treasured and meaningful, temporal necklace back in my life to honor my husband AND my Heavenly Father.  I am extremely grateful!!

Kids Say The Darnedest Things!

On Saturday I took all of the books off the two big bookshelves in the piano room so Rod and I could relocate them to our master bedroom, freeing up some room in the piano studio.  It worked out well all the way around and I love both rooms!  While organizing the books in their new location, I came across the notebook "Quotes from the Kids."  I haven't looked at that in years, so I opened it up and read.  Without further adieu, here are some of the things my "sweet adorables" have said over the years:

Denzel, age 3, found a dead mouse near the teacher housing where we were living in Montezuma Creek, Utah.  I suggested he take it over to his dad (through the field to the high school where Rod taught biology), and show him.  I wrapped it in a paper towel, and off he went.  I found out later that Rod expected I had sent him some cookies with the little messenger.  As Rod carefully opened the paper towel, Denzel said, "Look Papa, it's Mickey Mouse!!"

Denzel, age 5.  I had been trying to dig out a very large chunk of cement that had been left after a cement truck washout at our newly built home.  It took quite a bit of work before I could leverage it with my shovel and roll it down the small embankment away from our lot.  With my final shove to get it rolling down the slope, I shouted, "THIS is for the BIRDS!!"  (I was just a little bugged they had washed out and left it there.)  As I started filling in the large hole with dirt, Denzel went down the slope, stood on the big piece of cement, and innocently asked, "Mama...what are the birds going to do with it?"

Amelia, age 4.  (I was 8 months pregnant with my 7th child)  "Mom, when you get a fat belly, you get a fat bottom, too!"  (Wow!  Thanks for that unedited piece of information!)

Amelia, age 4 (she was on a roll...)  "Mom, you're taking too long!"  (I thought she was complaining that I was working too long on the computer, and I had only been working for FIVE MINUTES!)   But she clarified, "Mom, you are taking TOO long!!  Julie is going to have her baby first and YOU are going to be last!!"  Ahhhh, perspective.  I wish I could have hurried things up.  Julie DID have Harrison 6 weeks before Dallin was born...and Amelia had to wait...probably because she said such "naughty" things to her mother!  *_*

Kristy, age 6 (I was still pregnant and didn't realize I was so predictable with my behaviors.)  "Mom, when I grow up I'm going to be just like you!!  I'm going to have salad with peas on it for lunch, and watch Perry Mason!"

Amelia, age 4, two months after Dallin was born.  "Mom, I'm sure glad you're not pregnant anymore.  Now I can lay on your lap (she had fallen asleep on my lap and drooled down my dress!), and people don't have to see your fluffy belly anymore."  Sheesh!!!

Amelia, age 4, three months after Dallin was born, saying the blessing at Sunday dinner, "...and thank thee that Uncle Dan could have blue eyes like mine...and bless the food...in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen."

Natalee, age 3.  First record of her great love for animals.  "Look Mama!!  I have a 'woggie-pog'!!"  I'm not sure how or where she found a polliwog, but she has been finding living things ever since!

Amelia, age 5, singing We Wish You A Merry Christmas.  "...Good tithings we bring, to you and your kin..."  Her dad was bishop at the time and in the middle of tithing settlement interviews...

Natalee, age 4.  Eating dinner together, talking with the kids (7 kids plus Rod and I always made for an "experience" each dinner-time), and telling Natalee that she needed to finish eating her Mexicali Soup before she could have more chips and jello.  Then I got involved in conversation with the other kids and didn't hear her until she yelled, "MOM!  I'm done with my Cali-Cali Poop!!"  The older kids about rolled on the floor laughing!

Dallin, age 5, staring Kindergarten.  "It will be a LONG time before I graduate...I will have to eat a LOT of breakfastes before I'm that old!"

Dallin, nearly 9.  We were working in the garden, in nearly dark dusk, planting tomatoes and beets, when he said, "I'm sure glad I won't be a MOM when I grow up...then I won't have to plant a garden!!"

Natalee, age 10.  I was opening a birthday present on my 46th birthday and discovered a beautiful calendar by well-known artist, Gregg Olsen.  On the cover of the calendar was a picture of Christ.  I tapped the calendar with my hand as I tried to remember the artist's name and said, "Ohhh!  I love this!  Now....who is this...?"  Natalee quickly supplied, "It's JESUS!"

Denzel, age 20.  He was doing something (that I can't remember now...) and exclaimed, "I'm going to be soooo mad if this is retarded!!"  Without missing a beat, I replied, "That's what I said when I was pregnant with you!"  It took a second to register what had slipped out of my mouth, and then we both died laughing!!

Dallin, age 9.  Wrote a sweet note:  "I love you so much that your just a boguet of a mom.  Love Dallin"  I guess that's right up there with Nat's sweet Mother's Day gift of "My mom is as pretty as a horse."  Everyone laughed when I read the framed picture aloud, but quickly assured her I loved it when I saw her disappointed face.  Several years later, Nat was waiting for me to complete some computer work, and she read some of the things on the wall from past Mother's Day.  When she read the "horse" picture, she instantly said, "That's rude!!"  She was finally old enough to understand why we had laughed.

Another note from Dallin to his Dad:  "Thanks for helping me along the way of my life dad.  Love, Dallin"

Conversation overheard between Kristy, age 15, and Amelia, age 13:
Kristy:  I have an autobiography due in my English class this Friday...shoot!!!
Amelia:  Ooooh!  I know...you can write it about ME!!

Conversation between Kristy, age 16, and me:
Mom:  Hey Kristy, I bought some new pills...they're enzymes, and they're supposed to help with flatulence.  If you want to try them, I don't mind.
Kristy: (Excited reply as she pats her chest)  Oh good!!!  This is just what I need...but I AM starting to grow!
Mom: (After I controlled my laughter enough to get words out)  Kristy, enzymes help with GAS, not breast development!

Conversation with Natalee on Fast Sunday just as Testimony Meeting was getting ready to start:
Mom:  Nat, what do you have in your mouth?
Nat:  Gum! (And she opened her mouth to show me)
Mom:  What's that red thing next to the gum?
Nat:  A Jolly Rancher
I got a mock shocked look on my face, to which she quickly replied, "It doesn't count if you suck on it, does it???"
(Hmmm, maybe I'll get a piece of steak, next time I fast, and suck on it!  *_* )

Conversation overheard after having family scriptures at 5:30 a.m. and then kids getting ready to practice violin and piano before getting ready for school.  "I don't understand WHY we can't be like a 'normal' family...that SLEEPS!!"

A conversation with one of my sweet adorables after she came home with a couple of hickies on her neck.  I expressed some concerns about her choices, and after talking a bit, this sweet daughter declared:  "Well, at least I don't kiss anyone I don't know!"  Oh, all of my fears suddenly vanished...not!!

Conversation with Denzel at the kitchen counter when he was about 22 years old and visiting home for lunch.
Mom:  Denz, Sister Feltwell said that I'm really a perfectionist.  I don't think I am at all!!!  What do you think!!

After a thoughtful pause, he replied, "No, Mom, I don't think you're a perfectionist...you like to do a lot of things but you don't do anything really well."

And he wondered why I refused to feel him anymore!!!  *_*


Too bad I didn't keep a more regular record of all the things these sweet children have said over the years.  Jaimi, and Brandon, just wait!!  I'm sure I'll come across stuff in my journals at some point, and then you will be quoted for sure!!!

Going to the Temple with Kristy!

I was thrilled when Kristy called to invite me to go to the temple with her.  It worked out well that I didn't have piano lessons all this week.

What an amazing experience as we walked from the car to the temple doors.  I was suddenly brought back in time to the last time I stood on these sacred temple grounds.  It was 2007 and the Oquirrh Mountain Temple Open House.  Rod and I and Amelia, Natalee, and Dallin had gone to it.  But the best part was that Denzel met us there, dressed in his camp gear from Camp Williams.  he wasn't able to stay long, but we took pictures and it was so great to have him come be there for a minute with us.

Being there this morning with Kristy brought back some very tender feelings.  So grateful to be there with her today!!  ❤️