Mom's 56th Birthday...

Nat and I drove home Thursday night for a few different reasons...but mainly because of my birthday and the Spectrum 10k run on the 17th (surprise gift registration for the race from Natalee!)

Lots of fun birthday wishes from friends and family, gifts, and kindnesses!




Nat went overboard to make my birthday very special:  breakfast in bed, signs, presents, etc.  It was a fun day even though a lot of the family were spread out.  

I absolutely LOVED the BYU Rugby shirt Rod and Dallin got me!!

I got to take three different rides out on my birthday!  It was SO fun being with Trevor, Nichole, and Brock (and my student, Alex!)  Missed having Mason and Bridger along!!  Maybe next time!

 Nat and I ran the Spectrum 10K early Saturday morning before driving back up to Mapleton that afternoon.  She did great and pushed me to finish well!  Thanks for a great birthday, Nat!!

Post Surgery Update...

We ended up spending nearly two weeks in Mapleton!   Thanks to Dan and Janet and family for their hospitality and help!!  It was SO nice being there with you, and feeling of your love and support!!

The family helps Dal unwrap his leg for the first time...BEAUTIFUL!!

Dad and I went to Brandon's and Tannya's for a brief visit...great photo op with Nikki!!

                                                                                                       This is how Dal and Nat REALLY feel about his leg being such a mess!!

Surgery Video

Dal's Knee Surgery

Even the bad stuff is good stuff when it makes for great memories!!  Surgery included!  Dal pointed out that, historically speaking, whenever he has had major medical events it has always occurred around Spring Break!  I wonder if I should punch him in his good leg for all of the ruined vacations!!

I drove up early Friday morning and arrived in Provo at 10:00.  Picked Dal up and drove to the surgery center.  waited for 2 hours before actually getting into surgery, a 2 1/2 hour surgery, and then post-op time had us leaving the center a few minutes before 6:00 p.m.  Fun day...

BEFORE. . . DURING. . . and AFTER SURGERY!!

(Pain levels have been rather intense the first 24 hours, but are starting to taper off now...every 5 hours rather than every 2 hours...)

Friday evening the cousins came over and helped "entertain" the patient!  We all had fun together, and Dal enjoyed having people around him...even though he was just a tad "foggy."








"SLEEP OVER" time on the floor!  And, of course, there was "BATH TIME" when Dal was starting to feel a bit grungy (a good sign!)

Saturday afternoon we had a fun time at the BYU vs. Air Force rugby match.  A  few weeks ago our family thought we'd be attending the match to watch Dallin PLAY!!  Change of plans...

When Dallin was insistent, pre-surgery, that he would be going to the game less than 24 hours post-surgery, I just bit my tongue thinking the pain level would be the deciding factor.  Not so much!  The "rugby brotherhood" is a much stronger influence than pain!  We went to the game!!    But the pictures tell the real story!

Great memories!  And here's to a SPEEDY RECOVERY, DALLIN!!

Jeonghoon leaves for Korea

It was fun having Jeonghoon Son here with us for a couple of months.  Time sure does fly by quickly.  Today was his last Sunday with us, so we had a big dinner of roast, potatoes, carrots, salad, biscuits, and gravy.  Kristy, Hans and Amelia, and Nat and Rj were here to enjoy it with us.

We gave Jeonghoon a bag of Goldfish (he LOVES them!), a Korean Book of Mormon, and a credit card sized Articles of Faith.  We are sad to see him leave, but he definitely knows more about Mormons as he returns to Korea than he did when he came to the United States.  Good luck with everything, Jeonghoon!!

LOVE this pic!!

What a great announcement!!

Nikki's excited to be a BIG SISTER!!

We're excited, too!!

The Power of Words. . .

This is SO powerful!  Hope you enjoy it!!

Slow down??? HOW?!?!

For some reason I thought our lives would slow down a bit with the children all going so many different ways.  Well, we're still waiting!!


This past weekend I had Piano Evaluations for all of my students.  Everything went very well and I was happy with all of my students' preparations.
Then Monday night (13th) we had our two recitals (to accommodate 34 students).


Dad and Nat were BIG helps, videoing each student's performance and getting individual pictures of each as well.  All I had to do was run the recitals, hand out trophies and awards, and be nervous for each of the kids performing!

And Valentine's Day was the very next day.  Sheesh!  I've got to plan better!! 

 Dad and I had an early Valentine's breakfast before my students started arriving.  After teaching, Nat and I started making Valentine cookies and delivered to friends and VTing ladies.  (I also took some to the middle school and had them delivered to Jeonghoon.  He really liked that!)  I got home just in time to see Nat open the front door to the florist...Dad had sent some beautiful roses for me.  I loved them!!

But the most fun part was taking the balloons and glass heart, filled with chocolate hearts, into Dad's classroom.  He was in the middle of a power point presentation with the lights off and his microphone on when I walked in. I excused myself, apologized to the students for what they would be subjected to next, and then put my arms around my husband and started to sing "I Love You, A Bushel and A Peck" - I sang the whole song to him (luckily he moved the mic out of the way) and then kissed him.  He was embarrassed, but he liked it, too!  (He told me later that several students told him they liked it as well!)  I am so grateful for a wonderful husband!!

I got to have lunch with Nancy Allred, and then dashed home to help Nat get our Valentine's dinner ready before I started teaching.  Thanks to Natalee we pulled off a fun dinner with some of our friends (Julie Schram, Ryan Reeves, Gary and MaryAnn Zabriskie, Kjersten LaFontaine, and Jeonghoon Son...as well as Nat, Dad and I).  Fun times!

Adversity and Change...

As I was getting ready for Church this morning I listened to Music and The Spoken Word.  I LOVED the message and wish I could repeat it verbatim.  But my shortened version will have to do.

In the early 1900's the boll weevil was attacking cotton crops in the south, causing farmers to lose entire crops.  It was a desperate time.  However, the adversity this insect caused many people in Enterprise, Alabama also became a catalyst for change.  Farmers took a risk and ventured into a different crop:  PEANUTS!  The first year was such a success they were able to pay off their debts.  They sold their crops to other farmers also wanting to make a change.  The farmers learned to diversify their crops and were able to eventually grow cotton again.  It was a difficult time, but they faced the adversity well and learned from it.

A few short years after the devastating invasion, the farmers had adapted and were thriving.  As a tribute to this great lesson of adversity and change, a monument was constructed and dedicated on December 11th, 1919, placed in the heart of the town's business district.  


The marker reads:  "In profound appreciation of the Boll Weevil and what it has done as the herald of prosperity this monument was erected by the citizens of Enterprise, Coffee County, Alabama."






It would be kind of interesting to have "monuments" marking certain crossroads in our lives where we worked our way through very difficult and trying circumstances of the moment and forged ahead into greater light and understanding...

Valentine's Day - Hunt Family Style...

What do we do when nearly all of the kids are up north and we ALWAYS have a special family Valentine's Dinner?  Well, the dinner (and the southern crew) went up north!!

Dad and I, Nat and Jeonghoon, traveled to Mapleton, where we spent the night at Dan's and Janet's.  Dallin and Erika came over, too, and had fun playing Dance Central.  Jeonghoon loved doing it every time there was another round.  We also played Non-Christmas, Post New Years Greek Orthodox gift game BINGO!  Lots of FUN!!

Saturday morning we made a quick stop in Provo to see Tracy Whelchel and her first grandbaby!!  (It was also nice to see James and Courtney!)

While I was at my board meetings (UMTA) in SLC, Dad, Kristy, Nat, RJ, and Jeonghoon walked around Temple Square, Energy Solutions, and a couple of museums so Jeonghoon could experience more of Utah...not just the southern part.  Dallin and Erika picked me up from my meetings when they were over and we drove up to South Weber.

Tannya and Amelia did a great job of decorating (at Brandon's and Tannya's home) for the dinner, and there was lots of help getting everything ready.

Everyone helped get dinner ready and it was as enjoyable as ever!!  It was especially nice to have Denzel and Anna there, as well as Tann's parents (Gary & Annette Hoopes) and her brother (Brett) and girlfriend Heidi there.  (We missed Jaimi, Mike, Ben and Kristen, and Bridger.)

Before dinner we took a bunch of family pictures, but only a few of them turned out okay!!  

Good food, good company, fun games (the boys finally managed to win the first round!) -- 

another memorable get together!