Dear Emmi,

Last night as I went in to turn off your lamp for the night, I paused for a moment at your side, taking in your sweet angelic face as you slept.  I thought to myself how beautiful you were (the leftover eye makeup that we hadn't taken off yet didn't hurt), and being your mother, of course I would think that anyway.  But you really looked like a little angel, and I had to force myself not to wake you up and tell you how much I love you, and instead I said another quick prayer of gratitude for you and let you sleep. 

I was so anxious to watch you on stage yesterday at the Miss Payson Pageant, more so than I probably should have been, and my terrible shaky job recording it is proof.  However, I am so grateful you got the opportunity to do so, and that Kate asked you to be her Pageant Pal.  I thought you handled yourself so well and was proud at how beautifully you shone on the stage.  You and Kate were good sports about not winning, but I think you both had a wonderful time in the process.  Who knows, maybe it will not be your last time in a pageant, although I don't know if I am cut out to be a stage mom.

You sure do love to sing, and we frequently hear your brothers asking you to stop when you start belting it out in the car.  Your favorite is Let It Go off of Frozen, but will sing to any song that you hear on the radio.  Consequently, you are doing really well in your musical theatre class and we are excited for that recital here in a few months.

At school you are still getting A's and a few high B's and all your teachers have nothing but good things to say at parent teacher conferences.  I love how you come home from school almost every day telling me that you fell down.  I really don't peg you for a klutz at home, yet you have a new scrape at least once a week from recess.  It must be all the running you do, getting chased by the boys.  I also always hear tales about a particular boy named "Marlan" that likes to tease you.  If someone made you fall it seems to be him.  Honestly, I am thinking that he sees how cute you are.  

Already you are learning multiplication and have beautiful cursive, which is absolutely amazing for a 1st grader.  You are looking forward to your birthday so much, and seem to ask me every day how many days (or weeks) it is until then.  Me and your father have seen a few emotional outbursts that we would expect from a daughter, but really not very many, and let's hope that continues.  

All I know is that I am indeed so grateful for you, for the opportunity I have to have a mother-daughter relationship and to try to raise you to be a good wife and mother some day.  You have a lot of good examples of women on both sides of your family, and I hope that you will try to follow in their footsteps.  

Love,
Mom



Christmas Recital

Emmi had her first dance recital with Lifehouse.  For Christmas, they did "Twas the Night Before Christmas."  Yes, it was long, but the dancing was as good or better than I was hoping it would be. The costumes were so cute, and there was tap, ballroom, musical theater, even hip hop. 

Of course I especially enjoyed watching Emmi's number.  It was so adorable!  She had 2 performances, and I got to go and watch her in both.  Doesn't she make a beautiful baby doll?!  See for yourself:

"Jackie"

Our little Jack is at such a fun stage.  Being 2, he thinks he can and should do everything his brothers and sister do, and has learned the art of a temper tantrum if he doesn't.  But that is not what makes it fun.  What's fun is that he is finally starting to speak... a lot.  Just a few months ago I was worried that he didn't quite have enough words.  The only ones he said were mama, papa, bye-bye, etc.  Now he says all of our names, "Keek", "Tham" (Sam), "Papa", "Mama." "M-ow" is what he calls Emmi because I call her "mouse" and he just gets the first sound of it.  He also refers to himself as "Jackie" which is the cutest thing ever, and most of the time it comes out sounding like "mi-Jackie" as if he is referring to himself.  

Oh, but that is not it.  He likes to say "hi" to everyone and waves, ask "who dat?" after I get off of the phone.  He likes to do things himself liking putting on his shoes and then he will say "fie," meaning he wants a high five.  He also knows some family names.  "B" for Grandpa B is always his favorite, but it quickly being replaced in frequency with "J" for uncle J.  He also says "Gam" for Grandma B, "Abby" and "Miggie" for his aunties, and "Bob" for uncle Rob.  We are still working on the rest.  The wallpaper I have on my iPhone is a picture of me and my family, which is why he is learning those so quickly.  Next I will have to have a Hunsaker pic so he can learn all of them.:) 

I also have to write down so I don't forget is that is favorite food, and what he would eat all day if I let him, are taquitos, which he loving refers to are "talkies."  Yes, he likes his talkies for lunch and sometimes dinner, and he dips them in his water...uh, yummy.  This is just a bit of what he is saying.  He also can say animals such as "doggie" and "foggie" (froggy) and animal sounds, and other things.   

As you can see by the picture above, Jack also has taken a big interest in electronics.  Within the last month or two, Jack has discovered the magic of my iPhone and has quickly mastered that and moved on to my Kindle Fire and Chad's iPad.  The kid is too smart.  He can click in and out of anything as he pleases, try to play games and will even watch cartoons on Netflix.  

Just recently I found that he even can do videos:

Ha ha ha.. and yes, he knows his "toes" too.

What a cutie.

Goodbye Summer

The day before school started was a very big day.  Having had to work a lot of prior Saturdays, Chad decided to take that day off.  As a family, we jumped into the van early that morning and went to the place where Chad has been itching to take the boys, the Bingham Copper Mine.  After, we did some last minute shoe shopping, lunch and a trip to Trafalga.  Somehow we had time to also get haircuts, and go to Back to School night that same day.  However, the mine was probably the highlight of the day. 

The trucks and the mine itself were much bigger than I had imagined, and the museum itself was really cool.  One of the coolest things I had read that I had forgotten was that for the first time in history, when the Olympic games were held in Salt Lake City, all the medals were made here, in the hosting city.  Of course, these medals were made from the gold, silver and bronze from the Bingham Mine. 

As I knew would happen, this was an especially interesting place for Chad, working in construction.  I think he enjoyed it the most and could have spent hours looking over the museum.

It was definitely worth the trip out there, only costing $5 a car, and something I would recommend at least once. 

Another thing that was not on our summer list, but we got to do anyway was to go boating!  Chad's parents invited us to come down to Mona reservoir go for a ride, and the kids were ecstatic!

The boys wanted to try knee-boarding. Chad got in the water like a good sport and tried to help them get on as best he could, but it wasn't working.

On our second time on the boat, Tyler suggested that the boys try knee-boarding from the dock so to speak, with both Tyler and Dustin helping them, and it worked!  Keaton, Sam and Emmi all did it on their third try and loved it. 

This did not surprise me in the fact that just in the last couple weeks both Sam and Emmi have joined Keek in going off the diving board. It is crazy to think that I would not have ever done anything like that when I was their age because I was so scared of the water.  The first time I jumped off the diving board I was probably almost in junior high, and I didn't knee board until I was married...crazy.  I am so glad my kids like the water.

One of the kids was not amused though.  Jack had no desire to go tubing or get in the water and promptly fell asleep as the day wore on.  This I attribute to his age.  I am sure he will be a fish like his older siblings, just give him time.

But, to prove that my kids did indeed knee-board, here is the videos from my phone.  I wish you could see their expressions and smiles, but what do you do.  First up is Sam, then Keek, and then Emmi.

New Hobby

Chad brought home a couple of long-boards a few months ago, and lately, with the nice weather, they have been the hottest ticket on our street.  Since we live on a hill, you can imagine the excitement and scare that they can provide.  You may want to look away Grandma B. :)

If I could freeze my little Jack in time, right now I would.  He is so fun.  Lately, he has to do everything the other kids do, including flossing, and sitting at the big table.  He even has got used to our scripture reading time and saying our nightly family prayers.  How he folds his little arms to prayer is just the cutest, and has caused more than a few giggles at times.  This last video was my attempt to get him to show you, and I think my it was a success.