September
Goodbye apartment living! In nearly 10 years of marriage, this is the first house we have ever lived in.
I loved that it has a backyard for the kids to play in.
Jared moved into the house at the end of September and the kids and I stayed in Pocatello until I finished work at the end of October.
October
We finally got all moved in the week before Halloween. I didn't put up any decorations this year, but we still had time to carve some pumpkins.
The neighbors have a row of tall trees right next to the fence, and guess who gets all the dead leaves? Yup, us! We made some good sized piles and tossed the kids into them.
November
I got bit by the crafting bug and made some wreaths, like this one for Thanksgiving...
...and this one for Christmas.
I also made these decorative Christmas bottles from glass Coke bottles and spray-on glitter. It was a big pain in the butt scraping the Coke logo off of each bottle.
I also made this stockings sign, with a little help from Jared (he screwed in the hooks). I have wanted to make one of these for a long time, and I was happy to finally have one.
December
As usual, we attended the annual Hunsaker family Christmas party in Rupert. The kids were excited to tell Santa what gifts they wanted this year.
Uriah wanted a race car and video games
Jordyn wanted a doll house and some dolls
Bonnie was a little too scared to say anything to Santa. I'm sure he knew what she wanted.
I found this doll house on Black Friday at KMart and got it as a birthday present for Jordyn. It took me more than 2 hours to put together. She ended up loving it and plays with it all the time, so it was worth it.
We were the surprise recipients of a 12 Days of Christmas from a family in our ward. They brought us a piece to a manger scene every night for about 10 days.
On the last day, they brought us this book and the baby Jesus. It helped bring the Christmas spirit into our home and I feel special and blessed for being a part of this ward.
Another craft a friend helped me make. I love that it uses Christmas lights.
This Christmas I decided to get the kids 3 presents each, and it was the best decision I have ever made. It was the easiest shopping I have ever done.
Uriah got a race car, a Leap Frog Explorer game and amiibos for the Wii U.
 | ||||||
| Bonnie got a Team Umizoomi Milly doll, a Frozen camera, and an art easel. |
Jordyn got a Frozen scooter, a Leap Frog Explorer game, and a My Little Pony camera.
January
In January we went skiing with our good friends Matt and Amber Grayson at Pomerelle. I am not very good at skiing and had a mini meltdown at the beginning, but I got better at getting off the lift and was able to enjoy myself after about an hour.
In mid-January we got a bunch of snow after having a very dry, cold winter, so the girls and I built a snowman and the girls named him Olaf.
We had a lot of fun playing in the snow, making snow angels...
and burying Jordyn.
Even Olaf had a good time.
February
Sometime in November we got a new bed because our mattress was almost 10 years old. Uriah inherited our old queen bed, but we didn't have any comforters big enough to cover it. Since we were using the only queen comforter we had for our bed, I decided to make Uriah a Super Mario quilt big enough to fit his new queen-sized bed. It took me a few months to do the top part, and when it came time to put the quilt together, I didn't have a quilt frame, and everyone I knew who had one was using theirs. I was a little sad and frustrated that I had worked so hard on the top only to be halted by not having a frame, so my awesome-sauce brother decided to build one for me! I bought him the materials and in a few weeks he had it all done. I was super impressed, and now I have my own quilt frames.
I think the cat thought the quilt frames were for her...
And here is the finished quilt on Uriah's bed! I am very happy with how it turned out and I can't believe that I made something so large. I am definitely not an expert sewer, and I wouldn't have been able to do it without the help of my sweet sweet mother-in-law, who basically gave me step-by-step instructions on how to make it.
We had a great set of missionaries come to our ward and they visited us often on P-Days to share a lesson with us and play the Wii. On the left is Elder Spitler and on the right is Elder Olsen. They have both since been transferred and the kids miss them very much.
We celebrated Bonnie's 3rd birthday at the end of February. We went to eat at Gertie's Brick Oven Cookery and opened presents. Next year is when we will have the BIG party, because she will actually get a real birthday on leap day!
March
In March, Jared and I took an impromptu early 10 year anniversary vacation to the east coast. Jared has always wanted to take me to Philadelphia, where he went on his mission, and I decided that if we didn't do it now, we may never get to for a long, long time. We took the kids to grandma and grandpa Nichols' for a week and I got on my first airplane ride ever!
I will admit, I was pretty terrified on my first plane ride. It was in the middle of the night and I couldn't see anything out the windows. I wasn't accustomed to the movements and feeling of the jet and we were all squished together like sardines in a can. I did survive, however, and our connecting flight from Detroit to Baltimore was much better.
We stayed with my bestedest friend Jason Barfuss and his wife and kids, who lived near Baltimore, Maryland. I was so excited to see him when he picked us up from the airport.
The weather wasn't exactly ideal that first day, but we didn't have anything planned except for sleep so we didn't mind the snow too much.
I took over 300 pictures from our vacation and don't have enough room in this post for them all, so I will just have to give the highlights.
My husband had always told me about Rita's Italian Ice and why snow cones were just the worst thing in the world, but I never believed him. This trip converted me to the world of Rita's. Mmmm mmm.
We saw the Liberty Bell, Ben Franklin's grave, and the Betsy Ross house.
This is the room in Independence Hall where the Declaration of Independence was signed. Without the events that occurred in this room, Joseph Smith may not have been able to bring forth the gospel in this dispensation.
This is the National Archives in Washington DC where I saw my friend swear an oath to protect the country in front of the Constitution and Declaration of Independence. It was a very spiritual experience and something I will probably never see again.
We went to Arlington National Cemetery and saw President Kennedy's grave and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.
The changing of the guard at the tomb was a very solemn and respectful experience. It is something I will never forget. We probably didn't even see 1/3 of the entire cemetery.
In DC we also went to the Air and Space Museum (awesome!) and the Museum of Natural History.
Jared and I went to the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia and toured this white and red ship and went through this submarine.
Crawling through the port holes on this sub were a HUGE pain in the butt!
We also got to see the construction on the Philadelphia LDS temple. Jared never got to attend a temple on his mission and he is happy to see this being built.
Finally, we went to the Philadelphia Museum of Art where they have the Rocky statue and his footprints. We got a beautiful view of the Philadelphia skyline from there as well.
This was probably the coolest thing ever...the Philadelphia Eagles stadium! I wish we could have gotten a closer look.
We also went through Baltimore and saw the Baltimore Ravens stadium. I really wanted to go to the Edgar Allen Poe house but they were closed while we were there. Big bummer!
It was a quick trip, only a week, but it was one I will never forget. Thank goodness I had a guide who had been to these places before!
I have to add this picture to March. We went through the car wash and Bonnie HATED the sound. Can you tell?
April
We colored eggs for Easter.
We bought a van in March and my mom and I took it for a maiden voyage up to Baker Creek and Galena Summit. We stopped at the Sheep Herder's tub and let the kids skinny dip.
Aubrey, Jordyn and Uriah
Bonnie wasn't interested in skinny dipping.
We got some unusually warm weather at the end of April, so we took the girls swimming by the falls...
...where I promptly got sunburned. Some of the worst pain I've ever had from a sunburn.
May
Uriah and I made this crayon wreath for his 1st grade teacher for Teacher Appreciation Week.
The girls helped me give the van its first bath.
The kids playing nice with Tootles.
Bonnie fell asleep like this one day.
Someone told my hubby that he looked like a bunny when he was in his ER suit, so they slapped some bunny ears on him to complete the outfit.
June
When Uriah was done with school I started the kids in swim lessons. Uriah and Jordyn did the first two weeks and Bonnie got so jealous that I enrolled her for the second two weeks. They had a blast and wish they could do it all summer long.
Jordyn jumps off the diving board. She did so well in her first class that they let her skip the second class and go straight to the 3rd level.
Jordyn loves the pool.
Bonnie loves the water but didn't like the idea of jumping off the diving board.
It was a great way to keep them entertained for a month.
In June I got to see my bestedest friend Jason for the second time in a year. He came to Idaho for a funeral, so us best friends got together for some quality time while he was in town.
Arlen Hunsaker, me, Jason Barfuss
We had some great laughs and did some catching up.
Uriah turned 7 this month and we went swimming at 1000 Springs Resort (I had never been there) and then we came home for a bbq of chicken, steak and corn on the cob (Uriah's choice) with some family and friends. I would say he got pretty spoiled. I can't believe that next year he will be 8 and getting baptised!
Well, I think I'm about as caught up as I can be. Hopefully the next post won't be another 6 month catch-up.
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