What are we up to these days? Well, we bought a house, yep we did. And we have all these plans and high hopes for it, see, so now the work begins.
First we wanted to take all of the popcorn acoustic off of the ceiling, a pretty big deal, and Jeremy's parents came to help us make that happen. What a mess!
Then Jeremy and his Dad sprayed texture on the ceiling to finish off the dirty work.
That was all done in two days! And we sure were burning the candle at both ends.
Then Jeremy with the help of his buddy Sei (thank you Sei) painted the textured ceiling and it looks beautiful!
Next comes painting the house. So many colors to choose from! I don't want to reveal too much, that will come when all is done, but here are Jeremy and CJ painting CJ's room, it was the highlight of Christopher's week!
We also had our backyard dug up a bit for a french drain so that the foundation would remain secure during the Texas storms, I can't wait to be in our new home when one hits!
So now we just have to finish the paint, which should happen tonight, and then the carpet comes tomorrow, and then we move in Saturday!!
This is when we were painting CJ's room. Lizzie got all into it with us, hands and all.
I can't wait for this weekend, I've been packing here at home and I feel like we're good to go!
PS it's Elizabeth Jane Hunt's first birthday this Sunday, May 30th, and then we're off to a Hunt family reunion so it may be awhile before I post again, but don't stop belivin', there's always more comin'!
What a bold statement, and a romantic one. I (almost) never Facebook, but I received a message that one of my cousins was getting married, and that was the title of her invitation. I LOVE WEDDINGS, LOVE THEM. I met my husband at a wedding and loved my own, so going to weddings might as well be my version of doing exactly what I would choose to do if given the option to do just about anything else.
Even thought the timing of the wedding for our family couldn't be worse, with us getting the house ready in Speedy Gonzales time and having to pack our apartment, but I wanted to go so badly! So go I went, with the children of course, and left Jeremy to paint the entire house. I taped the whole place before we left, but Jeremy was the one that transformed our home with color, and I love it, but more on that later . . .
The wedding was beautiful, of course, that what happens when good tasted mixes with love. Aubree and John's colors were lemon and lime, and everything was perfect. They married in the Mesa temple, it was the best cealing I can remember, but I always think that.
It must have been 100 degrees by the time the reception began at 7pm that night. But no one complained, we all were too busy eating pizza and ice cream and hugging and laughing. Everything about the reception dripped of John and Aubree, carefree and lovely, ready to start the journey of marriage, well good luck! It's no piece of wedding cake, but so much better.
We arrived mid Thursday for the Friday wedding and left by 5:30 am on Saturday, one quick trip. It was a mix of emotion, wanting to stay and spend more time with my cousin JoVon and other family, like my mother and grandmother, and feeling the pull of responsibility to be back getting the house ready. It was so good to be home with my worn out knight in shining armor.
We went camping! Finally after almost 8 years of marriage we went camping and had a fantastic time. We went with our ward and camped on a huge property that has ponds. I would consider it "prairie" camping, there was no need to clear a sight for our tent because there was no dirt, only grasses. I grew up camping and loving it, but always in the mountains and wooded areas. Here in our part of Texas you're hard pressed to find any mountains, but the area we camped at was just beautiful.
We drove out as soon as Jeremy came home from work and were able to enjoy the sunset along the way
It looked as if we might have been the last to arrive. There were a few tents ready for the night and the adults were busy with dinner by the fire, while children spent time fishing in the ponds and running through the tall flowers and grasses. Everyone smiled and laughed and as the night wore on we enjoyed smores and the campfire.
By the end of the night the few of us who were staying over took our seats around the flames and listened to the wild stories of President Griffin. He told of his childhood in northern Mississippi, living in an area cleared for farming but still wooded and having to hide from a panther that tried with all its might to get into their home when just he, his sister, and cousin were home during the day. It was like something from Little House on the Prairie, and Pres. Griffin is such a natural story teller, it was better than a ghost story and still sent me to bed with chills.
We borrowed a two man tent for the trip so Jeremy, Teensie, and I slept in it while CJ slept in a larger tent with his friend. There was no room for the pack n play (we're so spoiled normally) so I just put Liz on top of our sleeping bags with a blanket to go to bed and she was out in no time (it was 10pm by then as well, otherwise we would have had a fight on our hands for sure). When Jeremy and I went to bed she stayed asleep between us but I'm sure she knew I was there because she nuzzled right up to me in no time, so sweet. Until 2am when she woke up, realized she was with mom and dad and not in a crib and thought it was playtime. After about an hour of trying to get her back down Jeremy finally just took her home and said he'd be back to get us in the morning.
At 4am it started raining. No biggie, but the lightning is what make me uneasy, so I moved to CJ's tent and stayed there till 5am when we were awakened by more rain and a warning to pack up and leave before the ponds rose and covered the way out. All the sites were packed and headed out by 6am, CJ and I rode with one family while our things went with another. It was eventful and wonderful, and I look forward to going again this summer.
Birthday week has come to a close at the Hunt home. Mommy is now in the last year of her twenties and Christopher has turned four!
Jeremy gave me the sweetest Willow Tree figurine, Guardian. It reminded him of Elizabeth and me, and it just melted my heart. What a thoughtful gift. He also stepped it up a notch a home and became Super Husband/Daddy for the day, and I asked him if he could be my hero all year long for my 30th birthday gift. He said he'd do his best (he always does) and the atmosphere here at home has been so much more enjoyable because of it, thank you Jeremy!
And then for Christopher's birthday I went super ambitious this year for his "cake" with a mondo sized plane made from rice crispies and covered in fondant.
Here's how it happened: The fondant and frosting was made the afternoon of the 26th and the rice crispies that night with Jeremy's help of course. We made 10 batches, filling a roast pan for the fuselage or body of the plane, a 9x13 for the wings, and an 8x8 for the fins and engines.
The next night we cut and shaped all the pieces together, frosted all the parts, dyed the fondant, rolled it out, cut and covered the pieces, and very lastly assembled the beast.
Awesome! It took three hours, not bad when you think of it, and a couple of hidden dowels to do the trick, but we were very satisfied with the results.
What I learned: 9pm very quickly becomes 12am so even though three hours is pretty good for what we did, getting started as early as possible is the key, even if it means putting the children to bed early.
I did stay up for another hour or so finishing the poster for the stations and cleaning a bit, but gave up when the clock read past one.
Next day, the Up in the Air party was a great success; thanks to all that came for the party and helped out with the activities. The children loved playing with bubbles most of all but also took turns with Blanket Ball, Twirlie Flyers, the Frisbee, and for the finale, Jeremy shot off his rocket and the kids ran for the pieces with delight. It was really great that Jeremy was able to take the morning off to be at the party, we love Southwest!
Having the party at the park worked out great, it gave us adults a chance to catch up while the kids ran and played. Here's our two favorite teensies, Lanie and Janie in a swing together, too cute!
I loved the colors that came through in this picture, to the naked eye it was just food, but when the picture came out it made me wow!
There was so much wind that we sang the Birthday song and did a pretend blow at the candles, and then I just let the kids tear at the plane, why not?! They were so good not to do it while the moms were all talking anyway.
It's a funny thing, but I find the most gratification from seeing the remains of my cake masterpieces, like knowing it was loved enough to be torn to shreds and devoured, or something like that. Over the last few days we ate the fuselage at home but I had to dispose of the remains after the CJ wouldn't stop asking for and sneaking pieces when I wasn't looking.
My next great adventure in cake making and birthday's will be Janie's first birthday. It's going to be a combo bonanza with a Toy Story theme for Janie, Jordan, Jackson, and Carter. Maybe we could do a cowboy hat, or Woody's boot? The jury's still out on that one, have any suggestions?
PS Just the other day I heard of the new Cricut machine that cuts fondant called the Cricut Cake. I would love to try my hand at cakes with that!
