Spiritually Uplifting

I had to share this moment before I forget all about it. Today I had a very spiritually fulfilling day at church. I have a calling in the primary (which is great), but I don't get to sit in and have the great a-ha moments very often because I am in teaching the four year olds and before that it was nursery and before that I was the pianist for the primary and before that I was teaching nursery (not very much adult interaction going on, but I love the kids). Today there was a special stake meeting. Elder Oaks from the Quorum of the Twelve came to Denton to speak to us. There was also the mission president and his wife from the Dallas Fort Worth Mission that spoke, along with a member of the seventy, and the stake president. It was almost two hours of the spiritual enlightenment I was really needing. It was nice to listen to Elder Oaks speak and laugh. He is just a man and he is a character. He joked and then he spoke on serious matters, but he did it with so much love. I could tell he really meant it when he said he loved all of us. Between all of the speakers, there were quite a few funny stories and moments shared (if you want to hear any, you'll have to call and ask because I can't do it justice on a blog). It really was a special opportunity to have those general authorities so close and having special messages to share with us here in Denton, Texas. There has not been a member of the Quorum of the Twelve since 1981 and Elder Oaks said it was time. He had a special message for the youth of the church about having good friends and influences and staying away from those that will bring them down and try to talk them into doing things they know are not right. Another thing he emphasized was not letting those in this area (the evangelicals that protest us and give us a hard time) get to us. He said we know we are Christians and the best we can do to convince those that are against us is to show that we not only say we believe in Christ, but we actually live Christlike lives. He told us not to try to argue or anything like that because it will not get us anywhere. I have had my own personal experiences here in Texas with people that I thought were full of good intentions turning on me and telling me how I was not Christian and how I was dooming myself and my family. It is hard not to get defensive, but now I know I just need to smile and say that I know for myself what I am and I am not going to argue with someone who obviously knows little of my beliefs and change the subject or just walk away.
It has been interesting thinking about this after the meeting. I have to think about those types of encounters, but so do my children. My son, who is in elementary school already has his friends asking him about what church he goes to and what he believes. He has a friend that is atheist and his parents are really pushing him to talk to his friends about it, but my son has a pretty strong testimony for a little guy and he comes home some days and tells me about he told his friend about how Jesus loves all of us and that he knows that he is real and that God does exist. It makes me so proud of him. There are times that I am afraid that someone might say something to shake his testimony (like about how so many churches around here teach that members of our church are not Christian), but I have come to realize that he knows what he believes and he is not afraid to speak up to his friends. I hope he can always feel open to kindly discuss what he believes and why. I also hope that his friends can be a good influence on him. It is crazy to hear what seven and eight year olds discuss at recess. I think my son is ready to be baptized in just a few months.
It was a day that left me with the warm fuzzy feeling and I am hoping it will stay with me for a long time. It is good to know that our church leaders are aware of our situations in all parts of the world and that they do care about us all. They are so full of wisdom and love and today just made me so excited for General Conference coming up and the messages that will be shared with us then.

Many Happenings

I have been such a slacker, but that doesn't mean our lives have been boring.

Steve passed his quals with good compliments from the board who reviewed it and gave him his oral examination. He worked so hard on his two week paper and the hard work paid off. Now he just has his dissertation to complete. He submitted a topic proposal for it and it was approved the first time (This is apparently rare. For everyone we've heard of, it usually takes at least two times). He is on schedule to complete it and present it along with a lecture recital and his defense of it all in early June. He will then be known as Dr. Hunter (as long as his review board likes what he does--which I am sure will not be a problem). In June, Steve has also agreed to do one more round of Collegium for Eugene Corporon and then we will be on our way to.... somewhere. That is the part of the equation we are not sure about yet. Steve has submitted job applications to a few universities that are looking for trombone/low brass professors. Hopefully at least one of them will like what Steve has to offer and invite him in for an interview and a job. :)

I know I shouldn't be getting my hopes up, but he has applied for a job at Dixie State. This is closer to home and family. It would be a wonderful job, so if you have a moment, pray for us and the people who will be reviewing candidates for the job. We are hoping to hear back on some of the jobs in the next couple of months, so I'll keep you posted of any news.

Onto another aspect: Nathan won second place in science fair this year. He was so excited. We are so proud of how hard he worked and how well he did. He will be able to compete in the district level science fair. I don't know exactly when that is, but when it happens, I'm sure Nathan will be excited to attend.

Amy turned four (can you believe it?!) on Feb. 16th. She had a fun day and received some nice things. She had the cake of her dreams (she told me about a month in advance what she wanted)-- funfetti with pink strawberry frosting. The cake did not disappoint her. Justin, Alli, and their two kiddos joined us for the evening to have Amy's birthday dinner. She chose steak (new york steak to be exact), and fresh broccoli (she loves broccoli). Last year she insisted on hotdogs; it looks like she is moving up in her food tastes; let's just hope next year is not too expensive. :)

I turned 29 a few days ago. It is my last year in the twenties and I am hoping to still feel young for a while. Steve had things to do that night, so we didn't do too much, but he did get me Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass (one of my childhood favorites) and a puzzle book. He also got a new game (which is lots of fun, so if any of you are ever around, ask to play it) Carcassone. It seems like a mix of Settlers and Tsuro (two fun games). We have spent too much time playing it together and with Allison and Justin. It's a hit! It won the same award that Ticket to Ride (another fun game) won, so it has to be a good game.

I haven't said much about Lucy, but she is getting so big. She is also a climber, as of late. She has been climbing up on the counters any time I leave her alone for a minute and she is instantly into the cupboards trying to find food to throw down to the dogs. So far I have lost a loaf of bread, hotdog buns, goldfish crackers, and some pringles to the cause. The dogs didn't know what to do with the can of stewed tomatoes or the box of mac and cheese she threw to them. I think they were just glad the can didn't hit them on their heads. I have been trying to convince Lucy that she doesn't need to climb so much by trying to wear her out during the day, but so far-- no luck. I am sure she will outgrow this phase because this is exactly what her brother did at this age. I never thought there could be another kid like he was, but she is following in his footsteps. I hope that means she will be as good of a kid as he is now when she is older (not that she is horrible--she really is a sweetheart). In the meantime, I can look past her mischievousness each time she looks up at me and says, "love you." This is what she told me right before I took the picture below. Except her actions this time were emptying the bottom two shelves on the bookshelf and making a mess on the floor, which she tried to hide by covering it up with a blanket and Nathan's backpack. I have to give her credit for her creativity.

On another note, a while ago, there was a freak snowstorm in Denton. There was record snowfall (and I'm not talking about a couple of inches. I think the weatherman said we got eight inches). Now for Utah, this would not be too big of a deal, but here it shut everything down. Nathan ended up having a five day weekend because of it and he was thrilled. Steve even had work and school off (because he works for UNT and a local high school). The good thing about this is that it gave him all the time he needed to finish his 15 page topic proposal for his dissertation and get it in. Maybe that is why it passed the first time through; he had plenty of time to think about every word.

This last set of pictures shows Amy in the new "princess dress" my mom sent to her. Lucy wanted to get in on the action. Then we had to take a picture of how nice Nathan looked dressed up for church. Ignore the girls' hair. It wasn't done yet. They were super cute when it was fixed, but of course I don't have any pictures of that. Maybe next time.

The Holiday Season

I know I have not been the best blogger, but at least I am getting on now to update.

We had a great holiday season:
Thanksgiving was spent at our home. We invited Allison, Justin, and their kiddos to join us and it was awesome. The food was good, the company was fantastic, and we had a great time visiting and playing games.
Christmas was fun this year. We left on the 18th to drive to Utah to spend it with family there. We had not been back to Utah in almost two years, and I have to admit I got teary when I saw sunlight hitting snow-covered mountains and pine forest around us. It was amazing! We live in such a beautiful world and I think one of the most beautiful areas is the mountain west. Utah is so amazing. I love being in the southern end and seeing the red rock all around, especially with snow. Then as you travel farther north, the mountains seem to grow and the air is so crisp and cool. One of my favorite moments was when we took a slight detour to go to the Grand Canyon; I have never been (can you believe I was so close and never went there?!). We went to the overlook and watched the sunrise over the canyon. So gorgeous!! Of course we all looked like stupid tourists from Texas wearing shorts, capris, T-shirts.... you know... warm weather clothes. The funny thing is that there was deep snow around (not what I was expecting for Arizona) and the wind was blowing like an arctic gale. You know canyons are synonymous with wind and the Grand Canyon has BIG canyon winds as the temperature changes with sunrise. There was a couple there from Toronto that liked giving us a hard time about our attire. We were freezing! The dogs (well I should say Trixie) loved it. I took her for a little jog up to the overlook and she was not phased at all by the cold wind. If she were a bit bigger, she would be the perfect sled dog.
Well, on with the trip. We stopped in Cedar City (Enoch to be precise) to stay a night with Melanie and Nate and their family (Steve's sister and brother in law). They bought a new house there and it is so nice. It was fun catching up and seeing the nephew we had not met yet. All of their kids are adorable and so well behaved. We went to church with them the next morning and then headed up to my hometown of Nephi. It pretty much looks the same except for a few more houses here and there. It was good to be home and spend some time with family. We had pictures taken while there and we seemed to all enjoy one another. The kids were spoiled, but appreciative of everything they received. It was sad to say goodbye, but we are hoping to see everyone again before long.
We headed up to Cache Valley the day after Christmas. We stopped and visited with my brother in law, Boyd and his family on the way up. It was amazing to watch the temperature on our compass/thermometer drop as we drove into the valley. It was about -5 F! I have not felt temperatures like that in a long time and I realized what a wuss I had become. Texas does not know the true meaning of cold. Coming back home to Texas was nice and I had a new appreciation for 40 degree weather. We had fun visiting everyone in Hyrum. The house there was crowded, but it was nice and fun. I think it helped warm everyone up. Nathan loved playing in the snow there. I think he spent about six hours a day dressed up in snow gear playing out in the yard with cousins. I was surprised he didn't get too cold and call defeat. He was a trooper and spent about every daylight hour in the snow sledding, skiing (thanks to Heidi's help), and tromping around in the snow doing who knows what. Our two littlest ones seemed to enjoy the first couple of days and then things went downhill. There was a sickness going around in the family. I don't think one cousin went unscathed. For most, it seemed to last a day: puking, fever, body aches, etc. For some, like Amy, it was a 3-4 day affair. Poor Amy didn't keep anything down for about four days. She was miserable. I felt bad that she didn't get to enjoy the Hunter Family Christmas Party. She spent the time asleep on the gym floor. Luckily, Lucy was only sick for about a day and then she was more back to her old self. Nathan was a lucky one who only seemed affected for about 3/4 of one day. Who knows... maybe being out in the cold so much helped him??
The drive home was sad and happy. Amy was sick, so that was a sad part and we had to make a few stops along the way to clean her up and whatnot. She was sad to be leaving grandma and grandpa's house and she wanted to go back and have fun. Nathan was sad to be leaving behind so many cousins around his age that were so much fun for him to hang around. Lucy was sad to be strapped back into her carseat for a long car ride home. The happy part was knowing that Steve is heading back to finish his last semester!! We are happy to get on with our lives and to move on to the next stage. I am hoping this semester goes well for him and that everything goes as planned. There is so much bureaucracy involved in the process and I am keeping my fingers crossed and praying hard that the panel he has will approve his topic for his dissertation and that they will go easy on him during the orals on his quals. Oh and the other happy part was for the dogs. They were excited to have room to roam once more and to not be in a cage all day long. Overall, we are very happy about the trip and we think it was so worth the time and the long drive to see everyone again. We are hoping it will not be as long before we are able to make it back to Utah again.
Sorry there are not any pictures of our trip. I was an idiot and forgot to pack the camera. I am hoping to get some pictures from family we were around. So, until my next blog attempt... adieu.

Family Visits and Recitals

All of the pictures aren't posted in order and it may seem random, but they are from the last little while while we had company:

Vern Kagarice (Steve's trombone teacher), Steve, Jan Kagarice (coached Steve on a piece)

Lucy was so excited to be getting so much attention from everyone

We had quite a few people at our place, but it was fun!

Amy making Hyrum watch her dance. The poor kid has to put up with her antics quite often.

Well, we had quite a few days during Steve's recital. His dad, his brother Boyd, and his sister Melissa flew out to see it. Justin also had his masters recital the same night, so both had a good audience. Justin's parents also flew out to hear his recital and spend a few days with Alli and him.

It was amazing to hear how well Steve did. He is so good at what he does. He had people cheering from the crowd as he finished. His private teacher and other coaches were so excited about his performances. They think he has great potential and they are excited to see where he will be next. Steve's confidence in his playing has improved so much over the years and I think he could seriously take on any piece thrown at him and perform it well in front of an audience. I am so proud of him (can you tell?).

While Steve's family was visiting, we had some fun. We went to the Texas Motor Speedway where we had a tour guide give us a special treat. We were able to drive around the track. It is amazing to feel how big of an angle the turns are at. I thought we were going to tip over and our guide told us we could if we didn't keep up enough speed. It was nice of him to tell us to make sure we had our seatbelts fastened and snug. We had fun seeing all of the parts of the racetrack and some of the nice suites, as well as the ballroom.

After this, we headed to the original Babes restaurant for a nice family-style lunch before heading to Dallas to see Dealy Plaza and the temple. Then our trip wouldn't be complete without stopping at Outdoor World (Bass pro Shop) on the way home. The kids were able to ride on a merry-go-round with reindeer and see some bass and other fish swimming in a big tank they had in the middle of the store. I heard we barely missed seeing Santa Clause, but we may make a trip back to let the kiddos see him before we head out to Utah.

The nights were full of playing games and talking into the wee hours. We even watched a movie. The last day our company was here was spent looking at antique stores and eating Papa Murphy's pizza.... yummy.

It was great getting to see Dad Hunter, Boyd, and Missy. I had not seen Boyd and Missy in nearly 2 years, so getting to see them was extra special and I realized how much I really do miss seeing all of Steve's family. They are a wonderful bunch that really respect each other and show sincere love and compassion for everyone. They are always so supportive of us. I am always so excited to spend some time around them and for my kids to spend some time with them as well. I just hope my kids can be as close as Steve and his siblings are when they are grown.

Thanksgiving is this week and we are going to spend it with Allison and Justin and their kids. We are going to have so much food, I don't know what we are going to do with it all, but we will have a good time. I am going shopping today to pick out a turkey and to get all of the finishing touches I need to make everything. There is nothing like a good meal with good company followed by good conversation and games.

On another note, I am so excited to be getting so close to heading to Utah to visit my family and Steve's family, as well as some of our friends that are still out there. AND we get to see mountains again!!! AND snow!!! I think we are going to have some fun. Although, Steve will be working on his two-week paper for his quals during that time, I bet he will have fun as well. Come January, Steve will present his paper and do his defense of it as well as his oral examinations. Then all he has to finish is his dissertation/lecture recital. I am hoping that he will have it completed by June, if not before. He is almost done!! Yay!!! It has been such a long journey, but I am so proud of him for sticking with it through everything. He really is a hard worker and he has done so well in school. Now we just need to find a job that is hopefully a little closer to home.

A Night with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra

Well, Steve was a big romantic. He bought tickets to hear the DSO perform Rachmaninoff''s Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini and Bruckner's 9th symphony. Rachmaninoff is one of my favorite all-time composers and the piece they did last night is one of my favorites. I also really enjoyed listening to the Bruckner piece. Steve bought the tickets a few months ago when he found out about what the DSO would be performing and surprised me with them a couple of days ago. It was nice to be able to go out on a real date with him. We don't get to do it very often, especially since Steve has been going crazy with school and work. Allison and Justin were extremely nice to watch our kids and put them to bed while we were gone and I feel like we owe them big time because I had such an enjoyable night. For those of you who have never been to a live symphony concert (of a decent symphony), I would suggest doing it sometime. The president of the symphony came on stage and talked about how an artist paints on a canvas and a musician "paints" on silence. What they do is really a work of art and I felt so many emotions listening to the music and feeling it course its way through my body. I was really amazed with the pianist they brought in to play the Rhapsody. It always amazes me to see someone with so much talent and the ease at which they play something so complex and so beautiful. Anyone reading this should google Rhapsody on a theme of Paganini and listen to the full piece (not just the one variation, but all of them). The whole piece is so catchy and you'll find yourself humming bits and pieces of it. I am so glad that I get to be so exposed to a world of the finest music and musicians. I can't imagine a life without music; maybe that's what led me to marry a musician.

He Did It!!

For those of you following Steve's schooling:
He passed the written portion of his qualifying exams! This is great news. Now he just needs to do his two week paper, defend it, and do his oral exams before his panel. Then there is nothing standing in his way of his dissertation/lecture recital. It is nice to have him get this one big step out of the way. The light at the end of the tunnel is getting a bit brighter.

My Kids Remind Me of...

I was thinking today as I had to pull Lucy down before she climbed on top of the washer yet again, how she reminds me of a monkey. Then there was Amy smothering the dogs with her love and attention and she reminded me of Elmyra (you know the girl from the cartoon Tiny Toons?). Then there is Nathan who reminds me of my dad. I have pictures to prove this... I am not making this up. My kids are wonderful in their own unique ways.

Lucy is our Curious George. She even speaks a language that sounds similar to his. We have so many picture of her getting into mischief and trying to figure out what so many things are.

Amy is quite a bit like Elmyra. She loves fuzzy small animals. Our poor dogs have been very good with her, even when she is a bit too loving. This is one of a few pictures we have of her doing this to the dogs. She loves hugs and is very willing to give them to almost anyone.

And of course... here is Nathan with my dad. He is a smart boy that is curious about the world and why everything is the way it is. He loves discovering new things and he is very tender hearted and giving. There are so many days when I look at him and see my dad in miniature.