June Fun!

 June has been...WEDDING MONTH!  And seriously, I'm super glad its over.  I am exhausted.  It wasn't even my wedding, so I can only imagine how exhausted my new sister-in-law is.:)  
The weekend before the wedding Karryn and I threw Nicki a bridal shower.  I was excited to try some Pinterest ideas, along with some other craftiness.  My favorite idea...scratch off cards (thanks Danielle for the idea!).  It was my twist on the Newlywed Game, so David and Nicki both answered some questions and I gathered some random facts from each of them and those were our answers.  

There was also delicious food.  I can't lie...I think I'm sort of awesome.  AND Karryn makes amazing chicken salad.  She's the Chicken Salad Queen.

  

The cupcakes were even better as leftovers.:)  No joke.

 


After Nicki's family got into town, we went to Shoshone Falls for a serious BBQ.  We had brisket, pork, beans, cole slaw, potato salad, rolls and cookies.  And Jack had mud.:)
There was also ice-blocking for the brave at heart.  Annie was awesome...she had no clue what ice-blocking was, but she kept saying, "Mom, I need to get on that ice block."  And she loved it!

 

 

 David & Nicki

Eric & Leah 

 Emily loves Auntie Leah:)

We also got a surprise visit from Stephan.  Annie was mesmerized by his dreads, and he was so gracious to let the kids be in awe of him.:) 

And then there was the wedding.  My kids were pretty loud during the whole ceremony.  That, my friends, is how we roll.  Jack kept yelling for Hadley, and Emily kept calling, "Aunt Nicki!"  Bless them.   I'm so glad we were able to be here to celebrate with the family...it was a beautiful ceremony and reception.

 There were little bags of Kisses & Hugs on the tables.  Pretty sure Emily ate her weight in chocolate.  She must've opened every bag she saw. 

 I may or may not be slightly embarrassed by this picture...

 Grandma, Aunt Julie and Papa

My kids love to dance!  They spent more time out in the middle of the floor than anybody...it was so fun to watch!

 Dancing is...exhausting....

 My cute in-laws

 

And the new sister-in-law...so glad she's one of us now!:)

 My Hunter Family...I'm so blessed to be part of this crazy family! 

 I just adore them.:)

My 4 year old is going through a phase.  At least I hope its a phase because I'm unsure whether or not I can deal with this for a lengthy amount of time (like, until she's 12...I definitely can't deal with this till she's 12).  She asks so many questions.  I'm not talking about the "Why?" and "How come?" and those general questions (although she does ask MANY of those too).  These questions are all very specific.  For example, if we're talking about someone, she wants to know how old they are, how old their kids are, where do they live, what color is their house, where are they right now, will they come over to play, what are their kids' names, do they have animals, what is their favorite color...I could go on, but I won't. 

I love my sweet child for wanting to know more about people and the world around her.  However, yesterday after answering a whole series of questions about how old everyone in the family is, I thought to myself, "What happens when she has more questions than I have answers?"  So far, I can successfully accommodate 4 year old questions.  She seems appeased (it might not always be the answer that she wants, or even the right answer...but I can always come up with SOMETHING).  I'm guessing some day I will not have an answer, not even a "Maybe we can talk about it later".  That's sort of scary. 

Last night I was laying in bed and thinking about my sweet 4 year old and how I hope she always asks me her questions, even when I don't have an answer.  I hope she still asks.  And then I was thinking about all the questions I have.  I have SO MANY questions.  There's lots of general "Why?" and "How come?" and vague and general questions about things I can't wrap my head around.  "Why did we move to Idaho..."  "How come things feel so hard..."  "Why can't I lose weight..."  "How come nobody listens to me..."  I could go on.  But I won't.:)

I also have a stream of very specific questions and sometimes it feels like there are WAY more questions than answers.  I even found myself thinking last night, "I wonder if Heavenly Father runs out of answers sometimes..." This morning I decided that its not that He doesn't have the answers...its that sometimes we lack the patience and eternal perspective to wait for them.  Like my cute 4 year old, sometimes I want the answers RIGHT NOW, as soon as I've asked the question.  Its hard to wait for the resolution.  

I wish I had a better understanding of God's timing.  I wish I could end this post by saying, "Well, here's what I learned..."  The truth is, I just have so many questions that I still feel like I need answers to, and the answers aren't coming.  And I'm super impatient (and heavens knows you JUST DON'T PRAY FOR PATIENCE...you don't get patience, you get opportunities to practice patience...and I don't have time for that!).  And I'm not sure what to do with my questions and impatience.  I'm not sure where to go with it, I'm just waiting.  Like everybody else.

Summer Kick-off 2013!

Our summer got kicked off with a serious BBQ for Memorial Day.  Well, as serious as the Hunter's can get, I guess.:)  Everyone came over to our house (a.k.a. Grandma & Papa's house) for hamburgers and hot dogs and water fun.  And it was 68 degrees.  I keep seeing this idea on Pinterest - shaving cream on the slide.  Well, my kids were not super impressed.  Actually, I think at least 2 of them cried. 

 Jack didn't mind the shaving cream...he even did some twists and turns on his way down the slide.

 Also, poor boy has had never-ending snot since we got here.  Its kind of gross, but still sort of cute...

The first weekend in June was Western Days.  I'm still not really sure what Western Days are...maybe next year I'll figure it out.  BUT...they had a huge parade.  Kris was working his first weekend, so Grandma and I met Uncle David, Aunt Nicki and Sophie for the parade down Blue Lakes.  Kids loved it.  I thought it was crazy how many advertisers there were.  Half the parade (seriously, probably more than half) were trucks with advertising banners on them.  No floats or music or anything in the truck...just a banner.  It was really weird.  Free advertising...but really...just weird to me.  The girls thought it was awesome to get to chase after candy.  Jack loved clapping to the music and waving to all the pretty girls.


 

 

Jack also loved the popcorn.

 And the M & M's.