Snow Fun

One of Evie's most favorite things to do is play outside.  She has been having a lot of fun in the snow lately!  We know when she wants to go outside because she'll tell us so, grab her boots, her hats, and her gloves and beg for us to put all of that cold-weather gear on her.  Most days, it's practically impossible to tell this cute face, "no."  So, outside we go!

More than playing in the snow, she loves to eat the snow.  She also LOVES playing with Codee any chance she can get.

2013 Holiday Wrap-Up

It's been a fun holiday season for the Hunters!  We've thoroughly enjoyed the past month (except for the 2 weeks Evie and I were super sick), and we're looking forward to some downtime in January.

Thanksgiving was a treat!  We were able to have Thanksgiving dinner with Beau's side of the family on the Saturday before the actual day.  This is an annual tradition and it is so nice because we get to be with everyone, regardless if some of us will be with in-laws on the actual day.  I don't have a photo yet because I need to go get copies from my sister-in-law, but we had a great time!

We spent the actual Thanksgiving Day with my family this year.  However, before we went down to my mom and dad's house we snuck a couple of other things in.  Beau went to look at deer.  He goes with good friend of ours every year.  They wake up early and head into the hills and look for deer.  This is all done from the comfort of the heated car, mind you.  Evie and I joined up with my little brother and ran a Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot.  It was just a 5k, but it was super fun.  I'm hoping Tyler might want to make this a new tradition.

Evie, Me, & Ty at the finish line.

Me and Ty.

Me and my little running buddy, Evie.

We soon made our way down to mom and dad's house.  We had the entire family with us this year.  Even Traci and Brodie surprised us by coming home for the holiday.  YAY!  Following tradition in our family, we ended the day with a movie.  We all went to see the new Disney movie, "Frozen."  This was Evie's first in-theatre movie and she loved it . . . until about 15 minutes from the end.  She had sat long enough and needed to get down and run.

Our family Thanksgiving picture.  No, we didn't get a new dog.
Evie is in this I-Won't-Smile-For-The-Camera phase.  And, the
only way we could get her to sit still on our laps for a picture
was to invite this cute little doggie.  :)

We went back to the house for pie and Evie and Carter got some quality time together.  Grandma let them hang out on her bed and watch a movie.

I had the pleasure of waking up early the next morning to hit some Black Friday sales with my mom, sister, and one of my sisters-in-law.

We do this every year.  It's fun to be with the girls.
We finish our shopping  excursion with lunch.

Now it's time to roll in the Christmas holiday with one of our favorite traditions.  We go up the canyon and cut us a fresh tree each year.  It's way fun and we love having the fresh tree in our home.  This was Evie's first adventure in the snow and she loved it (except when she got snow in her boot).

After we cut our tree down and got it loaded in the truck, Beau went pheasant hunting with some great friends of ours.  Evie and I went too, but we stayed back at the truck and played while Beau was off hunting.

Evie tried to follow daddy into the field, but she
eventually came back to play with mommy.

Here we are in the field playing.  We were playing a game where she would have to chase me to catch me.  She obviously thought it was super fun.

Another fun tradition I do every year is go to the Festival of Trees.  Traci was here this year so she joined me and my mom for the fun.

While we were at the Festival, we let the kids sit with Santa.  Evie pretty much thought Santa was horribly scary and cried when I left her with this strange man.  I really can't blame her, can you?

The big days came and we embraced them.  Christmas Eve was great fun.  We spend it with Beau's family every year.  Evie loves running around with her cousin, HaLee.  They are so cute together.

Here's our little Evie doll in her PJ's.  She is so stinkin' flexible.

We followed all the yearly traditions.  We ate well, read Christmas stories, sang carols, played the chimes, opened gifts, and played our family-favorite game, Tess.

Reading Christmas Stories

Playing the Chimes

The whole family playing the chimes.

A dice game we played while opening and trading white elephant gifts.
We were ALL completely spoiled with gifts.  Especially Evie!

Fun was had by all and Evie fell asleep on the way home so she could wait to see if Santa came the next day.

And, guess what!?  He did.  But Evie seriously could have cared less.  She's only 19 months old, so she really has no concept of the whole Christmas thing.  She didn't even like ripping the paper and opening the gifts.

The very first thing she opened was her Cozy Coupe (little red and yellow car) and she was happy with that.  We couldn't get her to get out of it to open any more presents, so we had to take her gifts to her.  She would open most of her remaining gifts from her new car, and that usually took some prodding and LOTS of help.

When opening gifts was no more fun, we had to take a break to eat.  Evie cared more about breakfast than more toys, so while she ate, Beau and I opened our gifts.  When we returned to finishing up her gifts we found that her next favorite gift was her potty and the accessories that came with it (panties and a potty book).  Man, this girl is a riot.  Who knew that the new car and the potty was all this girl needed/wanted?!  Oh . . . she did like the new ornament we gave her in her stocking of Buzz and Woody from "Toy Story."  And, to be completely honest . . . Beau and I didn't really even get her that much.  Between Santa and us, she only had 5 gifts and a stocking to open.  Of course she was spoiled by others too.  However, we're learning very quickly that less is more around here.

Here's a collage of Evie's morning fun.

After we had our own little family time, we headed down to see my family at my mom and dad's house.  We eat a traditional Christmas breakfast, open [more] gifts, and play games.  We were a little late to breakfast this year because it took so long for Evie to get through her gifts, but we still were able to see everyone.

Evie ran right for baby Mollie.  She LOVES babies . . . especially real ones.
She also loves playing with Carter.  It's going to be sad when he goes home.

Me and Beau.  We're about to open gifts and then eat our breakfast.

I had to squeeze in some baby loves from this cutie pie.

And, so did Evie.  She gave Mollie a big hug and kiss.

She was quick to find Carter and they played on the iPad for a while.

Evie was given a jogging stroller with a giant stuffed animal.  I included it in the collage above.  She was more than excited to be pushing that thing around the house!

We were then privileged to have Christmas dinner with Beau's dad and stepmom.  They fed us well, spoiled us with more gifts, and we enjoyed hanging out.

Evie and HaLee

Evie really didn't love opening gifts.  Grandma handed this to her
and she just leaned on it like that's what it was for.  We loved it!
When we finally unwrapped it, we found a WAY fun leaning table
that plays music and all sorts of cool things.

Grandma even broke out the ukulele and sang "Jingle Bells" with us.

 To say the least, we had a grand time, but were also completely exhausted from the festivities.  It took us a day or two to get back to normal.

Sunday came and I was thrilled to dress Evie in her new Christmas dress.  I also made the headband to match.  She looked so beautiful.

I must admit that having this little doll face in my life has definitely increased my love for Christmas.  I've always loved it, but I REALLY love it now.  And yes.  The gift-giving and such is fun with a little one.  But, I can honestly say that my appreciation and meaning of Christ's birth has grown with Evie in our home.  As I contemplate the massive amount of love I have for Evie as her mother, I can somewhat put myself in Mary's shoes and think about how precious and special the gift of the baby Jesus was at the time of His birth.  And, to know that he would be the Savior for all mankind makes it hard to fully comprehend the significance of such an event.  My heart was truly full of love for Christ this season and my desire to be more like him and to be even more obedient has grown.  We are all so blessed!

We wrapped up the year by having dinner with Beau's family and then playing some games with friends.

We wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Evie at 18 Months

It's hard to believe, but Evie is truly 18 months old!  This cute little doll face continues to bring so much happiness to our home.  She lights up our lives and it's a delight to watch her learn and grow.

I'll give you a little taste of our Evie girl.  What is she doing now?

• She's talking really well.  Just this past week she said a full sentence ("I see a moon.") and she's constantly picking up new phrases.  I stopped recording her new words because she'll pretty much attempt any word you ask her to try.  (She says phrases like, "Where is she/he/it?" and "There she/he/it is." and "Ready, Set, Go!" and more.)  
• Along with talking, she's starting to "read" her own books now.  She'll sit down with a book all by herself and flip the pages while she "reads."  She's usually saying gibberish phrases, but it's cute and very entertaining.  If there's a page where she can count objects, she'll stop to truly count them.
• With help, she can count to ten.  Without help, she'll say, "1, 2, 1, 2, 8, 9, 10."  We constantly count things at our house (blocks, toys, crackers, balls, etc.).
• She knows her A, B, C's.  For further clarification, she knows the A, B, C song and will fill in the holes as we sing it together.  She's particularly strong at saying the G, P, V, Z.  She'll also try to sing in the other letters, but the song still goes a little fast for her to catch it all.
• Along with the counting and A, B, C's, I should note that she knows the differences between numbers and letters when she sees them in written form.  I figured this out when she looked at her bottle one morning, saw the numbers on it, and then started counting while pointing at the numbers.  She also brings me grown-up books (books without pictures) and points to the pages filled with words and says, "A, B, C's."  
• She's starting to sing along to songs.  Most move too fast for her to sing every word, but she'll sing the last word in a phrase or a word that might be prominent in the song.  
• She says, "Num, Num" for anything that smells good or tastes good.  She'll also say it if she wants something to eat.
• She loves to say, "Ready, Set, Go!" And take off running.  While she is running she will say, "run, run, run."  (Needless to say, she wears us out in the process.)
• She jumps by only raising one leg off the ground (more like a front leg kick).  If I ask her to jump, this is what she'll do and she'll also say, "jump" while she does it.  
• She's mastered the stairs!  Yay!  Her mommy and daddy still get a little nervous while she plays on them, but she seems to have them down.  She absolutely loves going up and down any set of stairs.
• She loves to dip stuff.  She'll dip fries, bread, or anything that can possibly be dipped into ketchup, fry sauce, salad dressing, etc.  Usually when she dips stuff she'll lick the dip off of her item and then re-dip.  So, if you ever eat with this kid and have dip-like stuff around, you better be okay with double/triple dipping or give her her own dip.  :)
• She started going to nursery at church and loves it.  She loves playing with other children and having new toys to explore seems to be pretty exciting.
• She LOVES Shrek!  My, oh my!  She asks to watch "Shrek" daily!  I don't know what it is about that big, green, ogre, but Evie is completely smitten by him.  Her second favorite movie is, "Toy Story."  She also loves Elmo.  
• She still loves to play outside, play with Codee, be with the animals, and collect eggs.
• She's becoming more and more independent and WANTS to be independent.  She likes to try to do things herself.  
• She loves to climb.  She'll try to climb just about anything.  And, I must admit that she's rather good at it too!
• She just started throwing tantrums.  When she doesn't get what she wants, she'll lay right down on the floor and cry.  These tantrums can be brought on from us not letting her watch Shrek, not wanting her diaper changed, or just not being able to find the book she wants to read right at that moment.  This being said, her tantrums are few-and-far between and happen most when she's tired.  She's a fun, sweet girlie 90% of the time.  We only have our 10% moments from time-to-time, and luckily she bounces back fast.
• She's starting to hate being in the car.  She hates getting buckled in her car seat and doesn't seem to last long in the car anymore.  Thus, I know my limit with her is about two stops and then I'm just pushing my luck.  I really have to plan my errands out effectively now so that I can avoid a disgruntled toddler in my back seat.  I'm hoping this gets better when she reaches her second birthday and we can turn her car seat around and she can be forward facing.  Until then, we try to be super effective and super entertaining while going anywhere in the car. 
• She gives the best hugs and kisses.  (All of these hugs and kisses make up for all of those tantrums . . . and then some!)
• "Oh No!" is one of our favorite sayings of hers.  

While sometimes I wish she would just stay little forever and I have my moments when I look at her and wonder where  my chubby, round-faced baby went . . . I am still soooo happy with the here-and-now and look forward to every stinkin' day with this beautiful girlie.  I love being a stay-at-home mommy. Winnie the Pooh said, "Any day spent with you is my favorite day.  So, today is my new favorite day!"  This is how I feel every. single. day as I get to be with my Evie doll.

Aloha From the Hukilau

My parents have a timeshare in Hawaii on the island of Oahu where they get two weeks out of every year to stay in a beach house (called the Hukilau).  They tell us that we are always welcome to come stay with them, all we have to do is get ourselves there.  We don't go every year, but we decided to go this year because Evie's airplane ticket was free (since she's still under two years of age).

We just home from Paradise and can report that we had a great time overall.  We did plenty of relaxing with a little sight seeing.   (And, FYI . . . lots of pictures and a long post!  I couldn't decide what pics to share and not share, so there's lots!)

First off, it was Evie's first "big" vacation where we flew on an airplane.  We woke up kind of early, but she seemed excited to be hitting the road because it was obvious that we were doing something new and different.  Beau and I were a bit nervous about how the long trip was going to go down as we held this darling baby on our laps the whole way.  And. . . . we got off to a rough start.  Evie peed right through her diaper as soon as we got through security.  So, I took her to the bathroom to clean her up and Beau held her while I took care of her clothes.  We got some awesome stares while we had a semi-naked baby in the airport for a couple of minutes, but we also couldn't help but find the humor in it.

We got a onsie back on her and Beau
walked her to our gate.  So cute!

Regardless of our rough start, I am happy to report that Evie was the best trooper through our 14-hour trip.  Yep!  14-hours!  We totally got delayed, sat on the airplane for over an hour while we waited to take off, and because of that we missed our connecting flight to Honolulu.  It took some work to get us all on another flight that same day, but we eventually did (it was a miracle and took over two hours to do so).  We were completely frustrated and tired, but Evie just loved the adventure.  She loved flying and did incredibly well on the flights!  As usual, everyone around us LOVED her and couldn't believe how well she behaved.

She loved looking out the window.
She also loved when the plane
went fast as it took off.  

Grandma & Grandpa had fun
playing with Evie too.

We finally made it to Hawaii, got some rest and started our adventures.  Here's a quick round-up of our sight-seeing adventures while we were there.

We went to the Polynesian Cultural Center (PCC).  We thought Evie
would like this place, but turns out she didn't.  All she wanted to do was
chase the birds and ducks, swim in the river, and ride the boat (canoe).  Here
we are riding the "boat," but right before this she had a small meltdown
because we had to wait in line to get on the boat.  She wanted to get on
the boat right that second and was not happy that we had to wait in line.
Once we got on the boat, she was fine and this was the most pleasant
part of our time at the PCC.  Needless to say, we didn't stay long and we
cut our day VERY short.  

We stopped to see a giant turtle that had crawled up on the shore.
We learned quite a bit about this turtle and Evie loved looking at it.

We went to the Dole Plantation.

We mostly went there to enjoy the famous Dole Whip.
I only bought one for the three of us to share, but they are
so good that we just had to get one more on our way out.

Beau and Evie rode the "Pineapple Express" while we were there.
It's mostly an educational ride, but we thought Evie would love
being on a train.  She did love being on the train, but the 25 minutes
was a little long for her and she started to run out of steam towards the end.

We stopped to see some Banyan Trees.  Banyans
are characterized by their roots which grow into
thick woody trunks and with age, become
indistinguishable from the main trunk.  Here you
can see all those roots.  BTW - some of the
episodes of "Lost" were filmed here.

We made sure to stop and have the best shave ice from Matsumoto's!

We all loved the stuff, and Evie loved it so much she wouldn't even look up for a picture.

Well, maybe she would look up for one picture.  

We visited the Laie Temple.

We stopped at a Macadamia Nut Farm where we were able
to break open the nuts ourselves.

We also went to a really nice restaurant called Haleiwa Joe's
where they have beautiful gardens down below the actual
restaurant.  We are down below in the picture and you
can see the restaurant up high.  We sat at a table right on
the deck you can see up there.

I wish I could report and tell you that our dining experience at Haleiwa Joe's was awesome, but right after this picture was snapped, Evie started crying.  She struggled throughout dinner and then broke out in a fever that night.  She fevered for a couple of days and then her two bottom eye teeth poked through the gums.  She was back to normal after that, but we had a couple of rough days.

Beau and I felt so bad for this baby girl!  We would take turns cuddling her and feeding her ice and popsicles.  We were so happy that we were staying in a house and not a hotel.  Man, teething is the worst!  She's almost got them all now, so we should be over that hump.

More family eventually showed up to the Hukilau house and we played a lot with with the cousins, aunts, and uncles.  Here are some fun extended family shots.

Evie & Ethan playing on the iPad together.

Katie and Evie.  Katie is 1 year older than Evie Doll.

All the grandkids that made it to Hawaii. 

There was plenty of boogie-boarding fun to be had.

This was the family hanging out in the main room.  This was right
before we played our Swap Meet White Elephant game.

Ethan and Evie.

Several of the kids playing in the sand on the beach.

Oakley, Tim, and Sam

Mom and Dad chillin'.  Mom, Dad, Jeff, Beau, and myself
all read the Elizabeth Smart book on this trip.

Tyler and Jill's cute family just bobbing in the ocean.

Mom and dad out reading in the sun.

More boogie-boarding from Jax, Maddie, and Sam.

We also celebrated Halloween while we were in Hawaii this year!  All the kids brought their costumes for some Halloween fun, we went to a trunk-or-treat, and mom made us all chili and treat bags.

Evie was a little hula baby.  :)

Here are all the cousins in their costumes.  If you want to
know what a teething baby who is forced to take a picture
looks like . . . well, just look close at Evie.  She's SO
very pleased with being forced to get her picture taken.
Poor baby!

Here we are at the trunk-or-treat.  The Laie temple
is in the background.  It was quite the setting.
FAR from spooky.

Besides our teething days, we spent almost all of our time outside playing.  We loved the weather and the sunshine.  Here are some pics from just our little family while playing in the sun.

There was plenty of beach time.

Evie wasn't really a fan of the waves.  She's always loved
water and swimming, but the waves added a new
dimension that she was a little unsure about.

These two played so well together on the beach.

Evie has always, since she was a newborn, hated her hands
to be dirty.  So, the sand wasn't super awesome to her.
She loved running and walking in it, but she didn't love
sitting down and playing in it with her hands.  However,
if Beau would build stuff up for her, she would happily move
the sand around with the toy in her hand.
(The house we stayed in can be seen in the background.)

We had fun boogie-boarding.
Here's a shot of Beau catching a wave.

We took Evie out a ways in the water to "bob" with us.
Again,The waves left her a little uncomfortable
and we only lasted a few minutes.

Evie and I watched daddy boogie-board while
we sat on our own boogie board.

We gladly set up a kiddie pool in the backyard for Evie
to "swim" in during the days.  She liked this MUCH
more than the actual ocean.

During one of Evie's naps, Beau and I tried our
hand at kayaking.  

Unfortunately, we are TRUE rookies because
we only lasted about 10 minutes before
we had complications (we kind of started
to sink) and had to rush back to shore.  LOL!

This is the front yard of the house and Evie
loved to go out and run, run, run! 

That about sums up our trip!  We are happy to be home, but treasured the quality time we had to share with each other on this beautiful trip!