Hunter turns 3!

Hunter Jay

July 19, 2006

What a precious little baby

Hunter Jay

July 19, 2007

Still precious, not so little

Hunter Jay

July 19, 2008

Somehow went from toddler to a big kid

Hunter Jay turned 3 years old yesterday! I told him I was sad that he wouldn't stay little forever and he said, "I can't help it mom. I just keep growing and growing and growing!"

The weekend was full of fun birthday festivities. Saturday we went to my old doctor's office where they have a pond full of ducks and turtles. We had a great time feeding them. This is a good shot of the turtles if you can get past the garbage floating past.

It really is a pretty area. As soon as you throw bread in the ducks race over.

Then we headed over to Corky's for some barbecue. Hunter calls it Porky's which also seems appropriate. Charlotte was just happy to be included.

Here's is the very mature looking birthday boy.

After some great food, the waitress brought a complimentary birthday sundae for us all to share. I have NO idea why Hunter is making that face.

He dug right in and even tried both the cherries although he wasn't a big fan.

Sunday morning (actual birthday), breakfast in bed. Hunter always wakes up at 6:30 on the dot so we had balloons and cinnamon rolls ready and brought him breakfast in bed. He was pretty confused when we walked in singing but quickly caught on.

He got to put on as much frosting as he wanted and added more once he licked it all off. He was so excited he couldn't stand it and would spontaneously start laughing and say "This is so fun!".

For birthday dinner he enjoyed perfectly cooked steak, corn on the cob, zucchini, rolls with raspberry jam, and chocolate cupcakes for dessert. Then he got to open presents with Grandma and Grandpa Luke watching over webcam. This picture had the best expression. I love when he gets so excited before even knowing what it is.

Here is Charlotte looking very elegant and relaxed amidst all the birthday madness.

The night ended with Hunter staying up a whole hour late enjoying all his birthday toys. I can't believe how fast time flies, but it's sure been a fun ride.

Happy Birthday Hunter!

Aunt Laurel comes to visit!

My sister Laurel came out for a whole week to play with the kids and me. It was really fun but the time went way too fast. Also, having Charlotte still taking two naps a day made it difficult to get out and do everything we wanted, but oh well. This was her second day here. She was dancing with the kids which Hunter was obviously LOVING.Holding two kids, not as easy as it looks.
Spencer and I couldn't help getting in on the party. Spencer said I was "gettin down with my bad self."

The next day we all went to the school to have lunch with Spencer and to let him do a quick eye exam on Laurel.

Hunter looks like such a little man here in the lab.

Charlotte got dressed up too in case any cute soon-to-be doctors looked her way.

Taking Laurel downtown for some barbecue at Rendezvous. We had never been here before and Laurel wanted to see downtown. Sadly the food wasn't that great but the atmosphere was fun. I know this isn't a great picture or even in focus but it was the only one I got of Laurel and me together.

Just some cool buildings we saw on our way to Rendezvous.

Saturday morning we went yardsaling (Spencer hates going so it was fun to have company). We probably went to 5 or 6 yardsales and found a few fun things but this was the coolest. You can only see the top of it in the photo, but it's a Busy Zoo activity cube. It's solid wood and has all these fun games on every side. Anyway, I paid $10 for it which I thought was a little expensive. Then I looked it up online and saw that they sell new for over $100! This one look unused except for two scratches. Even used I didn't see any for less than $85. So basically all I'm getting at is, it was a great deal.

Hunter turned 3 today and Laurel wanted to get him a gift before she left. She got him this great tool set which he uses all the time. It has all the same tools that dad has which he thinks is pretty great. He does mostly use it when he's suppose to be sleeping, but I guess that means he likes it.

Monday we were suppose to go to Pump it Up (a blow up toy place). So we got Hunter all psyched up and he was to ready to go when we got in there and saw they changed their hours for the summer. We were all annoyed but he was heart broken. The worst part is that the hours are now 2-3:30, right during nap time! It still makes me mad. Anyway, we went to the mall playground with some friends. It was still fun, but not Pump it Up.

Next morning we went to the park. Hunter played in the dirt while Charlotte sat by my and grinned the whole time.

They did take a little break for swings.

It was over so quick. This is the morning Laurel went home. Instead of doing something fun her last morning she let me sleep in because I came down sick the day before. What a great sister! Charlotte obviously agrees.

Wicked comes to Memphis!!!

We bought tickets months and months ago to see the broadway show Wicked and it was amazing. We honestly enjoyed every minute of it. Including getting to go into the historic Orpheum Theatre. We even had an amazing view right behind the orchestra.

I know, it's beautiful!

Jana, Corrine and I waiting outside before the show.

Happy Fourth!

We've had a pretty great 4th of July weekend. I got Friday off of school, so that morning we went to the Collierville sprinkler park. It's this cool park that has a bunch of sprinklers that spray over a big rubber pad. Hunter loved it, and it's a great way to beat the heat. It is a little far away, so it's too bad we can't go more often. Friday afternoon we had a BBQ at the Gibbons house with three other families, and then Hunter went to his friend's b-day party while we had our date night. Then today we went to a pancake breakfast done by the ward. We played kickball and had lots of fun. After naps this afternoon we went to the Butlers for another BBQ. Hunter has had quite a weekend playing with friends and doing all sorts of fun things. Charlotte has enjoyed being along for the ride, and we've really liked spending some time as a family and with friends. Hope your 4th was a good one, it was a good chance to reflect on how lucky we are and remember all those who have sacrificed so much for our freedom!

Charlotte is growing fast. She's had long hair from the start, and Heather finally got some elastics to put it in pigtails. Charlotte really doesn't like her hair in her face and this is a good solution, and we love the look. She's a cutie!

I love the look on her face here. She is 10 months old today, has 6 teeth in and if distracted enough will stand without support for a few seconds at a time. She still has the most ready smile and is happy most of the time. She LOVES her brother and his teddy bears, and can eat most finger foods. She's growing too fast, but she makes us laugh every day!

One of the greatest things Hunter has started doing is while we are driving in the car or before bed, he will say-"tell me more about Jesus." He never gets tired of the stories, and it makes us review the life of Christ. He's pretty great.

Summer fun

Things at school have slowed down a bit, so we've had time to hang out as a family. Nothing fancy, really, just the park and swimming, but it's fun. After the middle of June being in the high 90's or above, this last week was relatively cool, with high temps in the high 80's to low 90's, so we could actually survive doing something outside.

Here's our family self-portrait at the park. It's obviously hard to get everyone to pay attention! Hunter would swing all day if we let him. Charlotte still isn't sure what she thinks of the swings.
After a few hesitant trips to the pool Hunter finally got back into the swing of the pool and is our little fish again. We miss having the pool at the apartments to go to every day, but we try to swim when we can. Charlotte seems to like it.
In leiu of the meadows pool, we got a cheap kiddie pool for the kids to cool off in.
Our friends got this bike from their neighbors maybe a year or so ago, and we've put Hunter on it a few times. He likes it for a little while but hasn't really gotten the hang of it yet. I took him out the other day and he was finally able to pedal himself AND steer somewhat straight by himself. It was pretty cool.


This is usually her at bedtime. Pretty wiped out.