A Great Thanksgiving

We have had such a great Thanksgiving! It began as a crazy week and has ended as one of the best Thanksgivings ever. On Wednesday I ended up cooking and preparing all day and into the evening. We finished just before my niece, Lyndi, arrived with 3 of my darling great-nieces and great-nephew. It was so much fun to have them stay with us. Ally and Abbi instantly retreated to Ally's room. Gabe and Payzli hung with the rest of us. It was so great to start the Holiday with company in our home.
On Thursday we ran to the church (yes, a church, we had 48 people coming) to get things set up. Then ran home and found Nancy had arrived. We then got 15 lbs of potatoes mashed and all the pies, treats and potatoes loaded up and headed back to the church.
It was so great. ALL of the food was amazing! There was so much to choose from that my plate looked like a taster's plate. I wanted a little taste of practically everything. My favorite dish is always the Candied Yams. The kids' favorite is always "Timmy Rolls". My brother makes unbelievable dinner rolls. Yummy!!!
Not long after dinner, that Jolly ol' Soul came bouncing in. A complete surprise for the kids. After a little singing the kids got to sit on Santa's lap and whisper their Christmas Wishes. With a bit of prodding the older kids even sat on his lap too. Santa finished his visit with a little song and dance and was on his way. Since some of our family has to travel quite a distance we decided to have our family Christmas party on Thanksgiving. It was a great way to start this wonderful holiday season.
Dustin & Carrie were in charge of the Christmas party this year. They did a great job. After Santa left the adults got busy playing the White Elephant game while the kids began their fun picture books for church. Once everyone was done we then watched a portion of The Nativity Story. It was the perfect way to usher in the Christmas Holiday. It's always a great idea to remind everyone of what Christmas is all about.
Once everything was cleaned up we all headed for home. On Thursday night Nancy, Melissa and her friend Jodi stayed with us. It was so much fun to come home and get to just relax and visit. I just love having company stay with us. Especially family that we don't get to see very much. It was a real treat.
On Friday Melissa and Jodi headed to the airport and the rest of us just lazed around until about 3:00 pm. We finally got ready and headed to the Pizza Factory for yummy bread twists and amazing pizza. We topped it off with a trip to Farr's Ice Cream (thanks Aunt Nancy!!!) We then went to Mom & Dad's for a while.
On Saturday we got up and when back to Mom & Dad's and helped them get their Christmas tree and decorations up. It was fun to 'deck the halls'. The kids all were a huge help!!! Nancy, Alexa and I then headed into town to enjoy the crowds! We did find a few great deals but mostly enjoyed our time together.
It has been a long week, but such a wonderful one! I feel so blessed to have been born into my family. We are definitely not the perfect family, but we love each other and love being together. Thanks to everyone for making Thanksgiving so special this year!

Amazing Grades (Warning: Don't read if you don't like a little Mommy-bragging!!!

I want to take a moment and give my kids a little recognition. Last week report cards came home. I didn't expect any horrible grades, but I must say that I was still surprised by them. All of them had great grades!!! I think that any lack of brains I had during my school days was being saved for the four of them.
I am proud of all of them. The lowest grades from all of them was one B and two B+. The rest were three A-, six A, and twelve A+. At the Elementary level they give A+'s!!! How fun is that? Allyssa's report card was amazing too!!! She won't begin getting letter grades until the 3rd grade, but she had all E's, S+, S, and +'s. (E= Exceeding Expectation, S+= Above Satisfactory, S= Satisfactory, +'s= {given in behavior, citizenship} a strength)!!! YEAH!!! Way to go Kids!!!
We have been blessed with very good students at our house. They all work really hard to maintain their grades while they are all involved in extracurricular activities.
Here's a shout out to Alexa's 3.87 gpa and Hunter's 8 A+'s!!! Caden did great too and Allyssa continues to be a 'model' student!!!
I love all you! I am SOOO glad that we don't pay them for grades..... we would have to get a loan to do it!!!

A reason to Celebrate

Thanksgiving is this month and our family has been blessed with a very BIG reason to be thankful! It appears that my Dad is in remission!!! YEAH!!!!!!!! What an amazing gift. He will hopefully be able to talk to the Oncologist tomorrow and find out what his treatment regimen will be now. I am just so grateful to be granted such an amazing outcome. Our prayers have been answered and we will continue to be blessed to have this truly, incredible man in our lives. He has been granted more time to continue to teach us through his gentle ways and example.
Dad, I am so grateful for your example of courage, strength and faith. I think back to only a few months ago during some very dark, hard times for you and I am overwhelmed by this gift.

No one knows how long remission will last, but I can tell you that I for one will not take one day with you for granted!!! I look forward to many anniversaries (10/30/08) of your remission! I think it just might be a new Official Holiday for the entire Hunter Family!!!

Mom, you have been so amazing through out this very hard time. You have been so strong, patient and loving. I also believe that you have been blessed with the strength required to care for Dad. I am in awe of your strength and faith!

I love you both so very much!

(picture is from Christmas 2007 - Grandma and Grandpa in their new Christmas pj's)

Another Halloween has come and gone!

Yeah! We have survived another Halloween! I love decorating for Halloween, but that is about where the love ends. It is fun seeing the kids dressed up too. It seems that for 2 wks before Halloween we had multiple Halloween events that required costume attire. No big deal right? Right, keeping track of costume apparel along with keeping up with the latest choice on a costume can be a little crazy!!! Oh well. We all lived through it and had a lot of fun! Unfortunately, because of all the different parties, etc, I was unable to participate in our yearly pumpkin carving fun. The kids definitely had a great time with Dad!!!

Our Halloween in pictures...