Christmas with the Hunts

Christmas Eve we told the kids that they weren't supposed to come out of their room until 7:00 am.  They always try to sneak out early and they end up waking me up in the process.  This year I didn't want them waking up Laina too early because then she would be a grumpy mess by lunch.  I thought I had finally won when I didn't hear a peep when I walked down the hallway at 6:55.  Too my surprise I heard giggling and laughter in the kitchen as I got to the door.  Sitting in the dining room were my four monkeys happily eating cereal and rummaging through their stockings.

They had taken the screen out of the bedroom window where they had all been sleeping and climbed out.  My sister saw them from the kitchen window where she was working on her dough for sweet rolls.  What a bunch of stinkers!  I had to laugh at it of course, the persistent little imps, but at least Laina got a full night of sleep.

The morning was spent opening presents.  The kids were all so happy to get what they had asked for.  Michela got clothes and shoes, Hunter opened Legos and robots, Chase found Legos and a ripstik, Laina got Barbies and Princess Legos, and Aria opened Barbies and a scooter.

 

Everyone was so helpful with ideas for Christmas this year, the only one who threw me for a loop was Aria.  I thought I had her all figured out until she came home one day from school the last week before Christmas.  The first graders had a Polar Express Day and Santa Claus came to visit.  Aria came home so excited and told me that the REAL Santa had come to their school.  I asked her what she had asked him for and I expected to hear one of the things she had told me, but I was so surprised to hear, "Elf on the Shelf" come out of her mouth.  Of course I was already done with shopping, but a request to the Real Santa couldn't be ignored.  There was a special present under the tree with a tag that said,"To the Girl who Believes".

The look on her face when she opened that present was the best moment of the morning.
Steve, Shannon, Jaxon, and Jordon all came over a little bit later to open presents.  Jaxon was tearing through them and Jordon was more interested in getting into everything but his presents.

After that we started in on our Christmas Brunch.  Tiff's sweet rolls, fresh fruit, frittata, and tons of bacon.

Tiff had to make extra bacon because Shannon's pregnancy cravings for bacon are on overdrive lately.  It was all delicious!
This was probably the most beautiful weather we have ever experienced in California at Christmas.  We got to spend lots of time outside in the sunshine.  We got to go on lots of walks, play at the park, and even had a family kickball game.  I've never seen anyone kick the ball as far as my brother Kurt and Grandma even played.  I had to crack up when Chase got up to kick his first ball and I caught it.  He looked at me with utter surprise and yelled, "I didn't know you could catch the ball!"  Ha, Ha, …  we grownups showed those kids a thing or two that day.

We were excited to go to the BYU bowl game in San Francisco.  Mike, Mauri, Michela, Chase, Tiff, Craig, Steve, and Uncle Russ all were able to go.  We rode BART over and had a nice walk beside the bay over to AT&T park.

Sadly they lost, but we had a lot of fun together anyways.  We had a lot of laughs, got a surprise visit from our friend Tyler, and we will never forget the cry for "Hot Chocolate!"

Happy, Happy Birthday Laina Dear!

How can my baby be 3 already!  She is growing up way too fast for me and I need her to stop right now!  She is such a joy to have around.  She is constantly making us laugh with her silliness and funny little sense of humor.  I can't give her enough hugs and love to kiss her sweet little head as often as I can.  We had some family over to help us celebrate her birthday.  She requested a "My Little Pony" party, because she is in love with all of their pretty pony goodness.

Gosh, we love this little girl of ours.  She is a constant ray of Sunshine in our house.  Everyone loves her and her smile just lights up the room.

3 Fun Things to Know about Laina:
1.  Whenever there is Music on She is Shaking her Booty.
2.  She is the Happiest Little Girl and Gives the Best Hugs.
3.  She Can't go to Bed Without having at least 3 Books Read to Her.

My Little Mermaids

We have been spending a lot of time at Seven Peaks this summer.  The big kids take off as soon as we get there and ride all of the fun slides.  I've even taken Aria and Laina down a few of the tube slides.  It's so much fun hearing them squeal as the clutch my arms in sheer terror.  By the time we get down to the bottom they are yelling for more.
Aria, Laina, and I spend most of our time at the Kiddie pool.  They love to splash in the water and pretend to be mermaids.  Aria has the mermaid kick down pretty well.

 They are so cute in their little pink suits.  They are the sweetest sisters.

 I also had to include this shot of Chase.  He was taking a quick little cat nap in the tube.  Funny kid.

The Terrific Twos!

I can't believe my baby is 2!  We celebrated Laina's birthday with a family Cookie Monster party.  She LOVES cookies and is always asking for one, she is her Daddy's girl, so I decided a cookie party would be perfect!
We invited Mike's and my families over for dinner and cookies.  Everyone filled up on taco salad for dinner but left plenty of room for dessert.  Did I mention we were having cookies?  Five different kinds of cookies to be exact.  We had Chocolate Chip cookies, Peanut Butter cookies, Lemon cookies, White Chocolate Cranberry Oatmeal cookies, and Triple Fudge Oreo Crunch cookies.  I got some awesome recipes off of Pinterest.  I couldn't believe how many cookies there were but the group polished them off with no problems.

Laina was so excited for it to be her birthday.  For breakfast we made her blueberry "Fuffins" and put some candles in one to practice for the big event that night. 

She didn't know what to make of them.
She did a lot better in the evening.  She tried to blow and with a little help from Mommy we got them out.

It was fun having everyone over.  The cousins had a blast playing together, inside and outside the house.  I often found Laina tagging along after her older siblings and cousins laughing and screaming along with them.

 Laina loved opening her presents.  She got a cute piggy bank and some "monies" from Grandpa and Grandma Staker.  Matt, Sara, and the boys gave her a cute little book and a much loved Minnie Mouse.  

 Grandma Hunt sent out a present full of cute clothes and a sweet book about 10 little monkeys.  And our family gave her a little Cookie Monster and a new microphone for all of her singing moments.

Laina is the sunshine in our family.  She adds so much fun to our lives.  I can't imagine life without her!  She is becoming such a big girl.  She is always running and dancing through the house, singing and talking up a storm.  She is always so concerned about where everyone is and loves having her whole family together.  She is so sweet and sensitive towards others.  When someone is crying she is the first one to run over and give them a hug.  She is the life of the party!

Two fun things about Laina:
1.  She loves being a girly girl.  She likes twirly skirts, pretty shoes, and lots of bracelets.
2.  She is a dancing machine.  At our nephew's wedding reception she danced the entire time.  She loves shaking her booty and likes to try and copy Aria's moves.

Boots

Laina is getting to be such a big girl!  She totally cracks me up with all of her talking and silly antics.  She is obsessed with boots right now and is often seen wearing one of Aria's pair of boots.  Personally I think she looks like a little swashbuckling baby pirate.  Here she was proudly showing off her boots to me.

She is talking up a storm lately.  It's like there are new words coming out of her mouth every day!  My favorite is when she sings all the names in our family.  She goes around singing, "Daddy, Mommy, Lala, Hundo, Dace, Aria."  It is the cutest thing to hear.  She also loves to point out people in pictures.  The funniest is when she is in the picture.  I'll ask her, "Who's that?"  She'll point at herself and say, "You!"  Makes me laugh every time.  She even learned Uncle Cuckoo's name.  Uncle Cuckoo is my brother Craig.  I would point him out on our calendar and she soon was saying Cuckoo every time she went past it.  Craig was so happy when we were out in California a couple of weeks ago and she would say it every time she was around him.
She is getting good at telling me what she wants.  "I wan Juice."  "I wan Molk (Milk)."  "I wan Pantate (Pancake)."  "I wan cookie."  "I wan Grake (grape)."  "I wan Moothie (smoothie)."

She's also a little copycat and mimics everything that Aria is doing.  My favorite is when she tries to copy Aria's dancing moves.  She's like a little shadow.
Love this sweet little girl and how much joy she brings to her family.  What would we have ever done without her?!