Where were you that September morn?

Today is the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks on New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.

I remember very clearly were I was that day. I had gotten up at 6am for an Institute meeting. It was just another normal Tuesday for me. After the meeting I went back to my dorm and went to sleep for a couple more hours until my first class. At the time I never listened to NPR but the night before I had been listening to some classical music and so when my alarm went off, it was on NPR. It was a reporter talking about the World Trade Center, which I had never heard of, the local elections that were going to be postponed and they were talking to Mayor Rudy Giuliani. They kept saying that they thought it was an accident. I was so confused. I had no idea what they were talking about. I laid in bed trying for 20 minutes trying to figure out what was going on. Finally I thought I had it figured out and I went out to talk to my roommates. We didn't have tv so we couldn't turn on the tv to get more information.

I remember being scared thinking that it could happen to us. I remember being so mad and so scared with every new report of the second plane, the Pentegon, the towers falling, the plane in Pennsylvania. I remember being so sad for those that lost their lives and for their family members. I remember how everyone banded together after and donated blood and did what they could to help those who had been affected by the attack.

I still can't believe it has actually been 7 years.

Where were you when the world stopped turning that September day

I'm a big kid

Little Miss had a big week this last week.

She went to her first baseball game to see the Red Sox beat the Rangers. Se did pretty good, though near the fourth inning she was so tired and hungry she would cry her really sad cry every time there was cheering, which was a lot. I finally had to go into the bathroom and feed her! Thank goodness they had some folding chairs in there and I had my hooter hider. Branch and his family are big fans of the Red Soxs so I was excited that we got to go see them play.

Little Miss has been pretty good about going to bed early too. 8:30 or 9 is wonderful for Branch and I. Unfortunately, I usually am so exhausted I am not up to much later than 10:30 myself. Because she is going to bed earlier she is also getting up earlier too!

We think Little Miss is teething. She has been super cranky lately. She has a small fever, not napping well, she got up twice last night. She had been sleeping 10-12 hours straight so I am not use to being up in the middle of the night anymore! I don't see any teeth buds but I still think she might. Any suggestions?

Another big thing in our life is that our little girl is growing up so fast! She is 5 months old yesterday and she started eating rice cearal on Saturday. She does really good actually. She is always trying to grab our food and so we knew it was time to start her on solids. I was actually a little sad because it is such a big step in her life. I am glad that she is growing up and learning but holy crap it is happening way fast!

Well, in the grown up lives not a lot has happened for me anyway. I got a new calling teaching primary. I teach the CTR 7s which actually means I have 6, 7, and 8 year olds and they are all GIRLS! It is hard because they just want to talk, talk, talk, talk, talk and talk. I am adjusting! Branch is having a good semester. It is nice having him home more. We are trying to enjoy it as much as we can because next semester he has rotation and then he will be working! He has his senior paper topic (knee replacement stuff with cartiladge or something like that, ask him if you are interested). He has to have 30 sources! Yikes!

Well anyway, I have to go! Love you all!

What a week

Well, it has been a crazy week. Branch started school again last Monday (only 2 more semesters!) then on Tuesday we had our flood. The update on that is that we did get our padding replaced but they sucked that up. There are areas were you can feel a inch gap in old and new padding! Argh! Then when they did replace it they broke the door to our bedroom and didn't tell us about it. So we call our apartment maintenance about that and how our washer still is broken. But it was a three day weekend and when I called to see when they were coming they said to give them a couple of days! Yeah right! We haven't had a working washer in a week! And our door to our bedroom is off its hinges and they were supposed to hang a thing for me in the wall a month ago! Argh! I still try to remember that it could have been worse. Plus we did stay in a nice expensive hotel for free so that was fun and we had red lobster so we can't complain for the "mini staycation".

Then on Thursday, I really wanted to get out of the house so we decided to go to the zoo in Fort Worth. I have lived in Texas for a year and had never been to Fort Worth. I didn't really want to go until October because it is so stinking hot here still, but we went. We invited Tara, Allen and their two kiddos. It ended up being so much fun. It was cool to see the animals. My favorite was the Gorilla that was sitting near a window literaly 10 inches from me and he kept looking at me. He was also eating his own feces but that is another story... It was really hot and humid but we had buildings to escape into. Little Miss did really well too, thank goodness!

Before the whole flood business we had decided it was time to start sleep training Little Miss. It is hard and yet a lot of people complain about the crying but we had a colicly baby who is still really sensitive so the crying is not that bad to us. I don't know if it is actually working yet. Do you mothers have any tips, ideas, anything? Please let me know...

So far this week has been good. We are going to a Pampered Chef thing for Tara tomorrow so that will be nice to get out of the house, then on Saturday we are hopefully going to a Rangers vs Red Sox game. Branch and his family LOVE the Red Soxs so this is going to be really cool for Branch and I. Last time I went to the Rangers I was 4 months pregnant and so tired that I actually fell asleep!

Well anyway, I will try to post pictures and video tomorrw! Love you all!

I have always wanted a swimming pool...

...just not in our apartment!

I bet you can guess what happened to us this week. Yuppers! While I was out shopping for dinner (see what happens when I cook?) the washer flooded most of our apartment!

So read all about our great adventure go to Branch's blog www.branchhunsaker.blogspot.com and see the video of our apartment!

Tagged and stuff

So we went to Sam's Club a couple days ago and saw that a lot of the diaper boxes had been opened and we asked an associate what they did with those boxes. Well he showed us the section were they sell marked down stuff like diaper boxes that had been opened. So we actually found a box (238 diapers) of our favorite brand (Pampers) for $30. Awesome! We got a membership so we could save money on diapers so we really liked finding this little surprise.

Branch is getting new AFOs and I got to go with him today as he tried on a test AFOs. It was really cool to see because that is what he is going to be doing soon! I could just see him doing what his Orthotist was doing. He is going to be so awesome at his job! He goes back to school on the 25th. This semester is going to be a lot easier for Branch. He has MWF 8am-Noon, all day Tues. and No school on Thursday. It is going to be so nice being able to see him home more. I think Little Miss will especially love it! This break has been so nice because we have just spent almost every second with each other and have relaxed as a family. It has been wonderful!

Here are my tag answers.

1. 10 years ago... I was 16 and driving like crazy (literally) and going to school!

2. 5 years ago.....I had just gotten engaged and was busy planning a wedding and going to WWCC.

3. 1 year ago... Just moved to Texas, started a job I hated and found out I was pregnant!

4. Yesterday... Fed Little Miss, slept, fed Little Miss, ate, fed Little Miss, changed Little Miss, watched the Olympics, fed Little Miss, changed Little Miss, ate lunch, went walking at the mall, changed Little Miss, fed Little Miss, watched some more Olympics, fed Little Miss, at dinner, fed Little Miss, changed Little Miss,fed Little Miss, watched even more Olympics,fed Little Miss, went to sleep, fed Little Miss. Wow what a day

5. 5 favorite snacks... Dr. Pepper, cake, cinnamon toast, chocolate, gushers

6. 5 favorite books....Book of Mormon, Pearl of Great Price, Old Testament, New Testament, Go Forward with Faith. That is such standard mormon answer right?

7. 5 favorite places to run away... Home, movie theater, drive-in movie theater, Utah, Wyoming.

8. 5 bad habits...Procrastinating, fear of things like driving, laziness, get frustrated easily, get overstimulated too I think.

9. 5 things I would never wear...Of course a bikini and very high heels (can't stand them), strapless gown, see through shirt, and truthfully a thong (GROSS!)

10. 5 things I enjoy...watching tv, watching movies, watching Maya grow and learn, spending time with Branch, spending time with family.

I tag Branch, Liz and Sarah. Just copy and paste the questions and delete my answers. I will be checking back!

Vacation Pictures

The four newest babies in our family. Chloe in pink
is 7 months, Ellie in purple is 8 months, patriotic
Rachel is 7 months, and of course Kittle Miss is 4 months.

Little Miss, Rachel, Chloe, Ellie


This is just a cute picture of Little Miss, horrible one
of me!

Grandpa Bob and the babes!

Chloe, Liz, Ellie, Little Miss, Me at a yummy
chuckwagon dinner.


Having fun with the cousins in Jackson:
Alyssa, Alex, Chloe, Ellie, andLittle Miss

In Jackson, Wyoming

With Grandma Ann, Ellie, and Chloe. Matching onesies say
"What happens at Grandmas stays at Grandmas!"

I kept forgetting that Little Miss is the youngest,
but she kept up well with her cousins.


***MORE PICTURES TO COME!!***

Our vacation

This blog is about my vacation, pictures coming soon!

So, Maya and I have been back from our vacation for a couple of days now and I sure could use another one! I am so tired! We really had a lot of fun visiting family and friends and it was such a cool opportunity for use to be able to be out there.

We flew out on the 23rd and my worries about Maya on the plane were unneeded. She fell asleep almost immediately after take-off both times and only woke up when we landed. When we got into Utah we met up with Grandma Becky, who hadn't seen her since she was three weeks old, and made our way to Spanish Fork were Maya meet Great-Grandpa Hunsaker and Great-Grandma Hunsaker, she met Chris, Cory, Melissa, Nate, Emma, Amberly, Galen, Isaac and Marlyce. The next day she attended the 24th of July Day parade which she slept through and then we headed to Mommies home town of Green River Wyoming. She was able to meet her uncle Keelen, which I think was confusing to her because he looks so much like her daddy.

The next day we headed out to Jackson Hole, Wyoming to meet up with Grandma Ann, who hadn't seen her since she was two weeks old, and went camping with Grandma Ann, Tony, and got to meet Liz, Jacob, Ellie, Seth, Julie, Alyssa, Alex and Chloe. It was so fun to be camping and Maya did really well. She had fun with her two youngest cousins too. Ellie is eight months old and Chloe is seven months old. It was suprizingly quiet with 3 babies camping. Maya got to see a lot of things she had never seen before including an upclose view of a buffalo walking past our vehicle, Old Faithful and Yellowstone, Jackson and an old fashion gunfight, and a yummy chuckwagon dinner.

We then headed back to Green River where we spent the next couple of days relaxing and visiting friends of mommy. Some former coworkers thought I was babysitting! They didn't know I had a baby! Grandma Becky and Grandma Ann had fun showing Maya off to all of there friends. Who wouldn't? She is a beautiful baby.

We then headed down to Murray Utah to Grandpa Bobs house. We then immediately went to a house in Park City we rented were we met up with Seth and his family, Liz and her family, and Maya got to meet Brody, Helen, Kayla, Maxwell, Kolby and baby Rachel. It was a full house with Dad, Louise, 4 of 5 siblings, 3 spouses, teenagers, 3 youngens, and 4 babies under a year old! Then we had 4 of 7 of Louise's children and their kids over for dinner. It was fun to be there to celebrate my dads birthday. We were able to get a hold of Sarah who was able to call and wish dad a happy birthday.

Thenwe went to visit Great Grandma and Great Grandpa Loveridge. Maya who had been so good the last two weeks wasn't happy at dinner though and we spent most of our time away from the dinner table. We then spent the last couple of days recuperating at my dads house. We celebrated Liz's birthday the day before headed home.

All in all it was a wonderful vacation. It would have been perfect if Branch could have come but he stayed home studying for and completing his 4th sememster. Only 2 more semesters to go! WHOO HOO! It really sucked to be away from Branch for so long, especially for him to be away from Himaya. It also would have been cool if Sarah and her family could have come out but we have girls weekend coming up! I was so lucky that I could come out when Seth and his family were coming out also. It was so good seeing them. I hadn't seen them in 2 years and it probably would have been another year until we could have gotten together. It was so fun also to see all 4 of the babies together! Even though they are only 4 months apart from oldest to youngest it was so neat to see them together. I can't wait until the next girls weekend when they will all be walking and talking!

I am glad to be back though. Even though I don't particularly like Dallas it is home to me now because home is were my heart is. I love you Branch and Himaya so very much!

Now I need a nap!