We're almost there!

Hello everybody! I just thought i'd post this fun pic of eric and I on an airplane because thats what we're going to be doing in 5 days! I'm so excited! After all of the places we've flown and been and seen, I never thought that St. George would be our destination for vacation. And here we are going to St. George for vacation! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it! I must admit, I'm a little sad that I can't see Laura and Josh or Joe, Ashley, and Ethan. It will be so good to see everyone though! It is so cold here right now and 20 degrees! I hope that St. George is a little warmer, even if it is only 35 degrees. I'm sure it will be warmer than this! I love it though, and it is beautiful here. The snow melted for Christmas, so we were kind of bummed about that, but Saturday morning we woke up to snow again, and I swear, I'm like a little child. I just light up when it snows! Now I'm just rambling! At any rate, I can't wait to see ya'll! 5 DAYS!
-Sara

Gingerbread House Party

Every month my three sisters and some of our friends get together with our families for dinner or just for fun. This month we decided to make gingerbread homes. It was a lot of fun. The kids really enjoyed it. We had tons of candy and we made a hugh mess, but it was worth it. This is a picture of Tasia helping Jeff with the icing.

This is our beautiful gingerbread home. This year we learned a new trick on how to do the windows. We melted jolly ranchers in the oven to make stained glass windows.

It looked awesome.
This is all of the wonderful candy. We had tons to choose from.
This is my twin sister Tessa's house. I love their roof. It was made out of airheads.
This is my older sister Tricia and her husband and five kids decorating their house.

2007 Family Picture

Christmas in St. George

To get you into the Christmas spirit some more and for those of you who are unable to join us in sunny St. Geogre for the holidays-- here are some photos of downtown St. George during the holidays. Of course this photo of the temple does not due it enough justice. There are lights twinkling in every nook-and-cranny.

Santa Claus is peeking over one of the buildings in downtown--- he's checking out who's naughty and who's nice.... that's why I don't drive by this building this time of year. If he sees my road rage, I'll for sure only get coal for Christmas!
This is the new Town Square for those who remember it as only being under-construction. For those who haven't been around the downtown area in a while...the old library on Main Street was torn down and this is what is there now. It's right beside the Tabernacle-- there's a nice grassy area with a water feature-- the tower's windows are stainglass images of the history of Dixie. The Town Square is large! The new library was built just around the corner-- it is HUGE and extremely nice.
This is the Tabernacle of course. They re-did their parking lot in bricks to match the rest of the area that is made to look more historical. Even the handicap parking spaces have dark bricks to seperate the lanes. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland oversaw this project.
This is a walkway at the new Town Square. The new library is lit up in the back.
As part of the Town Square project, the city also built the Water Walk. It runs from a pond at the top of Main Street (which they cleaned and remodled the park which is really nice and quaint)-- and the water flows down troughs from the top of Main, across the Boulevard and down through the Town Square. You can see some puddles, but generally the water runs a lot more when it's not so cold. There are other water features at the square as well.

Wherever you are for the holidays, make sure you either start a new tradition or participate in old family traditions. If your plans aren't here for the holidays, know that Coby, Ben and I sure do love you and will miss the Dickens out of you. (Pun intended).

Merry Christmas,

The Washington Hunts

Here's our modest little Christmas tree!

I guess I'll post another pic until someone else gets sick of my post and decides to post again! Way to go Coby and Jill! I love those pics! Check out our blog to see our fun Christmas party video!

IS ANYONE ELSE GOING TO POST!

a very touching evening

So this evening I had the opportunity to travel across town to our church house for our young womens activity. It was a stake activity and we were in charge. We did kind of a traveling nativity story. We heard the inn keeper tell his part of the story. We heard the shepherd and thd wisemen tell their parts of the story, and then onto Mary's story. It was a really nice evening and i highly recommend this activity to anyone with a group of young adults. That, although a very meaningful evening, is not what was touching. As I was driving to the church, I was thinking of my family. Not really sadly thinking, just thinking happy thoughts. Then all of the sudden we were stopped at a light and ..... ready for this.......?! Someone honked! and it wasn't just any honk. It sounded like this........ duh duh dada duh.......duh duh! I just about started crying! That of course, made me smile! Just thought i'd share a happy moment of how Heavenly Father helps us stay happy by letting us hear the horn honk.....or something!

Our post Thanksgiving day tradition

So after Thanksgiving day eric and i have decided to start making gingerbread houses. It is something that his family has done in years past and had fun, so we thought we'd continue it that fun. We were supposed to do it the night after thanksgiving, and we did some of it. then it turned into a few days. Tonight for cheap date night, Eric and I completed our gingerbread home. Please note the great rock work on the side of the house. It was hard work, but it is finally our dream uh, gingerbread home! The tree was very fun to do as well!
hope all is well! so great to see pictures of all! I would love it if any/all of you could please send me some hard copy pics of all of your kids! It would mean alot to me especially at this time of year! Thanks!
Make some great memories!

sara

Hunt Happenings...

Here are some recent pics-- from our Thanksgiving in Enterprise and some other fun things. We made our traditional Turkey Day hats--my two little Indians and me as a pilgrim. It's actually fitting since Coby's line partially comes from Native Americans and I had ancestors come over on the Mayflower. However, Ben wasn't too thrilled about our tradition. :)
Grandma cooked us up a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner. We had fun shooting the breeze with her and Tyler. It was quiet, relaxing and cold-- a perfect turkey day!
We went to visit Toby's grave and the birthday flowers were still there. I thought I would post the grave stone. Some of you may not have seen it yet. It's right near Grandpa's.
Here is our favorite little wildman. He was helping me with laundry and when I walked away, he thought it would be fun to climb into the dryer-- until he realized that there was something sticking out so he couldn't sit up. It wasn't so much fun anymore.
Look at this funny pouty face--- begging mom to get him out. Of course I had to take pictures first for future use!!
This picture is of Ben all bundled up for the Holiday Stroll in downtown St. George. The event was LLLLAAAAMMMMEEEE, but we got to meet Santa.
Is this not the most perfect Santa ever? He really is. His beard is real and everything. Ben didn't know what to think. It was easier last year when he just laid on his lap. Ben didn't even tell him what he wanted for Christmas, so who knows what will happen. Ben does favor Rudolph here--with his little red nose. Maybe Santa could use his help this year!
Coby introduced Ben to a fun little game on my cell phone. He just stares at it--he was too funny sitting on the couch starring that I had to snap a pic.
Uncle Russ came over to visit on Sunday and brought Ben a little lion. We had a really nice visit with him and Ben LOVES his new little friend. Below, Ben is hard at work on some Christmas projects he is making for family members to go into your Christmas cards. One of his favorite things to do lately is color--just mention "color" and he'll run and grab the crayon box. I am not sure if he loves to scribble or throw them more. We hope that everyone is doing well and getting excited for this holiday season. Coby's last day at Loomis is Thursday--and that's the only present we need (well, that and his new job to go through at the sheriff's department). We love and pray for each of you daily!!!

Black Friday! which wasn't black!.....

Hello Everybody! I hope all is going well in your neck of the woods! I must say that I love Coby's story in Alltel today! That was so funny! I've had a few things like that happen with me! Hilarious i tell you! Well, it is November 23rd today, and we all know what that means! It has been 13 years since i was diagnosed with Diabetes. and I've only had a few problems. My eyes are very close to great, the doctor said my feet don't even look like a diabetics feet, (i guess they look different?) and my sugars are getting better and better as i adjust to the stress levels of a new town, job, environment, etc. So that's great! Oh yeah, and it's my birthday. This has been a wonderful day for me. I got to hear from a lot of my family and Eric made the day perfect. I know this might make the rest of you feel old, but i am now a quarter of a century old! Yikes! I asked Eric last night to bring me snow for my birthday, he delivered! Shown in the pics are some of the other gifts. I got "the Notebook", carrie underwoods new CD, the office, season one ( that might be both of ours) and chocolate covered cherries (my favorite). i also got a christmas CD for my birthday and a new purse! I am so spoiled. I also received money and an amazing pullover shirt from all of the parents! i absolutely loved it all! I couldn't bee happier! I am so thankful to have my life and the way it has turned out! We all have rough spots in life, but we have those, so that days like these can be that much sweeter! I'm thankful for my whole family! I love you all! I can't wait to come hang wit ya all in January! I hope you all enjoy the pics of the snow and know that it is painful for us to go outside because it is so cold! As i type it is 12 degrees outside! I'm glad i don't live in a cave! Hope you all enjoy these pics! talk to you soon! sara

Funny story

So I work for Loomis( for a few more days at least)I went into Alltel today on black Friday and they were very busy. The manager saw me come in and said "just one sec" and I said "I have all the secs in the world." meaning no big deal I'm in no hurry.And everyone in the store started to laugh and the manager said" now that's one happy man!" I realized then that it sounded like I said "I have all the sex in the world". I love English. Lots of fun ways to get in trouble.
Coby

Erics New Do!

Eric has secretly always wanted a mohawk. His hair was getting longer and needed to be cut. He wanted to buzz it all off, but then remembered how bad he wanted a mohawk.... So...........

Don't worry, we buzzed his head right after these pictures!
Have a great day!

Washington Hunt News...

I went to the doctor today and received some bad/good news. I have diabetes; however, it can be controlled with diet and exercise. I am starting some medication tomorrow that will help in all of this. I am more excited than down about the news. It is the swift kick in the rear that I needed to get my health life in order. We have to get this under control along with some other factors before trying to get pregnant again. Mostly, I look forward to getting back into all the clothes that have collected millions of dust bunnies in my closet. Yes, I used to have cute clothes--and I still do, I just haven't fit in them for awhile. Coby is going on the diet with me and I will join his already resurrected work out plan. Believe it or not, I used to be a work-out junkie-- that was prior to moving to St. George and getting swamped in my career, then marriage and then motherhood. Now I am glad to show Ben the best way to live-- healthy.
Speaking of Ben, he is such a big boy now. He helps me do laundry (putting clothes into the dryer for me, then closing the door) and he absolutely LOVES doing dishes with me. Although we long for the day we have a dishwasher, it's actually really nice to teach my son good old-fashioned work to build that ever important work ethic. I'll post some pics of him helping me around the house soon.
Coby has officially turned his application in to the Washington County Sheriff's Department. He has prepared himself to pass the physical and has passed the POST test. If this works out, we'll be staying in St. George for who knows how long. If it doesn't, I don't expect us to be here at the end of next year. We'll see.
Hope you are getting prepared for Thanksgiving. I know it's going to be hard not to gorge this year-- kind of a bad time to start dieting, but I also want to make sure I am committed and what better way than to (hopefully) stand strong at the most tempting time of the year. Yikes!

Keep blogging-- it sure is fun to see everyone!! (Speaking of everyone...Laura and Josh have been A-Wall from the blog for awhile).

What a month!!

1st birthday fun!

We're so proud of Joe for graduating!!

Ethan LOVED his costume!!! NOT!!!

the pics from the trip

Our recent trip to Glacier National Park

So a few nights ago, our friends Kim and Bryant Jacobs invited us to travel to Glacier on Friday and then hike around on Saturday. We jumped on the chance. We left Friday around 6 and we stayed outside of the park in a town called Essex. The funny part of the story happens now! We pulled up to the "Halfway Hotel" and it looked like a house. We new there were only three rooms, so we assumed that was it. We knocked on the door and no one answered. We weren't sure what we were supposed to do, so we brainstormed. Then a nice lady came running from her trailor. I unrolled my window and she said, "Are you guys the ones with the reservation tonight?" So i guess we were the only ONES! she told us we were in room #2 and the door was open and the keys were in the room. WOW! We drove around the building to little cabins and found this sign. It was actually a neat little place. On the hikes we went on we saw two large bull-moose. It was freezing cold and rainy and i mean FREEZING! but it was so beautiful. On the way home we stopped at this cool place that used to be a train station and is now a hotel. The hotel is old and beautiful and they have even turned some old train cars into hotel rooms. It is awesome. We also saw this really cool track snow plow. (at least i think thats what it is) It reminded me of dad, so that pic is for you :) Here are those pics. Talk to ya'll soon! P.S. WE ARE COMING HOME JANUARY 4TH-8TH! It is almost set in stone! Can't wait!

Dan in real life...

Hey family, on saturday eric and I saw the new steve carrell movie, "Dan in Real Life." It was awesome. We both want to watch it again so bad and we are definitely putting it on our wish list to own! I laughed and cried and it was just a feel good movie. I think i cried because he is a single dad trying to raise 3 kids and I think it just triggered a memory or two and some ideas of what maybe dad has gone through! I highly reccommend it and would hope that everyone could find a sitter or do whatever it takes to make it to this movie. Hopefully, i'm not just talking up something that wasnt really that great! but i loved it!

talk to you soon! sara

Jeff and Dad's Bike Trip

Jeff and Dad went on an overnight camping/biking trip last weekend in Nevada. They had a lot of fun and they put quite a few miles on there bikes. Jeff really enjoyed going. He said he hadn't done this with Dad in a long time. They went with some of Dad's friends. If you have any questions about it, talk to Jeff. I don't remember all of the details of where it is or who everyone was.

Halloween '07

What's Halloween without this classic?

















This is the after we carved our pumpkin pic-- the pics are out of order--sorry.















Spooky pumpkin at night!!!




















Happy Halloween!!!





We had so much fun this year celebrating my favorite holiday. I know that may seem wierd, but it is my favorite. I love all the spooky decorations, carving pumpkins, eating chili and cornbread, candy corn, trick-or-treaters and the whole shabang!





This year we wanted to be characters from the Little Rascals. Coby was going to be Spanky and I was going to be Darla. Well, time snuck up on us and we ended up just having Ben be Alphalfa. He was the CUTEST Alphalfa ever and everyone wanted to take him home with them from our ward party.








Coby was "smartie pants" for Halloween and Ben lived up to his "Little Rascal" theme. He was an handful at the party-- so much excitement for a 16-month-old. Here Coby and Ben are doing the cake walk. When they landed on the #1 ghost...Ben won! He won a little cupcake that he had no interest in eating.



(my costume was an undercover sky marshall, so i couldn't be photographed in order to keep my identity a secret)







We moved on to another game and he won a prize by throwing a ghost into the bowl. Of course he walked right up to the bowl, but he did throw it in there!




We carved our pumpkin for FHE as well. We found the PERFECT pumpkin. It was nice and round and had the perfect surface for carving. It was almost to pretty to carve. I felt like Linus on Charlie Brown and The Great Pumpkin Patch when he screams at his sister, Lucy, that she killed the pumpkin when she carved it.


I don't know the movie that well, but we watched it while we carved our pumpkin. We have actually seen it several times this past month...just glad we can move on to the Thanksgiving one!

For Halloween night we went to a dinner party at our friends house, had stew, went through a haunted historical alley and then played the Celestial Companion game until midnight. We had a BLAST!! We hope that everyone else's Halloween went well and safe!

We didn't have any trick-or-treaters before we left home at 7 p.m. However, as we saw them walking on the street on our way over to our friend's house, we stopped and let them trick-or-treat from our car.

Love y'all-----
The Washington Hunts