Shrine Circus

Amazing balancing acts...

Trapeze artists and elephants...

Snow cones at intermission...

A bear pushing a stroller and lots of tigers

And even more amazing balancing acts...this was by far the best! It's hard to see, but the man in the last picture is jumping rope!

And I love Caillou for keeping my kids intertained while I posted these!

Is it Fall yet?

I guess I should ask is it winter yet since we typically get about a week of fall in AZ! We are about done with the heat. The rain last week was great but I was ready for it to bring cooler weather for 2 reasons mainly. One, I can put the kids outside to play and two, we all get new wardrobes! Not brand new, but at least not the same stuff we've been wearing for the last 6 months. Although with the cooler weather comes the holiday season, which I cannot believe we are 3 months from! Anyone thinking of Christmas shopping yet? It won't be long before you will start seeing it on retailer's shelves. Michael's already had theirs out!

I am taking the boys to the circus tomorrow with my parents, Kelly and Robert. I will post pictures later...

Here's what we've been up to the last couple weeks...

"How to Train Your Dragon" watching in our fort

"First day of school, first day of school!"

And just being...well. silly :0)

Here is Jax dancing to his favorite song "Monster" by Skillet
And I must say he has the cutest air guitar ever!

Has it been a month...

Really? Almost a whole month since I last posted? Wow! We've been as usual. Work, A&P, work, and work some more. The kids met their teachers this week in preparation of school next week. Yeah! Logan has his same teacher, same class this year. Payton will be attending a new school for full day kindergarden. His class has 11 kids and 2 aids and he will be attending specials, like art, music, and PE. He is growing up so fast!

In case you were wondering, Jax has no interest in the potty we bought a month ago. We're just letting him tell us when he's ready.

Moose is doing well at work. He still enjoying providing (aka purchasing) merchandise for the store. Unfortunately, the store is moving again. Don't have details yet as to where they are going but that just means more work.

I am due to finish my 29th (and final) week of my Anatomy & Physiology class this thursday! Yeah! I'm debating whether to take my last prerequisite class this semester, which would start Aug 22nd. It's a physics class which sounds difficult. I don't know...we'll see.

Hope all is well with the rest of ya all! See you guys soon for Moose's Birthday!

The New Potty

Yep, potty training for the last time! Jackson got a new potty yesterday and when we got home, we unwrapped it and sat him on it. We read a couple books but no luck. So I started putting the letter stickers on it and meanwhile, he peed on the bathroom cabinet. Did I mention that I hate potty training?

Moose's Half Triathalon

Well, he did it! And did awesome! Here are some highlights...


Woke up at 4am...set up by 5:15am



Getting chipped and numbered...



First the swim

Then the bike...

Then the run...

And done!



He finished 7th overall in his weight class of 190lbs+ and 2nd in the run in his weight class! So proud of you honey!

Blood, Sweat, and No Fear!

Did a 16 mile Bike followed by a 3 mile run into work today. Sweated more than I think I ever have. Here is a disgusting picture of my shirt. The shirt was light blue, all the darker areas are sweat and the dark brownish colored area on the right side of the picture...thats blood. I felt it burning but around the 2nd mile running i blocked it out and hit "the zone" got to work to find my nipple bleeding. Guess i can block out about anyhing if i can put that outta my mind. :o) keep rockin!

God's Timing

Have you ever known that God has put you in the right place at the right time? On May 31st, on my 27th birthday, God knew exactly where he wanted Moose and I to be. This day was the first time we'd gone hiking since we were dating. I wanted to get way from life for a little bit for my birthday and this 4-6 hour hike into a canyon to see Fossil Creek waterfalls was what I wanted to do. We started the day with massages, Jason's Deli for lunch and by the time we arrived to the trail head in Strawberry it was 2pm. We knew it would be about dark when we got back to the car, but started out anyways. About 20 minutes into the hike, we saw a woman walking up the trail towards us. She asked if we had a phone because her dad needed help. He couldn't make it out of the canyon. Moose ran ahead to find the guy and I stayed with her until she got off the phone with 911. She went back up to the parking lot to meet parametics and I started down again to see if I could help. Moose had found the guy passed out under a tree about 15-20 more minutes down the trail. After splashing him down with water, the guy regained consciousness and was able to continue up the trail, resting every 20-30 feet or so. Finally a rescuer came down and brought him the rest of the way out on an ATV. His daughter called us a few hours later to say he was doing okay and was being treated at the hospital. She wanted to thank us for being there and helping them. That was definitely God's work. That my sister was able to babysit for us and that we chose to hike, and that we had started out late! By the time we weren't needed anymore, it was too late to make it down to the falls. But we were able to drive down closer to the water and swim in the river. And judging by the drive down, it would have been a very long and hard hike, so it's probably best we didn't do it!

The rest of the trip went beautifully. We both got the time we needed to reconnect to each other and God. But He wasn't done working yet. Robert (my brother-in-law for those who don't know) used our other car while we were gone and noticed that the tires were in pretty bad shape. So Moose took the car up to Discount Tires and they said the metal wires were poking out of them! I guess they were in really bad shape! When they replaced them, they said to have the brake fluid checked, so Moose took the car right across the street to Brake Masters. They told us there was a leak and we had almost no brake fluid and were 2 weeks away from complete brake failure! WOW! To know the tires and brakes were that bad, it was only God who saved us from a really bad accident. The weekend prior, I had driven it to Westgate, then my parent's house, and home! Definite praise to God and thanks to Robert! The unfortunate news is that the repairs to the brake system along with a few other problems with the car that Brake Masters found, it is not worth saving the car. So...we will be a single car family again for a while until we decide how to move forward. Prayers for that, please!

My favorite verse seems appropriate for these last few days...
"I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go. I will counsel you and watch over you." Psalms 32:8

Keep your ear out and watch for God's instruction. What may seem an unusual direction to take may be God teaching you in the way you should go. He may have someone down that path that will be important in your life.

Trip to Strawberry.

For Kristy's birthday we went to Strawberry, AZ just north of Payson. It was so great getting out of the city, hiking, swiming in the falls, being a couple again. We both miss just being us so we'll definatly do this again soon. Thanks Kelly and Robert for the help. I love you Kristy, Happy 27th Birthday.

we found a random axel at the river side and looked up to see a 60's-70's car that took a rolling tumble down the cliff side we drove in on. Heres Kristy with the car parked upside down in the middle of a tree.

Prayer

I am sending out a request for prayers for baby Kenzie. She is the daughter of some close friends who is hospitalized and may be close to joining Jesus in heaven. Please pray for healing for her family and friends who dearly love her.

Hunt Family Update

Hello all! Can you believe the random rain we got today? Very nice, very nice. Thankfully it waited til this afternoon because we had a lovely time at the Phoenix Zoo this morning. Thanks Sarah and Lila for coming with us! Well, the boys have 3 days of school left and then begins a busy summer. We'll be doing lots of swimming (Payton and Logan are in swim lessons for the month of June) and we plan to go to Harkins Kids Summer Movie Program. They show already released to DVD kid movies at 9:45am through summer (10 weeks) for $7 per person, for all 10 movies. I thought that was pretty reasonable even if I have to walk out of a few. Hopefully Jackson will sit still!

I had a wonderful, exhausting Mother's Day. I worked the previous night, slept a few hours and headed to my mom's for lunch, followed by the Hunt's for dinner. I slept well that night :0)

Here a couple of our zoo pics! Logan and Lila being spiders and Jackson and Lila driving the tractor.

2011 warrior dash

it was awesome. three and a half miles with obstacles and mud filled shoes. its one thing to train for a run it's a whole new experience to do it in 6 pound shoes cause shoes and socks are filled with mud. James Hunt #71679 AGE:31 MALE TIME: 38:58.85 here are some pics

The Dog Days of Summer

So I guess it's not technically summer yet, but we don't ever get much of a spring anyway. Here's what we've been up to...

Lots of outside time...


Daddy makes fun pancakes including monkeys, dinosaurs, tanks and F22 Raptors (sorry no pics of the army vehicles :0(


Eating watermelon after some pool time

And yes...a dog. It came to visit us for about an hour and before I could find it's owner, the kids let it out and it ran away again. The kids were bummed.

Holy S#*! ...Wheres the rest of ya'?

In January 16 i had a doctors apointment and the nurse asked me "do you know how much you weigh?" 256-260 i replied. well lets weigh you to make sure.... 292 pounds! holy crap. well the next day i jumped on a tread mill only to find how bad the situation had gotten by not being able to complete a 12 minute mile. So I worked... my ass off. Set a goal to complete Pat's Run which was april 16th 3 months after that dr.'s apointment. It's a 4.2 mile run to honor Pat Tillman and i wanted to do it in 42 minutes, 10 minute miles. I set monthly weight loss goals...that i destroyed. As of this morning i weigh 226 pounds. Yes thats right 65 pounds in 3 months. Prompting a buddy who i hadent seen since December to say Holy S#*! ...Wheres the rest of ya'? Well Pats run was yesterday and it was great. Inspirational, religeous experience, humbling, appreciative, motivating, victory, you name it I felt it. The start, the race, the finish, the prayer at the 34 yard line. The end result:

Name: James Hunt #5482
Lives: Scottsdale, AZ
Age: 31 Gender: M
Distance 4.2M
Clock Time 37:17
Pace 8:53 a mile

Rock on boys and girls. start small and you will do big things. bigger than you ever imagined.

Luke Air Force Show

Here we are at the Air Show at Luke Air Force Base. The kids had a blast! It's really cute to hear your four year old say, "Look! A F22 Raptor!" They enjoyed snow cones that were the size of their heads and got to climb into a SWAT vehicle.

I know, I know...I haven't posted in a while. Not much to report on here. I worked the last couple of nights and now I am recovering, enjoying a nice day of rest. Went to church (heard some awesome music), ate at Dickies BBQ for lunch with Mama, Pops, and Jin-jie (that's what the kids called Aunt Jennifer), and we stopped by Toys R Us on the way home and the boys spent their birthday money on new Nerf guns. These guns are awesome! They are easy to load and shoot so I don't have to cock them anymore! Yeah! The big boys (Moose, Payton, and Logan) even braved the pool today, which is still way too cold for my tastes. Hope all is well for everyone else...I am working on the kids' birthday party so be looking out of the evite! It will be around lunchtime on March 27th, so save the date!

Here we are playing with the new guns...Jackson got creative when he realized it was too heavy for him to hold up.

Where has all the food gone?

My kids have eaten 7 oranges today, assuming Moose only gave them one this morning. And I am not talking about Cuties here. They are full sized oranges. Thanks to great grandma, we've gotten them free from her tree. Otherwise I would be spending a small fortune! I thought I'd have a few more years before I would be able to say, "they are eating me out of house and home". We've gotten to the point that we'd have to order 2 pizza's to satisfy them all, and Moose is dieting! Moose helped some friends move this past weekend and took the older boys with. They ordered pizza and Payton ate 4 slices! Four! I usually eat 2! All of them can easily polish off entire Happy Meals. I can't fathom having to order off the adult menu to feed my (almost) 5 year old! Here is your answer to "How are you so thin, Kristy?" Because don't have time to eat and because I can't keep food in my house! By the time I finish making 3 kids' plates and start making my own, they have finished and want a snack. UGG! It's exhausting! Will they ever slow down again? I see in my future ordering 4 pizzas for family dinner night! OMG! I have to start making more money! :0)

OH BOY February! Army men and poop. yup poop.

The month of February can be summed up by 2 words- army & poop. The boys, especially Logan have been on an army kick. building army bases with all their toys, dressing up, even requesting the army channel instead of cartoons. Logan wakes up ine morning and when asked if he wants breakfast he says no army men dont have breakfast just apple juice. 20 minutes later..."Daddy i think army men have eggos." Here are some pics. The second pic is of a paper i made for Logan with his favorite army pics and 2 of him being an army man for halloween. the 1st is him holding my (unloaded so please no need to call cps) pellet gun.





Then theres the stomach bug. All the kids got it at random times throughout the month. They all took their turns throwing up filling diapers and underware. Then one morning Jax exploded. Bed sheets were thrown out, the crib had a deep clean, clothes were trashed. Here are some pics and no thats not paint or chocolate.

Just a little late ;0)

So, my baby turned 2 last week! Some of our family were able to make it to dinner on Thursday to celebrate...Here are some of the pictures...

I could only get one to load for now. Either Blogger is slow or it's my computer...I will try again later.

Jackson has also fully embraced being 2 years old. He is moody, tantrumy, and wants things done his way, in his time, without help. (My spell check says tantrumy is not a word, but it totally is in my house!) Anyways, I will post some Jackson baby pictures later, when I can upload them.

Happy Valentines Day!

To My unbelievably awesome wife. Thank you so much for loving me and taking care of me and the boys in every way imaginable. We have come through so much in the last 2 years and now know we are indestructable. Brad Paisley's new song says it perfectly "i thought I loved you then." Here are the lyrics along with some of my favorite moments with Kristy. I love you.

I remember trying not to stare the night
That I first met you, you had me mesmerized
And three weeks later in the front porch light
Taking 45 minutes just to kiss goodnight
I hadn't told you yet but I thought I loved you then

But now you're my whole life, now you're my whole world
And I just can't believe the way I feel about you girl
Like a river meets the sea, stronger than it's ever been
We've come so far since that day and I thought I loved you then

And I remember taking you back to right where I first met you
You were so surprised
There were people around but I didn't care
I got down on one knee right there
And once again I thought I loved you then

But now you're my whole life, now you're my whole world
And I just can't believe the way I feel about you girl
Like a river meets the sea, stronger than it's ever been
We've come so far since that day and I thought I loved you then

I can just see you with a baby on the way
I can just see you when your hair is turning gray
What I can't see is how I'm ever gonna love you more
But I've said that before

And now you're my whole life, now you're my whole world
I just can't believe the way I feel about you girl
We'll look back someday at this moment that we're in
And I'll look at you and say, "And I thought I loved you then
And I thought I loved you then"

Kiddie P90X

If you don't know, P90X (which I think stands for Pain 90 Times over) is a series of workout DVD's. They are very intense, but definitely work. Here are a few videos of the boys trying it out...

About half way through, don't miss Jackson in the background dancing...

What My Kids Taught Me Today

1. That we still own a Sharpie. A red one. On a keychain??
2. A Lysol wipe worked the best to remove said Sharpie from their bathroom mirror.

Pictures

They are always where they shouldn't be :0)

Went to a Military Vehicle Show at the McDowell Army Base

Played hard at school that day!

I'm wearing big boy underwear like my brothers!

GI Joe is a farmer???

Crazy

Do you ever feel like you should be doing something, but don't know what? I'm not talking about that feeling when you walk into the kitchen knowing you came in for something but can't remember what until an hour later. This is different. I have this feeling that God is trying to direct me somewhere, but I feel a little lost as to where He wants me. Our struggles over the past 2 years (2 years in Feb, wow time flies!) have brought me closer to God than I have ever been. Moose and I both feel we have a more God centered life and I know God has something BIG in our future. He's told me. I just wish I knew what it was or what I am supposed to do. I'd settle for just a little hint! :0) The Planner in me is going crazy!

We are reading this book called "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan in our small group. It really is an eye opening book if you get a chance to read it. But he wrote something that has really stuck with me..."Having faith often means doing what others see as crazy. Something is wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers."

What are you doing in your life that doesn't make sense?

The news and stuff...

This blank blog has been open since before lunch... We've been busy cleaning, playing, and watching the news. I had planned to write about how I've survived my 2nd boxing lesson, but that seems trite and a little inappropriate after watching that a 22 year old took the life of 6 people, and critically injured 19 more today in Tucson at a meet and greet with Arizona US Representative Gabrielle Giffords. And then, a few days ago, another man shot at police outside of Chandler Fashion Center and then took 3 hostages in a nearby restaurant. It makes me really sad that another person could do something like that.

All I really have to say is God help those who were injured or killed today. I pray for them and their families in this horrible time.

Post Holidays

Well, things have pretty much settled down here. The new toys have found their spots in the house. Three trash bags full of toys and clothing made it's way out to make room (actually, not quite...they are still in the back of my car, but they are out of the house!) Now that things have settled, I enrolled in two online classes this semester which start Jan 15th. Yikes! Why did I do that? The short answer is to continue moving forward in my education. But it still scares me a little since I've never completed an online class (the only other one I signed up for a while back was a computer class. And you really shouldn't learn about computers through a computer!) Anyways, I am taking Racial and Ethnic Minorities to fill my cultural requirement and Anatomy & Physiology, which terrifies me because I know it is going to be A LOT of memorization! I think I will be going through many flash cards! I've also started boxing classes! My first time was Tuesday and my personal trainer Harrison (a professional boxer, I might add) kicked my butt! Today, it hurts to do anything! Lifting Jackson, laying down, breathing...okay so I may have exaggerated a little. My next appointment is tomorrow. I asked Moose today, "Will I feel better tomorrow? Because if I don't I think my limbs just might fall off." He thinks I am a wimp. He didn't say that, but I am thinking that, so he must be too :0) Wish me luck for tomorrow and if I don't blog within a week, you know I must have died during my workout!