Hello Hunts

It has been so long. . . and apparently we have been one very busy family! Just a few highlights...

We moved our little family to Vancouver. We live in a nice little house with a nice little yard in a very nice little neighborhood. We absolutely love our new ward. The people in it are just so friendly and welcoming, it would be difficult not to love! It appears that all of our children are as happy with the move as I am, and that makes this place just about perfect as far as I am concerned.

I am now a mother-in-law, and I LOVE it! My dear, sweet, Jessica now belongs to Mick Swenson for all time and eternity. They were married on June 4, 2010 in the Portland, Oregon Temple. It was a beautiful ceremony. Jessica was a beautiful bride. Mick was a most dashing groom. Nichole, Marissa, Rachelle, Jamie, and Cynthia were beautiful bride's maids. Jazmin was a beautiful junior brides maid along with one of Jessica's close friends Ellie Epperson. Esther and Cerena were beautiful flower girls. Alan was a very handsome groom's man. And my heart truly skipped a beat or two for my very handsome husband of nearly 22 years. We had many family members share our joy at a nice reception held later that evening. Jessica was gracious enough to keep everything simple, which actally added to the spirit of the evening. She requested regular layered cakes on pretty cake plates and stands. So, Nichole baked and baked and baked until there were something like 5 cakes (plus a few cakes that didn't quite turn out right). As a wedding gift to Jessica, Nichole baked and decorated her first wedding cake. There were three tiers decorated with a robin's egg blue ribbon and topped with a topper Rachelle made out of left over flowers and tulle. Oh! It turned out. . . well, beautiful, of course! It was a most memorable and wonderous day!

Cerena turned 5! Such a sweet little lady! She wanted a big chocolate cake. Happily, Nichole is becoming quite the cake baker and was happy to oblige her with a very pretty layered chocolate cake. The girls had a dance festival practice that night, so Cerena was kind enough to delay the actual cake and presents till the next day when we could all be together. For a temporary fill in, we had chocolate cupcakes and Cerena got to blow out a candle on hers. Then she got to celebrate her special day again the next day. She was really very sweet about it, and she ended up enjoying having a two day long birthday!

I can't express the joy that she and Esther have added to our little family. Oh, how I love my son and all of my daughters. Motherhood truly is a calling I deeply charish. In all honesty, there are days I wonder if maybe the Lord overestimated my abilities. Fortunately, all of my children have been very forgiving of my weaknesses. They are wonderful, and I can honestly say that I feel blessed among mothers. But, I digress. . .

Marissa, Rachelle, and Jamie participated in a huge dance festival at the end of June. There were over 2000 youth from 7 stakes participating with them. I really have no words to adequatly describe the event. Amazing doesn't really convey the reality. But for lack of a better word, I will say it was amazing. I was so proud of the girls for all their hard work and simply for their desire to participate in the first place. The theme of this dance festival was "How Firm a Foundation". It might seem a little odd to say, but these kids were somehow able to share a very strong united testimony of the Savior through music and dance. I was deeply touched...not only by the performance itself, but the effect the whole experience had on my daughters. They glowed with that satisfaction of a job well done. And they seem to possess a newfound inner peace that they didn't seem to have before. I am very thankful that the church provides such faith-building experiences for our youth.

Nichole has just turned 19. She announced that she only has two years till her mission. My experience has taught me that two years is not a long time at all. In fact, they tend to fly by in the blink of an eye. Especially when we are busy. Nichole will be going to school, so she will indeed be busy!

So, life has been really enjoyable for the Hunt family over the past few months. Perhaps, one of these days, I will be able to put some pictures on here. Sadly, my camera's recharging cord got lost in our move. Any pictures I have taken were done on my phone and some one time use cameras. Eventually, I will get those developed and put onto a disk. . .

"We are created in the image of our heavenly parents; we are God's spirit children. Therefore, we have a vast capacity for love—it is part of our spiritual heritage. What and how we love not only defines us as individuals; it also defines us as a church. Love is the defining characteristic of a disciple of Christ."
~Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "The Love of God," Ensign, Nov. 2009, 22

Here are a few of the things I love. . .

The Salt Lake City Temple--I actually took this beautiful picture myself!