Ray Hurst Family Christmas

(Picture courtesy of sister Mal)

Our Hurst family is growing! With another little one on the way, thanks to Ri's sister Ainslee and her husband Brad.

We'll miss you guys this Christmas!

Christmas: Part 1

Yesterday, Hinder had his first experience with Santa. He climbed up on that lap like a champ and proclaimed that for Christmas he wanted "bowling balls".

Later that night we had our good friends over for our annual (3 years in a row? can I call that annual?) Bingo Christmas Party. It's always a laugh to see what everyone brings for prizes. Thanks to the Killians, Wilsons, and Baydn for making it a fantastic night!

And this morning...the morning I have been waiting for all my life...we had our own little Christmas morning. We decided it wouldn't be very practical to haul the Christmas gifts to my parents home in Eastern Washington later this week. And to be honest, I have been so excited for the day when I would have a child who could GET what Christmas is all about and couldn't stand to wait another week. It was blissful.

My favorite part was sneaking out to the tree with Hinder. He has perfected the sneaky step.

His sleepy little eye giving me a happy wink when he discovered the bike Santa left for him.

And then he found out all the packages under the tree contained more surprises. He couldn't quite get the paper to tear.

So he tried a different method.

And to finish off our early Christmas festivities, H dressed up little for church.

Can't wait to do it all over again in a few days!

Five Months for Sister Killian

I can't believe D'laney, Sister Killian, has been out in the mission field for five months already. That's a blessing, because I miss her like crazy. Here are the pictures and descriptions I've received from her so far. It looks so beautiful in Bulgaria!

Washing my hands at a fountain at a monastery in the mountains.

Kitchen in our apartment. I feel bad it's so nice compared to what everyone else has here.

In front of the Rila Monastery

A HUGE stork nest we saw. They are all over! Storks exist, I guess. Never knew.

Sister Norris and I with an investigator who put his arms around us and we both freaked out! Not at him but we were just ubber uncomfortable.

What the majority of the Blocks- apartment building- look like. This is the building where we went to visit a gypsy woman.

Random cool church that we saw heading back from a gypsy woman's house.

Member in Sofia.

This is a random statue at the park in Sofia that we went to contact people. If freaks me out, but at the same time makes me laugh at it's randomness.

This is awesome Sister Rogers reading to the only kid in primary here in Plovdiv, he is so awesome and I love him!

Branch members in Sofia

Branch member in Sofia

Moose on the Loose

After church, we arrived home to find these little surprises in our yard.

It didn't seem like a huge deal...after all, it is Idaho.

But then we met the owner of those surprises. She was just hanging out in our backyard.

We live in the middle of town, just to clarify.

Our moose friend chose our humble abode to bed down.

That is until the neighborhood boy rapscallions found her ( I assume it's a girl. Not so good at these things) out and made her the object of a snowball war.

After Fish and Game Department and a couple of Rexburg's finest came to observe the situation, she finally moved on.

A loose moose makes for an unusual Sunday afternoon!

Early Morning Surprises

Hinder was awake when I left this morning to head to the gym. Riley was supposed to be keeping an eye on him. This is what I found when I returned.

Basket acting as step stool to reach into the medicine cabinet.

On closer inspection...

Oh my.

Then I proceed to the kitchen to find this little surprise...

Two eggs cracked perfectly into two separate pans.

Hinder said he was "cookin some eggs!"

I'd be furious if I wasn't laughing so hard.

Thanksgiving Festivities

One of my favorite traditions is putting up our Christmas decor before leaving town for Thanksgiving. That way, when we get home, the house is clean and festive! Hinder actually wanted to do a lot of "helping" this year. What do you think of our Charlie Brown tree?

For us, Thanksgiving weekend was spent with the Hursts in Meridian. As usual, we relied on Riley's photographer sister, Mallory, to capture most of the action. Which means we came home with just a few random shots.

Hinder received this hoop and ball from Grandma and Grandpa for Christmas. He loves it! Drags the thing all around the house. Bathroom, laundry room, to bed with him at night. Silly billy.

A major highlight for H was visiting Uncle Stephen at the fire department. Thanks for letting us come bug you at work, Stephen!

Other favorites:

*Sidnee's trademark pedicures. bliss. *

*Taking a nap during the day TWO days in a row. That never happens for me!*

*Ray's cheese ball. And getting to take Ray's cheese ball home with me. *

*Semi-Black Friday shopping with Lorie and Ains*

*Opening Christmas together. Thanks for the generous gifts, family!*

*Playing Tripoley for about 6 hours straight*

*Watching the Hurst clan watch the BSU game. Emotions. Lots of Emotions.*

And now- I think I'll got heat up a plate of turkey day leftovers. Happy Thanksgiving all!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We're getting the house ready and suitcases packed to head to Boise for the holiday. (that is, if the roads open up) We're so excited to have a little vacation with these people.

So this will be my final gratitude post. And I think I'm just so darn grateful for holidays. Celebrations add spice and pizazz to life. Plus, they give me something to always look forward to. Usually, it means family and food, two of my favorite things.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Our Beautiful Temple

Lately, Riley and I have made a renewed effort to attend the temple weekly. I'm so grateful for this beautiful place that's only a mile away. We're so blessed to be able to serve in Lord's house so often.

Wash Day

I'm grateful for my modern washer and dryer. Mostly because today I'm tackling 7+ loads of laundry and I can't imagine doing that all by hand. Can you imagine having to rub out your stink with this bucket and washboard?!

The Great Pie Experiment

I love pies. I might even say I'm counting pie as a tender mercy placed on this earth just for my pleasure. That's how much I adore this dessert.

As a result, at the beginning of November, I decided that I would try out a few of the new pie recipes that I've been clipping from magazines and hoarding. It's been a splendid few weeks. The first week, I made this beauty.

Blackberry swirl pie from Better Homes and Gardens. AMAZING. I even used Stevia instead of the full amount of sugar, and it was still exquisite.

This is Family Fun's chocolate chess pie. I haven't tried it yet, but I will be bringing it to my in-laws for the holiday. Riley chose this one over the cranberry chocolate nut pie that I was rooting for. He's surprisingly picky when it comes to sweets.

Paula Deens pumpkin pie. A season must-have in our home.

Peach Blueberry is on the menu for tonight. I'm hoping it's a colorful as the picture makes it. And I love peach and blueberries, so how can it not be, right?

Today and Yesterday

In my excitement of watching the new Harry Potter movie last night (It was AMAZING!! I get all emotional when I think of how much sweet Brother Potter has grown over the years...), I forgot to be grateful yesterday. So, since Devon and I snuck away to the theater, I was very grateful yesterday for girl's nights. And for my sweet husband that lets me have "me" time very often, without a complaint. I feel lucky.

(picture by Katy Wilson, the most rocking photographer this side of the Rockys)

And for today, I'm particularly thankful for having so many sisters. You'd think it would be dramatic with all the estrogen, but these women are so chill, and lovely, and just plain cool. I love each of them to pieces.

Completed

Today, I'm grateful for accomplishment and completion. As a mom, my days are filled with dozens of tasks. Most of which I never can declare "I'm Done!". Like laundry, cleaning, cooking...it's never done. This makes me LOVE the feeling of having a project be officially complete.

Two big projects reached the complete stage today. The first is our new vinyl flooring in the kitchen, bathrooms, and laundry room. I love it!

(Technically, we still need baseboards installed...but since the contractor won't be coming in my house anymore, it feels complete!)

This is what the carpet looked like before.

Wretched. I love the new stuff. And it's going to be so much more convenient to clean.

The second big project is the church quiet book I've been working on for Hinder since July.

It turned out a little bigger than I planned. Maybe it's closer to a pillow pet than a book. And there are dozens of mistakes, but it's done. That's all that matters.

It's this kind of thing that helps me feel like my efforts during the day do matter. At least a little.