Sweet Austin Life: 2009

Kaelyn's 4th b-day

Gma and Gpa Austin were able to come to our home and celebrate Kaelyn's b-day

Ready to blow out the candles...and open gifts!

Gma Austin made kaelyn a pretty hooded coat

Jared and I bought her a Tinker Bell Doll - she is really into Tinker Bell right now

She received a Barbie convertible from Gma Hunter

The Eagar/Springerville area was chosen by Washington D.C. to provide them w/ their annual Christmas tree for Capitol Hill (along w/ 80 other small trees to be placed in office bldgs, etc...). This 85ft Blue Spruce was 'harvested' (don't you just love that word???) south of here in the Apache Sitgreaves Forest. We were able to see the tree being driven by a large flat-bed truck into the rodeo grounds. The crowd went crazy!

The kids were so excited to see the huge tree!

The RV High School Ambassadors sang several Christmas/Holiday songs as part of the program.

The Intermediate and Middle schools also sang a couple songs, including the National Anthem.

Kids standing in front of the patriotic flat-bed truck...

Standing in front of the tree (towards the trunk where water was constantly being pumped underneath a rubber sheath). There were several men from the Forest Service strapping down the branches getting it ready to be crated for the 10 day road trip (28 towns/cities) around AZ. From there, it will begin an 8 day journey towards Washington. The tree will be decorated by ornaments made by different schools and organizations from AZ.

Our first snow of the year - a few days before Halloween. This is a shot out of our back door.

We only received a few inches, but it was really fun for the kids (and me too! I'll admit it.)

The kids carved their pumpkins on Halloween day, with the help of Gma and Papa Hunter - Jadyn got his pumpkin from a farm and Kaelyn and Camdyn got their pumpkins from their Whiting cousins (Kaelyn's is very....um...interesting)

Dressed up and ready for the Primary Halloween party at the church. Camdyn is wearing Jadyn's Batman costume from 4yrs ago - Jadyn has been Batman for 4yrs now!

Kaelyn and Camdyn loving the snow!

One of our family pictures that didn't quite turn out, but at least the leaves were beautiful. We took this shot near Escadilla.

Jadyn and I rode the ski lift at Sunrise Ski Resort. Here is a picture from near the top looking towards the north.

I took this picture on our ride up Sunrise Mtn. Is was sooooo pretty!

Jadyn was having a great time! On our way back down the mountain, he was yelling, "Spongebob" to everyone passing us the other direction. He wanted to see how many people would actually respond, "Squarepants" - a lot of people did. Too funny.

Kaelyn loved collecting leaves that had fallen to the ground. This particular area was blanketed both above and on the ground with golden and red leaves - the air almost glowed.

Round Valley Elk's Homecoming Parade

Jadyn, Kaelyn and Camdyn sitting with their friend, Emma, waiting for the parade to begin.

Camdyn being a big 'cheese' for the camera. He was having a great time.

A large group of kids making the 'Elk' sign (Do the fans do this at football games? I wonder...). It was pretty funny to watch! It was interesting to discover that RV takes their football pretty seriously - they shut down Main street entirely, just like for the 4th of July, just for their homecoming parade. I have never seen this before. Being from Show Low, our fans were pretty loyal and enthusiastic, but this was new to me...

Jadyn's class made 'Elk' head-wear for the parade. He's a floppy, antlered elk.

Jadyn's First Day of Kindergarten

Jadyn started his first day of school in mid-August and was soooo excited! He woke up around 5:30 am and was ready to head out the door before 6am. It was torture for him to wait! When the school bus finally came and picked him up, he started squealing like a little girl - ha. The bus driver was laughing at him (I'm sure the first day of school was very entertaining for her!)

Trip to San Diego

Old Town San Diego - great Mexican food there too!

The Birch Aquarium: Scripps Institution of Oceanography

Anyone want a new pet? Graceful, yet scary!

Jared is finally taking a picture with me (still at the aquarium). I put on deodorant...I promise!

Kids looking cute outside of the aquarium. Nothing like having a whale tail in the pic...

The kids LOVED the beach. Camdyn and Kaelyn spent most of their time digging in the sand (Kaelyn built and Camdyn destroyed...)

Jadyn built his 'castle' closer to the water - the waves devoured it soon afterwards. No biggie...He spent most of his time jumping the tide rolling in.

We're Finally Back!

We finally were able to move back to the White Mountains - even if it is Eagar (I'm a Show Low girl at heart...ha). It is beautiful here and even better that we don't have to endure those nasty summer months (March thru Oct) in the Valley - nasty.

I'm so fortunate to be able to have a garden here! It's been a great experience. My mom and mother-in-law have been a great source of advice and wisdom.

Our home! I waited to take a picture of it until after we had re-painted it. It used to be blue with cream accents and white trim - yikes!

Camdyn's 2nd B-day

Yeah! I blew out the candles on my cupcake. Eating the marshmallows was the best part!

Camdyn blew his candles out (with the help of a little spit...) and loved opening his presents. He didn't need help from anyone, much to the disappointment of Jadyn and Kaelyn

Island Dreams

Jared and I went on the 'Zip and Dip' tour - we zipped across 8 ravines and literally cooled off in a pool of water with a waterfall flowing into it. Mt. Wai'ale'ale, the highest peek on Kauai, is towering in the background. The peak is rarely seen because of prevalent cloud cover.

On our Napali coastline tour of the island, we encountered humpback whales, sea turtles, and of course, dolphins. They loved to 'ride' the waves of our boat.

Jared and I in our 'finest' after we attempted to catch some waves on our boogie boards. We got pretty good right before we left to come home. This was my favorite activity!!

Air Ventures took us into the sky for an aerial tour of Kauai. This is the Napali coastline - so awesome!! I got sick towards the end. It's a good thing I didn't take the helicopter ride!

Jared and I hiking the Kalalau Trail above Ke'e Beach heading towards the Napali coastline. We hiked alongside another couple who were barefoot and very 'granola'. When we reached the Kalalau Beach, they decided to strip off everything to bath in a waterfall. Not too great!!

Jadyn's 5th B-day

Jadyn received a Cars racing set from his G and G Hunter

Jared and I let Jadyn pick out what he wanted from Target - he wanted the dump truck from Legos

Jadyn wanted a white cake w/ white frosting and sprinkles (the frosting was like Divinity candy - it turned out really good)

Christmas '08

Jadyn is laying down because he got sick that morning (I think Christmas nerves may have gotton to him); Kaelyn couldn't open her presents fast enough...