Celebrations...

We kicked off the holiday season this year by seeing Zoolights with the Karafa's. It's becoming a tradition that the boys love! Their facorite is the talking Giraffe who magically knows their name. Mine is the "Dancing Tree's"...

We visited with Grandma Hunt and the gang the day after Thanksgiving. The kids had a ball decorating Grandma's tree for her. Aunt Betsy had a great time (I'm sure) re-decorating the top 8 ft. of the tree left noticeably bare.

The other night the boys and I enjoyed some hot cocoa.

This was to make up for the "nasty" (in their own words) tea I had made for them the night before. It was herbal and caffeine free, and all I had in the pantry. I took my lumps though... they outed me to the home teacher for making tea. That was an awesome first visit.

July in review...

I sort of took the month of July off from blogging... and I didn't even mean too. Life has a way of running off on me like that.

We celebrating our Nations Birthday with a swim & BBQ at G&G Hunt's house. I also spent my monthly grocery budget on school clothes with my Mom and Sister. Happy 4th of July indeed! These little beauties were bought there as well...

< insert cat calls> The kids all loved them. I thought they were quite a fashion statement.

Towards the middle of the month we got a new niece Zoey. She showed up 6 weeks early... impatient little thing! This meant Grandma K. was gone for a few weeks... and that meant the boys coming to work with Mom (one day only, and that was more than plenty.)

It also meant that my very sweet sister Gillian has been babysitting for a few weeks. She's very brave and very wonderful. Blair and I can't thank her enough.

We spent the 24th of July up in Snowflake enjoying the cool weather and Pioneer Day activities. The midgets LOVE Snowflake. They have so much fun up there!

We are back in Buckeye with Daddy (and Aunt Gill) and we have had a laid back weekend before school starts... that's right my baby starts school in 3 days.

And that was July 2010.

Their Mother...

Mother's Day has passed and we celebrated in the most spectacular way. The hubs planned a secret, last minute trip for me and my boys to go to our favorite home away from home... Disneyland. I quickly packed and shipped the dog off to Grandma's (thanks Grandma) and put my babies to bed in their clothes. 3:00 am on Saturday sure came quickly and we were off on our Mother's Day weekend adventure!

The Midgets and I enjoying the Pixar Play Parade

I know it seems a little ridiculous to go to as many times as we have (we figured out we went every 2 months exactly since we got our passes) but we never get tired of going. Each time is like the first. We feel the magic in the churro scented air and we are in our happy place.

The boys must have realized that this was really, really the last trip for quite awhile. They were on their best behavior and the weekend was so much fun. I love the boys everyday, but on a good day I feel like I could burst with love for them.

Dumbo Time!

Being their Mother has been the greatest gift. Every day we spend together is not perfect. We often times have no good, horrible, rotten days. But we spend them together and we end them with a kiss and a hug and with a promise of a better day tomorrow (which may or not happen). But I wouldn't trade them for anything.

I love being their Mom.

My Boys

On the 20th day...

"On the 20th day of Christmas my true loves and me, went to Disneyland with Grandpa on his birthday"

Arriving at the Mickey & Friends parking gets our kids excited. Walking through downtown to the front gates amps it up even more. The excitement waiting in line is palpable. There is nothing like walking under the tunnels onto Main Street though. I love to watch the boys face light up. LOVE IT! This time there was so many new (holiday) things for them to take in.

We followed our usual path down Main Street and straight to The Jungle Cruise. Next up is Pirate's and on to the Haunted Mansion. Jordan agreed to try the Mansion again as it has been overlayed with one of his favorite movies.

The boys loved the changes and declared the Mansion as a must-ride again. Splash Mountain was closed so we headed to Pooh Bear. This was a sight seen all week. Jordan is little obsessed with his cousin. Okay, a lot obsessed.

I tried to get a cute picture of Dillon but all he wanted to do was imitate Pooh Bear. "Num, num, num".

Here's the birthday boy with a couple of his buddies.

Next up was California Adventure. The rest of the gang headed to Sorain over California while Dilly and I people watched. And by people watched I mean Dill pretended they were Zurg and fingershot all the passerby's.

After watching the Muppets 3D we happened upon a nice cast member who invited us into a private family party. We almost said no thanks but decided to go inside. What an amazing treat. All our favorite characters to meet and greet. Cute picture backgrounds and free snacks! A rare sighting of all the family (on this blog anyway).

After a long day the troopers decided to stay for a few parades. My nephew shared some treats with the boys that kept them thoroughly entertained during the wait.

As usual the parade's were fabulous and worth waiting around for. Love that Disney Magic!

8 days down, 17 to go...

"On the 8th day of Christmas my true loves and me hung a garland and watched Prep and Landing".

We also finished painting our ornaments. I made the boys take their clothes off and Dillon went one further and took his diaper off. So we painted in undies and birthday suits. I took pictures (you bet I did) but Daddy thinks it better to not post them (wise Daddy).

I would tell you which ones were mine and which were Jordan's but it would be too embarrassing. If you could see the pictures of a naked Dill with paint all over his teeth and lips you could probably guess his by the colors.

We followed up our painting by hanging my cedar garland. I made some little Boy Scout pretty happy by buying his garland. It's worth it though. Almost makes up for my guilt of mot liking Boy Scouts. Well not the boys just the organization. I guess I have only 3 years to get over it...YIKES!

We took a rainbow bath (from the paint) and the boys hopped into my bed to watch the movie. Pretty cute but I wish these movies were a little longer. Daddy arrived home from Scouts (seeing a theme here) with a Sonic surprise and sugared the boys up. Dillon is sitting here (at 10:20 pm) bright eyed and bushy tailed as I type. And Jordy has been sent back to bed twice. Awesome. So when they are tired and grumpy and I have to drag them to Grandmas in the morning Daddy will already be gone. I am seeing another pattern here.

Only 17 days to go...

One-Eight...*Updated with Recipe*

"On the 7th day of Christmas my true loves and me, made ornaments for our tree".

Today the boys and I made some non-edible cinnamon ornaments. Man oh man, my house smelled delicious today. Since it was such a blustery day outside this was the perfect time killer.

Cinnamon Ornaments


1 C Cinnamon
1 TB Cloves
1 TB Nutmeg
1 C Applesauce
2 TB Elmer's Glue


Mix ingredients together. Dough should be moist but not sticky. Sprinkle cinnamon on counter & roll to 1/3 inch thickness and cut into shapes. Use a straw for the holes. Bake for 2 hours at 200 degrees, flipping halfway through. Now you can paint them, tie on a ribbon and hang them up! If you don't want to bake them it will take a few days to dry.

Dillon manned the cinnamon-

Jordan had the applesauce under control-

I handled the Elmer's glue. My children are great, but they cannot be trusted with glue. I have to admit that I was tempted to put the glue all over my hands and peel my "skin" off to show them. Maybe I can't be trusted either...

Good thing we found a great set of cookie cutters on our trip to Dollar Tree the other night. They came in very handy today!

(do not mind the horrendously disgusting pantry in the background. WOW!)

The rain outside was too hard to resist for my little yahoo's. They are such boys! I was freezing just standing next to the open door. (maybe I will take the Snuggie Blair has been threatening to put under the tree.)

Only 18 more days...

Missed a few...19 days...

Well the 4th, 5th & 6th days of Christmas have come and passed. My lovies and I have continued our countdown, I just haven't been the greatest at taking a camera along.

On the 4th day the midgets and I headed to Dollar Tree for some shopping. They were allowed to pick any presents they wanted to gift to their brother. Jordan got the idea and had a ball. Dillon was too busy shopping for himself.

The 5th day we spent with Daddy (our favorite days) and he took us to Cracker Barrel for dinner. Cracker Barrel is Jordan's all-time favorite place to go. It's peach pancakes every time!

Now for the 6th Day...

"On the 6th day of Christmas my true loves and me, made a village out of gingerbread".

Last year was our first foray into gingerbread making. It's definitly going to be a tradition we continue.

Our favorite part is eating the candy. Like you couldn't guess that!

Only 19 days to go...

22 Days & Counting...

"On the third day of Christmas my true loves and me snuggled in my bed and watched a moo-oo-oovie"

ABC Family is my new favorite channel. They have had so many great Holiday movies on the past week (and many more to come). My DVR is getting a workout for sure. I taped the Pixar Shorts last night and the boys can't get enough.

After a peppermint bubbled bath and a few tears (from clipped nails) we got in warm jammies and snuggled up in my bed to watch the movie. Having my boys snuggled up with me sure is sweet, and even more so when they smell so yummy. Yummy smelling boys doesn't happen often. You have to take these moments and run with them.

Only 22 more days to go...

23 days...

On the 2nd day of Christmas my true loves & me drafted letters to good old Santa Claaaaaaaaus!

For Dillon-

• Woody Buzz Jessie
• UP DVD
• Woody Buzz jammies

For Jordan-

• Agent P jammies
• RC
• Super Mario Wii
• DVD

Only 23 more days!

24 Days & Counting...

{clears throat} la la la, me me me...

"On the 1st day of Christmas my true loves and me, made snowflakes out of tortillaaaaaaaaaaaas"



A Christmas countdown has been a long standing tradition in the Hunt family. It's one tradition I had to carry on to my own family. Tonight we found two little chocolates and a slip of paper stating that tonight's activity would be Making Snowflakes. We made and decorated traditional paper snowflakes to add to our decor. There's nothing like a little glitter glue from the $1 store to get you in a festive mood.

We also made tortilla snowflakes and decorated them with "edible glitter" (aka...cinnamon & sugar) and toasted them until toasty and delicious. It was a hit!

Only 24 more days to go!

Chapter 34...

In a tunnel of darkness it's hard to see the light at the end. It's there, and eventually you will see it but it might take awhile. Sometimes though you stop in the middle of the tunnel, too stubborn to continue on and the light doesn't shine quite as bright as your eyes become accustomed to the darkness and you start feeling like you don't need the light. You can see fine without it right?

I've been stuck in the middle too many times to count. I have walked through dark tunnels. I have run through the dark. I always need a little help to see the light at the end.

Many years ago I was there, stuck in the middle of that tunnel too stubborn to move when my mother directed me towards the light. Not directly of course because the key word is stubborn and I wouldn't have listened. But she directed me towards The Book of Mormon. Specifically towards Alma Chapter 34. I believe with all my heart that my mother prayed for me to see the light. And I know that a loving Heavenly Father must have told her to direct me there. There has never been a passage in the scriptures that spoke to me as strongly as the words of Amulek.

The good news is I made it through the tunnel. I've never been stuck in the dark (for very long) since. I refer back to those words often. Especially my favorite scripture:

So this Thanksgiving I am thankful for the power of prayer. For loving family and friends. And for the love and tender mercy my Heavenly Father has bestowed upon me.

Happy Thanksgiving.

This is Halloween...

It was fun to have Halloween fall on Saturday this year. It makes the day much less stressful for Mommy. We even have time to do a dress rehearsal in jammies. These Casanova Cowboy's are the rootinest tootinest and I love them.

The boys decided ages ago what they wanted to be this year. I had fun making their costumes again and I was very pleased that the liked them. Hearing people recognize them tonight was also nice, even if it was mostly middle aged men.

Ever since moving to Buckeye I have dreamed of living in Verrado. I covet the tree lined streets and front porches. We ditched our half empty neighborhood and trick-or-treated down Main Street. The tree lined streets didn't disappoint. I felt like we were straight out of a movie.

After an hour or so the boys were losing steam and their bags we full of more candy than I care to let them eat. More candy than I also care to steal out of their bags and eat myself even...

We still had a couple promised stops to see Grandparents so we stopped to get a little pick me up...

Unfortunately we didn't make it in time to save this little guy...

Happy Halloween from the Karafa Family!