Hurst Family News

Some parents would argue that there is a time and a place for everything. If one stifles their kids curiosity, they will only stifle their development. That is why we encourage Ian to read often. We pick only high quality books, such as "The Mystery of Eatum Hall," (which we recommend to anybody looking for a good book). Truthfully, he was sitting in the chair looking at the book, but wanted to stop when I pulled out the camera. I had to coax him back to the book. Ian is also working on some of his other skills (because we all know the girls like guys with skills). One of his favorites is his driving skills, as this video shows. Sorry I'm in it, but he should make up for it. Oh, yes it is a chainsaw sound the computer is making, but it's not some bloody chainsaw massacre game. No worries.

There are two types of people in this world: those who like eggnog and those who don't. Maggie does not care for eggnog (one sip is enough for the whole year). I am a fan of the creamy treat. So, what happens when the two create a little boy. Will the boy like eggnog, will he hate it, or will it be an unholy combination of the two extremes. How terrible would the latter be. There are distinct advantages to either side. If Ian were to hate the "vile" stuff, I would have it all to myself. I would not be required to share the holy nectar, except for the very small wife tax at the beginning of the Holiday season. I could be completely selfish and not feel bad about it, because neither of them care. On the other hand, if that happened over and over (sounds like we are planning on having twenty kids), I would feel increasingly guilty buying it. Could I really feel good about buying something that is solely for my addiction and is beneficial to nobody else. Would I? P...

I know it's a little late to be posting Halloween stuff, but I guess I'm just a little slow. I made some posts before the big event, but none since. Here goes. We had a good Halloween. We dressed in a common theme (picture to follow). Maggie was a beautiful princess. Her costume came from a dress we got two years ago when we dressed as Napolean Dynamite and Deb. She modified it (getting rid of the big sleeves), as well as making a slip to make the skirt poof. As a finishing touch, she borrowed a tiara from my sister Dani. Ian was a dragon (not a dinosaur). Maggie made the costume herself, using a pattern and fleece for the material. When she made it, we figured it would be a cold night, but when Halloween rolled around, it was not. As a result, I think Ian was a little warm, but he survived. He makes a cute dragon. I, Sean, was a knight. Maggie made me a hauberk from some silver netting she got for cheap at WalMart, which worked great. I also made use of my black c...

Maggie, Ian and I spent much of the afternoon baking and decorating sugar cookies for a Halloween party we have tomorrow. We let Ian pick out about half of the shapes and even help push the cutters down. By that time he was ready for a nap, so I went and put him down. The first batch was stacked much too closely. They ran into one another and lost much of their shapes. We spread the rest out better and they turned out better. However, because of the loss of shape, we were able to make some we would not have been able to do otherwise (see Barney cookie). If you look closely there are some fun ones, mostly made by Maggie, such as an elephant, a vampire, two sets of vampire teeth, as well as one Barney. Here are some close-ups. Barney doesn't feel so well. Happy Halloween I got a call from Maggie as I was on my way to work (which is where I am writing this from) and got an update. Ian had wanted another cookie, but she was not giving him one. He had made a big enough mess with...

Well Halloween is almost here. It is the perfect opportunity for all us "adults" to break out our shell and pretend we're something else. Maggie likes to put a lot of work into it, which is also fun for me. Last year she made pirate costumes for us, which were prompted by some pajamas Ian had: a monkey. With a little work, we had some great costumes. I'll see about posting a pic here later, because I don't have one on this computer. Well, this year, we decided we would again do a shared theme, only we took it back a few centuries. I will be a knight, Maggie a princess and Ian is our little dragon. The costume for Ian was made by Maggie, as was my mail (chainmail is an incorrect term). I was originally going to make a helmet, breastplate and shield, but we'll see if it happens. Maggie also fabricated her beautiful princess gown out of an old dress (from a couple of Halloweens ago when we were Napolean and Deb). Hopefully it will all turn out well, so ...

Two posts in one day?! Woah! Well they're backwards because Homecoming was a couple of weeks ago but oh well. SUU had it's homecoming a while back with a parade and everything. As a result of a random drawing I won a super cool toothbrush (I am a nerd I know). Ian enjoyed the parade but wouldn't wave at the people until the VERY end. His favorites were the dancing groups because they had sweet music he could rock out to. Here are some of the highlights: Ian and I had a pretty good spot along the parade route, right in front of the theater. I think Ian had a better seat than I did though. This is one of the tour busses from Yellowstone National Park. I thought it was pretty cool- the horn says "ah-OOga" The ROTC got to ride in a tank-probably for the first time for most of them. And my personal favorite: I was trying to take a picture of the two of us together but Ian decided he wanted to grab the camera. I just love the big Cheese smile. Playing on the hill...

(With this getup we could have been Olympic Athletes :) PS-Sean's mask broke) This past weekend we headed to Blanding to help the fam with some work that needed to be done. Evidently the basement had water leakage and made the walls all moldy and gross (not to mention unhealthy) so we ripped out the sheetrock and sprayed the walls with vinegar, which works better than bleach to kill mold FYI. We scrubbed and painted the cinderblock walls with milshake-like latex sealent. It says it'll stop a 20 foot wall of water, hopefully it'll keep the occasional seepage at bay. It was a lot of work and we left plenty for them to do but it felt good to work with my hands rather than chase Ian around all day. It was also good to see everyone. While we were working Ian was composing: Our little dragon plays the most beautiful music.

We haven't fallen off the face of the Earth. I promise. Last weekend we went up to Salt Lake to attend Governor's Day at the U. Evidently this year was a big deal-but they didn't tell us why. All the National Guard Units (well all except the deployed ones and Blanding) march in formation in front of the Gov. and salute him and he salutes back. Old tradition. It was kind of cool to watch for a while. Ian didn't think so though. He wasn't feeling well and woke up way early to get there so he was a bit grumpy. I don't blame him. He fell asleep at the very end. Just in time to wake up and get back on Trax. We stayed with Tiff and Tim (Sean's sister and her boyfriend) though we couldn't visit much I'm glad we got to see them. Then After the gov. thing we went to Provo and caught up with Sean's mission buddy Michael. We went bowling at the Wilkinsen Center at BYUHeidi and Lily met us there. We had a blast though I ended up big winner with ...

Well, it's hard to believe it, but Ian is now a year olde (archaic for old). What's even harder to believe is that he has been so for over a week and I still hadn't written about it, until today. His Birthday went well, but we actually celebrated two days early, since it was a Saturday and Oma Julie and Grandma Hurst were both down for the occasion. It was a great party, with great presents from both sides (including those from Grandma and Grandpa Wittwer that arrived a few days after his birthday). He enjoys them all. Now he has a farm, a 4-Wheeler and blocks to build with. What more could a little boy need? Time has sure flown and will continue to do so.

Ian will be one on Monday. We're having a party on Saturday with the traditional cake in your face business. So we need a cake. I decided I could make one almost as cool as the one we saw at Wal*Mart. Here it is. Hopefully it doesn't get ruined before then. The frosting mixing took the longest. Not bad for my first real cake decorating job. :)

First things first. We failed to update you on the growings of our garden. I (Maggie) was afraid that being gone for two weeks would destroy it. We had a battle with squash bugs before we left and I wasn't sure if we got them all. I was worried that they would eat all of our precious squash. Well, they didn't. We got a call from a guy in our ward while we were in Bluffdale asking if we knew what kind of squash the bumpy squash was...summer squash? So we knew not everything was dead. To our surprise we came back to find this: Behemoth squash and zucchinis. The skin is REALLY tough but we had a good stirfry Sunday night--which is good because we didn't have any groceries. We also have peppers galore. Our tomatoes are still green and we got one big ol' watermelon--but evidently it was still green--or pink--too. I cut it open and was sorely disappointed to find white-ish pink flesh instead of bright red. So we haven't starved. And I didn't kill the garde...

I haven't fallen off the edge of the world, although close to it. I spent the last two weeks at Annual Training in lovely Camp Williams Utah. As such, I did not have the chance to get online, let alone write a blog. I don't have pictures with me now, but I will write another blog later (or tomorrow) complete with pictures. Something historic did happen last week. The 115th Engineer Group of Utah was reorganized to become the 115th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade. 1457th company C is no longer there. It is now the 1457th Sapper Company, of which the Blanding unit is the detachment. Because of the reorganization, I am no longer in the Blanding unit. Instead, I am at Camp Williams (my favorite place on earth). I will now be a Human Resource Information Systems Specialist (which doesn't sound near as cool as Combat Engineer), which hopefully will help develop skills I will need in the civilian world). Because of the change, I will no longer be making monthly trips to my c...

It's been just over a year since we all got together for our reunion and we did it in the mountains by Cedar City this year. Everybody, except Trish, was able to make it and it went well overall. The family is getting big (fifteen were present). It was great fun. A couple of highlights: The Scavenger Hunt . Maggie and I put together a list of "Flora, Fauna and Other" (complete with unicorn, jackalope and dinosaur) of which everybody was to take pictures. We had two teams, with Xavier on one and Lexi on the other. I think Xavier's team won in the end (which happened to be the one I was on). ;) Over all we got some cool pictures and picked up a lot of trash (worth 2pts. per piece, but it had to be picked up). We decided it was a good thing we weren't in Blanding, because somebody would see all the beer cans in the garbage and start a rumor. The Treasure Hunt . On the second day Maggie, Tiff, Tim and I buried a treasure (yes Xavier, it was really us. You were...

Well on Friday night, we went on Ian's first camping trip. We're glad we did, because we learned a couple of important things for this week when we going camping for three days on the family reunion. The first thing we learned was not to leave Ian unsupervised, especially when sitting in the big-boy camp chairs. I put him in it, an he was sitting there just fine. I then went to the cooler to get a water bottle. Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement. Suddenly, there was a crash. I turned, and Ian had stood up and leaned on the arm of the chair (toward the downhill side). It had hit and he had hit hard, but was more shook up than hurt. He did get a small scratch from it, but soon got over that. Second, we learned that his shoes are too small. He has some hiking boots, which we had tried on him the day before we left, but they seemed to be too big, because he had a lot harder time walking in them than he normally does (which leads to plenty of tumbles without help). ...

How does your garden grow?? ...With water and sunshine and occasional weeding, that's how! Our ward has a garden plot across the street from the church and we've got two little rows. Nothin' better than home grown tomatoes. Hopefully we'll have some of those in the coming weeks. We have little baby tomatoes and little baby yellow squash and one little wax pepper. Most of the plants are blooming and we saw a bee yesterday. Hopefully he'll keep busy and pollinate our plants so we can have lots of yummy veggies. Ian likes to go to the garden but he wants to put dirt back into the furrow so we don't let him help much. Anyway, here are some photos of our beautimus garden. See Our squash plants? lil' squash^ and lil'pepper> The first of our tomatoes And a full view of the garden...half of it is corn :) The corn is for everyone, and our part is closest to the bottom of the picture.

We all went up on the mountain last night, which was beautiful because we got to get out of the heat. We went to the basic area we are going to have the family reunion, but took a road of the opposite side of the main one, which our bishop told us was neat. At the very end, it opened to an amazing view of the area. It was breathtaking. I backed into a spot of shade, got out and proceeded to walk around the back of the truck to get Ian out. I saw movement on the ground and upon closer inspection found a horny toad. I caught it without delay. I then took it around, opened the passenger door and showed it to Ian. He thought it was the neatest thing, but I was sure he would kill it if I let him because he's not very gentle. Well after it climbed on his chair for a moment and he had tried to catch it, I took Ian out, got the horny toad and knelt down to let it go. It proceeded to climb back onto my knee. Okay, maybe I scared it back, but I then put it on Ian's knee (he was...

Okay, I don't really, but sometimes in the middle of it all, I do. If there weren't the feeling of deep satisfaction once I accomplish it, I would hate it. In order to get our 4Runner registered, it needs a new muffler. It has had a hole in it for a while now, but we had put it off. Last night, Eric Moses and I took it upon us to swap it out. I bought a Dynomax Super Turbo system, which looked simple to put in, because all parts are pre-bent and ready to install. All I had to do was unbolt the muffler and tailpipe from the catalytic converter, assemble the new one and bolt it in. 1 hour tops I thought, but planned on a possible two. Well in 3 hours we got the old one out. I knew it was going to be a problem as soon as I got under there. The bolts were completely rusted in place. I started by spraying it with Liquid Wrench deep penetrating oil. I only had one socket that fit and no wrenches. It was 17/32, which is a very off size. 9/16 is too big, as is a 14mm, and ...

This is Ian showing off his musical skills. The Alpen horn is the center from a roll of wrapping paper, so it is a little larger than using one from paper towels or toilet paper. It looks like he will be a great musician, just like his daddy is (who, going by the year book, played baritone one year). It's fun to see him grow, because at first he just chewed on the end of the cardboard tube. Now he likes to talk into it.

Normally, I don't have very much to tell after a drill weekend (although Maggie might tell you otherwise), but this time I do. I have been in the guard since 2001 and never have I had such an awesome drill weekend. We had Blackhawks. When I saw them on movies, or flying around they didn't seem all that impressive. The story changes when inside them. It was an amazing experience. They had the doors open as we flew around and the only thing holding me in was the seatbelt. I did feel for the new guy (can't remember his name), who probably thinks all drills are going to be like that. He is going to be sorely disappointed. SSG Walker is going to try to get them again next year, but I won't be in the unit then, so it won't affect me. I got home Sunday night about 10:15 or so and my beautiful wife was waiting for me. What I didn't expect was that Ian was awake, because he went to bed at 8:30. He had just eaten, so Maggie let him stay up to see me. I had bee...

I got my early birthday present yesterday (it's on the 28th, hint. . . hint). It was the card game Munchkin , which we played for the first time while in California for Mike and Ashley's wedding in May. We had a couple of friends over, and played a game last night. Maggie and I also played a game yesterday night after it arrived. Why can I never win a game I own? I played four games in California and maybe I am remembering differently than it really happened, but I think I won each one. So far, since it belongs to me, I have had 1 win out of 3 games. Maggie won the first one we played and Dave won the friendly game last night. After they left, Maggie and I played another one and I won - although we were originally only going to level 3, 5 or 6, which she would have won. It was going so well, that we decided to go the whole way, and I won. It was a good feeling (I am a bad winner). Anywho, it is a fun game, even if I rarely win now that I own it.

Hi. It's Sean. So we headed out to Blanding for Independence Day. Actually, we went out for Cat and Ronnie's new son, Kaden Troy Butler's baby blessing, but went a few days early in order to spend the 4th there. It was a great time. If forgot how good the parade and fireworks are in Blanding (definitely better than one would expect for the size of the town). We didn't go to the booths, so I cannot vouch for them. It was a good 4th. This group shot is from the parade. Maggie's behind the camera. The kids loved getting all the free candy they could hold. It was almost as good as Halloween. On Saturday, we went up on Blue Mountain. My parents had their truck and four- wheelers, but we only had our Jetta (definitely no off-roader). The Jetta only has three or four inches of ground clearance, so I had to pick my way carefully, but we eventually stopped in a small meadow and unloaded the toys. Ian got to ride a four-wheeler with grandma and was very cute. Gra...

This is Maggie by the way: Happy Wednesday everyone. Ian now thinks this walking thing is pretty cool. He's trying to take steps on his own and is successful for a few steps usually. He also likes to climb stairs but now he knows how to get down too--though he's still a bit shy about doing it. (Sean's taking over 'cause Maggie left). Ian is definitely getting more secure in his walking ability, although he will crawl from the get-go if he is in a hurry. That's all I can think of to write. I don't know if Maggie planned on more, but I'm just going to post now.

As today is Monday we had Family Home Evening tonight. Although it'll be Tuesday before this actually gets posted (no internet at home)...We decided we'd write a little about the importance of families. As we attempt to type this, our munchkin is doing his best to put in his two bits. We hope he doesn't break the computer in the process. Sometimes it's overwhelming to be a parent and to take care of all the responsibilities that come with it. We have to see that bills are paid, we are all fed and clothed and clean periodically as well as fufilling one another's social needs. Then on top of that we have the responsibility and privelage of raising a child of our Father in Heaven. We know that "the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children" (The Family: A Proclamation to the World). This means there is nothing more important than what we teach our children. The demands pf parenthood are great but the rewards ar...

Shortly after the previous post, Maggie filmed him walking to her. Note: She doesn't let him fall. Also, I don't think he wanted to be filmed, because he covers the lens like you always see people do.

Ian runs for the cup and daddy doesn't catch him. Woops.

Hey everybody, I haven't been much into blogging, but I thought I would create a place where everybody can find out what is new with our family. For those wondering, the URL means Hurst Family Newspaper (it's German). All the English equivalents were taken. Anywho, what prompted me was Ian. He is really trying to walk right now. We have a small video of him, but it is 11 MB, so I cannot email it. Go figure. Well, hopefully I will keep this up.