Hurst Family News

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...