Baby Week

This past Thursday, Emmaline Ruth was born to Mike and Ashlyn. She is really a beautiful baby I think. I am very glad that her grandma can be there to give her extra attention, since I can't go right now (reason to follow). We were very excited to add another girl to the family. For more pictures check out Mike and Ashlyn's blog.Today Chiara and Ken went to the hospital to be induced. After about 2 1/2 to 3 hours labor things changed very fast and it ended up being an emergency C-section. You will have to talk to them for more details on that. Mother and baby are doing fine. We took the boys to see them for a few minutes. Mommy was very tired and needed her rest. Here are the pictures that I was able to get in the few minutes that we had with the baby.

We are very excited and proud of all our children and very happy with all our grandchildren. We are not really surprised that we had so many so fast. After all that is the way that we did it in the first place. Why shouldn't we have grandchildren close and fast. We love it and look forward to seeing more of each of them.

Deal Maker

Well, we received an offer on our house. It was $44,000 less than the asking price. Of course we countered and came down on the asking price by $9,000. Well the people scheduled a second showing of the home. They then increased their offer by $20,000. We then came down another $5,000. They immediately increased their offer another $5,000. We held firm at our last price.

Well today I got a call from the realtor. They were willing to take our price on two conditions. They wanted the referigerator included. That was no problem for me, I hate that fridge and we had planned to leave it anyway. They also wanted the artificial tree in the master bedroom.

Well That was interesting. It is a 7foot bamboo tree. Everyone laughed when we bought it to put in the room because it was so large. That was the thing the people wanted to make the deal. We quickly agreed and are now in the process of completing the necessary things to close the sale on the house.

Thanks for buying an over large tree for the bedroom. I thing that we really got a great return on our investment of the tree. We spend about $130 for the tree and the people were willing to pay about $30,000 more than their original offer to get the tree.

Not a bad deal maker.

Grandson Campout

Last night we had Nathan and Kenny over for a campout. Papa wanted to spend some time with the kids. It worked out perfect since Chiara headed to the hospital today to have her baby. Papa built a tent with blankets and tables and they played Wii, had icecream and watch a movie. They had a great time. Here are a few pictures of the evening.

Shopping!!!!!

Yesterday we had a showing on the house in the middle of the day. I decided when I left to go shopping for some new pants. My old ones are just too big anymore. It was the most fun I have had shopping for clothes in a very long time. I found two pairs of shorts that I bought. The most exciting part was the size. They were a size 12 and 10. I was very excited. And they were real pants, not the one with the elastic waist and balloon butts. Later I plan to shop for shirts and a bathing suit. I do have to get ready for vacation yet.

New Clothes Time

This may not be me but this is definitely how I feel lately. I went for my consult today and have lost a total of 20 lbs. I feel great. But I think it is time for some new clothes. My closet is getting very empty because when something get too big, I get rid of it. I have no intention of ever fitting into those things again.

Views at My House

As you drive up to my house this is what you see in the front yard. We are now trying to sell the house to downsize. It is a little bit of a sad thing for me. I really like the house. Mike has put a lot of work in the yard and I was looking forward to really enjoying it this summer. Well, I guess I now have a new adventure to look forward to. That is always nice also.

This morning when I was eating my breakfast this was what I saw on my back fence. He was sitting there just studying the yard. Not sure what he was looking for or seeing, but he sure is beautiful.

When I downloaded the latest pictures from my camera this one popped up. I didn't take it. My camera was sitting on my computer desk and Kenny was at his favorite spot in my house, his desk drawing or making a book. I don't know who took the picture, I think it might have been Nathan, not bad picture I think.

Correction

I have been tactfully reminded that I made a major OPPS on my blogs for the holidays. My wonderful son reminded me that there were two babies blessed instead of one.

I am so very sorry Cassie, Jonny and most especially Hailey. I didn't forget you. I thought I have mentioned it. For pictures of this beautiful and also very precious little angel you will have to refer to Jon and Cassie's blog, as I don't have any.

I hope that you can forgive a loving Eppie who just happened to have a senior moment. It wasn't done on purpose.

We were very lucky to have Hailey blessed the sunday after Christmas. It was beautiful. I am so proud of my boys and the beautiful girls they have brought to the family. Hailey is such a beautiful baby, and so very alert. She loves to be cuddled and look around.

Sadly I don't have many pictures of either baby. But here are the one I do have of Hailey. She is frequently the wallpaper for my computer. My wallpaper changes very often as I continue to put pictures of the grandkids on it. I wish that I knew how to make it put up more than one at a time.

Oh well, maybe someone will take pity on me and show me how to do that sometime. Anyway, enjoy the pictures of our 6th grandchild.

Do You Really Know Me?

I saw this on a couple of blogs that I follow. I thought it might be fun to post. The things that I have done I have put in blue.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (does it count that I current working on one?)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelos David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar (never again)
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Read an entire book in one day

Moody Gardens Festival of Lights

After Christmas we took the family to Moody Gardens in Galveston to see the Festival of Lights. It was scaled back to about half the size this year but still very beautiful. My camera went crazy and so there aren't many pictures. Since Chiara was not supposed to walk that much, we used a wheelchair for her to enjoy the lights. I did manage to get a pretty good picture of Ken having fun pushing her around.

Christmas Day

We had a great time opening presents. Probably the funniest part was that Kenny, our 6 year old grandson got very excited about the gift from Eppie and Papa. We gave him 4 rolls of masking tape and a package of copy paper. He loves to draw and make things out of paper. He also loves to decorate his house with his pictures, as a result he uses all the paper and tape he can find in the house. Now he has his own tape and paper to use and Mom and Dad and keep theirs intact. Chiara and Ken forgot to bring their camera over so they used mine for pictures. Here is a slide show of their results.

Rockin' Christmas Eve

Christmas eve we had our traditional family get together. We had the family gift that was guessed on and opened as usual by Jon. This year instead of watching a movie, we played Wii. Chiara and Ken brought over a couple of their games and we had a rockin' great time. We started out with Super Mario Party 8, after that Ken set up the Rock Band equipment and we played music. Great fun was had by all. Even Papa. Here are a couple of pictures of him playing the guitar. He seemed to really be getting into playing.

Blessing An Angel

On Sunday, December 21st, we went to Church in Galveston to see David bless Norah, our little lady bug. She was so good and so beautiful. Here are a few pictures to enjoy of that day.

Graduation and New Granddaughter

Mid December we had the opportunity to go to Idaho to see our son graduate from BYU-I and also see our newest granddaughter for the first time.
It was a great trip with many changes along the way. Mike and I left on Thursday afternoon to fly to Utah. From there we rented a car and drove to Idaho, about 4 hours. We were very happy to see David, Katherine and of course sweet little Norah. Here is Papa with her for the first time.

On Friday were the graduation events. Before we went to the comencement excerises we went to the school sign for pictures.

After that we went to the Comencement where President Uchtdorf was the special speaker. All the graduates from the university attended this portion together. It was a very good meeting. We enjoyed it very much.

The original plan was to go from comencement to convocation where the graduates are divided into the different colleges and walk across the stage to receive their diploma. Then we planned to get up early on saturday and leave for home. Mike and David were driving down to Houston for the holidays, while Katherine, Norah and I were flying home. Well, true to Hurst fashion, our plans changed almost minute by minute.

There was a really big winter storm coming in and we didn't want to be caught in it. So we decided that we would leave that night after convocation. I made hotel reservation for Katherine and I near the airport and we went to the campus. After commencement we realized that convocation would take much longer than we thought and the weather was not looking very good. David decided to skip the walking part so we left immediately. I canceled the hotel, called to see how late the car rental would be open and we headed out in two cars. We got to the airport just in time to leave the car, climbed in David's car and drove to Provo to Jonny and Cassie's.

Papa and David, took a very quick, and I do mean very quick peek at a sleeping Hailey and started out on their drive. Katherine and I stayed with Jon and Cassie that night and Jon took us to the airport the next day.

It is a good thing we changed our plans. The guys managed to stay ahead of the storm the whole way. It was just starting to get nasty while we were driving to the airport. Katherine and I got out on the leading edge of the storm, so there were no delays. We got home Saturday night, got a good sleep and went to church the next morning.

The guys drove straight through and got home about 5 am Sunday morning. They slep for a while, then Mike went to church after the meetings to be Bishop. Although a quick trip it was still very enjoyable.

What the Dickens

The first weekend in December the city of Galveston always has a "Dickens on the Strand" street festival. It celebrates christmas, Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" and the Victorian era of the Dickens novel setting. Last year was our first time to go and we really loved it.

We went again this year and once again had a blast. Even though the size was scaled down due to Hurricane Ike and rebuilding the downtown, it was still very well attended as can be seen in the following picture.

We went early in the day so the crowd were not as bad yet. But as the day wore on and more people came it got very crowded. One of the great things is the food of course. My favorite is the 'Scottish Eggs'. These things are great. I thoughly enjoyed mine. For those who don't know what a Scottish Egg here goes. It is a boiled egg, wrapped in sausage, then dipped into a batter and deep fried. They are so very good. Follow that with a cup of hot chocolate and it makes a perfect way to start the morning.

At the festival they have different groups that walk around and sing carols, people come in costume either from the novel or from the era. There was a civil war camp,lots of scheduled entertainment like juggling, singing groups. There were also Bag Pipe Bands and groups that played. Also because it is close to the Cruise Ship Port, they have a Tall Ship, the Elisa, docked that you can tour. When we were on the ship I noticed that the top of the tallest mast had a christmas tree on it.They have booths where you can shop and just have a really great time. All in all it was a great way to start our very busy December. More on that to follow but for now here are some pictures from the festival.