Family

Justin took this of Grandpa.

Aunt Kim with Merri

Uncle Nathan and Merri

Aunt Serena, Uncle Justin and Justin

Merri

Justin

We like kisses

Both were having a grand time bouncing and laughing

Our sister-in-law Stacey came this weekend, we all got together in Madison so she could meet Merri and renew her acquaintance with little Justin (who was maybe 5 months old the last time?) The reality of taking pictures of the two little ones -- one of them is going to move during the shot. But you can see, Justin thought Merri was the greatest toy ever! Merri thought the same of him!

Happy Easter!

We had Easter dinner with the family. Justin has become very vocal - there are things he says that I KNOW he didn't pick up at home. LOL He loves his drampa! Howard and Nathan went fishing for a while, when they got back, Justin told me "It's your drampa!" I was trying to straighten him out, basically that while he is JUSTIN'S drampa, he isn't mine. Justin became impatient with me and said, "It's YOUR drampa! He's wearing his hat!" All righty then! Obviously I'm wrong! LOL

He got a package of Legos for Easter and was very happy putting it together with Kim's guidance. He didn't need much assistance, just direction. It looked really good.

End of Year totals

So, this is when each of us looks back on the year, good, bad and ugly. It has been a momentous year. Not all good. Not all bad.

Birth of Merridyth Ann - highlight
Moving to Minnesota to be closer to Nathan and his family - highlight
Losing my job - low point

My knitting totals for the year:
Christening Gown 1
Hats 6
Potholders 4
Scarves 3
Scrubbies 4
Sweaters 1 baby
Sweaters 2 child
Washcloth 1
Wristers 2 pair

When I factor in having to move, I didn't do too badly this year! Tonight I'll frog the project that isn't working so it isn't on the needles in 2011. I'll only have projects on the needles that will be finished. Not a bad way to start the year! I'd prefer not to have ANY projects on the needles, so I can start the year with a clean slate, but that ain't gonna happen this year! I refuse to frog the projects that are working, that just aren't done!

I made a concerted effort to pare down the stash. Giving yarn away, using it up. I started the year with 1,118.09 ounces of yarn, or 69.88 pounds. That also translated to 119,464.64 yards of yarn, or 67.88 MILES of yarn. The stash was worth approximately $2,572.17 on January 1, 2010. I purchased 247.16 ounces 16,206 yards.

Currently I have 719.11 ounces or 44.95 pounds of yarn on hand (including the projects on the needles, they don't get to count against the totals until finished.) That is 73,718 yards or 41.885 miles of yarn. Current approximate value of stash is $1,659.61. Not bad! Actually, I'm pretty proud of that!

Oops

We have had just a bit of snow here...

I will need to get Christmas photos from others, I brought my camera, took 2 snaps and then forgot it the rest of the day!

Christmas

We spent a fantastic day with our family, 8 of us together loving each other. The almost 3 year old Justin had a great time, he opened almost everyone's gifts for them. What was inside wasn't nearly as important as getting the paper off! And he was helping! smile

I think everyone liked their knitted presents. Forgot entirely to take pictures as they were opening them! sigh I should have. Merri looks wonderful wrapped in her 3-generation blanket, knit by great-grandma, grandma, Mommy and a crocheted edge by grandpa. (No, I didn't remember to get a picture of that at all!) Just right! Big Justin and Nathan both seemed to like their hats. Kim and Serena each got kitchen items they had requested. I figure that gave the items the best chance of being what was needed and would be used. Little Justin seemed to at least tolerate his hat, but didn't want it on. Merri kept hers on, didn't seem to notice that it was there.

Whew!

The most important part, though, was sharing the time together. To be as one. Is this going to be a family tradition? I don't know. What a nice one, though!

Hm

I have been thinking that Merri looked more like Justin than Serena. But then I saw these two photos next to each other. What do you think?

This and that

Justin and Grandpa. Justin was asked to hold Grandpa's hat, he is certainly keeping it safe for him! Under Grandpa's hat he is wearing the bear hat that Aunt Serena and Uncle Justin gave him at Christmas. Welcome to Minnesota, where it is considered normal to have snow on Halloween! We drove up Halloween morning.

Unbeknownst to either set of parents, BOTH grandkids were bumble/honeybees this year! Merri was almost to big for her costume, Justin obviously enjoyed buzzing around!

This is Tutti-Frutti #4, she'll have to grow into it, hopefully this year!

Welcome Merri!

This is Merridyth Ann, our new(ish) granddaughter. She was born in July, sorry I've been so lax in keeping up with the blog! I knit the christening gown (finished it the day before we left to meet her!) It is from Knitpicks bare, DK weight. I freely played with the pattern, only the yoke looks as it was designed. That's okay, I complied with Serena's wishes to have a true cable down the skirt, and then a cabled edging instead of a lace edging. The cables in the skirt are the same as the one in the yoke. The edging is Barrington Braid.

Minnesota has been interesting. We have been so busy (and tired) from work that we are still unpacking. The apartment is lovely, the people are so welcoming.

A new game being played in the apartment building: what are they cooking? Long before we moved in, some of the residents started sitting in the hall outside of our apartment and chatting. The comment was made that we have such nice smells coming from our apartment, they usually spend some time trying to figure out what is/was cooking.

This has been a rough year. But, the important thing I am holding on to is that we've made it this far, we can make it! Yeah, I wish Dad had been able to see Merri. That didn't happen. We rejoice in the fact that she is here and is healthy!

As you can see, Justin is taking his role as the big cousin seriously!

On the needles, another Tutti Frutti by Hanne Falkenberg, this one for Miss Merri. For some unknown reason, Mommy wants the exact same colors as I knit the 3 for Justin. That will be 4 sweaters using the same colors and pattern. The only differences has been the sizes. Sigh. I love you guys!

Still moving slowly

I'm still moving slowly after Dad's death. But, I'm starting to recover.

It helps to know that there is new life on the horizon. Serena and Justin will be parents in July. I'm trying to decide what to knit for Merridyth Ann. At least there is a 95% possibility that it will be Merridyth Ann, known as Merri. I'm going to try to do another 3 generation blanket for her (Mom, me and Serena.) I want each of the grandtads to have that, don't want one to be left out. That means I need to get going soon, to make sure that it happens. I'm thinking cables for this one. Haven't decided quite what, but...

Justin L's winter sweaters for this year and next are almost finished. A couple of more days of knitting on break and lunch and the 3rd will be finished. Then putting it together and sewing in the ends for both. Then they will be mailed off. I'm sorry that this year's is late, but circumstances conspired to lose my momentum.

It has been a colder winter here than normal. I'm so glad that Howard bought the winter coat that he did. When he did I thought (with some private snickering) that he'd wear it a week a year here. Who knew that he'd need it for over a month this year!!!

Thank God that the roof leak has finally stopped! I started off putting one container down. It gradually grew until there were 8 containers in and beside the closet. The roofers came to fix it, the next day it still leaked. But, whatever they did must have taken care of it, for the containers (I didn't dare pick them up) have stayed dry. If only I didn't hear the drip in my dreams, even though it isn't happening!

Not a lot more to post, but I'll try to get more active here. Some days are harder than others, still.

More photos

Serena and Justin T. Serena saw this coat at Cabelas. The clincher to buy it (and a matching one for Justin T) -- see that fur? It is raccoon. As she says, "Revenge is SWEET!" Remember the raccoon story?Annette was delighted with raccoon fur too, as she has had run-ins with raccoons in the house too. Not to mention that they found that the raccoons were almost in the house when Serena moved out. They figured a few more weeks and the animals would have made it down the chimney -- again!

The two Justins, and they are both smiling! They took to each other immediately.

Justin L with Grandma and Grandpa.

Here is Justin L with his new sweater from Grandma (me.) Daddy (Nathan) is behind Mommy ignoring us. I thought of waiting until Christmas to give it to him, but with weather becoming cold, I thought it would be better for him to have it now.

Nathan, Kim and Justin L left early for the airport. Serena and Justin T left within minutes of us so we went to the airport together. We asked someone else in the waiting area to take our picture together. Turns out he is a professional photographer.

Goodbye Dad! (photo heavy)

This is a really difficult post to write.

Last Tuesday, December 1st, my sister called shortly after we got home from work. My Dad had died that morning. He was 95 years, 5 months and 16 days old. This is the last photo I took of Mom and Dad together, last August.

We worked that night, I spent it in floods of tears, honestly. Thankfully, we had the next 2 nights off. Work was really supportive, and gave us bereavement leave for the next 3 days after our weekend. Thursday we flew to Boise, to be with the rest of the family. Nathan and Kim with Justin L flew in that night (late!) while Serena and Justin T flew in Friday. My sister Annette was already there when we got there, her husband Steve arrived Saturday. Mom and my brother Bill live there.

We had a great time together, sometimes crying, sometimes laughing. It was a time to remember the man that had meant so much to us throughout our lives, as husband, father, father-in-law and grandpa. Justin L was a bit young to comment on his being great-grandpa.

It was fun to watch Mom meet Justin T. What a difference in height! grin

Saturday afternoon we held a family memorial service. Two cousins and their spouses were able to come, John and Josie from right in town and Renee and John who were in town for a missionary furlough from Russia. Howard conducted the service. Almost everyone there spoke and gave a memory. From Dad suggesting that Serena and Nathan pick up rocks to form a rock wall (with the suggestion that Dad chose that activity to wear them out - grin) to how much he loved his family.


Justin L was such a delight. Annette bought a pair of sunglasses for him, he had a great time with them. Here he is with Mommy (Kim.)




After the service we all went out for a dinner full of memories, laughter and some tears. This is a photo of all of us.






Bill, John Michno, Annette and Steve.










We flew back Sunday and arrived in miserable weather. Snow, wind, ice and low temps. :-( And the temperature continued to drop once we got home.

We had put a duvet cover lined with a plastic shower curtain in front of the sliding glass doors to the deck, to cut down on heat loss. It is frozen to the doors and has been since we arrived home.

I'll do another post with more pictures.

Welcome!

At their own wedding. I'd like to welcome a new member to our clan -- Justin. Serena and Justin married September 30th.
Photo taken in June at Justin's brother's wedding.


That makes 2 Justins, now to be known as Justin T (or Big Justin) and Justin L (or Little Justin or Justin the Small.) We figure the initials are safer, as Justin L will grow. Will he be as BIG as Justin T? Who knows. grin

Justin and Serena were best friends her freshman year of college. They lost touch, but found each other again.


The newlyweds live in the Chicago area. With 2 cats and 3 dogs.

Serena is still looking for a job. Good thoughts her way would be appreciated.

Big Grin

I got a note from Serena the other day. The entire post is copied for your delight.

I tie-dyed your car at lunch. ;)

Love you!!

Gack!

I can't believe it has been so long since I posted!

Justin has turned one. Hard to believe that it has been a year! These two pictures were taken about 11 months apart - he has changed a lot in that time! The sweater is the same, the modified Hanne Falkenberg Tutti-Frutti that I knit for him. I don't know if he'll be able to wear it much longer!

I finished the Hanne Falkenberg Plisse Monday. Pictures to come soon, I hope.

Howard and I have both changed jobs as our employers cut hours more and more because of the economy. Just couldn't afford to continue, even though we liked the jobs. We are both enjoying the new jobs. We are working opposing schedules, Howard works nights and I work days/swing. We cherish the few hours we see each other. After all that happened last year, I find that I have very low energy levels. I'm recovering, but it has been a haul.

Yesterday was a bad accessory day. I guess. That's the best way I can think to describe it. I lost my pedometer, my sunglasses, the stick on my shawl pin and broke an earring. Hello? What in the world did I do wrong yesterday? On the drive back to the house I was praying that I wouldn't break my glasses to finish the day! I did bang them and need to get them adjusted, but no break. Whew!

My dad was hospitalized over a week ago with a stroke. He was released Wednesday night to a rehab facility.

Updates

Before we left for Duluth we drove by some of the flooding in town. We are high enough that we were not affected in the least. People in town had sandbagged for several days, successful in some areas not so much in others.

Justin was teething while we were in Duluth. That means that as we held him we were dribbled upon. Isn't it wonderful that babies are so cuddly that one doesn't care? LOL
This is a WINDY picture of the family in Duluth. A lovely lady offered to take a picture of all of us, so we have this windblown shot. Don't you love all of the sunglasses! This is our immediate family, taken by Stacey. Kim, Nathan, Justin, Serena, me and Howard.

This is the Hunt clan that got together that day, me, Stacey, Kim, Nathan, Justin, Serena and Howard.

See how Justin is willing to play?

I feel as if I'm being nibbled to death by ducks. (Thanks to my friend Dianne for the expression.)

We are almost packed. We are waiting for final confirmation on apartment. Friends are coming in Saturday to load the truck. At this point it looks as if we will leave Tuesday morning. Life is an adventure! I am trying to remind myself of this.

Asthma has kicked in again (surprise surprise) and I'm on a high dose of prednisone. That makes all of what is happening even more emotionally wearing.

For good news, Justin now has two teeth. The first was expected, the second surprised his parents three days after. The first e-mail said, WE HAVE TOOTH!!!! The second message was a text message saying, "There are now 2 teeth! Didn't know that the second one was coming in!

New Justin pics

Isn't this a great picture that Kim took? I laughed when I saw it, every time I see it I smile. He looks so happy. I love these pictures. This is a new toy, as he steps on the piano keys below, he plays music. There are many other things that he can do, but the making music seems to be key. (sorry, I couldn't resist the pun.)

That lady and her camera

Nathan hates having his picture taken. I caught him chatting on the phone and smiling, and couldn't resist. Of course, with the way things go, it is NOT a good picture of Justin. But I like the expression on NATHAN's face!


These two are so close to each other, but I couldn't choose between him. He looks so serious, doesn't he. There were a lot of smiles this trip, I certainly didn't catch a single one on the camera!

Justin has found his voice! He has learned to squeal. It is hard to know without looking at his body language whether he is squealing in anger or fun. He likes the noise, but it tends to startle him too!

He's teething, Grandma's fingers were great to chew on. He is making bubbles and doing a lot of drooling. It will probably be a while until those teeth come in, but he'll chew away until they do!