Family Visit
I was able to see both of my brothers this past weekend. We hadn't been all together for a few years, so it was great to see them! My oldest brother lives in California with his wife. She was not able to make the trip unfortunately. My other brother lives in Alabama with his wife and almost 2 year old son. He and Nathan got to play together and have a good-old-time in the sprinkler and on the slide. They are starting to get to the age where they are actually starting to play together. Here are some pictures from our time together...

Happy 4th of July!

Hunter Family Reunion '07
Well, we just returned from Southern Illinois to visit with Daryl's side of the family. We had a great time. There were 18 of us total. With 10 grandchildren in the family, Nathan and Jacob have a lot of other kids to play with. We stayed in a cabin with Daryl's parents. It was a nice place and they had a lot of farm animals to look at. We got to eat, swim, play snakes, go to church, see my nephew get baptised, have a bonfire, visit, and eat some more. Jacob went swimming for the first time and we found out he is a fish! We are going to try to do this each year around the 4th of July. Here are some pictures...

Wiiiiiiiii

Our new Wii just arrived and we are enjoying it. There is bowling, pool, golf and many other games. Daryl is much better than me on the games, but it is still fun. It is fun to play with friends and actually requires you to move around unlike most video game systems. It is pretty cool so far.

Quick YMCA Update
I got my TB test done and my background check came back so I am good to go. On Monday I go in to fill out some paperwork and then I start officially next Wednesday.

Jacob Update
Today I took Jacob in for his 7 month weight check. He is doing well and gained 3 ounces since he was 6 months. That's not very much, so the doctor asked me to add a few feedings to his schedule to make sure he is getting what he needs.

Another exciting event in his life is the emergence of a tooth. It is his front bottom left tooth. That should explain the massive drools!

YMCA
I finally heard back from the Y and they offered me the position from 8-10 each day in the 4-5 year old room. I went yesterday to get the first part of my TB test and go back tomorrow for the follow-up. When that gets done and my background check comes back, I can start. I think it will be neat and low stress.

Caffeine Free!

For any of you all that know Daryl, you know that he is a Diet Coke addict. Well, you will be amazed to know that he has now been off caffeine "cold turkey" since last Friday evening! Can you believe it? He had his share of withdrawal symptoms (headaches, tiredness), but he is doing very well with it. I am pretty proud of him for this. We figured it up and he averaged about 3 liters of Diet Coke with caffeine a day before! Here is a link to an article from John Hopkins Medicine about the effects of caffeine withdrawal... pretty interesting.

Nathan to English Dictionary

bobby --> mommy
dookah --> diaper
boap --> boat
hoo hoo --> train
dy dy --> bye bye
dahdoo --> doggie
boo --> cow

Makes perfect sense, right?

To Daryl's parents...

Job for Me?
There is a possibility for me to get a part-time job at the YMCA. (Cue the Village People now.) It is a position in the childwatch area which is their daycare part. It is in the 4/5 year old room and would be 8-10 each morning. Nathan and Jacob could come with me and they would go in the childcare area for kids of parents working out. I think it might be a good chance to get out of the house, give the kids some playtime and earn a few extra bucks. I would also get a membership. I am supposed to hear back from the director at the end of this week or start of next week. I'll keep you informed.

Cincinnati Visit
This past Saturday we went to Cincinnati to visit our friend Jamie. While there we went to the Children's Museum, toured where Daryl used to live, toured Jamie's church, saw her apartment and her future rent house. We had a good time, but it was a long day. Here are some pictures...







Diplomas
Daryl got his Southwestern diploma a few days ago. We got it framed and ready to hang in his office next to his Purdue one. Here is what those look like...

Lawn Work
We (mostly Daryl, to be honest) have been doing a lot of work outside at the house. The former owner was into gardening and such, but it was all overgrown and junglesque. We have removed 3 trees, lots of shrubs, pruned back other shrubs, and lots of other work. We put in a garden that includes zucchini, cucumber, yellow squash, green peppers, 8 regular tomato plants, one cherry tomato plant, and a Roma tomato plant. We should be well stocked in tomatoes! Already here was a grapevine, a plum tree and some blackberry bushes. I already harvested the whopping 15 strawberries we got from them. Ha!

Jacob's 6 Month Check-up
We went this morning for Jacob's 6 month well child check. Things looked good, but he didn't gain as much weight as they would like. He had only gained 6 ounces in the last 2 months. So, we have to go back in in a month to get that checked out. We are going to start doing solids more regularly now since he is 6 months, so that should help a lot. They also suggested I drink more water and take Fenugreek for a couple days. That is an herb used to increase milk supply. So here are his stats...

Height - 26.5"
Weight - 16 lbs, 7 oz

Nathan went for his 6 month check-up a week late, but here were his stats then...

Height - 27"
Weight - 18 lbs, 1 oz

Sleeping Arrangements
A week ago we decided to take the plunge and have the boys sleep in the same room. Well, it has worked out great and they are roomies now. Nathan likes to make noise before he falls asleep and it doesn't seem to bother Jacob, thankfully.

Graduation
Daryl's party went well this past weekend. We surprised him really well with a new TV. It is a flat panel and is really nice. Hey, I also get the benefit of it! We also got him his tassel and hood to have as a memento. He should receive his diploma in a few weeks.


Company Picnic
Today we went up to Huber Farm in Starlight, Indiana, for my dad's company picnic. Nathan got to ride a horse, go down a really long slide, jump in a bounce house, eat, shoot some corn cobs from a canon, launch some balls from a slingshot into a lake, take a hayride, feed some goats, and a few other things. We had a good time!

Half Birthday
Today is Jacob's half birthday! We got a picture of him like we had of Nathan. Here are those two next to each other. I have also posted some new pictures in our online gallery. You can see those by clicking on the link above and to the right.

It is finished!

This week I will be an official graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, or SWBTS as they call it.

I started Seminary in August of 2002, so this has been a process consisting of:
* 67 graduate hours of studies
* 500+ pages of written term papers/homework
* Countless hours reading material which frankly, at times, is boring
* 5 school years
* 3 states - Texas (twice), Oklahoma, Kentucky
* 2 apartments
* 3 houses
* 2 children
* and 1 wife :)

I turned in my last paper on Monday. I had my last debrief conversation with my professor on Tuesday. The graduation (we will not attend) is on Friday. And they should send my diploma to me in the next couple weeks.

I completed the MACE - Master of Arts in Christian Education program which is roughly 1/3 theology and 2/3 educational fundamentals, foundation, and administration.

What next in the world of education for me? Nothing to speak of. I'm confident that I'm in a good place in life. I enjoy being a "Jesus Geek" and am serving at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky. I am currently serving as a Technical Services Manager where I lead a team of 5 other IT Professionals (Desktop Support/Help Desk and Network Administrators). It's a fun place and fits my gifts and talents well. I've always heard "if at first you don't succeed, go back for another degree..." but I think I'm done.... for now! ha!

Anyway, I don't think I've ever posted on the Hunterfam blog, so I thought I'd give it ago and share some happy news from the Hunter Family.

Much Love, --DW & Family

Happy Derby Day!
It isn't the best weather today for the 133rd Derby... pretty rainy and dreary. I went last night to Kroger and saw them making the garland of roses. It is really pretty. Some interesting facts...

• it is made up of 554 roses
• the garland tradition started in 1932, before that it was a horseshoe-shaped arrangement
  
• it takes about 8 hours to complete

Here is a picture I took from last night...

Nathan Update
Nathan is getting more and more words each day. It is really neat to see and hear. A lot of the words only we can recognize at this point, but they are coming. Here is a video of a few of them...




Another exciting milestone for today is that he went poo poo in the potty! Well, I heard him grunting so I ran him over to the potty and he went in it. I'm not sure how much he understands of it all, but it is a start!

Balloon Chasing
This past Saturday was The Great Balloon Race which is part of the Derby Festival. We got up really early and drove to where we could see them pass overhead. It was really neat and Nathan liked seeing them. We left a little late and only saw a few of the balloons though.

Jacob Update
Jacob is doing well. He is very smiley and content most of the time. We got him on a pretty good routine now. He wakes up around 7ish and then goes to be around 8. Nathan and Jacob both nap at 1, so it is nice to have some quiet time! A few nights ago he rolled from his back to his belly, but he has yet to do it since then. Here are some recent pictures of him...

Boo Boo!
I'm a boy, 'nuff said!

Louisville Zoo
We went to visit the zoo this past weekend and had a good time. It was a really nice day, we all got a little pink from the sun. There is a new baby elephant there that was so cute. Here is a picture...


Jacob is 5 Months
A few days ago Jacob rolled from his belly to his back for the first time. I think it was an accident though because he hasn't done it since. For Jacob's 5 month birthday I gave him some bananas to try. He liked them a lot and he did a good job at eating. I'll probably wait a little while longer though to introduce solids for good. Here is a picture of our little monkey...


Nathan's Such a Big Boy!
We decided it was time to put Nathan in the big boy bed. He got a bed rail for his birthday and slept in it for the first time last Friday night. We set up a web camera in there so we can watch him in case he does something he shouldn't. He does really well now. Here is a picture of him tonight before bedtime...

Nathan is 2!!!
Well, it has been a while since I have written. Sorry about that! Nathan had a doctor's appointment today for his 2 year old well child check up. He weighed 35.5 pounds and was 35 inches tall. He didn't get any shots but did get a finger prick for a few tests. He did really well with that. He goes back next when he is 3 and doesn't need shots again until he is 4!

Nathan had his birthday party this past Saturday. There were so many grandmas and grandpas there he didn't know what to think! Since he is so into trains right now, that was the theme of the cake:


You can see more images here. For Nathan's birthday I took the kids to get portraits made. They turned out pretty cute. You can view the whole collection here.

Speaking of images, I have changed the way that I am putting our photos up online now. Hopefully it will be easier to navigate and for me to upload to. The full album is online at http://www.hunterfam.net/gallery.