Mom's Birthday Tribute to Elder Hunt (taken from the Hunt Family Blog)

Today is Elder Hunt’s (Dallin’s) 20^th birthday.  Since he is a few thousand miles away, and we won’t be able to celebrate with him in our usual way,  I headed down “Memory Lane” by going through some of his baby books.  Some sweet, poignant pictures…I finally had to put them away.  But I took pictures of some of the pictures, so here they are:

Dallin was born on June 28^th, 1993, weighing 8 lbs 13 oz. The very next day he came home from the hospital,  and wanted a picture taken with his best friend, Harrison Schram.  Harrison had been born 41 days earlier.  They were wondering WHAT they had gotten themselves into!!

12 year old Denzel took good care of baby Dallin!

At two years old, Dallin was very into all kinds of adventures…running in the driveway, wrapped in a large Halloween bouquet,

"Look!  I can fit in Hershey's kennel!!"

How about surprising Mom by climbing on top of the computer monitor without her knowing it...





Or jumping off the 4-drawer filing cabinet…

. . . with encouragement from the siblings . . .

. . . while Dad and Mom were gone to choir practice!!  He only missed landing on the pillows once, and he wasn't a REALLY big gash on his head that we came home to. . .


























And then there was the time he accidentally broke Mother Goose . . .  my FAVORITE cookie jar!!

But when he ran out of steam, he ran out of steam!!

(Erika, do you think he may have been dreaming that in 17 years he would receive the best birthday surprise of his life through that same pantry door??)  

Now let me see. . . 

. . . there was the time that Dallin managed to convince Natalee to cut off his BRAND NEW pair of pants when he wanted shorts like his sister!  I wasn't very happy, but he liked his shorts!!

And he has always loved his sister(s)!!

(Too bad I ran out of steam to look for more pictures!)

And Dallin LOVED football!!  Dallin and Harrison wore their gear to Denzel's and Brandon's high school football games.  #4 was THE number!!

He loved helping his mom when she had foot surgery.


And I managed to be there for many of his mishaps!!

In 2000, our family horse pack trip to the Dolores Mountains in Colorado was VERY memorable, but the fishing expedition was NOT Dallin's favorite.   He was SOOOO bugged that he didn't catch anything when everyone else did, AND that Brandon caught SIX fish!  He tried to smile for the picture anyway!  (I think I threatened him with walking back to camp. . . a two hour horse ride!)

July 2001

His baptism into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was very important to him, and he was always so proud of his brothers, (his sisters, too, but I didn’t see many pictures with them!)

Well, I could go on and on, but I’d just work myself into an emotional hole, so I’ll just share a few more pictures…

When Dallin was young, he could really throw the royal tantrum.  As he grew out of that stage, he entered the “pout like a lout” phase.  One day I had had my fill and gave him an “academic” punishment…he could practice his penmanship while driving home a point:  He got to write it 25 times:  “I will not pout when I don’t like the way things go.”   He really hated that at the time, but he is a VERY positive young man, now!! 

And last week, in his letter home, Elder Hunt mentioned that the girl at Houlton Dairy Farms knows Elder Hunt's “the usual, please” means a hot fudge sundae with nuts on top, I saw this picture and thought, “Some things NEVER change!!”

Elder Hunt, you have such a special place in our hearts.  We love you SOOOOO very much!!  Hope your day was memorable!!

Love you forever,

Mom