January Funk

If Jeremy made a trip to Walmart to get a "specific purchase" for me... and if Jeremy made the extra trip to drop it by for me at home... and if this all happened on Jeremy's busiest day of the week... and if this "specific purchase" happened to be a bottle of multi-vitamins because he had done research on Seasonal Affective Disorder (S.A.D.) and read that a multi-vitamin & staying hydrated & getting exercise & just the right amount of sleep...(not too much :( , not too little).... does this mean there is a problem?  I just thought I could take a month off. I thought I could lie around in my jammies, showers optional, for a month...reading :), napping, doing the bare minimum of cleaning & caring for my children. I thought I could get away with not going to the grocery store, the library, around town running errands. I thought I could just hibernate... put on a little weight, watch a few episodes of Psych here & there, read a new book every few days. But apparently I cannot do so without worrying my husband & a few close friends. I am not lying in the fetal position, wrapped around a box of tissues bawling my eyes out. I am not thinking about medicating myself with anything other than my standard dose of perscribed medications, diet pepsi, and some chocolate bundles of happiness here & there.  I am not wondering how to get the blades out of a razor. I just don't want to go anywhere. I don't want to talk on the phone. I get on facebook & read what everyone is up to, but I don't contribute too much.  That seems a little too social for the month of January.  What is it with people setting New Years Resolutions & going "gung-ho" on following thru? HELLLOOO! I just made it thru the holidays... can't I take a month off?  Plus, for those of you who do venture outside, IT'S FREAKING COLD OUT THERE!!!! In case you haven't noticed!  My jammies are warm. Especially these new red sweat pants I got on clearance from Aeropostale before Christmas.  My house is warm enough. I have a microwave here so I can make myself a mug of hot cocoa (the only good thing about winter) whenever I choose to.  I got a Snuggie for Christmas & that is really warm, especially while also wearing my new red sweat pants :). It's really nice cuddling with my boys on the couch while they watch Disney Channel for as long as they will allow me to cuddle with them.  I make it out to church. I even went to Relief Society this month!!! It helped that I had a speaking assignment. I get Evan to pre-school two days a week. Of course it's to Niesha's & back so I can wear my red sweats. Or my brown ones, or my purple ones, or my blue ones, or my other blue ones, although the bum is threadbare, so it's a little embarrassing if Evan can't close the door hard enough & I have to get out of the van to go close it for him. On another note, Jeremy is out of the house everyday. He can pick up bread & milk & cereal & diet pepsi as needed. He doesn't mind...too much. So, it's all good. I don't need to spend 2 hours in front of a day lamp everyday. I wouldn't say I am depressed. I AM however AFFECTED by the SEASON & it is causing DISORDER in my normal life. But it's just a month off. I get revved up (usually) to lose a little weight before Valentines Day. (one of my favorite holidays cuz I am married to the sweetest man on earth & I love the candy conversation hearts & the cinnamon gummy hearts) So here's to the last week of my month off. Please, don't stop by without warning. Chances are I am not wearing a bra & I might even be napping. I'm anti-social this month, and I can have one month to be anti-social because for the other 11 I always have my PARTY PANTS on...even if they are sweats! :) Happy January Funk everyone!

Claunch Family 2010

As the Christmas Season is upon us once again, we want to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and the best for 2011! We feel so extremely blessed to have you as freinds and family. You have enriched our lives and we are honored to be apart of your lives as well. Thank you! We thought we would take a minute of this busy time of year to fill you in on our happenings this past year.

This has been a very special year for Avery. She turned 8 in April and was baptized on May 1st. There were no other children in our stake scheduled for that day, so we were able to plan the whole program ourselves. What an amazing day!!! We had a lot of family able to attend and we had a wonderful experience! She was allowed to get her ears pierced this year and has enjoys wearing earrings! I can't believe how fast she is growing up. She likes to pick out her own outfit & do her own hair. In May, Avery entered an Essay contest sponsored by a Jewelry store in Pocatello. The essay was titled "Why I Love my Mom".  Avery won the grand prize! I got to pick out a gemstone and had it mounted in a ring for free! Her essay was awesome! Avery started 3rd grade in the fall & she loves her teacher & her classmates. Homework on the other hand, she's not so fond of! She is very talented and such a sweet girl! She is such a great help around the house. She prepares some meals, babysits her brothers for short periods of time and she helps a lot with the chores. She loves to sing!!! She just performed a solo in her 3rd grade concert & she did a fantastic job! She makes friends easily and she has lots of friends in our neighborhood.

Evan turned 5 in September. He loves going to preschool 2 days a week & he is learning a lot. He still loves anything "superhero" and he has a collection of toys he carries around the house with him. He does great in Primary & is always one of the first to raise his hand when they ask a question or need a volunteer. He sings his primary songs awesomely & he loves to pick out the songs we sing for Family Home Evening. Sometimes we sing "Follow the Prophet" for the opening & closing hymn as that is his favorite. Evan likes to tease his little brother something fierce and it makes some days very intresting around here. He comes upstairs every morning with a smile on his face & ready to give out hugs! He is truly a joy to have in our home!

Carson..., well, he is Carson! He loves to wrestle with his brother, wrestle with his dad. He is rough, tough & wild! He loves cereal & milk, marshmallows & cookies. He loves, loves, loves to draw, color, and play on the computer. He takes it over & will not be persuaded to move onto another activity. He loves to eat! He tells us about 52 times a day that he is "hungly". He is a very sweet boy and loves to have family hugs and give kisses. He will be 4 in February & he will be in Sunbeams come January. Watch out, Sister Hawkes!!! Carson makes us laugh all the time! He is always saying the funniest things. We are so blessed to have him as our Caboose!

Jeremy.... I think that's his name.... I can't remember much what he looks like, but I think he is average height, balding and very handsome. He is smack-dab in the middle of his MBA program so he is very busy going to class, studying, and acing his classes. He changed jobs this past summer. He left Double M, which was a very hard decision and moved on to Driscoll Brothers. He really enjoys it there. He works so hard, but he always has time for Family Home Evening and the big & small moments we enjoy as a family. He is also the financial clerk in our ward, so he is consistantly crunching numbers. He loves working with the Bishopric. We appreciate all the effort & energy he puts in to supporting us. He is the greatest husband & father we could ever hope for & I don't know of any man who loves his family more.

I was just called to serve as a primary teacher. I was released from Young Women's in October and it has been a difficult transition, but I am loving my primary calling & the amazing people I work with! It's fun to be in primary with my kids and experience that with them. I find any excuse I can to read or scrapbook & hang out with my friends. I literally have had nightmares of Jeremy hiding my books, but only when I am ignoring the housework. Guilty much? I enjoy being home with the boys. We have a lot of crazy fun together! I don't know what I would do without my amazing husband & kids in my life!

Here is a brief (haha) overview of our family & the goings on in our house. We hope this Holiday Season finds you well & happy. We hope you feel the true meaning of Christmas. We are so grateful for the Savior and his sacrifice that brings us peace, comfort & understanding. We are grateful to our Heavenly Father who has blessed us so much! We count you as one of our many blessings! Merry Christmas!!

Claunch Family Year in Review 2009 Edition

As 2009 comes to a close, we wanted to send our best to you at the most wonderful time of the year! What an amazing year we have had! The highlight of the year was finally taking the kids to Disneyland in June. They loved every minute of our trip and we are forever grateful to wonderful friends that made it possible for us to make it happen! We are so spoiled! As for other happenings, here’s an update on each of us.
Avery is in 2nd grade. She turns 8 in April & will be baptized in May! I can’t believe it! She is so excited. She loves to read and does very well in school. She’s very social and gets into trouble here & there because of that, but we figure she is just taking after her Mama so there is no hope for changing that. She reads her Book of Mormon every night & loves reading to her brothers. She loves to write stories & songs. She is such a delight! She has really become my precious princess & we love spending time together. She loves to scrapbook with me & make crafts. We are so blessed to have her!
Evan is 4 and the sweetest boy on the planet! He tells me every day that I am “the best mom in the whole world” & I just hope he keeps feeling that way as he gets older! He is still into his superhero’s and loves to dress up in his spidey costume. He teases his brother like there is no tomorrow & visits his time-out spot frequently. He loves primary and is such a good kid for his teachers. He loves to sing & is constantly asking me to sing to him so he can sing along. He is an absolute joy & we can’t wait to see what this next year will bring.
Carson will be three in February. I can’t put into words the joy this toddler brings into our home!! He is definitely his own kid! He has to be safety-pinned into his pajamas everyday…all day… to keep him clothed. I can’t wait til this kid is potty-trained so I can stop purchasing so much carpet cleaner & laundry detergent for those times he isn’t pinned in safely. He loves to draw & color & is making me pictures everyday. He keeps us laughing & there is NEVER a dull moment with “Ca” around! I enjoy all my moments with him because he just seems to keep growing up. I beg him all the time to stay as he is & not grow anymore… he promises me, but nature seems to take its course with him regardless of what I want.
Jeremy is busy, busy, busy! He loves working at Double M Ag & Irrigation as their controller. The people he works with are amazing! What a fun group to rub shoulders with everyday! This year he also went back to school for his MBA. He is tearing it up at ISU and doing so well in his classes! He is still the financial clerk in our ward and enjoys working with the bishopric on a weekly basis. Due to school and the full plate he has, he didn’t take his bike out too much this year, but he did find a few opportunities to go riding. We also caught a couple MX races this last year, one in Salt Lake and one in Las Vegas.
As for me, I’m still finding any excuse to scrapbook or make cards…or at least purchase the supplies to do so! I have enjoyed saying farewell to day care & now work for an Interior Designer as the executive assistant. I work from home and really enjoy it. I am so lucky to have found something to earn a little money & still stay home with the boys. They fill my days with messes & chaos, but there are a lot of hugs & kisses mixed in. I am still serving as the Young Women’s President in our ward and absolutely love it. Those girls are such an inspiration to me. I feel so blessed to be working with the chosen generation.
We hope you are happy & healthy and finding peace this Christmastime. We are so grateful for our knowledge of the Gospel and for the friends & family whom richly bless our lives. We hope you can take some moments & feel the Saviors love for you this Christmas and bring honor to Him throughout this season.

Lots of Love,
The Claunch Family

Right after school let out in June, we left our youngest in trusted hands & set off for a family vacation! We spent the night with my parents, then went on to St. George the next day. We had a BBQ with old & new friends, did a little shopping, and played in the pool. We flew with our friend to Santa Monica on Monday. We stayed in his home right on the beach. It really was a dream come true! We visited the Promanade, the Pier, the Beach, an aquarium, met a celebrity!, and drove around Hollywood & Beverly Hills. We drove a fancy sports car & ate sushi. We went to Disneyland for a couple days to the kids' utter joy! We had a blast and a full vacation of "firsts". We are so grateful to our dear friends who have shared so much with our family and provided us with opportunities we'd never otherwise have in a lifetime! How did we get so lucky????

Our California Vacation!

This how we started out our vacation. Evan got hit in the head by Avery's follow thru playing tennis. He got a big gash in his head & Jeremy & I rushed him to the Emergency Room at Dixie Regional Medical Center. Ouch. He was so brave while the nurse gave him two layers of stitches. He got a yummy popsicle when he was all done.

Our friend has this juicer at his house in Santa Monica. The kids loved making fresh-squeezed orange juice. They just had to go outside to the orange tree to pick their orange.

My sweet Beach Babe enjoying the one day it wasn't cloudy. We had a fun afternoon at the beach!

Our amazing friend let Jeremy & I drive the Lamborghini to Malibu on the Pacific Coast Highway! We went to an awesome Sushi Restaurant where our friend treated us to our first taste of sushi. I loved it. Jeremy couldn't get past the funky texture.

We took the kids to Long Beach to the Aquarium. It was so awesome. We loved it! We had our friend's daughter with us. They had a blast touching all the sharks & sting rays.

Here they are posing in a fun play area at the aquarium.

On to Disneyland!! We surprised the kids & took them to Disneyland. What a fun couple of days! We made them ride a few scary ones, and don't know if they will ever forgive us, but that's what they get for making me go on the teacups!!

The classic family pose at the entrance to Disneyland! We had such a great time! The kids got to meet a lot of the princesses & Disney characters.

I got sucked in... to the blogging world!

I guess it's about time to give this blogging a try. As if I need one more thing to keep me in front of the computer!
Just an update: Avery turned 7 in April. She is enduring her last day of school right now. She is now finished with the first grade & she is anticipating a full summer of fun. I can't believe what a great reader she has become. She also loves to draw & write little books. She has quite the imagination. She loves to scrapbook with me whenever my patience will allow it. She's very talented & I couldn't be happier that I have a little scrapbooker waiting to bloom!!
Evan is 3. He will turn 4 in September. He loves anything that has to do with superheroes. Especially Spiderman. Although I don't know if Spidey would appreciate some of the stuff Evan blames on him when he gets in trouble. I thought superheroes were supposed to be a good influence. If Evan gets scolded for saying a bad word, he says "Spiderman told me to say that!" That Spidey! I'd better watch them more closely.
Carson is as two as they get!!! Holy cow! He is quite a little ball of energy & mischeif. He thinks he can help himself to the contents of the fridge & cabinets & pantry. He climbs wherever he thinks he needs to be. He spends his days in PJ's safety pinned at the top for the "messes" he makes when he has access to his little boy parts. Jeremy says it best when he says Carson can't be trusted to wear real clothes. Besides climbing in the fridge & on the counters & up the shelves & into the bathroom sink & onto bookshelves (bolted to the walls) & onto dressers & changing tables, he also feels it is necessary to RUN everywhere he goes. He loves to give "oreo" hugs. (him in the middle of Jeremy & me) and gives out kisses like there is no tomorrow. He is very sweet, you just have to be paying attention to catch it most days! :)
As for Jeremy & me, we are sure staying busy with work, church callings and the other 'stuff' that comes along in life. We couldn't be happier with our little family and the choices we've made to get us where we are. We love our town, our ward, our neighborhood & our friends. We feel so blessed to be in American Falls & to associate with the people we do. Jeremy is starting his master's program at ISU this fall. He will be working towards receiving his MBA within the next few years. This is an exciting new chapter in our lives and we look forward to the possiblities it will bring.
Jeremy & I celebrated our 11th anniversary last March. We feel so blessed to have each other and our sweet children. We have a lot of fun activities & adventures planned for this summer. I'm always afraid it goes too quickly, but we will be enjoying it to the fullest. We leave for Calfornia in a few days. We will be taking Avery & Evan on a surprise vacation to Disneyland. Avery thinks we are spending a week in Fillmore... she couldn't be more excited to go there. I can't even imagine her reaction when we tell her we are on our way to Disneyland! We would like to give a huge shout-out to Jamie (Jeremy's sister, for always being willing to take kids for us, this time Carson) It will be nice for me to have a chance to miss him! :) We will post pictures of our trip soon!