I am so far behind on blogging it is seriously ridiculous but at least I am trying to get caught up. Last month our stake had their Pinewood Derby, Hunter's first one. He was super excited about it and so was dad. Deke got a book on pinewood derby cars and together they started research the cars shape and weight distribution etc. etc. If you don't know Deke when he has a project like this he gets really into it and always gives 120%. So after researching and teaching Hunter about the different properties that go into the racing element they chose a body style and began creating their car.
They worked on it together all week, doing test runs, timing wheel spinning adding bits of weight and trying to get it just right. Hunter wanted to name it Ghost Rider and wanted it to have a black paint job with blue flames. So with some spray paint dad used a homemade stencil and got it looking just right to Hunter's specifications :)
The race was Saturday morning and Grandpa and Grandma came over to watch the race which was really fun. The boys were all so excited and looking at each others cars and talking about which one had the coolest paint job and which one looked the fastest etc. etc. They all looked so flippin cute in their uniforms, lots of combed hair and freckles everywhere.
The stake had done a really nice job getting everything all set up for the race and decorating it up reallly fun for the boys.
Then they started racing. It was so fun to watch Hunter's car race because it would stay pretty close to the pack almost the whole way and then all of a sudden right at the end of the track it would pull forward everytime ahead of the group. He won his first race, then his second...the first couple of times his eyes were wide in surprise....
Then won the next race and the next. Everytime his car was up he was winning and everyone was starting to notice. His friends were starting to tell him that his car was the fastest and everytime he would win we would all start cheering and his face would get all red. I think he was actually a little embarrassed about all the attention. It was really cute. Deke just sat back grinning ear to ear he was so excited.
Avery was so excited for Hunter, everytime his car would race she would come running over and tell me, "Mom, Hunter is winning again and again!!!!" "GO Hunter! Go Hunter!" she kept cheering. Soon it was Ghost Rider's final race and it was pretty close between him and his friend Ashton's car Firecracker. Hunter sat across from us and I could see him sitting their looking anxious. All of a sudden one of the boys started chanting "Ghost Rider, ghost rider, ghost rider" soon more boys were joining in. I looked over at Hunter and it was one of those awesome moments as a parent where you get to watch your child experience a really cool moment. The happiness on his face was precious. After the race we all headed to the young women's room to wait for the results. Grandpa and Dad gave Ghost Rider a look over...
The little sisters oohhhh and ahhhhed over how cool big brother and his car were...
They started announcing the places and as they kept moving upward I waited to hear his name. Finally they announced the winner of First Place, Hunter Burch and Ghost Rider!!! What a moment for this kid. He went up and accepted his ribbon, certificate and car stand. It was awesome!!!!
We headed out and celebrated with some donuts....
What a great day!!! Deke did such a great job helping him and teaching him different concepts along the way. Ghost Rider way to step it up. WAY TO GO HUNTERBUG!!!!!!
I loved all the bridges as we were driving around, that is just something you really don't see in AZ and at night when they are all lit up over the water it is really a sight to see. 
Pretty much from the time we woke up that morning all day long it poured, I mean poured. It definitely didn't stop us though from pretty much shopping the entire city with scarves and umbrellas in hand. I took lots of random pictures of building just because they looked cool. It had been a long time since I had been to a big city. 
After shopping all morning we headed to Neiman Marcus for a fancy lunch. It was a nice break from the rain and we were up where we could see views of the city below.
My lobster club sandwich...soooooo yummy. So awesome to just sit and talk and eat, not in a hurry to be anywhere. Able to eat and laugh and just be with my sisters. HEAVEN.
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....headed back out to shop and walk and talk some more......
fun to go into Tiffany's and see all the beautiful rings.
it poured on us all day but we were having so much fun it didn't matter. Actually it was kind of fun to take turns being squished under an embrella with one of my sisters and get to have that time to talk with them.....
