A Perk Of Living In Denver [Part I]

As some of you may know, I wasn't always in love with Denver, CO. Serving my mission there, I dealt with a lot of people that put down my hometown. The work there was very difficult, especially at the end of my mission. But when the position at NG came available, it was for sure the right place. And the longer I'm there, the more that I am sure that we made the right choice. Every few blogs, I think that I may try to point out why, if not for you, then for me.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PART I

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For some time now the Mercer Family (Donna, Debbie's sister, Jeff, Donna's husband & kids, Brooke, Kelsie, Dillon, Caden & Paige) have been involved with a theater group in their area.

The Gotta Dance Gotta Sing Theater has given the kids an opportunity to be involved in theatre productions for several years. Debbie & I made numerous trips to see the kids in their plays and have enjoyed them immensely. Conveniently for me, the plays were often the same weekend that the Mountain West Conference held it's basketball tournament in Denver. What a deal!

Brooke (13) & Kelsie (11) have had leading roles in many of the plays. To their many potential careers they have added actress and singer.

But moving to Denver has added a little something extra. Jeff also has been in numerous productions. However, they have been harder to attend (not matching up with the basketball weekends) until his last show. It was great to see him play his role. He had several solo performances, which he did quite well on (I did mention that this was a musical, didn't I?). Seeing him in this role was entirely different from the roles that I normally see him in (job hunter extraordinaire, BYU die-hard, father, annoying neighbor). It was a good show and a definite perk to living in Denver.

I have been blessed to get to know Spencer before they moved to Arizona, Jeremy since he was stationed at Hill AFB & now Jeff. Being part of a large family (the Hunt's have 9 children) was more than a little overwhelming at first. How in the world do you deal with that many people? But after getting to know them, I consider them to be just as much a part of my life as I do my own family, and living in Denver has just made it that much better.

I Feel The Urge To Splurge

Matt and I have been looking into getting a few needed electronics and other such items for a while now. Then we heard about CompUSA going out of business. We headed on over and found several good deals, kept checking back regularly and finally made a few purchases. This is probably our favorite.



Now Matt can truly enjoy the XBox 360 he got for Christmas!!

But going out of business got us a new TV, Printer, Digital Camera (that took this picture) & iPod. Not a bad haul if I do say so myself. I guess we were both just feeling relieved to be working and thought that a couple of new toys were in order.

Just wait till you see what else we bought...

A Tribute to my Grandfather

At 2:50am on the morning of Feb 2, 2008, my grandpa Hunt passed from this life into the next. He would have turned 86 later this month, he had been married to my grandma for 64 1/2 years. His health had been getting worse and worse and a few weeks ago suffered from a stroke. The stoke created a situation in which my grandpa was not able to eat or drink hardly anything at all. His children all gathered at his side and were fortunately all in town when he decided to let go. My grandmother was afraid before he passed and would not leave his side, she slept in a chair beside him and would kiss him as if saying goodbye forever every time she left his side. The Friday before he passed my father told her that she should tell him that it is okay if he lets go. Her response was that she was not ready. That night my grandma slept in her room for the first time in a few days. She realized it was alright to say goodbye.



Here is his obituary:

Ralph Emerson Hunt, age 85, died of natural causes at Abernethy Laurels in Newton, North Carolina, on February 2, 2008. He was surrounded by his loving family.
Ralph was born in Rutland, Vermont, on February 17, 1922, the son of the late Lawrence Emerson Hunt, the late Jennie May (Lincoln) Hunt, and his stepmother, the late Jessie (Collins) Hunt.
On June 25, 1943, Ralph married Ruth Mary (Paul) Hunt at the First Congregational Church in Washington, D.C. Through their 64 years of marriage, Ralph and Ruth lived in Newark, Belleville, and Berkeley Heights, New Jersey, Grantham, New Hampshire and Newton, North Carolina. In addition to his beloved wife, he is survived by his five children and their spouses (Lawrence P. and Dorothy

Hunt, William and Carol H. Ruhle, Geoffrey and Shirley H. Harris, Robert and Joyce H. Wetmore, William L. and Jacqueline Hunt). He also leaves nineteen grandchildren and eighteen great-grandchildren.

Following high school graduation from Rutland High School as salutatorian, Ralph attended Cornell University, studying floriculture. Ralph took accounting courses from LaSalle University and passed his Certified Public Accountant examination in 1949. During his career, Ralph worked as an auditor for the Haskins and Sells accounting firm from 1946 to 1958. He joined Lehn and Fink Products Corporation in 1958 and retired as Manager of Finance in 1982.

His family gratefully remembers Ralph’s deep love of family, quiet dignity and his sense of humor. He enjoyed classical music, playing piano and singing in church and community choirs. He had been a member of the Pro Arte Chorale in New Jersey for a number of years.