Homecoming

Although my Mom, being the amazing blogger she is, has already posted pictures of Staley's 09 Homecoming, I thought I would go ahead and put a few more.. just in case. :)

Starting with the woman who made it all possible. :)

A few of possibly the greatest friends ever.

My date, Derek Skiles, was such a gentlemen all night long. He's such a great friend to me and makes me laugh all the time. These picture show the TRUE Derek. :)

Elaina Parker.. the Good Witch from the Wizard of Oz last year.

These last two photos are my favorite! Kristen did such an astounding job!!!!!!! I can't thank her enough!

Love, Hunter Bug

"I Think My Water Just Broke"

No. MY water did not just break. But Sis. Bunnell's (my Young Womens leader) did! Last night!

For those of you who don't know this, my parents decided to abandon us this weekend and go run off to Utah for some BYU football and spiritual experiences. Well while they were gone, the Bunnells stayed with us. And for those of you who also don't know, Sis. Bunnell is VERY pregnant.. or WAS! :)

While we were sitting at the kitchen table, eating spaghetti o's and enjoying each others company, the baby decided that he was going to come a month early. Sis. Bunnell suddenly stood up, announcing his arrival. Her husband was at the priesthood session of conference so it was up to Rachel, Bridger, and me to get to her to the hospital! About 25 minutes of being at the hospital, Bro. Bunnell rushed in and we slowly left. We were all so excited that our Young Womens leader could be having her baby!! And the fact that her water broke while she was with us made it THAT much more exciting!

Lacey and Sam Scott came to our home to replace Kristen and David, so Lacey took the call at about 1:30 am... THE BABY WAS BORN! 6 lbs 9 ounces! A BEAUTIFUL BABY BOY!

Congratulations Bunnells!!!!!!!!! :)

Love, Hunter Bug

Victory!

http://www.kansascity.com/sports/story/1471597.html

We Are Not Invincible

This weekend marked the first ever annual "It Won't Happen to Me" walk-a-thon. There were friends and families from all over, who had teenagers that have died in car accidents, come and join us in this walk of remembrance. As we walked the path, there were several pictures of teenagers who have lost their lives in the number one killer of teens. Looking at their pictures, I realized how many of their stories I knew by reading the 1st and 2nd edition of the IWHTM books. What is heartbreaking about most of these stories is that when these teens were killed... they weren't doing anything wrong. Most of them were just driving home from work, heading home from a friends house, and some (like Megan) were just passengers in a car. Most of them were killed because of someone elses mistakes, distractions, carelessness, etc.

WE ARE NOT INVINCIBLE.

It CAN happen to you.

It only takes one second. One text. One phone call. One distraction. NEVER, ever are these distractions more important than someone elses life. I am so very grateful for the new texting law that MO has issued for its teens. Personally, I think that this should have been issued to EVERYONE and not just teenagers, but that is a whole different ball park.

It's like I've been told, and what I tell my friends every time I hear of them texting while driving. "You can wait 10 minutes for a stupid text message. Because it never has been and never will be worth someone elses life."
I loved this way of remembering my best friend and bringing to the attention of teens all of the seriousness of America's "silent tragedy".
I'm excited to start working more closely with IWHTM and promoting this at Staley. I want all of them to know too.

Love, Hunter Bug

An Update!

I haven't updated in a while and thought I would share some pictures!!

Tri-Stake Dance: Priest/Laurel

Courtney Cox and Taylor Lott!

(Left to Right) Courtney Cox, Bug, Heather Martin, and Becca Cochran

Issac Aimes

Hopefully I will have more time to update in the future!

Love, Hunter Bug

Fundraiser!

So, as most of you know, my Mom and I will be traveling to Norway during Spring Break for the unveiling of a piece of music that is being written especially for our Staley High School Chamber Choir. But.. like most good things.. there is a catch. We have to raise $3,000 per person. That means lots and lots of fundraising. And anything/everything counts. We have been given packets and brochures of different gifts and goodies. So far, the orders I have taken are mostly chocolate, chocolate, and.. more chocolate!

I would like to ask for your support on this long and memorable journey. If it would be at all convenient, I would also ask that you would take a look at the catalog and brochures, whether with me (if you live close) or, if you'd like, on the online catalog and brochures (for those who live far away). As I mentioned.. anything and everything counts.

If you are interested in looking at the online catalog/store, the steps are very simple.
1. Click on the website posted HERE!
2. Click on the "Online Store" icon in the top left hand corner of the screen
3. When asked, enter the Staley HS ID: 1486489
4. Then enter the student name (that would be me): Hunter Kanenwisher

Our cutoff for THIS fundraiser is next Monday.

There will be more fundraisers to come, but this one will hopefully cover mine and my Mom's first payment coming up later this month.

If you are not interested absolutely no worries!! But if you are, thank you ahead of time!!!

Love, Hunter Bug

Hittin' the Ground Runnin'

I've only been attending school for a little over a week and already my schedule has begun to fill up with theater, musicals, shows, etc.

What is the first you ask? When? And where?

This is our first show that we are producing this year at Staley High School. In theater III we get to produce and perform our own show with just the students in the class. The stressful part about it.... It occurs on October 1,2, and 3. AND the best part is... we don't have our scripts yet. So we haven't begun to rehearse. That means we have about 5 weeks to put it together. Oy. But we have begun working on advertisement and continued working on our theater portfolios.. so at least we are being somewhat productive.

Now some of you might be asking "What is the actual musical for this year?". Excellant question!

Yes! We are performing Little Shop of Horrors for our musical this year! Auditions are in November so we are all getting pretty excited for that!

Love, Hunter Bug

Prayer

I don't know what I would do without the simple comfort of prayer. The amount of times it has blessed my life are endless. Personal prayer is probably the greatest gift ever given to me. It's my time to ask for help; to show my Heavenly Father how much I love him.

In my prayers tonight, I will be praying for the Zink family in our stake. They have suffered a terrible loss of their son... and I ask that you would do the same.

I like to ask "why" in my prayers a lot. And I have noticed that usually when I ask "why" I don't get an answer. It's almost like He's trying to tell me even if I knew why things happened.. I wouldn't be able to change them.. So why tell me at all? I've learned to stop being stubborn and asking why, and comfort those who need it. I think tonight while I prayer for the Zinks.. instead of asking why.. I'll ask how. How can I help to comfort this family? How can I learn from this?

Please remember the Zinks in your prayers.

Love, Hunter Bug

Starts and Ends With Rain

That is exactly how today played out. Our household was a mad house at 6 this morning.. getting up for the temple trip and saying bye to Chloe before she headed off to college. And we all cried like a bunch of babies. Mom and Chloe left shortly after we did.

After all these years you would think that I would be more than happy for the day my Clo Bo left home. Exactly the opposite. She has taught me more than I ever thought possible. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done.. saying good bye to my sissy.

However, I did get to talk to them while they were traveling today. Our ward had an interesting opportunity today. One you would NOT expect at the temple.

Mhmm. And no.. I'm not joking. And yes.. I have gotten that reaction every time I've told someone. David Archuleta was in Omaha, Nebraska for a concert and attended the Winter Quarters Temple while there. Just so happens that he attended the same baptismal session as our ward. It was funny to see the different reactions of our youth when we first walked into the chapel. He sat directly behind a couple friends and me. Boy, was Brother Anderson lucky that he was able to confirm him. I can't tell you how many girls would just be happy to TOUCH him! But it was cool to talk to him for a little bit and then he was on his way.

It's raining.. pouring actually.. and it's Saturday night. Only a few more days until school. I'll take my chances.. :)

Love, Hunter Bug

Say Hello to the Good Byes

As I mentioned in a previous post, school is starting up soon. Tuesday to be exact. So it's time to start saying hello to the good byes.

Good bye to all of my great friends heading off to their fall semester of college.. including my big sister.

Good bye to summer, swim suits, and vacations.

Good bye to sleeping in until noon.

Good bye to a non-hectic schedule.

Good bye to staying out late on week nights and endless hours of Rock Band with Dad.

Good bye, good bye, good bye. I hate good byes.. well usually. :)

But now we have plently of hellos!

Hello to soccer, rugby, theater, choir, school friends, homecoming, football games, etc.

Hello to the Kissinger's Walk-A-Thon on September 19th. http://kckanenwishers.blogspot.com/

Hello to trick-or-treating and haunted houses.

Hello to NEW MOON! (Twilight.. if you didn't know that you have some serious catching up to do :) )

Hello, Hello, Hello. Have you noticed my attempt at optimism yet?

I have one last thing to share before I sign off.

The first time Noah has even said "CHEESE" to the camera for me. And with ice cream all over his mouth! How could I resist? :)

Love, Hunter Bug

Tender Mercies

Some of the greatest blessings in my life are the teeny tiny things that most people would find small or even strange if they happened upon them.

One example are the cute things the Ritter B's do for me.. that they probably don't realize they do. Everytime I see Jordie she gives me a big huge hug. What she doesn't realize is that her little act of kindness makes my day so much better, and she some how finds a way to give me these big hugs when I really need them the most. All of the Ritter B's are like that. :)

Another example occured today at a time when I least expected it. I was having one of those "down days" that everyone gets once in a while (or if you're like me.. a lot more than that!) and it came around to the time in Young Womens when we do our "spotlight" of the week; a leader describes a girl and we all guess who it is and that girl gets a candy bar. Well today I was the "spotlight" of the week, and when I got up, my Laurels teacher asked me to stand up front so she could read off some things that the girls had written about me a few months earlier. The list went like this: She is so AMAZING and so is her hair. She is like an older sister to me. She is a great role model. She is beautiful. She cares deeply for others. She is an example of spiritual strength. Hunter is so wonderful. She has such a great testimony of the gospel. She thinks about her friends and cares for them.
At that moment, I was completely flooded with joy and my heart was filled to the brim. These girls had written maybe 8 words about what they thought of me, and what they may think was insignificant meant the world to me.
My older sister, Chloe, is leaving for college this coming Saturday morning. It's the little things, like how we wrote silly notes back and forth during sacrament today, that I hold on to and hopefully never will forget.
Upon returning home from my best friend's funeral in December, I went up to my room to wash my face and looked up at my mirror, only to see the note she had written a few weeks earlier with a dry erase marker saying "I love my Hunter! Love, Megan".

A little while ago, I had a friend who was really struggling. I had a card with a strange, yet beautiful picture on the front. Inside the card I wrote to him what gets me through even the toughest times:
"What may seem small, insignifcant, or even strange in the beginning makes all the difference in the end."

Love, Hunter Bug

Gettin Ready

In the first couple weeks of August, this image can only mean one thing... Back to school time! Time to get refocused and get back into the "Staley Spirit" mood! I would say that I am pretty well prepared for this school year.. that is.. when it comes to being (as my friend Devin would say) "spiritual".

Don't you think? And this is NOT even close to everything. I guess you can say I have a lot of school spirit. :)

We went over to registration yesterday, and I'm feeling pretty good about my classes. I have a good set of teachers and I have my mind set on A's this year.. hopefully I can stick to it. Plus, (I'm going to remind my Mom about this) my Mom told me that if I get straight A's this year that she will buy me a jeep.. hmmmm.

Well today Rachel and I are soakin up the sun and trying to make the best out of our last few weeks of freedom. Aubrey Anderson!!! I encourage you to do the same! :)

Love, Hunter Bug

Home!

WE ARE HOME! It was nice to go to church and see everyone! Tons of warm smiles and welcome backs!


A couple of the cuties from our trip! Left to right: Lily, Chloe, Tonia, Melanie, and me!


Four-wheeling!

Bought new prom and homecoming dresses!

And of course spent time with our favorite Morgans! They tooks us to the 2009 MLS All-Star game! Although USA lost.. it was still fun!!

Love, Hunter Bug

Good Ol' Kansas City

Tomorrow morning we are heading out bright and early and headin' home. We have had an awesome time but, as most of us know, it eventually takes it's toll. For those of you don't know...We have done quite a bit of driving in the past two weeks. From Kansas City, Mo, to Tulelake, Ca then 6 hours up to the Oregon Coast, back down to Tulelake and over to Centerville, Ut. (Don't forget all of the little trips in between.) I guess you could say I have spent enough time in the car to last me a while. BUT it has been fun to see all of the family and.. Oh my! There is just so much to say!! When I get back and have some time to download pictures, I'll elaborate a little more on what the KC Kanenwishers have been up to. But for now, I need to head back up to the condo and finish packing for the 16 HOUR DRIVE to Kansas City. :)

Hope all has been well! Happy Late 17th Birthday to Aubrey!

Love, Hunter Bug

It's All Good

Been keepin pretty busy lately, but it's been fun! We are packing all day today and then tomorrow morning we head out to the Oregon coast for a family reunion. I haven't been psyched about going, but now I can't wait to get out of here! I am bummed about a few things that I haven't been too excited about missing; my best friend Rachel is a convert, of 1 1/2 years, to the church and she is giving her first talk in sacrament this Sunday. This may not seem to significant to some.. but this is a big deal for her and I'm sad I don't get to share that with her. Either way, with or without me there, she will do an excellent job.

Now for the movie of the... Oh geez. Who am I kidding? This one is going to be a tough one to beat in my book.
I'm not spoiling ANY part of this movie! All I can say is... go see it!!!!!!!!!!!! If you share my love of Harry Potter.. GO!!! We went to the midnight showing on Tuesday night, and even at 2 in the morning when your nerves are shot and you are exhausted, it is still awesome! And added on to the fact that the movie was amazing, we had one heck of a fun night to go with it!
(Left to Right) Jenni Ashcroft, Chloe, Bridger, and Me. The four of us (along with a couple people we didn't know, but immediately became friends with) made this one of the most memorable midnight showings ever!
This is Doe-Men-Tor. We never saw his face, or learned his real name.. but we thought that he was definitely one of the highlights of the night. He would hide in the dark or behind walls in the theater and scare people as they walked in. If you plan on mimicking his hilarious act, I would advise you on one thing that we all learned.... DON'T SCARE THE BIG FOOTBALL PLAYER WHILE HE IS ON A DATE! I bet if you really thought about it you could fill in the blanks. :)
This is Harry Potter. By the end of the night we learned his name was Dalton.. I think. But any who, he was also someone who made the night so memorable. His goal was to see how many pictures he could jump into by the end of the night. I can't remember how many, but he certainly succeeded.
Can YOU spot Harry Potter in these following pictures?

In the end the message is always the same.... GO SEE HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE! :)

Love, Hunter Bug

EFY!

You know when ever you have those amazing spiritual experiences and you want to tell someone all about it and how special it was to you, but there are no words and no way to describe it? I feel that exact way about EFY this week! This has probably been one of my top three spiritual and life changing experiences. I had so much fun and met so many new strong youth, while growing so close to the Savior and my Heavenly Father. My favorite part of the week was Tuesday and Wednesday. These were the days when we would go to a hour long class and listen to these awesome teachers that were chosen for the Columbia, MO session of EFY. For example, some of the classes I decided to attend were Finding Christ While Dodging Deception in the Latter-Days, Principles of Heaven, No Burden Too Great, Gospel Sunsets, Worldliness Never Was Happiness, Be Thou An Example of the Believers, Reaching To the One, and Overcoming Anger, Offense and Other Counter Attacks on Our Agency. I was absolutely shocked with the powerful spirit that I felt and how greatly the words of these wonderful teachers effected me.
Now here is the fun part. There can't possibly be an awesome EFY without.. PICTURES!!
This is my company.. PERISH NOT! All I can say about this group of youth is... WOW! I love all of them so much! And I hope to see them again next year.
This is Toni and I! She was in my company and is one of the most friendly and beautiful people I know!
This is my room mate Sarah. She lives in Oklahoma.. :( but she is such a powerful youth in the gospel and I am so thankful for her example throughout the week.
(Left to Right) Ryn, Toni, and Shiela. All girls from my company and look how beautiful they are!!! And their personalities match it too!
We had amazing counselors!
And extremely cute guys! This is Spencer Roberts.. my COW (Crush Of the Week). :)
Like I said earlier, the classes were awesome! (Nate Thorne)

And the dances were a blast!!! (Andrew Mack and Toni)
Our service project was a success! (Joey Johnsen with black crayon on his face.)
And we developed friendships that we will never forget!

I think that every young man and young woman in this church should attend EFY when they reach the age of 14! It's such a life altering experience and I can't wait to go back next year!
Love, Hunter Bug

Happy Birthday Bishop!

I wish I could have grabbed an awesome picture of Bishop Litster and posted it with this, but sadly I have been recently deprived of a functioning camera.

Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY BISHOP LITSTER! Besides my Dad and my Heavenly Father and Brother, this man is the most important man in my life. I love him so much and I don't know where I would be without him. I certainly would have a lot on my plate with no chance of wiping it clean. For his birthday today, he attended the temple trip with the youth. Some birthday, right? Wrong! I know he wouldn't have wanted to be anywhere else than at the temple. Not only is he an excellent dessert maker and drive a monstrous van, but he is such an inspiring, uplifting, patient man. And I am proud to call him my Bishop. :)

Love, Hunter Bug

Ps. Notice I didn't put how old he was. I'll leave that one a mystery. :)

Hunter's Review

Last night at mutual all we could talk about was how the midnight showing of Transformers was in 4 hours.. or 3 hours.. or whatever. Somehow landed myself a ticket with a few of the youth from my ward and right after mutual we all headed over to AMC theaters. But BEFORE we left I ran into one of my old young women's leaders (though she is the FURTHEST thing from old) and she told me to check it out for her 11 year old son.. you know, see if it's "kid" appropriate. Well, for all of those who are thinking the same thing, I have a review right up front for ya.

When I got my ticket, I was kind of surprised that it said the movie was rated PG.. I don't know if it was a misprint or if they were just being sneaky and wanting to sell more tickets because the rating shows that Transformers is "kid" appropriate. DO NOT BE FOOLED! If I had an 11 year old son, I would hold off on letting him watching it.. But I guess that depends on your view of what they can and cannot see. Don' get me wrong.. Transformers was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!! My mom and I talked one time about how we love listening to it while we are in the car.. just because whenever the robots transform it is the coolest sound ever! Trust me.. it's gotten better. It is pretty long, but I never noticed a dull moment in the movie. Tranformers is funny, the actors are all great and it definitely keeps you on the edge of you seat. I loved it!!!!!!!!!

Now, why do I think that it is not kid appropriate? I was ultimately shocked with the amount of cussing. There are a few suggestive parts that are questionable for an 11 year old (or younger) to see and it does show someones bare behind, but the cussing was definitely noticeable. ALL of us noticed it. And if a group of teenagers notices a lot of cussing in a movie supposedly rated PG.. there's gotta be something wrong with that. If you allow yourself to really get into it, some of the cussing kind of blends in with all of the other dialogue, because this kind of cussing is more often heard around us during the day. They threw a lot of cussing in there to try and spice up the more humorous spots, and though, yes, it did have us all laughing, there was a point where we all looked at each other and said "PG? Yeah right.".

I would recommend this for teenagers 15+ and Mommy Daddy date nights.

Hope you enjoy! It's a pretty good one!

Love, Hunter Bug

LoLa E Bola

Our dear LoLa,

You never cease to amaze me. You hate to cuddle.. yet you always seem to find a snuggly spot next to someone when they are feeling down. And no matter how mean Bridger and Dad are to you; always pulling on your "facial hair" and ears just to see what you'll do, you love on them and greet them the most when they come home from being out.

You know just what an apology looks like. For instance, today when I sat down on the floor and you nearly scratched my eye out, because you thought I was asking you to play; you heard me say some very naughty words to you. So you laid your ears back and licked my arm, surprisingly making me forget how mad I was.

You are the perfect playmate, because you are always up for wrestling, throwing the ball, going for a walk, etc.

Things you could refrain from doing for a while.. (or forever):
1. attempting to run/running out the door every single time it's open
2. UNDERWEAR IS OFF LIMITS! Nuff said.
3. When you drag every one's socks around.. could you possibly carry them around in matched pairs? This would save me a ton of work looking for my matching socks.

I think that should pretty much covers it. :) Love you!

Love, Hunter Bug