We Really Miss You Dad...

Arvin Don Hullinger, D.V.M.

1935 ~ 2009

Arvin Don Hullinger left this earth life on October 22, 2009, to enter the next phase of his eternal progression.

Arv was born on a snowy day in a log farmhouse built by his grandfather in Monarch (Roosevelt), Utah, on December 6, 1935. He was the oldest child of James Edward and Lora Hamblin Hullinger and spent his early years in Roosevelt. After graduating from Union High School, he left home with only $60.00 in his pocket to attend Utah State University to begin pursuit of his lifelong dream of becoming a veterinarian.

He left U.S.U. for two years to serve a mission in the Northern States Mission, and returned to complete his pre-veterinary studies with a BS degree in Microbiology. During his last year at U.S.U., he met Annette Cooper and they were married in the Salt Lake Temple on Aug. 28, 1959. Arvin was accepted into the School of Veterinary Medicine at Colorado State University. In his senior year he was elected Student Body President of the Veterinary School. He graduated in 1963. He practiced small animal medicine in California and Utah for 45 years until his retirement in July 2008. He loved being a veterinarian and valued his clients and patients through the years. Although he came from very humble means, he never considered himself poor. He was able to overcome many obstacles to see his dreams fulfilled.

An active member of the L.D.S. Church, he served as a gospel-doctrine and early-morning teacher, Branch President, Bishop, and High Council Member.

He was passionate about living a full life and spent much of his time in the outdoors hunting, fishing, backpacking and scuba diving. He loved working with tools and employing his skills in welding, plumbing, carpentry, electrical and cement work.

He will be missed by his wife of 50 years, Annette, his children, Mark (Charlene), Dan (Ellen), Kari Ambrose (Tim), Ted (Brenda), Suzanne Ely (Greg), Jane Johnson (Durk), Mindi Call (Michael), Julie Duffin (Rob), and John (Kristen), and 33 grandchildren. His brother, Lynn, and sister, Sharon Oakes (Geary) also survive him.

Viewing will be held Friday, October 23rd from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at Sundberg-Olpin Mortuary, 495 South State Street, Orem. Funeral services will be held on Saturday, October 24th, at 2:00 pm, at the Orem Sunset Heights LDS Chapel, 500 South 600 West with a viewing 12:45 to 1:45 p.m. prior to the services. Interment will be in the Orem City Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Missionary Fund of the L.D.S. Church.

Independence Day

For the 4th of July we had originally planned to be in Utah with John's family. Unfortunately John kept thinking he could find even better deals on airfare and the prices only went up and not down. So we ended up not getting tickets to fly out.

So this is how our Fourth of July went. We woke up early so we could head out to the Indian Trail 4th of July Parade where John got to ride on the town's float. He wasn't exactly excited about this since the majority of the town council has managed to make an embarrassment of our Town. I kept reminding him that he was riding the float to support the town, not to support the other council members. Sadly I did not get any pictures to document this occasion, but I am sure that some of us would just rather forget that it happened and move on. One thing I do not want to forget though, was the feeling I had when the soldiers that participated in the parade passed by us. I actually got teary eyed when they came by and I thought of all the sacrifices that they have made for each and every one of us. I am grateful to have a brother-in-law that is currently serving our country and the blessings he received while he was fighting in Afghanistan.

After the parade we went home for a little relaxing before we were to head off to the Stake Fourth of July Party. After a couple of hours I shewed off the kids that were playing so I could get the kids ready. After they were all ready, John turns to me and says, "Do you really want to go to this?" I told him that I wanted to go to see the fireworks show (since we aren't allowed good fireworks in North Carolina) but I was okay if he wanted to miss the other stuff. So we got into the car and started driving. After a while we just ended up at the local stores trying to find our own fireworks instead of heading to the Stake Party. By that time of the day most every store was sold out so we didn't end up with much, but definitely enough to get the kids excited. So that night we sat out with our neighbors and set off fireworks until 10:30 that night. It was fun for the kids and more relaxing for us parents. We had a really good view from our house of nearby neighborhoods doing some big fireworks.
































During the day I had tried my best to explain why we celebrate Independence Day. Brooklyn understood for about 5 minutes after I told her, but then it was all lost. Josh now wants to get some swords so he can fight the British.

Nature Museum Trip

A couple of weeks ago I took the kids out for a trip to the Nature Museum. It was cute little museum. The kids enjoyed going and seeing some of the animals, but truly loved the Butterflies the most. They tried so hard to get one of them to land on their hand but it was to no avail.















Mom getting in on the action

Broken Toe

Yesterday as we were walking down the stairs to get in the car to take Brooklyn to school a very unfortunate accident happened. Josh decided to stop right in front of me while I am rushing as usual to get in the car. Well I didn't see him stop and I ended up hitting the back of his foot and just about ripped my pinky toe off. Oh my goodness did it hurt. It took a while for it to get all bruised up and now it is swollen enough that I don't feel a lot of the pain. But don't you dare touch it, because you might end up with a broken toe too.

Field Day

So as the school year winds up the kids are starting to have all their fun activities at school. Well Monday was Field Day and the kids got to go out do lots of little activities. I took Josh along with me, which in the end was a pretty bad idea because he was not allowed to do any of the activities with Brooklyn which made him pretty mad. But it was fun to see Brooklyn play with her friends and have a lot of fun.

Birthday Party Fun

Brooklyn and Josh went to our neighbors birthday party this last weekend and had a blast. They had Party Pets come to the party. The kids were amazed at all the animals the man brought. There were snakes, a huge tortoise, a guinea pig, a ferret, a rabbit, a gerbil, and geckos. The best part of all of it was that they got to hold the pets. I was amazed that Josh held them all, without showing any kind of fear. Very fun stuff.












So that one of Josh looks like fear, but I think it was more of having the picture taken because he seriously did love it.

Playgroup for the Boys

I just had to put pictures up of Josh and all his little friends that get together once a week for Playgroup. He is usually good for a couple of days after playgroup but then he starts naming off all the boys and begging for them to come over again. He loves playing with them and can't seem to get enough.














Caleb, Cameron, Josh, Justin, and Grayson taking a break and having a snack.

Kindergarten Presentation

All of the Kindergartner's got to do a small presentation for their parents. They sang songs about everything they had learned throughout the year. This included riding the bus, washing your hands, brushing your teeth, having a good attitude, and how to be polite. Brooklyn got nervous before it started but I managed to get her to her classroom and it was cute to see her singing all the songs and doing all the hand motions that went with them (one of the few kids that actually did it). It is really weird to think that in 3 months she will be going to school as a first grader. I guess it is time for me and John to get busy and make another baby. (just kiddin' John) But seriously Brooklyn and Josh are just growing up too fast!

Here are some pictures with the camera. If I can figure out how to upload the video camera on here I will put some of that on too.

Author's Tea

Every year, the Kindergartners at Brooklyn's school get to show off all the stories that they have written throughout the year. So I arrived at her classroom and all the kids were sitting at their tables with their writings in front of them. I sat down with Brooklyn and looked through her big binder of writings and read all the stories. We then read the "big story" that they had focused on for this day. It was amazing to see how much her writing and story telling had improved through the year. It was really funny to see her even trying to read some of the stories that she had written when school had first started.

After we were done looking through all her things we sat around waiting for something to happen, but nothing did. For some reason I thought there would be a little presentation from all the kids, but that didn't happen. It was probably better since I am sure Brooklyn would have had a major breakdown.

In the handout that we got from the teacher it said we would be able to take our kids home with us if we wanted to. Now remember, school starts at 7:30 and this started at 8:00. So after 2 hours of school the kids were allowed to leave. I asked Brooklyn if she wanted to stay or go home and of course her answer was to go home. We decided to take full advantage of this and we all headed to Carowinds for an afternoon of roller coasters and fun times.

It ended up being a really fun day for us and Brooklyn got to be the star of the day!!

End of the Year Volleyball Party...Part 1

My Carolina RISE Volleyball team got together this last Monday and celebrated our season. We went to a good Mexican restaurant called La Unica. This is only the first half of our party. We are planning on doing a pool party when the weather and water gets a little warmer. Everyone came but two of the girls. (I think one of them is still mad at me because of the way the season ended, hopefully she and her parents will realize it was just a game and there is no reason to be upset about it anymore.) It was fun to get together with the girls and their parents and to reminisce and see what everyone is up to.

Weekend at Myrtle Beach

We spent this last weekend hanging out at Dunes Village at Myrtle Beach. The kids were first apprehensive about going to beach, but when they woke up in the morning and saw what all there was to do, they were so excited. We spent a couple of hours in the morning at the indoor water park at our hotel. It was extremely awesome for kids. The water was so warm, compared to the ocean, and there was lots to do. After the water park, we headed out to the beach. I am used to warm water oceans and very sandy beaches. I have yet to find that any where on the east coast. The beaches seem to all be full of rocks and shells and the water is so cold to me. I may need to head further down south, like Florida, to find that warm water I need and the hot sand.

Anyway while we were down at the beach, we got to watch a small little wedding happen. It was pretty cool, for me anyway. There were only about ten people there, but still very cute.

John and the kids played around in the water, while I did a lot of people watching. John dug a huge whole in the beach. I am not quite sure what he was looking for, but he just kept digging. When John and Josh got in the water together, they nearly got stung by a jelly fish. So that ended the water escapades. We then headed back to the water park for another hour or so and then headed home. It was short but very sweet. The kids had fund and we all got to relax for a little.

Our hotel from the beach









Playing at the Water Park



















Fun at the Beach


















Attack of the Jelly Fish...this one lost









Lunch at Thorny's
This restaurant had the best idea. Each table had their own television. We were able to keep the kids entertained and have a good meal.

Talented photographer...for a 5 year old

So every once in a while I will find some really random pictures that have been taken on my camera. Somehow Brookyln is able to get a hold of my camera and goes off and starts taking some pictures in the backyard. Well this time I was actually pretty impressed with some of the shots she took. We may have a very talented photographer in our near future. These were a few of my favorites.

Joshua Turns 3

On April 18, Josh turned 3. We had originally planned to head out to Myrtle Beach to hang out and have some fun, but with a busy week we were just too tired to go. We ended up having fun for his Birthday the next best possible way...Chuck E. Cheese!!!

We all slept in that day and got out of bed around 9:00. We decided that it would be better to go early since it wouldn't be too crowded. We got there around 10:30 and had a blast. I think John and I had the most fun, there were even times the kids wanted coins and we would hide some so we could use them for ourselves. John and I competed against each other in the basketball game and course we all know who won...ME!! I am not sure if John will ever admit that I am a better shot then him, but maybe one day. Okay, so back to Josh. We let the kids run around and play games for an hour or so, had pizza, and had a lot of fun.












After Chuck E. Cheese, we headed home for some normal Saturday activities...cleaning the house a bit, doing some yard work, etc., etc. After eating a great barbeque, we sat down for some yummy cake and presents. Sometimes I feel that kids get too many toys and especially ones that they may play with one time and then they are done. So we kept it simple and got Josh a Spider-Man Backpack and a motorcycle that does wheelies (which I now wish I hadn't got because it is so incredibly loud and he always wants to play with it when it is bedtime). But of course he loved them both and was happy to have them.












So HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my most favorite 3 year old in the whole world. We love you Josh!!!!

EASTER 2009

For the past two years we have been traveling to Atlanta, GA for a volleyball tournament/family reunion that always seemed to happen Easter weekend. So this was our first Easter at our home in North Carolina. I don't think it really made a difference to the kids because they still woke up to Easter baskets in their hotel room and got lots of goodies, even more than they did this year because my whole family would contribute to all the nieces/nephews baskets.

This year Brooklyn woke up earlier than usual and almost caught the Easter Bunny filling up the baskets. I had to tell her to wait because she couldn't see the Easter Bunny in action. The Easter Bunny always brings the kids a small little gift and some candy. This year Brooklyn got Hungry Hungry Hippo and Josh got a T-Ball Set. We then got ready for church and headed off for a great service. After church the kids had a small but fun little easter egg hunt. There was one golden egg for each of them that contained $1 so that they could pay for Monday's activities at Plaza Fiesta. They were so excited when they found that egg!

WOW...It's Been A Really Long Time!!

So, I guess you can say I am really bad. I haven't made an entry on my blog since November last year. I have been really busy, but I am usually at the computer doing some type of work, so there really is no excuse. So let me try to catch everything up so we can see what has been going on.

Grandma Beattie
My Grandma, Phoebe LaPrele Beattie, passed away on September 27th, 2008. I flew out to California to attend her funeral. The funeral was very heart warming and sad, but the trip was very fun for everyone that attended. We had a blast reminiscing over all the funny stuff that my grandparents did throughout their lives. We dressed up in my grandmas house coats, she had enough for an army of housewives. We looked through a lot of her old pictures and got to take some important things home with us to remind us of her. My grandma was an awesome woman and will be missed by everyone that knew her.


First Date In A Really Long Time
For Christmas I bought John tickets to a Jim Brickman concert. I didn't know who he was until I met John. His music is great if you want that mellow mood, which isn't always me, but he is really good and fun to watch play the piano. We had looked at going to a concert of his in the past but he always seemed to playing on Sundays when he was playing where we lived. So finally he was playing on a weeknight and we could go. Unfortunately I wasn't able to keep this a surprise, but he still enjoyed it. My most favorite part of the concert was Ann Cochran. There was portion of the concert after the intermission when they read some comments that people in the audience had written for Jim. She read one completely wrong but it came out in the most hilarious way and she even started crying because she could not stop laughing. We had a great night...now I just need to get John to do that more often with me.


My Sister Lauren
So this part is mostly for my friends and in-laws. My sister and her husband moved to Germany right after Thanksgiving. Adam is in the army and was stationed at Fort Bragg as part of the 82nd Airborne. Six months after they got married he was called to Afghanistan. He was there for a year and came back without any injury, thank goodness. Adam is very good at what he does and he wanted to move himself forward in what he did, and also not have to go back to fighting in the war (sorry if that is not totally right Adam). So he applied for a position as the General's Assistant in Germany. Well he got the position, yea :), but by then my sister was 5 months pregnant. Soon my sister found out that things are done a little different in Germany with regards to baby delivery. They didn't provide hospital gowns in the doctor offices and they seemed to have no respect for privacy. So I had a friend in my ward sew up some nursing gowns for her so that she could have some privacy while delivering her baby. On March 14, Addison Knox Davies was born and he is the cutest little baby boy. My sister is taking complete advantage of her awesome camera and taking the best pictures ever. Visit her blog for all of the details on that (look at my friends list on the right hand side).



Carolina RISE Volleyball
Club Volleyball season started up again with tryouts back in November. We had our first practices in December. Tournaments started in January and things were really tough on the team. We were lacking some of the talent that I thought we really needed. But nothing a good coach can't fix right... Well we made some position changes, moved some things around and this is how our season went:
Tournament #1 - (this was the first tournament for us but the second the region had for our age division) 1 - 3, not that great but we did win one match.
Tournament #2 - (they moved us down to Silver Division) 2 - 1, lost in quarter finals of the playoffs.
Tournament #3 - 3 - 0, WOW, we didn't lose a game in pool play!! Lost in the semi-finals of the playoffs :(
Tournament #4 The Southern Classic, Spartanburg SC - This was our first out-of-state tournament, so we were facing teams we had never seen before. We also had to play in the Power Division so these were teams that were much better than us to begin with. We ended up finishing 19th out of 28 teams. Overall that was a great finish for us!!
Tournament #5 The Peachtree Classic, Atlanta GA - We finished 5th out of 22 teams. This tournament had made the whole season to this point worth it. Of course there is not a lot of room in these gyms when you are packing in all the parents and players. So, in our last game of the tournament, my girls are playing awesome. I hear some parents from other teams that are watching and making comments. This one dad that was close to me says, "Now this is real volleyball." At that point I was completely satisfied. My girls were just doing so good, as well as the other team. So to hear someone who had nothing invested in either team say that made me so happy!!!
Tournament #6 Region Finals - We went 2-1 in pool play (the girls were having a really off game in the one we lost). Then we lost to the #1 team in our division. We finished in 5th place for the tournament. Still waiting to see how we finished in the region.
Tournament #7 Big South National Qualifier, Atlanta GA - So at this point I think the girls are just wasted from playing so many tournaments and not getting enough breaks between the tournaments, practices, and all their school work that had to be done. Needless to say, we played horrible this weekend. This tournament was a 3 day tournament and we only won one game the whole weekend. ugh. It is hard when you are dealing with nine 15 year olds, their attitudes, their hormones, and their parents. After this tournament I am just glad that the season is over. I really need a break, and my family really needs me back. I think it is time for me to go use the massage gift cards I got for Christmas.

As hard as this season was, I did enjoy it. It really was a lot of fun.


I am sure there is much more that I could put on here and when I think of it I will put it on. But for now, this is what I have. I will do better and be sure to add stuff as it comes.