we're back

hello fans, we're back in town. we had a wonderful/nauseating trip to houston. let me explain...the night before we left, aftie and i spent many hours in the bathroom, then felt rotten on our flight. luckily ellie and ry were great and had good flights. (ry and el flew together and aft and i flew together to maximize the air miles) throughout the week the girls and i both had sore bellies, but were able to manage some fun. (we are troopers!) then, last night aftie and i arrived at the airport to find ryan not doing so well. poor ry had a early trip to syracuse this morning, but arrived home just before golf league started and was able to pull out a 48. not too shabby for a less than well golfer. tiger would be proud.

now for the wonderful part of the trip...all of ry's family (siblings) was there and able to witness their littlest brother's temple wedding. travis and megan looked lovely and happy and very much in love. we all love megan and her family. the flower girls (nieces) were thrilled with their assignments, except for ella, who i accompanied down the aisle.
besides the wedding festivities, we did a lot of swimming in grandma and grandpa's pool, played with cousins, watched movies and enjoyed the sun!

i have pictures to post, but i have to download them first and i'm a bit tired. so maybe tomorrow you will see some super cute pictures, especially one of the little cousins.

funny

have i mentioned how funny my friend christi is? here are a few quotes from her post today. i am stealing a few from her, but you can find the rest on her blog, or maybe not because you have to be invited. sorry.

Advice for the day: If you have a lot of tension and youget a headache, do what it says on the aspirin bottle: "Take two aspirin" and "Keep away from children."--Author Unknown

Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a support group for that. It's called EVERYBODY, and they meet at the bar.--Drew Carey

If a woman has to choose between catching a fly ball and saving an infant's life, she will choose to save the infant's life without even considering if there is a man on base.--Dave Barry

I think that's how Chicago got started. Bunch ofpeople in New York said, "Gee, I'm enjoying the crime and the poverty, but it just isn't cold enough. Let's go west.''--Richard Jeni

Our bombs are smarter than the average high school student. At least they can find Afghanistan.--A. Whitney Brown

Everybody's got to believe in something. I believe I'll have another beer. --W. C. Fields

i'm not sure the last one is really that funny, because didn't w.c. fields die from alcoholism? seriously, i thought i heard that.

anyway, here's another funny thing... my friend kari and i played singles on saturday morning. you would've had a good laugh if you'd been able to see us.
then a couple of boys from our ward were at the courts playing and asked if we'd like to join them for doubles. one of them told ryan at church the next day, "they were better than i thought they'd be." ha, ha.

here's another funny thing...it's 10pm and the girls are still awake, and fighting over a blanket. it just doesn't get any funnier!

new beautiful quilts from grandma

these are our new beautiful quilts that grandma made! afton's is pink and yellow on the back and ella's is lavendar on the back. i searched forever to find orange and lavendar bedding for ella's room. so, while jan was visiting last time, we ran to the quilt shop and low and behold...the cutest orange polka dot fabric and orange with little cream colored flowers. you can't see it very well in the photos, but it is super cute!
the girls were soooooo excited. they both wanted to snuggle up with them right away. also, they really wanted a picture taken with only their hands showing. so there you have it.
a big THANK YOU to grandma for all of her hard work. we love you!

comedians

as ella was praying tonite (with one eye on the television) she said the following "please bless our movie, that we're not watching, but we're going to watch and please bless it."

she also likes to ask for a blessing on our "pits". yes, armpits.

afton also says very funny things like, "can i have a friend come over to play" 25 times in 5 minutes. apparently i'm not entertaining enough for her.

here are a list of a few of my recent favorites:

i just read the bean trees by barbara kingsolver and i l-o-v-e-d, loved it.

also tonite i watched no reservations and loved it as well.

i am also loving peanut butter sandwiches, which is a little strange because i have never liked them. i keep telling the girls that they should keep trying things, because your tastes change. it only took 34 years for me to like pb&j.

i cleaned out the refrigerator and i really love looking into an almost empty fridge. it's so clean and white and cool. i told ryan that i cleaned out the fridge and he asked if there was anything left. i told him we still had mustard and maple syrup.

also, i would like this:

it's a cute little ipod dock. it seems like i've seen it before, but it really caught my eye today.

somebody help me

let's just say...it's 11:40pm, ryan's out of town, i've baked 2 different kinds of cookies, my stomach is about to burst from all the "testing" of cookies, and i need some serious help. especially because i'm writing about this madness of mine. i think it stinks that ryan is gone. he's my best friend and i really miss him, especially at night, when i'm my most unrealistic self.

that's when one of my other personalities comes out, "wendy-worrier". wendy has a hey-day. wendy always hears noises in the house that should certainly be investigated, but wendy instead lays sweating in bed, just praying that the madness will end quickly.

and then i haven't introduced you to my other personality, "emily-entrepeneur". emily loves to dream up all sorts of business ideas. everything from designing a clothing line, complete with the home decor line, to a smoothie bar with an expansion into the organic muffin world. i'll tell you, she's come up with some pretty fantastic plans.

i've got loads of other "friends" that come to plague my mind when i should be sleeping peacefully, but i'll save those introductions for another time when ryan's gone. bet you can't wait.

well, i think i'll take a shot at it. i could at least get my pajamas on. that would be a good start.
sweet dreams.

i love to see the temple

ella's favorite song is, i love to see the temple. she really sings it well. anway, this is the new twin falls, idaho temple. it's hard to believe that there is a real, live temple there. i remember talking to my mom when i was young and asking her why she had to go all the way to idaho falls or boise to go to the temple. she told me that if the people in our area of idaho were faithful and strong, maybe someday the area would be blessed with their own temple. i remember thinking that would probably never happen. but it has! the really cool part about it for me, is that it is in my old ward boundaries. it's on a former golf course that i used to drive past on my way to the mall. it's just down the street from where my friend, cori and my friend marc used to live. it seems so amazing that a temple is there now.

my mom and dad have been in on all the action. my dad gets to give tours, and does not get to add any jokes. the other night on the phone, he practiced his tour speech on me and added in a little something about "the moon casting a shadow at just the right time, and angel moroni looks a little like louis armstrong". then my mom yelled, "KEVIN! you can't say that!"

my mom is the open house committee woman. she was in charge of all things lovely and delicious for the open house visitors center area. that's where the tourists come to eat and ask questions. i caught a small glimpse on a news clip(see my sister megan's blog) she was speaking on, and in the background i could see some of the beautiful-ness she has been working so hard on for the past year. she is one talented and probably exhausted lady! i can't wait to see pictures of everything they did.

my sister and her kids get to be at the cornerstone ceremony with pres. monson! hopefully they'll politely push themselves through the crowd and get a moment with the prophet. anne and kev get to be in the celestial room during the dedication. all of those planning meetings about cookies and decor sure paid off, huh mom?

well, ry is off to purdue tonite. so the girls and i are staying up late to watch movies "all night" (according to aftie) this week and have fun with our friends. the highlights of the week will probably be afton's tennis lessons and our 5th visit to the hill cumorah pageant. we actually love going every year and especially enjoy it without any rain.

on a completely different note, is there anyone out there who really enjoys cleaning their house? (besides you, mom!) i'm always glad when it's done and our home is nice and clean, but i do not enjoy cleaning, at all. i don't like getting hot and sweaty, i don't like to get my hands dirty, and i do not like picking up lots of little papers strewn throughout various rooms in the house. also, it's such a time taker-upper. i keep telling ryan, i'm going to call the merry maids. he just laughs, but who will be laughing when they show up one day?

by the way, afton is becoming one super fantastic jump roper! watch out! (literally, watch out, she gets me with that rope everytime.)

july 4th eve

'twas the night before independence day
and at the Hulse house
not one child was sleeping,
not one child in the house.

the children were playing with ponies and such
with visions of swimming, friends and more, yes much






the flag was hung on the flagpole with care
in hopes that the fireworks soon would be there.











and amy in the kitchen
and ryan at the grill
we'd just set out the dinner
for a nice quiet meal.


when out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
i sprang from my lawn chair to see what was the matter.


the water puddled in the grass nearby
made new, squishy mud that would really fly!
when what to my wondering eyes should appear,
but afton and ella in a tent...(my biggest fear)






with instructions so easy, so simple, so quick
i knew in a moment it must be a trick.
ryan must have had extra time at work
to think up a plan he knew i couldn't shirk.

the girls so excited, their eyes so bright
to refuse to sleep out, just wouldn't be right.
i'll do it for the children, i thought to myself,
but i knew in my heart, i'd be lying to myself.

"now pillows, now blankets, now socks for our feet!
more pillows, more babies, more flashlights, more treats!
to the inside of the tent! to the inside we go!
now set it all up, it'll be such a show!"

and then, in a twinkling, i saw with my eyes
the excitement, the plans, the happy surprise.
i knew there'd be no stopping them now,
i knew i should tell them their mom is a bore, but how?

they were dressed all in jammies from their heads to their feet,
and their hands were full, with a book and a treat.
a bundle of blankets slung over their backs
and they looked like they do when their suitcase they pack.

my eyes, how they rolled,
my feet how they stumbled.
my excuses and reasons
they came out all jumbled.

i was silly and sad, a crazy old mom,
and they laughed when they heard me, "that silly mom!"
a stack of books i carried to them in bed,
soon helped them to know they had nothing to dread.

i climbed in the tent, read them stories, sang a song,
then climbed right back out, i'd done them no wrong.
then i heard them exclaim, as i ran in the house,
we'll see you in the morning, you scared little mouse!

hope you enjoyed my attempt at rhyming! have a great 4th of July!