new car

today started out as any normal saturday and ended completely un-normal. as previously mentioned in the "miracle of the non-starting rodeo" post, we've been having a bit of trouble in the car department. in fact, ella is now a very firm believer that when you say a pray your car will start. it's just a matter of fact to her, and rightly so...because everytime the car doesn't start, ella folds her arms and tells me to say a prayer. and wouldn't you know it, the car starts every single time. no kidding. so now that we know the true power of prayer, we're moving on.

after a stressful morning of test driving and number crunching, we headed home and took a break. in the late afternoon we spontaneously decided to run over to the honda place and look at their new hybrid, the insight. i really liked it, but the salesman steered us over to a civic. i wasn't very excited because it seemed a bit like a college car and i was ready for something a little more grown up. but after some chatting, he offered us a deal we absolutely could not refuse. and so we will be driving a 2009 honda civic beginning monday.

i don't mean to be sappy/cheesy/etc, but this was one of those situations where everything absolutely fell into place and felt like the very best decision. it's a reminder to me that we are watched over and blessed for the little things that we try to do each day to follow jesus christ. i don't know how it all works up there in heaven, but i know that it does indeed work.

adventures across the border

this is alyx. she has now been to canada. and to the canadian immigration/customs/border patrol office. along with ryan, me, aft, ella, anne and kev.

geez, you try to cross a border without a birth certificate and whaddya get? a long line in a government office. (it is nice to know that other countries have long lines and slow government employees) after an hour or so, we got on with our trip to the falls.

here's the sweet alyx with one of the girls. aren't we amazing photographers? the niagara falls are always a sight to see. i never tire of seeing that awesome, powerful water.
and here's the whole group in our lovely blue slickers. sadly, this is the hulse family's first time aboard the maid of the mist. and sadly it's because i've been too scared to go. it wasn't my favorite thing to do, but i'm glad i can say i've been pelted with water from the falls.

we had a really fun day and even were allowed to return to the land of the free, but not without a lecture from the border patrol officer.

the sweetest day

sunday was the sweetest day for our family. not because we got to eat all these yummy treats...
not because we got to play with friends...

it was the sweetest day because our aftie was baptized!

she wore a beautiful gown, had her grandparents and cousin here, and a lot of wonderful friends at the baptism to show their support and love.

her grandfathers each gave a special talk for aft and her dad baptized her.

it was a wonderful day from morning until night!

ryan is one year older

admittedly this is not the best photo of my sweet ry, but it does showcase one of his favorite things...peanut m&ms. afton wrapped 10 individual packets separately for his birthday! after opening the first couple of packets, he caught on to her little birthday trick. we love this guy and after this week with him traveling, we've been reminded that life is much more fun and better with him around! we love you ry!

aftie's high school musical soiree

there were presents!

there was singing and dancing!

there was trivia!

and then there were charades!

also...there was a lot of ice cream and candy and tragically, many a sugar overdose.

our miracle

this morning i let aftie sleep in a little since she was up late watching her new high school musical dvd. so, i drove her to school and turned off the car to run her in. when i came back to start the car, it wouldn't start. i tried 5 or 6 times to start it, but nothing. i was thinking what a pain it was going to be to get our car taken care of. so i told ella, "let's say a prayer and see if that will help us". so, we did and i tried really hard to have faith that our car would start. i turned the key and it started right up.

some people might think it started just because i had taken a few minutes to let it rest and that's why it started. but i know without a doubt that heavenly father is real. he hears our prayers and he answers them. i am so, so glad that i know this. it makes my life much easier and i feel peace during times when stressful situations arise. i feel so loved and blessed.

look who's 8 today!

today our sweet aftie turned 8! seriously, wasn't she just born a year or two ago? i think she just gets more wonderful and beautiful and smart with each birthday. i think she had a fun day. she did say "this is the best day of my life!"

ella and i were able to go to her class for a little birthday celebration.








aft wanted a chocolate chip cookie "cake". it turned out to be two gigantic batches of chocolate chip cookie dough baked on a jelly roll pan. the kids loved it!

for dinner, the birthday girl chose her favorite...peanut butter noodles. they are really lettuce wraps, but she calls them peanut butter noodles. although she hid her face for the photo, we had a lovely dinner outside. and then came the most important part of a birthday celebration...

PRESENTS!!!

spoiled rotten, i tell you. new clothes, new books, oil pastels, high school musical everything, and a few other wonderful things! ella and marmee won the "favorite gift" awards with a singing gabrielle (high school musical3) doll and the classic book, heidi.

we ended the day with a trip to cold stone creamery for a fun birthday ice cream.

we love our sweet girl and look forward to more excitement in the coming weeks.

happiness is...

spending the morning with my sweetie at the pre-school mother's day tea,
and seeing her excitement about the festivities...
downloading photos and finding the girls have been using the camera...
singing along to the high school musical station on pandora with aftie

happy birthday dad!

today is my dad's birthday. here are some funny, i mean fantastic, pictures of him in his younger years. who's that little cutie pie kevin's holding? that's me!
doesn't he look little?

snazzy suit, kev!

(and can you tell i'm new at scanning?)

we love you dad!

you are the best and funniest and smartest and most handsome!
have a great day!

from my friend rach

i haven't checked in on anyone's blogs for a little while, but tonite i found this from my amazing friend, rachel...
www.sugaryfrogs.blogspot.com

Pay it Forward
In memory of our baby Maxwell, I wanted to make and donate receiving blankets. I would like to donate these blankets to Utah Valley Medical Center in Utah as well as local hospital's here in New York. The blankets would be given to grieving parents who lose their babies. I know when Maxwell passed away one thing that I wanted was for him to be kept warm. I remember receiving a white blanket from someone I didn't know and I can't tell you how much it meant to me. I loved bundling Maxwell tight in something warm. I want to pay it forward,so my goal is to donate 100 receiving blankets and I need YOUR help. If YOU or SOMEONE you know (grandma, aunt, cousin, friend, sister, brother, mother-in-law etc) is willing to help make or buy material to make a blanket LET ME KNOW. This will be awesome if we can pull this off,I can't do it on my own, please help me out! Thank you!!!!Please spread the word on your blogs and facebook accounts!

funny ella

i have a "rule" about the girls going together to get a drink or use the "ladies" during sacrament meeting at church. so yesterday aftie said she needed to go to the bathroom. i asked her to have ella go with her. she asked ella and ella said, "no".

a minute later, she whispered to ryan, "i'll go with her, but i'm not gonna do it."