overview/recap

here's what's been going on at our house the past month or so.

 ella is still crazy.

and so is ryan.

 ella was a fashion witch for Halloween.

aftie was annabeth from the percy Jackson series.

we had fun at the trunk or treat at our church.

 ella had a party at school.

here she is with her darling friend, molly.

 and here she is in all her witchiness.

 it was a dark and stormy night for trick or treating,

but that didn't stop the kids from staying out for hours!

 aftie invited some friends over for pizza and trick or treating.

they were soaking wet by the end of the night!

 ella and kira had a spa night, a week or two ago.

aren't those faces hysterically funny?!

 we were able to attend afton's young women in excellence evening at the church.

each of the girls made a paper doll of themselves, and shared some of the projects they have been working on for their personal progress program.

they also shared their "holy place", which is a place where they are able to be quiet and feel of our Heavenly Father's Spirit and love.

afton's holy place was girls camp.

 afton also played in a string quartet with some of her friends that evening.

they were great!

I do think that they had more fun laughing during their practices than they actually practiced.

I was called to be our wards relief society president a couple of weeks ago.

that was a surprise, i assure you.

but we are moving forward and i have the most

beautiful,

wonderful,

enthusiastic,

and loving

girls to work with me.

I love them all so much already.

from left to right:

Melissa-my secretary

Jessica-my 1st counselor

me!

Rebekah-my 2nd counselor

i'm sure we all have much to learn

and hope to help many people grow closer to our Heavenly Father.



congratulations ryan hulse!

this guy has been working for 10 years in a row, at Honeywell!

he deserves a prize!

his boss was in town the other night and took us to dinner to celebrate.

AND he got to order a gift from a catalog. 

it was a tough decision, but he went with the silver coin. 

I think it will be a lovely addition to his coin collection. 

afterall, he doesn't already have a commemorative Honeywell coin.

thanks for working hard and taking care of us Ry!!!

we love you!

 

and as a sidenote-i got my hair cut super-short and colored super-blonde!

always learning

this past week has been full of frustration, concern, unbelief, and confusion, but also a week of peace and insight. 

I went to my regular annual check up last week and during my exam a lump was found in my right breast. 

that's the same one that gave us trouble awhile ago! 

I was sent for a sonogram/ultrasound to check it out.  I thought it would be nothing.  perhaps some scar tissue from my previous cancer surgeries.  the ultrasound detected suspicion...I couldn't believe it.  I had just been in for my 6 month check up at Roswell Cancer Institute, where everything looked just fine. 

they wanted to send me for a biopsy. 

ryan and I were totally freaked out. 

I even called my mom, like a scared little girl, crying. 

(say that like hans and franz!) 

then I got tough, and decided to go ahead with a planned trip to st Louis, that afternoon. 

my mother in law had knee surgery a couple of weeks ago.  I thought we should zip down for the long weekend to help her out. 
in the meantime, I was able to get an appointment at Roswell for the following Wednesday. 

we said lots of prayers. 
we asked our families for extra prayers. 
we fasted on sunday.
we asked our families to fast with us. 

sunday was a peaceful day for me. 
My mind felt so calm and restful. 

In the evening, Ryan and his dad gave me a blessing. 
The peace continued. 
It was so nice to feel such calm and peace.

I don't feel that very often, and I commented several times to ryan about it. 

yesterday I went to roswell...

expecting them to find cancer and expecting to hear that I would need a mastectomy. 

a mastectomy would likely have been my next step in treatment the last go 'round. 

turns out, the lump was just a fatty deposit. 

a cyst filled with oil.

that's it! 

they don't even care about those. 

no big deal. 

it's taken me a while to absorb the great news, as I was expecting the worst. 

throughout this week of questions and the unknown, I felt such peace and I thank Heavenly Father for blessing me with it. 

I was reminded how much prayer and fasting can really benefit a person's life. 

I wonder what might have happened had we NOT prayed and fasted. 
I wonder if the lump WAS cancer and a miracle occurred.
(my nurse practitioner was REALLY concerned) 

I don't doubt that could happen. 

I just wonder about it all. 

sometimes prayer and fasting seem sort of mystical to me, even though I know of their power.  maybe because they are centered on faith and not something I can reach out and touch, or check off a list, or purchase at the store. 

sometimes I think it would be nice if I could just grab a packet of faith at wegmans in the baking aisle. 

then when I needed some, I could just tear open the package and sprinkle some in my smoothie at breakfast. 

voila! 

you have faith! 

i'll bet faith would even be added to the daily food requirements. 

(you know how it used to be the food pyramid, but now it's the plate) 

they would probably add it to the vegetable or fruit requirement, because it's that important! 

anyway- it's a good thing to always be on the lookout for learning experiences. 

something a little less nerve-wracking for the next time is my hope! 

although, it was a good Halloween scare. 

so true...

tonite, our aftie is not feeling well.

I even took her to the doctor earlier this afternoon. 

she was supposed to go to a raucous "cupcake war" birthday party tonite, but opted out. 

after school, we were heading to the newly opened Hobby Lobby to pick out a gift for the party tonite.  she's been dying to go all week, but wasn't up to staying more than 5 or 10 minutes. 

 

ella's journal entry this evening reads,

"my sister loves crafts and it is an awesome craft store.  but my sister didn't want to go.  that is always a sign that she is either really, really tired or she is not feeling good at all!"

 

ella really knows her sister!

softball banquet #2

ella also had a softball banquet!

unfortunately, i wasn't able to attend, but ryan and aftie were there to support our little belle.

this is the only photo i received from ry.

every girl on the seadogs team received an award for playing.

ella was happy and had a great time dancing with her friends after the awards ceremony.

yay, ella!

softball banquet #1

so many "firsts" this summer...

afton and ella both playing softball for the

first time.

which leads us to our

first softball banquet.

afton's team won the silver division championship

and needed to pick up their "hardware".

(that's what coach Koz calls it!)

the girls on the team all sat together for dinner and awards.

here's the entire team.

such great girls.

they were so kind to afton and welcomed her to their team.

many of the girls have been playing together since t-ball.

many of the girls play modified/jv softball and lots of other sports.

coach koz was really great and encouraging.

he was a fun coach.

these three beauties each received an award for

most improved player!

when coach koz announced the award winners, he made special mention of this being afton's

first time

playing softball-

and how brave she was to have started softball at her age

(since most girls start when their 5)

and how brave she was to be put on a team where she knew no one!

(we already knew how brave and amazing and wonderful she is!)

all of those tennis and golf lessons apparently paid off-

because our aftie could really hit the ball!

her coaches couldn't believe how well she could hit!

way to go aftie!!!!

first day of school 2013!

this year marks a milestone for ella-

grade 4!

top of the school!

grade 4 entitles a student to intramural sports, library helper, band/orchestra, attendance collections, and a myriad of other perks.

our aftie girl has been thriving for the past two years in middle school. 

grade 7 marks her halfway point as a middle school student.

that means high school is right around the corner.

don't even get me started.

i'm verklempt.

talk amongst yourselves...

here's our sweet girls helping each other put on their first-day bracelets.

here's our sassy belle waiting for the bus.

and our very grown-up looking aftie girl.

p.s. they did not plan matching outfits for the first day.

it just happened!

here's the bus-

luckily, ella is still ok with me following the bus to school and walking her to her new classroom.

she has ms. berger this year!

ms berger loves science!

we're excited for extra science time this year!

and a fun coincidence...

one of ryan's co-workers is a dear friend to ms. berger

afton wasn't too thrilled about me walking her to class and taking pictures with her teachers.

but they both had a great first day back and it's looking to be a great year!

summer=playtime

we've done so many fun things this summer!

we still have a week to go, but here's a pictorial recap...

movies with friends

creating gorgeous nail designs

science museum

celebrating auntie rach's 40th birthday in Illinois

playing with cutie cousins

-ella and Prescott always pick right back up where they left off-

art fest in Illinois with grandma and family

painting

hiking to the eternal flame with our very own boy scout guide, ethan!

drinking soda in the middle of the week.

crazy!!!

doing hair

"I promise that my personal tragedy will not interfere with my ability to do good hair"

(my favorite line from steel magnolias)

baking with friends

harry potter "house" signs brought home from London for these two harry potter fans!

sister baking time

my little farmers market shopper

crafting the day away with friends

afton's newly found paradise-Creative Essence

hiking to the Eternal Flame again!

such good friends

reading in glen park

ella and Claire love wading in the water at glen park

and posing for their mama's cameras!

crystal beach!!!

Canadian paradise!

spa night for ella and lilly

the dreaded day of going through clothes

annual Honeywell day at darien lake six flags

ella and I on the super fun ride, "moose on the loose"

silly belle!