athletes

we are such athletes.

teams are knocking down our door

trying to recruit us.

okay, not really.

 aftie and ella bella are playing softball and loving it!

ella was awarded player of the game last week.

she loves playing catcher and 1st base.

afton also loves playing 1st base, but never, ever in a million years wants to catch. 

thank you very much.

they are both really doing so great,

and don't mind the proud mama...

but they are both some of the better players on their teams.

 I joined USTA for the first time this summer.

I am on the "orange crushers" team.

and frankly, we are crushing every team we come up against.

of course, I've only played once so far.

but I'm sure my amazing tennis abilities won't hinder my teams performance!

(please say a prayer on my behalf)

this is my doubles partner, wendy.

she is so nice and fun to play with.

we won our match!

6-2, 6-1

ryan has been playing racquetball in the morning

and golf in the evening.

but only when he's allowed out of the house by the orange crusher!

 



mother's day pre-church photo shoot

I just wanted a simple picture of the girls and myself.

 

so we tried an outside shot

and another 

 and another

 let's try one in the sun

 it's too bright!

 it's burning my eyes!

ow!  mom! 

I can't open my eyes.  it hurts.  whine. whine. whine.

alright. one more inside.

silly faces.

 and finally we have a decent photo.

 

in other news:

afton gave her first talk in sacrament meeting today.

she did a great job!

she was poised and confident and spoke clearly.

practically perfect.  it made this day extra special for me to hear her thoughts on motherhood.

here is the talk she gave, copied straight from her paper:

Hello. My name is Afton Hulse and I have been asked to speak on the appretiation of mothers.  To start out my thinking on this subject, I began to think of the different jobs a mother has.  Our mom clean, take their families places, cook, buy groceries and clothes, keep children happy, comfort families, attend meetings, and do other things as well.  After thinking of this mall list, and knowing there was much mor, I thought of how hard it was for us me to get up out of bed each morning.  Yet every morning my mom wakes up earlier than me and actually gets up.  My mom has the willpower to do that and I don't.  I think that's amazing, but I also think it's amazing that mothers stay sane.  Because, I know that my sister and I, sometimes bring mom to the point of her almost going bannannas.  Mothers, if this happened/ or happens to you, please know that we are sorry.  Also remember this quote by Elder M. Russel Ballard.  "There is no one perfect way to be a good mother. 

Each situation is unique.  Each mother has different challenges, different skills and abilities, and certainly different children.  What matters is that a mother loves her children deeply."  To children and youth, always remember to thank you mother.  Even for the little things because eventually you'll have to be doing all of those little things yourself.  I know what you're all thinking," What difference will that make?"  Trust me that it will.  One day when I was in French class my teacher brought us a cake to celebrate 3 kings day.  She had spent her own money on it and didn't have to give the cake to us.  But by the end of class only me and another kids had thanked her for it.  She was disappointed that only 2 out of 24 students had thought to do so.  Being thanked for doing anything makes anyone feel good.  While I was on Pintrest one day I found what looked like a dictionary entry of the word mother.  The definition that was there was, "One person who does the work of twenty.  For free."  This was proved to me in a video where they held fake inteviews for the world's toughest job.  The requirements seemed crazy and inhumane.  Some were that you had to stay on your feet for an extended amount of time.  Be willing to bed down a lot.  There were no breaks in the job, you could only eat after the "associate" had eaten and you could only sleep after the "associate" was asleep.  There was an extensive list of other obscure and taxing requirements.  At the end of the interview all of the applacants found out that the job was a mother.  After the video was over, my little sister said "they forgot all the laundry!"  I've always thought that being a mother will be really easy.  But after thinking about it, I know that even though it won't be easy, it is one of the best and most rewarding jobs there is.  I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ.  Amen.

 

 

hulse holiday 2014

ryan and I were the recipients of the

"world's worst parents award 2013"

for neglecting to take our darlings to

Splash Lagoon for our annual hulse holiday, last year.

thank goodness we've redeemed ourselves this year.

Monday and Tuesday marked our 50th annual trip.

(feels kinda like we've been 50 times)

 poor ella...

she's so shy.

I'm just not sure how to help her break out of her shell.

 maybe she doesn't get enough attention?

 ryan and the girls in the frog "hot tub"

(it's not really very hot, so the littlest guests can enjoy a hot tub experience)

this is the girls favorite place to be at splash lagoon.

as I slowly lower my body into the water,

I feel as if I am surrendering myself to a warm cesspool of germs

of all types.

a truly wonderful experience, I assure you.

 ryan saw that Jungle Jack, or some animal guy,

was having an animal show one of the days we were there.

it turned out to be pretty great.

the girls touched a python, tortoise, and a myriad of other animals/reptiles, etc!

 the girls both wanted to try out the

Tree Tops Ropes Course.

they had attempted this a few years ago

and I never thought they'd put those harnesses on again.

it was too scary for them.

but this time they were so brave!

and they had fun! 

we were also able to enjoy a fun dinner with our beloved Gruwell family!

we are so happy they live in Erie PA, just minutes from splash lagoon!!!

another fun and successful hulse holiday for the record books.



general women's broadcast

last night was our church's general women's meeting.  all over the world, women from our church gathered together in their local church buildings to hear messages from our leaders.  the messages were beautiful and uplifting and reminded us that we are daughters of our Father in Heaven. 

all women, ages 8+ were invited to attend.

before the broadcast, we invited everyone in our area to join us for a little chocolate fountain fun!

we had tons of different bite size treats to dip!

here's my cute bekah testing the milk chocolate.

 and here's the white chocolate table...

 this was the scene-

immediately after the go ahead was given!

 both tables were busy for an hour and a half.

 here's some of our cutie 8 & 9 year old girls

with ella front and center.

at one point they each had a penny stuck to their forehead.

ella told me to "quit asking about it!"

 I sure love these girls!

aren't they darling?



always learning

tonight, ella (the selfie master) is attending activity days at our church. 

it's for the 8-12 yr old girls.  

they are having "international night", which consists of each girl sharing a fact about a different country and bringing a food from that country. 

here's what ella is sharing:

Nanaimo is a city on an island in Canada, near Vancouver.  It is famous for its bathtub racing. According to Wikipedia nearly 83,810 people live in the city, Nanaimo. The island is called Vancouver Island. Nanaimo has some cool art galleries. Also some sports that they play are paintball, Canadian football, and a Vancouver Island soccer league.

Nanaimo Bars, (pronounced nuh-nigh-mo) is a dessert named for this area of Canada. 

Here's the recipe we found on

King Arthur's Flour blog:

Crust

• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder, Dutch-process cocoa preferred
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup sweetened or unsweetened coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 cups graham cracker crumbs (made from about 13 whole crackers)

Filling

• 1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (omit if you use salted butter)
• 2 cups confectioners' sugar or glazing sugar, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/8 teaspoon coconut flavor
• 2 tablespoons Pastry Cream Filling mix or instant vanilla pudding mix
• 2 tablespoons milk

Icing

• 1 cup chopped bittersweet chocolate (Belcolade bittersweet disks are good) or semisweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup heavy cream or 2 tablespoons butter

Crust

• 4 ounces unsalted butter, melted
• 1 3/4 ounces granulated sugar
• 1 ounce unsweetened cocoa powder, Dutch-process cocoa preferred
• 1 large egg
• 3 ounces sweetened or unsweetened coconut
• 2 ounces chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 7 ounces graham cracker crumbs (made from about 13 whole crackers)

Filling

• 4 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (omit if you use salted butter)
• 8 ounces confectioners' sugar or glazing sugar, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/8 teaspoon coconut flavor
• 3/4 ounce pastry cream mix or instant vanilla pudding mix
• 1 ounce milk

Icing

• 6 ounces chopped bittersweet chocolate (Belcolade bittersweet disks are good) or semisweet chocolate chips
• 2 ounces heavy cream or 1 ounce butter

 

Crust

• 113g unsalted butter, melted
• 50g granulated sugar
• 28g unsweetened cocoa powder, Dutch-process cocoa preferred
• 1 large egg
• 85g sweetened or unsweetened coconut
• 57g chopped walnuts or pecans
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 198g graham cracker crumbs (made from about 13 whole crackers)

Filling

• 113g unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/4 teaspoon salt (omit if you use salted butter)
• 227g confectioners' sugar or glazing sugar, sifted
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract or 1/8 teaspoon coconut flavor
• 21g pastry cream mix or instant vanilla pudding mix
• 28g milk

Icing

• 170g chopped bittersweet chocolate (Belcolade bittersweet disks are good) or semisweet chocolate chips
• 57g heavy cream or 1 ounce butter

 

Directions

1) Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 9" x 9" or 11" x 7" pan.

2) To make the crust: Place all of the crust ingredients in a mixing bowl, and beat at medium speed just until thoroughly combined.

3) Press the mixture into the prepared pan, and bake for 10 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven, and set it aside to cool.

4) To make the filling: In a medium-sized mixing bowl, combine the softened butter, 1 cup of the sugar, and the vanilla, beating until smooth.

5) In a small bowl, combine the pastry cream filling mix or instant vanilla pudding mix with the milk, stirring until thick and smooth.

6) Add the pudding mix to the butter/sugar mixture, stirring to combine.

7) Add the remaining sugar, and beat until the filling is smooth. Spread it over the cooled crust, cover, and refrigerate until chilled.

8) To make the icing: Combine the chocolate and cream (or butter) in a saucepan or microwave-safe bowl. Heat until the cream is steaming. Stir until smooth.

9) Spread the frosting onto the bars. Refrigerate until the chocolate is set.

10) Cut into small bars or rectangles to serve. The bars will be very stiff when cold, but will soften quickly at room temperature.

Yield: about 25 small, rich bars.

all the things we can do!

this monkey can climb the support pole in the basement! 

 I can make things look pretty 

ella belle can play the clarinet 

 afton can carve a pumpkin with a cat silhouette

 we can be silly!

 ella can set up a lovely snack buffet for bookclub

 ella can create a tile to be hung on the wall at school

 we can serve others by sewing pillowcase dresses with marmee

 these kids can help each other,

love each other,

feed each other,

and take care of each other

without even being asked!

(after an adults night to dinner,

we came home to find the kids had fed themselves

and had everything and everyone in order.  the sweetest thing!)

these two cutie girls can sweet-talk gg into just about anything

 these sweeties can hike all over the canyon with marmee

 afton can make a ball float in mid-air!

 this girl can build lego friends sets like a pro!

 these girls can appreciate the arts by attending a showing of Wicked!

 this girl can not only learn to crochet from grandma,

but she can wear a tank top in the dead of winter!

 and she's resourceful

 ella can play the clarinet in front of lots of parents!

 afton can write stories and submit them to American girl magazine!

 these girls can spend their parents money by making crafts and...

 painting!

ryan can do lots of things too,

but mostly he earns the money that allows us to explore our talents!

we love him!