Lessons

Things I've learned, and relearned, this week:

1. I shouldn't whine about people being sick. It will only get worse.
2. Six people can have stomach issues at the same time. Trust me.
3. Five year old girls love Kindergarten. Elise has come home every day with a new story to tell. Her favorite part has been recess, of course. She sits at the Green Office (table), and loves carpooling with her friends.
   
4. My older kids are old enough to load the dishwasher. This may seem really late in Hailey's life to be realizing it, I know. The older three have been unloading it for quite awhile, it was just always a fight whenever I suggested they load it. Greg showed them how to do it and I am so happy!
5. Sometimes the Lord gives us more than we can handle on our own. It's then that we have to have faith that He will give us the strength to carry our burdens.
   
6. We eat a lot of food. Last night I was out of ideas for dinner and made eggs, bacon and toast. I cooked an entire package of bacon and toasted half a loaf of bread. We scrambled six eggs, hard boiled six and used three for an omelet for Greg. That's 15 eggs in one meal! And if there had been more, the boys would have eaten them! You may be saying, "Well, there are 7 of you." Yes, there are, and I've always known that; but it was never more apparent that our grocery bill will do nothing but increase than it was last night.
7. Be sure to rinse a pan that you've cooked bacon in really well before you put it in the dishwasher. Otherwise everything comes out coated in lovely black specks.
   
8. On average I wash 343 articles of clothing a week. This is including socks, underwear, pj's etc. And that's not including towels, sheets, et al. Granted, some days Hailey's clothes aren't dirty, and Greg sends his shirts to the cleaners. But the little ones get everything dirty and I do too. Count how many individual pieces your family goes through, it'll shock you.
   
9. Having a decent night's sleep can work wonders on your attitude.
   
10. I am a very blessed woman that has an amazing husband, fantastic kids and a great group of friends.
    

Happy Birthday Kylee!

I just wanted to tell my little sister Kylee how much I love her and that I hope she had a wonderful birthday! She is such a kind and thoughtful person and my kids are crazy about their Auntie Lee. We love you!

A bit of whining on my part

It's been a long week. I was so excited to tackle my garage this week, having two less kids around. But, wouldn't you know it, the fates have decided I needed my patience tested. We have been to the pediatrician three times in five days. Elise and Rachel both have ear infections and all three young ones have pink eye on top of it. Of course when we were there on Monday for Rachel, the other two were fine, the doctor even checked. But Tuesday had us back for Elise and today for Seth. Oh, and Rachel decided to throw up Wednesday night, so that made for a fun night.

I know I am feeling sorry for myself, but I had big plans this week! Instead, I have had a 15 month old that won't let me out of her site and follows me around crying and whining when I set her down. *Sigh* Here is to hoping this weekend will be better.......

First Day of School

I am sure yesterday mom's throughout Utah said "Hallelujah!". I know I did! Not that I don't love my kids and enjoy their company, but three straight months of "I'm bored!", "Trent hit me!" and "Hailey is bossing me around!", get very old. Therefore, it was with great joy that I dropped off the two older kids at school yesterday. (Elise will start Kindergarten next week.) I am feeling very guilty for writing what I just did, so to make myself feel like a better mom, I'll tell you about the fun morning we had.

Every year on the first day of school, we make homemade donuts for breakfast. I put sugar, cinnamon/sugar and powdered sugar in three separate bags. The kids pick the freshly-fried gooey-goodness they want and put it in a bag and shake, shake, shake. Then they pig out. (I make them eat fruit along with their donuts. I'm not a totally bad mom.) They look forward to this tradition all year long! My mom started doing this when I was young, and I love it that my kids enjoy it so much. After that they got all spiffied up and we took pictures outside. They were bouncing to go, so we went a little early.

When they came home, they were so excited about their day. Hailey is in 6th grade and Trent in 3rd this year, I can't believe it. They each have great teachers and I am so happy about that. Here's hoping for a great school year!

What flavor are you?

I had to post this, it's too funny! You have to read the whole description of it, it is totally me. How do they do that????? Rocky Road is my favorite flavor, too. Thanks, Christie!

Date Nights

Greg and I got to go on TWO dates this past week. One date is more than usual, so two is almost unheard of! We went to Tucanos for his birthday (we went a day early because of Back to School night), and then on Saturday we went to dinner with Debbie and Tarl to Bajio's.

Debbie is in my book group, and our husband's had only 'met' while playing XBox Live. When they finally met face to face, Greg said "Well, we've killed people together, we're already bonded." or something like that. We had such a good time! They are both so much fun and it was nice to be with other adults. As much as Greg and I love each other, we need some interaction with other couples, too! I am sure that won't be the last time we go out together, we had too much fun. Plus, the guys are bonded even more now. Although I am afraid we scared them with stories of pre-pubesent girls and all of the stuff they have to look forward to. :)

Trent's baptism

We've been having issues with our camera, so I wanted to wait until I could get some photos on here to tell the world: Trent was baptized two weeks ago, on August 2nd! He was so excited that morning. He was also very happy that my mom was able to be here. She had been in California for her dad's funeral and wasn't sure if she'd make it. He was baptized along with Katlyn West and Katie Duncan from his class. Greg's dad spoke on baptism. He was also confirmed that day. When he was done, he kept smiling and hugging Greg and I. It was so cute.

Everyone came back to our house for lunch and we had a great time. He was lucky to have so many people there that love him: Nana, Grandma and Grandpa Poulton, Poppy Steve and Marissa, Uncle Jeff and Lily and Chase, Uncle Topher, Uncle Gavin and Adie, Aunt Ginger, Uncle Wendell and 7 of their kids.

We are so proud of you, Trent.

Emily

There is a little 6 year old girl in our ward named Emily Heaps, and she was born without an immune system. (The 'boy in the bubble' disease.) When she was two months old she underwent a bone-marrow transplant from her older sister Jaqueline, who is Hailey's age. She was house-bound for the first few years we lived here, and it was a joyful day when she was finally able to start coming to church. I loved seeing her play with all of the other kids, knowing how much her mom had longed for it.
Well, little Emily has been back in the hospital for the last few weeks, as her immune system is once again in danger. Jackie donated her bone marrow again on Friday and our Bishop called her 'a quiet hero' today in sacrament. As I have been reading their blog this afternoon, I am so overwhelmed with the faith of the Heaps family. They have been through so much and yet have complete trust in God that He will do what is best for Emily. I am thankful that I have their example to learn from. If you would like to read their blog, here it is:

http://keepmovingahead.blogspot.com/

Rain forests, disco dancing and heading home

OK, I am going to finish the report from my trip. Seriously, who takes three weeks to write about a trip? Me, apparently.
So, Saturday began misty, of course. We headed to the Hoh Rain forest and took some amazing pictures. It really is hard to describe how beautiful it is. (I can't believe I live in the desert when every part of me loves the green of Washington so much. Just had to throw that in there.) From there we drove around Lake Crescent again and headed to Port Angeles to watch 'Mamma Mia!'. Oh. My. Gosh. I have never laughed so hard in a movie theater in my life! Seeing it with 15 of us played into it, I'm sure. We were so loud. I will never look at Mr. Darcy or James Bond the same again.

We ate dinner at Bella Italia, and I even had the mushroom ravioli. YUM! Michelle, Emily, Rachel and I then proceeded to get lost in Port Angeles on our way home. How is that possible, you ask? Well, we managed it. As we were up by the small college, totally turned around, we saw two guys we thought were students and decided to ask them for directions. When one turned around and had totally rotted out teeth, we realized we had probably interrupted a drug deal! He was talking to Michelle through the back window and Rachel was pulling on her arm to move away. Then the guy yelled for his friend to come back. He turned around and it was Grizzly Adams! No kidding, he had a huge beard, and must have been 60. We got out of there very quickly after that. They were very helpful, despite the heart attack they almost gave Emily in the passenger seat. We did find a nice little market called The Grandview though, and spent some quality time there, trying to figure out how to get back to Forks.

We finally made it back to Danylle and Christie's in time for the impromptu karaoke night. They, along with Holly, were inspired by Mamma Mia and gave us their rendition of Dancing Queen. Then everyone started joining in with Grease, Zanadou and even Saturday Night Fever songs. Lori even gave us some scary 'secret pocket' stories. (Don't ask.) It was a great way to end the day.

Sunday came way too soon. We loaded the cars and began the caravan to the airport. Because we were afraid of the ferry being delayed, we decided to drive around the Sound. Yeah, caravaning with four cars is interesting. At one point Kayla called because they needed to stop and were afraid of having kidney poisioning if they didn't. Again, just driving and talking is some of the best memories I have of the trip. Our car had so much fun together.

We made it to the airport with plenty of time to spare. I was sad to say goodbye to Washington, and also for the trip to be done. We had been planning it for a year and now it was over. I had more fun than I can possibly describe. I knew I liked my friends before this trip. Now, I love them. I could not have asked for a more fun, loving group of ladies to be a part of my life right now. It may sound silly to some of you, but I know that the Lord placed them in my life at exactly the right time. Ladies, YOU ROCK!

I have to give a huge thank you to Greg and his mom, Dee. They both took care of the kids so I could go on this adventure. Thanks again, honey!

Friday, Saturday and Sunday in Forks

Happy Birthday, Greg!

The world was made a better place on this day in 1971, because Gregory Boyd Poulton was born. I couldn't ask for a better husband and best friend! It has been quite a year for him, and he deserves every good thing that comes his way. Happy Birthday to my U2-loving, car-obsessed, Xbox playing husband. I love you!
Kimberly

P.S. I would love to get you an Aston Martin Vanquish honey, but we need to pay the mortgage. Maybe next year.

I should probably mention why it's taking me so long to write about my trip of a lifetime. It is the last week of summer and there is a TON to get done. Tomorrow is Greg's b-day, and also back to school night, so he and I are going out to dinner tonight instead. Hailey has a party, Trent has Scouts and life is crazy.
I am feeling like such a lame-o mom because I haven't posted pictures of Trent's baptism last week, either. My camera is once again not working, so I am trying to fix it without throwing it through the window. So I'm slow. I am really looking forward to school starting and getting back to a routine.

Exploring

Friday dawned perfectly foggy. We looked outside our back window and you could see the school's parking lot covered with it. We half expected to see a silver Volvo pulling into the lot. To say it was like walking out of the book sounds so cliche, but it did. Naturally this was the time that my camera stopped working, so from here on out, I'll have to use pictures borrowed from friends.
First on the agenda for Friday was a group picture in front of the Welcome to Forks sign. This was everyone's 'must do' item. So, here we are:

After that we headed over to the visitors center, where they have embraced us Twilight crazies. You would not believe the mail they get for Bella and Edward. The week after we were there, they were even getting a replica of Bella's truck to have parked in front for people to take pictures with. They've gone so far as to pick out a house they think would be the Swan's and the owners have even put up a sign. (The one they picked for the Cullen's was a joke, but we didn't want to tell them that.) After that we went and explored the town, and that didn't take long. The book describes it pretty much the way it is. The Thriftway, The Outfitters, (these are actually connected), the hospital, the one main strip with a single stoplight. Forks has even given Carlisle his own parking spot, as modeled by the lovely Jamie.

(Blogger isn't letting me post anymore photos, so I'll make a slide show of the rest of the day's adventures.)

Next we headed to Rialto Beach, to hike to the tide pools. The beaches in Washington aren't the bury-your-feet-in-the-sand beaches I grew up with in CA. These are extremely rocky and cold beaches. It was a long 1.5 miles each way, but so worth it. I don't get the chance to see many starfish and anemanies living here in Utah. We ate lunch next to the tide pools and then headed back. Poor Emily, six months pregnant and such a trooper. She did wonderfully. I think I would have keeled over if I'd tried that while pregnant.

Our car decided to drive over to La Push and explore the reservation a bit. We even found a few houses that could have been the Black's, wheelchair ramp and all. There is a nice resort right on the water, I think it would be fun to stay there.

We got to go check into our nice hotel that afternoon. We spent a few hours unwinding and then headed to our big get-together with our friends from across the country. The ladies that planned the evening worked so hard and it looked beautiful. We ate dinner, played a fun survival game, only using the contents in our purse, and ate and laughed and ate and talked and ate some more. It was a fabulous evening.

The Waterfront, ferryboats and Forks

Before I add another day to my trip, I feel I have some confessing to do. You may have noticed that I had a 'Breaking Dawn' countdown on the blog and you might remember I posted about going to see Stephenie Meyer at a signing when she was in town. Well, the whole reason for our trip to Washington was to see Forks, the town in her Twilight books. Yes, I'm a fan girl. There, I've said it. I'm out of the closet, as Michelle kept saying on the trip. Now, back to the story....

The next morning we headed down to the waterfront before taking the ferry. We shopped at Pirate's Plunder and explored Ye Old Curiosity Shop (we all had to see what Christie was talking about). We ate lunch at Ivar's, where I had awesome fish 'n chips and clam chowder. Jenni got crazy with the seagulls. We were accosted by pirates, again. This time one even put his tongue in Debbie's ear! (She put germ killer in it to make sure he didn't give her any communicable diseases.)

I was so happy that it was a gorgeous, sunny day. I can't believe how homesick it made me to be there. I had so many fun memories of me and my high school friends come flooding back as I spent those two days there. But now I have even more memories with new friends to add to my love of Seattle. After the pirates, we then took the 1 pm ferry to Bainbridge Island. I love the view of the skyline as you pull away. Can you tell it was windy?

Once we got to the island we headed north to Port Angeles. It was such a beautiful drive. I am so glad I burned my playlists onto cd's, it added to the whole experience. We saw some very funny street signs and were more than happy to see signs that said we were getting closer to Forks. Lake Cresent was beyond beautiful as we wound our way around it and the thought of driving 100 mph made me cringe.
We finally arrived in Forks and Emily, Rachel, Kayla, Michelle and I went to check into our hotel. Because of a mix up, we had to stay at, what Emily dubbed 'Grandma Forks' House of Horror' for one night. Yeah, it was that bad. I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture of the sign next to the toilet that told us to keep flushing if it didn't drain the first time! Can you believe it?
It did have a surprise bonus: after checking in, we pulled around to get to our room, and found ourselves staring at the front of Forks High School. The scream we let out was surely heard 3 block away! So as soon as we dumped our bags, we had to take lots of pictures. Michelle, Emily and I had to show that it even had mossy trees.

As we drove to dinner at Danylle and Christie's gorgeous rental cabin, Kayla uttered the now famous phrase, "Can we bring anything, like... meat?" and had us all rolling. I have to say, half of the fun I had on the entire trip was just driving with these fun ladies. After enjoying the awesome house and it's views and having dinner with the rest of our group, we headed down the street to meet several of our online friends for the first time. They had come from all over the country, and it was so fun to finally put names with faces.

That night we slept just like you'd think we would at Grandma Forks' house. We were wishing we had slept at Danylle and Christie's the whole night.

Leaving on a Jet Plane

I have been a total slacker and I'm sure my friends are shaking their heads at me for not writing about our fabulous trip sooner. So here we go.....

Wednesday, the 23rd, found us taking off from SLC to Seattle at 8:30 am. Me, Emily, Rachel, Debbie, Jamie, Sue, Jenni, Havilah, Tawnya, Nancy, Lori, Shelli, and Rachael were all on the same flight. Yeah, we got some stares. We're not what you would call a quiet bunch.

I was so tired from staying up so late, getting everything ready. I foolishly thought I might sleep on the plane. We were way too excited! We landed at 9:30 and met the rest of our group already waiting for us. We were all so giddy, we couldn't believe we were actually there!

I was rather bummed that it was a cloudy day. There is nothing like Seattle in the sun, but everyone said it added to the whole experience. We got our cars and headed to the Space Needle. Some went up and saw the gorgeous view, the rest of us stayed and went souvenier shopping.

After that we took the monorail to Westlake Center and then walked to Pikes Place Market. We ate lunch, watched the flying fish, did some shopping and fed the sea gulls. The Sea Fair Pirates were out in force and accosted Shelli. They were quite a handful.

Part of our group decided to stay the night in Seattle. Before dinner we chilled in our rooms and discussed all things Twilight, of course. We ate dinner at Rock Salt, right on Lake Union. I was so happy that my mom and sister Kylee could join us for dinner! It was great to have them meet my crazy friends and I got to spend a few hours with them. I ate the best salmon I have ever had, followed by an amazing marionberry dessert. Yum!

I was so tired, I went to bed early that night. We started our main adventure the next day......