30 June 2008

An electrical storm knocked out our internet service Saturday night so we're posting a day late. It felt strange to be disconnected for a day.

Monday night the kids put together a musical number. Sophie provided a bass line on the piano while Abe and Helen played along. Abe loves his harmonica.


Sophie's riding instructor took a break for a few months, but started lessons again for the summer. This week Sophie got to ride her favorite horse, Chenelle. She likes Chenelle because her gait is so smooth.


Before she rides, Sophie has to get Chenelle ready and this includes cleaning out her hooves with a pick. You can bet that's not sand Sophie is scraping out.


To our delight, Ruth and Bill Mitchell came to visit as part of their Great Tri-State Motorcoach Tour of 2008. We're guessing you can pick out the Hulls in the photo. The Mitchells are from the left: Bill, Will, Ruth, John, Zoe and Lizzy. Bill is just starting his final year of an oncology residency (4 years medical school, 3 years internal medicine, 1 year palliative care, 3 years oncology). They live in San Diego.

23 June 2008

Last Wednesday we met Becky's mom, Sarah, Joe and Zina in Nauvoo. It was nearly a perfect trip for the weather, the company, the beauty and the spirit. The photos below exemplify our favorite emotions as we start to look back on the trip.

First, family. It was such a pleasure to share the trip with our children and other family. The kids enjoyed Nauvoo so much and by the end of the trip, they knew enough about life in Nauvoo that they could have stayed to lead tours. Their favorite location was a play area with lots of dress-ups, pioneer games, log playhouses and plenty of pioneer toys. Doesn't Sophie make an adorable pioneer?


Here's Abe dressed up.


And Helen.


And Gibson.

More family -- family from old Nauvoo. Both Brandan and Joe have ancestors who were original settlers of Nauvoo. We felt tenderness and respect as we saw the evidences of the faith and hard work of past family. A major street in Nauvoo is named for Brandan's 3rd great-grandfather, Parley P. Pratt.

Parley Street leads down to the Mississippi River and is the route that was taken by the Saints as they were forced out of Nauvoo in February 1846 and crossed the frozen river to Iowa. Right now with the flooding, the street disappears into the Mississippi River just past the memorial to those who died on the trip west.

Second, love. Nauvoo was built by love the first time and it is rebuilt and maintained by love now. Sarah and Joe's former bishop and his wife, Heber and Rosalie, are currently serving a mission in Nauvoo and are in the photo below. We enjoyed their insider view of Nauvoo and seeing them at their work every day. The senior missionaries are twice our age and work twice as hard, but all of them were kind and generous to us.

Third- the temple. The highlight of the trip was attending the Nauvoo temple. We donated some money to the rebuilding of the temple a few years ago, and after seeing the high level of craftsmanship throughout, we realize we probably paid for a box of screws. Extraordinary attention to detail and beauty in every aspect. Helen liked seeing the brides and their "crowns" (wedding veils) as they took photos outside the temple.

Parley P. Pratt's house is just down the street from the temple and was purchased by the Catholic Church in 1848. They still own it and use it as a residence. It has obviously been remodeled several times since Parley lived there. We like that he lived so close to the temple, even if only for a short time.

Finally- we got a good kick in the pants. The original residents of Nauvoo worked hard, took care of each other and imbued each task with excellence and personality. There were probably some slackers, but who remembers them? We took several wagon rides on our trip, but our favorite was a covered wagon pulled by two gentle oxen, Gary and Gabe. We can't imagine a trip across the Rocky Mountains in an oxcart, and we're very grateful for the courage of those who made the trip, and remember with tenderness those who died along the way.

Carthage Jail is one of the last sites we visited. It is a reverent place.

Nauvoo is beautiful. Its beauty is even more remarkable because of its man-made beauty, created from resources at hand. The beautiful, green landscape was created from a swamp. The lush greenery contrasts beautifully with vivid, tidy red brick houses and the shining, white temple on a hill. An uncommon beauty created by common people who worked together and we're so grateful for the chance to experience it.

15 June 2008

Ahhh Summer! Here's Sophie on Wednesday, the first day of Summer vacation, about 8:30 am (school would have started at 8 am). She's still in her pajamas, eating waffles and reading the funnies. Not a bad start to her vacation.


Abe's last day of school was Friday. His school had an end of school dinner Friday night. His teachers had put together a really lovely slide show to remember the year and the students. Becky got a little teary during it. Every child truly is a beautiful miracle and blessing.


We thought Helen was taking a nap Saturday afternoon. In reality, she was shredding through her bedroom with a pair of scissors, most notably cutting up her sheets and Sophie's doll's hair. Sophie was very philosophical about her doll losing half her hair and didn't get mad at Helen. Later Sophie evened Annamarie's hair into a cute bob. Scary comment from Sophie when she finished: "I want to cut more hair." No more scissors in the bedroom! And we still think Helen is a miracle and a blessing.


Becky helped get ready for our stake Girls' Camp by making body glitter. It was very easy and turned out very cool. She mixed a bottle of aloe vera gel with a bottle of extrafine glitter.

Here's a close up. She used aquamarine crystal glitter which made a terrific serpentine shade. Now the hard part -- to package it into 128 small containers.

Things are pretty electrically energetic here as we look forward to our trip to Nauvoo this week. We'll post photos when we get back.

8 June 2008

Our good friend and Spanish teacher, Magui, moved recently and we needed to find another teacher. Another friend, Deven, is working on a Master's degree in Spanish and thought it sounded fun to teach our kids. Becky asked what he would charge and he said, "Just pay me whatever you paid Magui." So every Tuesday evening, Becky makes dinner for Deven and his wife, the same trade she made with Magui.


After Spanish, Helen drew a picture of Daddy. Brandan was in Portland most of the week and we all missed him. He attended a great leadership conference and met up with old friends in Vancouver, but we are glad to have him back where he belongs.


Woo hoo for Abe! He took his first solo ride on a bicycle without training wheels this week. Becky can barely keep up. Sophie took the photo.


Sophie gave Gibson a ride on her scooter. Abe took this photo. Aren't digital cameras terrific for kids?

This photo shows the variety of chokable objects Becky pulled from Gibson's mouth over the course of one day: a rubber ball, a blue crayon, a piece of a drinking straw, a checker and a purple rock. We hope he makes it to his second birthday.

1 June 2008

Monday was Memorial Day and it was great fun to have Brandan and Sophie home. In the morning we went hiking in a lovely spot about 15 minutes away. Brandan and Sophie played Pooh sticks (from Winnie the Pooh) on a bridge. They each dropped a stick on the upcreek side of the bridge. . .


. . .then ran to look over the other side of the bridge to see which stick passed under the bridge first.


Meanwhile, Abe scrambled down the bank to get to the creek. Water is such a kid magnet.


Becky likes to eat dinner at 6 pm and can even get a little cranky about eating "on time." Nights like this Tuesday are helping her relax. This photo shows the kids taking turns cooking tortillas. It may take 3 times as long, but is more than 3 times as fun. Gibson is emptying the spice drawer for his fun.

Saturday was a terrific day for getting things done. Brandan took the kids to a motorcross track (strictly spectating), rebuilt our compost bin and sandbox cover, and transplanted a very overgrown euphorbia, among other projects. Becky ran 12 miles, took a nap and went grocery shopping. The sad truth- it takes longer to grocery shop than to run 12 miles. You don't want to get behind her in the checkout line. Sophie's friend, Ireland, came over in the afternoon and Abe palled around with them for several hours. Becky found them in the field next to our house when she got home and felt real joy at seeing them playing together.