The Boulton Blog: I Have a Family Here on Earth

This blog is going to cover a little bit of what we did 4 weeks ago, as well as our Boulton Family reunion. It's going to be pretty long, but stay with me and you might get to see some cute pictures. :)

Monday the 15th: After putting the boys to bed I gave Byron a hair cut so his hair would look nice for family pictures the following week, then I talked him into giving me a hair cut too! I had been wanting some more layers in the front, so we found a fairly detailed tutorial on youtube of a hair cut that was close to what I wanted, and spent about 2 hours watching it, pausing it, cutting some, then rewinding and making sure it was right. It turned out pretty awesome for someone who had never cut hair before, and I was pleased with the outcome. :)

Tuesday the 14th: Chick-fil-A had their annual Customer Appreciation Day. If you dressed up as a cow, you got a free meal, we hadn't originally intended to participate, but my Mommy made it really easy by providing the clothes for Byron and David, as well as some pants for Caleb (which he refused to wear. stinker), and the cow ears that we each needed, so all I had to come up with was clothes for me and a shirt for Caleb, which came together really quickly after a quick trip to Jo-Ann's for some black felt. We had a good time, even though the restaurant was packed, we were served quickly, and were given a table by a family we know from church that had finished right as we got out of line. It was really fun and the boys were pretty great about dressing up. Caleb can't wait for Halloween.

Thursday the 16th: We had a couple from church over for dinner and played some games. I was kind of distracted since we were getting the house cleaned up and trying to get packed so we could be ready when Byron's parents got here on Saturday, but it was nice to have a change of pace and just relax for the evening.

Saturday the 18th: Byron's parents made it to our house safe and sound from New Mexico! We made lasagna for dinner, and Caleb showed off for Grandma riding his bike outside while we waited for it to be done. Caleb and David loved having Grandma and Grandpa to themselves for a couple of days before sharing them with their cousins a couple of days later and kept them quite busy. I'm sure my father in law was quite worn down by Caleb and David trying to dog pile on him, and they got Grandma to build them an elaborate train track in the basement, so they were thrilled and there were smiles all around.

Monday the 20th - Friday the 24th We had our Boulton Family reunion in Hocking Hills, one of the gorgeous state parks Ohio has to offer. Monday was check-in day so the various families were all rolling in between 3:30 and 4. We had a large Family Home Evening, celebrated my nephew Cameron's 5th birthday with delicious cupcakes my mother in law made, and tried making ice cream in a bag. Some of the servings were sweeter than others since we made one large batch and dished them into smaller servings and didn't have a good way to keep them stirred while we did it, and some were more frozen than others, but overall it was a fun experience and something I'd like to try again in the future.
Tuesday we hung around the lodge for the day. The original plan had been to go canoeing, but the weather forecast called for thunderstorms and I figured we were better safe than sorry. We played games, Byron made use of the pool table in the basement, and just enjoyed spending time together. Late afternoon we had a photographer come and take pictures of the family. They turned out amazing and I was thrilled the lodge had a covered deck since it meant we could take the pictures outside instead of trying to cram everyone into the living room. The grand kids all participated fairly well, and the photographer was kind enough to draw a map for us so we could find Old Man's cave when we were ready to go hiking.
Wednesday was canoeing day! Byron took Caleb and joined his brother, both sisters, parents, and 3 of his nephews for a 5 mile canoe trip. They got started much later than expected, but they had a good time, and the trip was just long enough that Caleb hasn't been able to stop talking about it. He's hoping Byron will take him again next summer. :) My sister in law humored me and brought her 2 year old William along for a walk with David and I while the others were gone. I can't imagine how much she was regretting it by the end when Will refused to walk more than a few steps before sitting in the road to make her pick him up again, but I was grateful for the time I got to spend with her.
That night after dinner we made s'mores and roasted starbursts before getting out the water balloons I had spent the afternoon filling and letting the kiddos have a water balloon fight. Of course some of us adults joined in, and it was great fun. After getting each other fairly soaked with the balloons we pulled the water guns out and let them keep going.
Thursday morning Byron wasn't doing so hot. He had a high fever, sore muscles, and was dead tired, so after receiving a blessing he stayed in bed for the day.
The rest of the family went hiking. At 30 weeks pregnant and with the notorious final trimester back pain, I only made it through about a 1 mile trail before taking the boys back to the car and heading back to the lodge to check on Byron, but the rest of them managed to walk another half mile or so and found some beautiful waterfalls. They went back out later after lunch with fewer children and hiked another trail, but I stayed behind and watched Caleb while David napped. By that evening Byron's brother Craig wasn't doing well either, so my father in law took them to urgent care after dinner where they were both diagnosed with strep throat, given a dose of antibiotics, and a prescription.
Friday morning was a little rough. Since 2 of our 4 able bodied men were down for the count, packing and loading cars took a little longer than expected, and David hadn't slept more than 2 hours the night before, so I was calling the pediatrician to try to get him an appointment for the afternoon. We had planned on all going to the Columbus temple to do a family sealing session, but since Byron was going home with David, and Craig wasn't going to be able to participate, Kristen and Nathan decided to just head East and go home so I was going to be the only one taking a child along, so I cancelled the child care we had arranged for and just headed straight home as well. Melissa and Mom and Dad Boulton ended up getting to go to the temple and just met us at the house later that afternoon and stayed the night. David's doctor appointment went okay. They had to flush one of his ears to check for an infection since there was a sizeable chunk of wax was blocking her view of his eardrum, he didn't end up having one, but he got quite worked up and was crying a good bit. His quick strep test came back negative but since he'd had a low grade fever and wasn't eating or sleeping well, she gave us a prescription anyway and said she would call Monday with the lab results for a longer test. He did end up getting strep, but thankfully we didn't have to do anything about it since he was already on medication.

Saturday the 25th: My mother in law had arranged with her sister that lives in Illinois and a nephew that lives in Indiana to attend the Indianapolis temple open house Saturday morning, so after a quick breakfast and some last minute packing, we hit the road again. Friday night I had been worried we wouldn't get to go since Byron was so sick, but he was doing much better after being on antibiotics and was excited to take the boys to the temple. It was nice meeting (again) Byron's cousin and his wife and children. We hadn't seen them in over 4 years and their boys were so awesome with our little ones. Seeing Aunt Cecilia and Uncle Kyle was fun as well, and I was grateful for the time we got to spend as a family for such a special occasion. I loved getting to go on the tour of the temple, and having the opportunity to teach Caleb a little bit about the sacred place that Mommy and Daddy go each month to strengthen our relationships with Heavenly Father was such an incredible blessing. When we finished the tour we found a yummy local burger place and hopped the kids up on ice cream we came back home.

Getting to spend a week with Byron's family was such a blessing. We don't get to see many of them very often, but when we do, it's always a joy. I'm so grateful for the plan of salvation and knowing that we're a sealed to such wonderful people for eternity.

The boys all dressed and ready for Chick fil A!

Got to see my sister Gabrielle, and check out my hair cut!

The boys got grandpa to read to them while snacking on homemade bread before church

playing trains with Grandma

Late night games with the brother and sister in laws!

The adorable family picture the photographer put on facebook. <3

Check out that handsome man I married. :)

The photographers wife asked if they could do some maternity shots with Caleb.
There were a couple of poses, but this one ended up in his album on facebook the next day.