The Boulton Blog: Another Post That Got Really Long

So much has happened it's hard to keep track of everything, but I'll try to give you a quick summary.

A trip to Idaho - My parents were so incredibly generous and paid for Byron and I to fly to Idaho with the twins and watched Caleb, David, and Ezekiel for a week and a half so we could see my brother and his family in October. Every person we interacted with in the airport told us we had such a beautiful little family and we just laughed and said thank-you, missing the half we had left behind but kind of enjoying looking like young first time parents again. hahaha

We were surprised to run into one of my brother's friends from our teen years, with his wife and they're 6 month old baby boy. They had been visiting family in Ohio and were flying home so they were on both of our flights. When we arrived in Salt Lake had a small miracle. His mom's car wouldn't start and she was supposed to come pick them up, and he had to be back at the airport that night to fly somewhere else for his job so they had a small window for him to get his wife and child back to Provo where they live before having to come back to the airport. We had rented a car to drive up to Idaho, but had chosen a sedan so we didn't think we would be able to help them, but the rental agency was out of full size cars and offered us a free upgrade to a minivan giving us the ability to help them get to their car which was only 30 minutes away. Byron and I were so grateful for the opportunity to serve their family.

I loved getting to spend so much time with Keeley, Isabella, and Zachary, and having Byron to myself for a week was amazing, We got to go shooting in the desert with them, ride four wheelers in the foothills, watched some movies (I'm finally all caught up on the marvel movies haha), and got Keeley hooked on Ravelry. She is amazing at crocheting and made several cute animals in the time it took me to stitch together a monkey I was making for a friend of mine. Zachary's blessing day was wonderful. Keeley's parents and brothers and sisters all made the drive from Utah so it was truly a day filled with love and family. The best kind. We also managed to catch up with a sister missionary that served here in Ohio three years ago, and drove to BYUI's campus one day to walk around and visit the temple grounds with the twins. The day before we flew out we drove back down to Salt Lake and spent the evening with Byron's cousin Andrea and her family. We went to this amazing Mexican restuarant and then stayed up chatting after we put kids to bed. Byron doesn't really talk about his extended family a ton and acts like he has no memories of ever being a kid, so it was really fun listening to them reminisce.

Halloween - We attended our ward trunk or treat. Caleb was a special forces soldier, David was Kion from the show Lion Guard, Ezekiel dressed up as a firefighter, and Gideon and Hannah were Winnie the Pooh and a Bumble Bee,. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures, but they enjoyed going and I didn't bring home any leftovers from my taco soup contribution to the chili dinner. :) Halloween night was dark and rainy, but the boys were not to be deterred. I took the boys out for an hour and Byron stayed home to catch up on some work after the twins went to bed.

Caleb - He had his very first school concert. The songs were all animal themed and it was only about 30 minutes long, but it was adorable and he was so happy. His only disappointment was that Byron had to go out of town for a training that week and wasn't able to be there, but I recorded one of the songs for him to watch when he got home.

David - he's been working on learning to read and he's doing very well. I didn't think getting him to sit through a 20 minute lesson each day was a feasible task, but Byron has been successful in getting him to pay attention and he's retaining the lessons incredibly well. He begs for his lesson each day and I love seeing his joy in learning.

Ezekiel - I don't know when it happened but he has become quite the talker. I love getting ready for church on Sundays because he always tells me I look like a princess in my dress. He loves trying to keep up with his big brothers, still snuggles in for a nap from time to time, and is currently trying to figure out the difference between him and her when referring to the twins.

Gideon - He's my quiet little mischievous one. He looks so sweet and innocent all of the time but as soon as I turn my back he quickly finds toilet paper to unroll or a drawer full of fresh laundry to unload. I've been a little concerned recently about his unwillingness to walk and plan to ask the pediatrician about it at his coming appointment. Depending on what he says I might be calling Help Me Grow to come and tell me what I can do.

Hannah - she is so strong and opinionated, she loves to eat, but refuses to let you feed her. She has to feel her food before it goes in her mouth and if it doesn't pass muster it gets thrown on the floor. She loves sitting on my lap and looking at books, and has started mimicking her brothers when they clean. David drew some lovely shapes and people on the walls last week and she was more than happy to help him wipe them off.

Byron - His boss approached him a month or so ago about getting his masters degree. They have mentioned it a few times since he started working for them, but in the past it always felt like they were just keeping it as an option for him whereas this time they actually gave a time table for when they would like him to get into a program (in the next year or two). The 2 programs they mentioned were Quantum Computing or Quantum Chemistry. Recognizing that they aren't very common programs, and as the obsessive planner, I began looking into what universities would be available to him and we may have found one in Michigan that would keep him close to a BerrieHill office so he could continue to work part time. He's hoping to enroll for the 2020 Fall semester, but we still have a lot of research and planning to do.

Arielle - I've really been enjoying reading the Book of Mormon each day to complete the reading challenge from President Nelson. Two of my friends from church have started a group chat and we check in with each other a couple times each week. It's been amazing sharing spiritual insights with them in the evenings and being strengthened by their testimonies as well. I am also really learning a lot as I prepare my Sunday school class each week. I have always loved reviewing conference talks but wasn't great at searching out topics on my own, so to have them picked out for me each week has been kind of perfect.

We loved getting to go to the temple earlier this month, we got to go several times over the summer for my sisters and one of my cousins endowments and again for each of my sisters weddings, but then didn't make the time to go again for a couple of months and missed it a lot.

We had an amazing Thanksgiving day yesterday. It was simple, my parents and siblings came over and we ate around noon, then went for a nice long walk with everyone before coming back for dessert and we all watched Incredibles 2 together. None of us had seen it so getting to share it for the first time all together was so much fun. Today we're going to get out our Christmas decorations and might take the kids swimming at the Y this evening.

We love you all and think of you often. We hope this finds you well.