New Site

Alright, the (Ethan) Poppleton Family has finally created their own website/blogsite. Our updates and additional posts will now be found at http://www.popfam.com. From there you will find links to our kids own blog sites where they will hopefully be recording their lives as they grow up. You can also find other Family and Friends sites. So come visit our new site.

Thanksgiving "Oh Nine"

This is simply a post for posterity's sake, a journal entry of sorts, a description of what our Thanksgiving holiday has been like for about the past four years, this post should about cover them all (with minor specifics to this year).

The relatives who attended this year, and most of the past three years have been Papa Magic and Grandma, Adam and his family, Ethan (myself) and his family, Travis and his family, Tauni and sometimes a guest, and this year we were able to add Megan and her family, making a grand total of 22 under one roof for an afternoon and evening of Thankful bliss. Everyone brought pieces of the grand meal and dessert, and everyone also participated in games together afterwards.

Shannon had the idea of us making a posterboard with a naked Turkey on it, and those attending could write things they were thankful for on paper feathers and pin them to the holiday representative. I am not sure that any of the adults feathered the bird, but the kids had a good time filling it up, and yes, "Pizza" made the list.

We had a wonderful spread of food that would rival the best of most Thanksgivings. Thanks to everyone who came and contributed. After dinner, the older boys started in on a traditional game of four man chess, the girls visited patiently waiting for the four hour game of four man chess to come to an end, the kids played outside, inside, upstairs and down, burning off all that food.



We then gathered everyone together and enjoyed a game of boys vs. girls Disney Scene It. I have to say, I was a little worried at the beginning because Aly is pretty dominate at this game when it is just our little Poppleton family. However, my good brother Travis introduced us to true Disney genius and completely obliterated the girls, almost single handedly.



We then topped the evening off by enjoying some great Marie Calendar pies that our wonderful sister Tauni provided, (thanks Taun). It was a great time we were thankful to enjoy with our parents and 5 of the 8 Poppleton kids and their families. There weren't any arguments, fights or disagreements amongst the kids or adults, or at least not any that I am aware of.

I really feel blessed and appreciate the wonderful opportunity we have to live in this beautiful area of the country, close to family who at this time are all healthy and happy. We all have jobs to provide for our families and roofs over our heads, and really, that is pretty incredible considering the current financial circumstances of our nation. We missed seeing the sisters who couldn't, or should I say "wouldn't" come and be with their family. Just kidding, maybe next year we can get everyone together for a reunion, hahahahahaha. Like that will ever happen, (a little inside family joke there).

I hope all you out there in blog land enjoyed a happy, healthy family filled holiday as we did.

Eat More Chicken

Okay, a couple of reasons for the title of this post.

1. Mrs. Patty has attempted to take the life of yet another chicken. Fortunately this time, Shannon and I were able to intervene and the chicken rose from the ashes to live another day, and to tell the story of when she was in the jaws of the beast. So, as you might have guessed, Mrs. Patches (or Patricia as Milo like to call her) is on the shopping block once again. Yes, this time Shannon is ready to finally say goodbye to what is really a great dog, if you aren't a chicken owner. So if anyone out there in BlogLand wants a great indoor, kid friendly, obedient potty on demand dog, just let us know.

2. Have you seen those Chick-fil-A commercials or the billboards where the cows are encouraging us to save a cow and eat more chicken. Well, here on the Poppleton Farm, we have a case that might be compared to the Lion and Lamb, okay, not really. You see, this past spring, my parents, my brother and us decided to go in on a cow so that we can get a junk of meat to fill the freezer at the end of the year. He has been happily playing and growing in my brothers pasture all summer long. Well, as it is close to the time when we will say goodbye to our black and white friend, we brought him over to our place to feed him hay and oats for about a month before he is picked up for (gulp) processing.

So as we released our black and white friend into the fenced area of our backyard (not quite a pasture), I asked my good friend who helped me, and who is an experienced cow handler, "Will he bother our caged chicken area?" His response was simply "Nah". Well, less than 24 hrs later, I was chasing the cow out of the chicken area that was now completely turned upside down, (in pretty cold weather mind you) and moving it to a new location outside of the newly acquired Cow Territory.

Well, even though the cow and the chickens relationship started out a little rough, they seem to have reconciled their differences and now live quite happily with each other. And this cow now has a huge bubble over it's head that says, "Save a cow, eat more chicken.

Quick Sneak Peak

Six "free range" chickens about to lay eggs at any moment

Aly and Ethan at combined YM/YW Thanksgiving Dinner with the elderly in our ward

Cow in the pasture ready for slaughter in 36 days, but who's counting

Cody on his way to 11-year-old Scouts

Justin helping Rylee with homework (miracle)

Dog listed in the classified ads for sale, almost about to be free

Me, making progress

Anxiously awaiting Stolworthy's to pay our town a quick visit

Prepping for a big Thanksgiving Day Celebration with the Cache Valley Poppleton's, SLC Poppleton and Thune Family from Washington

Keeping busy and loving every moment of it!

Cali 09

Alright, so this may end up being a long post, so I decided to do slide shows rather than just adding mucho photos. The family went down to CA for our first real vacation in a long time. Before I get going on the recap, let me first give props where props are due. Thank a ton to Milo and Jan for everything, including taking the kids for three days while Shannon and I escaped, then spending all week with us, it was awesome. Kudos to my third brother Reed Chu for buying the family dinner at his restaurant, it is great food. Big props to my good friend and former Balboa Blvd sprinter Robby Cuillard for the day of golf at Wood Ranch.

Alright, here we go. So Shan and I dropped the kids off at her parents house last Friday and Ventured down to Long Beach where we boarded the Carnival Paradise for a three day fiesta to Ensenada. We got a much needed rest and rejuvenation. To our surprise, when we woke up Saturday morning, we were pulling into port in Ensenada right next to the most famous ship in the Caribbean, or Pacific in this case. That’s right, The Pearl. I forgot that is where they filmed all of the Pirate movies, and will film the upcoming movies. We couldn’t get close, but our tour guide got us as close as he could.

So, you'll see a picture of our waiter entitled "Check Check". You see, our first night on the ship at dinner, they seated us with another couple, and the waiters all started saying check check with a quick Asian accent. We asked what it meant and they said nothing. We determined that because there were two pretty girls sitting at our table, it was "Waiter Code" for check out the girls. That said, he was the best, most entertaining waiter on the cruise. Sunday was spent out at sea, so we sat by the pool and watched the drunk get more drunk, played a little miniature golf, (yes Shannon won), ate good food and watched a musical show the cruise employees performed.

We got back Monday morning and raced to Disneyland where we met the kids, Grammy, Poppy, Jess and Tammy for a fun filled day of Magic. Note: The term Magic used in this blog refers to long lines, closed rides, bad expensive food, bad parade, early closing time and hot sun. That said, we did have a good time and the kids really enjoyed the rides and for the older kids, revisiting the place they only had foggy memories of. It really was a good time, despite all the Magic. In fact, I almost got a little emotional when I was on the Nemo ride with Rylee as I thought about how lucky we are to still have her with us to enjoy that time, and that she now had a piece of Disneyland in her very sharp mind.

So, on Tuesday we head over to California Adventure, and I think it was decided by all a much better day at the parks. Rides were better, lines were shorter, more to do, more characters out, better food and way better parade (thanks to Milo we had VIP seating for the parade). The older kids really got into the rides and couldn't get enough. I think the next time we go to CA, we will need to introduce them to some real rides at Magic Mtn. Rylee loved the Playhouse Disney show and all of the princesses walking around. It was also fun to see all of the kids just being kids and happy to be doing things together.

So, Wed and Thurs I worked and Shannon and the kids went on shopping and beach excursions with Grammy. We were able to stop by Reed Chu's store in Westlake for dinner, it was great to see him and his beautiful wife again. I'm sorry, but we totally forgot to snap pictures while we were there, but Reed still looks the same. The food was great and the company even better. Afterwards, we went up to Valencia and saw Jess and Tammy's place, then back to Ventura.

Friday, I escaped with Milo and a couple guys from Hayward Baker to play some golf at Wood Ranch thanks to Robby. I was hoping Robby could play with us, but that just didn't happen. Thanks for the round Rob, and because you didn't play, I won.

Here's some beach fun.

On the way home, we stopped and saw my Grandparents in Lancaster and shared a Pizza. I think it is cool that the kids have a chance to know their Great Grandparents. And again, we were losers and didn't snap any photos. Anyway, we are home now and life is good. Chickens are alive and the dog is back, yippy. Until next time, peace.

02:11:51

Yup, that is my time - I did it, I completed my goal and a check off my "bucket list" (that I don't actually have)!

Saturday morning at 4:45 AM my alarm went off - I got myself all dressed all the way down to my fancy running "smart wool" socks and shoes, ate my banana and my last dose of water. At 5:15 AM I starting loading the Expedition up with people as crazy as me and off we went to finish line, there to be bused 13.1 miles up to the starting line of the Top of Utah Half Marathon.

My only real goal was to run the whole way. I really didn't care how fast, but I did not want to stop and walk. Deep down though I really wanted to finish with about 10 minute miles, but was hesitant to set that goal for myself with this being my first attempt at such a distance. Coming across the finish line w/ thousands of people everywhere and seeing my time on the clock I was pretty overwhelmed with a sense of accomplishment! The best was seeing Rylee's little head above the crowd on her dad's shoulders and then I had a visual on my little cheerleaders. Thanks guys!

Here a cluck, there a cluck, everywhere a cluck, cluck

The kids did a great job painting the coop and getting it all ready for the chickens (with a little help from mom and a lot of help from dad)

Cody is the chicken master with all of his experience this summer helping Bob with his garden and with chores around his farm!

All the kids love to hold and carry around the chickens. I think these might be the most loved chickens in the world.

I must admit that Patty got a taste of the chickens first off, literally, but we keep an extra close watch nowadays.

School has begun....

And there you have it!

Poor Rylee...you see, they do things a little differently here than we are used to. Rylee got to go to school on Tuesday of this week (almost a week later than the other kids) and then she has had to wait until today (Thursday) to go again; however, she is SICK with a fever and all the other things that come with it. Poor little thing, she was so excited to go back to school too. The teachers have half of the class go one day and half of the class go another day and then finally they put them all together. My guess, a break in period for the teachers!

Just like their dad....

This summer the boys have been able to participate in some golf clinics at Logan River Golf Course. They just finished their first week and are anxiously awaiting their next week coming up in August. The first few days they work on the basic skills of putting, driving, sand shots, etc. and work mostly at the driving range. The final day of clinic they get to split up into groups of 3-4 and they golf several holes on the course. They LOVED it!

In the meantime, Rylee and I were enjoying the nature the golf course had to offer!

George Washington

5/21/09 (Mrs. Merritt's 5th grade class)

As you can see, I am quite behind; however, this was a huge project that Cody worked on at the very end of fifth grade. He typed a 6 page report, created a home-made puppet, brought a WOW factor (something to hand out to people coming to observe the fair, which was the bowl of cherries), and had to dress up as his famous person! He got an "A"...way to go Code!