Chloe's Dance Recital

Chloe has enjoyed taking a ballet/tap class this year, thanks to 'T' who pays for the lessons. Now they can speak their own language. Chloe has learned all 5 positions, to leap, plie, and many more things that I can't pronounce. Taking completely after her dad, she loved to be in the spotlight. She kept tellling him to "Take a picture of me, Dad." The class is only 45 minutes once a week, 30 minutes of ballet, and 10-15 of tap. We are moving Chloe to a different class as of the first of the year because she is almost 2 years older than a lot of girls in her class. She was helping the other girls in the class with the dance. It was so cute. Chloe loves her teacher Misty and can't wait for classes to start back up next week.

Nathan and Katie Turn 3

My babies turned 3 on December 13th. It is so much fun to think back and remember how much more fun now is then it was to have newborn twins. We are so very blessed and lucky that everyone survived that first year. Nathan loved his "Geotrax all aboard" and his Cars blanket. Katie got a Tinkerbell blanket and all of the baby doll accessories. She enjoys playing "mommies" with Chloe. The baby puppy, monkey, baby crying gets a little on Mom's nervous, but it is worth it to see the 2 girls playing so nicely together. Both got puzzles from T. Katie has already managed to eat 1 or 2 pieces.

As an added bonus Katie is now potty trained during the day! That was a great birthday present for mom. Both kids are enjoying their new "big kid" status. They've been going to sharing time this month to get them ready to enter Sunbeams next year. They won't let me call them babies anymore.

Alaina's Birthday

There comes a certain point in everyone's life when they have to allow the ravages of time to finally take what is left of your soul, your dignity and your mind; that day was here for Alaina on the 28th of November. She once again has turned that ripe old age of 29 (don't worry Sis - I won't tell them that you really are 37 - that wouldn't be proper) and we took the family to get her a birthday present; a family photo. After about an hour I was ready for a nap (do you REALLY know how many times a 3 year old can run in a circle without getting tired?) We will post the pics one we choose the ones that we want.

We then were given the wonderful treat of Mom and Dad springing for Alaina's b-day dinner...


I am thankful at this time of year... for all of the little shrimp and clams and lobsters and wild french fries that gave up their lives for me... (tear)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, BAIN!!!!!!

:)

This crazy holiday season

Wow! What a crazy, hectic and fun few days our family has had! Thanksgiving was really fun this year and didn't include the normal frantic stress out that it has in past years. We invited my folks and my sister, Alaina to our house this year which meant that we were on turkey duty and WOW!!!!! I LOVE TURKEY!!!!! We used a cooking bag this year - I will never go back to the rack again. Liz took time out of her busy schedule to make some home made rolls (which were devine) and I took my hand at actually making a pie OTHER than an apple. I personally think that my chocolate cream and lemon sour cream pies were excellent (though Liz would just say that I was biased to them so my opinion really doesn't count).

After stuffing our faces with a ton of food that we really didn't need (Mom made enough stuffing to feed the whole of Camp Williams) we turned our attention to the real matter of the day - the Wii. Can I begin to explain how FRUSTRATING (and proud) I can get when my 7 year old tromps my rear on every game that he plays? Between my total inability to do anything simply and Pa's attempt at trying to remove his skin one scrape at a time, Zac was unstoppable.

We are both grateful for all that we have at this time of year and wish the same to all of you.

Obsession

Okay I admit it, I'm fully obsessed. I love a good story. It is the best form of escape. I can travel to far away places and meet interesting people and have adventures . . . do things that I would never never dare to do. I love all types of stories, sci fi, fantasy, legal, historical, romance, mystery. I get immersed in the story and the characters become real people to me. It doesn't matter the medium: written, spoken, or seen. If the story is good enough I can devour it again and again and again. Each time I do, I catch different pieces that make a more complete picture of the story.

Last night Scott and I were talking about movies. Lately almost all of the movies I have fallen in love with (read obsessed about) have been based off of some of my favorite books. Narnia, Harry Potter, Twilight . . . Yes, I hang my head in shame to admit, I became obsessed with Twilight. I hate "jumping on the latest bandwagon" but I love the story. I dislike the characters at times (most of the time) and even at one point I through Eclipse across the room in frustration and then ran to pick it up because I had to know what happens next.

Alaina, I hope you can forgive me. A bunch of ladies from the ward went to the Twilight movie. It was like 9th grade and even though I KNEW the movie was going to be horrible, I was giddy to have been invited. Someone drove their 15 passenger van and the grown women were a little like screaming fan girls. We did manage to not scream at the movie screen when Edward was introduced though. The movie was low budget and VERY VERY cheesy but I (another head hung in shame) really enjoyed it. Part of that was the frenzy of energy in the theatre but the other part was the story underneath.

Okay back to topic, Scott and I were talking about movies and the one thing I wish that Hollywood would learn from the success of Twilight (and Mamma Mia!, and Harry Potter, and Narnia, Enchanted, etc) is that you can make money with a good story. It doesn't have to be overly sexual, or violent, or have bad language. It just needs to have a good story. The action movies have a place. The epic Oscar seeking movies have a place. A couple of times of year it would be nice to have a movie with a good story to go to. Before Twilight, the last 4 movies I went to in the theatre were all Harry Potter movies. After they are finished, what am I going to see for my yearly outing?

Hollywood, please. There are still moral people who just want to escape into a good story. Someone needs to step up to fulfil this need without making a "dumbed down" kid movie. The teenage girl/grown women audience has money to spend. We don't want to always go to the guy movie because it's the only one available. Look at the $70 million opening of Twilight and hear our plea!!!!!!

Chloe turns 5

Chloe, our princess, turned 5 this week. Preschool had a field trip scheduled on the day. Lucky Chloe got to visit the grocery store with 26 of her closest preschool friends. At the bakery, Chloe got to talk about being 5 and then she received an extra cookie with "5" in frosting on top.

Chloe has been the princess since she was born. She is very happy, but demands the attention she deserves. She is a very good big sister. She loves to "help" little kids with toys, and learning words, and feeling welcome. She wants to make sure that everyone is included.

She teaches her mom a lot about being a girl. She hates wearing pants, and only does so when forced. She loves playing dress up and having her nails painted. She loves to dance. Her aunt is paying for dance lessons this year and it is Chloe's favorite part of the week. She already knows many of the terms and can show you the individual poses and steps if you ask.

We are so glad that Chloe joined our family!!!!!

Who has a cute bum?

I've been working on comparisons with the twins. All day long I'm asking them who has eyes, who is a girl, who is wearing blue, etc. You all know me and I have to be silly, so yesterday I asked Katie, "Who has a cute bum?" She said, "Me" then "Chloe and Nathan." Next I asked, "Does mommy have a cute bum?" She replied "No, mommy has a big bum." Ouch!

I wish I could freeze time

Do you remeber the 80's tv show called Out of This World. It was about a teenager who could freeze time. Her Dad was an alien, and he'd talk to her every night from this flashy cube thing. I used to think it was the coolest thing, ranking right up there with Charles in Charge. Anywho . . . since then I've always wanted to freeze time. Think about it, in the morning your alarm would go off, but you could freeze time and sleep until you weren't tired. You wouldn't need to take an hour to pay the bills and reconsile your checking account. I could read as long as I wanted and not feel guilty about it.

The time turner just wouldn't do it for me, because time still keeps going, and I'd mess it up and go crazy because I saw my future self. I also wouldn't want the speed up time remote, because I already feel like I'm missing too much. But right now, a time free nap sounds really nice.

What do you wish your super power was?

Go VOTE!

So one day a year I can be giddy about the political process of our great nation and not be considered all that crazy. I got by BS degree in Political Science. I can't really say that politics are BS to me (hehe). You can always write to the people that represent you but today is the time you get to choose who those people are. Voting is a HUGE privilege that we are so blessed to have. Please study the issues and go vote!!! This is how we are heard en mass.

Andy & Nicole - We are thinking about you not being able to vote on Prop 8 today. You have been amazing in the work you've done, even though you don't get a say. Thanks for being great examples by not be frustrated by your circumstances!!! We love you!!

Binky Free - at last!

It is a big step for our family - Nate and Kate are finally binky free (officially as of last night) and are now sleeping through the night without them. Nate had been using both of his as a chew toy and had ripped them into two pieces. When he would suck on them all you could hear was air. Convincing him wasn't too hard once he understood that it was broken. Things did get interesting when I threw Katie's away (and it wasn't broken). Oh, the fits of screaming that she had - a wonderful performance that made her actor daddy very proud.

I tried to have a "funeral" over the garbage can in tribute to the Cosby Show and the fish... but all that did was drag out the pain. A few screaming fits, complete and total irritation and 30 minutes later they finally calmed down.

Interestingly enough we did it on the night that Liz had writing group and wasn't home...



Hmmmmm.....

:)

Halloween

And once again we come to that time of year when we send out our children during the night, dressed up as fightening ghouls... and have them beg for candy door to door. We had a lot of fun this year - Grandma and Grandpa Stone and Aunt Alaina came out to the house for dinner and getting in costumes and trick-or-treating and then Grandma and Grandpa Hall came out to the house toward the end of the night. It was wonderfully fun and we enjoyed the company.

Zac was a vampire - we were thankful about the vampire too. His first idea was to be a "super hero trooper" - basically a storm trooper costume, a cape and a Darth Vader helmet and mask. (Don't ask me...) Chloe made the rounds on which princess she was going to be and finally chose on Snow White. Katie didn't really care (I think down deep she is a minimalist) so she was happy with Elmo. Convincing Nathan and being Thomas the train was cooler than being Lightning McQueen was more difficult than I would have thought (I think the pumpkin helped). All 4 kids made it around 2 blocks in the rain; Zac made 3. Dad almost didn't make it!

Oh - and the kids ate enough candy to feed a small third-world county.

Carving the Pumpkins

Scott carved some great pumpkins this year. The kids picked the themes and Scott took care of the rest. Zac helped carve all the straight parts of his pumpkin. The best part was that I didn't have to touch any of the "icky parts." Meaning that Scott dug out the guts and did all of the stringy clean-up. You know it's true love when your spouse doesn't blink at all your issues.

Nathan's is McQueen (would it be anything else), the small one is Chloe's Princess Pumpkin, Zac's Vampire, and Katie's Dog.

Ranches Academy Fall Fest

Since Zac has been at the Ranches Academy, we have been involved with all of the volunteer stuff that parents are supposed to... (well, Liz has - I just drive the car on weekends). She is there for lunches once a week and various other activities and that doesn't include all of the driving that she does during the day. As part of that, we get the chance to help out with the annual fund raiser called Fun Fest. Last year Liz did a Pampered Chef booth that didn't sell anything because we are all poor, so we smartened up and Liz did some volunteering in the coloring room.

Fall Fest has tons of different activities for the kids to do - we buy a punch card and then the different activities cost a certain number of punches. With Liz being the volunteer, that left me with the fun of running around with the kids. No. I am serious. It was really fun! Now that the twins are starting to be able to find there way around without as much hand holding, it was fun. Once Nathan was convinced that the cake walk was more fun than the playground it got better.

They loved the face painting the most - the bingo was a close second. Total fun and then mom was able to join us later on in the afternoon. Fun had by all!!

Nathan is the one that chose the pumpkin for his nose...

Writing Group

Every month I go to this great writing group in my ward. We spend about 5 minutes each time working on a writing prompt. The prompt this month was "If I were to murder someone . . . Who would it be and Why." I thought what I wrote was funny. Let me know what you think.

If I were to murder someone it would be the person who wrote the song This is the song that never ends. Because it is a self fulfilling prophecy and doesn't ever end. It's in my head for 3 days. It's horrible! The only way it would work was if I had a time machine, because I'd need to commit the crime prior to the song being composed to stop the insanity. Now let's think . . .

1) Find a time machine.
2) Make friends with the time machine's owner
3) Steal and use said time machine
4) Find composer/song writer and commit murder
5) DO NOT murder my grandfather or step on any butterflies
6) Return home. Return Time Machine

OH NO! One problem. I was in the time machine when time changed and now I'm the only one who knows the song. Do I now have to murder myself?

Scarecrow Festival

I took the day off work on Monday so we could go to the Scarecrow Festival at Thanksgiving Point. It was really fun, especially for the kids. We rode on a train, had lunch at the cafe in the main building and went on slides and more slides and more slides. Things were great until Nathan took off from us while we were putting shoes on the other kids. At the beginning of the day there weren't very many people and the kids were running from slide to slide. Nathan thought he was good to go and off he went. It was only five minutes (though it seemed like about 20) and there were a lot of prayers he just showed up in the middle of a crowd. He was having a blast going down the slides and didn't even bother to worry about the rest of us...

AHHHH!!!!! Sometimes those kids can just drive you crazy!

Chloe and Kate

Zachy

Nate

The train - YEA!!!

Home safe...

Happy Birthday Zach!!!

October 20th signified Zach's 7th birthday! Holy cow is he growing up. We took some time on Friday to celebrate with Grandma and Grandpa Stone and Aunt Alaina - they had some fun gifts and a great cake. Then on Saturday I took Zach and 3 of his friends (Josh Morrey, Ben Thomas and Thomas Bartell) to the Zoo. They were great fun and we had a wonderful time. We had a train ride (though I caught my foot and fell out of the train - yea me!), took some time with the animals and then ended the day with a Super Pretzel and red slushies. He had a lot for fun...

The elephants were awesome! It was fun to watch them eat from the top of the haystack

My personal favorite was the tiger - he was nice and lazy today

Crazy kid...

Happy Graduation!!

Just before Andy and Nicole moved to LA, we wanted to make sure that Andy left Utah with his graduation diploma in hand. See, with all of the work that he done with his final paper, walking for his diploma just wasn't in the cards (and honestly I think that we was just ready to be done) - so Liz and I threw him a graduation party after the priesthood session of General Conference. Everyone in the family but Andy was in on it - except the catch was that Nicole and Natalie didn't know that we were throwing a graduation for them as well! Natalie had graduated from BYU-Idaho online and never walked and Nicole had just finished before Andy and was busy with Marin and moving twice. It was great!

I was the invited as the commencement speaker - both as Donald Duck and then the priest from the Princess Bride

Natalie Chalis Hall - Class of 2000 - Associates Degree

Nicole Iverson Hall - Class of 2008 - Associates Degree

Andy Jensen Hall - Class of 2008 - Masters Degree

Funny Story...

Thought that I would pass this along just as a funny tidbit...

Last night Chloe came downstairs cry as if she had a bad dream. Come to find out, she had somehow gotten hold of a watch battery and proceeded to stick it up her nose! After some tweezers, a tissue and a good old fashion sneeze, it came out.

When asked "why?" Miss Chloe announced...




I don't know.



(kids - got to love 'em!)

Here we are - I am becoming a blogger...

With Andy and Nicole moving to LA and our being in Utah County, I guess this is a pretty good way to keep in touch when it is hard to keep in touch.

We will see how it goes...

Scott