L.O.V.E.

Valentines week was a busy one. We were all feelin the love.....

Earlier in the week we received some surprise yummy treats and killer valentines socks from a "secret admirer" ;) to get us in the mood for Valentines..... ;)

Warren had a Valentines Day party at preschool and I got to organize the festivities for it! I had so much fun! This was my first school party and so it was a new experience for me. Warren's little face just beamed when he walked in the room and saw me there and proudly informed his kids " that is my mommy!" It may seem like a small thing but I feel so so grateful I get to have these experiences as a mother and to see what it means to him. It means so much to me. I am also grateful for a husband who works hard so I can!!!

After every sprinkle was carefully placed, he partakes of cupid's manna. We teased the kids that they would fall in love with the first person they looked at after they ate their cookie! Warren looked right at me!! Now if that doesn't melt your heart I don't know what will!!

I read Guess How Much I Love You and Slug Love. The kids loved the stories, giggling all throughout....
Saturday before Valentines we got to go to the Temple together! Benn & Andrea invited us to go early and swapped babysitting in the annex, taking turns going to the Temple! It was such a fun way to start of Valentines weekend!!

Afterward, we all ate lunch together at Chili's. After several games of eye spy, our food finally came. It was really fun, although I felt a slight deviation of attention from Weston once he laid eyes on this puppy......he was hypnotized!!!

Every year it is a tradition of ours to 1. Make and deliver chocolate covered strawberries with our Valentines to our close friends. 2. Make a fancy shmancy dinner for each other. We take turns and it is sort of a silent competition to beat last years dinner. This year I was in charge and I made: Prosciutto Chicken stuffed with stagionato provolone, fresh pesto, red peppers and asparagus. Served on a bed of spinach and topped with hollandaise and crumbled bacon. I got to test out my new soup tureen.... serving homemade cream of asparagus soup & sourdough bread along with chocolate covered strawberries for dessert. It was de-li-cious. I think its safe to say he's got a serious challenge on his plate next year!!! ;)

Weston bought me the roses you see pictured in this post and put our powder room sink back together! He even mounted the new faucet I have been wanting switched out for a while! He was so thoughtful!

Surprise Valentines are always the belle of the ball!!! Thanks Miss Andrea, Benn, Ashira & Ethan for your thoughtfulness!!!! We love you! Hope you all had a great Valentines too!!

THe MAN Loofah

Weston and I have been married for 12 years and for as long as I have known him and been the purchaser of the soap, he has always been a bar of soap kinda man. You know... the most manly soap of soaps. No girly stuff for him. Dial. Antibacterial. The extra orangey...... the better.

So, a few weeks ago he comes home from Walmart with a smile on his face:

Me: (slightly suspicious) So, did Walmart treat you good tonight?

Weston: (revealing his new bath soap and accessory with a twinkle in his eye) Yea, it did in fact.

Me: What do you have there?

Weston: (matter of fact) My loofah and new manly soap.

Me: (laughing) YOU....got a loofah?

Weston: Yea, I used yours the other day (side note: ewe!) and I decided I liked it. So I bought me one.

Me: (laughing) So, you have a..... MAN loofah?

Weston: Yea, its blue and my new soap is extra manly too.

Me: You mean your body wash? (still laughing of course)

Weston: Oh yea. Just for manly men.

Me: You know this is going on the blog right?

So there you have it. Weston's MAGNETIC man wash & loofah. Rawwrrr. I like to see that he stayed loyal to his brand too. I didn't notice until later that it is Phermone infused also. Should I be worried? lol

And then there was four. Family Pics 2009.

We finally got new family pictures! Here is a preview of my favorites. Which ones are your fav? Let me know and I will do my best to send you what you want! Enjoy!

Color or Sepia?

Lovebugs. ;)

The "shoe" pic. Shoes what shoes?

My happy happy Ben.

I love it when I capture classic Warren expressions and home so I was thrilled she was able to as well. Two of my favorite for sure!

Ham. Turkey. Its all the same.

Ben LOVED playing on the tracks (yes they were inactive). Here he SO proudly displays his treasure.

The brother pictures where a little tougher to capture. Warren was either too lovey or out came the anaconda squeeze! But...she did get some cute ones!

This was a total fluke. We did not purposly pose them this way but it turned out super cute.

My happy and oh so handsome little men.

The Real Thing...

Blessing Day Photos have finally arrived (I know, I know...you have been SO patient).Aren't I the luckiest mom EVER? We have this great deal worked out....I supply the food and he stores it up in his cheeks so I can nibble to my hearts content. So far it is working out perfectly.No outfit is complete without the perfect pair of shoes.
Weston gave a wonderful blessing and it was such a special day. We were grateful Oma & Opa could be with us too. They didn't send us the photos with them pictured with us, so you will just have to use your imagination.

Oh yea...did I mention I am the luckiest mom EVER?

The Benjamin

We are happy to announce the arrival of our new son, Benjamin Weston Hall! Benjamin was born Friday, August 15th at 8:10 am. He weighed 8 lbs and was 20.5 inches long. He has been a wonderful baby so far. Very content and easygoing. Lets hope it stays that way! He was delivered via c-section and everything went well with the surgery and birth.

We had a bit of a scare with me after the surgery but all eventually settled down and I am doing fine. I had a rare reaction to the medication that the doc used for my spinal block and subsequently my heart rate dropped to 43 along with my blood pressure. A few shots of adrenaline got things back up to speed (literally) and then my heart rate and blood pressure were through the roof. After almost 5 hours in recovery they got me stablized and everything went smoothly after that. I was monitored by a cardiologist while at the hospital and EKG tests all came back great before I was discharged , so I am good to go.

Being born is rough.
Momma finally gets to meet him.....
All cleaned up...
Warren was SO excited to finally meet his baby brother and has been so sweet with him.

Family of four. Warren and Benjamin exchanged gifts. Warren picked out the green frog as a present from him to Benjamin (all his idea) and the blue train is for Warren from Benjamin.

This is a picture of the Hall Men. Dustin (Weston's brother), Natalie & baby Henry came into town on Saturday. It has been so great to have them here and we were especially grateful to be able to have family here to share this special time with us.

Benjamin flashing his charm at a mear 30 hours old....yea, pretty much the cutest newborn EVER! While Weston pulled up the car this funny old man brought me down in the wheel chair. He was just chatting away asking me all kinds of questions. He was pushing me so fast I was a little worried about having a minor collision on the way down. He informed me that there was a hill in the floor and so he had to gain speed to keep up his pace. Weston flashed a picture right at the end of the journey. We made it accident free and are finally home.

Weston, you gotta love him baby....

I was tagged by Misty and so I get to tell you a little about Weston.

1. What is his name? Weston Lynn Hall or Hao Wei Lin (in Mandarin)

2. How long have you been together? I have known Weston for almost 13 years. We have been together for 11 years and married for 10.5 of them.

3. How old is he? He will be 32 in a month and a half.

4. Who eats more? Hands down...he does.

5. Who said I love you first? That would be Weston. Except it sort of slipped. I think he said something to the effect of "...then I realized that I was falling in love with you. " Blushing, I responded.."You are in love with me?"

6. Who is Taller? Duh

7. Who sings better? Currently, I do. Although, Weston does have a little song bird in him and I keep trying to recruit him to join choir with me. He was in Laytones in high school, so he CAN sing.

8. Who does the laundry? It is a team effort. He usually sorts, washes and forwards. I fold and put away. This is one chore that I have trained him really well in and I appreciate his willingness to help. He knows what can be put in the dryer and what I want air dried. He can differentiate between "special darks" and "regular darks" (you cannot wash these together you know) and has only shrunk 2 sweaters our entire marriage. Now, when it comes to his dress shirts, I am not even allowed to touch those at any stage in the laundry process. Only HE can wash and dry them...it is an unspoken rule. Pretty lucky, I know.

9. Who pays the bills? Well, actually auto deposit, pay & transfer pays the bills. It is wonderful and would recommend it to everyone. I am the "official" bill payer. During school, I was the checkbook Nazi and was the branch manager of a bank. If he ever splurged one day for lunch he could always count on a phone call from me about an hour later. Poor guy. I have become much more lax these days.

10. Who sleeps on the right side? If you are looking at the bed from its foot...he does.

11. Who mows the lawn? Primarily, he does. I will mow, if he can't get to it.

12. Who cooks dinner? That would be me 99.9% of the time. I do like to cook but it can be monotonus. Occaisionally I revolt and then he usually grills something or makes cheese spagetti. He actually can cook when he wants to. He has been known to make some fiercly delicious meals for me on our Anniversary and Valentines Day. Maybe the romantic deep inside brings out his culinary skills.

13. Who drives? If we are going anywhere together or as a family Weston believes it is the "man's duty" to drive. He makes me laugh.

14. What does he like to do? He loves politics, golf and eating out. He loves spending time with us and playing with Warren. He is a wondeful father. He also likes spending time with his brother Dustin.

15. Who is more stubborn? He takes the cake on that one.

16. Who kissed who first? It was one of those little mermaid & prince in the boat moments. We kissed eachother.

17. Who proposed to who? Weston proposed to me. Although it took him long enough...meaning, the day he did it I had no idea initially what he had planned. He was trying so hard to be romantic but I think he was really nervous. I finally caught on and after a 14 hour day together, he finally mustered the courage!

18. Who has more friends? That would be me. I am the social butterfly and he tends to be a little more reserved.

19. Who is more sensitive? I am, although there is a teddy bear way deep down inside that big man aka "fierce liberal fighter".

20. Who has more siblings? I do. I have 9 (3 full, 2 half and 4 adopted) and he has 6 (3 full & 3 step).

21. Who wears the pants? It depends on the issue. He usually wears the pants but if the pants get too dirty... I make him wash them and hang them out to dry. Once they are clean and dry I let him put them back on again. ;)



I tag Emily F, Kierstin, Ronna, Katie, Janelle, Cheri, Caryn, Kamie & Sarah and anyone else who wants to do this.

Angels Landing

As most of you know, Weston received a job offer to work with Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan yesterday. We are so excited for this opportunity. We haven't had our official celebration yet but apparently that didn't stop the angels from getting it started for us! Apparently, there was a serious party going on in our front yard as we slept Monday night. We don't need a confession to know who was responsible for this. Aren't we special?? A job and angels all in the same day!

The perfect touch (notice the "s" in Halls).... nice!