UT Bloopers & Outakes

A few weeks ago we got back from a little hiatus to Utah. We primarily came to spend time with Grandpa Hall. There is always lots of running around while we are there. Here are some fun moments we caught, that kept us smilin as we burned tire marks in the blue van up and down I-15.

Every day we spent time with Grandpa and he was in pretty good spirits despite his pain. He kept us laughing. You are such a great example to us! It was fun hanging out with you Grandpa. We love you!

The Man Cave: It wasn't long before Ben figured out where the men of the Faler household hang out. Mark, Charlie.....King Tut....the Bull, etc. etc. Charlie the cat says "Meow".

Meeting our newest nephew Finn. He is SO sweet and so handsome. I didn't have a cold this time so I actually got to snuggle this boy. :)

It snowed 3 times while we were in Utah which brought pure happiness and joy to Warren. He made gloves out of socks and played in the snow everyday. He loved every chance he got to pelt dad with snow balls. Not bad for the last week of April.

Giving my niece Angie and baby Evelyn a little pep talk....."its ok to come a little early....Emmy is here and she wants to meet you!" Angie was 8.5 months along. Isn't her little tum cute?

I even tried bribing her with shoes. Aren't these the cutest shoes EVER?

Don't mess with me....I'm Mrs. T! Esssssay!

Ben's first real haircut......"hey lady....you ain't EVEN gonna stick that buzzing thing on my head now are ya?"

Warren & Ben taking their first train ride on an ELECTRIC train (as Warren deposed). It was exhilarating as you can see.

Ok, this lady at the Zoo had the best hair I have seen in a long time. I couldn't resist....

Clip 1: One of the kids favorite things to do is go to my brother Brian's house. He has big open space, a dog, chickens, a pig and a huge garden. Ben is so cute chasing the chickens and I sound like an idiot trying to be a chicken. Definitely blooper worthy. Clip 2: The boys playing in the tub happily after a LONG day. :)

We got lucky and caught a little spring skiing while we were there. We used to be ski bums but hadn't been in over 10 years! Alta welcomes Emily Vaugh Hall. ;) Waiting patiently....did he fall? Did he break his arm? Did he do a spread eagle off a jump?

On the lift.....fasten your goggles....we don't want anyone losing their cheeks!

I think they call that the SNOW....PLOW honey. He kept up pretty good with me most of the time. ;)

Post run#1 rest stop. Weston made me laugh more this day than he has in a LONG time. We kept getting noodle legs after each run and he'd ski right up to these chairs and say, slightly panting, "wanna rest"? While he was taking "a rest" he always kept his goggles on. I mean it was sunny and like 70 degrees up there that day and I think they were a little too tight. I'm just sayin but doesn't he look cute? I'm tellin ya he scored bucco points this day!

While I really do think this picture of Weston is adorable....this pose is a little dumb & dumber-esque....would you say?

Chillin at the park with my little sister Rachael & her baby Delilah. Hey Rach....park rule number 1 would be......

While we were there the renovations at Grandpa's care home got finished and he got moved to his new fancy room. Weston, of course, had to make sure all the furniture was working correctly before we left. He has been beggin me for one of these chairs ever since.

Last night before we left we whipped out the "Red Mule" for a little cruise around the Bountiful Hills. "You can get 80 miles a tank on that hog."

Bddddddddddt, Bddddddrttt!

Toodles! Until next time!

Spoiled.

The holidays flew past us this year! We have been busy soaking in the holiday magic with some of our favorite fam. First we were lucky enough to have Dustin (Weston's bro), Natalie & Henry come out for 10 days! We had so much fun! (I have so many great pictures but can't post them all since I am way behind on my updates- here are the highlights!)

Fun at the Houston Zoo!!

The Hall men are ready to go shopping. Sure to make Santa's nice list this year.

Weston and his annual kill.

Dustin & Nat were lucky enough to partake in a little old fashioned family fun with us up at the Mill Hollow tree farm.

The Hay ride is always great....beware of the snakes!!!

Tire rolling.....funner than you would think. The kids LOVE it....even the big ones. :)

Weston & Dustin enjoyed some good ol' brotherly bonding time with a few projects around the house. Mold.....

Putting in the marble floor. HEY....we gotta make them earn their keep, right?

Chillin with the homies.

Bring on the turkey!

A few days after Dustin & Natalie left....my little sister Rach came out for a couple weeks. It was so great to have her, too! I'm tellin ya....we really got spoiled this year.

1st time in 3 years she is at church and what do I find her doing in the bathroom?

Visiting Rudy the train with the Fronks in Kensington, TX. Warren, Ashira & I am pretty sure Kevin were all in heaven!!

Although, Benjamin wasn't too fond of Santa....

Inside each train car were some seriously awesome train displays....

Eye candy. Oh yea.

Taking in all the details.

All buckled up with Auntie Rachael!

It even snowed! For the second year in a row. Craziness!

Warren after his Preschool Christmas Performance at Christ The King, Luthern Church.

Rach just about hyperventilated when she stumbled upon her dream car as we exited the trolley while Christmas shopping.

FHE- Building gingerbread houses with the fam. Of course, mine won first place. ;)

Weston & Warren went with a mod-design.

A belly full of manocotti gets the creative juices flowing. The construction of Forte de Fronk.

Benjazilla invaded the Forte the next morning. Mmmmm mmmm good. Bye bye cannons. CHOMP.

Christmas Eve. The kids were all nestled all snug in their beds.....

Santa came!!!! It was a quiet day spent with our little family. Payette's had us over for an early Christmas dinner and then it was back home for more playing & our yearly Christmas traditions. It was a magical day. :)

Warren holding his new Woody doll as Ben guards his new chair and bridles the horse. There was definitely magic in the air.... Ben also took his first steps on Christmas!!!

In b(ache)'n we trust......

Warning: This blog post probably contains too much information about practices within the Hall Family. Although, such practices have rendered successful results in the past and therefore information shared is considered privileged. Now, don't you feel special? If you want to read more about it. Read on.

(FB friends click here for the full post: www.hallsrock.blogspot.com )

Weston's brother, Dustin, was yearning for a little brotherly love and flew into town last Wed evening. He came into town first, to see us. ;) Second, to participate in Weston's personally designed LSAT boot camp. Special, just for him. Dustin aka Dusty/Dawg is taking the LSAT on Sept 26th. For those that do not know, the LSAT is the Law School Assesment Test that one has to take to get into Law School. Four score and seven years ago, after Weston took the LSAT, he scored high enough that he was able to become an instructor for KAPLAN, a test prep company that prepares people for various grad school entrance tests.

It is great to see two brothers bond in such a way. They have been REALLY tight since they were younger. For instance, on many occaisions, Weston felt the desire to pick Dustin up by his head. Over and over and over again. Calm down, he didn't grab his neck or anything. He was much more gentle. He just put a hand over each of his ears and squeezed real tight and wah-lah, Dustin was air born! What can I say? They are tight like that. Another great story I get to hear about is the "bendy bendy". You can probably figure it out but it has something to do with seeing how bendy your legs really are. Literally. Although the one feeling the love of the bendy bendy is usually not a volunteer. :D

Well, I wanted the boys to be able to focus and not let "bonding" get in the way of their studies. This was serious. So, being the best wife in the land that I am ;) , I prepared for Dustin's arrival with all the basic LSAT boot camp sustenance. It proved well for Weston and therefore I naturally wanted to share the wealth with Dusty. Gotta channel that LSAT chi!

LSAT booster secret No. 1: Eat bacon. A lot of it.......cause if big brothers happy, Dustin's happy and so are his neck and his legs. ;)

LSAT secret No. 2: Find your fight song. Meditate the words and play every morning to start your day. You are currently listening to Weston's (Danger Zone by Kenny Loggins). Dustin responded well to it also.

LSAT secret No. 3: Eat cookies. Not any cookies. My special cookies. Eat a lot of them. (not pictured)

Day 2 (Thursday): I greeted the day with a (fight) song and just after eating a full bacon breakfast the brotherly bonding started and they headed off to work for the day. Weston being the good samaritan that he is, bent over to pick up a piece of paper for his secretary and threw his back out. Oops. That didn't stop them, though. They were committed. Coincidentally, we have a friend who is a chiropractor staying with us for several weeks right now. He went in, tried to adjust him but it was too painful for Weston that day and we went home. He was stuck in a horizontal position but the LSAT study chi....was flowin.

Weston's back didn't seem to be getting any better. In fact, each day it seemed to get worse. Sunday he woke up and he was in more pain than ever and so we took him into the ER.

Day 5:

He is not checking in at the desk. He literally could not sit down for more than 1 minute and so he had to stand leaning against the reception desk the whole time. Poor guy. Eventually, after about a half hour of leaning right in front of her, the nurse had mercy on him and brought us in the back and let him lay on a stretcher in the Hallway.

Finding humor in triage, I had to take this picture. It was like they were waiting for him. Trying to lay down in "Hall Triage". They gave him lots of drugs and sent us home.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch.....Dustin was taking care of us. I tried to scat him back to his studies but he was always thoughtful to help clean up after meals and played with the boys. Warren was so happy to have him here that it was a job in itself to keep him out of their hair. Despite Weston's injury they got some good studying in and we even found time for a little fun.

Day 6:

Dustin is a Halloween junkie and so is Warren. He has been wanting to decorate for Halloween for months now. We decided to break out the decorations a little early so they could do it together!

Weston's back is FINALLY feeling better the last two days. His shuffle is getting a little quicker and the groans are getting softer so I think we are on the home stretch there! Dustin is taking the LSAT this Saturday and we want to wish him all the best! You are going to do great Dustin! Don't forget your bacon & fight song. Goose.