Our new play thing....

For Christmas this year we decided our rowdy boys (Benjamin) NEEDED a play structure. I had been researching them for a while and right as I was going to buy "the one" I had the thought that I should check craigs list to see if their were any good finds. 

 After about a week, I found this Rainbow play structure for $500 bucks! It was a steal of a deal as the exact same one brand new is $4700. This one is only 4 years old and the previous owners bought the lifetime warranty and had just replaced half the beams for us! To make things even better...they had just moved therefore it was already DISASSEMBLED into 11 pieces sitting in their garage and all we had to do was pick it up. Score! Score! Score!

 We had a few weeks of cold rainy weather and finally as the clouds lifted a one Saturday, we beaconed the missionaries service for a few hours. I am so grateful for their help! Weston was starting to wonder how he was going to get it all put together. I was worried too because tasks like this can aggravate his shoulder (torn rotator cuff). It's moments like these being the ward mission leader pays off! ;D

 Elder Godfrey "I think I can, I think I can." Attempting the biggest knot this boy scout ever tried to tie.

Something about building stuff is sure to put a smile on any guys face. I think the boys were all quite proud of themselves. :) Warren & Ben had their tools out and were great helpers too. 

 Needless to say there have been many picnics in the clubhouse. 

Ta-Da! All put together. We tried to put it as close to this small grove of trees in our yard so it will have a  treehouse-like feel in the summer.  So far I have been welcomed into the clubhouse but I'm wondering how long it will last before they realize I'm a "girl". lol

Hall Babe #3

Well, I am a little slow at posting these due to my lack of pregnancy energy, holidays, colds & a ton happening in our lives...yada yada. However, we are excited to announce that we are expecting baby number 3 and the new little one will be joining our home somewhere around July 15th! I am about 16 weeks and feeling pretty good. Our next ultrasound is on Feb 21st and we can't wait to find out what we are having. I have been having some pretty strong impressions but we shall see! :) 

Hall Baby #3 - 8 week ultrasound 

Opa & Oma's visit

Just before New Years Weston's dad and step-mom aka Opa & Oma came to TX for a visit! Despite our colds and my pregnancy energy (the lack thereof), we had lots of fun while they were here. 

 Of course we had to take them to the boys favorite place, the children's museum. 

I have been wanting to visit the beer can house for over a year and we finally did! It was closed but very cool to see. This guy lined his entire house with over 40,000 beer cans that he drank himself. You can't see the all the details but it was pretty clever what he created. 

It's not all that often that we catch Warren being silly so when he is it makes me smile. He seemed to have more silly moments when Opa was visiting. He loves the movie Despicable Me and he kept doing this little "Oh, yea" jig all day when I remembered it is what Vector does on the show.  

Warren riding the Aviator with Opa at the Kemah Boardwalk.  

I knew the visit would fall short if Weston & Lynn did not get a chance to drive a moving truck together at some point. So, being the best wife in the land that I am ;), I arranged for them to pickup an awesome Rainbow play structure that I found on Craigs List for the boys. Your welcome boys! :D

Christmas bringing....

Each year Christmas brings many wonderful things...

Santa...

Warren was absolutely taken back to be meeting the big man live. I was grateful a friend captured this precious expression. 

 Parties...

Us at the ward Christmas brunch. 

Warren's school party. Notice the positioning of Warren's reindeer antlers?

packages...

elves...

unity & love...

It's become a tradition for me to go to the George R Brown convention center in downtown Houston every Christmas Eve. A few adults including some of the youth leaders & parents take a group of the kids down to serve the less fortunate. Every year the convention center hosts a Christmas dinner in which they feed around 40-50,000 in one day. It is a massive event which takes thousands of volunteers.  We never know what we will end up doing. We could be serving food, cleaning up, folding and organizing clothing or toys, etc.

However, my VERY most favorite thing to do it to form a group and go Christmas caroling to the people who are standing in line. Entire families will wait in line for 8 or more hours to eat a nice Christmas dinner. It might seem trivial but you would be surprised how much the people love to hear us sing! It brings smiles & hope to their solemn faces and most of the time they usually start to sing and dance with us! We also try to entertain the little ones by playing games with them, etc. The parents appreciate it so much and the kids get a chance to pass the time having some fun while waiting in line.

I can't tell you how strong the spirit is each year when I do this and it always sets such a strong spirit as to what Christmas is really all about. I have had many powerful & touching moments each year as I have gone. I am grateful for Weston's support as he gets to babysit while I go along each year. :) Here's a little video of us playing duck duck goose.

Not a creature a stirring....excluding of course the tasmanian elves who tipped over the tree a week before Christmas and shorted out half the lights. ;) 

Wishes come true!  

Happy Faces... 

Choo choo races...

 buttermilk waffles and Christmas tulips...

safety & security?

 Togetherness & fun friendly faces...

All these things we do to remember Him & celebrate together our love for our Savior, Jesus Christ. It is our common belief & hope in Him that brings us together, as one. I believe it is the only gift He would ask for. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas. Wish we could spend time with all of you but know our thoughts turn to you as the Christmas season comes. Merry Christmas!

"The most endearing of Christmas symbols"...

If you have been following our blog for the past 4 years you are aware of our annual tradition of cutting down our Christmas Tree. Weston talked about it for years while we were in school as he watched his favorite Christmas flick, Christmas Vacation. Therefore, every year since graduation we have been (as Chevy Chase says) "loading up our rear wheel sleigh to embrace the winter majesty to pick out the most endearing of Christmas Symbols."

Every year Weston has had a just a "wee" bit of trouble cutting down the tree. One year the tree farm gave us a "weak saw" last year he had "pulled" a muscle in his shoulder. Well, this year we made double sure we got a great saw and when it came down to cutting the tree the darn thing kept binding up again! Hmmmm. ;D I was feeling the pressure that my sons really needed to see the tree get cut down so I was forced to take matters into my own hands! 

It was a little tougher than I thought BUT....

I prevailed! 

I have to toot my horn just a little bit. Weston..... he laughed..... but I know he was secretly just as proud as I was. ;D 

Since I cut down the tree, of course I made the boys haul in my kill. 

Trying to get both boys to smile at the same time didn't work all that well. They were both completely distracted by the surroundings....

Warren trying to assist me in my request. 

One out of about 50 pictures where Warren wasn't pulling a goofy face. 

Ben explored EVERYthing. It's times like these when I seriously consider moving out to the country. It really is tempting!

All loaded up now its time to play! 

Tire Rolling Directions: Get a tire and go to the top of the hill. Yell "tire rolling!" and chase your tire out into the woods until it hits a tree but watch out for the rivine! Good old fashioned fun. The boys could do this all day if we'd stay that long.

Our failed Christmas card picture. For some reason Sam's couldn't get this picture to print clearly. Go figure.  

It was very convenient the missionaries were coming over for dinner that night. I think Weston must have planned it! 

The next day the boys spent most of the day working on our exterior illumination. 

A first for Warren this year was his first viewing of Christmas Vacation. It was closely monitored and all "adult content" was skipped but he, as all the Hall men in the family, found much happiness in it. Having just got done helping dad with the lights that day he found it especially funny, belly laughing through the whole thing. This is a clip of the part when Clark is trying to rig up the lights and takes his frustrations out on santa and the reindeer. I have to admit, its pretty funny. I mean who doesn't occasionally snap and have at least one uncle eddie in their family? ;D 

(If you are receiving this via email you will not be able to see the videos here. You will need to click on the blue Halls Rock link below which will take you to our blog and you can view them there.) 

Thanksgiving Fun

Thanksgiving was a very busy day this year! We had two dinner invitations and a play date all in one day so I made sure to make lots of Pie. I started the day before and finished up Thanksgiving morning. Here you see two apple crumble, two lemon chiffon and two pumpkin chiffon. The pumpkin is served with homemade whipped cream and toffee brittle on top. Oh and did I mention in is made with eggnog too?  It was a new recipe I tried this year and it was very delicious! Yum! 

Warren our native Thanksgiving indian. 

Earlier in the day we stopped by Uncle Steve & Aunt Julie's house to say hello and prime our feast appetite on. Cousins Robert & Kristen had their first baby, McKenna, just a few weeks before. We got to hold & snuggle her which is always a bonus! 

After we visited Payette's we joined some good friends the Boss' for Thanksgiving Diner. Lara is known for her cooking and she did not let us down! The food was yummy and we all ate way too much. I couldn't even eat my pie! Can you believe I didn't take any pictures? I know. I forgot my camera and my phone so I have no record of the fancy table or the amazing food but it was impressive! ;D We hung out for a while, played games and watched football. 

 Later, the missionaries came over for pie and our friends the Keifer's also came over for pie and to make gingerbread houses! We made a huge mess but had lots of fun! They are too fun!

Warren & Mom's creation. When I see this picture I just laugh because I was completely exhausted. LOL It's amazing what you can do when you have fun people around to keep you going! :D 

Amy & Wyatt's and as you can see Wyatt ate more than he built! lol 

It was a fun day for us. Even though we don't get to be with all our loved ones every holiday, you were all in our thoughts and know that we are very grateful to have you in our lives!