Hall Family

2011-03-27T17:04:00.000-07:00

One of Jakes' favorite Christmas presents is his tool set! He loves it. He loves his goggles, his drills and he plays with them often to "build stuff".

Christmas Pictures at the Belagio

2011-03-27T16:55:00.000-07:00

I wanted to get some cute pictures of the kids in thier Christmas clothes. This is what we came up with. Gracie's dress is so cute, and Jake looks like a handsome little man!!

Christmas 2010 in Ely

2011-03-27T15:42:00.001-07:00

The week before Christmas the kids and I went to Ely to enjoy some time with Nana, Kim and the cousins. It was so much fun. We went to Grandma Belle's and played in the snow and ate ice cycles off their house. Aunt Ali took them sleigh riding in the back yard. Jake looked so cute in all his snow gear and had such a great time. Unfortuneatly I didn't realize until Christmas Eve that I had no sim card in my camara while taking pictures so these are all we have to show for all fun we had! It was such a great week to play with everyone it started snowing right after we got the car unpacked and didn't stop for 2 days.!! It was wet but sure made for a fun week before Christmas!! This is the anticipation of Christmas Eve. What will Santa bring?

Jake ready for bed with all his cousins!

The next morning we woke up and had to wait for everyone else to wake up so enjoyed laying in bed and drinking some milk before everyone else woke up.

Jake got a bike. He ran for this first!! What a wonderful present. He loved it, unfortunately he fell right off and wouldn't get back on for over and hour. Hopefully he will get the hang of it shortley.

Grace in her stocking! What fun stuff to play with!

Grace pushing around her stroller. If only we had brought that doll!!

Jake was playing with Papa Dean's jack when I told him he shouldn't play with it and that it was only for cars, he had just the right fit!!

There no he can lift his car!!!

Santa Pictures at Ball Pro Shop

2011-03-27T15:23:00.000-07:00

We went and got Santa pictures at Bass Pro shops 12/07/2010. Grace did not like the man in Red!! Jake is uncertain about him also. But no presents if you don't ask for 'em.

Gracie Turns 1

2011-03-27T15:03:00.001-07:00

Here is Gracie on her first Birthday Party!! She was in such a good mood. I can't believe it has already been a year!! Holy Cow time flies when your having fun! In attendence was Grandma and Grandpa cox, Nana Susan, Auntie Kim, Uncle Drew and all thier clan. It was so fun to have everyone over to celebrate your big day.

Here are her cakes. The bear I made for her to tear apart and demolish!! The other cake is for everyone else. What a fun thing for her.

She attacked the head first! After she got the head off she started to scoop out the inside to eat. It was so fun for her. Here is all that is left of the cake!

Gracie opening up her presents! She loved her little dollie. Kisses for her!

Grace Loves a balloon!! She gets excited just to see one. She was so glad there were ones at her party.

Thanksgiving 2010

2011-03-27T14:56:00.000-07:00

We went to Papa Dean and Nana Susan's for Thanksgiving. I am pretty sure this will be Gracie's favorite holiday, any holiday that revolves around food has got to be good right! Grace and Jake getting ready for the feast!!

Gracie loves food!! All food, she isn't a picky eater at all.

She ate everything on her plate. And didn't waste hardly any on her shirt!! I was glad because she just ripps her bib off before the dinner comes.

Halloween 2010

2011-03-27T14:42:00.000-07:00

On Halloween we decorated pumpkins with foam stickers. Jake really enjoyed this!!

We also decorated cupcakes. We decided Jake could have all the ones he decorated. He thought it was great that he could lick all the candy before he actually put it on his cupcake. He kept licking the frostin!! That's the best part, right. I think he knew what he was doing the whole time.

Jake really wanted to be a cowboy for halloween and because Grace is too little to decide she got to be an indian! They were so cute. Thanks to Nana Susan for helping us make her costume. It turned out darling with the arrows and all. What a great day we had!!

Them with cousin Addy getting ready for trick-or-treating. I think Jake enjoyed giving the candy more than getting it!!

Her little arrows on her back complete the costume.

Salt Lake in October 2010

2011-03-27T14:28:00.001-07:00

This year for Halloween we went to Salt Lake. It was so much fun to see everyone! We went to wheeler farm to feed the ducks and see the animals.

Grace is completely unsure about the large goose in front of her.

Jake loves to throw bread to the ducks!! What am I saying..... He loves to throw anything!!

Cousing Addy and Juje. So fun!!

We went on a hay wagon ride. It was so fun. We got to see the whole farm. This is cousin Addy and some of the neighbor kids hitched a ride with us, and Jacob on the end. It was such a fun day!

September 2010: First Piggys!

2011-03-27T13:20:00.000-07:00

Grace was born with this amazing, out-of-control hair. It has been so fun!! Today at 9 months old she is able to wear pig tails for the first time!! So fun!! The part isn't super straight, but she is only 9 months, holding still is not an option!!

Camping in the 2010

2011-03-27T13:05:00.001-07:00

In the summer we enjoy camping!! Jake loves it! He loves that he gets to stay outside all day long. He loves the dirt, and the worms, and the 4 wheelers. He loves everything about camping. Here he is holding a worm that he dug in the dirt to get (if you can't tell by his shirt!) What fun summer days!!

Gracie Belle and her Great Papa Dutch!

Yep!! Charley's hands are nicely in his lap!! Jake is driving that thing. So much fun for him. And so daring for dad not to be wearing a helmet too!!

Gracie's other uncle Nate!! What a great uncle he is!!

Jake not wanting to get off. It is so much fun for him.

This is Jake and a couple of his cousins at the family reunion!. Bella and Conner. They were having so much fun running around in the tent after it was put up!

We left it to the kids to put up the tent!! (ok maybe Charley helped a little)

Auntie Ali and Jake enjoying the nice day outside!!

Nana Susan and Gracie. What a great little pair.

Lake Powell August 2010

2011-03-27T12:35:00.000-07:00

In August we went with Charley's family to Lake Powell to stay on his sister's house boat. It was so much fun. We had a great time playing in the water, roasting mallows and making smores by the campfire and enjoying some sand sports. What a great week!! Here is Jake and his dad taking in some sand baseball. He hit that ball!! What a coordinated little 2 year old!

Here is Jake and Grace just out of the water getting ready for some lunch!

Grace and her 2 tooth smile!! What a cutie! Her little hat and swimsuit.... Too cute for words!

Jeff Charley's brother showing his "strong" assests!

Gracie with auntie Ali in their matching swim suits!! Must have been popular colors, this wasn't planned, but it sure makes for a good picture!!!

Everone enjoying some water time! So Fun!!

Baby Blues... need I say more?

This is pretty much where Jake spent most his time!! He was such a good boy! He loved being close to the water to go whenever he wanted. Of coarse he had a life jacket on the whole time. He manuvered that thing so well. He must have been a fish in another life!

Grace pretty much would sleep anywhere! after the water and food she was always ready for a nap. I could not have asked for a better baby. She was so good!!

A Day at the Pool!

2011-03-27T12:29:00.000-07:00

Still July of 10 In Vegas a day at the pool/lake is a must!! Here is Grace in all her swimming gear! Jake is a water baby!! Gracie is just learning to love the water.

4th of July 2010

2011-03-27T12:17:00.000-07:00

Fourth of July 2010 was spent in Salt Lake for the kids and I. We had so much fun visiting with cousin Addy, Uncle Nathan, and aunt Jenny, along with all our other friends there! This is Jake taking a time out from playing by nathan's "water fall". More like the rushing rapids!! So fun to sit and enjoy the sounds of rushing water in the middle of the city!

Gracie loved their little dog louie. She followed him around and enjoyed the occasional "kiss" from him. Try telling the 7month old that it's gross to kiss dogs!

Jake is his red, white and blue getting ready for the park and fireworks!

Uncle Nate and Jake enjoyed the fireworks!! So fun. He finally will sit through them and enjoy them.

Grace just after dinner. Too cute of picture not to add!!

2011-03-27T12:12:00.000-07:00

Here are a few extra pics of Grace at 6 months and a few of jakerman just shortly after his 2nd birthday!!

Gracie Belle 6 months!!

2011-03-27T12:02:00.000-07:00

June '10 Gracie is 6 months old in these pics. What a stinkin cutie!!

YANKEE GAME!!!!

2011-03-07T19:37:00.001-08:00

Before the Yankee's vs Dodger's game we went to the beach! This was a fun trip spent with nana and papa! We ate bbq by the ocean. played in the water and enjoyed being together!!

Yankee's came from behind in the 9th inning!! What a great game. Coach Torri on one side and the Yankee's on the other!! Awesome!!

Jake loves the ball park. You wouldn't think he could sit still for a ball game, but for 2 he does so good!

Family pic at the ball game!

Swimming Lessons

2011-01-26T20:24:00.001-08:00

Swimming lessons for Jake!! She said he had an unnatural "no fear" of water. I knew that, hence why we put him in swimming lessons!!

California

2011-01-26T20:06:00.001-08:00

This is one of my favorite little sun dresses of hers!

Who couldn't love this cheesey grin. He loved the sand, not the ocean so much. All he could talk about the whole way there was the ocean. When we got there we couldn't even pull him in. So funny.

This is one of my favorite pictures at the ocean. He liked having his shoes off and going with his dad!

Ely Railway!

2011-01-26T19:57:00.001-08:00

Jake on his first train ride!!

Here he is super excited!! We even got him to take a picture with the conductor. So fun. He Loved the red bandana he wore it for a week I think. I don't love the train whistle that came with it.

Family time!! What a great day it was!!

Fish Lake

2011-01-26T19:50:00.000-08:00

What beautiful day it was out at the lake. Not for swimming of coarse, but it's always a good day for throwing rocks!!

I love his little face!!

Gracie's first food!

2011-01-08T16:03:00.000-08:00

First bite of cereal!!

Not sure how she feels about it!!

YAY!!! she likes it!!

A Night at the 51's

2011-01-08T15:27:00.001-08:00

This is Jake telling Grace the in's and out's of baseball, or so it would look like!!

This is Grace by the bottom of the second inning!!

We decided to take a night out at the ball park. It is so fun to be out and about watching the ball game.

Here is Grace loving her first ball game. Wide awake!!

Jakes 2nd Birthday!!

2011-01-08T15:16:00.000-08:00

Jake loves cake!!

Here he is with his little friend and his cousins!!

This is him and his little friend sal. What a fun cute picture!

Here is his cake. I can't belive he is already 2!!

Easter 2010

2011-01-08T14:55:00.000-08:00

This is Jake so excited that he got eggs with special surprises in them.

This is Grace on Easter morning. I just loved her little pink dress!!

We colored eggs for the first time this year. He loved putting the eggs in the colors. He is such a fun boy

This is Jake hunting for eggs. He loved that each had a special surprise in it!

These pictures are from the ward easter egg hunt!! They had the easter bunny there and everything. Jake wanted nothing to do with him. So just Grace it is!

The Salt Lake City Zoo

2010-07-18T19:57:00.001-07:00

Jake LOVED the zoo. The merry-go-round was his favorite, I think.

Jake loves animals, but he was pretty scared to turn his back on the tiger. The tiger was pretty big.

The elephants are Jake's favorite!! He just kept looking at them and making elephant sounds while making a trunk out of his arm. He is so stinkin funny sometimes!!

Grandma Photo

2010-07-18T19:45:00.000-07:00

On her first trip to SLC we went to see great grandma Carter.

The Shark Reef

2010-07-18T18:57:00.001-07:00

This is the Shark Reef. Uncle Nathan is helping him to touch the ray, but Jake isn't so sure.

This is Addy!! She didn't mind touching them so much.

This is Nate. Only ONE finger at a time nate!!

Fun Outfits!

2010-07-18T18:50:00.000-07:00

When she first gets out of the bath she has this stinkin cute curl. I LOVE her hair so much!!

This is a cute little sweater one of patients made for her. It has a little hat that goes with it, but it was way too small for her. I like this headband and flower with it though!!

New Years

2010-07-18T18:33:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures of our fun New Years at Kims. As you can see we have the whole rock band thing going. Charley is rocking it with his 80's hair and hat!!! We had such a good time.

Jake went down at 10:30 for a little "nap" he was suppose to be down for the night but decided everyone was having way to much fun to miss out on downstairs. I let him come down for a while..... You only bring in 2010 once, right?!

Grace was less interested and happy to be sleeping. She is almost a month here. With her party hat though, she loves a good party!!

Gracie's Blessing

2010-02-25T18:59:00.000-08:00

This is Gracie on her blessing day. She was beautiful!! She is such a good baby. Who said you couldn't lucky twice!?

This is the only photo that it would let me download to the blog from this day. I don't know if I am retarted, but does anyone else have this problem??

Blessing Day!!

2010-01-15T09:30:00.000-08:00

We will be blessing Gracie this Sunday, here is a preview of her beautiful dress her Nana Susan made.

Christmas

2009-12-31T13:27:00.000-08:00

This was Gracie's Christmas. How much do you need at 2 weeks?? She just slept through most of it. But what a great Christmas present she was!!

These are some of the fun hair flowers aunt Kimmy made. We couldn't decide which one she should wear, so we put a few in.

Jake got a new race car set. He loves cars right now and just kept saying car, car. After he opened that, that was all he needed.

This is aunt Ali with her only neice. This was the first time Ali had seen her. She had a basketball game the weekend Gracie was born.

This is all the kids at nana's house on Christmas Eve. They were just about to go to bed so Santa could come.

It was such a wonderful Christmas!! We had a great time with everyone. We are so blessed to have such a great family. We always have a great time around the holidays!!

Magical Forest

2009-12-31T13:12:00.001-08:00

We went to the Magical Forest just before Christmas. It was so fun!! Aunt Kimmy took him on the train. (I was afraid it would still hurt me to go.) So thanks to aunt Kimmy.

We even got him to sit on Santa's lap without crying. It was so fun to go with cousins who showed him how not to be scared of Santa.

This was Gracie the entire time we were there!! Yay, i was so glad she had a good nap.

His favorite part was this little slide they had in the road where he could go up the stairs in the back and go down all by himself. He had so much fun with his cousins!! Thanks for the invite Kim!!

Falling Trees

2009-12-13T15:26:00.001-08:00

So I took a picture of this but didn't have a card in my camera. But today Jake was playing and walking around backwards and ran into the tree. Now my tree had a little crack in the stand and I thought it would last till at least Christmas then we could hit the after Christmas sales to buy a new one. Well after Jake has pulled on the ornaments and Charley hit it with a football. It was all it could take. And down it came. I have to say, after just having a c-section I was able to react pretty quickly and caught the tree. Only breaking 2 ornaments. Now the delima arises, do we buy a new one or wait!!
So there you go. Merry Christmas.

She's Here!!

2009-12-07T20:56:00.000-08:00

Gracie Belle born December 3, 2009. She weighed 8lbs 5oz, and was 19 inches long. What a blessing after such a dramatic week she is here safe and sound!!

Here is our little girl the day she was born. She is a little suprised to be the outside looking at a camera. She came out screaming so little suction was needed. Her eyes were wide open ready to see the world around her.

I love the bows, flowers, pink, and lace!! For those who know Jacob, know that he is ALL boy. So it is nice to have pink in my life. She is such a sweet baby.

Here is Jacob giving his new sister a little kiss. He is already so concerned when she is crying. He is going to be such a good big brother.

Growing Up

2009-11-30T13:40:00.001-08:00

I was changing Jacob's diaper the other day and when I went to put his pants on he grabbed them from me and was attempting to put them on by hisself. We weren't going anywhere so I let him. After about 3 minutes I looked over and he had quit trying to put them on his legs and decided it was easier to just put them on his head.
Stinking funny kid!!!

The Header

2009-11-01T12:40:00.000-08:00

One weekend while Charley went hunting Jake and I, with some friends, went to the pumpkin patch. He had so much fun running in the rows between the corn stalks. He loved picking the tomatoes, and playing in the dirt. We had such a great time. Here is a picture of him and his little friend Sal at the pumpkin patch.

HALLOWEEN

2009-11-01T12:01:00.001-08:00

We thought for halloween this year, living in vegas and all, that Elvis was the perfect costume!!! I found this at the spirit store listed as a rocker costume but I thought it would work out. We painted on the side burns and sprayed his hair black. He looked so stinking cute. In this picture he is telling his dad "no no no, stop".

This is the finished product cheesy grin and all!!! He even managed to say trick or treat. Or at least a version of it.

Like Father Like Son

2009-08-24T22:22:00.000-07:00

Charley ran the Park City Marathon again this year. While training his little boy watched him with his pack all the time. So now he uses his other one and know exactly what it is for!! I have to wrap it around him twice but it is so stinkin cute!! He carries his sippy cup around in it. I love that he wants to be just like his dad.

p.s pics of park city soon to come.

Camping at Mt Wheeler

2009-08-14T20:14:00.000-07:00

We went to Great Basin National Park a few weeks ago and it was fun. We went to the caves and they talk alot about stalatites and stalamites, makes me wish I had paid more attention in Science class. It was amazing though!! This is a picture of the entry into the cave. Just beautiful.
It's funny how little kids will sit down ANYWHERE regaurdless of anything under them. This is Jake sitting in the dirt playing with the dogs. They really only like him around meal time cause he shares his food with them.

Once Jake figured out the zipper in the tent nap time was obsolete up camping. We had to lay in there with him till he fell asleep. I keep thinking he wants to drop his morning nap, but.....

This is him an hour later on a hike with us. YEP, he is sleeping!! Poor guy. He really just needs his sleep.

This is an awesome fleece that his uncle nathan gave him for Christmas last year. Thank goodness. It came in to handy, the mornings were really cold up there.

It was such a great trip. We had so much fun with Nana and Papa Hall.

OUR LITTLE DANCER!!

2009-08-07T22:02:00.000-07:00

So my little man LOVES music and dancing right now. He is so happy to do it for any reason. It makes us laugh. He is turning into quite the character!!! He also has quite the moves for a little guy.

FAMILY REUNION

2009-07-12T08:42:00.000-07:00

The family reunion is always alot of fun for everyone. This year is was especially fun for Jake. There was a creek close to the camp and his dad would take him down and show him how to throw rocks in it. He loved it. He only wanted to throw the rocks from camp though not the ones right by the creek so needless to say they did a lot of walking back and forth.
Lucky for me he was afraid to go alone. So he always made sure one of us was with him.

We play horse shoes every year. Charley is always teamed up with his cousin Sam. They didn't do to well this year. We are going to have to actually get together this year so they can practice!!! Next year guys!!!

WE ARE HAVING A....

2009-07-12T08:17:00.001-07:00

A little girl!!!! We are so excited for this addition to our family!! She is due on December 9th. We will probably have her on December 2nd or 3rd!!

Here is a picture of her face. She is still pretty boney right now. So far her heart is in good health. We have another appt in August.

A Fun Day!!

2009-06-19T13:46:00.001-07:00

These pictures are backwards of the days events but oh well. Charley had to work for a while on Saturday so we down to the park in our neighborhood for a while. Jacob's favorite was the swing. He really likes to try to climb up the slide with little success.

Charley has started training for the Park City Marathon so he has to do some higher elevation runs so we went with him and while he was running Jacob and I hung out in the meadow. Rocket came too and tagged along on a walk that we went on. It's fun for everyong outside!!
He got this chair for his birthday from his aunt kimmy, drew and his cousins. He loved it. When I set it up his eyes got really big and he just grabbed his book and sat down. He knew it was for him. So cute. Thanks for the great gift guys!!

This is the bike he got for Christmas. He loves it!! He rode his bike to the park in the morning. As you can see he was all smiles.

HERE WE GO AGAIN!

2009-05-14T19:21:00.000-07:00

Well here we are again so soon!!! This one was well... let's just say a little happy surprise! We are excited non the less. I am almost 14 weeks and counting. this one is going by so fast. We have so much to get done before the baby gets here.
To be truthful it still feels unreal. Except I have been way more sick with this one than I was the first one.

I hope this baby has the same temperment as Jacob, if it does it will be a piece of cake!!!

Easter!!

2009-05-13T18:49:00.000-07:00

Well I seem to be having a little trouble downloading the pics from Easter so you will have to take my word on how stinkin cute Jacob looked in his little Easter suit!! I will try another day. He really liked his basket once he looked inside and saw all the eggs that opened up with little prizes in them. He was so cute! Well that's it for all of his first holidays, kind of sad that he is so big already!! I love each new stage he goes through.
He went for his one year appt. and he weight 25.5 lbs, is 30.5 inches tall and eats like a champ. He went on 2 airplane rides in his first year, so now he is even with his dad. He has 10 teeth, walks, and can dance with the best of them. He enjoys being outside and watching tv, we really have to watch this one!! He has been so great and such a blessing this past year.

One of Many!!

2009-04-06T13:39:00.000-07:00

We had Jacobs birthday party in Ely this weekend with the family. The cake turned out amazing. We were so happy our efforts paid off. Here is a picture of the cake!! The bear on top of the home plate is meant for Jacob and boy did he love it!!

Here is a picture of the back.

At first he just stared at the cake and tasted a little of the frosted nose.

Once he figured it was edible it was all over!! He just kept bitting it. First the nose then the ear and then he went for the top of the head.

We figured some saftey goggles were in order.

It was such a fun birthday. Thanks to all who came and enjoyed this day with us.

How Time Flys!!!

2009-03-13T19:12:00.000-07:00

Holy cow!! I cannot believe that it has almost been a year since my little man was born. They grow so fast. What a great blessing he has been for us!! It's amazing to watch him change from day to day.

We went the other day to take some pics of him to send out to family and they turned out so cute. I think you can tell what sport dad is leaning on for him to play. Baseball runs in the blood!!

A Sick Kid

2009-02-07T12:15:00.000-08:00

Well my little man has been sick off and on now for 2 weeks...... It all started one night about 10:30p. He woke up screaming and realizing this was no ordinary cry I went to check on him. He was buning up with fever!!! I took his temp and it was 103.7, so I took him downstairs where Charley was, we got him out of his jammies, put a cool cloth on his head and gave him some tylenol. I know babies temp can go higher than adults and if I could bring his temp down in an hour he would be fine. At about 10:40 my little man made a girgling sound stopped responding to anything his little body went limp. His eyes then rolled to the back of his head and he started convulsions!!! It was so scary, I was no longer playing it cool, I grabed a blanket the kid and we were off the ER. Thank goodness the hospital is only 2 min away. Well it was that night. I was so scared still not responding the whole way there he was laying very still humming. I was going over all the CPR I have been taught from years in the medical field in my head. Something I had hoped never to have to use especially on my own child.
We got to the hospital and they were great!!! The nurses, the doctors, everyone was so great. His fever finally broke around 3a. They said that it was a febrile siezure, it is more scary than dangerous. My only question was how do I prevent that, it was really scary. He said to just keep the fever down. It wasn't that high, but the siezure probably took place because the fever went too high too fast. When I had put him down aroung 7 he was fine. And he had been fine all day.
Now he has been throwing up off and on, and had diarrhea off and on also. He doesn't have the appitite he once did, and he lost a pound in a week. I sure hope what ever this is it goes away soon. I fell so bad for him.

Christmas

2009-01-08T18:53:00.001-08:00

These pictures uploaded in the wrong order, but I am too lazy to fix them. We started with Christmas in Ely then went to SLC for New Year's. Here are some pics from the holidays. This is my niece Addy in her backyard!! They have a huge hill that we went sledding down. It was super fun. This is her after she wrecked obviously she didn't care much. She was just happy to be outside in the snow.

This is a little sled they had for Jake. He loved it and went down the hill just fine. Well until he fell out and got his face in the snow, then he had had enough!! It was fun while it lasted though.
This is Jake in the box something came in. He had so much fun. I know this is impossible but it was almost like he knew there was going to be fun for him after he unwraped every present. He got so excited when you showed him something new to open. I think that he just liked pulling on the paper and eating it, but it was so fun to watch.

He really enjoyed the ribbon!!

This was his cute little santa outfit we found and thought he just had to have. He also got this bike. He LOVES it!! He saw and came crawling to it and hasn't left it alone since. It has this great little seatbelt so he can stay on it and ride it everywhere. It makes noise and honks, it really is a great a toy. It all comes off and turns into a trike later so it can grow with him for a year or two.

It has been such a wonderful holiday season. I hope it was for all!!

Photography Class

2009-01-08T18:46:00.000-08:00

So as some of you know I took a photography class recently. Here are a few of my pics, let me know what you think.

Long Over Due.

2008-10-30T20:26:00.000-07:00

Here are some more pictures from one of our trips to salt lake. Jacob loves is aunt jenny. He was just talking to her. His cousin loves him so much. They are going to be good friends.

Here is a picture of my neice with Charley. We went to wheeler farm to feed the ducks and walk around. She is wearing her Uof U shirt because she knows that Charley is a BYU fan. She is a die hard UofU fan at only age 5. She thought for a minute that she couldn't be friends with him because he likes BYU. She have since come to understand that it okay for him to like BYU just not when they are playing each other!!!

Happy Halloween!!

2008-10-30T20:19:00.000-07:00

Here is our cute boy in his halloween costume!! We saw this little sock monkey and thought it was so cute. I took some pictures of him. I wanted to put more up but time is short. So here is one. Happy Halloween. Have a fun and safe night!!!

Jake's full-time hobby

2008-10-30T18:21:00.000-07:00

Well, similar to his father, our son Jacob loves to eat. And he's not picky about anything, also like his father. Let's see how he does with some squash:

A bit apprehensive, but mouth still open...

...it's in...

..yeaaaaaaaaa!!!!!...

...now for a kiss!!!

The new house

2008-10-20T16:50:00.000-07:00

We have been so busy lately, that it has been hard to post more often. Mom and Dad bought a new house in Ely, so we have been up there the last few weekends to help paint, clean, and move. We love the new place. It is a little boys dream house, with plenty of open space to explore and play. We will have to get more pictures up soon.

just for the record....

2008-10-07T16:00:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to clarify that Charley is the one who posted the last blog!! The way he wrot it made it sound like I wrote it. I think that he did great in the marathons. He finished two races that were 26.2 miles each just two weeks apart from each other, I think that to finish is a job well done.

...a month later

2008-10-06T16:21:00.000-07:00

Wow! The time sure has flown by this past month. We have so much to report. Jacob turned SIX months old this month and he is growing so fast! He is sitting up now without help and is close to being mobile!(YIKES!!) He is also very photogenic. There are so many cute images of him that we will just set up a slide show and save the space. We have also welcomed a new nephew to the fam. Baby Steele was born on Sept. 11 (finally something to celebrate on that day!). We have also made a few trips to Utah. We were in Logan for the weekend of the 20th for the Top of Utah Marathon. Charley performed lousy, but the trip was nice. Two weeks later, we were in St. George for another marathon, where Charley also did crappy.(his excuse is the weather, but whatever). Here are some pictures of it all!!

baby steele

jake sitting upbest elvis impersonationcousin photo not really working out

jake at wheeler farm amid the pumpkins.

A Face To Love

2008-09-01T11:37:00.001-07:00

On Sunday I just took out my camera and started taking pictures of little man. I love this cute little hat and wanted some pictures of him wearing it. I learned quickly that his little bouncer is not the place to get great still shots but I still got a couple really cute faces. He just loves it so much, he becomes so animated and I wanted to have record of that. These moments go by so fast!!!

I love this face and have tried to get it in the past, but have been unsuccessful. Not this time, he is soo funny.
This was in the bathtub, another favorite place of his. I hope you enjoy the pictures as much as I do!!!

Park City

2008-08-29T20:08:00.000-07:00

Charley ran his 2nd of 4 summer marathons last weekend in Park City. It was beautiful!! He finished 30 monutes faster than he expected. Good job honey!! It's a harder marathon due to the fact the first 18 miles are up hill!! It was my favorite marathon so far because they don't block off any roads so we could meet him at several different spots during his run. I loved seeing him throughout his run, and not just at the end!! Here are some pictures and video of him running. The video is at mile 26. The first picture is at mile 17, and the second at mile 21. He did great!!!!

Park City was so beautiful and the temp was so nice compared to the Las Vegas heat. Charley got a great deal on this amazing hotel room because he ran the marathon. It was such a nice weekend, we were so sad to leave so soon.

Family Reunion

2008-08-16T13:52:00.000-07:00

We went camping in Ely for Charleys' family reunion. It was pretty fun. Once again a big hit with the little guy!! He LOVES being outside. I was a little worried about him getting sun burned, so I kept a hat on him. He did great!! It got really cold at night time so we bundled him up really good, on the second night I put him the camp trailer with nana, he did great!! I have such a sound sleeper that at 4 in the morning his Papa had his ear on his chest listening to him breath. He said he didn't move all night!!! He finally woke up at 7:00 and nana brought him in to my tent to I could feed him.
Look at this stinkin smile he is soo cute!!!

They hung this swing from one of the trees for the little kids and just look at how much he loved it!!! He was laughing the whole time!!!!

Mt. Charelston

2008-08-16T13:47:00.001-07:00

So here is the latest trip to Mt Charelston. It was such a nice day so we decided to go hiking and try out his backpack. He loves it. He was smiling the whole time. He loves to be outside, he loves to be moving. So score one for the Backpack!!!

Swimming!!!

2008-08-06T18:49:00.000-07:00

I took Jacob swimming for the first time!! He loves the bathtub so I thought he would love to swim. The water was a little cold so I thought he would cry a little, but no way, this little guy loves the water!!!

This is a little turtle float we got him. He likes it but I really think he likes to be the water with me holding him.
He really loved being all bundled up in his towel and blanket in the stroller after swimming.
This is my friend JoEllen and her boy Sal, they came along with us. It was such a fun afternoon in the pool!!

First Pictures

2008-07-07T17:42:00.001-07:00

We went and got his pictures taken for his 3 months, and they turned out so cute!!! I was worried because we had to wake him up from a nap to get them done but he was just as smiley as ever!! I put a few on the blog for you to see them.

This one with the green background is my favorite!! His smile is so great!!

2 different Occasions

2008-06-18T20:36:00.000-07:00

Jacob got blessed on June 8th by his dad. He said a wonderful blessing. Luckily he remembered it and could write it down for those who couldn't hear it (the microphone wasn't turned on). I mostly felt bad for the family who had traveled just for the occasion. He wore the same outfit Charley was blessed in when he was a baby.

I can't believe that my maternity leave is almost up!! It has been the most fun 12 weeks ever!! Next time I will be taking 16 weeks instead of just 12. I really don't think that will feel like enough either. I can't believe how much he has grown in the last 2 months. Here are some pictures I caught of him. I like his little winnie the pooh outfit, but I LOVE his smile.

Hello Again

2008-05-29T20:20:00.000-07:00

I thought while I was home I would have all this time for blogging, turns out I would rather just hold Jacob!! Here are some updated photos of our boy!!

Here he is with cousin Addy in SLC. He was such a good traveler!! She is so stinking cute and loves her newest cousin!! We were in SLC because Charley ran his first marathon of the year. He is doing 4 this year. He did great!! He finished slower than he wanted but hey he finished, not many people can say that. He always says he is going to quit running, but I know it's a lie. He loves crossing the finish line way too much!!

Here is him at 1 month and his smile has only gotten bigger!!!
He has been trying to hold his head up since the day he was born!! Now he has finally mastered it!!
He sleeps just like his dad. He was never one to be bundled up he really likes his hands up while he sleeps. We had to put those on his hands because he kept scratching his face and I was too scared to clip his nails.

2 Weeks In

2008-04-20T14:22:00.001-07:00

Well I'm 2 weeks in and all healed. I am feeling great!! Things have been going well and Jacob is growing by the minute it seems. I am just waiting for the moment he smiles at me because of recognition. I love being a mother and caring for little Jacob. Here are some more recent pics of the little guy!

One is his first bath he loves the bathtub!! I don't know if it's the warm water of the fact that he gets to be naked. He loves them both I guess.

HE'S HERE!!!!

2008-04-07T18:09:00.000-07:00

Well our little man is here!!! What I thought was going to be a quick delivery turned into 18 hours of labor and ended in a c-section.

We went into Mountain View (my doctor didn't get privledges at centennial hills yet) at 7:30 in the am. We get hooked up and get the pitossen flowing at 8:30 and then just wait. The contractions came quickly and I thought here we go, it will be fast!!! Well the contractions were all that came fast. By 6 I had only dialated to a 4. So I got to walk and ended up at a 5. That's were all the trouble started. They wanted to give me an epidural to (I didn't want one at all) so that maybe the muscles would relax and he would drop a little more. I agreed. Then his heart rate started to drop after every contraction he was no longer handeling the delivery very well, and neither was I. My blood pressure had begun to dip also reaching the lowest point at 68 over 33. At that point the doctor turned off the pitossen and said she would give us an hour to either open up or start handeling the delivery better. My blood pressure remained low, and when Jacobs' heart rate went into the 80's she called it and said she no longer felt "safe" allowing us to do it on our own.

A few prayers later we found ourselves in the operating room. From there it was fast he was out, I was relieved, and Charley was looking at our baby boy. So there is our birthing storey. It's alot more traumatic than expected but everyong is here and healthy (mom is a little sore)!!!

A Work in Progress

2008-03-23T13:27:00.000-07:00

Well we are so clase to meeting our little one!! We can hardly wait. Charley is still working on the nursery and he aways works better under pressure. I am more of a planning, have everything done in plenty of time type of a person, so you can imagine my anxiety about the unfinished nursery. But it coming along and looking great!! We had a little set back when Charley discovered the carpet was wet and after further investigation found there was a nail in a pipe. So he had to pull of the base board and cut a whole in the wall to repair the pipe. And now he gets to fix it all. He was extremely frustrated but I guess things just happen. Here are some pictures of the nursery they are sideway but you can get the idea. There is also bright white crown molding along the top. I will post more pictures as it is completed!! So stay tuned.

2008-03-01T20:31:00.000-08:00

Well as D-day is nearing I am so excited to be done and have him here!! We had another doctors appointment on Wednesday and she informed me that he is already six lbs!!! I was also very nervous to hear that his head is measuring at 37 weeks and his height is measuring at 36 weeks (I am only 34 weeks)!!! So needless to say I am not going to have the six pounder I have always wanted. He will take after his dad and be a big baby! How very sad and painful for me. The doctor did say though that if he continues to grow at this rate she will induce me early, which I was very happy to hear.
The nursery is almost finished and we are almost ready to have him here. So I say the sooner the better, within healthy limits, of course.

Farewell to The Prophet.

2008-01-27T22:40:00.000-08:00

It's rather late and I have been tossing and turning for over an hour, so I have decided to make use of my time and express my feeble condolences to the Hinkley family and to the church family in whole. President Hinkley is the prophet of our day that I have grown most fond of. I remember feeling his presence as he dedicated the Cd. Juarez, Mexico Temple while I was a new missionary there. To be able to share a room in the temple with him, Pres. Monson, and the then Elder Eyring in such a sacred place will be an experience I will never forget. My testimony of temples is strengthened because of him. I feel horrible tonight because for so long now, I have wanted to share something with President Hinkley. My great-great grandfather served as a mission president in the Australasian Mission in the latter years of the 19th century. My grandma recently gave me a photograph of my great -great grandfather during that time (April 8th, 1892 to be exact) with many of his companions. I didn't previously know this of my ancestors, so I began to study up on some family history. To my suprise, I found that Ira N. Hinckley, Gordon's grandfather, served with William T. Stewart, my great-great grandfather, together in the mid 1880's and baptised 100's of the Maori people in New Zealand. I wanted to send a copy of that photo to him, but alas, it will have to wait. President Hinckley, you are greatly missed.

3D Ultrasound

2008-01-22T18:08:00.000-08:00

We went and had a 3D ultrasound last week, it was so awesome!! The detail that you can see. It's no wonder why I waited to have kids. The technology today is amazing!!! I can't believe there is only 11 weeks left. I am super excited, and can't wait to see the little guy in real life. In the ultrasound he was yawning and it just made me want to hold the little guy. He's is all streched out though and looks like he no intention of being in the fetal position. Hello that's why it's called that!! Unfortunately for him I have a very short torso so his days of straight legs are numbered, I hope!!!

Christmas...over??!!

2008-01-07T15:20:00.000-08:00

Well we had a wonderful Holiday Season with family. As soon as we download photos, we'll elaborate more. Happy New Year!!

What A Summer!!

2007-10-24T16:48:00.000-07:00

I'm a little bit sad to see the summer fade into the fall this year. The long days, lake trips, reunions, long runs on Saturdays, cookouts, and baseball. Oh well, at least it's not so stinkin' hot outside!! I vowed not to complain about the weather this summer because I just realized that whining won't change it, but I sure enjoy cooler temperatures. Sarah and I have had quite an eventful summer. We found out that Sarah was expecting in August and is due April 10th of next year!! Ya, I haven't vomited yet, but I am pretty nervous. It is so exciting to imagine being a father, yet very humbling to imagine the responsibility. After that news, everything else is pretty insignificant. We had some great trips to the lake with Kim, Andrew, and the boys; One great vacation to Lake Powell in August; A trip to Roosevelt , UT for Sarah's 10 year graduation reunion (ya, mine is next summer, geez we're getting old); trips to Ely for family reunions. We kept ourselves pretty busy. With all that, I still squeezed in training time to complete my second marathon in St. George in October. It was brutal, but I think I have a few more in me. Can you believe that Wal-Mart already has their Christmas stuff out!! It's not even Halloween!!

Alli's 8th Grade Graduation

2007-06-21T18:34:00.000-07:00

On June 6th, I was able to take a quick trip to Ely to see my sister's eighth grade graduation ceremony. I rode up with Kim and the boys and it was all quite enjoyable. Alli looked beautiful in her dressand was honored as an academic honor student.

ONE YEAR ALREADY!?!

2007-06-21T18:24:00.000-07:00

Are you kidding me?! I can't believe that a year has gone by! It has truly gone so fast. I often heard that 'your first year is the hardest.' I don't buy it!! If this last year was hard, keep 'em coming!

For our anniversary we made a little trip to California. We explored Hollywood and drove the coast by Malibu, but we were really there for the days at Six Flags. We are big ride fans, so it was a blast. The only negative is that I lost my newly aquired Yankees hat on the first ride of the trip!!!

It gave me some great hat hair though!!

Another Summer of Run.

2007-05-10T13:40:00.000-07:00

As some of you might know, Charley is a runner by addiction. He hasn't always been, however, he has recently taken up the sport. He finished his first marathon in St. George, Utah in 2006 and has been picked to run it again this year. So it's another summer of 3am wake-up calls to train and long Saturday runs.

hope springs....BASEBALL!!!!

2007-05-10T13:22:00.000-07:00

It's baseball season again!! Mom, Dad, and Alli came down for a few days and we were able to catch the home opener for the Las Vegas 51s, the local AAA team. It was a great game and ended with a great firework show. We are all baseball fans and springtime means another season!!!

P.S. In our house, we cheer for the Yankees. Too bad if you don't like them.

"Rocket"

2007-04-11T20:20:00.000-07:00

This is our puppy "Rocket". He's our miniature Daschund. Charley got him for Christmas last year. He is awefully cute. He is almost eight months old now. He plays "fetch" for hours on end. Hopefully he grows out of it soon, my arm is sore!!!

Easter 2007

2007-04-11T10:19:00.000-07:00

It has been over a year since this photo was taken and nearly a year since Sarah and I were married. The time sure has flown by!!

Easter was quite eventful this year. We went to DisneyLand with Sarah's family and had a good time. (Although judging by this photo, I was the one having fun!!) I sure missed my own family, however I was able to talk to Mom and Ali on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, Dad had to work Easter morning. The rest of the family, namely Kim, Andrew, Jace, Jesse, and Jeff are out of the mainland US.

Jeff is serving his mission in Peru and will hit his year mark on May 31st. (see photo--->)

The Meeks' are vacationing in Hawaii (what a rough two weeks!!).

Nothing else is new news. I'm still in school this semester, whether I like it or not. Springtime has its effect on me and I dislike being cooped up in a classroom when the evenings are so nice. Some great things are to happen in the near future, so I'll stay posted. (not children...yet)