what a day...

Christmas day was so much fun with everyone there opening gifts, giving gifts, and opening others' gifts. I love just watching everyone. It's seems to go by so quickly though. I loved that I got to see a lot of my family, because I don't see them that often. We had a family dinner that was so good. However, late in the afternoon, everyone left. I miss not having everyone at home because it gets really quiet. Dad, Mom, Courtney, and I finish off the exciting day by ourselves partying. We watched one of the movies Court gave to me, Good Night and Good Luck, which is a very good show. Afterwards, we played one mad game of scrabble (Courtney won) and clue. It was a great day. and I'm glad that I got to spend it with my family.

a very merry christmas

It was quite the Christmas in the Hall household. Gardner and Stephanie spent the night with us and Santa came to visit Emma and Aspen. Christmas was so much fun with those little kid. Emma wasn't to sure at first, but soon she was really excited to see her new toy, a doll house. I don't know if she had any idea what was going on, but it was alright with her because she got fun toys. Even though Aunt Emily looks a bit frightening, Emma was very happy Chirstmas morning as seen in the picture.Emma loved that her doll house had so many amazing features, namely the doorbell. She seemed to play with that bell more than the rest of the house.

Aspen, on the other hand, wasn't too excited about this whole experience as much as her parents were for her. She did have a rough night though, because she fell off the bed, so I don't know how excited she could have been that morning. I hope she is feeling better.

Gardner and Steph watching their children enjoy the big day. On Christmas Eve night, the kids got to open a gift from Grandma and Grandpa. Kaitlyn got one crazy Hannah Montana wig.

Jenn and Brandon on Christmas Eve night after opening their gifts. Brandon got one scary picture (or so he said) of a cow that "almost killed him" from Garrick.

Christmas Eve

Christmas Eve always means party at Grandma's. Some how Lisa and I end up putting the nativity (the main event if I do say so myself) together. I am always pleased with the way things turn out, although this year a lot of children did not want to participate in it. This year we had a plethera of girls, and they did a fantastic job.Hannah, Mia, and McKena were cute angels (hence the silver tinsle on their heads). Also, they were great stars as well. My two shepherds (Rachel and Kaitlyn) and my little angel (Hannah).

My Celebrity Look Alikes

http://www.myheritage.com/collage

Conference Sunday

Conference Sunday is a fun day. It means cinnamon twist, napping, playing with kids, and a great meal in between sessions (which this time was my birthday meal, which was fabulous if I do say so myself). I love conference weekend because the family gets together. We had a great time. I think I have the best neices and nephew ever. They were fun to have at here at the house during conference, and we missed the others. This picture is of Dad and the kids eating their cinnamon twist. Dad gets excited when the kids get there, because they are so much fun. I guess the older kids aren't as fun anymore.

I did the girls hair in between sessions. I think Hannah was getting smushed by her sisters, but it they look cute. Don't they?

Trevor

Trevor was lucky because he got to come to the dinner after the priesthood session with us. We, Trevor and I, were the youngest ones there. It was fun to have him there. He made us all laugh because he is just so dang cute. I think he enjoyed his night with us.

Trevor wanted to be just like the rest of us and enjoy a meal all on his own. It makes me laugh, because when he eats, he puts his lips around the big chunck of food in his mouth.

Conference Dinner

The semi-annual conference dinner was held at the wonderful Coppermill restaurant after the priesthood session. The food was so good! Holly and Garrick left the kids at home to watch all sorts of fun movie and Trevor was lucky enough to come along for the night. It was good to see everyone there, although we were small in numbers. We missed everyone who couldn't make it. So, here are a few of the pictures of our night.

Emma's Week

This past week, Emma has been in Lewiston while her parents were in Las Vegas. We had such a fun time together. She was a good little girl (not to mention a Grandma's little girl). Grandma was the only one that knew just what she needed. She seemed to enjoy being the center of attention this week. Her a few of the highlights of the week.
These are my glasses, which is just one of the many things that Emma was curious about. One thing she did just about every day was try on someone's shoes. She thought it was so funny, which it was, seeing her skinny little legs poking out of Grandpas enormous "hook and loop" shoes.

While Emma was here, she had a bedtime routine. While drinking chocolate milk, Mom and Emma read the stories of Goldilocks and the Three Bears, the Three Little Kittens, and the Three Little Pigs. Then, Mom brought her to Grandpa and me for good night kisses.

Emma had a wonderful time with her cousins. She would get a big smile on when they came over. Hannah and Emma had a great time together playing dolls, building marble towers, swinging outside, and just running around the house. They especially liked to brush their teeth together, because Hannah said she loved Emma's princess toothpaste and that it tasted really good.

Trevor tried to keep up with those girls, but it was quite a task. This picture shows them packing around their measuring cup full of fruit loops. Emma like to eat them but not as much as Trevor did. He took Emma's when she wasn't looking.

Hermana Hall

Welcome Home Hermana Hall! Vanessa is home! It was so good to see her and she looks great! When she got out of the car, the first thing I noticed was her hair. She had a braid that went all the way down her back, and it is super long. Then, when she started talking I heard a little bit of her accent. Later, while she told us some stories, Jan walked in and saw Courtney. He looked at him for a minute, came over to him, yelled hola, and kissed him on the cheeks. It was so funny! What a trip that must have been! I'm glad that they are all finally home!

Family Pictures

We had family pictures on Saturday. What a day! Hopefully we got some good pictures from them. Mom gave me the job to get some "snaps," so here are a few of the results from the day.

The Grandkids

By the end of the pictures, we had some pretty mad kids that wanted to play, babies that wanted to eat, babies that wanted to nap, and kids that were hungery. Somehow though, we got them to get into one last picture. I thought we did pretty good.

More Pictures

Dad's Smile

Trying to get Dad to smile is so hard, but luckly we were able to snap one. What a smile!

My Beautiful New Car

I finally got a new car! I absolutely love it because

now I don't have to drive the mini van around town. It is wonderful!

Sunday Nights

On Sunday nights, Garrick and Holly and their kids come over. It's always fun when they come. Tonight, we decided to have ice cream cones, which were really good. Trevor was having a difficult time figuring out which end of the cone he wanted to eat first. He started at the bottom. He is one cute little boy.

My Malibu

The Malibu passed away on Wednesday, July 11th, and it's ashes were spread over a field in the peaceful town of Lewiston. After a rough week of car troubles, she had had enough. I was driving home from a shopping trip in Logan, when the car started to give me some trouble. I decided to take the back roads home just in case. When I was in Trenton, I smelt something funny. After calling mom to tell her to come pick me up, I decide to keep going. Then, the next thing I knew was I had pulled over on the side of the road by Ritewood. Smoke came up from under the car, and I though it had overheated. So, I got out and realized that the brush under the car was on fire. I grabbed my phone and started to run. I called 911. Soon my car was fully engulfed in flames. I saw Mom and Dad pull up and jump out of the car. Dad thought I was still in it and he ran towards the car to get me out. He burnt himself but soon both he and mom realized I was okay. Mom came running to me crying, and Dad sat on the road crying. Needless to say, it was a rough night, but we are all okay.

Bath time

Rob and Kelsie stayed over with the girls, and in the morning, Emilia and Elizabeth enjoyed a bath in Grandma's bathtub. They were so cute! Elizabeth likes to just look around, while Emilia splashes and occasionally drinks the water when her mom is not looking.

Running

This fourth of July, I decided to run the 5K in the morning. Jenn's friend, Heidi, ran with me along with Lisa. We ran up to the Idaho border, and surprisingly we did alright. I wasn't feeling all too well when we finished, but we finish. Thanks to Heidi and Lisa for running with me.

Fireworks

Every fourth of July, my family comes over to the house to watch the fireworks. Nothing can top the Lewiston fireworks, especially when all of the family is there. What a way to end the day!

The Girls

My beautiful nieces at the Red White and Blue party at Jan and Alyson's house this fourth of July (minus Aspen because she was sleeping).

The Inevitable Water Fight

At the Red White and Blue party, Jenn and Kimber officially start the annual water fight.

Sun Valley

After Aspen's blessing, I headed the other direction to Sun Valley with Mom and Dad, Kyle, and my friend, Jen Bills. I know that drive is only about 4 hours, but that seemed like one of the longest rides of my life. When we finally got there, we had a blast! Our condo was huge and a great place to kick back and relax. On the first day, we swam and played bingo. The Buxtons came with to Sun Valley and that night, the bank took us out to eat and after we watched a movie on the lawn, A Night at the Museum. On Tuesday, we rode the lift up to the top of a mountain. It was beautiful up there! Also, we shopped (That's what Jen and I do best) and went to the ice skating rink. That night we had an ice show where Nancy Kerrigan did a performance for us, and after there was a firework show that comparable to Lewiston's. Sun Valley was a fun place to be.

Kyle

Kyle seemed to have a great time at Sun Valley. He made it really entertaining for the rest of us. The first day we were there, we played the great game of Bingo and had a blast, even though I didn't win anything. During one of the rounds, Kyle showed me his game card and he was one away from winning. The next number was his! He jumped up and we all yelled bingo (Grandma was going crazy). He won an ipod shuffle! He was so happy about it that I thought he would like to call his mom and tell her about it, but he said he didn't want to until the next day. He had just ordered an MP3 player, which was supposed to arrive at his house that day. He didn't want to tell his mom because he wanted two!
The next day at the ice rink, Kyle fell down and knocked loose one of his teeth. Then at dinner that night, he ripped out anther one. And, can you believe it? The tooth fairy gave him $4.00 for them!

Aspen Caroline Gee

Aspen was blessed on Sunday. She is such a cute little girl! Gardner and Stephanie spoke in church as well and they did a great job. Afterwords we had a lunch at their house in Salt Lake.

Best Friends

After Aspen's Blessing, we went to Steph and Gardner's for dinner. Emma and Hannah played outside together the whole time. They were just so cute!