Thanks Giving

I realize that this is a late post, but I just wanted to log our fun Thanksgiving Holiday this year. Our very dear friends from College, drove down from Utah. We had a fantastic time with them.

We hopped on the fairy and headed down to Port Bolivar for some play time in the sand and warm water. Can you believe that the water temperature was 77 degrees in November???? Here are Alex, Nathaniel, Isabella and Alexander playing in the sand.

Joshua managed to come across some blue jelly fish along the beach. There were actually quite a few. Luckily, for us, no one was stung.

Even Cade enjoyed the warm sea air with his mom Lynn.

And of course Ginger loved the water and chasing after the birds all over the beach.
We pulled out the china, polished the silver, and enjoyed a DELICIOUS meal! So glad they made the trip!

Cross Country

I love fall, I think it is my favorite season. Part of the fun is attending all the Cross Country meets. This year was extra special, because I had 2 boys on the High School team.

The boys had their District meet Wednesday morning. They BOTH performed so well. Alexander competed on the J.V. team. He had a personal record time, and he came away with 11th place. The J.V. team placed 2nd at District.

Joshua competed on the Freshman team, he also had a personal record time, and came away with 2nd place. The Freshman team placed 1st at District.

It was a fun year, here is Coach Ervin with his 1st place Freshman team!

Nathaniel's First Boy Scout Camp Out

Nathaniel had his first "official" boy scout campout. He was so excited. Lucky for me I have to older boys scouts who helped him pack all the necessary equipment needed for such an adventure. He had a great time. Here is Nathaniel with his tent buddy, Nathan. Hard to believe these boys are 11 years old, and growing up. Many more scouting adventures await them.

The boys had a Great time.

Happy Birthday Nathaniel

Its hard to believe that Nathaniel is 11 years old. He started his birthday out with a request of muffinetts for breakfast. We have the tradition of putting a single candle in their breakfast, lighting it and singing Happy Birthday! Nathaniel had the honor of lighting his own candle, he was very safe.

I had the privilege of a lunch date with the Birthday boy. He requested Five Guys little bacon cheese burger. It was a cherished moment, knowing that he will be in middle school next year and most likely TO COOL FOR A LUNCH DATE WITH MOM.

To top the day off, Nathaniel had earned the highest rank he could in Cub scouts, ... the Arrow Of Light. Well done Nathaniel. There was a fantastic ceremony put on by the cub master. 5 boys in all earned this prestigious award. It was also Nathaniel's last pack meeting. This is a bit of a mile stone, as i will not have any more boys go through the cub program. ( Is that a good thing OR a bad thing? ;)

CONGRATULATIONS NATHANIEL!!

We are very proud of your accomplishment Nathaniel!!
Then of course, we top the day off with cake and ice cream. This year Nathaniel wanted to go with the skiing theme. He wanted a Gondola decorated cake. Love you!!

Back to School

Just let me start out by saying, I really dislike my children going back to school. I have felt so spoiled having them at home, enjoying their precious personalities. BUT, it happened. School started. Isabella is now in first grade with Ms. Rogers as her teacher. She will be attending all day long.

This will be Nathaniel's last year at the Elementary, he started 5th grade. SO, I guess we could say he is Big man on campus. I even got to walk Isabella to her class, where she kissed me and was off without even a look back....... Nathaniel of course told me he did not need me to walk him to his classroom. I expected that, but still stings with the realization they are growing up, AND mom is not needed as much.

Joshua started High School this year. He seems very excited to be at the High School with his older brother.... ( we no longer say big brother : ) ) Alexander started his Junior year. I didn't even bother to ask if they wanted me to walk them to their home room.... Hee Hee...

New Hales Pup

For a year now, we have had constant pressure from our children to get another dog. For many reasons that timing was not right. But, while we were in Idaho, Howard received an e-mail from a springer spaniel breeder, letting him know that a puppy would be ready to take home on July 25th if we would be interested. I definitely had mixed feelings, the puppy stage is SO DIFFICULT. I guess I caved.... and let me introduce you to Ginger. She is 8 weeks old and full of life.

She has the same coloring as our dog Hershey. She is liver & white.

She is getting use to sleeping in her kennel. True to puppy stage she sleeps off and on all day. I can't wait for her to sleep all night.

She loves to chew on EVERYTHING!!!!!!! But especially enjoys her pink rubber bone.

She even falls asleep anywhere. She has found her reflection in the mirror a time or two and wants to engage the reflection in play. We are thoroughly enjoying having a dog again in our lives!

Friend visit

We made our usual visit to our friends in Syracuse. Would you believe that Joshua is the youngest by 2 years?

As Always, I so enjoy these sweet ladies. They are such a HUGE inspiration to me to me!

4th July

This year we spent the 4th in Malad and enjoyed the fun celebration the little town has to offer. Alexander and Aunt Allison started it off with a " Fun Run". It started at 6:00 a.m. It was a relay this year , a 10 K. Alexander ran with Allison's life long best friend Krista and her husband Rick.

Then off to the parade to see who could get the most candy.

These beautiful girls, had a wonderful time being together!

For me the best part was spending time with family and eating, did I mention eating all day long! My sisters are Foodies and we have such a great time when we are together.

Nathaniel, Camille with baby Elijah and Isabella with her brown shirt on waiting for Grams chocolate fountain! ( hoping to cover up any brown chocolate stains.)

Conner, Noah and Howard getting some love from Bear ... Oh wait, it is Bear getting the love.

Family Photo's

This years photos of the cousins that were at the cabin with us!

Lisa, Loralee, George Kurt, Howard, Helen and Matt pose for an informal photo.

Loralee and her darling family drove all night to get to the cabin in the morning so we could spend about 3 hours with them! We know it was a huge, daunting task. BUT, we were so glad to see them!
Howard and his parents. Helen had a few health challenges while we were at the cabin. Her knee kept swelling up and she was unable to walk on it at all.

Helen with her charming boys.... I guess they are men now!

Creek Life

When we first arrived at the cabin, the creek was to high and to fast to even get in and play, we had to wait for about 5 days before the kids to swim, BUT... they did find some shallow areas to catch tadpoles and frogs! Isabella really got into catching the slimy creatures this year.

Here is Isabella and Helena holding hands and just being cute cousins!

The Pose!

Howard with Isabella and enjoying the ride!

Cabin Fun

The boys went on their annual Hike, Nathaniel and Jonathan were old enough to join the ranks. Sadly Mackenzie and Kurt were not able to make this adventurous hike.

All smiles ready for the mountainous terrane. They did not see any bears on the hike this year, just driving in.

I am not sure if this is a good thing... when your son starts running a chain saw. The boys were helpful with cleaning up some dead trees that the pine beetles destroyed.

One more etch into manhood ; )

Plan B

This year our cabin trip gave us an unexpected hurdle. The road was not open, meaning... there were still snow drifts in part of the road making it so we could not get in. We had heard that it had been a very heavy winter in this part of Idaho. We stopped in to see my cousin who happens to own the last cabin where electricity is offered, then we hit the dirt road to get into our cabin.

Bob offered to take up this wonderful piece of equipment and open the road for us so we could enjoy our vacation time at the cabin. So we had to resort to Plan B. After a couple hours of work, he had removed the 6ft snow drifts so we make it in. I will admit, we still had to lock in the 4 wheel drive even after he removed snow. Good thing we have not traded our 4wheel drive Suburban for the 2 Wheel drive Texas model.

Howard and Joshua rode along so he could watch the work being done.

While the rest of us waited for the work to be done, the kids took advantage of Bob's personal lake. MANY THANKS to Bob for his willingness to open the road for us!!

Piano Recital

A while after moving to Houston, I needed to find a close piano teacher. My search led me to a friend who was not teaching piano lessons. I asked her if she had ever thought about teaching piano to my boys. She said she would think about it. Lucky for me, she came back with a "YES." SO, Alexander and Joshua started piano. We soon added Nathaniel to the mix. Their piano teacher has since added 4 more students. This was their first recital since starting piano lessons here.

The 3 of them looking very dapper!

Nathaniel had his pieces memorized, but had to bring the book along to calm his nerves. Well Done Nathaniel!

Joshua had to put his own spin on his performance by concluding with a curtsey instead of a bow.

Alexander remained clam also, but had his music as a crutch.

Here are the boys with their piano teacher Kenna, Thanks Kenna for a juggling our crazy schedule. She has been a dream to work with.!

My Fathers Retirement Party

After 32 years of being C.E.O of Ireland Bank, my father finally retired. The bank threw him a retirement/roast party. 300 guests were invited and over 260 came. My sister Allison is also a bank employee and she was in charge of decorations, Camille and I went to Pocatello to help her set up before the big bash, the 3 of us had a great time working together and laughing. Good Times, you can see from Camille's funny face the kind of light atmosphere we had. So glad I was able to fly in for a quick trip.

Just a little pose with me, Mom, Dad, Camille and Allison.
My Dad had siblings from all over travel to support him in this honorable night. All but one brother came, and that brother is serving a mission. It was enjoyable to get to see my aunts and uncles again. It is a rare treat to see them, especially since I live so far away.

Here is my family, minus a few missing husbands.