Skiing with Dad - Take 2

So Taylor and Troy got their day of skiing in. They went to Brighton on Martin Luther King Day and well let's just say it was not the day they were hoping for. There were a lot of people and Taylor gets nervous trying new things when there are people around. Especially ones he doesn't know. They did the first run and Taylor was doing great but he was building speed and Troy could tell he wasn't going to stop! He crashed pretty hard and was very upset! Can you blame him? He refused to ski anymore!! So Troy got him settled and went off to do some runs on his own. After a couple runs he went to see if Taylor had cooled off and if he was ready to try again. It took quite a bit of convincing but Taylor got up and tried again. They did about four runs down and Taylor had had enough. Troy again got him settled and went to do a few more runs. Troy went back to get Tay and they headed home. I believe the highlight of their day was breakfast before and a big hot chocolate on the way home. Troy is determined that they'll try again and Tay wants to too! Maybe they'll have to go on a non-holiday day!!

Just another Saturday in January...........

So, nothing real special or exciting. Just a great day with my favorite people. This blog really is becoming my journal so read if you want but no obligations! I'll have to figure out a way to get this printed someday......
So, we woke up this morning with no real plans. The boys came and got in bed with us and we all just talked and basically were squished for about an hour. It was great!! We decided we didn't want to just sit around all day so we got up got ready and headed to the big city for a day of????? We didn't really know! We got on I-80 and decided we should probably get a destination in mind. We settled on the Gateway first. We went to Dick's, walked around, looked at stuff, and Trevor climbed the rock wall a couple of times. Some people behind us were getting a little antsy for their turn though. We had about 15 people in line behind us and only 2 guys working the ropes. Hey, we paid and signed in first. They would just have to be patient. My boy loves to climb!! Taylor and Troy were throwing the football in the store back and forth to each other. I was just sure we were going to get kicked out. We didn't, thank goodness!! Then, we wandered a little more and then off to do some window shopping. Soon everyone decided they were hungry, but not for anything there, so back to the car for another adventure. Taylor suggested our favorite Chinese restaurant since we haven't been in a while and we ended up in West Valley. We then decided to head to Jordan Landings for more shopping and a movie. Shopping was finished and we went to the theater and saw Mall Cop. It is PG and looked fairly comical and like something we could take the kids to that they and us actually wanted to see and it was surprisingly pretty good. Pretty corny but entertaining. I didn't have to plug their ears or tell them to close their eyes once. I like that in a movie!! Next, Troy wanted to try one more store and then we were done. He promised this was the last one!! Well of course it would be. It was 9:00pm and all the stores were going to be closing!! Does this sound normal? The husband wants to shop more than his wife?? Well it's normal for us!! He is my shopper. Don't get me wrong. I love a great Black Friday sale, but just a regular Saturday.....I'll usually pass. I begged to stop at Jamba Juice before I had to endure another store. To give me the boost of energy I'd need!! He agreed. Ok, we actually had decided we'd get one after the movie anyway, but it sounded better the other way. We finished up our shopping at the LAST store as they were locking the doors and headed for home. We cranked the music and sang all the way home. I even got to put on my Twilight soundtrack and jam to that for a bit. I am loved!!

It was a very spontaneous day with no real rhyme or reason to anything we did other than we wanted to spend the day together. I love Troy and my boys so much. They are my life and I wouldn't have it any other way. Thanks for a great Saturday doing what we love best, being together!!
PS I tried to take pictures but my batteries were dead and I guess I forgot to put a new set in my purse from the last dead battery time. I know, I'm weird!! I love to take pictures.

Skiing with Dad

Trevor had never been skiing and really wanted to go. So while our friends from WA were here Troy and Mike took Trev and Trae up to Sundance. They loved it. Even though it's one of the smaller resorts, there was no lines and they got fresh powder all day. Trevor caught on so quick that by mid-day he was skiing blue squares and jumping jumps. He is crazy just like his daddy!! I also included 2 pics of the daddy's skiing the next day at Snowbird. Taylor is waiting patiently for another storm so he and Troy can have their ski day.

New Year's Day

This year my parents switched things up a little and had a great idea. Instead of buying us all Christmas presents, they wanted us to have a day together playing games and then take us out to eat. Well my sweet daddy bought his 4 daughters all a Willow Tree girl anyway and made us cry. I love him so much!! He was so thoughtful. Anyway, we decided to do it on New Year's Day since my sister and her husband would be here from Logan and we knew that they wouldn't be coming back down for quite awhile after that. We dropped our boy's off at Troy's parents and met back at mom and dad's for games. We played Scattergories, A-Z, and Phase 10. We then went to The Old Spaghetti Factory for a fabulous dinner. I love their salad with creamy pesto dressing, the hot bread and garlic butter and the spaghetti with browned butter and mizithra cheese. Dinner is also followed by the best ice cream, spumoni!! If you haven't ever been there, you need to go. It is so good!! I'm getting hungry just writing about it!! As we were waiting for our ice cream, Troy did a naughty thing and quietly told the waitress it was my mom's birthday. It really wasn't though. A large group of about 10 waiters and waitresses came singing Happy Birthday to my poor mom and lit a candle in her ice cream. Her reaction was priceless. I was sitting next to her so I couldn't take a picture but I found out my sister Karli recorded the entire thing on her phone. I whispered to Mom, "please just play along" and she did! After the group of singers left, I started laughing hysterically. I couldn't stop. My stomach, cheeks, mouth, everything began to hurt and then I started to cough. I was afraid I was going to throw up all that awesome food I just ate. I had to get it together. It was nearly impossible. After what seemed like forever, I calmed down and pulled it together and saw my mom was sending daggers Troy and my direction. I promised her it was all her son-in-law's fault. I had had nothing to do with it. In the end, she laughed as well and told us our turn would come so watch out!! It was a great day with great people and I hope we do it every year.
Thanks Mom and Dad!!

New Year's Eve

We had a fantastic evening and FULL HOUSE!!! Troy's best friend from high school, Mike, and his wife and kids are visiting from WA and came out to spend New Year's with us. My sister and her husband traveled from Logan to spend the night also. And earlier in the day my baby sister had a change of plans and brought her best friend out and they spent the night as well. We had a ball!! We played Rock Band and other Wii games most of the night. My sister also brought a fun new electronic game called A-Z. That's on my list to find and add to our game collection! We had tons of food and kept each other plenty entertained with old high school stories.
We are trying to convince Mike and Jamie to move back to UT and more particularly to our neck of the woods. We love them both so much and would love to have them closer. I guess we'll see what the future brings. Our fingers are crossed!!
We all stayed up until midnight, watched the ball drop and did our traditional fireworks and sparklers. Mike even woke up his kids and brought them outside. They weren't too thrilled but they got through it. We went back inside and did the toastings for the New Year with sparkling cider and played some more Rock Band. I'm not sure what time everyone finally crashed but I woke up at 7:30 am to let out our barking dog. Troy and I then prepared breakfast for our full house and loved every minute of it. We love cooking together. He is the best omellete maker and this day was no exception. Pure egg perfection!!
We love having our family and friends in our home to share these wonderful holidays and make precious memories. We are truly blessed! I can't wait to see what this 2009 year holds for my little family. Happy New Year!!!!

The long and short of it........well mostly the long!

So I was talking with one of my girlfriends the other day about the blogging world and how much fun we are having with it. I won't name her to protect her :) I love being able to see what my family and friends are doing and feeling without having to speak on a daily basis. She informed me however, that my posts are too long and that she often skips posts that are that long. Hmmm.... I guess when I write I feel the need to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And there are a lot of details that come along with that. So if there are others of you out there that think my posts are too long as well, sorry!! I guess don't read them! For me, I just love to read all of what people are doing and for those of you who know me, you know I am very detail oriented and so lengthy is ok for me but if its not for you, that's ok too! Just keep writing and know that I enjoy all things you deem blogworthy!!

Christmas Day.........I figure better late than never!!!!

So, we had a pretty fabulous Christmas! We are so blessed. The boys were spoiled as usual and Troy and I got some fun stuff too!! We woke up early and let the boys see what the big guy brought and then we opened presents from each other. I made the boys wait 'til they each only had one present left to give them the presents they had been dying for. I think they had both given up hope and thought they weren't getting the things they especially wanted. Taylor had asked for a Zune, which is like an Ipod but has AM/FM radio too! I wrapped it in an odd shaped box and he had no clue. You'll see pics of how surprised he was. And how happy :) Trevor had really only asked for one thing this year. He wanted the entire Magic Treehouse Book series. There are 28 books and then an additional I don't know how many, in the Merlin's Mission set. Needless to say, he got a total of 35 books with what Taylor gave him too!! I love to see him reading. With not having girls and not having a husband that has my love for books, I never thought I'd get another reader in the family but I DID!! Ya!! There will be lots of reading at the Hall house. We then ate our traditional pinch cake and hung out for a little while. Then it was time to go to my mom and dad's to open presents with all my siblings. That was great!! I love my family so much. I have realized that they are truly my greatest blessing. My nephew is such a cutie and it was great to watch him open up a cool Cars blanket from my mom and we gave him some Thomas the Train books. He came and sat right on my lap and wanted me to read to him. I love sharing my love of reading with him and my own boys!! Then, off to Troy's parents. We visited with them for a bit and then headed home to prepare for Christmas dinner at our house. Both families came out and spent the rest of the evening in our home. I love being able to share our time with our family in a space that fits us all so well. We had not just a faulous day but an incredible two weeks together. I have truly been blessed with the most amazing family; husband, kids, parents, siblings, in-laws, and extended family. They are truly the highlight of my life and they inspire me and make me want to try and be better every day. I love you all so much and am glad that we are Forever♥!!