Rare Swimming Footage

This was our first swim of 2010. It was April 10th--notice the wet suits. These are not great photos, but these and two photos from 2009 are the only ones we have of the boys in the pool. We were always afraid of the camera going in the water like it did last year. In fact, the camera has never been the same since then and even new batteries will only last for one photo session. That is why new posts have become somewhat scarce. Oh yeah, and we moved across the country with four boys and started a new job. Stay tuned, we will eventually get caught up.

Spring in Memphis

I had to take more pictures of the Memphis Spring. It is the most amazing season I've ever experienced. It goes on and on for months with more and more gorgeous surprises. Every four days a new kind of flower or tree blooms all over Memphis. This picture does not do this pink justice. It was an intense fluorescent violet pink.

This pretty flower draped over the trees is so deceptively pretty. But if you pull back... You'll see that it is a kudzu vine, or the "vine that ate the South." This intruder grows a foot a day and puts down 12-foot roots, making it almost impossible to remove. It causes all kinds of havoc on power lines.

Here's a wide shot of a Dogwood tree. They are so lacy--it's like the blossoms align themselves in multiple horizontal planes--it's hard to keep your eye on the road when you're driving by!

There is a legend of the dogwood, that its leaves represent the Crucifixion. The four petals resemble the cross, and there is a blood red spot in the outside edge of each petal representing where Christ bled from his crown of thorns and the nails in his hands and feet. These trees always bloom around Easter time.

Roses in our backyard.

Another rose bush or it may be a member of the azalea family, also in our backyard.

About the time all the flowers are finishing blooming there is a 24-hour period in which ALL the trees go from naked to full-leaf. It blew my mind to see that full-canopy materialize so suddenly and leaf packets were strewn all over the ground everywhere.

A Long time ago...Tal turned 9

The blog is sorely out of date. We left off somewhere around Easter...And about that same time, April 3rd to be exact, Talmage turned 9. It broke my heart actually, because Clint had to point out "He's half grown!" Say it is not so. I'm so glad Talmage is the oldest of our boys. He has such a sensitive, sweet heart and he thinks deeply. He prays nearly every day that "the brothers will be nicer to each other." And we're getting there, ever so slowly...I think...I hope! For his birthday we had breakfast on couch, presents, a night of cake, and later a trip to Lazertron with Dad, Cole and his best friend Kaleb Schauerhamer.

Those durn numbers!

I found this in a box I unpacked. It made me giggle. What numbers do you want to blow up?

Cruising the Miss-i-sip

We went on a Mississippi cruise out of Memphis. The guide was awesome. He had history from 200 years ago and two weeks ago. I got a better feeling for the history of Memphis. Here's a picture of our family. Is it just me or are all our boys starting to look the same size?

Jack and Tal

At a recent Family Home Evening. I asked the boys what would make them happy. Jack replied,"That our family would be forever and that all cats would die." So sweet and so savage in the same sentence. Please remember that an enemy of rats is an enemy of Jack. Jack's future ambitions are solid. When he grows up he's going to be a "Rat Protector." Talmage's ambitions are equally set in stone. He's going to be a Herpetologist--he's a lover of snakes, which, as you know, love to eat rats. Can you imagine the arguments? Yeah.

Easter 2010

I felt like Easter snuck up on me this year as it came two days after my birthday party and one day after Tal's birthday. I felt like I hadn't done enough to celebrate it with the kids. So in my night-before regret I came up with this special Easter breakfast for the family. We did it in stages and started with red grapes which I told the boys represents the drops of blood that Jesus shed for us in the Garden of Gethsemene when He suffered for our sins. I showed the picture of Christ in Gethsemane and read a bit of the story on the back.

The bacon in the shape of the cross, of course, represents that the day after Gethsemane, Christ died on the cross for us. I showed them a picture of Christ on the cross.

(You can see that Cole felt this was a solemn occasion) The cinnamon roll represents the stone that was rolled away from the tomb and that the tomb was empty. I presented the picture of the angels rolling away the stone from the tomb and talked about the details of that event.

And finally (Cole strikes a look of horror--not another blog picture! Sorry kid, it's family history), the orange juice represents that Jesus is the light of the world. I told them that some people call O.J. "liquid sunshine." We talked about how when Jesus died the whole world was plunged into darkness and that Jesus can be the light of our lives. It was worth a try. And it was yummy too.

In the afternoon, between sessions of conference, our friends the Schauerhamers came over for an easter egg hunt.

Oh yeah, I turned 40

And my cool friend Gianetta...And my awesome husband Clint threw me an 80s party, because--let's face it, 40-year-old friends--the 80s defines us.

However, I never dressed like this in the 80s. Never did the flashdance thing, and NEVER wore leggings. I was way too insecure. Now 20 years and 15 pounds heavier, I'm not so insecure. Nice benefit of being "mature", eh? Clint looked so very cute in his Vans.

Fun people Sklar and Art Hatfield. We like them.

Bishop Longshore and his wife, Cheryl--she was pregnant in the 80s and he was a chauffeur who wore a cowboy hat as part of his uniform.

Liz, where did you find my prom dress?! Joe, you won the prize for best costume. You rule, dude! And not just that night, mind you. We learned he was King of Lehi back in the day.

Katie won best hair and spirit!

Righteous ladies. This lineup made me realize--I forgot to wear pastel! In high school I once surveyed my closet and was appalled that I had 10 pink shirts! More posts later on the deep philosophical implications of being 40, or not!

Happy Birthday to Talmage!

Click on image to see full size.

All Hale Breaks Loose in Memphis

It's a good thing my brother Mike and his wife Lisa are the most traveling-est people I know, because that means they have managed to come visit us in every place we've lived. Quite a record! They made a long drive out from Virginia to visit us and the Joey and Katie Hales the week leading up to Easter. We stayed up many LATE nights talking. I really love these guys. It had me nostalgic about the days Clint and I lived only 2-hours from them when we were in So. Maryland. Here's part of the crowd at the Civil Rights Museum, in downtown Memphis: Jack, Tal, Griffin, Cole, Willa, Manon and Lisa.

The balcony where Martin Luther King Jr. was shot. The museum is built around the old Lorraine Motel. It was an awesome museum although we felt like the total minority amongst all the middle-class African Americans, while trying to keep herd on our not-so-classy kids who were making comments like, "I can ride this bus [a replica of the Rosa Parks bus] because I'm white!"

The Hales, feet 10 feet off of Beale.For your drinking entertainment. We actually heard a splash as we left the street. Poor Mike was accosted by several drunks and hit up hard for money. Fantastic Chocolate cake Lisa made for my 40th. That woman really knows how to spoil a person. She took me out for an awesome lunch at J. Maxwell's restaurant and she gifted me a Chinese Troll-look-alike necklace and an emergency Cadbury chocolate bar. Those lucky Hales. Lisa must spoil them silly on their birthdays! Lisa and I also had a great time doing Zumba at our gym. Lisa, a first timer, was way better than the instructor. Lisa is such an amazing dancer! She makes it look like it takes no effort at all! I look nuts doing it, but I get a great workout!

Willa-the-wisp. The cutest, most delicate 7-year old you'll ever meet. But plenty of spunk and volume, I assure you.

Manon, my super-model niece, and super-nice too.

Griffin! Yay! We finally got to meet my nephew Griffin! The Hale's adopted him last year in Beijing and were sealed to him in the Salt Lake temple last summer. Griffin amazes me. He's 9-years old and is in his second year of school ever. He speaks and writes English so well! And my boys LOVE him! Talmage could not get enough of him. They had lots of quality jumping on the tramp, and playing of the Wii together.

The Rat and Her Boy

This is a nice boy.

A very charming boy, who has shown himself very gifted at begging and getting what he wants from his parents. His plaintive tone cannot be resisted. Before Christmas it was "Mom, I really want a pet. In my whole life I've never had a pet. Do you think Santa will bring me a pet?" Clint and I are not pet people. Because we're clean people, but very lazy. But we did some research and found out that rats are good beginner pets.

So, here is Sniffy. When she first arrived in this loud household of boys, she was very stressed out. Swordfights right next to your cage and objects flying across the room can be kind of intimidating when you weigh 8 ounces. There were some biting incidents. And I spent HOURS everyday recapturing her whenever she escaped our grasp. I was getting quite irritated. But Jack is always sweet with her (unless he's showing off for an older brother). And he eventually won her trust. She's much calmer. She loves to hang out in Jack's shirt. She doesn't escape as much, and when she does she'll let Jack easily catch her.

And Jack has an extra friend when his big brothers are at school.