Overdue report on Grandma and Grandpa Hale's visit

We were thrilled to have a visit from Grandma and Grandpa Hale two times this winter. We hadn't seen them for 2 1/2 years--since summer 2007, except through wonderful Skype. This was partly because they were on their 3rd 18-month mission to Villa Hermosa Mexico, and partly because we only get to Utah about yearly and we didn't make it out to Utah this past summer when they returned. My parents did a cross-country trip visiting all their kids, friends and geneology sites. They showed up on our doorstep just in time for dinner on Saturday, November 14th. We had them for 3 nights and then they stayed over at Joey and Katy's house. Mostly we did a lot of great chatting. The biggest topic of conversation was where and when to do the family cruise for my parents 50th anniversary next year. They came to church with us and met lots of great people and made a great impression. They kept on asking my Dad to relate his opinion as he'd been a mission president--he never had been, but somehow they got that idea. On Monday night for Family Home Evening they shared a lot of pictures from Mexico. Talmage was really desperate for him to show a picture of a snake, but alas, he only had pictures of a 4-foot iguana that they found hanging out in their dryer vent. Katie and I took my Mom to the Pink Palace museum, it was not that great of a museum. But it was fun to drive Mom through mid-town and see all the beautiful old mansions, and through a ghetto part of town that had Harvard, Yale and Hale streets.
They stopped by again the first week of December on their way back West on the 40. This visit was less chaotic because we had them all to ourselves (Joey and Katie enjoyed their time alone with them too). It was the first Family Home Evening after Thanksgiving and they helped us decorate for Christmas. We made them breakfast in the morning and sent them on their way. The boys really enjoyed the time with them. This was my parents first time meeting our Trace. We were excited for them to meet him because he's such a cheery little guy. My Dad said, "He's always smiling."

Two Goofies

Merry Christmas! Please excuse the crazy long intro!

Make a Smilebox greeting

Dictation

Last Friday Talmage came home from school early with an earache that ceased to bother him the moment he crossed the threshold. From now on I'm taking Motrin to school and sending him back to class. But anyway, he and Jack started in on a craft, which involved sticking Christmas-themed foam shapes onto a foam sheet. This kept them thoroughly engrossed for a good hour. When the masterpieces were complete Talmage offerred to write Jack's name on Jack's project. So Jack spelled his name out for Tal, letter by letter and Tal wrote it on Jack's project. This tickled me no end. First it's hilarious that Talmage, age 8, could not be bothered to waste brain cells on figuring out how to spell Jack's name. But it's also so exciting that he'd volunteer to write anything, as writing is right next to waterboarding as far as Talmage's favorite things to do. And it's so sweet that he'd want to help out his little brother like that. The other hilarious thing is that Jack can totally write his own name, but he seemed totally jazzed that his big brother was helping him out. And he seemed so proud that he could coach his big brother on how to spell his name. The whole exchange made my week.

Cole Turned 7

About two months before Cole's birthday it began. "Mom, what did you get me for my birthday?" (50x) "Mom just give me a hint." (50x) "Mom, where did you hide my presents?" (50x) "Mom, you have to come here and see on the computer what I REALLY want for my birthday!" (1000 x) And finally, after black friday: "Mom, could you stay up all night again and get me this present, instead?" (1 amazing x) If there's one thing we Cresaps do well, it's obsess! And boy, that Cole sure was excited about his birthday! I finally told Cole 2 days before his birthday that if he asked me where I hid his presents one more time, he wouldn't get his presents until the afternoon of his birthday, instead of the morning when he woke up. Horror of horrors. That produced an amazing amount of self-control in Cole and, still not able to think about anything else, he was remarkably speechless for a couple of days. But the day finally came, and after all that build up, I hope it didn't disappoint too much. We started with his favorite breakfast, cinnamon rolls and hot chocolate, then we did some present opening: Indiana Jones Legos, a leapster and games and a Ben 10 movie.
Later I went to his school class. His teacher, Mrs. Rios met me at the door and said, "I just love Cole! He's like a little man, so mature! And he's so funny! (Under her breath) I wish all the kids could be like him." I said, "I kind of like him, too." I read the class a book, my cousin Nate Hale's (check out his amazing blog here) The Dinosaurs Before Christmas. Then we made a little treat, brownie trees with green frosting, candy for ornaments and preztel sticks for the trunks. It was a big hit.
On the weekend we had a friend's party at Incredible Pizza, kind of like a Chuck E. Cheese without the cute characters and with things older kids enjoy like a roller coaster simulator, a go-cart race track and bumper cars. It's the kind of place kids love and I can't wait to leave! But the kids had a blast and so we'll call it a success. The friends who came were Ethan Pate, Ethan Sterbis, Ethan Welch, Brandon Wery and David Wery.
Happy Birthday to Cole!

A Note from Clint: The Best Birthday Ever

Clint here: I don't blog, and I don't know that I've heard many 40th birthdays described in glowing terms before. But I guess there are exceptions to most rules, and my entry to the world of the middle-aged would be one...

So Sarah and I had talked about going somewhere memorable for the occasion. At one point Cabo was bandied about, but I didn't want to spend the effort and time to travel to to Cabo San Lucas and not dive (Sarah's ear drums are broke and out of warranty). Navy life with 4 boys under the age of 8 being what it is, we'd settled (I thought) on leaving our children at home and doing a combined 15th Anniversary/40th B-day trip to Nashville to see the CMA's in November. Which was a blast. In the meantime, however, Sarah and sis-in-law Katie (in on the plot) stated they wanted to take the kids to Nashville to see the Opry Hotel lights and other assorted Christmas sights, so they planned a joint Cresap/Hale Nashville excursion for this past weekend, and rented a house in support of said plan.

Now, I'll be the first person to admit to being less-than-sensitive to wifely non-verbal signals (especially the sneaky ones that aren't intended to send a signal) but it was obvious she had something planned. So when she announced on Thursday night that the Hales weren't going, (which Katie confirmed with a dramatic "I'm eight months pregnant and too tired, so I'll stay here and watch your kids" - which makes zero sense) it just confirmed for me that something was up. But there was no way I was going to complain about getting another no-kids weekend away, and I certainly didn't see any benefit to prying into her "plan", which, incidentally, suffered from a serious lack of details, so I kept quiet. And off we went early Friday afternoon, with "dinner reservations" in Nashville at 5:00pm.

We made good time, and pulled into the parking garage in downtown Nashville at 4:40. As I turned into the entrance, I got a quick glance at a red-haired woman, facing away from me, on the corner. More than a passing resemblance to Jessica, but this is Nashville, she's in Arizona, and I just had the one glance. So I didn't think much of it. I parked and we walked down to the long line outside the restauarant, and as we did so, Tyler called me. And proceeded with a very bizarre series of questions about AK-47's. I noticed that as soon as Tyler called, Sarah got a call as well. At this point I got a little suspicious... especially as Sarah left me in the line to go "check" on our reservation, from which she returned and announced that it had been lost and they'd recommended another place down the street.

As suggested, we walked down 2nd Ave to the Riverside Grill, and as we walked in I immediately noticed someone that looked like Robyn standing next to the pool table in the corner. However, when the person that looked like Robyn (Robyn being in Colorado, so this couldn't be her) saw me glance at her and then giggled and ducked behind the corner, I realized that it really WAS Robyn. And that meant it actually was Jessica standing on the street corner, and that the awkward telephonic distraction of Tyler's meant he was in on it too. And that it was probably too much coincidence that the people who looked just like Ike and Chris and Kristen standing around the corner with the Tyler, Jessica and Robyn look-alikes weren't actually Ike, Chris, Kristen, Tyler, Jessica and Robyn. I mean, what would the chances of that be???

So for my 40th Birthday, the greatest group of friends in the world rearranged their hectic December schedules, pawned off their children, and flew from Colorado, Utah and Arizona to Nashville to surprise me and spend 48 hours sitting around talking. True, there was some eating out, and a Civil War battlefield in there somewhere, and an aborted attempt to get within walking distance of the Opryland Hotel, but mostly it was just a bunch of friends sitting around talking. It is a rare gift to be possessed of a friend with whom, even after years of living in different states and separate lives, there is no distance; with whom, when you are reunited, the relationship returns as strongly and effortlessly as it ever was when you first became acquainted. It is a rare gift to find one, and I've been blessed with six. Thanks, guys, for giving me the best 40th Birthday anyone ever had. This one was a keeper.

-Clint

PS - Enjoy the sentiment while it lasts. This took about a decade of emotional sensitivity out of me. Not sure where I found it but there ain't any left where it came from.

PPS- The tissues are on the side table, Ike.

PPPS - If you are arranging a surprise trip for someone, and they say "No, Cabo would be too hard for just a weekend", and the alternative is Tennessee in December, you ASK AGAIN!

15th Anniversary Celebration

Clint and I celebrated our 15th anniversary this year in September. We went on a simple date to a really bad Mexican restaurant here in town. Good thing the company was so good. We saved our real celebration for this month and went to Nashville for the Country Music Awards. We both like Country music. I know most of my friends and family don't. I was converted when I worked at the BYU library for 3 years and had to listen to it--it grew on me. I don't even make qualifications about not liking the twangy stuff. I appreciate it all--old and new. I think I appreciate that you can always understand the words and hear real instruments. Even if it doesn't represent my own viewpoints, it tells real stories of different cultures right here in America. Clint and I have watched the awards in their entirety the last three years, which is saying something because we rarely watch TV. We were really excited to see Brad Paisley and Carrie Underwood and Taylor Swift and Sugarland, o.k. I'll stop listing--we were excited to see everyone on the whole program.

So we left the boys with Katie and Joey--the boys were so happy about that.

Talmage: Yay! I get to spend 3 days with Aunt Katie and Uncle Joey!

Me: Hey, are you going to miss us?

Talmage: Yeah. I'm going to miss you a lot more than you're going to miss me!

Me: O.k. Just checking!

I started to relax the moment we pulled out the driveway. I realized it's been since May 2007 since we've taken a trip alone. Too long. Do you see that expression on my face in the picture? That's what I look like when I'm relaxed.

The drive to Nashville was gorgeous and I loved Nashville moment we drove in! It is beautiful and clean and not depressed and scary like Memphis. I loved the hills covered in the autumn trees.

We checked into the Gaylord Grand Ole Opryland Hotel, one of the nicer hotels we've stayed in. And, hey, we've been around, ya know! It had 3 huge indoor gardens with waterfalls and rivers, one of which you can even take a boat ride on. It was awesome just to wander around leisurely and see the sights. Then we walked to the Opryland Mills mall next store and walked the mall and updated Clint's wardrobe for his upcoming birthday--every decade or so, we just have to do that. He has like 3 civilian shirts in his closet. We ate at the Macaroni Grill and got the cheapest ever couples massage in the mall. There were these things that looked like suntanning beds - you get in and there is this rubber sheet on top of you and these water jets move up and down your back giving you a massage. We got there 10 minutes before closing time and on impulse bought two 7-minute massages for $20. She gave us a full 15. I was very relaxed after that and felt so much better because after walking about 3 miles in that mall my back and legs were killing me.

The next morning we went for a run around the property --one of my top activities to do with Clint. We used to do it daily, now it requires a babysitter. Then went to the Pancake Pantry near Vanderbilt University. Heaven. Who knew something as simple as a pancake could be so divine? And the service was genuine Southern hospitality.

That night we went to the CMAs and it didn't disappoint. Favorites for me were Darius Rucker--AKA Hootie, of Hootie and the Blowfish. I've got to buy his CD. What an amazing voice and a genuinely nice person. Glad he got "Best New Artist". Best song of the night (and Clint's favorite) was from Sugarland--Jennifer Nettles' voice filled that auditorium, and that is saying something. The Sommet Center was so huge that even with our binoculars we could not make out faces on the stage. It was awesome to feel like we were backstage on the TV show and it was happening right there in front of us.

Our last morning we checked out of the hotel and went to see the Parthenon at Centennial Park. Amazing! As a humanities major, I'm a sucker for that kind of thing. But I have to say I never really got the big deal about the Parthenon till I walked inside and saw the statue of Athena filling the whole interior of that building, her helmet brushing the ceiling--41 feet tall! Apparently over the years this Nashville structure has gathered enough attention that many groups, even school children, have raised money to improve it. It was built for the Tennessee Centennial in the 1890s. In the 1920s the white plaster structure was so deteriorated that they rebuilt it with a golden-colored cement. It is built to the exact dimensions and is the world's only full-scale complete reproduction of the Parthenon. In 1991 the statue of the Athena was added to the interior and in 2002 it was gold plated with 24karat gold. It was so inspiring I thought I might convert! :) JK!

Last year for our anniversary we were at a restaurant here in Memphis and we started listing our favorite memories--they were all part of trips away together. Now I know this last trip will definitely make the short-list of best times together.

Halloween 2009

It was clear early in October that Cole was headed for a Star Wars Halloween.

Jack and the Pumpkin Stalk

Click to enlarge.

Lucky Leadfoot

All the suspense this past month has really messed with my concentration. I've been pulled over for speeding three times the last month, and each time I got off with a warning. I'm so stinking lucky! Lucky that is, to be married to the Navy. Every time those officers watched me pull my Tennessee (luckily) lisence out from behind my military I.D., I'd see them softening. This is a very red state. They'd ask me about Clint's service in the Navy then send me off with a warning. The second time I got pulled over I was late for a cub scout den meeting. After the officer asked me about the Navy he asked me to roll down the back window and he got a good look at all four boys in their seatbelts. There was Talmage in his full cub scout uniform, complete with hat, holding the American flag across his chest. We'd just folded it before we hopped in the car. Then Trace beamed at him as only he can do, and the the officer told me about his son the same age. The poor officer, he just couldn't give me a ticket. All I can say is it's a good thing warnings aren't recorded or they'd have thrown me in the slammer on the third one. Instead, the officer asked me when was the last time I'd had a ticket. I scratched my head and said, "I think high school!" I must have been pulled over 30 times since then! Phew! All I can say is I'm now being SUPER careful and use my cruise control to go the exact speed limit everywhere I go!

We're Moving to Utah!

August 2010. Clint will be the Commander of the Salt Lake City Reserve center at Fort Douglas on the corner of University of Utah campus. For all you Utahns, we're looking forward to seeing more of you!

Apples!

In September I volunteered to do a craft with Cole's 1st Grade class. My whole motivation for this endeavor was to make Cole feel special by showing up in his class. You know, give him some cool points for having the nice mom that comes in and does a fun craft. I spent weeks prepping for this. I decided on a theme of apples and tried out several ideas on the boys before settling on doing apple printing. I would make a print of their forearm for the trunk of the tree, and then print the green treetop and apples on the tree with the cut apples. To fill the hour I brought picture books about apples for Mrs. Rios to read while I took two kids at a time and did the fore-arm prints. I also thought an apple snack would be nice so, I brought caramel dip and Mrs. Rios asked all the kids to bring an apple that day. She wrote the parents in their weekly newsletter about it and also put a note in their agenda books the night before to remind them. Still, I felt nervous that some kids would be without apples, so my last stop before arriving at the school was to pick up a bag of 10 apples.
The craft went great. The kids totally loved it. And the books were good too, even the one by Madonna--a surprise (I guess tromping around the stage in your underwear doesn't automatically disqualify you from having brains).
Next I had the kids line up to hand me their apples to be cut. That's when the kids started buzzing, "But what about Cole? His mom forgot to send him an apple!" Apparently, all the parents remembered, but me. Mrs. Rios said to me. "They've been very concerned about Cole. I assured them that Cole's mom would bring him an apple when she came." Her assurances obviously didn't stick. They kept on saying, "Cole doesn't get a snack! How come Cole doesn't have an apple?" I said several times, "I brought Cole 10 apples!" and pointed to the bag on the table. One little girl had two apples and I asked her why, "My mom said I should bring two in case someone's mommy forgot to send them an apple. This apple is for Cole!" Through all this conversation Cole sat at his desk like a brave soldier while all the other kids lined up to get their apples cut. When we were down to the last kid and Cole still hadn't joined the line I said, "Cole why aren't you in line? I have an apple for you." Cole brightened and said, "I do?" Poor guy, but really! After weeks of planning and an hour in the class room, what was the impression left with the class? Cole's Mom forgot to send him an apple! I'm just glad I brought that bag of apples because I had to replace one kid's apple that was totally bruised inside--he must have a really sorry mom!