Presenting Joseph Teancum Hall

Born October 27th   2:07 pm
8 pounds, 9 ounces
22 inches long

 1st Family Picture-Joseph about 4 hours old

Israel, Eliza, and Julia love their little brother. They love to hold him-especially Eliza.

Birth Story and more pics to come.

Israel's Baptism 10-9-11

Israel was baptized with his friend Makayla Wilkey at 1pm church. Bishop Douglas conducted, Grandma Hall talked on Baptism, Daddy baptized Israel, then Gary Wilkey talked on the Holy Ghost. Israel was confirmed a member of the church and given the gift of the Holy Ghost by Grandpa Hall. We sang I am a Child of God and Baptism. I played the piano and Spencer Walton conducted the music. It was a really special day and we were so glad for all the people that came and gave our family support. The RS room was full. Israel asked his good friend Ben Adams to say the closing prayer and Bishop Douglas was a little confused when he announced it-it was cute.

Of his baptism Israel, who has been scared since sunbeams about getting baptized since you have to be fully immersed, said it felt so good he wanted to do it again. He was so happy and so were Dad and I. We're proud of his decision to follow Jesus Christ.

We love you Israel!

Happy Birthday Week

At the Hall house we're blessed to have our three children born within a week. This means lots of partying, sugar, presents, and silly songs. We start each birthday singing all the birthday songs we know and telling their birth stories (they can never get enough: tell me more, what did  I do as a baby, etc.). This week we were able to get the kiddos to vary their birthday treats. Julia picked cupcakes, for Eliza we made a gingerbread house cookie, and for Israel we had cinnamon rolls. Yay for variety, there's only so much cake I can eat.

Julia turned 4-she's so big and such a helper. She and Mom are big pals since her other siblings are in school and baby boy hasn't come yet. Julia loves to dance (ballerina stepping) and makes up hand positions and twists and has a great time. She's our commedian and has such a great laugh-we can't help laughing right along with her. She loves Dora the Explorer and playing with her tea set (we need to get her a new one since Caramel did a good job destroying her old one. Word to the wise, don't leave anything in our backyard that you care about.) She's all about baby dolls. She has good babies and bad babies and a favorite black baby (that's it's name) that she let me sleep with while Stan was on a business trip-pretty good for snuggling. Julia is very reverent in church. The best Sunbeam we have this year I'm happy to be able to say and she loves her teacher Sister N.

Eliza turned 6-she's grown up so much this past year, not only in height (but she's still a stick-thank goodness for adjustable waistbands), but emotionally too. She's getting braver, talking to a few more people, and even doing well in school (bless you Mrs. L!). Eliza is a really good reader, she loves to play doll house and think about the future. Frequent topics-how young you can be to get married, when she'll be an adult, and the fact that her husband needs to be named Henry Hall (do you know the song "There's a hole in my bucket, dear Liza, dear Liza?" Well, she wants to be married to a Henry because of that and she doesn't want to have to change her last name. So if you know any good quality Henry Halls age 6-9, send them our way in 14 years!) She loves to play the piano, ride bikes with dad, dance with Caramel, our dog, and play legos with Israel.

Israel turned 8-how big he is. I still can't believe we have an 8-yr-old. He's getting baptized this Sunday after church and we're so proud of him. He got his first full set of scriptures, a scripture tote, journal, and 1st real tie for his birthday and he didn't even complain. That might be because there were a few pokemon cards thrown in there:) Israel is in 2nd grade and doing well. He and Eliza play on the same soccer team and he's already scored a goal this season. He's very aggressive. Israel's a great reader, his favorite books right now are the Asterix comic books (if only they were AR books). He's quite the artist and writer as well. We enjoy his creative side and hope he grows up and keeps it. 

35.5 Weeks Pregnant

First Day of School

We home schooled Eliza for kindergarten, but this year we've put her into public school with Israel. She's in 1st grade with Mrs. L (who also goes to our church) and she is super sweet, in control, soft spoken, and willing to work with Eliza and help her transition. Thank you Mrs. L-I feel comfortable knowing she is in your class and you're watching out for her.

First Day Pics:

First Day Feelings:
Israel hit the lottery, his 2 best friends from 1st grade were in his same class (Mrs. C). We're hoping with the changes because of high enrollment that he'll still be with at least 1 of them when the new teacher is hired. He told us right off the bat that 2nd grade wasn't as fun as 1st grade and that Kg was the best (who could disagree with that?) He's comfortable with new situations and had a really good start.

Eliza wanted school to start so she could play on the playground! But that first day she was really nervous. She didn't cry (even though pg me did, but not until I got in the car). She sat in her chair and although she didn't participate much that first day she made it through the day. I waited for the phone to ring the whole time she was gone. At 2nd recess she saw Israel and he helped her be happy. It's hard being in school when you're new, have never done the routine and don't have any friends (besides being too shy to make them). At pick up she wouldn't even look at me she was so sad and told me she didn't want to go to school again.

Julia missed her playmates, I'm just not as fun at dollhouse as Eliza is, so we did special things like making cookies and cutting her hair.

How they're liking school a week later:
Israel is having a blast. He likes what he's reading, enjoys his teacher and is making new friends. Can you imagine a class with 38 kids in it? He can.

Eliza still needs me to walk her to her seat, but once she's settled in she's okay. This morning she showed me her new science book with all the animals! Mrs. L even said she answered a question in class the day before, so things are going better and she's found a friend. Thanks Abby!

 Julia didn't want to be left out, so she had a first day of school picture too-and here she is playing the banjo with Daddy. She's getting used to special time with Mom and today we started Teach your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons.

Utah Trip Week 4: Part 2

The big Ashcraft Family Reunion-30 people in 2, 12 people cabins up at gorgeous and masquito infested Island Park, Idaho (about 30 min. from West Yellowstone entrance)
Stan enjoying the hottub with the kiddos one morning. Don't worry, we didn't have the temperature up very high.

Fishing on the the Buffulo? River. Grandma and Grandpa taught all the kids how to cast and let them play as long as they were interested.  Even with all the fishing that went on during the 4 days we were there, nobody caught anything-not even my expert bro-in-law. Good thing we hadn't planned on eating off the river!

Julia with cousings Jessica, Jacob on Emily's lap, and Hannah.

Israel learning from Grandpa.  He worked at it for a really long time and was sad when he still didn't catch anything. Fishing can be tough for kids.

Walking the slackline. Cousin Kienan pictured, is really good at it and all the Robbin's boy and Stan had a great time playing on it. Israel learned to take a few steps on his own. Not easy.

Eliza with cute cute 7 mo. old baby Asher.

Me with my nephew Sean soon to be missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

We did this beautiful little hike to the Upper Mesa Falls. Lovely little hike, plenty of shade, and breathtaking waterfalls. I kept on thinking of Super Man rescuing Lois Lane from Niagra Falls.

The happy Hall girls

Israel giving us the "oh, no, I don't want to fall in" pose.

Saying goodbye to family was hard. Here I am with my dad (and Israel of course)

What a great vacation we had. Thanks for all the people who gave us food and beds and let us invade their homes. We love our extended family and are looking forward to next July when we hope to go to Utah next.

Utah trip Week 4: Part 1

Playing with the Robbin's crew.
Here we are up at Christopher's Mom's cabin. The kids loved riding horses for the first time.

Israel with Joshua

Julia with Sarah

Eliza with Joshua

Milking goats at the neighbors

Stan got pretty proficiant and even went back for a 6 am milking. Not only that, but he loved drinking the fresh milk-he even drank half a gallon in one sitting!

Julia loved the baby goats

I'm not sure which of my kids took this picture, I was just really impressed by it. In picture-Michele, Christopher, and Elizabeth

playing dress-up. Don't they have an awesome swingset? The tall swings that are so hard to find these days. This is my dream swingset when we have a bigger yard (and extra money)

Julia

The only picture I got of the fireworks/sparklers. Huntsville has a really good show.

Utah Week 3

Playing in Laketown is always a highlight. This time we even got to go shooting AND ride tractors.
Here we are shooting grandma's .22

 Moving Pipe in the North field with my Uncle Eldon

 Enjoying tractor rides with Eldon. He taught the kids to answer "green" to the question, "What color should a tractor be?"

 Playing in Bear Lake. The water is up so high that we only had a tiny bit of beach. We still managed to have plenty of fun.

 Aunt Jan let us ride Squirt. Julia rode too, but I forgot to get a picture:(

 Grandma gave the girls this blanket she knit. They share it and have been taking turns sleeping with it since.