4 Month recap . . . Ready, Set, Go!

Dustin made it home! He is 50 pounds lighter now and a running machine (compare before deployment pic below). I asked him how far he ran the other day and "only 6 miles" was his reply. We are very grateful for his safe return. We love him so much!

Jo (aka Nana) took our picture in Georgia.

Dustin took us to Disney World! Besides driving 15 hours with a teething baby, it was a blast.

My princess and the castle.

Halloween 2009~~~~Ariel and unicorn.

Finally, Arianna is a cruisin maniac. She tries so hard to keep up with Alice. I feel like my job is to save her life a billion times a day.

I have posted many more pics on facebook. Look me up there if you want to check them out.

Okay folks til next time . . . . . . . .

note on the slideshows . . .

K--I've been trying to figure out why you can't see them, and I give up! So, just click on 'view all images' and you'll be able to view the pics.

Until next time!

One more month to go!!!

Yes, yes. I know I've been a real slacker on the blog. But I feel less guilty as I read my other friend's and family's blogs and most start with that same sentence. :) So here's what's been happening with the Halls:

In May we celebrated our 7th anniversary! I have to give Dustin props for managing to send flowers from so far away.

In June, mom and dad Hall took us to Florida for an unforgettable vacation. I'll post a picture slideshow from all our pictures there. It was really wonderful to spend such a relaxing week with the family.

In downtown Little Rock there's a formal duck procession every morning at the Peabody Hotel. They bring the ducks down the elevator and they walk along a red carpet and jump into their pool in the hotel's lobby. There's a 'ringmaster' and everything. It was really fun to watch the ducks ride down the glass elevator. Mostly because they were so relaxed about it. Here they are going up the steps to jump into the pool.


We also went to the farmer's market. Alice specifically wanted watermelon that day.

We finished the day at the 'Wonder Place.' Here she is playing with the air planes. Alice loves flying and playing with airplanes, it really wouldn't surprise me if she followed her daddy's footsteps.

Baking at the 'cafe.'

Being a 'vet.' I love her intense focus in this picture.

She's such a little princess!

They really adore eachother! I often find them laughing at one another during the day.

Arianna tried her first cereal, doesn't it seem like she was just born yesterday??? Where does the time go?? Most of all, how can you not love this face??!!!

Finally I'm going to include a couple slideshows for a camping trip we did and our trip to Florida. I really did have a good time camping, but I had to have help backing in the trailer both at the campgound and at home. Sooooo, for more camping trips, I'm going to wait for Dustin to get home and give me more lessons. But you've got to give me credit for trying right?

This may be biased . . but I have the cutest babies in the world.

I don't have many videos of Arianna so I wanted to post one real quick. She's such an adorable little girl! I think God is watching out for me because she's been so good and just a joy to be around. I'm hoping the teething part will wait until Dustin is back.

We've almost made it to the half-way point, it's taken forever! But that being said, we have some fun vacations ahead and will have all sorts of adventures to post soon.

Until then . . Enjoy the little chuberkins.

Alice is three!

Happy Mother's Day!

This week at Alice's school they had a "Muffin's for Mom" day. I got to eat breakfast and she gave me gifts that she had made. Here's my favorite:
That' 3rd line says " and she weighs as much as a daddy horse" :)

Here's Alice's birthday party. We're so lucky to have such good friends to celebrate with.

Per her request, I made her an Ariel cake.

I decided to get a trampoline for us. I wanted something active and fun that we could all do. She keeps telling me "It's perfect!"

Arianna is full of smiles now, awwww.

We've almost made it a month--some of you might think, "Wow! That went by fast." Not us. But we are keeping busy and having some fun.

I'll try and post a couple videos.

One week down . . 15?? more to go!

As you may have noticed--I changed the blog name and picture to incorporate our little chuberkins. The "A" team is what Dustin call us girls. We sure are rooting for him. GoooOOO DUSTIN!!!

Well we survived the first week! My motto has thus been "do your best and forget the rest". The days seem a little easier when we stick to our routine and remember to be silly now and then.

Dustin finally made it in country and is already flying. Obviously, we cannot discuss much here on a public blog, but he's doing well and I will update it with any news that he would like me to share.

This picture is a quick last minute attempt to get a family photo before he left. No too bad for an automatic timer and a blanket backdrop eh?

Dustin wanted to squeeze in a night of camping before we left. He also gave me my 'checkride.' I had to hook up the trailer, tow it, back it in the campsite and hook everything up. I'm not as pro as he is, but at least I know I can if the need arises.

We went to Wooley Hollow State Park. I love the little 3 mile hike around the resevoir. It's perfect to do when you have little ones.

Can you find Dustin in this picture?? Here he is testing out the new desert colors.

Bidding Farewell! Alice was obviously not too happy. But she's been really doing okay. The days go by fairly quick because we're so busy at home. Thanks for all the calls and concerns--we appreciate them!

Finally got the videos posted!

Okay, like I said in the last post here's a video of Dustin doing his best Arianna imitation and Alice practicing her letters. Chaio!

Families are forever--even when you're a few thousand miles apart

Wow, it's been a while since we posted. We are trucking along quite well since Arianna's arrival. She is sleeping 3-4 hour stretches at night and loves her swing, both make things easier for mama to adjust to having 2 kids. She looks so much like Alice to Dustin and I. I feel like they're twins--just 3 years apart. I can't wait for her little personality to really come through to see how they differ.

Last weekend Dustin blessed Arianna at church. My brother, Ben and his family drove down from Indiana to be there. Even thought they were only here for a couple days, Alice loved having her cousins around to play with.

Sariah and Alice

Arianna, Jon, and Eliza

This weekend was our last weekend with Dustin before he leaves for his deployment rotation. Although I am prepared for him to go, it will be the first and longest time we've ever been apart. I am just grateful that it's only a few months and not years (go Air Force!) Plus, this is good for his career and he'll get more flying opportunities when he's home.

We'll keep you posted on any news he has.

His squadron had an Easter party which we attended this weekend. It was super windy but Alice had a great time. Pretty much if Alice has other kids to play with and she gets out of the house--she'll have a great time.

I'm going to post a couple fun videos of us. The first one is of Alice and I practicing her letters. The second is Dustin doing his best Arianna impression.

Welcome Arianna Jo Hall!

Arianna Jo Hall arrived February 7, 2o09 at 6:13 pm. She was 6 pounds 13 ounces and 19.25 inches.

Here's the story:

I started having contractions early Saturday morning around 3 am. Around 6 am Dustin was getting ready to leave for some volunteer work for church. They were going to go a couple hours north and help clean up after the ice storms. We talked for a bit and decided it would be okay if he went because he wouldn't be too far.

After about 30 minutes the contractions seemed to be getting worse and just when I was going to call him to come back home, he walked in the door. We decided to go ahead and go into town for breakfast and stop by the women's center to be checked out.

They monitored me for a bit and said that I wasn't in active labor so they sent me home. I was a little worried because I really felt like I was in labor and we live about 35 minutes from the hospital. I really didn't want to have the baby in the car.

After we went home, I actually took about an hour nap. Maybe I really wasn't in labor afterall if I could nap. . . but then the contractions really started.

So we went back to the hospital. They checked me and I thought they would say I was dilated to maybe a 3. To our surprise I was already an 8! The rest happened VERY quickly---Arianna was born only 43 minutes after arriving to the hospital. Since I had made it so far without any pain meds, I decided to go ahead and do a natural birth.

We are so in love with our new addition! We also so proud and appreciative of Alice who has been a real trooper and wonderful big sister. We really feel blessed and thank God for everything (especially for making it to the hospital in time!)

Beginning 2009

Happy January! We're counting down the days for the little one to get here. As far as names go, Dustin has the final say---so when he knows, I'll let everyone else know.

Only 3 weeks to go! Alice took this picture :)

Good morning! We went camping in Hot Springs with the Preston's this month. It was one last chance for me to get out before the baby arrives.

The horse races in Hot Springs were a first for us.

Alice loved watching them race!

Our campground had a playgound. Alice and Aiden swinging.

Love those chipmunk cheeks!

We tried to feed the ducks on the campground but the kids were a little nervous.

Dustin took this picture--hopefully one day people out here will actually know what Utah State University is . . .

Well, that's all for now. Next time we post it will be when the baby is here!