Life is Good

Do you want to know was is sad? That this blog has not seen any new posts in almost 2 years. I blame my wife. Some random person commented on our blog and she decided that our family is being stalked by psycho killer people (although is this age and time a legitimate concern). Now that our home is fortified with steel bars on the windows and we walk around carrying Mossberg 500's (sawed off of course) I'm allowed to post something here.

Did you know that we now have a beautiful girl? Her name is Annelle Catherine, or as we call her Anna Cate. She is named after the 2 woman who have shaped Rachel and my life the most, our mothers. She is by far the most adorable little girl that this world has ever seen, and when she gets her flirt on boys fall at her feet. She's already had to reject 17 marriage proposals, and she's just 14 months old!

Lincoln is truly a little man and has inherited his father's humor. "I have skills so I don't need to go to bed!" He talks to and texts his girlfriend Eliza all day on his cell phone (who cares if it doesn't work, he still holds full on conversations with her, yeah he's that good). He loves to read/look at books - also a trait from his father and loves to use his imagination. The main qualities he has taken from Rachel is his stubbornness (not always a bad thing) and his curly hair. We can tell how humid it is just by watching the back of his head. Humid = big curls.

Rachel and I are doing wonderful and more importantly Rachel still loves me even though I weigh 30 pounds more than when we got married and she's lost 20 pounds. Love truly is blind (or at least forgiving in my case). I am finishing up my Master's in Health Care Administration at Augusta Health, while Rachel is wrangling the children, how she takes care of them and cleans and cooks is still a mystery to me.

Life is good. You can't ask for much more than that.

Buena Vista, Home Away From Home

This is my new home away from home. This is the house my parents have just bought and are remodeling, hopefully done by Christmas. Isn't it so fun!? They are going to put a porch swing on the front porch and the inside is so bright with all those big windows. I'm actually REALLY excited about it. It softens the pain of my old house being sold.
Celeste and Brigham with their only nefew. This is the tiny table in the little town house they are currently living in. It was so fun to see them! I've missed them.

This is Southern Virginia University's main building. This is the one my dad works in. Isn't is absolutely gorgeous?! I loved it! It definately needs a lot of work on the inside but it's still fun.

Cool dude in the shades!
This place was called Natural Bridge. It's all natural, not man-made, and apparently Thomas Jefferson bought it for under $3.00 at one point! It was gorgeous down there.
We took a short detour across the ocean to the UK and got our picture taken at... Stone, I mean FOAMhenge. Ha ha just kidding. This is a full scale replica of stonehenge. Who knew that a small town near Buena Vista had an awesome "foamhenge." Quite hilarious actually.

Our trip was absolutely delightful and we had a wonderful time. It was so good to see my family after such a long time. It's so nice to know they are only a 9 hour drive away instead of 30. Welcome to the southeast family!

The Beauty of Nursery

So can I just say how much I LOVE nursery?! It's so great to be able to focus on my calling and not worry about Lincoln for a full two hours! He gets to play with toys and other boys and girls and loves it. He's been going for quite a few months, since Michael and I are both in primary. So it's great to not have to worry about it. It's so great. Anyway, it just made me happy today. :)

Funniest Home Video Ever!

Here's a great video of Lincoln, DON'T miss it! Make sure to watch until 45 seconds.
See above for the video!

Waterskiing

We went waterskiing with my awesome aunt and uncle and their kids. They just moved to Montgomery and they were so nice to invite us to go. Lincoln even loved it!

Becca in B'ham

Last month Michael's younger sister Becca came to visit us! We had a lot of fun swimming, shopping, playing games, watching olympics, and going to the Zoo. Here are some fun pictures.

We made gluten free cinnamon rolls which were amazing, especially since I haven't had them in years. Here's Lincoln covered in flour and attempting to help.

Rolling the dough with a cup

and we quickly ate half the pan.

We went to the Zoo and Becca took this cool picture in the butterfly house.

Lincoln and I with the giraffes

At the Park
Lover's Leap

Don't jump Becca!

Late night hyperness The Botanical Gardens

Michael dinging the gong

ahhh....

Lincoln Log and Mommy

Babes by the pool

Chicago and The Beach

So this last month we've had a bunch of fun trips. First we went to a beach in Florida with a bunch of Michael's class mates. It was so fun and relaxing, especially since we went without Lincoln! (see pictures on Rachel's Blog) Then we went to Chicago for some quality Hall family time. We wanted to go up one more time before Michael's youngest sister left for BYU. Michael's brother, Jonathan, and his wife, Chelsea, are pregnant and so it was fun to see them again before they become forever parents. We played games, watched olympics and gained weight by eating more dove bars that is probably healthy. (sometimes two a day). AMAZING! We went to the cheesecake factory and to a fun water parkMostly we just got to relax and hang with family. Here are a few pictures. Oh I also got my hair cut, so there are pictures of that.

Michael and Lincoln going for a ride on the lawn mower. Lincoln loved it!

Promised Zoo Pictures

So the other day I took Lincoln to the Zoo last minute. It was one of the few nights that it's open till seven and we were pretty much the only ones there. It was really fun and relaxed. We took our time and I got to just let Lincoln play and explore without worrying about getting in other peoples way.

First we went to the petting farm where he chased the sheep and goats around. It was so cute!


Then we found this cool sand/dirt/gravel pit where you could dig out a fossil. I don't think he even saw the fossil. All he could see was dirt and shovels. A little boys heaven! He kept scooping up the dirt and then dumping it over his head or flinging it. It was dirty, but he was enjoying himself. Then he started taking the dirt and rubbing it into his leg. It was quite hilarious actually.
After being officially dirt covered we headed to the fountain to do some rinsing off. No he's not wearing a shirt, that's just a really bad farmers tan. Funny looking.

Monster in Disguise

Lately this adorable little boy you see has been quite the monster when his daddy leaves for school at 5:00pm and it's just me. Around other people he's usually such an angel, but lately when it's just the two of us, alone, at the apartment, probably bored, he turns into a major drama queen, I mean king. If I say no, or make him mad in any way he cries for what seems like forever. Or he just starts crying for no reason and is so whiny. It's so weird because it's just not really like him. I guess maybe he's just a morning person, or else he's turning into a dramatic toddler, but it's really quite tiring. So by the end of the day I'm exhausted physically and emotionally. Bedtime quickly becomes my favorite part of the day, sadly.