A Full Heart

This Thanksgiving was a special one for me. For a week straight I felt overwhelmingly happy and grateful. Thankful to be a mother. Thankful to be a daughter. My dear parents took two planes and a rental car to get to our house this thanksgiving and we were so so happy they did. For me, there is nothing better, nothing sweeter than to see your parents bond with your child. Since having Luke, I sometimes feel a little sad when he does something new or does some spunky, funny thing and no one else is there to see it. I think a lot of mothers feel this way right? We want the world to love our child as much as we do. Thanksgiving week my mom & my dad got to witness first hand our Luke's shenanigans - including baths, feeding, sleeping, playing - the works. AND they even witnessed his FIRST STEPS!!! That's right folks, this guy has entered a new stage. His first steps were taken the morning of November 25th - the morning after my parents arrived.

walking in memphis...


Remember Luke's squnchy face? Well, he took it to a whole new level for Grandpa. And Grandpa laughed so hard that he basically did it every time he saw him.



So, the week was mostly just playing with Luke but we also ate some southern BBQ and joined crazed Elvis fans at Graceland. Joey's sister Juli drove all the way from Des Moines to spend time with us as well. Here are the 3 Hale siblings at Thanksgiving. Joey and his two sisters Sarah and Juli.


I just love these guys.

Oh, and the crowning event of the trip was "project safari room". My extremely productive parents always want a project to help us with on every visit. They are way too nice. So, we decided to work on Luke's room and make it a safari room. I asked my dad to paint a mural on the wall of a giraffe. This is his first ever giraffe and he even added a zebra pal for him. I seriously thought I couldn't be any more impressed with my dad than I already was - but what do you know. He never ceases to amaze me.

New Playground

So, what have I been up to? Oh, there is a NEW PLAYGROUND at the "Blue Lagoon" (better known to readers of this blog as "the murky lagoon where jake and joey swam where there may or may not be cottonmouths") This is right by my house and it's been nice to get outside and play.


luke on his favorite slide. (beautiful "blue lagoon" in background)


photo taken by nephew jack cresap


jack climbing up the slide - he's pretty cool


action shot of luke and his daddy


a feast of wood chips for luke - yum!

7 Random Facts

Here are a few random facts about me.

#1 In high school, my friend Hailey affectionately called me "one eyed kate" because - you got it - I have only one working eye. My right eye is almost blind and I don't even bother wearing a contact in it because it doesn't help. So, all my seeing is done through my good old overworked LEFT eye. So little tip for you - if you want to sneak up on me - try coming from the right side.

#2 In Jr. High - same friend Hailey - sat with me in Mrs. Holmstrom's English class. It was silent reading time on April Fool's day and we were scheming behind our propped up English books on what amazing stunts we should pull that year. Well, Hailey came up with the "very cool stunt" of faking a seizure but very cleverly told me I would be better at it - so I should do it. I don't know how she convinced me - but I did it - flailing limbs, scattered books, toppled desk and chair - and me writhing on the floor looking up at a worried, then angry Mrs. Holstrom. Now that I'm older (and WAY mature) I feel kinda bad about it - BUT on the upside, I WAS voted class clown in 9th grade. What more could a girl want right?

#3 I have 21 journals filled with proof that I have been completely and hopelessly in love with Joseph David Hale since the 8th grade.

#4 Turns out I have huge cusps of carabelli. (a fifth cusp found on the maxillary first molars). I know, who knew right? Ok, so this is going to sound really weird - but I always thought that my teeth were too sharp for my mouth. Like I had big razors on my back molars that hurt my tounge. And I would ask people if they every felt like their teeth were too sharp and I never got any sympathy - only weird looks. Then, when Joey was in dental school and was looking in my mouth he said - WO- those are freakishly big cusps of carabelli! I KNEW IT!! I knew I had sharp huge somethings in my mouth - now I know what they are. Someday maybe I'll have Joey file them down.

#5 When I was in college - I came home to see my sister Sarah in a WHS play. I think it was Get Smart? - I don't know - but she played "Blonde #3". And if you know Sarah, you know she's not blonde at all but has dark, almost black hair. Although we do look a lot a like - totally different coloring. So, she had a big blonde wig on. During intermission, I went backstage to say hi (and reminisce since I was in theatre in high school) and she was excited to see me. I don't remember how it happened but she came up with the brilliant plan of having me go on stage for her next - cause "it would be SO funny". Next thing I knew, she was switching clothes with me and Kara Buhrley was putting on my make-up and someone else was shoving a froey blonde wig on my head. During all the commotion - Sarah was rehearsing her lines with me to make sure I had them. WHAT WAS I DOING??? But next thing I knew - I was back on my old high school stage in front of a big crowd, with bright lights in my face, doing and saying what my sister had just instructed. It's all kinda hazy but boy what a rush. I was there with a date and he didn't know where I went - but had NO IDEA that I was on stage. So, the trick went pretty well. I think the director mentioned that Sarah's mannerisms were a little different. But that's it.

#6 My sister Sarah and I are "double blood sisters". When we were about 7 or 8, we heard about being blood sisters and really wanted to do it. We went in the bathroom with needles and pricked our fingers and held them together so our blood could flow together. We were so proud of our bravery and our accomplishment that we came out and declared to our older sister Jenny that we were now BLOOD SISTERS!! She looked up from her book amused and said - " you guys were already blood sisters, duh. "

#7 I have had the following jobs: Lifeguard, Swimming Instructor, Bagel Clerk, Mortgage Receptionist, Living Scripture Salesman, Waitress, Utah State University Phonathoner, Golf Resort Accountant's Assistant, Apartment Leasing Agent, Apartment Financial Manager, Apartment Manager, Substitute Teacher, National Museum of Dentistry Development Associate - and favorite job so far - Mom.

These random facts have been brought to you by: Shauna Taylor's Tag. I would now like to inspire two of the funniest and quirkiest people I know to bless us with their most random facts: Holly and Jenny . Go on - just do it guys. And anyone else who wants to.

All Hallows Eve

Chinaman Luke's adventures on his first Halloween night led him to meet with some pretty fantastic personalities...

... dr. aiden terry (bff)


... someone telling Luke "NOBAMA". Said his name was John? Luke seems to be having a mixed reaction.


...japanese mama.


...costume clad cousins craving candy


...rockstar daddy (a once-ninja)

(joey's work halloween rock band party. dental assistant on the guitar, hygienist on drums, dentist on vocals)

After such a day of meeting with fancy pants - he stood and declared that he, chinaman luke, was still the greatest and would rule all the babies in the land. But cousin Trace smiled deviously knowing better

screaming monkey

We have inherited a crazy screaming monkey. It makes a freaky screaming noise and for some reason Luke totally loves it.
Check this out.

snake swim

"Hey, it's a nice day today - you guys want to take the kids
for a walk and throw the frisbee around?"



in a heavy southern accent:


upon hearing the word dangerous and forgetting
their original reason of getting in the water (the frisbee)
they plan their entrance and exit strategy.






celebrating their non-snake-bitten-selves


never, ever a dull moment. thanks jake & rebekah
_____may your mouths be ever filled with rot and decay

Top 10 from weekend with JakenRebekah

So, here it is folks ....

And we'll start with #10 - Reunion


#9 Blow darts & Onion Rings

So, we went to Huey's again near Beale street in Memphis where they serve abnormally large onion rings and you can blow toothpicks through your straw to stick in the ceiling. Good stuff. The Joey picture is so funny (check out his magnified teeth!). Yeah, that is a carafe of water. Jake was making fun of him because he puts his whole mouth around a plastic bottle when he's drinking water or gatorade or what have you. So, Joey was proving that it's the cool way to drink - on any occasion.

# 8 Whose Baby is it Anyway

sometimes we think Luke looks more like Rebekah and Truman looks more like me. I think it's just the coloring though

#7 Daddy Launchers

Jake said all he wanted to do in Memphis was come and lay on our carpet and wrestle with the boys. We had so much fun just hanging out on the floor having the boys crawl all over us. And bonus - Jake taught us how to do "daddy launchers" (or in my case a mommy launcher)

#6 -m-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i

#5 FAT LARRY'S

This is good old Southern Barbecue done right. And we had live music and since we pretty much had the place to ourselves - the musicians (susie and bob salley)were singing right to our babies with their sultry voices. Luke was mesmerized the whole time. Jake requested a few Johnny Cash songs for us and Fat Larry was there and kept sending over plates of his newest fried inventions. (I highly recommend this place for you local memphians)

#4 Chopper Control

In China, Joey bought a remote control helicopter and it's been his favorite toy since we got home. He walks through the door and his eyes light up - not to see his loving wife - no - but to see his bright shiny new helicopter. I'm pretty sure this was the highlight for Jake as well. Although - not for Truman. He got pretty upset every time they flew it.

#3 Bare Bums



Love these two. Truman was born about 3 1/2 months before Luke. They had a lot of fun together. (Truman is huge!)

# 2 Root Canal Madness

Jake was Joey's assistant and I think he enjoyed it WAY too much. Also, Jake has a pretty expressive face - so Rebekah said she finally had to close her eyes so she wouldn't see him reacting to her root canal procedure. She felt sooo good after it was done though. I guess this tooth had been bothering her for a long time - so she was a happy camper to get that nerve removed.

#1 The Snake Swim

can I get that drum roll now?



to be continued....

Brother Jake

My older brother Jake is super cool. He's the kind that makes every day a party. I've always really looked up to him and felt his approval was really important. He's a good brother. When I was a freshman at Utah State - he took me under his wing and even though I was a nerdy new freshman and didn't know anybody, I had instant friends who knew me as "Jake's cool little sister".
He's all about breaking rules to make life more exciting. When we were swimming once at the USU pool - he really wanted to go down to the observation window to see our dives off the diving board. Turns out - it was roped off and used for "officials only". So, we devised a plan. I was to distract the lifeguard while he jumped over the ropes and ran down to the underground window. Of course, I was in. I started walking around the pool and made a HUGE distraction by tripping over a water polo goal, and shouting in "pain" as I lay on my back holding my big toe. Both lifeguards immediately came to check out the problem and when they discovered no blood or wound of any sort - they looked at me funny and went back to their lookouts. Jake's mission was a success.
He's just a funny brother because a sign that says "keep out" or "official use only" just screams out to him "you gotta see what this is all about!" When we were on a family cruise ziplining through a jungle - he convinced some of us to zip ahead without waiting for the zipline guides - even though they specifically told us not to because it was dangerous. But if you don't want Jake to do something - you should never mention that it's dangerous.
He somehow even convinced me in college to ride on his SHOULDERS as he rode his bike down the steepest hill at USU to his house. That might be one of the scariest things I've ever done. My feet were on the handlebars and I was flying down this hill hanging on to his hair for dear life.
I've lived far away from him for 4 years now so we don't get to see each other much. But a few weeks ago he called to say he and his wife Rebekah were coming for a visit. Rebekah had to have a root canal - and since it's Jake - he of course figured out how to make this root canal a fun thing. Instead of paying for a root canal - they paid to fly out to see us and had Joey do it. I was so excited. They have a son, Truman, who is Luke's age and I love his wife Rebekah too - so this was great. Our first visitors!! Plus, I didn't have to do or have a root canal so I was just ready to party it up. The only bummer was they only had TWO days here - but let me just tell you - they were two very fun days. When you are with Jake - you don't have to do much or go far to find adventure. We mostly just hung out here and stayed up until the wee hours of the morning every night just laughing our little bums off.
So, do you want to hear about the weekend? Do ya? Huh? Ok, well stay tuned for the TOP TEN POST. That's right, I feel like it's ok to turn a single weekend into a top ten. Here's a sneak peek at what you can expect.

TOP 10

#10 reunion
#9 blow darts and onion rings
#8 whose baby is it anyway
#7 daddy launchers
#6 m-i-s-s-i-s-s-i-p-p-i
#5 FAT LARRY'S (and fat us)
#4 chopper control
#3 bare bums (that's right - bare NAKED bums)
#2 root canal madness
and number one... the one we've all been waiting for..... drum roll please...
#1 A snake swim (just be excited. be very excited.)

CHINA - days 8 - 9

Day 8 -

Ok, so day 8 might just be my favorite day of the whole trip. Maybe tied with day 1 (the Great Wall day). Anyway, this was a good'un.
Mike Hale dropped us off to do the "big 3 tour" which included a tour guide, tour bus, lunch and seeing the 3 biggest tourist attractions in Beijing. (We had a few "surprise" stops as well)

1.The Forbidden City




We learned a lot from our tour guide. From what I remember The Forbidden City was in use from about 1420 - 1911 and there were 24 emperors who used it. No one could come in or out. There was a door that all supplies (food etc.) were delivered to. Concubines for the emperor were selected at around age 14-15 and (I think she said) there were thousands of them. Some never even met the emperor their whole lives. It was like a prison with very nice living conditions.

2. Temple of Heaven





The Temple of Heaven is round and sits in a square base. The round shape represents heaven and the square represents earth. So, it's where heaven and earth meet. The architecture is so cool. It's all wood made without nails. (Yeah, I'm not really sure how that works)

3. Summer Palace



The Summer Palace was built as a "summer get-away" for the emperors. They only had a small garden in the Forbidden City and that's it - no trees because the emperor thought it took away his power by blocking his view. I think it was an emperor in the 12th century who originally built the Summer Palace for his mom's birthday. At some point it was burned by the British and French and the Empress Dowager Cixi (the dragon lady) neglected the Navy and dumped all the $ into rebuilding the summer palace. Which wasn't too smart because then they lost a war to Japan. But anyway, it's reallly gorgeous place. We took a dragon boat out on the lake and the sun was just setting. Ahhhh....
Oh and don't make fun of the dramatic pose. I was just trying to fit in. Chinese & Japanese always make really interesting poses that are so cute and Americans just stand there smiling. BOring right?

Chinese Medicine
One of our "surprise" stops was a Chinese Hospital. (We think it was a gimmick to get us to buy Chinese herbal remedies) Anyway, we listened to a shpeel about how Chinese medicine was better than western medicine and then Chinese doctors came in and took our pulse and looked at our tongues to let us know what was wrong with us so they could prescribe some remedy for us.


I'm looking very serious because I'm learning that I have cold air in my uterus. He prescribed a remedy whose main ingredient was cinnamon - for $72/mo. I decided to just make sure I'm eating a lot of cinnamon rolls. Warm cinnamony cinnamon rolls to warm up that uterus. Doctor's orders.

Relaxing Evening
So, a really, really fun thing about China were the massages. We got HOUR & A HALF MASSAGES for FIFTEEN DOLLARS!!! So, we had one our first night we got there. And with my jet lagged achin body - it felt soooo good. It was fun to all hang out and talk.




Good day right?

Day 9 - Our Last Day

This day was really chill. We did a little of this -



We ate some Peking Duck, ya know since we were there.


And got Shitos (head washes) Ok, this was AWESOME. ($4)


ACROBATS! This was absolutely incredible. The whole time I kept wincing thinking this would be the night something terrible happened. It is all so unbelievable and looks SO SCARY!


Thus our journey ends. We LOVED the company, the history, the massages, the shows, most of the food, and all the spectacular sites. We DIDN'T love the pollution, some of the food, the cigarette guy, the drivers and the "toilets". But like some guy said "Without new experiences, something inside of us sleeps and the sleeper must awaken."

So, Good-bye China. Thanks for waking us up a little.