come and knock on my door....

Well, we've been the lucky recipients of some pretty awesome visitors the past month...

FIRST we had MOM & DAD


who, yet again, worked hard while they were here


mom got the job of getting up with Lucy during the night when we went on the cruise. one night she got up to get Lucy a bottle and Luke had climbed out of his crib!! (first time) He was in the livingroom and when he saw grandma - he ran to her saying "i'm scared!! i'm scared! A MONSTER!" my mom could hear a loud snore coming from the direction Luke was pointing. Sure enough they discovered the snoring grandpa monster. I guess it was loud and scary enough to teach Luke his new escape trick.

then our Okie friends - the RICHINS!!!

Happy Birthday Jansen!! These guys drove a long way to see us and we were so glad they did.

Then, THE HARRIS FAMILY EXTRAORDINAIRE!!

they are a pretty excitable bunch...




and so nice - look at these girls. there couldn't be more polite, kind, wonderful girls in all the world. I love this whole family and we had so much fun with them - it was sad to see them go.


(this is my sister Jenny's family. Her blog is hilarious - check it out - belligerentblogging . We were just one stop on their 3 week trip across country)

Next up: Cousin MESHELLE and her kids LILY & KAT...



I haven't seen her in at least 6 years and it was so fun to catch up. She is the kind of person that is so warm and comfortable that it doesn't seem like any time at all. She even made us homemade granola in the short time she was here.

these are her darling daughters that Luke L-O-V-E-D! He is still asking for them.




It was great to see everyone! We would like to petition all persons everywhere who have ever loved us or who currently love us to please come on out to memphis.

the eyes are the window to how sick you are

Who is this?? That doesn't even look like him.

So, the good news is that last night Lucy slept through the night for the first time. 11.25 hours without stirring. The bad news is that I think I got about 2.5 hours. Too bad I missed out on that awesomeness - hopefully she'll do it again... a lot. This kid (pictured above) finally fell asleep about 1:00 and woke up every 40 minutes. He was sick when the Harris fam visited, got better in 3 days and then a week later got sick again. No fairzeez - it's summer!

In other L&L news, Luke is now sleeping in a big boy bed and Lucy is sleeping in a big girl crib in her own room. She rolled over all the way for the first time on June 2nd. She's been almost rolling over for about a month. So, here's a little snapshot of my kids on this the 16th of June, 2010.

My crusty-eyed talkative boy:
(disclaimer - 2.5 minutes of a 2 year old talking about random things like mean police bugs, firetrucks and dump trucks. it's mostly just for me to remember how he says "forkawift")

luke sick from katiehale on Vimeo.

My giggly baby girl:

50 years of lovely love

On June 8, 1960 handsome Phil H. married the oh-so-lovely Barbara B. 50 years, 12 kids & 44 grandkids later - we celebrated their perfect (and really it is) marriage by cruisin the Caribbean. All 12 kids plus spouses were there! (a momentous first for me since marrying into the family) These two created an amazing family - such a fun group of siblings and all so different from each other but share the common thread of love for family and each seem to truly have a profound respect and awe for their parents. Which says a lot for 12 kids. Well done Phil & Barbara - well done. I think they've perfected the institution of marriage. And if Hollywood could capture the love they have on film - it would shame all other romantic movies ever made.











Aren't they awesome?

So, -- here's lotsa pictures from the fun...


All 13 rooms were semi-close on the ship and some had adjoining rooms. We were all chillin in Jenny & Mike's room which was adjoined to Wendy & Chad's room and Joey and I demonstrated our bed to bed jumping techniques. Mom didn't even tell us not to jump on the bed. (by the way, it was great being the "kids" of the group. going from being a parent every day to being a kid - look at joey's face. that's not a responsible dentist / daddy face. ahhh, such a nice break.)

First stop: Grand Cayman -





Second Stop: Roatan



3rd stop: Belize (Mayan Ruins)





4th stop: Cozumel (Joey scuba dove and Katie flew home to the kids)


the in-laws


fine dining. i think i ordered the warm chocolate melting cake every single night.


Joey's brother Mike performed as Elvis in the last big show.


Singing "Do you 'still' love me" from Fiddler on the Roof as Barbara and Phil.


The sister-in-laws


Hale Family 2010 (hey fam - do we have a clearer pic of this?)

Favorite thing of the trip was the night we had a program for Mom & Dad. We had family trivia and listened as Mom & Dad reminisced their years together and the kids growing up. When the sisters sang - I looked at Joey's mom's face and her eyes were glistening. What a wonderful thing it must be to have raised such a family. I hope I can gather as much as possible from her example and someday feel a portion of what she does.

Happy 50th Anniversary!!