Dear Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts, Uncles, Cousins, Brothers and Sisters,

Thanks. We had a great time!!!

Love,
Mike, Erin, Abbie, Landon and Noah

Dear Minnesota Winter,

I loath you.

Sincerely,
Erin

Dear Abbie,

Today, after I put you on the bus, I walked across the street and turned around expecting to see your face in the window. It wasn't there. I could see you laughing and talking with your friends. I waited patiently for you to realize that we had not done our ritual of waving, blowing kisses and giving the "I love you" sign, something that has been a great comfort to you as you have been frightened to ride the bus with older kids. But you didn't turn. I stood on the grass and watched the bus pull away and realized that maybe you don't need that anymore. Maybe you're comfortable enough, strong enough and brave enough to do this without me...and that's ok, but can you do me a favor? Can we do it anyway? I'm not that brave yet.

Love,

Mom

For Mike, Jen, Mom, and Sandra....Why I'll be happy on Saturdays from now on.

Dear Cub Foods,

I am officialy terminating our 2 1/2 year relationship. There is a new shopping complex in town, and I will be working with them from now on. You have served me well. You have always had great produce, and every item I have ever needed, but I cannot continue diving into your chaos every week. So, farewell my old friend. I wish you, your crowded parking lot, and your bus loads of the elderly the best of luck in the future. Maybe I'll come visit sometime if I just need one or two things.

Sincerely,
Erin Hale

Dear Landon,

Son, I love you so much, but if you push the light buttons in the car again and make it so that I don't know if the automatic lights are going to go off and I have to stand in the COLD garage for 5 minutes, holding your brother who is VERY heavy and wait to see if they go off, I might have to hurt you.

Love,
Mom

Winter to Summer to Fall in 10 days

My sweet Grandad passed away on October 13, so Abbie, Noah and I had the chance to fly to Dallas for 3 days to be with my family. When we left, Minnesota looked like this:(please note the exceptional WT quality of this picture. ie....Landon's tissue in his nose, and Abbie's entire ensemble. I'm quite proud of this one!)

Upon arriving in Dallas, it was very apparent that we had gone back in time three months, as we were sweating to death. (The locals thought it was "cold"). This is Abbie riding with my uncle Chris on his Vespa. This was her favorite part of the trip.

Uncle Dan got Noah to sleep right as we were sitting down for breakfast one of the mornings. (I have to admit for as much as I love my nephews, it was really nice to have my brothers there w/o kids......extra help for me!)
After driving for 22 hours straight from Dallas to SLC with my dad and my brothers, and after a much needed nap for me, we met up with Amy and the boys. Are these the cutest kids ever? And they totally love hanging out......see.....
They pretty much did this for like 3 straight hours.

Halfway through our trip, we went up to Park City to stay at a condo for a few nights. While we were there we celebrated a belated birthday for Jord, and an early birthday for Noah.

Oh, he got right into it! Sandra and I did rock, paper, scissors for who had to clean him up afterwards and she lost. I ended up cleaning the kichen instead. (I'll go ahead and let her think she got the better end of the deal!)
We also went to the BYU/TCU game while we were there. I don't really have much to say about it.....oh wait, yes I do.....we tailgated before hand and that was a lot of fun! Cute picture of Mike and Annie.
Jord with his less than attractive beanie.

If you didn't watch the game, this picture will tell you how it went.

Laura and I still managed to have fun though!! Love you Laura!!

I know, I know, I don't have pictures of my Grandads funeral, Abbie with her girl cousins, swimming at the condo, my cutest niece Lucy, and I'm sure there's something else I'm missing. I pretty much suck at remembering to take pictures! Since marrying into the Hale family, however, I have gotten much better. (Jen and Sandra put up lots of other pictures on their Blogs). We can't wait to go back at Christmas!

Words of Encouragment

So, being the Primary president means that I have to serve in some fashion with the Scouts. (i'm still learning which fashion)The Scouting director is our ward came to me and was telling some of my responsibilities and then asked me if I had any special talents or hobbies that I could potentialy teach the scouts. Silence. "Um not really. I think at one point in my life I did." He thought that was pretty funny, but the truth is, I was serious.

I've been thinking over the past week since our conversation that I really don't have anything that I'm really good at that I could teach someone else. I was beginning to feel really bad for myself and wondering what happened to my life when my sweet son gave me a compliment to lift my spirits. He had just fininshed his "business" in the bathroom and called for me to come help him. During the process he says "Mom, you're a really good wiper." Sigh. "Thanks buddy."

(I don't think the scouts need to learn that skill)

What The......

Top 5 weirdest things I've said lately..

5. Yes, when you get older, you will have hair there.

4. You need to have 2 bites of pizza and then you can have more broccoli. (not lying)

3. Yes, every dinosaur does poop.

2. Get your skateboard out of your cereal.

1. Hon, will you please get that grenade out of Noah's mouth.



See why I'm always craving adult conversation? I'm getting dumber by the year. (oh, and just for the record, the grenade is a toy.)

He's Fouw! (4)

Abbie's card. (yes, I helped her with the spelling)

Chuck E Cheese and his twin. LOL!

Thank You Cub Foods!

The whole gang.

Words cannot express how it feels to watch you little ones grow up. Those of you with kids know. It's exciting and sad all at once. Independance comes and innocence goes. For now, I've got another one to follow in his footsteps, but someday, I'll be watching my youngest turn 4 and know that there are no more to watch. I love you Landon! You make me laugh everyday, and let's hope that is something you don't outgrow.

What would the world be like if we all thought like them?

Abbie: Mom, I have a really best friend on the bus

Me: Really, who is it?

Abbie: Well, I don't know, but she lets me call her Hello Kitty.

(truth be told, I'd be friends with her too!)




Landon: (Holding up his picture that he colored in church) Hey Mom, Mom what does this say?

Me: I don't know bud, I can't see it.

Landon: Maybe it says Kung-Fu Jesus.

(uh.............ok)

True Humanitarians

The funny thing is, the people that they were asking to donate, were the ones in need of the donation. (We have a not so desirable apartment complex nearby). In the end, I'm guessing all four of them will end up splitting the 75 cents that my neighbor and I put in there. Bless their sweet little giving hearts!

So, you know that feeling of happiness you get after cleaning your house all day?

Well, today I discovered something even better.

I left my house in shambles, and took my boys to the park. There is Nothing that beats this kind of happiness. (not even a clean kitchen)

The First Day

She looked cute

She had fun

She did great

Lake Minnetonka Regional Park

If you couldn't tell....it was a great day!

The Joker

Landon: "Hey Noah, Noah Why did the cow cross the road?"

Noah: Sticks tongue out, spits and crawls away

Landon: "No, to get to the other side!"

9 Months

Height: 281/2 inches
Weight: 17.8 lbs.
Top Teeth: 3
Bottom Teeth: 2
Sitting: Yes
Crawling: Yes
Pulling Up: Yes
Babbling: Yes
Sleeping Through the Night: YES!!!!



I am one happy momma!

That's What I Get For Eavesdropping

A few days ago, I was in a really fowl mood. I know that's hard for some of you to believe, but trust me it happens. It was late in the evening, I had just given the kids dinner, and pretty much was grumpy the whole time. I don't even remember what I was frustrated about, but I was taking it out on the kids. In the midst of all this, Mike called to say he was on his way home. I was glad because I was feeling really tired and needed the help putting the kids to bed. I also think I was getting sick. Anyway Mike got home, but then ended up getting a page that he had to respond to, so I took the kids in and helped them brush their teeth etc. Usually one of us goes up with them, reads a few books, helps them say prayers and tucks them in. I was feeling too grumpy and sick and Mike was still on the phone, so I told them to just go up, say prayers, get into bed and I would be up in a minute. I layed down on the couch and listened. Abbie said her prayer and got into bed and Landon immediately started calling down because I had "forgotten" to help him say his. He was getting pretty upset and I heard Abbie say "I'll help you Landon." I didn't think he would let her because he usually only wants me to help him do stuff, but he tearfully said "Ok Abbie." I walked to the bottom of the stairs to listen thinking I would hear something pretty funny. This is what I heard " Please bless that Mommy won't be grumpy tomorrow..." Yea, not so funny. Mike thought it was hilarious though. I offically award myself the 'Worst Mom of the Year Award'

Nine Years.....Holy Crap!

Happy Anniversary Mike! I'd like to say that each year keeps getting better and better, but we have three small (and somewhat crazy) kids, two years left in residency and lots of student loans and you know what.....





I wouldn't change it for anything! Thanks for working so hard for us. I love you so much!!!

Love,
Erin

Sorry Mike........

.......but I'm in love with another man.

Happy Birthday America, oh yeah...and Mike!

Mike always chooses to celebrate his birthday by shooting off illegal fireworks. (roman candle)


Bottle rockets.....

....and this is what the kids thought of them.

These kids (and I) sure love their daddy. Mike was able to be home with us all day on his B-day.

This was Landons first time holding a sparkler. He liked it, but kept saying that it was "spitting on me." This is such a classic Landon face!

Abbie and her friend Olivia at the fireworks later that night.

Landon and his friend Sage. I asked him once if Sage is his girlfriend and he said "No, Abbie is."

We really had such a good 4th this year. I was beyond happy that Mike didn't get called in, and we were able to have a lot of fun with friends and just being together with the kids. I love this country, and I love my family! Hope everyone else had a great 4th too!

New Bike, Old Bike

There's really nothing GREAT about being the second child. You never get anything new and if the hand-me-down is gender specific, you have to use it anyway. Mike thought making Landon ride Abbie's Princess bike was taking it a little too far, so on Saturday when we finally bought Abbie a new bike, he went right to the Hardware store and bought spray paint. The end result........not too bad and the boy looks happy right?











Now, if he can only learn to ride it!