Brittany Tackles 9

Happy 9th Birthday Brittany
Has it really been 9 years. Such a lovely young lady Brittany is turning into. Quite a peacemaker and so fun to be around! Very white and yellow! Okay here are NINE favorite things we love about "Our Britta."
1. Smiling all the time!
2. Giggling all the time!
3. Her tenacity on the soccer field. Watch out!
4. The way she includes every child no matter the age.
5. Her infatuation with Harry Potter and all things pertaining.
6. Her incredible organization.
7. Her sweet hugs and kisses that she gives at just the right times.
8. Her love of her family.
9. Her genuine desire to do what is good and right.
Brittany we love you with all our hearts.

Flawless Family Fun

Scott, Kellie, Esther Hales, Becca and Madeline (Kellie's sister and niece) came all the way up to the winter wonderland to visit. We had a fabulous time being with eachother and "hanging out." Even when it was time for them to go, I found myself wishing they had just a little more time to stay. Mark, Jennifer, Scott and Kellie all went snow boarding on Wed.-next year I am soooo... there! I think it would be fun to rent a cabin maybe in Big Bear and go boarding for a couple of days.- We'll all have to plan for it. Overall it was so nice to have family here and delightful to get to know Esther so well. (She really is a lovely, bright child!) Miss you guys already! Have a Merry Christmas in warm sunny so cal-

Christina- rambling through my pics of the year and saw this one-thought you and Jon would like it.

Here are a few photos of my CHEERLEADERS!!

They really do enjoy doing this-especially Rachel (which is why i did it, she doesnt care for sports (afraid she'll get hit by the ball FRUSTRATING FOR ME!!)
We are all heading to Disneyland-the girls will be marching in the parade at 3pm saturday-all of the family with passes are coming-SO FUN! thanks for supporting everyone!!!







We also on Sunday will be having Grandma Perry's xmas party at 6pm in Ladera Ranch at the clubhouse near Tim's house--i'll take photo's and post them --looking forward to my fiddle faddle!

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

Brittany (9, this month)

Garrett (3)
Kaylee (10)

Matthew (5)

What a wonderful storm! We got so much snow. The streets are a mess but our kiddies are in heaven! We spent the morning sledding and building a ramp so the kids could go REALLY fast! I think that the adults were having just as much fun as the children.

Sunday the Hales Crowd met at Robert/Sandra's for some grub (enchiladas, mexican rice, chicken divan, HUGE green salad & and OF COURSE some bread (some sort of hales tradition or maybe neccessity???!! they ALWAYS have bread at every dinner meal-cracks me up!) we then celebrated kellie and grahams bday with chocolate brownies w/ peppermint ice cream on top-SO GRUB!


this is BOO from monsters inc i SWEAR!

and then off to the creche..

(kids got to dress up-celene said graham HAD to be a pirate! sall good-it WAS his bday afterall right!)

i was PATROLLING the kids to make SURE their "hands were behind their backs" as we looked at the creche displays (we loved how every other sign said "please do not touch!") too funny..they were all really good about not touching any of them..or maybe that was because aunt nazi was behind them cracking the whip!??!
It was a fun night for all of us-we love getting together once a month on starving sunday..oh i mean FAST sunday...

Tonite for FHE our family dragged out our xmas decor--rachel was not happy about our "fake" xmas tree..but got into the spirit of things..here are some fun photos..

snowbabies that somebody made me (there are 5 girls..hmmm???-NO THIS IS NOT ANY SORT OF ANNOUNCEMENT!! but it does haunt me-should this worry me???!!)




i LOVE driving by houses and SEEING the xmas tree thru a window..so this year we put our "fake" tree in the dining room for all to see..or maybe just for me to see as i pull into the driveway..the girls loved having it there..and so will i--

Okey-dokey, Christmas season is here and I need some

good ideas

for new traditions to start with my children. No such thing as too many suggestions. This is my favorite time of the year and I would really like to do some different and fun activities with my children that will help them to understand and appreciate why we celebrate this holiday. Thanks!

'TWAS THE NIGHT OF THANKSGIVING

Twas the night of Thanksgiving, but I just couldn't sleep.I tried counting backwards, I tried counting sheep.The leftovers beckoned--the dark meat and white,but I fought the temptation with all of my might.Tossing and turning with anticipation,the thought of a snack became infatuation.So, I raced to the kitchen, flung open the doorand gazed at the fridge, full of goodies galore.I gobbled up turkey and buttered potatoes,pickles and carrots, beans and tomatoes.I felt myself swelling so plump and so round,till all of a sudden, I rose off the ground.I crashed through the ceiling, floating into the skyWith a mouthful of pudding and a handful of pie.But, I managed to yell as I soared past the trees.......happy eating to all---pass the cranberries, please!~~Author Unknown.~~

Grandma Mikkelson wanted me to send this cute poem to everyone-Happy Thanksgiving to all. We are thankful for our wonderful family and friends.

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

Normally, my kids are not allowed in my bed. It usually ends by me being kicked in the tummy or trying to sleep with children literally tangled all over. I don't think it matters how many times you try to place their bodies vertical in the bed, they always end up horizontal! Last night we made an exception. Both my boys somehow made it into my bed and when I woke up this am found them like this-darling!

Sarah had her baptism satrudayhe turn out was SO GOOD! the room was completely full! we were totally shocked! i had the whole family take part in the baptism..so the bishopric member kept saying "i guess its safe to say thank you bro. or sis. hales" it was funny..we had my parents, heidi's fam, jons parents, chads fam, todds fam, scotts fam and a lot of our ward friend families--it was just so neat..
jon was able to baptize her in the font-it was something special..after the ordinance, they both looked at eachother like "we did it!" it was awesome..then we had everyone come back to our house for some good grub..






this is my parents holding heidi's little girl paige-she's GORGEOUS!



it was so neat to have SUCH huge family & friend support--thanks to everyone!!

Sad News...

Im having a hard time putting this post together, so bare with me...this AM i came downstairs to check my email. My brother in Brazil sent me an email to tell my our father died Oct. 31st at 1:30pm. He was buried later that day in the Lages Cemetary where our mother is buried. It was exactly this day 2 years ago that i made the decision to try to find my father. My initial intent when going to Brazil with jon was to just see where i came from-thinking that there was no way i'd ever find any family. I decided on Nov. 2nd, 2005 to find my father and siblings. I made a few calls and then we left for Brazil Nov. 5th and my life changed forever in a way that i will never be able to explain to anyone. I remember the joy and excitement and really just the shock that i was able to find anyone, let a lone my entire family! I remember the 1st day i met my father, how nervous i was, how many questions i had etc. I thought he'd be a huge german guy-then meeting him and seeing that instead he was just a small & simple quiet man.

He was the one that named me Cristina. My parents wrote names on a paper, crinkled them up and put them into a bowl, then my mother pulled out my 1st name which was Luciana, and my father pulled out my 2nd name which is Cristina. He was so excited that i have been going by the name he picked for me. This man has lived many lives. He married a wonderful woman he was madly in love with and 10 years older then he. He quickly had 4 children with her. She passes suddenly and was heartbroken ever since. His life spiraled down and he ended up losing all of his children and lived his life on alcohol ever since. Towards the end of his life, he got better and worked and lived in a convalescent type home helping all the nuns that worked there, he would clean the kitchen, prepare meals, make everyone happy. He seemed to be a joyful fun loving carefree easygoing kind of man, much like myself.

Timing is such an interesting thing. I now know that HF certainly had a hand in making my Brazil trip and meeting my family a possibility. Too many things came together that dont normally happen. I will forever be grateful for following the promptings of the Spirit and having faith that "what will happen, will happen" and stepping on that plane that has changed my life for the better. Im grateful especially this day that Jon was healthy and we were in a position financially, emotionally and spiritually to take this journey together. I will forever be grateful for those 17 days of my life. This is harder on me then i thought it would be. I didnt know my father like most children know their father, but im grateful for him and what he did for our family when he was healthy and happy. If it wasnt partly for him, i would have nothing here today. My life, my family, my membership. I know that he is now healthy once again and will be working on making things correct in his next life. Im sure my mother was the 1st in line to greet him. I bet it is just beautiful.

Before Halloween..

at joanns i picked up a halloween craft (gotta love 70%off sales!) and told the girls to get their homework/chore done for their marbles and then they could all do a craft..it was fun and they had a good time:

why does becca look SO HOMELESS in this photo??? lovely..



after dinner we had FHE which was taping new white pillow cases onto the kitchen table and letting the girls use fabric makers (FABULOUS!!!)to design their "trick or treat" candy bags--i definately earned the mom of the year award for that one!!

and after photos:


then we put together AS A TEAM these cute "ding dong ditch plates":

and off we went..i let the girls ride in the VERY back of the denali w/ no seatbelts which SOMEONE felt the NEED to give me the "this is not safe" drill to which my reply was "you are SO MY PARENTS!!!" quietness soon followed - GEESH! i only stayed in my little neighborhood here and never went over 4 miles..the girls were WAY excited to be back there together planning out their adventure..jon got into it and left his "daddyness" behind and just had fun! we only got "caught" by our last family which was HILARIOUS!!