Hale Household

 We spent Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at home, just the five of us.  It was quiet and simple.  It was nice.  We had a nice dinner of steak, potatoes and salad on Christmas Eve and then pork and the traditional sides of dressing (gluten free), sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, salad, and bread on Christmas day. Lainey was in charge of setting the table and always included cloth napkins and candles.  We suprised the girls with sparkling grape juice and that was one of their favorite additions! 
 We opened family gifts Christmas Eve and daddy had to try out a mustache that the girls got from the Killians!  Miss Em got some fancy boots :) 
 That night we got ready for Santa and of course he came that night and left some goodies for the girls! 
 He also left a little backwash in his mug... The girls thought this was funny!
 Lainey was surprised with a new camera!
 Miss Em got an iPod Touch...
 And Abbey got an iHome to listen to all her One Direction music! 
 Then we got a little dressed up for our Christmas dinner!  I love this picture that Abbey took on her phone.  The girls spent the day posting on instagram... I stole a few of their pics. 
 Abbey and I both dressed in our red skinny jeans :)
 And I made an attempt at gluten-dressing and it was pretty yummy!!! 
It was a good Christmas day, just the 5 of us! 

 15 years?!?  Really?!?  How can it be that we have been married for that long!  It was a beautiful, cold winter day.  Full of fun, family and friends. 
 We have been through LOTS together.  We have shared lots of joys:  the births of our 3 beautiful, healthy daughters, buying homes, new jobs, graduating college... We have shared heartache: death of grandparents, family hardship, illness... And through it all I'm so glad to have you by my side. 
Here's to 15+15+15+15 more!
Love you WRH! 

Luke 2:11, "For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord."

Merry Christmas from our family to yours...

 The girls keep us "rockin' and rollin' " around here at a pretty fast pace!  This is a blog post of a few things that have happened the last few weeks that haven't hit the blog yet.  Abbey and her 7thA basketball team had a tournament a few weekends ago.  The came out in 1st place!  They are still undefeated and are playing great.  Abbey is currently sitting out for 4 weeks due to a stress fracture.  We had an MRI done on her leg from the cross country injury because she was limping about the 4th quarter of each game.  It showed a stress fracture healing so they suggested she sit out.  We are starting the 4 week period over Christmas break.  She will miss 2 games and is so sad. 
 Lainey and Emiley recently had Student Council inductions.  Lainey is now officially the President of the elementary student council...
 And Miss Em is the the Historian.  I am so proud of the work they are doing and it is such an honor to hear their sponsor speak so highly of them! 
 During the Christmas busy-ness, Lainey and her dance (pom) team had their first performance at the Christmas recital for our local studio.  This is a new dance team and they did so good!  This is really something Lainey is enjoying and she had worked really hard at it!! 
 YAY Lainey Beth and the STARS Dance Team.  The girls and I have been crafting lots of Christmas goodies this year.  Will snapped a picture of us one night :)  We were modge podging and Abbey said modge podging was NOT her sport!!!
 We are now settled into our home for Christmas Eve and Christmas.  We made an apple pie and have made cornbread for homemade dressing.  We plan on watching movies and eating way to much.  The girls dont want to go anywhere and just "hang out!"  I must admit, its nice to be home...
 We are going to miss this guy though...
Happy Holidays! 

 This weekend we headed down south for a little Christmas time with my mom, EE, and PaPa Jim and my brother's family!  It was relaxing and FUN to say the least!  Can you tell these kiddos are cousins.  I think they all look A.LOT alike! 
 My mom and Jim rented this cute little cottage in New Braunfels and it was perfect!  It was 4 bedroom/2 bath.  Will and I and Chad and Gina had our own rooms and the girls and Whitney had their room.  Then EE and Jim had their room.  Garrett was with Chad and Gina.  It had a nice living area and kitchen...
 And this back patio that we had coffee on!  It was decorated for Christmas and was so COZY!!!! 
 While we were there we discovered Miss Whit, age 11 (1 month younger than Lainey) is now as tall as me!  She is beautiful inside and out!  She is a bit too quite for my girls! 
 We are NOT lacking in the personality department.  We headed to the Bass Pro Shop on Saturday because the kids were given $20... even though this was suppose to be a NO GIFT weekend!!!!
 So we posed for some TOURIST pictures and headed out to look for a duck call for Garrett since we all watch Duck Dynasty!  We found a cool tackle box and Garrett found a duck call that he kept us entertained with all weekend. 
 The girls chose to spend some money at Target and Justice!  We then headed to the Riverwalk to see the Christmas lights... We timed it just perfect to load the boat when the lights came on!  These cousins were a little excited. 
 I was too!  I had never been on the boat.  I asked Will to look at me for a picture.  This is what I got :)  He's pretty CUTE! 
 We saw LOTS of gorgeous lights...
 My phone pictures didnt do them justice. :(
 It was definately a trip to remember.  Cousin time for these five and their grandparents is the BEST.  Eating at Hard Rock Cafe and Pat's Place, getting a Texas Flag from the Alamo and so much more I have to share about...
What fun Christmas Memories... 
Happy Weekend! 

 Sunday night we had our annual Christmas Play at our church!   Each year we try to do something a little different but still tell the story of Christmas.  This year we based the play off of the book, "J is for Jesus."  Its a cute children's book that talks about the letter J being for Jesus, a candycane (red for the blood of Jesus and white for washing our sins clean), and a J for a shepherd's hook if you turn it upside down. It's a sweet story.  This year Emiley was the candycane maker in the story...
 Lainey was an angel and stayed hidden behind the stable and Joseph most of the play.  Abbey was Mary.  It was so sweet. 
 Emiley did a GREAT job remembering all her lines and telling the story!  I was so proud of her.  All of the kids sing songs throughout the play.  The church LOVES it! 
 The little "Candycane girls" in the front stole the show!  I LOVE the shepherds with their beards. 
 Our letter is J at preschool this week, so of course we had to make a "J is for Jesus" picture there, too.  I love teaching at a Christian school! 

 Well, once again its been almost a week with no update!  So here is some randomness to catch you up on US!  I am home from preschool this morning because Miss Em woke up at 4 a.m. with the tummy bug AGAIN.  Abbey and Lainey haven't had it but poor Miss Em has had it twice.  Here is a sweet picture of Emiley walking her pig, Freckles! 
 Lainey is really into photography lately (just another form of art I guess!) and has been taking lots of neat pictures lately.  She is entering about 7 pictures in the county Home Economics show next month.  Here is a neat shot she took on my phone! 
 Abbey got to go to a Baylor girls' basketball game with 3 of her BFF's!  What a FUN NIGHT!  I was laughing when I got this picture because Abbey was standing on Syd's toes.  Abbey said Syd was trying to be taller and they weren't having it!!! 
 It seems Abbey likes to goof-off alot!  One day after school she got all the costumes for the church Christmas play that were in my car and came up with THIS!  Lainey said she looked like Chef-Boyardee! 
 Our public library has a bookmark drawing contest at our local elementary.  This year Lainey won 2nd place so last night she had to go to the public library for a bookmark "signing" before the bookmarks went ON SALE!!  It was really sweet and special for our little artist. 
And finally, some of my sweet little girls and I after our preschool Christmas program.  They are so precious!! 

 Since today is a "special" day (12.12.12.)  I will give an update with 12 fun pictures!  Will gave me this fun coffee cup for my birthday!  I have loved carrying coffee to work in it!  And these pretzel, Hersey Kiss, and M&M goodies are SO EASY to make!  I have made them many times for parties and they are hit!  They girls LOVE them, too! 
 I had been wanting some green skinnies so I finally just "went for it!!"  I wore them for the first time to a friend's "Beer, Brat and Baby Shower!" 
 Charlie, our elf, is having lots of fun.  The other day he reminded us to get milk. 
 This mornng Charlie was taking a Marshmallow Bath right next to the Hot Cocoa Mix...
 Today I made Miss Em pose for a pic... She still had early morning eyes.  I LOVE HER!!!  She is so FUN!
 Then I took a shot of Lainey Girl!  She is in LOVE with that scarf. So stylish...
 Abbey leaves the house at 6 a.m. every morning for athletics so I had to sneak a picture off of her instagram :)  She's a hoot these days.  She's turning into quite the teenager! 
 And here are 12 little Santas on 12.12.12!  Will's boss and his wife give them to us.  They are adorable.  These are the girls' collection.
 Look at my cute banner.  Christina and I have been crafting.  I'm loving it!! 
 And Yes, I chalkboard painted my dishwasher.  Lainey wrote on it for me :) 
 And finally, my Santa shirt!  My preschool kids LOVED that I had Santa on my shirt! 
Happy Hump Day and Happy 12.12.12!