You win some, you lose some

This fall has been nothing short of Scott's dream sports season. The Phillies, Scott's lifelong baseball team, played great at the end of the regular season to clinch a spot in the playoffs and have flown through the first two series and are now headed to the World Series for the first time since 1993. On top of that BYU football has been undefeated and ranked in the top ten with talk about them in a BCS bowl or possibly even the National Championship game. Scott has been in sports heaven and I have been glad we have DVR. (I enjoy sports, but don't enjoy revolving my life around them). Tonight it all came tumbling down when BYU lost to TCU in what was an embarassing game for them. Scott is a little out of practice when it comes to accepting a loss (he wasn't a happy camper). Despite this unfortunate turn-around we've had a good time cheering on our teams. Below are some pictures from the tailgate parties we attend before every BYU home game. Brad and Tyson Camp sure know how to plan a great tailgate!! Here I am with Kennedy and Mason. These guys come to the tailgate every week, but usually come home with me so we can take naps (yes me too) while everyone else goes to the game. Mason, Scott, and crazy Uncle Beetle in front of the Camp's cougarmobile. We don't just tailgate, we tailgate in style. Going to the game 2-3 hours early to tailgate has its disadvantages like missing all the other NCAA football action....oh wait, not if you're at the Camp's tailgate party where they have a satelite hookup and you can watch all the games while tailgating. Here are the masterminds behind every tailgate, Brad and Tyson (in the middle). Thanks guys for all you do to make every game a fun time.

We Miss You!!

We have been spoiled for the last three weeks to have Brandon, Whitney, and most importantly, Rachel Faye in Utah with us. It has been so fun to spend time with them and get to know Rachel better. Mason LOVES Rachel!! Mason also loves playing with Uncle Beetle who always comes up with the funnest games to play. Unfortunately they went back to Chicago today and we won't see them again until Christmas. We are very sad. Here is a picture of all the Hale cousins together. Aren't these kids the cutest?

Losing Control

We have run into a little bit of a problem with Mason the past couple weeks, the problem being we are running out of ways to contain the child. Mason is rapidly developing the skills he needs to get through anything that is meant to stop him from reaching a certain destination. It all began about a month ago when he had a little growth spurt that allowed him to reach door handles. It didn't take him long to learn how to work several different kinds of door knobs including the one on my parents front door and our storm doors. This is great for him because all he really cares about is getting outside to play (where he would live if I allowed it). Basic door knobs are still a barrier, although he turns them, he just doesn't turn them far enough.....yet. Then a few days ago Mason wanted to play in the backyard while I was cooking dinner. Our backyard is completely enclosed with only a waist-high swinging gate that leads to our front yard. I often will let Mason play back there and leave our sliding door open so I can watch him while I cook dinner. This particular day he went in the backyard and immediately pushed his lawn mower to the gait and begged "peeeeess" (please pronouced like peas) for me to open the gait. I told him he had to stay in the backyard. He started whining and pulling on the gate when he reached up and very intentionally pushed open the latch and pulled the gait open all with very little difficulty. I hurried and stopped him and closed the gate again hoping he didn't realize how he'd done it. But he knew. He went right over to the latch and opened it like he had always known how to do it. So much for letting him play in the backyard. The final broken barrier was the most important of all. Yesterday morning at 5:30am while I was still at work, Scott woke to a very loud thump. He ran into Mason room to find him lying on the floor (not crying, just half asleep). He had climbed/fallen out of his crib. I am not quite sure what to do about this. Mason isn't even 17 months old and, in my opinion, is way too young for a toddler bed. But is it too dangerous for me to keep him in his crib if he keeps climbing out? I know that many parents are faced with this so please help!!! How old was your child when you put him/her in a toddler bed? If he could climb out before then how did you stop them? How can I protect Mason from getting hurt (like hitting his head on the dresser or something)? I love watching Mason grow up and watch his curiosity of the world around him. These developments might make my job a little harder, at times, but I don't care at all. I love watching him get excited when he figures things out. Being a mom is truely the light in my life. Now I just need to figure out how to keep my little buddy safe.

Lagoon Day!!

Today is Lagoon Day for all Nu Skin Employees and their families! I look forward to this every year because it brings out my inner 15-year-old. I might as well be a nineth grader at CVJH going to Lagoon with all my friends. If I'm lucky, this cute boy named Scott, who I have a huge crush on, will want to sit next to me on all the rides. And if I'm real lucky maybe we will kiss on the ferris wheel (that was for you Tiff).

Goodbye Summer

Every year August brings with it an end to the summer. The end has always been defined for us by the first day of school; but this year, with no one in our family attending school, there has not been a specific date to tell us when summer is over. I was really excited and thought this meant our summer could go on for another month or two. So, when I found out that last week was the final week Scera Pool was open I realized this is the end of summer as we know it. The pool has been Mason and my second home this summer with us spending almost as many afternoons there as we spent at home. Mason loved the pool from the very first time I took him and his love has grown over the summer. Now I have to be careful driving down State Street with him because if we pass the pool he starts to cry when we don't stop. I know that we can still play in the backyard pool and sprinklers, but its just not the same. Now that the weather is actually a little cooler we will have to replace pool time with park time which Mason really loves, too. I am now faced with the problem of finding new activites that get us out of the house and entertain Mason during the winter months. I have been looking into places like Little Gym or things that we can sign up for, but I haven't found anything I am sure about yet. Do any of you have suggestions? Please let me know even if you've just heard about fun places to go or fun things to do with toddlers. We will miss the pool greatly and can't wait to go back next year. Since we missed a whole summer of blogging, here are some of pictures of Mason enjoying his summer. Mason playing drums on Rock Band. Mason is obsessed with lawn mowers. Whenever Scott mows the lawn Mason has to mow with his lawn mower. Rachel and Mason on 4th of July. Mason really likes to balance things on his head and he's pretty good at it. Mason putting on daddy's shoes before bed. This is the smile he gives me whenever I get out the camera. Mini putt putt. Playing with blocks. Popcicles....yum

Husband Tag

1.Where did you meet? In the Cascade 3rd Ward when I was 2 years old and Scott was 4 years old.

2. How long did you date before you were married? 8 months (keep in mind the 17 years of knowing each other prior to dating)

3. How long have you been married? 4 years this December

4. What does he do that surprises you? Sometimes I get home from work at 6am to find surprises Scott left out for me like flowers, notes, or paper trails to our bedroom that have cute or funny sayings on them. I can't even describe how it makes me feel to come home after a long night of work and find something so sweet waiting for me.

5. What's your favorite feature about him? His lips. I love his smile, I love his funny expressions, I love the words that come out of them, and most of all I love to kiss them.

6. What's your favorite quality about him? His very strong desire to do what is right. He does a good job of it too. He is always a good example for me and helps me be a better person.

7. Does he have a nickname for you? Rachiepoo

8. What's his favorite color? Blue

9. What's his favorite food? I'm not exactly sure, but I know Chicken Enchilladas are at the top of the list.

10. What's his favorite sport? All of them. (Although he did seem particularly fond of women's gymnastics during the olympics :)

11. Who said I love you first? Him

12. When and where was your first kiss? May 30, 2004 at Lake Hill in Ephraim, Utah

13. What's your favorite thing to do as a couple? Now that we have a child we are more homebound so we really enjoy watching one of "our shows" together after Mason goes to bed. The office, Lost, and Friends to name a few.

14. Do you have kids? How many? Yes, 1 darling little boy

15. What's a hidden talent he has? Scott is sometimes referred to as the fun coordinator. He is really good at organizing get-togethers either for work, family, or friends.

16. How old is he? 25

17. What's his favorite kind of music? A little bit of everything.... maybe even some country thanks to me.

18. What do I admire most about him? His ability to balance all his responsibilites in life without getting totally overwhelmed.

19. What's his favorite past time? Anything that gets Scott outside or is physically active makes Scott happy.

20. Do you think he will read this? Yes. He always reads my blogs and tells me how much he likes them.

WE LOVE YOU SCOTT!!

We're Back!

Some concern has been expressed over my disappearance from the blogging world for the past few months. So, my apologies for everyone who continued to check my blog (if there are any of you left) and are sick of seeing our bright pink backdrop and Mason's screaming face. We have been enjoying every second of our summer and with all that fun, who has time to blog about it? It has been so long and we have done so much I felt like I needed to do some type of catch-up blog.....but I don't want to, so I am just going to re-enter the blogging world with a simple, random post.

Every couple has their "thing" that they love to do together. For some people it's a certain show they always watch together, others it's a sport they enjoy playing together, for Scott and I it is going out to eat. Even when we were newlyweds and pinching pennies, we would find ways to go out to eat because it's something we love to do. Now that we are parents this joy of eating out as a family has been ripped from our lives. For all of you parents out there you know what it is like to go out to eat with a 1-year-old.....not pleasant. We have just given up trying to take Mason out to eat with us (Thanks to Grandma Nancy we still manage to go out with just the two of us quite a bit). This week we went to a cute little restaurant that is made for young families. It is called Max & Cheese and is located at about 1600 N. State Street in Orem. It was great!! They have a kids menu that has all your kids favorites like PB&J, Grilled Cheese, Corndog, Mac and Cheese, etc. They also have an adult menu of sandwiches, wraps, and salads that were surprisingly good. They even offer to replace your child's food with a PB&J if they don't like what you order. They have a toy area for the kids to play in that was really fun. It kept Mason, Cannon, and Kennedy totally entertained and I didn't worry about Mason walking away with some disease because it was clean. We spent 1 1/2 hours there and we did not experience any screaming, crying, throwing, or unhappiness at all. All the kids loved their food and actually ate better than they do ate home.

I would recommend that everyone with little ones tries out this place at least once. I was thinking this would be such a fun place to go with a group of moms and kids for lunch one day. If anyone is interested let me know.