New Year, New Post!

Could Christmas break be any more wonderful? You know that line in the popular Christmas song that goes, "and Mom and Dad can hardly wait for school to start again?" Well that couldn't be further from my truth. But the break is over, kids are tucked back into their desks at school, and it's on to tackle the new year! Upon reflection, I discovered (all right, I already knew it, but had to face facts...) that the time I spend on facebook looking at what other people were doing in their lives might be better spent recording my family's life. After all, we are pretty awesome people and my kids say and do some pretty awesome things. And since no one reads blogs anymore (is anyone out there?) I can be pretty honest about what goes on around here without worrying about starting some global outrage (I actually worry about that when I post anything on facebook.) So, Welcome to the Aaron and Christie Hall Family History blog! I think I'll just start by posting our Christmas letter from this past year. Here it is: Dear Family and Friends, Yay! It's the Christmas/New Year's update letter you've all been waiting for! (And we know you've been waiting a long time... 2 years by our estimation...) Even though we're a little slow, we still wanted to touch bases with people that we care about and let everyone know that we are alive and doing well. Sometimes we're a little frantic and busy and teetering on the edge of insanity, but it's a good kind of insanity . So here we go ~ .

Aaron is a Director with Okland Construction and oversees large commercial construction projects. In 2011 he completed his job at the City Creek Center in downtown SLC (a huge project that rebuilt and improved several city blocks downtown), and for nearly 2 years he has worked on a new building for Adobe in Lehi, UT. It is a very innovative, spectacular building that had a catch phrase tagged to it early by the owner "Awesomeness in a Building!" He continues to work with 11 year old, first year boy scouts at church. Aaron and Christie just got back a couple of weeks ago from a 5 day trip to Hawaii. This was an amazing and incredible trip, and he was amazed that he talked Christie into leaving the family just 2 weeks before Christmas. With five boys he has little spare time but enjoys keeping up with all things family and fun.

Christie is still trying to hold together a household of 6 boys (5 children and Aaron). We have a framed art piece in our front entry that reads "Boy, n.: a noise with dirt on it," and our boys live up to that standard. She finds time for herself in the mornings by participating in classes at the local gym (at 5 am - eek!), then it's off to the busy-ness of motherhood. One accomplishment that she feels pretty awesome about is completing a 5K FoamFest race in August. (It made me feel like a stud-woman!) She is a Webelos Den Leader in our Cub Scout pack at church and tries to find time to play her flute when she gets a chance. She recently played in the orchestra for a church production of Handel's "Messiah".

Jordan is now 15 and in 10th grade at Bingham H.S. He is adjusting quite well and is clearly glad to be out of middle school. Frankly, we can't blame him. He really enjoys participating in the plays at school, and he is the Vice President of the Spanish Club at Bingham. One of his big accomplishments was earning his Eagle Scout award in 2011 (and the cell phone that came with it). He has started some online chats with girls, but we can't tease him too much as then he won't tell us anything more! He enjoys Pokémon, video games, reading, and creating digital art. As I work on this letter, he is sitting on the couch studying the driver's manual preparing for his test for his learner's permit. (oh my.)

Zach is now 13 and in 8th grade. He is all too eager to drive. We may have to chain him down to keep him out of the car. Zach has continued playing soccer and has gotten to the point where we really enjoy watching his games. He hit a growth spurt and picked up some quickness which really helped him out on the field. Zach enjoys hanging with brothers and friends, playing his trumpet, wearing contacts, and especially loves art and doodling and drawing anything he can. He is a Life rank in scouting and hopefully will be finishing his eagle this next year. He joined a city swim team this past year and surprised us (himself most of all!) by placing 3rd out of 40 swimmers in his first county-wide swim meet in the 50 meter freestyle.

Caeden is 10 and in the 5th grade. He is a great helper around the house for his mom. He also played soccer and swam on the swim team this past year. He is a strong little man! He says he wants to be an artist when he grows up and keeps sketch journals everywhere. He is doing great in his scouting and Aaron looks forward to having him in his 11-yr. old scout patrol in 3 months. He loves anything that is soft and fuzzy. Before we went to Hawaii, we asked each boy what souvenir they would like. Immediately Caeden boasted a large and shy grin. Without even asking we knew he would want some stuffed animal that reflected Hawaii.

Jacob is 8 years old and in the 2nd grade. Jacob is extremely bright, just like his older brothers. He also has strong computational skills. If you say we are going to go somewhere "around 5 o'clock" he will look at the clock, get this thoughtful stare and then quickly tell you that we will "leave in 73 minutes". He's not much for estimating, and takes everything literally. (Although he has finally started to catch on to jokes and puns!) Jacob has an infectious desire to love and be loved. We sometimes feel we have a family pet because he often hops on your lap, wants a hug, and then wants to be scratched or tickled. He has progressed well in schooling and his teacher and resource counselor have helped us find ways to help him gain more sense of self-control and involvement with the other students. It has been awesome to see.

Levi is 5 and in kindergarten. He is our big tease. Perhaps being the youngest and getting a lot of things dished out to him has helped him respond in this formativeway. Most of the time it is fun. (Sometimes he becomes the proverbial "last straw.") In it all, he is full of life and love. He loves everything robot, monkey, and yellow. He has picked up reading very well and must be read to every night or he won't be able to go to bed. He is also quick to remind us about having family prayers each night and is always the first to volunteer to say it. Well, we close another year and are so very grateful for the bounteous blessings in our life. We are grateful to have you in our lives. We are thankful for our Savior Jesus Christ and his gift of life and love for us all. Merry Christmas and Happy New Years to all! Lots of Love from the Hall family, Aaron, Christie, Jordan, Zachary, Caeden, Jacob, and Levi Hall