Christmas

It has been awhile since I've updated our blog. Christmastime always gets so hectic - but it is also such a wonderful time of year. I was very sad to put all of the Christmas decorations away yesterday. Our home looks so bare now! But it needed to be done - and now that it is, it feels good to be back to having things a little back to normal.

We had a very nice Christmas, minus the fact that we were all quite sick with colds and ear infections. Maddie and I had some bad ones - I am still getting over mine, but she seems to be back to normal again. Praise God! It was so hard to see her so sad and tired and just not her normal, busy self. We felt blessed by our time with family. Brandon surprised me with tickets to the musical, "White Christmas," at the Ordway in St. Paul, where we met up with my sister and her husband Brian. That was a blessing - so much fun. It is one of my favorite movies - so it was fun to see on stage!

Here are some photos of our Christmas!







On December 30th, Brandon and I had a first trimester screening ultrasound to check for any genetic problems with our baby. So far he/she is looking great! I cannot stop thanking God for how He has blessed us and for how our little child is growing so beautifully inside of my womb.




And finally - on January 1st, Brandon and I celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary! We had a nice relaxing time, staying at a Bed and Breakfast in Osceola, WI. We stayed at the St. Croix Inn - it was beautiful! We had such a relaxing time. It was my first night away from Maddie, but she did great with her grandparents. Here we are at the Inn. Happy New Year to you all! May God bless this new year of 2009! I know I am excited for all God has in store for this family.

STATIC CITY

It's that wonderful time of year for STATIC. Check out Maddie's new hair-do!

Merry Christmas!

The Hall family wants to wish you a very Merry Christmas! It looks like it's going to be a very white Christmas around here! God bless - hope it is a special one. Here are some recent photos of our little darling - she is enjoying the Christmas tree and wrapped gifts underneath....it's hard to keep her away! We are looking forward to celebrating with her. She is at such a fun age. Hope to see many of you over the holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's Thanksgiving! I have been watching the Macy's Thanksgiving parade - which I enjoy - and having a nice relaxing morning at home with Brandon and Maddie. We will be leaving soon for my mom and dad's for dinner and then off to Brandon's mom's house for more family time. As I reflect on this day, I am more and more in awe of our Father and how much He has blessed me with. I am so thankful for this life He has given me. I'm thankful for a loving husband who longs to serve God first and foremost, a beautiful, healthy, fun-loving one year old, a baby growing inside my womb that will soon be added to our family, and all of the loving, supportive family and friends around me. I am blessed - immeasurably more than I could ever ask or imagine. Thank you Father! I pray you all have lots to be thanking God for today. Have lots of fun and enjoy your dinners with family and friends! God bless!

Madeline Turns ONE!

Yesterday was Maddie's first birthday. She had a lot of fun - and we had a blast celebrating with her. She had some friends over in the afternoon and then all of our family came over in the evening for dinner, cake, and gift opening. Here she is - enjoying her fabulous day!

Our Baby & Our Growing Girl

We had our first doctor's appointment last Friday with the nurse practitioner. She did an ultrasound and everything looks good! We did find out though that our estimations about the due date were a little off. We are now expecting an Independence Day baby - he/she is due on July 4th. Here are our baby's first
pictures!!





Tomorrow is Maddie's first birthday! We are so excited to celebrate with her - and with lots of family and friends. I can hardly believe it has already been one year! She is growing up too fast. I keep praying that she would slow down a little bit. :) Here she is before her one-year old pictures. She looks so grown up.

A Fun Weekend

So, if you read the last post, you heard our big news that we are expecting again! The approximate due date is June 25th or so....I haven't been to the doctor yet, but that is what I have calculated for myself, so it could change by a day or two. I have been feeling just fine. I'm praying this pregnancy is a good as the last one! I never really got sick - so far it's going just great! I am only 6 weeks along. I think this is going to be a much longer pregnancy, just because we don't have anything to prepare really. We have the essentials and there won't be showers this time around. So there aren't going to be as many milestones along the way. But that is just fine! We are thrilled to be adding a new addition to the family. (Though we will soon outgrow this house we are living in!)

We had a fun weekend - we stayed at my parent's house, Halloween night, so we could bring Maddie around to her grandparent's houses in her costume. It wasn't too successful with the costume. She hated it and was extremely tired. So that cut everything short. These photos below will give you a taste ow how she was feeling. Poor thing - mean old parents, making her dress up in that ladybug costume!








On Saturday, Brandon went out hunting on my parent's land, and he got a deer! It's a nice doe - and he is pretty happy about it. He spent most of the day tracking it, gutting it, and skinning it, so we could bring it to the butcher. It will be nice to have some venison meat - it has been a few years. (Though I'm not a huge fan....but am determined to find some recipes that make me like it!) Here are some pictures of him with his deer, his dad, and Maddie of course. It has been a great weekend!