Home of the Halls

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Fun Facts on Eli

Lately, Eli has done and said some really cute and amazing things, so I wanted to write them down before I forgot. Eli is now 21 months old.

A few days ago, Eli had a very special answer to a question I ask him every morning. Each morning when he wakes up I go into his room and get him and ask "did you have sweet dreams?" Usually he says, "yes, sweet dreams." The other day he said,"yes, sweet dreams about Jesus!" Wow - what a special dream to have. He was all smiles when he said it too - so sweet. Well, he has said the same thing for the last 3 mornings and then today I asked the question again and he said,"yes, sweet dreams about Jesus! Jesus loves me!" I know that little children are closer to Jesus and our Heavenly Father than we even realize. I am so glad that Eli has been able to verbalize his sweet experinces to me!

So, this morning at 6:30am - a little too early- I hear Eli start talking in the monitor. I woke up enough to realize he was saying his ABC's. What a little cutie! The first thing out of his mouth this morning was the ABC song. He sure woke up happy!

Eli and I were reading a book the other day and he started counting the things on the page. I knew he could count to 10 just great, but then he kept going. He counted to 20 all by himself while actually counting the objects on the page! What is he gonna do next?!

This next thing happened about 2 months ago when Eli was 20 months old. Eli, Grandpa and I were standing outside in front of my brothers house. All of a sudden Eli looked up at the house and started saying numbers. We thought it was cute until we looked up and realized he was reading the numbers on the front of the house. Man, he is gonna be reading books before I know it!

Monday, September 21, 2009

So, a couple weeks ago I was having a hard day. I didn't really know why, but I was cranky and my patience was short. Chalk it up to being pregnant, hormonal and tired. Anyway, Ethan and I had a conversation that went like this:

Ethan: Mommy what is wrong. You seem grumpy.

Mom: I don't know what is wrong Ethan. I am just having a hard day.

Ethan: I know what I will do for you. I will say a prayer for you and ask Heavenly Father to help you.

He immediately dropped to his knees on the family room floor and began to pray.

Ethan: "Dear Heavenly father, please help my mommy have a good day and feel better! In the name of Jesus Christ Amen!"

After his prayer, he jumped up and immediately said, "do you feel better?" I told him I was starting to feel better. Well, that wasn't good enough. He got down and said another prayer for me. Eli also learned from watching Ethan. Eli joined him for the next few prayers. I learned a lot from the sweet, pure faith of my 4 year old that day. During his third prayer for me I ran and got the camera to capture the moment. His prayers had worked. I did feel better and had the rest of a great day. Thank you Ethan for your sweet faith and prayers! I think we forget sometimes just to simply ask our Heavenly Father for help even with something as small as having a grumpy day. I am so glad Ethan taught me this great lesson.

Chili Cook-off at the State Fair

Every year, Tim and his brother Chris enter the chili cook-off at the Utah State Fair. As always, they did a great job. Their amazing chili won 2nd Place!! Good job boys!

The kids and I enjoyed the fair while Tim was cooking. Eli really liked the pony ride.

Ethan loving the pony ride on his horse named "smokey."

Ethan and Eli with cousins Daniel and Ava.

The boys are working hard preparing their award winning chili!

Ethan even helped me decorate their table

My 1st Canning Experience

My friend Robyn came over the other day and helped me can stewed tomatoes. This was my first time ever canning anything. She was a huge help and it was a lot of fun!! Ethan and Eli had a great time helping too. We canned 10 quarts of stewed tomatoes. I wasn't sure what I was going to do with stewed tomatoes, but it tasted so good. We ate the left overs as salsa - yum! I am sure I will find lots of uses for the yummy tomatoes. Thanks Robyn for your help!

New Haircuts

Tim gave the boys some great haircuts the other day. They both sat very still and did a great job. I am glad Tim can give them such good haircuts - it sure saves a lot of money, and the boys love getting haircuts from Daddy.

Someone is in the Doghouse!

I went out in the backyard the other day and this is what I saw. Eli had crawled in Harvey's doghouse and was having a great time in there. Harvey never seems to use his dog house, so I was glad at least someone was enjoying it. You get your kids all kinds of toys and all they want to play with are the dog's toys/house - pretty funny!