Puppy Love

Mom took some video of two puppies wrestling together, and then she said she would pay me to make a short movie out of them and put it on her California Bichons site. I immediately set to work, and soon asked mom to visit her site. I would post the video right on here, but I'd rather you use the link above, or if you're to lazy to bring your mouse all the way up there, just go here. Hint: The video's on the main page.

Spencer Learns to Bike

Not long ago we started teaching Spencer how to ride a bike. He started with no pedals and would just coast around, getting a feel for the balance. Soon we put the pedals back on and he would pedal, while mom or dad would run along side him, holding a leash around his waist, in case he had a crack up. One day, when mom and dad were gone, Emma got him to try it without the leash. She ran along side him for several laps, and he never once had to stop. So Emma told him to keep going and pretty soon he was doing lap after lap all on his own. When mom and dad got home, they were amazed to see him riding around with no one at his side! I took a short video:

Two other recent additions to the Hales home are a Teeter-Totter and a Tether Ball Pole:

This is Emma and I on the Teeter-Totter:

BYU Volleyball

Last Thusday Dad, with the oldest six kids, left the house for LA. In LA we rented a room in the Best Western Woodland Hills Inn (pretty good name, eh!). We decided to jump in the pool real quick before heading out for the first Men's Volleyball game: BYU versus Penn State. The water was kind of cold, but it felt nice.  After we dried our selves off, we grabbed some pizza at Papa Johns and ate at our hotel room:

At the game we all had BYU shirts:

After the game, we couldn't find any where to park . . .

. . . so we slid into a "Park n' Pay" lot. The next morning we ate breakfast and went to the pool again. Emma filmed everyone jumping in:

In the Jacuzzi, the girls kept screaming because a bee was flying low over the water and around our heads. Each time it came to me, I would duck under the water and come back up in a few seconds. Soon we were having a lot of fun ducking from the bee! A couple hours before noon we headed back to our room, only to be off again, this time with all of our luggage as we were going to stay with family that night. He had to visit a house that he wants to rent/sell, or something like that. This was the only time Dad wasn't "vacationing". The house was pretty old and shabby looking, but it had a nice view:

It was almost noon, so we soon found our selves pulling up in the mall parking lot. There, we met with one of dad's old friends and had lunch with her. While we were ordering our food, Seth got separated from the group. When we realized he was absent, it was another 10-15 minutes before we found him. I guess it was kind of my fault, and by then I didn't really feel like eating. After lunch, we met our uncle Brett at his office, where we split up again, us heading to the beach, and Brett stopping by his house to pick up the rest of his family: his wife Jenica, and there kids Devin, Shane, Liam, and Katelyn is their cute little baby girl. They soon joined us on the beach, where we spent an awesome afternoon. It has been a long time since I've swallowed salt water! After a few hours  we set up a volleyball net. We played two on two; Brett and I vs. Sam Sr and Emma. That was a blast, although, I still struggle with the after affects of sand in my eyes. Back at Brett and Jenica's (Brett is my Mom's brother) house, everyone enjoyed a nice, warm shower. Dinner was delicious; thanks Jenica. One incident during dinner that we still talk about, is this: Someone asked for the mustard. Liam, who is 3-years-old, looked around, spotted it in front of his plate, and then, what I think is the cutest part, stood up in his chair grabbed the mustard and "Bang! Splash! Clatter! Clatter! Boosh! Crash!" . . . when he swiped it across the table, he forgot to lift it up off the table!!! Opps!! We quickly swiped up the spilled milk and other articles that had been strewn about during the accident. After dinner, the kids also enjoyed holding their pet turtle:

That night everybody got some really good sleep to tuck under their belt. The next morning we went on a hike to Mussel Rock. The trail is called Tory Pines. It's a great hike, and very pretty. Here is a slide show that includes pictures of the ocean, the tide pools, mussels, Sean enemies, and of course pictures on the trail:

After the hike, we said good bye to the Alders and headed straight for the Volleyball game. This would be the National Championship Finals, and BYU is in it, vs. UCI, or UC Irvine! That is pretty good!

Emma took these videos and I put them together into a little movie (that's what Picasa calls them!):

This gives you and idea, not just of how BIG the crowd was, but how LOUD!!!

Medals were awarded to the all the players and coaches of both teams:

Exercise

A couple days ago I printed off some Exercise Logs for me and the kids:

Fliers helped increase the number of participants:

Because of an elbow injury, I can't do weights greater than 8 lb, and I can't do Push-Ups, Pull-Ups, and Chin-Ups.

I kinda' faked that face! (above)

We all look forward to it, which is sometimes hard because it's at 5:00. It is so fun to watch little Seth and Spencer to their push-ups and sit-ups and everything. Even if they don't do it correctly, they have a lot of fun. They can do more push-ups than I can!

More Silly Pictures!

These have been taken by different kids:

Where is he?

I shared this on Google+ too!

Silly Pictures

I think the kids have had too much fun with the photo booth app on our iPad. It's pretty sick! Here are some silly photos I have taken: