Ecuador!

Yesterday evening, we got back from our big family vacation of the summer - two weeks in Ecuador. Of course, it was incredible. But you know me (if you're reading my blog, you'd better know me!) - I'm so glad to be home!

We have nearly 600 photos from the trip - and that's just our family. It was a family reunion, so that means there were 4 other digital cameras. I'm willing to bet that each one of them took more photos than we did.

On our way home, I had a thought (yes, it does happen) - what if I (oh horrors!) made a paper scrapbook, with printed photos, instead of blogging 7 billion (Isaac's favorite number) posts to show them all? As Harlow Doyle (from Odyssey) would say, "A brilliant idea!"

So - if you want to see Ecuador photos, then swing by our house in about two weeks and I'll let you have a peek. Or, if you really, really want to see some now - click here for an online album of them.

St. Paul - Monday and Tuesday

Here begins the great Hall Family Christmas Vacation, 2008!

We left Rolla Monday night, after basketball practices, and drove through the night. On a weekend trip to Denver a few summers ago, we discovered that we can create a sort of bed in the back of our 12 passenger van - by taking the back seat out, packing all the bags under a large (custom-cut) sheet of plywood, and placing a futon on the plywood, a quite comfortable resting place is made. Isaac and Libeth slept in their carseats (how do kids do that?) and the rest of us rotated on the bed. Dad drove most of the 10 hours - the weather was a bit yucky, and the roads sort of icy.

We pulled in at Grandma's house at 8:30 am. Naturally, communication had gotten somewhat mixed up, and she wasn't expecting us for 12 more hours! Still, we managed to adjust and make it one more day of fun! We helped her with the cleaning and decorating she had been planning to do, and had an extra day of snow play with the cousins! We also got in quite a few naps, to prepare us for a busy, bustling week of fun.

Zeke, trimming the tree

Isaac (this picture is crooked because I have a nervous hand under his rear end as he balances on the step stool)

Abby - she stuck with it, and did the bulk of the work. Good job luv!

Our "supervisor"

Zeke, braving the cold for some snow-play.

Grandma calls this style "Minnesota Chic" - the way she tells it, if all your snow clothes coordinate, well, "You ain't from around here, now that's for sure."

Grandma, explaining the rules to "Fox and Geese"

Nap time all around!

Cousin Alex

Our Happy Birthday Jesus cake, iced and decorated by Mr. Enthusiastic there

The rest of the week was filled with fun and games, activities and lots and lots of food. But one of my favorite parts was the music. Abby had brought along her trumpet, and our extra coronet. Upon arrival, we found that Grandpa had three trumpets of his own, one baritone, and an alto saxaphone! Well, let me tell you, we had quite the band going then! Grandpa led the group, harmonizing away on his trumpet - Mum took the melody, magically remember the fingering and notes, and playing entirely by ear (she hasn't played for years and years - I am 17, and I have never heard her play) - Grandma ocassionally accompanied on the piano, when she wasn't working away in the kitchen - Abby did an outstanding job playing by ear, taking the melody line and making some real music - Andy would pop in every now and then with a trumpet (which he has never played before in his life - hey, it added character to the mix) - Zeke . . . oh I guess he didn't have his drum, so he didn't join in - and Dad was truly the jack-of-all-trades, alternating between piano, trumpet, and baritone (he had never played the baritone before, but picked it up quite handsomly) - Isaac, Elizabeth, and I all listened with admiration and awe (except Elizabeth, who held her hands over her ears most of the time). It was amazing - I wish you could have been there! Throughout the week this chorus of heavenly sounds accompanied much of our activities. I felt proud to be a part of such a family!

Abby and Dad

St. Paul - Thursday and Friday

Thursday was Christmas Day, of course. Since we had done the majority of the present opening the night before, Christmas morn we headed off to a church in a neighboring town for their service. The family who did the service, the Andersons, were friends from California. He was the pastor of our church for many years, and we grew up with their younger kids. They didn't know that our family was coming, so it was very fun to surprise them and to catch up on life. Their new son-in-law preached a powerful message, and we also heard Silent Night in two languages - Japanese, and a language spoken in Madagascar (I don't recall its name). Afterwards, we talked until someone noticed the janitor, quietly standing by the door, waiting to lock-up and get home for his Christmas! We wrapped things up in prayer, and talked our way out of the building and to our cars.

The afternoon was spent with snow play and around the house relaxing. Mum, Grandma, and I sipped tea and watched White Christmas while Dad took the kids to the park to help them build a fantastic igloo. After dinner, we opened the gifts that were from Mum and Dad to us, and spent some more time just being around each other. It is a really good feeling when you honestly enjoy getting to spend time with the ones closest to you, isn't it?

Friday we ventured out of the house and visited the Mill City Museum in Minneapolis. It had formerly been the Gold Medal Flour mill, so they had a test kitchen there with sample cookies and other yummy things.

The boys, trying their hand at Playdough

(Libeth was showing them how it is done)

Grandma and I, perusing some of the many

cookbooks they had stashed in the test kitchen.

We also visited The Guthrie, a terribly unique theatre right next door.

And, we drove past the Thrivent building on our way back to St. Paul.

It was a very dreary day, but we had fun despite that!

St. Paul - Saturday and Sunday

Saturday was blown in by a visit from old friends, the Christenson's. They were a part of our church in California, and Mr. Christenson was the pastor who baptized Dad. We had a great breakfast of bacon and waffles with them, catching up on news and having some in depth theological discussions. :) Then, the late morning and afternoon were spent ice-skating! We all bundled up and headed out, even Elizabeth and Mum. Elizabeth pulled her sled around, and the rest of us skated away - the boys even played a full-on hockey game! Us ladies bowed out after about an hour. We went home, got lunch ready for the men, then headed off on the great shopping expedition. I only bought 3 things and I was very proud of myself for this frugality. I believe I only spent about. . . 15 dollars too!

Sunday, we went to Grandma and Grandpa's church (although we didn't walk this time!) and our family sang "Angels We Have Heard On High" in the four-part harmony we learned. Originally, we had just prepared it to sing for Grandma and Grandpa. . .but, after singing for them Saturday night, Grandma asked if we would please sing Sunday morning in church. So we did. I think we were okay - Dad said we didn't go flat like we tend to. :) Mum and Isaac took the soprano (along with ocassional assistance from Elizabeth), Zeke and I covered alto (okay, so I pretty much lip-sync), Abby was our strong tenor (yes, she can hit every note), and Andy and Dad handled the bass (although poor Andy came in about 3 weeks after the rest of us had already been working on it, he did a fine job). It was at the very least a joyful noise to the Lord!

After church, we packed up the van (no easy feat, what with the additional presents and shopping items!) and headed for a last lunch. We dined at the traditional "Mickey's Diner" in downtown St. Paul. An experience to be sure - if you ever go to St. Paul, you must try it out. And if you've ever seen Mighty Ducks - it's the diner in those movies.

Before I move on . . . a HUGE thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Hall, for putting up with our invasion for nearly a week! Your flexibility and hospitality are to be greatly commended. You are truly the greatest paternal grandparents a kid could have. Grandma - all your amazing meals and fun little traditions and decorations made it really special. I will always treasure our tea-times, bustling around the kitchen with you, and laughing together as we watched White Christmas. I have become quite certain that you are a" kindred spirit". Grandpa - thanks for spending time talking with Dad about all that "Lutheran stuff." I know that he appreciates the it so very much, and I love you all the more for taking the time to listen and help mentor him in this thing we call life. The influence you have had, and continue to have on him trickles down to me each and every day. I love you both!

Illinois with Mum's side

On our way home from St. Paul, we stopped by our other Grandparents' home, in a small town called Forrest. Okay, so it's not really on the way home, but we all think it's worth the extra hours of driving. We took off after lunch on Sunday afternoon, and drove 8 hours - I think that I slept about 5 of them. Then, when we woke up the next morning, Grandma had planned a second Christmas for us! Here are a few of us, opening our presents:

Okay, so this was totally random. Sometimes, when taking a photo, I hold the button down too long, and it takes a second picture. This happened twice when we were there, and here are my two pictures:

After that, Dad, Mum, Andy, Abby, and I went shopping and visited our Great Grandma Laura in a nearby town. She is almost 101-years-old, and still going strong. She is bummed out that none of the other residents at her home will play cards with her - no one else has quite the mental sharpness that she does.

Tuesday, we helped my Uncle David (Mum's brother) move. He and his family were just moving into the house that they had built (or "had built" I suppose), and as it was only about a mile away from the house they had been living in, we used one Uhaul, and about 4 minivans to move their boxes and furniture. It was fun, although somewhat exhausting! All of the family was gathered there, with the exception of my Uncle Brad (an in-law), and Mum's sister Denise and her family, who live in Dubai, U.A.E. It was neat getting to say hi to all the cousins, even for just a short while. We also got a chance to do some shopping in Bloomington, the town they live in. Abby and I had fun in the Macy's men's hat department.

Then Wednesday, the whole family (minus Andy and me) headed back home. Andy and I stayed in Forrest to help Grandma and Grandpa with some photo/memories/computer scrap-booking/archiving/family documentary making stuff. Don't ask - I can't even remember what all we did! But we worked hard, Wednesday, Thursday, and then Friday morning, before heading Friday afternoon. We also took time off, eating lots of cookies and yummy homemade meals, watching football and basketball games, and even catching two good movies - The Bucket List, and Forest Gump.

And now we are home, home at last! Time to take a vacation to rest up from our vacation! No, in all honesty, it was a wonderful holiday season, and I so enjoyed the time spent among my great family, both immediate and extended. To have such a Christian, God-honoring family is a huge blessing that I take entirely for granted. So thank you God, for this beautiful time I've had with them, and for the love they show to me.

Hope you had a great holiday as well!

Rebekah

Branson and Basketball

Dad, Andy, Abby, and Isaac took a weekend trip to Branson earlier this July. Andy had a sort of "all-star" tournament down there (for basketball), as well as several baseball games on the way. They went to a magic show, and did go-karts, which thrilled Isaac!

More photos

Sam and Roger



Hannah Sue!

Natalie

Hannah Sue . . . without safety goggles??

Emily

Roger, the T-rex

Ben, Colin, and Nathan

Natalie

Joel

Sara and Andy

Sam

Colin

Nathan

Joel and Sam

Andy and Ben