Tessa's Proud to Be an American

Look who's...

SMILING now!

I know!

Pretty {fiesty} Kira

I took these pictures of Kira to submit her for a fun photoshoot she is going to do next month.

They wanted to see her personality, so I had to get the sweet and the sassy!

Speaking of sassy, Kira has been working on her blog a bit and would LOVE some comments!

Alec's Blessing Day

Alec was given a name and a blessing at church on June, 6, 2010.

His father blessed him and Uncle Bobby and Grandpa (Halterman), were there to participate in the circle.  What a blessing are worthy priesthood holders!

Afterward we came back to our home for some BBQ and pictures.  (Big thanks to Mom and Mikelle for all the food they provided to make this low-stress for us!)

Of course, picture-taking can be an adventure with a group with this many children.  Here is an outtake from when I was testing the lighting.

And a few more lovely outtakes of my little family:

This looks like a movie/TV poster to me, because the all look like they have attitude:

(CSI: Laveen???)

But here we are for real

You can see Alec isn't thrilled about his photo session.

He actually didn't make a peep during the entire blessing!  He was an angel.  But everytime I pulled out the camera, he threw a fit.  Finally, Barry got him calmed down, just long enough to take some sweet pictures...

"Shoot, shoot, shoot!"  He said.

...and he started losing it again.

"I know I'm handsome, Mom, but really?  Is all of this picture taking necessary?  I'm done!"

Remembering...Laveen Parade (Feb. 2010)

Happy Memorial Day!

I was looking for something to post on my other blog this Memorial Day and found these great photos from when our family participated with our ward in the Laveen Community Parade back in February. The theme was "Honoring our Soldiers." It became a great opportunity to remember some of the heroes in our family and to pass their legacy on to our children.

In preparing for the parade, the organizers from our ward asked for photos of any family members who had or were serving in the military. Thanks to the genealogists in our family, we had these great photos of Barry's grandpa and great-uncle Phil. Both were pilots during WWII. Grandpa became a trainer for other pilots. Uncle Phil was shot down over Europe after completing his part of a dangerous mission.

The children carried these photos through the parade.

It was neat to see them get excited about their heritage.














The week before the parade, Sister Papp came into the Primary to get the kids excited about it and give us the details. She happened to hold up the pictures we sent and Trenton immediately recognized his great-great uncle Phil, and wanted to tell everyone about him.

Tessa decided not to cooperate and stay in her stroller for the mile-long walk, but it made for some neat Daddy-daughter bonding moments, along the parade route.

These planes signaled the start of the entire parade.

I'm feeling rather patriotic today, or at least mindful of the incredible sacrifices made by so many in our behalf. I hope they can feel our gratitude! God bless America!

Tessa, Talia, and Shanda

I just love this picture of these cute girls!

Tessa LOVED having Talia around! She didn't go with them to church on Sunday, and Tessa's first words out of her mouth when she got home were, "where is SHE?" They got along quite well, most of the time.

Talia really loves her mother!

See?

And Tessa, too!

I have no idea what she is thinking, but I love this face!

And both these girls have such pretty blue eyes! I hope they grow up to be great friends!

Tessa and Talia--Bathing Beauties!

Lots more baby stuff still to come, but I wanted to share some fun pictures of Tessa and her cousin Talia (Shanda's daughter).

Shanda came to help with the birth, and Tessa was super excited to have cousins her size to play with. We thought it was too fun, that both of them had ended up with the exact same swimsuit from Old Navy, and had to get some pictures of these bathing beauties!

At the Splash playground near our house.

Alec Garth Halterman

Some of the first pictures of our little man (the first two are just a few hours after birth).

And the official stats:

Alec Garth Halterman

born: May 1, 2010

@ 12:45pm

9lbs. 6oz. 22inches

hair: TBD (some brown, some red)

Halterman Family News-May 2010

Here is the latest edition of "The Halterman Family News"--Raw, uncut, uncensored...

Thought they should be the ones to introduce you to our new little guy, since they have been doing the updating from the start. But we only had one take to get this done, between a fussy baby, and a busy family.

I'm working on editing/posting lots more pictures and Alec's birth story. I just usually only have one hand to work with, so it is going very slowly. Keep checking back!

Mom Haiku

I hesitate to post anything here, since I am so far behind, but when #4 makes his debut in the very near future, I'm sure this is where all the info will be. One day I will catch up....I hope.

But I had to share this little Haiku I found on a post it note in Kira's handwriting. I would think it was for a school assignment, but I doubt she can turn it in on an orange post it note. I found it awfully sweet, and a little ironic, give how little I am cooking now-a-days. With out further ado....

Moms

hardworking, kid having

caring, kind, gentle

cooks your food

Kendra

Christmas in January

If you sent us a Christmas card this year, chances are pretty good you got one from us this week. As I stated on my other blog, this had nothing to do with technical difficulties, complicated card designs, weddings in the middle of the holiday season, or anything like that. We just wanted to stretch out the holidays a little longer--the tree is even still up!

If you didn't get a card (it's probably because you didn't send us one), and like to celebrate Christmas closer to Valentine's Day, email me your current mailing address (bnkhalterman{at}gmail{dot}com), and I'd be happy to send one to you. I'm hoping the interactive design makes up for the lack of promptness.

The card sends you here for more info on our family, so I should give you a little more info. I've updated the sidebar a bit, and you can scroll down and see our baby news. The short story is that we are well. Between pregnancy and being busy, we probably do more than our fair share of complaining, but the truth is we are very blessed! We are all in relatively good health (I'm really not nauseated hardly at all anymore! And have regained all the weight I lost in the first trimester), the kids are amazing us with the things they are learning (and frustrating us with the stuff they don't want to learn). Barry has a job! Although it wasn't a record year for the company, we are very grateful that those he works for have made sound financial decisions, and the company has faired fairly well in this difficult economy. We love our home, (and one day will learn to keep it organized). We have great family and friends (except our friends keep moving away--is there something we are missing?)!

All parenthetical statements aside, we know we are greatly blessed! We are excited to add #4 to our family in May, and look forward to what this new year has in store for us!

It is my plan, to recap 2009 by month on this blog in the next little while, since I did a pretty poor job in keeping it updated. Don't hold your breath, since I am still recovering from the holidays/wedding, and my pregnancy stamina isn't what I would like it to be, but do check back, if you'd like to see lots of cute pictures and video of the kids, and get a better feel for what all we've been up to this past year.

We really value our dear family and friends and hope we can stay in touch this year! Drop us a line sometime!