sneak a peek

Last weekend we had a Bell family photo shoot in Salt Lake.

more to come.

Keep in mind, apart from Halle, we are probably the least photogenic family I know. Consider yourself warned.

what's in a name?

When we chose the name "Halle" for our baby girl we picked it simply because it is an adorable name and it was one of the few (okay maybe the only one) we could agree on. I decided to look up what her name means just to make sure we hadn't named her something that means harlot, loose woman, squatting dog, keeper of the chickens, or something along those lines. Hoping for the best I found a website and looked up all the names of our family and here are the results:

Halle means: heroine (relief!) or rock.

Weston means: from the west town (bahahaha!)

Megan means: pearl or strong

(I think I need to start living up to the meaning of my name better)

Go here t0 look up the meaning of your family's names. Let me know if you find anything fabulous or silly.

one of those moments

Have you ever had one of those moments? Time seems to stand still and you almost feel like you are looking down on yourself from somewhere above. One of those moments where you forget about all the other problems and responsibilities looming over your head and waiting for you the second you walk back into reality. Those moments where you can actually call them "perfect" because that's what they are. The moments where the happiness is palpable and you are almost sad because you know things won't feel like that forever, but only for that moment.

I had one.

The sun was setting and there was a slight breeze in the trees making the world the perfect temperature. I was spinning Halle around in the air and she was squealing and giggling. And I felt so eternally happy. Nothing else mattered for those few seconds. I wonder if that is what heaven is like, one continuous perfect moment.

we are...

moving!

We found a beautiful home in Lehi that we will soon be able to call our own.

Can't even describe to you how excited I am to have a dishwasher and air conditioning.

A Tale of Two Rings

One is made of diamonds and white gold. One is made of cheap hemp and cheap bronze beads. Both mean oodles to me despite their differing monetary values. The diamond ring is obviously my wedding ring, slipped on my finger on a beautiful August evening (both of our hands were shaking) and then again later in the St. George temple on our wedding day. The other was given to me almost two years before that on my first date with the future hubby.

I was a silly BYU freshman and he was a recently returned missionary fresh from Brazil (he had the irritable bowels to prove it, I think he used the john about 24 times that night, I even claimed I had to go a couple times when he was going, so he wouldn't feel awkward.) He took me to a Thai restaurant which was a strange coincidence because at that time I was so set on traveling to Thailand (definitely earned him some points). It was my first experience with Thai food and I loved it. Sad to say, that was probably the highlight of the date, besides the conversation of course. From there things never really took off activity wise. Every place we went after that was too busy. Two bowling alleys had two hour waits, and the mini golf place was so backed up they weren't letting anyone on the course. It gave us plenty of time to get to know each other, so at least we had that. After we were turned down at the mini golf place it was too late to try anything else, so we figured we would spend what time we had left playing the arcade games there.

I don't remember much except that we played air hockey at one point. We took the tickets we had earned to see what prize we could get with them. He wanted to get something for me. We had just enough (probably six) to get a ring made out of hemp and beads. I put it on and he drove me home. We said good night and it seemed like just another first date to me. That night as I was getting ready for bed I took the ring off and was about to throw it out, but for some reason I decided to keep it. Several times throughout the time that we were dating I came across that ring, and each time I was thinking of trashing it, but for some reason I kept it. I came across this ring again a few weeks ago and I now know I will never trash this baby.

I still can't believe what came about from a semi-blind date/nice but not amazing first date.

The movies are so wrong sometimes.

A Birthday in Pictures

The Spread

New Party Duds

Mountains of Presents

"I am One"

The Guests (minus: Grandpa Nimer, Jan, Anthony, Jake, and Andi. Sorry my sickness prevented some of you from coming!)

Opening Gifts

A New Baby Doll and Stroller

New Books!

Her Very Own Chair (Thanks Sharla for the fun idea!)

Mickey Mouse Clubhouse

Blowing Out the Candle

Eating Cake

Hating Cake

Smearing Cake Everywhere

Birthday Balloon Wish Sendoff

Watching the Balloon

Happy Birthday Halle!
Thank you everyone for coming and celebrating and for all the gifts. Many are not pictured, but we have had so much fun playing with them.

The Fourth in Pictures

Playing at the Bell/Chandler Family Reunion

Playing in the Water

Loving Grandma

Much Clapping

Lounging with Rachel

Getting Naked

Getting Naked and Being Partiotic

A Little Bit of Walking

Sparklers with Dad

Other Highlights Include: Watching the Provo Freedom Parade. Halle loved the huge blow up animals, especially the bear. The "princesses" (pageant girls) were also a hit with her. I saw nienie and her beautiful family riding their bikes to the parade. It was so wonderful to see them out having a good time and to physically see the family behind this special blog. Pretty sure we saw the Jo Bros pulling into BYU stadium. Who else would be in five huge black SUV's with tinted windows all following each other? Halle went to sleep before she could experience the Stadium of Fire fireworks. Probably would have scared her silly so I think it is a good thing. I could hear the booms of the finale on her baby monitor while she slept peacefully. And finally daddy spent the day with us despite the hours of studying he has to do for a test on Monday.

Sometimes...

I miss it.

Today I imagined I was back in the Harold B. Lee Library. I was sitting at my table down in the periodicals section with my feet up on the chair across from me. Next to me was the window that looks out on the hill that leads up to campus. The snow was falling. I had my white earphones in and I was listening to the jam of the week (whatever it happened to be that week) and my computer sitting in front of me. And there I was reading a glorious text book soaking up knowledge about teaching children, history, the Jewish religion (loved that class btw), and many other brilliant subjects. It made me feel warm inside and smart. It was glorious.