Josh's letter to Santa

I know I should have posted this before I posted the Christmas posts, but oh well.... This is a letter that Josh wrote to Santa at school:

Dear Santa, All I want for Christmas is my family. Even if they are mean or rude, they are still my family. Sincerly, Josh


What a sweet sweet boy. I love my boys!!!!!

Dallin's Gift

This morning when we were opening Christmas gifts, Dallin brought Tim and I wrapped gift and said it was for both of us. The gift was a homemade book titled "The best parents ever" which he wrote himself.... here is his story

"The best Parents ever"
Once there were two kids and they had trials like getting bullied and beat badly but they got used to it and then 8 years later they were adults and they dated, there names were Tim and Gina. They had 5 kids 1 was Aaron 2 was Brandon 3 was Josh 4 was Dallin 5 was Kyler. Gina worked at Wendy's then lifeguard then teacher and Tim works at a jail facility. We barely see him, he's gone a lot and he misses his kids but on the weekends we get to see him because he doesn't work on weekends. We like that because he gets to spend Christmas with us. He liked being able to be with us all on Christmas.

It is four days til Christmas and we can't wait. It's so exciting. The two parents are busy doing christmas giving, donating, buying presents for all of the family which is a lot of presents. I'm making this present for my mom and dad because they don't have a lot of presents so I want to make them happy.

Merry Christmas mom and dad!!! you truly are the best parents ever!!!! From Dallin, Josh, Kyler, Aaron, Brandon

We love you!!!! The very special end!!! Merry Christmas!!!


I did not tell him any of this story, nor give him any words. This was all on his own and completely from his precious giant heart. If anything this title should be is "The very best son a parent could ask for" I am so very grateful for this sweetest gift of Christmas and for Dallin's sweet spirit. He knows our Father in Heaven and he knows the true meaning of Christmas. I love you Dallin!!!!

Merry Christmas 2010

What a marvelous blessing! We had an angel bring gifts last night. Tim went out to walk Chloe and found a large black bag at the door. This bag had a huge gold bow on it and a card that read: "Just thinking of all the things that make you such a special family...What a perfect way to add a smile to the holidays!" It was signed from SANTA!!!! What a wonderful blessing to feel so loved. May the Lord bless whomever it was that made this Christmas extra special for the Hallam boys :)

Merry Christmas to all our family and friends whom we hold so dear to our hearts. May you all be blessed with countless blessings.

Brandon update

Brandon is doing better. He's eating very well and keeping all of his food down. Yesterday, both of his blood tests came back with good numbers... still low but good. He didn't need a transfusion last night or today. This morning Brandon's numbers were still about the same, so the doctor now is waiting for tomorrow morning's results.

The lab also drew blood for a test for a few diseases that the Drs are looking into for Brandon as a result of his ITP in the past and his current hemolytic anemia. In all this time being spent here at the hospital, I've been able to look up information and have found some very helpful links.

I am still learning about both conditions and how they are related and what to do for them.

It is a great thing though that Brandon is doing much much better. Here is a link for anyone interested in reading a bit of information on Evans disease. to get to the information link, click on the title of this blog... "brandon update" that will take you to emedicine info

Poor Brandon

Brandon was sick with what we thought was the flu on Wed. so he stayed home from school. He was green looking. Thursday, Brandon stayed home again, and seemed yellow this time. He layed on the couch all day and couldn't stop throwing up, the poor guy :( During my lunch break, I called to see how he was doing, but he said he was doing ok, so I didn't worry too much about it.

Well, Tim came home from work and Brandon was basically GLOWING YELLOW!!!! When I got home, I took him to Boise St Luke's.... it's a toss up sometimes since we live right in the middle between Ontario and Boise. ONtario is where the best pediatrician is. Emmett hospital or doctors are out of the question. Boise is where his Hemotologist is.

AS I was getting into the car, I was still undecided on where to take Brandon for his care. I decided at the very last minute pulling out of the driveway that I would just take him to Boise since I knew he would end up there. I knew he had jaundice very very bad and knew somehow that he would not make it home that night.

When I got Brandon to St LUkes, he could barely walk to the door of the ER :( I let them know he was here and needed seen ASAP. We got him to the back and into a room. They work fast at St Lukes it's amazing!!!! By about 8pm thursday night, Brandon was getting situated in a room in the pediatrics 4019 (for anyone wanting to visit )

Thursday night, Brandon had two blood transfusions. He has what the doctors call Hemolytic anemia. His body is killing and destroying all of it's red blood cells, thus causing the elevated billirubin in his blood making him yellow. His heart rate thursday night was in the 140-155 range..NOT GOOD!!!! The Dr. wanted a close eye kept on him and possibly thinking about putting him in PICU because his heart was working too hard and he was also worried about Brandon having heart failure.

Brandon made it through the night with very little sleep, but looking a bit more rosey in his cheeks. Friday, Brandon had another two blood transfusions, but could not keep any food down :(

During the afternoon on friday, Brandon was sleeping and woke up panicked. He pulled off all of his cord and leads and was pulling on his IV where he was currently getting a blood transfusion. Things were very hectic at that time, as the nurse had said that a transfusion is limited on time, so he had to move quickly to get another IV stick in him....which was almost impossible because of his severe anemia.

An IV spot was found after a few tries and the transfusion was completed. Although Brandon had a better night, he did pull out his IV for the second time grrrrrrr. he doesn't handle pain well :(

Today, Brandon has done so much better, his numbers this morning were not as well as everyone was hoping, but still he's able to keep his food down. Brandon has been hungry but at the same time has not really known what he's wanted to eat, just kind of leary of eating for fear of puking again. We did go for a walk around the Pediatric unit... well he rode and I pushed him around :)

You know your child is sick when they don't even want to text their friends. Brandon has really done well today, but still has a long way to go until he's out of the woods. He may be getting another transfusion, not sure yet, we're waiting to see the doctor this afternoon and waiting to hear results of the blood test this evening.

Will keep all posted as I can. I am updateing my facebook page more frequently, so check it out or just text me if you have any questions :) Please continue to pray for him that he will get well quickly. Thank you all for your love and support :)

Halloween fun!!!!!!

First set of pictures of our Halloween fun!!!!

Nine years ago today our family welcomed Dallin into our hearts and home! He is such a blessing to have around and be around. Dallin almost always has a cheerful, helpful outlook and is so loving and kind to everyone he sees and meets. He has some amazing natural abilities such as being an instant friend to everyone, playing football, reading and any school work. He's always been a great student and always into doing his homework as soon as he gets home. He's also been very energetic and eager to learn and develop new talents.

Dallin has an infectious smile as well as his laugh...they're just contagious!!!! I am so very grateful that the Lord blessed our family and blessed Dallin to make it through the trials at the beginning of his life... He has been on a nonstop growth and prospering since then.

We love you Dallin Machai Hallam !!!! Have a wonderful 9th birthday!!!

School's in session!!!!

The boys started school today! What a fun day for everyone. Aaron is a junior this year. Brandon is a freshman. Josh is in 5th grade. Dallin is in 4th and Kyler is in 2nd grade. They're all excited to learn a lot this year and looking forward to having a great year!

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL!!!!

Saturday we spent the day at BSU stadium for the optimist football jamboree. We have three playing in it, so we were there all day waiting for pictures, games and weighing in.

Josh's team had to be there first. We met at the little white church by BSU stadium at 9am. We did go early so we could get a semi decent parking spot. There were thousands of people there for games. When Josh(#60) was playing, Kyler also had to meet his team, so we had to separate to cover all the games. Josh got to play on the blue turf!!!!! Kyler played flag on the grass field next to the stadium. They both did a great job!!!

After Josh and Kyler's games, we went to Ann Morrison park for lunch and then headed back to the stadium to get ready to meet Dallin's team at 1:15. Again, we met everyone at the little white church...everyone was meeting there.... Dallin's team went in for pictures, weighing in and then to play. Dallin(#82) was starting in his game. He was playing defensive line. Dallin did a great job playing as well. We all had a great time at BSU watching the kids play football!


Things I'm grateful for:
oxy clean to get white football pants clean again
hard hits and great tackles
good sportmanship
supportive families cheering their kids on

Back to School dinner!!!!

Sunday night we had our back to school FHE!!!! A school lunch type dinner with trays and all... This is a tradition we've had for a few years now, the boys love it and we all look forward to it each year !!!!

This year, I made mashed potatoes and turkey gravy, green beans, applesauce, milk and a cookie for our school lunch. Tim and I serve it cafeteria style and put on our little act as cafeteria people. Memories from childhood are so fun!!!!

During our meal, we talk about goals and school rules. We also talk about the rewards for making and keeping our goals for good grades.

This year, I shared a quote from Pres. Eyring about seminary and keeping religious learning at the top. "...keep spiritual learning in its place, we will have to make some hard choices of how we use our time. But there should never be a conscious choice to let the spiritual become secendary. NEVER. That will lead to tragedy."

I am so grateful for my time in seminary and am so happy that the two older boys can take part in the release time program at the school. It does take dedication and sacrifice, but it is so very worth it in the end.

The boys start school on thursday and are so excited and anxious to get started again. We're all looking forward to getting back into the routine of school and studying....even me.

Things I'm grateful for:

A new school year and the opportunity to continue growth and learning

Sweet memories of my childhood and my school days

Seminary

Scriptures to study and learn from

FOOTBALL!!!!!!

Our family is now eating, sleeping and breathing FOOTBALL!!!!! Kyler is in flag football this year. Dallin is on the freshman tackle team and Josh is on the sophomore tackle team. We missed playing last year but are having a great time this year discovering the talents the boys have.

Dallin has done a great job so far of tackling in practices and even had the hit of the day one day last week. Josh has also done an amazing job on tackles. The boys are working hard and very excited that they get to play on the BSU blue turf this weekend at the Jamboree. (pictures to follow)....

Things I'm grateful for:

little boys who love football and sports

memories of fall sports

watching my children learn a new ability

seeing natural athletic ability in my children

Chloe

Last weekend we went searching for a new k-9 companion!!! Brandon and I went to the humane society in Boise and saw the dogs there, but no dog seemed to fit what we were looking for. None of them spoke to us saying "Take me home, I'm yours".

Saturday, Tim and I took the boys to Fruitland to the 2nd chance shelter there to see dogs. First, we just took Kyler in with us to see the dogs. We knew that if the dog responded well to Kyler then it would be good. We had looked on their website and saw a few dogs that we wanted to see. When we went in to see the dogs, we saw this white curly hair dog. She was just sitting there looking at us. We went to pet her and she was so happy. There was two dogs specifically there that we went to see, we did find the one Tilly...she was a very energetic friendly little thing. For a while, we went back an forth between this white curly dog and Tilly. We brought the rest of the boys in and showed them the two dogs and had them choose which one they want. They all chose Tilly.

Just as we were ready to decide, I felt I needed one last sure test. I went to Tilly and opened her door and attempted to pick her up...she went to the back of her kennel and was scared...she didn't want picked up. Then I went to the other white curly haired dog. I opened the door and she jumped into my arms and hid her head in my arms. Our decision had been made by one leap of love from our little Chloe. Her name was Pearl, but that's an old name so I wanted a new one. Princess Chloe fits perfectly into our family.

When we put Chloe into the van to come home with us, her tail was wagging and she was so happy. We took her to Frates's to show her to them. Chloe was so happy and just stuck right by us and watched everywhere we went.

Chloe is house trained and trained very well in some other areas. She's taken to her new name quite well and loves all of us so very much. She's very much part of the family and loves to go to the boy's football practices to sit and watch them play.

Things I'm grateful for:

Being able to give a dog a new home

The sweet companionship and friendship of a k9 friend

Wagging tails and knowing Chloe is happy

Girls night!!!!

I went out with some close friends from New Plymouth this past tuesday. These friends can be called family since we've been friends so long. It's so wonderful to have such long lasting friends and be able to do things with them. This month, for our girls night, we went to Starlight Mountain Theatre in Garden Valley and saw Scarlet Pimpernel.

Kim, Kaylena, Whitney and I went to dinner and then picked up one of Whitney's friends then headed up to Garden Valley for the play. We had such a wonderful time and laughed so much it felt like we were kids again.

During intermission the cast comes around selling popcorn, candy and drinks. They had a special twofer. Buy two kisses and get two licorice for free. They called it a "kissandwich". Kaylena and I paid for our licorice and gave Whitney the kissandwich. We laughed so hard my stomach was hurting. Kim also got Whitney's friend a kissandwich.

Just before the show started back up, one of the actors was on stage and they recognized birthdays, anniversaries and such. He went through the birthdays and anniversaries, then asked if there was anything else we're celebrating. This is about how the dialog sounded:

Persy: Is there anything else we're celebrating tonight?
Me: (laughing) GIRL....
Persy: Girl? hmmm... she's celebrating being a girl... and how long have you been a... GIRL?
Me: (laughing uncontrollably)
Persy: and nothing... okay we're now going to sing Happy Birtheversary...GIRL to all those celebrating birthdays anniversaries and (pointing to me)GIRL.

It is so good to have such wonderful friends and sisters :) I really needed this time out to rejuvinate myself and let lose. There are more pictures of our night on my Facebook page...I was tagged in some photos.

Things I'm grateful for:

Sweet special friends who are sisters to me

The ability to laugh and let lose

The feeling I get after I've had a good laugh

Talents and those who are willing to share them with all

Aaron's new found talent

Aaron went with the priests a week ago on a high adventure trip to the Tetons, Wyoming and all over Eastern Idaho. They had a great time and Aaron took lots of pictures. These are the scenic pictures he took. HE'S AMAZING!!! Some of these pictures are sooo breathtaking... I just had to share them. He's so talented..a natural :)

Here's a funny.... I was looking at the pictures and told Aaron how amazingly talented he is... his response "Duh, I'm your son" Now how sweet is that? Aaron is learning so many wonderful things and discovering so many beautiful talents the Lord has blessed him with. To take such beautiful pictures of this amazing world!!! WOW!!!!

Lubbock trip

I know I have more pictures of this trip, I just have to look through another folder, but here are some. The scenery on the drive down was amazing... what a beautiful world we are blessed to live in.

Family day in Boise

We decided to make lots of little trips this year to stay close to home and cut costs. This was our family outing to Boise in July. We went to the temple to get pictures of all the boys and our family. We had a great time, except it was hot...

After the temple, we went to the discovery center... we got in for free...I just love free coupons!!!! The boys had a blast as you can see from the slide show. Their favorite thing was the robot table, they were there for the longest time just building and rebuilding robots. I had to practically pry them away, even Tim got into it... it was way cool!!!!!

The boys all really enjoyed that day, we all did. We had a great time playing and exploring science.

Repentance

I must do some serious repenting as I've neglected this blog for way too long and let too many things slip by unknown by all of those who read our family blog. So much has happened, good, bad and ugly... The Lord has been working some marvelous miracles with our family and molding us and doing some pretty funky things with our family. I will attempt to catch up on the details I don't want left out of our family's history. Please be patient with me as I do this... I'm also doing school myself and getting the boys ready for school....

We also have three football players in the mix as well. Josh, Dallin and Kyler are going to be playing football this season. It will prove a tremendous challenge as there are three practice locations and only two parents. We'll get through this and all will have a blast :)

A dream come true

Ok, for Christmas, we all know that Tim got me a plane ticket to Texas to see my father, brother and sister :) After we spoke in church on the 27th we went to the airport to catch my flight. I was so very nervous about so many things. I've not flown since Brandon was a tiny baby in 1996 so that was way before 9/11 so the security was a scary part. Another nervous part was FINALLY meeting my family. I had no idea what to expect.

My flight to Texas was going to be a long one stopping in Vegas for a layover. The flight went well and we landed in Vegas with no problems.... The view was amazing the whole way there, I did get a window seat :) When I got off the plane in Vegas, the first thing that I saw was a huge open room with tons of slot machines right in the middle of that room. I've never been to Vegas or Texas, so please bare with me on my excitment at so many new things :)

I called Tim right away as soon as I got to Vegas so that he would know I was landed safely and things were ok. As soon as I could, I went to find my connectiong flight gate CLEAR IN ANOTHER WING !!!!! I did a lot of walking. I had a three hour wait for my next flight from Vegas, so I walked around and made the most of the time in a new place. This airport is HUGE and so many people flying everywhere.

When I had finally caught my connecting flight, it was another hour and a half wait to see my brother and his wife. I was so very excited to finally see them. We had gotten connected a bit on Facebook, but I couldnt wait for our first meeting. You see it all the time on the talk shows, and how amazing it is.... This was even more amazing and there were no camera crews around so it was a very personal emotional time for us all.

My flight landed in Lubbock around 11:45 there time so it was late and I couldnt see the country :( I'll have to fly back there during the day just so I can see the lay of the land from the air ;) When I got off the plane, I followed the crowd to baggage claim and I txted my brother to see where he was as no one was around. It turned out that he and Mary and Amy were waiting at a different baggage claim area hahahaha.... When we finally saw each other and met, it was completely AMAZING!!! Amazing isnt even the best word to describe it ,but it's as good as I have right now.... i was so happy to finally see my brother and hug him. This was all so much more than I ever imagined it would be... I was in shock at how fast this all had happened and how wonderful it was.

After our hugs, we got my luggage and headed home to Don's. There, i got to meet Raeleigh, Don's youngest grand daughter (she and I would soon become best of friends ;) Jessie, Raeleigh's mom was there as well as her new baby Griffin. We visited for a while and let the excitement of our meeting take over :) After a while we did go to bed, there was lots to do the next day ..... I'll post those days later hehehehe