Happy Haunting from the Hallams

The Hallams in the Wild Wild West

Luke Has Fallen-For Real

This time he really did fall. On his mother's watch. I feel awful. He took a tumble out of the stroller and broke the fall with his face yesterday. He's got a nice facial souvenir to remind me of what a negligent mother I am. Please don't report me.

Luke Struttin' his stuff

Luke Has Fallen

In love that is. I'm happy to say his first crush happened over the weekend and I'm thrilled with his choice. He is in love with my best gal pal Elise. He even gave her a rare and coveted snuggle. Good choice son, but with your first crush comes your first, well, crush...since Elise gave her heart away to her snazzy hubby Ty this summer! Even though she's spoken for, I think you stole a little piece of her heart too! Way to go.

I fully appreciate Ty's Pumpkin Pants!

Thanks for coming to visit us you two lovebirds!

I love this shot by the way.

I can't get enough of that video of Luke. I wish it was longer. Mom and I were just re-realizing that we have such a wonderful blessing with Luke...and also with Kallie. She is driving up to Pomona right now in fact. A bit of scary news however, involves the recent fires that have been laying a serious onslaught on San Diego and requiring an evacuation of a bunch of Kallie's friends and some of mine too. Work and school was canceled for her, hence the visit to Pomona. Anyway, here are a couple shots taken at Cardiff, where she used to live. The Santa Ana winds are just striking up and creating huge waves and a bunch of fires in the surrounding area. You can see the orange glow on us and the smoke in the background. We left church yesterday to a smoke filled San Diego. Shaun has been here all weekend and it has been nice to see him and spend some time making some good memories and a bunch of laughs.

Now I'm studying to catch up on about 12 lectures today to get ready for my test on Head and Neck on Monday. Yippee.

Giggles in the Snow!

First Snow Storm of the Season in WY

I'm sure there will be many more to come!

We took Luke out yesterday to experience the storm.

What a difference a day makes

What a difference a day makes. We've had a snow storm this afternoon, but now it is warm enough to allow some melting. The sun is out and clouds fill the sky. We are looking for things to be grateful for. Dale has been home one week and is experiencing some severe pain in his left leg. Will this ever get better? We are hopeful. Just want you to know we're alive and hanging in there. Ross and Linda Atkinson brought dinner up and stayed over night last night. It was a nice diversion for Dale and I enjoyed the company, conversation and good friendship.

GO CHARGERS!

Kallie took me to the Chargers game on Sunday. We had such a nice weekend spending time together. NFL games are crazy and this was my first one...so my eyes were wide open the whole time, usually trying to sneak a look at Kallie without her catching me. Chargers won 28-14 and LaDanian Tomlinson scord 4 touchdowns. We also caught a Martin Sexton concert and dinner with the Youngs the night before. I also wanted to mention to Luke that I've known where my belly is for a long time. Not that cool really. He's cute anyway I suppose. Glad to have Big D feeling so good. Nice to hear some life back in his voice. Love to you all.

Home Sweet Home

Dale's home and doing quite well. It's Sunday here in Oakley and the sun has set. Nan just left after being with us since Friday. We stayed at Marianne's on Friday night, then showed up at the hospital on Saturday morning to have Dale discharged from the hospital. He made the hour ride home without much trouble. He rested and has been taking it easy ever since. He looks and feels pretty darn good for the shape he's in. Nan took this shot this evening in front of our home. The green aspens are turning golden and the temperatures drop at night. The hot tub will welcome my aching body and Dale will have to wait awhile for his turn. All in all, we're doing great and love to see those pictures of Luke. What a bright spot. Hope the weekend was great for everyone.

Show Me Your Belly

Hallam Hike

Dale's Hospital stay ended

We brought Dale home today, but this is what he looked like the 11th, two days after surgery. Nice panty hose don't you think. They didn't send him home with anything (no booties, no panty hose, no oxygen, no brace, no nothing). He's being a trooper and is in bed. I must go get some sleep as I know the night may be cut short when he has to get up and get to a bathroom.

We'll keep you posted. All is well at the moment. Pray for a little more time. It's only been 4 days.

Keep smiling (here's an example of how you get through it). He's amazing.

This is the girl I mentioned. Kallie Harrison, beautiful, really beautiful...inside and out. Here we are eating an "extraordinary" dessert in San Diego on our first date/meeting/whatever you want to call it. I think we look happy. She's blessed my life already. Even if she dumps me tomorrow. Hope not. Anyway, Big D got sawed up today....been thinking about him all day. Ironically, we're being tested on the exact condition that dad has in about 12 hours. I have some monster sized faith that all will be well. Keep up the good attitude. Oh, and happy birthday to Cleavage as well. I also don't want to pass up the opportunity to congratulate Luka Buka on his mad bipedal skills that he has recently acquired and mastered. My love goes to all who read this. JD

More Surgery

Big D is headed under the knife tomorrow for a lower back fusion. Many thoughts, prayers, pleadings, supplications, appealings, and beseechings (that might be a word I just made up) are reaching towards you and your surgeon for the morrow. All will be well. We love you!

The Hallams in WYOMIN'

This is my life

A 5 o'clock shadow for Bill and a few days growth on the neck for JD reveal a pretty serious commitment to studying for our Gross Anatomy Final. It's real early morning here in Pomona and we just polished of a couple of burgers from In-n-Out. These smiles are fake. We are tired. But we're also really behind due to a 5 day break that we both used to relax. Most of the other students did too, which means we're all scrambling. Not exactly a toddler learning to walk, getting a hair cut or growing teeth, but it's all I have for now.

Well I guess that...and I met a girl on my 5 day hiatus in SD that will probably make future appearances on the Tri-State blog...

8 teeth

Luke has 8 teeth. He's eating so cute, picking up cheese and grapes and cantaloupe, and he really likes most foods. He's chowing down quite well for a 14 month old. Fun to watch.

A quick trip to Thayne, WYO

Dale and I made a quick decision to travel to Thayne, Wyoming on Saturday (Oct 6th). It is cold and snowy up here, but we figured we needed to get to see this little boy who is growing up before our eyes. We'll post a few more photos, but he's just captured our hearts with his walking, talking (gibberish),but clearly knows 'mama', the animals (that's all the same sound). Distinctive "Ba" indicates baby and ball, He's a non-stop baby unless he's down for a nap). No wonder Jen is exhausted all the time. We did a few projects, listened to conference. Jen cooked some great meals. Clive put up a new book shelf in the baby's new room. (One wall has recently been painted RED. It looks great. The white book shelf is awsome. We're heading home tomorrow. Surgery for Dale's lower back fusion is scheduled Tuesday. We won't go into the week of chaotic, nerve wracking incidences we encountered with the health care industry (trying to transfer from Cobra to Retiree Benefits). Phew. We are grateful for the outcome. We'll keep you posted.

First Hair Cut

Luke got his first hair cut this morning. He was so good and loved sitting on daddy's lap. Ruta, our hair dressor, lives just down the street from us and didn't charge us for Luke's first big cut! How nice!

Luke and Daddy prepare for the first haircut!

Ruta gave Luke a sucker

Looking handsome

Luke loved drinking out of the water bottle

All done!

The "after" shot. He looks like a little man.

Happy Birthday Sweet Cheeks!

Lucky for us, 31 years ago Clive Russell Hallam was born on this day. Perhaps the title of this blog leaves some to blush, but if you ever get the chance to see his sweet cheeks, you'll know I do not fib. Clivey-thank you for being born, for loving me, for cherishing your role as daddy, and for tucking me in every night. I love you.

Besos

For all those bilingual fans of the Buxton Blog, you already know what the title means. Besos means kisses. That my friends, is exactly what Clive taught Luke to do today. It’s probably one of those things you have to be there to appreciate, but as a parent it made my heart swell to bursting to watch Clive say to Luke “Give me kisses” and then Luke reciprocate with an open mouth lean-in. If we were in the circus this would be one trick I’d exploit because let’s face it, who doesn’t melt when a baby leans in for a wide mouthed, slobbery smooch?