Was it worth it?

the 10 minutes o' fun in the snow? we asked this of each other, though we could barely HEAR each other over the wails that literally had me believing someone was suffering from frostbite and i was a horrible mother for taking my kids to play in the snow...for a moment.

seriously, though. they were wailing. First McKenzie, which we ignored (hush, Grannie) initially. It became increasingly difficult to ignore and then there was the possibility that the neighbors would hear the wailing....which is apparently contagious, so John Thomas decides to throw himself into the snow and do the same. Carter is still oblivious and keeps helping Michael and I with the finishing touches of our snowman (whose name, this year, is, appropriately enough, "snowy"...this is after having refreshed everyone's memory on the awesome names of previous snowmen and encouraging them to 'think of somehting creative!'...i got 'snowy'). Carter, who figured he was missing out on something, then decides to join in...though he and John Thomas briefly forgot their misery to admire 'snowy.' we surrendered and headed in only to realize that their little boots were filled with snow and so in 20ish degree temps, their little feet really were, most likely, pretty cold. but, still. I'm thinking that laying in the snow making multiple snow angels almost immediately was not a good idea. lesson learned. so, back to the original question. after upwards of an hour of rifling through clothes in the basement to find "ski bibs" (which McKenzie, literal first born that she is, took issue with, as we were not skiing and she is too old for a bib....wow)..."snow suits," bundling the 5 of us and the wailing....the looks of wonder and excitement on their faces, the snow angels, the snowballs, the chasing, the laughing, the sledding, the consumption of the snow (all felt the need to taste it...and it did, in fact, taste just like it did last year, as confirmed by Carter), the snowman....

not quite sure about the thumbless mittens...
and they're off.....
the aforementioned snow angels....
7ish inches!

having recovered - consumed hot chocolate and cookies, taken a warm bath and perched in front o' the fire, McKenzie declared it the "best day ever!" so, yeah, i'd say it was worth it. do I want to do it again tomorrow? not so much.

here we go.....

i feel so very...with it? ha! so, here's a hall family blog....whether i'll be able to keep up with it is yet to be seen. but, for family and friends far away (and even close by), I thought it would be a great way to share the day-to-day...the seemingly "little" things that grandparents, etc. aren't able to see and hear on a regular basis. these kiddos are growing up way too fast for us and we thought this would be a way to slow it down a little....take it in...process it, laugh at it, enjoy it - these incredible blessings. life in a fallen world can be a bit of a drag...our time here is too short NOT to enjoy the blessings God has put in our lives - He created us for that, too. 'Tis part of enjoying Him and glorifying Him, wouldn't you say? to love one another well...the way He loves us. absolutely unconditionally. without condition. sacrificially, even. giving up our own personal peace and comfort to serve and love Him and, therefore, others well....if that's what He's asking of us and we look at it in light of what He did for us....'nough said. what does this have to do with the beginnings of a blog?...God is good - all the time. All the time - God is good. hopefully He is using this little family to display His love to our family and friends, our church, our community...even to a hurting world. that's our hope and our prayer as we are used in the lives of these little ones and beyond. so, if you're reading these glimpses of our story, these ramblings of ours, we hope you see just that....Him. the Creator of this little crew. here's to hoping we, and more importantly, He is part of your story...