Living Hale

Summer is rolling along. We are keeping busy. The kids have been enjoying a week at art camp. And we are getting through our summer adventure list. Additionally, we have found some new things to obsess over this summer. Here are three of our new-found obsessions.             Postcrossing             I found this idea online. Postcrossing is an international website that allows you to send and receive postcards from around the world. We signed up over a month ago, and went to work sending out postcards. We have used this as an opportunity to teach the kids about geography and some different cultures. We have sent postcards to Germany, Russia, Belarus, China, Taiwan, Netherlands, and Finland. Once your postcard is received and registered, you get placed on the list to get a postcard sent to your address.           ...

            Some of my friends are already aware that over the past few weeks I have been asking them to post words of thanks on their Facebook or Twitter accounts. I have called it Thankful Thursday. I am not the first person to post Thankful Thursday messages. But, I think it is an important tradition to start. It is a good reminder that at least once a week, I need to stop and express my gratitude for all I have been blessed with.             I have been encouraged as many of my friends also have posted messages of gratitude on Thankful Thursday. I think it is so important that as a community, we express thanks for family, jobs, relaxation, friends, and so many other things. There are so many negative words passed along on social media sites. There are days when it becomes depressing to look at these sites, as I watch friends argue over politics, religion, cultural mores, and everything els...

              I am so very proud of our daughter. She has learned a great lesson in patience and hard work.              Several months ago, she asked us to get a Frozen castle. Yes, we have a little girl in love with all things Frozen (the most recent Disney animated film). She lives and breathes Frozen. We have the movie and the soundtrack (and yes, we all know all the lyrics to all the songs. Don’t judge). She loves the character of Elsa, as it seems do all little girls around the world.              Two or three months ago, she asked us if we would buy her the toy castle. Actually, it is two castles in one, with one half representing the castle of Arendelle, and the other half representing Elsa’s ice castle. But there was one problem. The toy castle was pricey. So, we told her that she would have to save her money to get the castle. We told her we would have a yard sa...

We have made a list of summer activities for our family. Each family member chose five activities for us to do over the summer. Here is the list. 1) Make Your Own Pottery 2) Go to the local Water Park 3) Go to a university sporting game 4) Go horseback riding 5) Have a yard sale (so that we can pay for all of these activities!) 6) Go to the rodeo 7) See the movie Planes: Fire and Rescue 8) Go ice skating 9) Go to the shooting range 10) Go to a play 11) Take a ride on the Heavenly Gondola 12) Watch the 4th of July fireworks 13) Go to a Reno Aces baseball game 14) Go to Chuck E Cheeses and Toys 'R' Us (they are conveniently located next to each other) 15) Go to Build A Bear workshop 16) Write a letter/send a care package to a soldier 17) Go to the Planetarium 18) Build a volcano 19) Take a trip to Cowboy Town (That's our name for Virginia City) 20) Take a trip to the pool We have already crossed one activity off of this list. We...

  This morning was an adventure at the Hale Home. At 3 a.m. our dog started scratching at the door to our son’s room (we lock our dogs in the kids’ bedrooms overnight). This dog has been getting up early recently. So I got out of bed, still mostly asleep, to let him out. As he and I walked down the hallway in the dark, he started running and chasing something in our living room. They fought and made their way down the hallway into the bathroom. “Great, the dog has got in a fight with our cat,” I think. Our cat stays in our bedroom during the day, but is allowed to prowl the house at night. I turned on the kitchen light, and made my way to the bathroom where our dog was barking and in attack mode. I turned on the bathroom light to find our cat and get her back into our bedroom. What a surprise when I turned on the light, and found a raccoon in the bathtub, hair raised, scared but ready for a fight.             How did a...

Eighty days. That is how long our summer break lasts. Our first grade son finished school today and returns to school in 81 days. Our daughter will start kindergarten at the same time. So, we have 80 days of summer fun ahead of us.             In some ways, I am really looking forward to the summer break. During the school year, we are very active with sports activities, Cub Scouts, dance, church, PTO, and school work. It is great to have some time to decompress with down time. In other ways, however, I am very worried about our summer. This year, I will be home with the kids for the majority of the time. I have a flexible work schedule, and I can work early mornings and late nights to do what I need to do. My wife does not have that kind of flexibility with her work, so she cannot take care of the kids during the normal work week. And while I love my kids dearly, I do dread spending so many hours with them each day. ...

Hello, and welcome to our new blog. It is a blog all about our family. It is a blog about our interests and observations. So, why are we doing this? Both Amy and I have blogged before. I enjoy blogging. But, I found that my previous blogs had limited what I was able to say and write. One of my blogs was used to give my reflections as a pastor. My other blog was used to address issues from a Christian man's perspective. However, there are times when I want to share my thoughts without putting a Christian spin on things. Not every life experience is a sermon illustration. I felt restricted to addressing "faith" topics in those blogs. What do I do if I want to share an amusing anecdote about a family drive to the lake? Or share a great money-saving device I found? Or any number of other things? How can I share fun family anecdotes without turning them into a sermon? I needed another venue. Amy felt similarly limited with her faith blog as well. So here we have what I hop...