Zizah Marie Wall

(I am posting this for Cari)
7 pounds 11 ounces
19.5 inches
Born May 29th 1:30PM
And the pictures(all anyone cares about)

Speed's Birthday - The Pictures

Here are the pictures from Speed's birthday party. Yes, he really picked chocolate cake. I was surprised how many people were surprised he picked chocolate - it's yummy. Pretty much all of the pictures were from my sister-in-law, which I am so grateful she took. Otherwise, we'd pretty much have a picture of the cake and that's it!

Speed's Birthday - The Videos

I feel bad that it's taken me most of the week to get these up, but hey, life is crazy right now. I think Speed had a pretty good birthday despite the fact that he had to take a nap. He loves his presents and really enjoyed his cake and balloons. It's crazy to realize that he's 2 now. He's such a good, fun boy. Enjoy the videos and I'll get some pictures posted soon. :)

Presents Part 1:

0:00 - 2:05 Oma and Opa
2:05 - 4:50 Grandma and Grandpa
4:50 - 7:25 Kathy and Jimmy
7:25 - 8:15 Hazel
8:15 - 10:11 Bret and Tevia

Presents Part 2:

The Whole Thing - Mom and Dad

Singing and Cake:

Mid-May

Even though I know that time goes quickly, it still amazes me how fast it goes.  I am grateful that I have been able to keep much of my stress with my job in line as I have tried to apply some of the things I read in "Don't Sweat the Small Stuff".  It has worked - though I still have a ways to go.  But enough about work.  May has been a great month. 

This last weekend I took the boys to "Fathers and Sons" up near Prescott.  We go every year and Jacob brought Speed again this year, too.  We were worried about the fire near there - and whether it would be smokey.  But I checked the weather and it seemed good.  And it was.  It was quite cool (in the 40s at night) and there weren't many people there.  But I had a lot of fun.  I think the boys did, too.  I love this new tent Tevia bought last year which fits a lot of people and is so easy to set up and take down.  In the evening they did a short presentation where they showed a video of the Joseph Smith story.  On the way home we asked the boys their favorite part.  I was shocked to hear Enok say that his was watching the Joseph Smith video.  I didn't sleep all that well, but made up for it on Saturday night. 

Saturday we had people over for a BBQ and it was great fun.  I took a day off on Friday to work on the house and get ready for camping.  We have had a lot of great dinners with family members and have enjoyed the summer heat.  Our garden is doing fairly well, though I'm jealous Jacob's sunflowers survived the ravaging of the birds.  Ours did not.  I am looking forward to another three day weekend this week and then summer is here, with weddings, camping trips, and vacations all in store.  I can't wait!

over 100?

I am totally not about numbers, but I was in a conversation with Bret the other night, and as I was talking, just threw out the lots of people have joined the church after I did in what daddy calls, a fresh new line.
I thought I would try to make a guessitmate, just for fun.  (I am not bragging or trying to belittle any true church doctrine here, just curious)
So, 4 kids, 6 grandkids, Jimmy, Michael, Wilda, Jesse, Kathy, Sarah, Rachel, and their 4 kids, Marsha, Karen Custer, Aunt Alicia, = 25.
Probably missing some, but, the reason I blogged it is for help with you boys.  I  know you didn't get in to counting baptisms, but, with all 3 boys baptisms, do you think the total number goes over 100?
Oh, and then I got to thinking in the temple yesterday, those are only the ones on this side of the veil.
I guess that is why dad likes when missionaries find a brand new line to start.  Just happy thinking about it.

For the Record

My predictions of 2012 are looking fantastic. Only one I am nervous about is going to Mexixo. Though, I am now more determined to go, even if its just crossing the border, to ensure I have 100% on my predictions. =)

Mom and Milan = happy

Well, they are settled in to their new little apartment, and from what I hear, they both love it!  Everyone says they see the biggest change in Milan. He is getting the right medication, and so is less sleepy and crabby, and seems to have come alive again. All the people in the place already love mom and Milan.
They have been waking up by 8 just to get the 'free' breakfast'. They used to sleep until 10 or 11 am.
Mom says the place is adorable. She loves not having to worry about the house anymore.
Their laundry is done daily, their meds are watched over, they are eating better, and they have things to do.
I love hearing her voice sound more positive and I am glad she can enjoy her life a bit better now.
Address:
Athenian Assisted Living
Apt 326
12799 Doula Lane
North Royalton, OH, 44133
new phone #, 440-230-9039

She lived in that house since 1972, 40 years.  It will be weird for  me not having 'home' to go to when I go visit.
I am happy that it all worked out so well.

Hazel's Birthday - the pictures

Our Hazel girl is 4. Crazy. Here are some fun pics of the occasion. The really good ones are courtesy of my sister-in-law. :)

(I do have to say that I'm pretty proud of the cake considering that I free handed it in about 45 minutes.)

Speed & Balloons

We might be bad parents but it was just too funny to stop him.

Speed Likes Balloons (Maybe a little TOO much)



Speed Gets His Revenge

Hazel's Birthday - The Videos

Hazel Opening Presents - Super long, so here's the breakdown:
0:00 - 2:10 is setup, Jacob's commentary & Speed's tantrum
2:10 - 5:00 is Grandma & Grandpa Wall
5:00 - 6:50 is Oma & Opa
6:50 - 10:00 is Aunt Kathy & Uncle Jimmy
10:00 - 12:30 is Aunt Tevia & Uncle Bret
12:30 - 13:25 is Daddy
13:25 - 14:38 is Mommy


















 Singing & The Cake (Diego)
  

Trip to London 2012

I traveled to London this week for business.  I have been to London several times now, and for this trip I wasn't really looking forward to going.  The appeal of a new and foreign location no longer apply and in the end would rather have stayed home and worked.  But it was important to go and in the end it was a very productive and useful trip.  But I won't focus on the work aspect, but rather on the other things that happened.

I took the direct flight via British Airways.  I don't usually like the direct flights to Europe/Asia as I like to have time to get out and walk.  But this was the cheapest flight by far, and since I'm a sucker for trying to save my company money (a habit I need to lose) I took it.  The good part of BA is that they usually have a ton of movies to watch.  I always hope to have an empty seat next to me so I can possibly lie down or at least have some extra room.  It looked like I was in luck when right before takeoff a young woman sat next to me.  She said she was supposed to have an aisle seat but somehow things got messed up and so she was told to just find an open seat.  Lucky me.  If she hadn't sat there I would have had two seats between me and the lady at the other end of my aisle.  The young woman was chatty and I am trying lately to be more "friendly" so I spoke with her.  I found out she was currently going to Thunderbird and we talked quite a bit about that.  She eventually mentioned she uses the bathroom regularly and wanted to know if she could have my seat (aisle).  I politely declined.  An hour later after she had gone to the bathroom two or three times, I eventually decided I would.  In the end it was a great decision because now I did have an empty seat next to me and was able to take advantage of that extra room.  I even slept for about 4 hours - something that rarely happens with me.

Upon landing in London it took 2 hours to get through immigration.  I can tell the Olympics are going to be a lot of fun to go to if that keeps up.  I took a cab to the hotel, changed and went into the office.  I had Pret for dinner, one of my fav places to eat in the UK and Hong Kong.  I slept fairly well most of the week.  I worked a lot, so had little time to be a tourist - plus little motivation as I've done most of the touristy things in London.  But the second night after a late night working and a great dinner I decided to go see the Avengers movie.  It was out in London before opening in the USA, so I was able to get in to a 3D showing.  They call the movie "Avengers Assemble" in UK for some reason.  The movie was quite enjoyable and I got to brag to everyone back in the USA that I got to see it first.

The days went quickly.  I worked a lot but managed to have some great dinners.  My last dinner was at a Thai place that I ate at twice.  This is a chain that Tevia had eaten at while in London and had loved it.  I admit it is fantastic.  The meal consisted of pumpkin curry, a side of amazing calamari, a side called panden chicken, and a drink called a grapefruit mojito.  This was a little like a mojito (sans alcohol) made with grapefruit juice, mint leaves, vanilla and chili.  It blew me away how good it was.  I will have to figure out how to make one here.

My last day (Saturday) I woke up early and walked around St. James Park, one of my favorite parks to walk.  The city was empty and it was overcast and cold.  But I loved walking around the pond and watching the ducks and other birds.  It felt peaceful and was a great way to end my trip.  I got back to the airport via the tube as I had plenty of time and thought I'd save my company a ton of money that way.  My flight back was uneventful and not too long.  I got home to be whisked away to a dinner with my siblings which was fun and good.

The trip was good for a few reasons.  I had some good food.  The business aspect went well.  It went quickly.  But most of all I think it gave me a new perspective on my job and life.  This was also inspired by a book I had brought to read on the plane called Don't Sweat the Small Stuff at Work.  Hopefully I can take this advice and new found inspiration to heart and start to be less stressed.  Somewhere along the way life (particularly work) had become so stressful.  But I realize that I have allowed it to.  I need to take back control and enjoy my life.  I know I am a hard worker and very talented.  So in that sense the trip was renewing to me.  The last part of the trip that made me laugh is that they have a show on TV called "Made in Chelsea" which is like that reality show called "The Hills" they had years ago.  On it they had a guy named Hugo who reminded me a lot of Jacob Webb.  So every time I would see him it would make me laugh.  I don't get to see Jacob much these days, so to make up for it I will try to watch Made in Chelsea to get my Webb fix.  Maybe that will get him to move to Phoenix.

It's great to be back in the heat and with the family.

Happy Birthday, Hazel!!

I'll post more pictures and videos in the next couple of days but in the meantime, if someone would like to tell me where the last 4 years went, that'd be great.

 A few hours old

 1 year old

 2 years old

 3 years old

4 years old

P.S. It may have taken us 4 years but at least we've finally tamed that hair!! :-)

Windows!

Well after about a year of waiting, we installed all new windows. Thanks mostly to Bret going first, the project was straight forward and relatively pain free. Hazel and Speed both took turns helping and then angering me by spilling nails everywhere... twice! But Hazel was thrilled to get to paint after I was done preparing the surfaces. Unfortunately, Cari came home and rated it a 7/10. I was hoping for an impression that was better than "not too shabby," but that seems to be about the level of quality home improvements always seem to finish.

I still have to seal the outside and finish the trim and paint the other windows. But, that goes fairly quickly.

Honestly, when I purchased these windows the people I talked to never mentioned what ended up being the best feature. These windows are WAY quiet! I would think that would be a selling point they would be very excited about, and less about a mystical 15% energy savings. Also, having nice screens is awesome!

The windows we bought ranged from $200 to $300 depending on size and all the additional stuff came to a little more than $100. So the total job was about $1100 for 4 very large windows. I would recommend new windows to anyone on the fence about switching from aluminum. Well worth the money if installed yourself.

idea suggestions

So I was thinking, dad and I need something to do- together.  Everything we do right now is separate.  We don't have a lot of time to get a huge new hobby, like kayaking or sailing, but we do need some suggestions.  I mean, we know we can read a book together, or watch a series together. We are trying to come up with something a little more creative. Any good ideas you can think of, let us know. We are looking for suggestions.

thought of the day- mom

I always think of myself as a fun-loving, happy person. Somehow along the way, I seem to have lost that, and I am sorry if I have started seeming to be a crabby, complaining, negative person.  I never saw the change coming, and didn't even notice it.  Others have been kind enough  to point it out.  No, I am not saying that sarcastically, nor to anyone in particular. I seem to have become too serious lately.  I want you all to know that I am very happy inside, and have great joy, stemming from the Gospel plan, and my children and grandchildren.

I love my life! I will smile more.  :) 

Name for #3

Alright, as you have probably heard, each person gets 1 vote. I like all three names so I will be happy regardless. You may make middle name suggestions but I can't promise anything because Cari is in charge of those. Oh yeah, and if it is a girl the name is Zizah Marie Wall

1) Ezra ______ Wall

2) Thor ______ Wall

3) Corban ____ Wall (heavy religious meaning here)

Good luck and happy voting!

Gardening

My Parsley

From this:

To this:

To this:

I'm just reusing the bottle - it was about empty when I started crumbling my dried parsley - I had about 10 bunches the size of the two in the picture above. I use plenty of it fresh still but it was getting overgrown, so I decided to cut and dry a bunch of it.

 Our few tiny strawberries we got - it looks like our plant isn't going to make it which is sad, but not unexpected.

 I had 6 out of 10 bulbs sprout, but only got one flower. Still not sure what I did wrong on the daffodils.

 Jacob's amazing garden about 3 weeks ago.

Jacob's amazing garden this morning. Zucchini + snap peas + butter lettuce = win. And the giant things in the far corner are sunflowers.

Our first few little zucchini - yum!!

 My two little raspberries bushes, which are doing GREAT. I'm so excited. :)

 The grapes we planted last fall that we thought had died. Who knew grapes vines went dormant in the winter. Ok, we didn't know.

The new grape vines we planted several weeks ago.

And again this morning. The one on the left has now grown up to the top of the trellis and the one on the right has about 20 tiny bunches of grapes growing on it.

A Few Days Late But...

Happy Easter!!

March 2012

March came in like a lion and out like a lamb.  Thank goodness.  We had some great times as a family and saw our boys perform in concerts, continue to get great grades (straight As again for 3rd quarter!) and we saw glimpses of summer (and the first swim of the season in the pool).  Enok played his first soccer game, which was fun to watch.  We got a new patio door off the side of the house, put in a new patio, and just replaced our front two windows (thanks to the help of Tevia's dad). 

Work has been going much better.  Stress levels are down and living with me is probably much more fun.  Our ward got into the stake tournament and we won the championship after a double-header last week.  That was a lot of fun. 

We have been blessed with pretty good health for the most part.  The boys had Spring Break, though I had a business trip that week.  That trip was fun, though, as I got to spend a day or two with my parents in NY.  We talked a lot and had lunch at the Culinary Institute of America (I love that place).  It was fun to spend time with them. 

I am looking forward to the summer.  We have some fun plans.  Currently we are up on Lakeside for Easter. 

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