The Bales Family

Long Awaited Recap.....I know it's about time!

2010-01-29T14:17:00.000-08:00

I guess life got away from me and I have been so busy I have been a horrible blogger, but today I will do my best since we are snowed in to update this blog with our year in review.

Memorial Day in OKC
Starting with our Trip to Oklahoma City to visit Justin's sister Laura and her kids on Memorial Day weekend. We had a great time spending time with her family and going to the Oklahoma City Zoo, which by the way is so big with so much to see we didn't make it over to the Aquarium, maybe next time. We went to Bricktown as well and had a great day visiting all the stores and taking a boat ride down the "river". Towards the end of the day a HUGE thunderstorm rolled in so we waited it out with an awesome barbecue dinner at Earls.

Allison turned 10, went to Camp and then we went to see the JONAS Brother's!
Yes, this has been a big year for Miss Allison it's hard to believe she is actually closer to 11 now. So far she has survived her first year of middle school and done pretty well. She is involved in volleyball and has decided she Loves to ski which of course makes her momma very proud. She went to Hidden Falls Ranch again with her friends Emily and Whitley and had a blast away from the parents as usual. We left the day after she was back from camp and headed to the new Dallas Cowboys Stadium with the girls for her long awaited birthday present....the JONAS BROTHER'S! We had a blast and for once she wasn't embarrassed of me which is always a bonus at this age!

The kids and I headed to Sunny Arizona....
In July the kids and I flew out to Arizona to see my sister, mom, and nephew. It was Colton's first airplane ride and Allison's 10 millionth...oh how we miss flying for free...those were the days! We had a great week complete with Mukutu's Island, The Phoenix Children's Museum, Amazing Jakes, Swimming with the Hines family and a wonderful reunion with my best friend from high school, Kelly, and her son Mason. I sure do miss being able to fly out there whenever I felt like it.

Fall brought with it alot of proud moments, My great-grandmother turned 102, and our hearts remembered my grandmother that shared the same birthday as my granny but passed in the spring.
We found a church home which is something we had been planning to do for a long time. We joined South Georgia Baptist Church and are so happy that Allison is enjoying it so much. She continues to learn and grow in Christ and also made a very BIG decision to be baptized . We are so proud of her.

My Baby Boy turned 2!
Colton celebrated his 2nd Birthday with a Thomas the Train party. He took a nap at the perfect time and woke up to Thomas all over the house.....his face was priceless. We had a house full of kids complete with almost all of his cousins. It was a blast but still hard to believe he is already 2 years old!

Crazy Holiday Season....
We had a fast and furious Holiday season but managed to pretty much spend time with all of our dear friends and family. We had several "white elephant" parties and get-togethers so we were going going going pretty much every weekend in December...

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and is having a Very Happy New Year so far.....and I hope this year I can keep this blog a little more current!

Winter Family Fun During Spring?

2009-03-29T15:41:00.000-07:00

We've spent the early part of spring enjoying some wintertime weather! We started with a ski trip during spring break to Angel Fire, NM. Pops took his girls and their families for some good family fun! We went skiing two days at Angel Fire and one day at Sipapu..which I must say truly made me feel my age. With us we had five brand new skiers ranging in ages from 12 to 4. I must say they all did a wonderful job and really enjoyed it! I see many more ski trips in our future.

Thanks Dad for an awsome and much needed get away!!!!!!!!!!!

Then an unexpected Snow Day!!!!

Then we were blessed with a Spring Blizzard. We had a fire roaring in the fireplace all day and enjoyed watching movies and spending time together during the blizzard...but then the next day we couldn't resist getting out and enjoying the snow. We went sledding complete with a snowball fight and went and spent the day at Nana's digging tunnels in her huge snow drift! It was a blast but Colton sure wasn't fond of being cold!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!

2009-01-04T07:16:00.000-08:00

It was another busy holiday season filled with all of our friends and family. We kicked off the Christmas season with an early Christmas at Nana's. All of the grandkids were able to be there which I know made her day. All four of her grandkids are now married or engaged so it's starting to be a packed house! Our next get together was Justin's extended family Christmas. We always have tons of food and fun. We do a Chinese Christmas and it is a blast. This year Madison was my target and I am so glad I did not get stuck with the High School Musical Board game, although it was fun picking on her! Our Christmas Eve was a quite one. Justin's parents came over and we had our Christmas with them. It was a much needed relaxing evening. We had a fire and peppermint hot cocoa while the kids played with their new toys. That night Justin snuck back over to his parents house to pick up Allison's puppy. I can not believe we were able to pull it off. She had absolutely no clue!! And if you know Allison it is really hard to surprise her! Bright and early at 6am we put the puppy in bed with her, her reaction was priceless. She was so happy!
Colton didn't quite know what to make of Christmas yet, but that didn't keep him from getting every toy possible. New Year's of course is always fun for us too. We usually have all of our family and friends over to play games. This year it was just my sisters and their families. The kids always have a blast getting to stay up late and have their sparkling grape juice. This year we played pictionary followed by Rockband on the Wii. This was Mimi's present to my husband. The kids are all really good at it. I have attached some pics of all of our festivities. From our house to yours I hope everyone had a Great Christmas..and wishing everyone a Very Blessed New Year!

Rootin Tootin First Birthday Party!!

2008-12-14T16:28:00.001-08:00

Well our little buckeroo is almost one...we celebrated this weekend with a Cowboy party and Colton had a blast. He was in good spirits the entire time but was pretty tuckered out afterwards. We had alot of birthday guests including Mimi who came all the way from Phoenix for the big event. It's hard to believe it has already been a whole year, considering we waited for him for so long. He is walking and trying his hardest to run after the big kids. His onry little grin can make the worst day better! This past year has truly been fun watching him grow and change with each passing day. I am sure it will only get more exciting.....HAPPY 1st BIRTHDAY COLTON !!!

Our Busy Fall

2008-12-09T08:03:00.000-08:00

Well I wasn't kidding when I said it was shaping up to be a busy fall. I obviously have not updated this in quite some time. Although it was busy, it was great. Allison wrapped up soccer season and tried out her hand at volleyball for the first time. I even coached her Kids Inc team. Let's just say I have a whole new respect for coaches. Now that volleyball is over we are starting Winter basketball. Never a dull moment around here. We still managed to squezze in some great family time between it all. We started with the corn field, it was an all day event complete with a hayride and pumpkin picking. We of course went trick or treating, Allison as a rocker and Colton as Tigger.

For Thanksgiving, we ate all day long!! We started at Nana's and ended at home where we were blessed to have Justin's parents and sisters over to visit and of course Johnnie brought all here good food too!! Justin loves a chance to hang out with his sisters and their kiddos. Especially since he can be a kid again with Cody and Ryan. Justina gave us a concert too, I think aunt JuJu should get a kareoke machine for her house for Christmas!! haha. Now we are busy gearing up for Colton's First Birthday and Christmas!!! I will be sure to be a little quicker with all of those pics. Until then I hope everyone is having a great HOLIDAY SEASON!!

In Full Swing of Fall

2008-09-20T18:36:00.000-07:00

So fall is in full swing, the weather is getting a little cooler and we are busier than ever! Allison is loving life as the top dog of elementary school. This will be her last year before she is off for intermediate school, and I can't believe it. She is doing well with her schoolwork and is signing up for every service club possible. She played her first soccer game today, first half as forward and second half as goalie, they didn't win but they sure did give it their best effort. These girls have been playing together since kindergarten and they have come a long way to say the least.

Colton is finally getting around......everywhere!! He is getting faster and faster everyday. It amazes me how quickly you forget how fast time really goes. He will be 9 months old this week. Which means I have a Big 1st birthday to get planned. Most of you know birthday's are a HUGE deal around here for the kids. I am really in my element when I am planning a party. He also has his first tooth which of course just makes his smile that much cuter!!

Since my last post Justin and I have celebrated our 3rd anniversary and shortly after my cousin finally got married, it was a really cool wedding in a barn complete with tractors and hay bales, very much fit the crazy country kids they are. We had a blast dancing the night away and celebrating with Clint and Megan. Along with Megan my family also gained two cuties. (See pics) They are rowdy and fun just like the rest of us and I think we are in for one FUN Christmas at Nana's this year. I know my Papa would be very proud. It's times like these that I know he is looking down on us with that same smile and pride in his eyes he always had for his family.

One Last Getaway Before School

2008-08-19T20:12:00.001-07:00

This past weekend we loaded up and headed to Dallas. We had such a great time! We stayed with Justin's Sister and Brother in law who were great host for our trip. We were welcomed with a steak dinner and Tammy also kept Colton all day on Saturday while Justin and I took the four yes four kids to Six Flags all day! Needless to say I think we were both feeling our age by the end of the day. The weather was bearable and the kids had a great time. We really wish we could see them more often. Justin loves getting a chance to be a kid again with Ryan and Cody and for now I have them somewhat convinced that I'm a pretty cool aunt. Allison brought along her friend Caitlyn and minus a little bit of girl drama they had a good time too. Of course they both idolize the boys and they tolerate the girls pretty well. Sunday we hit the mall and got to see the boys skate, I know Justin was wishing he could've given it a try but we wanted him to be able to move when he got home. We took the girls to Build a Bear of course, and had lunch at the Rain Forrest Cafe' . I was a litlle worried that it might scare Colton, but he loved it and couldn't take his eyes off all of the big fish aquariums. It was a great way to wrap up what's been a great summer. It really did just fly by too fast and we never feel like we get to spend enough time with all of our family, including the one's that live close. It's already shaping up to be a busy fall, school and soccer are about to be in full swing, and pretty soon I'm going to have a little boy running all over the place, he gets closer and closer to being mobile every day. Hope everyone had a wonderful summer and looking foward to a great fall. Love~Julia~

Colton says "DaDa"

2008-07-23T20:32:00.001-07:00

Well Colton turned 7 months old yesterday and he has said his first word, of course it was "dada." He is just growing sooooo fast. He thinks it is rather funny when I say mama mama and he laughs and says dadadada. We are still not crawling yet but have discovered that rolling, scooting, and squirming is working just fine for now. I was really trying to get him to crawl but have come to the conclusion that once he starts I don't think I'm going to be able to stop him so I've decided to patiently wait for him to decide it's time, I have no doubt that he could if he wanted to. You can see his mind working as he is staring at all the stuff on the coffee table and trying to contemplate how it is that he can get up there to clear it off for me someday. He is something else, and I'm sure that his daddy's crooked grin he has inherited is going to get him out of alot of trouble someday.

Great Friends and Good Times!

2008-07-13T06:41:00.000-07:00

This summer has been so great. We are very blessed to not only have a wonderful family but friends that have become our chosen family. Justin has several best friends that he has grown up with since a very young age and lucky for me they along with their wonderful wives have also become some of my very best friends. On July 4th we had almost a reunion type get together with them all. It was a long overdue get together but since we are all married and most with children it is sometimes a challenge to get us all together at the same time. Casey and Angela brought their new baby boy Grayson and everyone else came over to meet him for the first time. The above picture greatly represents the big trouble and the future trouble of the group. It is so cool that our kids will get to grow up together just like Justin and the boys did.

Yesterday we went and spent all day with the Halcom's at lake Greenbelt. We had a great time hanging out and having a relaxing day away from the rat race. We have decided to put at least one weekend on the calander each year and no matter what we are going to all get together. That is our most recent summer fun and it's not over yet....we will be going to Dallas to visit Tammy and the boys in August before the dreaded school year starts again. I will keep you updated and have attached many pics! Take care everyone, Love Julia

Allison's Week at Camp

2008-06-24T20:19:00.000-07:00

Well this week Allison is off for her week of camp at HFR. This is her second year to go and she absolutely loves it. I know she has a blast but it is so weird to not be able to actually talk to her and hear her voice. She is usually pretty good about writing me at least once and I am able to send an em to her each day that they deliver to her but she can't em me back. I have this feeling that when the day comes for her to leave home I will morph into one of "those" mothers that totally annoys her with a daily phone call if not more. Sometimes in our busy life I take for granted that all and all she is more than just my daughter she is my friend even at 9 yrs old she keeps me entertained with her company. As you can see from the picture I included I don't think she is missing my company much. What more could she ask for....a week away without the dreaded parents. I know better though rather she'll admit it or not I know she misses us at least a little.

Memorial Weekend

2008-05-26T07:02:00.000-07:00

We spent the entire Memorial Day Weekend hanging out together as a family. Sunday we went to Shamrock to visit my sister and her fiance. My older sister and kids also went. We had a great time. We went down by the river and the kids played and played and played some more. The water was so clear and warm, even Colton decided to play. He wasn't quite sure about the sand at first but once he was used to it he splashed around alot too. It was so nice to just get away. We definately don't do it often enough. All of the kids are growing up so fast, it won't be long before they think they are too big to hang out with us old folks. So it's nice to give them these memories to take with them later and hopefully teach them to spend quality time with their kids the same way someday. I know I have alot of fond memories of camping, vacations, and lake trips that are tucked away in my heart and mind forever. And yes there was also a time when I thought I was too cool for that stuff and now I live for it. It's funny after those stubborn teen years pass how you one day see how they were just a mere blur of your life. Anyway this weekend was a great start to what I hope will be a wonderful summer full of great memories! Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday weekend!

All the kids wrestling Uncle Danny!!

2008-05-17T08:15:00.001-07:00

A Little About Us

2008-05-17T07:08:00.001-07:00

We have been together for almost 5 years and married for 3. We are truly each others best friend. In the three short years we've been married we have faced alot of challenges that only made us stronger. We are so lucky to have been blessed with good friends, great family, and a wonderful and merciful God. We met while working for Delta Airlines and Justin proposed to me on his birthday at the airport the week before Delta left and we all went on separate journeys. We of course would continue our journey together. We were married on August 20, 2005 surrounded by many family and friends. We are always saying we wish we could have our reception all over again. Justin now works for Coors, which is of course every man's dream, to sell beer, what better job could you possibly want. I have been working for AIG Annuity for a little over 3 years now. We have two wonderful kids that keep us busy. When we are not busy, which now is very rare, we both like to travel and do pretty much everything outside.