Winter cold and winter storms

My first cold in a long time arrived a day before our first real snow storm last night (real is defined as snow that actually sticks on the grass for more than a couple of minutes).  Ben ran outside to take this picture of our house.  The second picture is out our backdoor.  I don't know if you can see it but the white "bubble" in the back ground is our neighbor's 'covered' pool.  It comes off in the summer but they enjoy swimming year around.

So I am hanging out at home having a very quiet Sunday while only Debbie and Amy from the Presidency are there with our great Primary of 170 kids or so (counting nursery).  Kristy is still recovering form her broken foot.  I am sure the kids are all excited because of the snow and the short week from school.  I miss them, especially hearing them singing and the funny things that they might say.  Having a hard time...visit Primary for the day.

I saw a title on a book as I was rushing by to grab what I was looking for at Seagull Book store.  It was "How do you stay close to your adult children (and still let them grow-up)?"  It is a question that I have wondered about.  On Tuesday of this week, I had a texting session with Jessica, talked on the phone with Scott, and then Tosha surprised me by coming over in response to a text I sent her asking how she was.  It was amazing how much those sweet interactions meant to me.  Nothing major was accomplished, just checking in.  Back in the day when I left for BYU, I thought I did well if I wrote my parents every other week.  After I was married it was more often like once a month.  Phone calls were expensive so we usually called only for special things or occasions.  I like the ability to interact by text, phone, email or in person with my kids.  I hope that I am still letting them grow-up........................maybe I need to get that book!

Hope your day is happy and bright----with or without snow!

"I walk in celebration of....

November is National Adoption Month and as part of the month long celebration, I attended an adoption walk down at Liberty Park in Salt Lake.  People dress in orange (not sure why orange?) and wore signs on their backs that said, "I walk in celebration of  ...and then you list who in your life is there because of adoption.  They ran out of signs before I arrived but mine would have said:  "I walk in celebration of my dad, his mom, Ramona and his birth mother, Viola, my own children Scott, Ben, Tosha, and Jena and their birth parents, and my niece, Lora and nephews David and Zech, and all of the wonderful birth parents and adoptive families I have know in my life......(and Jessica and Gary, too, because they are also part of our forever family)"  I would have needed two or three signs to get that all on one sheet!  Adoption has been a big part of my life both in our family, neighborhood, and also my volunteer and professional life.

Here is most of the group from Layton Families Supporting Adoption chapter.

We had another adoption event yesterday where we gathered at Boondocks a local fun center for a few hours of family fun....Jena and Gary had the fun and I helped collect money and manage clean-up as our agency was the host this year.  This was the first year that it was held in Davis County.  In the past, it was held just in Salt Lake county for the whole state.  This year we had 1000 people at our celebration and they had about 1300 in Draper.  The past high was 1100 in total so we were very excited.  Wendy's donated chili.  That was a lot of chili.......

Hug an adoptive child, birth parent, or family you know. 

On the way out of Libery Park which was beautiful at this time of the year, I drove past a line of trees where the leaves were falling like snowflakes.  It was so constant, the floating down of the leaves.  I pulled over and tried to get a picture of it, but it really didn't work too well.  If you look closely at the trunk of this tree you can see some orange leaves falling.  It was so amazing in person.

Enjoy your fall weather..............................



Rain Gutter regatta....

As Jena's value experience for Good Works and for a part of my Wood Badge ticket, she and I worked together (with help from Gary and the Mia Maids and Teachers) to organize and put on a Rain Gutter Regatta for the Morgan County Special Needs Mutual.  Jena designed flyers and made announcements, and put together the bottles for the boats.  Gary and I set up the Church with the rain gutters, tables, etc.  The Mutual meets at a Chapel in Peterson, Utah, about 40 minutes away.  Jena's friend Maddie attends that Mutual with her mom who serves in the YW presidency for the Mutual.  Here is Jena getting ready to help Maddie race her boat.  Our Mia Maids and Teachers came to assist and they were AWESOME.  They jump right in to help each person design their sail and assemble their boats.  In addition, they helped blow the boats to the finish line.  It was one of those events that worked better than we could have imagined and our youth would like to do it again.  We are looking at a rocket shooting activity as part of a summer BBQ and perhaps to include the entire YW/YM which would be a possibility of almost 100 kids.

Halloween Hall-style



There her Owl sits with the pumpkins
who will "live" another day.





A ttribute to our Texas time





No more tricker-treaters in our house these days, but Jena still wanted to dress up for our annual Hall Halloween dinner at Aunt Valerie's--chili and scones. It is fun to see the cousins and visit for awhile. Since it was in our neighborhood, we took over our candy and had kids take one from our bowls too. The Primary kids liked showing their costumes to us and one of Gary's class instructed him to bring the "left over" candy to class on Sunday (And she was disappointed that he didn't, but trust me they all had had quite enough candy.) Gary wore our old "Twinkle" costume and got a lot of comments. He started instructing the kids to NOT call him a name and then they would promptly call him "Twinkle". The best line was from one of the nine year old girls in the ward. She didn't call him "twinkle" but after we had finished talking to them, she said with a total straight face, "You look good enough to eat." and then ran off. It was very funny at the time, not quite as much in the retelling but it was all in her delivery.

Then on Halloween Sunday we had our "Meal in a Pumpkin".  It is one of those things that I haven't done enough to actually call it a tradition but have done it off and on over the years enough so I would have thought the kids would remember it.  That was blown when Scott walked in with Chantel and said, "What is that?".  It is a type of stew and you rub off some of the cooked pumpkin into it as you dish it up.  I like it.
This year I put a face on it.

The weather was rainy and cold on Saturday when it was time for trick-n-treaters but there were moments when it stopped and we had beautiful rainbows.  For a time we had a double rainbow which I tried to take a picture of but it is hard to see the out side rainbow.  Now we are enjoying weather in the 60s and clear.

These are outside Gary's sister's house.  The sky was awesome
during the breaks in the rain.

Happy Halloween and welcome to November!

How many shopping days until Christmas????

October Fall in Syracuse

Happy Halloween

It is October so I managed to pull out the Halloween decorations before we left for San Fransisco. 

This hangs on our front door.

I already blogged about our short trip to San Fransisco.  It was beautiful weather there and also here.  Our weather did one of those unseasonable warm to winter weather in just a few days.  We actually have had snow flurries this week in our town with lots of snow in the mountains.  We have enjoyed the wonderful colors of the fall from our maple trees in front. 

They are very slow growing, but the colors of their leaves are amazing. 

(I had a great picture when they were full of red and brown leaves but I can't find it anywhere.)

On Oct. 10th, Tosha ran a half Marathon around Layton and Syracuse.  She was pleased with her time since this was her first time.  She is hoping to be ready to do a full Marathon in the spring.

I had  headed home a day early from San Fran to coach Jean's Special Olympic basketball team.  They were preparing for the Fall Games which are held at the University of Utah each October.  Jena was involved in swimming and basketball.  As mentioned before this was her first year to compete in the regular swim meet at the 25 meter distances.  She did back stroke and free style.  In basketball she did developmental skills.

She had a fun couple of days.  I think that she enjoys her friends almost as much if not more than the actual competition.  Fun and fitness are two major goals of Special Olympics.  Here is some looks at the competition.

That was a fun weekend.  I think that Jena got a silver and gold in swimming and then a silver in basketball.

We spent a couple of days trying to catch up from the 2 days down at the Fall Games and to prepare for the next adventures.  I flew out to St. Louis on Wednesday the 20th with five other people from Davis Behavioral Health.  We attended a training for Starting up at new Clubhouse.  Club House is a rehabitiation model to help people suffering from serious mental illnesses.  It is an international program that is very successful in helping those people find more life fulfillment and also find jobs where they can be successful in working.  I am part of a working committee to organize and support our brand new clubhouse which opened it's doors about 2 weeks ago.  It is called Journey House.  It was very intense training "from dawn to dusk" with homework.  On top of that I had a client give birth before I left so I would spend each night form 9 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. working on things to prepare for that plus talking to her.  She was three weeks early so there was things still to be done to get ready.  We were so busy while in St. Louis that we only saw the arch from our hotel and didn't get a chance to get close.

We enjoyed our time however.  Our driver who pick us up from the airport commented that we didn't look Amish......which started a fun relationship with him throughout our stay.  He told us that we weren't like most people who came for training...we started out funny and talkative rather than taking time to warm up.  That made us laugh and try harder to live up to that standard.  Four of the people work together at Davis Behavioral Health and another was a member of the Clubhouse and then I was the community member.  I didn't know the others much but they were great and I had a great time with them.  We laughed so hard when we were together.  I discovered that one of them went to school with Gary although she didn't think he would remember her (he did actually).  Hard work and fun times and not much sleep...I am getting old for that.  Even now I am still tired and not quite caught up with things.....of course I have a sore throat and moving to a cold I think so that adds to it.......

Of course, life didn't end when I got home.  We were delayed in our flights home so I didn't actually get home until 1:00 a.m.  Utah time on Saturday.  Jena and Gary had to get up at 6:30 a.m. for an early morning dress rehearsal for the Roadshow that night.  Jena was a dancer and Gary did the sound.  That meant I had to get up to get her dressed and ready to go.  Gary doesn't do ponytails.  As they spent time at their practice, I went to work to prepare for an adoption relinquishment and placement.  That was how I spent my day. 

Ben also had a big Saturday.  He spent the day in Salt Lake at a Young Adult Conference for those with mental illnesses.  He actually did two presentations on soap making as an example of leisure time activities.  It went fine and he was pleased with it.

After picking Ben up in Salt Lake, I joined Jena and Gary at the Roadshow Evening at the Stake Center.  I forgot the camera so only have one picture of Jena in her costume as a "Lollipop dancer".  She was darling and had a fun time being part of the play.  No awards were given but we had a great roadshow that was centered on "Once upon a time....when you could watch TV".  One character was "Laura Ingalls" and she was often adding little comments about "This is Walnut Grove and I belong here".  Since our ward is the Walnut Grove Ward....it added a funny twist to an already funny productions.  We all loved it.

Sunday was the Primary Program in Sacrament Meeting.  We have 155 children and in the past we have tried to write a program where most kids had a speaking or special group singing part.  This time we decided to focus on the music instead and sang a larger number of songs. The main song "I know the Savior lives" was beautiful.  The writer of the song happens to live in Syracuse and came the week before and talked about writing the song.  Then she lead the kids singing it.  It was sweet although I think the teachers were more touched that the kids themselves. 

Each class had a part they did together and then we had three children give talks about our Primary activities and two kids play a piano number.  It was awesome.  The kids sang great.  Of course, the Sunbeams were crazy and enjoyed grabbing the mic during the songs.  Oh, well...memories.

Then to manage those crazy (yet cute) kids during Sharing time we decided to do something completely different.  Gary and I put together "Walnut Grover Eyeball Benders".  We took 53 pictures around our Church building, adjusted the pictures to be close up.  Then the kids got to guess what it was in the picture.

Here is a couple of examples:

Any of you who have been in an LDS Church probably can identify all of these pictures.  Have fun!

And this week we have just been trying to recovering in the middle of all the things that we have planned.  Jena has been sick with a cold for over a week and now has bronchitis so she has been home from school all week.....so Tosha and I who are getting colds feel like the germs came from her and the junior high :)

We are hoping for a quiet weekend.............chili and scones with Gary's family and passing out candy to the neighborhood kids on Saturday and Sunday.

Hold on.....................

I know it has been awhile since I posted.  I don't want you to think nothing has happened to us since I last posted...I have just been too busy to post.  Too tired tonight but look forward to news about the Fall Special Olympics, my trip to St. Louis, Roadshows, Ben's soap making demo, etc........keep checking in....

Back home....

...to Syracuse and the real world.  It was great to get a way and it is also nice to come home again.  Gary stays one more day, but I came back to help with Special Olympics and also be able to work tomorrow.  I was glad to find things good at home and Jena had even done her homework while we were gone, although I am not sure much piano practice happened.

I really like the Bay area and we often thought we would end up there at some point in Gary's career.  Then came the internet...and home offices....and I am glad to be living here and visiting there.  That is a good place to be.

Heading up the East Bay towards

the Oakland Temple for a session and a walk around the grounds.........

The Relief of the Last Supper

The Temple Terrace...the scripture on the wall is

 from 3 Nephi where Jesus blessed the children.

The temple is built on a hill over looking Oakland, the bay,

and even San Fransisco

If my memory is correct, the Oakland Temple was the first temple I actually saw in person.  It was under contruction at the time.  I can remember parking and walking up to a fenced area and looking at the temple.  The walls were up and they had begun the work on the relief of the First Supper which is on the front.  Judging by the dates the temple was announced and completed, it must have been in the summer of 1963 or 1964.  It must have been the year we came to visit Calls in Livermore and went to Yosement National Park.  All Giberson historians are welcome to correct or clarify this memory.

It was a nice visit both to go to the temple and to visit that old memory of seeing a temple for the first time.

Off to meet Gary...................

Guess where we are?

First hint--this is an afternoon shot....

 These next two were taken about 50 miles south along Hwy. 1.

(Unfortunately, I didn't get to see them in the wild.)

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 An egg yoke jelly fish

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This is a leaf Seahorse, amazing!



Hundreds of years of "visits" by the local and traveling birds have made these rocks white....

Have you seen houses like this before?

Have you guessed yet?

Here is a self-shot with the familiar look of the Golden Gate Bridge.

Gary had a business trip in San Jose (his first trip in about 10 years) as part of a "meet the team" meeting.  Gary has worked with many people on his team for years and never met them or they haven't met many of each other, so his new boos called them together.  I got invited.  We flew in on Monday and made a quick trip up to the Golden Gate Bridge and the coast.  It was a clear day and it was great to see that amazing bridge again.  We wandered about the city and then headed to the coast and saw some huge waves, birds, and these amazing surfers holding on to kites that pulled them through the waves.  We headed back down to Cupertino to join his team for a dinner at his boss's home.

Today Gary headed to work and I went about 70 miles down to Monterrey and visited the famous Cannery Row and Monterrey Aquarium.  It was a beautiful drive through the mountains and along the coast and dunes.  Tonight Gary and I then went for Indian food which was very good, but it is biting back this evening.

I will be heading home on Thursday and Gary will return on Friday.

We appreciate our kids "minding the store" while we are gone.

One more September 25th highlight--Tosha's "Dirty Dash"..

Tosha ran in her first official 10K race with a group of friends.  She was a late entry into the team.  The race happened at Midway, Utah, and consisted of several different mud related trails that they had to go through as a team.  It included sloshing through streams, climb mud hills, running through fields of mud, you get the picture.  Here is sweet (clean) Tosha with her team, the before and after.  She will be running in her first regular race on Saturday, Antelope Race where she is running 13 miles.

She said it was great fun.  Another first in a great day!

Another Special Olympic Event

Jena swam in her first 'regular' meet for Special Olympics on October 2, 2010.  In the past, she has swam in the developmental swim meet which is the beginning levels in swallow water.  She had raced the 10 and 15 meter races for free style and back stroke.

This year her coaches decided she was ready for the Big Time and she was moved to the 25 meter length which in one length of a Olympic size pool and it was deep...so deep that Jena was worried about it.  She had practiced some in very deep water and she talked about wanting to swim in a small pool not the big one.  Her coaches said she was ready and SHE DID IT.  Two races across the 25 meters--back stroke and free style.  She was nervous but she got in and swam the races to the end without stopping.  Here is a short movie of her backstroke...ignoring my cheering for Katie and Jena.

Here is Jena with some friends showing their medals from that event.  Fun times...

And a look at Sardine Canyon on our way home from the meet which was held at Utah State University in Logan, Utah.  Jena took this pictures as we were driving.

The Logan Temple in the skyline of Logan

Pictures by Jena Hall

September 25th..

Some days are nuts...but filled with great things nonetheless.  That was true about September 25, 2010.  Jena woke up at her regular time and got dressed for swimming practice which usually is at 7:45 on Saturday.  However today, we had the area basketball tournament held in Clearfield.  This is my first year as an official "Special Olympics coach for basketball" although I have helped for the past couple of years.  I recently completed my training to be certified.  I help in the skills area where players are assessed in passing, dribbling and shooting.  This year, our team also got to play a couple of games for the first time.  Jena enjoys basketball and especially being with her friends.

I had to leave early so Gary finished my coaching assignment for me as Ben and I had been invited to a very special event in Salt Lake.  One of his teachers at the STAR program which is where he completed his last semester of schooling to graduate was being baptized.  Anne had been a very important person to Ben and to us as we adjusted to his illness and tried to help him complete school.  As part of their relationship there were opportunities where religion came up in the discussion.  She would often comment to me that she didn't understand why it happens so often with Ben and with me that she felt like talking about more personal things.  There were times that the Spirit was so strong when we were together.  I didn't imagine that two years later we would have this special experience to see her join the Church.  It was awesome.  She told us as she took the missionary lessons that she would sometimes tell them, "Oh, I heard this from Ben a couple of years ago."  Even during his trials, he was an influence for good for someone else.

Then it was the usual highlight Saturday night with the General Relief Society Conference from Salt Lake.  Our stake RS sisters joined for a pasta dinner and then watched the broadcast together.  Pres. Monson was in "rare" form, posing for the camera and making jokes.  He warned us about the importance of not judging each other and showing true charity to all, especially to other sisters.

A long day with nothing of the regular Saturday things done, but a great one any way.  Jena's first basketball game, a baptism, and a prophet..............what more important way is there to spend a Saturday.

The Birthday Events......

It shouldn't be that hard to avoid having three birthdays in eight days...just a little planning ahead time...oh, I forgot...we weren't choosing children based on their birthday...perhaps we should have.  Every year it is crazy as we try to celebrate Ben, Gary and Jena's birthdays.  It is even more difficult as we try to still include these young adult and married children in our planning.  This year we got some to each but not everyone to any one's birthday.  Oh well....the highlights

Ben wanted to go out for Chinese food so we got his grandma, Jena, Gary, and I and Jessica to eat at Dragon Hills, a local Chinese restaurant.  We opened gifts afterwards which included a new paint job for his room which he hasn't decided on yet.  He is now 22 years old.

Gary's birthday is next.  Tosha, Scott and Chantel joined us for a BBQ of hamburgers and potato salad and gift opening.  Jessica has commitments in Salt Lake but left a gift earlier in the day.  A separate post will highlight her gift. Finally Gary is now the same age as me and he has to quit teasing me about it.  :)



In addition to Scott and Chantel, the puppies had to be part of the fun as well.

Jena's birthday is the day after Gary's.  We had been searching for a night to do an outdoor movie for her and some friends at her grandma's house on our projector and big screen.  Her birthday became the only night to do it so it became her birthday celebration.  She picked "The Music Man" as the movie and her friends enjoyed popcorn and lemonade as they watched the movie.  It got a bit cold but we will do it again.  It was fun.


Jena didn't open her gifts until the next evening because we were so late on Friday night (We forgot to check how long the movie was.  Usually movies are 2 hours right...not the old ones.  This one was 2 1/2 hours.)  Jena is now 14 and moves up to the Mia Maid class of Young Womens.  Here is the sign that they posted in our yard for her birthday.

Whew....the celebrations were over.  But Happy Birthday to all three of you and I am so glad to have you part of my forever family.  And as Jena says, "I 'heart' you, too."

Family Collage

Since I wrote about the family, I thought I would share our family collage which will soon hang in our living room.  It was done by Hailey Miller who did our family pictures in June.

The quote:  "I lift thee and thou life my and we all ascend together"

This quote appeared also on our wedding announcement although we used the word" both" instead of "all'.  The word "both" was in the original quote but I decided "all" worked for a family collage.  That was way back in the day of no Internet.  I had just heard the quote from a teacher or from a talk when I was young and determined that it would appear on my wedding announcement.  Well, Gary decides to look it up on the Internet (after I had ordered the collage) and found that my quote is not the actual quote from Whittier.  The main version is "I lift you, and you lift me and we both will ascend together."  I had remembered it wrong the entire time.  Oh, well, I still would want to mirror the wrong quote that I put on our wedding announcements.

Aren't we glad that we have the Internet??!!  Actually I found some other great quotes by him that i will share later.

The weather, Stake Conference, and Updates.....

We are enjoying a warm "spell" which thrills Jena.  She and a friend swam for a couple of hours yesterday morning after swimming at swim practice for 11/2 hours.  Jena would have been happy to hop back in the pool later that day but we were busy with other things--like watching the BYU game (not good!) and getting some things done around the house.  I am not sure exactly what we got done because it seems my list is still as long today.  That is the great thing about Sundays--you get to put that list away and take a restful and full day with more important things.

This is our Stake Conference Weekend.  We attended the temple with some of our Stake on Friday afternoon.  We took Gary's mom with us which I am not sure we have done much before.  We really never made it a practice to go with Gary's parents when Dad Hall was alive, but I wish we did when we were living near enough.  I guess that is a gentle reminder that I can go with my own dad sometimes, too, and that I should start a habit going with Scott and Chantel. Over a year ago, I did baptisms for the dead, just Tosha and I.  That was a sweet experience....and it reminded me that I am a bit older than last time I did that.

We then had the Saturday Night Adult Meeting which is one of the most amazing meetings in the Church.  It equates with my memories of BYU devotionals and firesides---just great stuff and overwhelming feelings of love and desire to do better (in that positive, encouraging way).

Today we will have conference later.  A nice way to spend a day.

Time for a news recap on the family:
Gary is still teaching Primary and working with the Webelos.  They meet at our house and it is fun to see them do the fun Webelo stuff.  I remember that Ben especially loved Webelos because he had a great leader, too.  Still working for HP although in this current climate that seems like almost a week by week decision as layouts happen quietly here and there.  We have been so lucky to work in the same company (although bought and sold a couple of times and to still have a job) for 22 years.
Jessica is working as a family advocate for Head Start and is taking 2 classes to work toward a certificate in Child Life.
Scott and Chantel are doing well and busy with school, work, and married life.
Ben just turned 22.  His life remains stuck in many ways as the illness and the medications continue to play havoc with his life.  It is often complicated to know if the illness or the medications are causing the difficulties in his daily life.  He continues despite all the problems to take his medication and hope for a better future.  He did attend the Utah NAMI Walk in Salt Lake yesterday morning to bring awareness of mental illness in the community.  And he also went out to eat and to a movie with his good friend Travis, who recently returned home from his mission.
Tosha is selling shoes, dating Roark, and thinking about the next step in her life.  We saw a recent ad for learning to be an X-ray technician.  She has good memories of the people who took x-rays for her and she thinks it might be a good match for her.  She and I might be looking into that this next bit.
Jena is busy with piano, basketball and swimming for Special Olympics, school and Young Women.  She is enjoying her classes.  I got an email from her science teacher who commented that she is a hard worker and has a great attitude in his class.  She also tried out for our Ward Roadshow and will be part of a small group of girls dancing.  As a part of her tryout, she sang a part of a Hannah Montana song.  She sang very soft, but she sang it alone in front of a group of people.  That was amazing!  And also the power of peers.  She was only required to tryout by following stage directions and acting happy and sad, but she chose to sing a song because that is what most people did.
And me---I just find life busy with amazing little experiences in between the busyness of a family of seven (that would be eight now with Chantel).  Work has felt busy for the past little while and I realized why when I did my time card for the past two weeks and have worked 48 hours.  Since my plan is to work about 12 hours a week, that is a big jump.  I have had a couple of placements and also trainings, home studies to complete, and the list goes on. 

I guess I took off yesterday except for some basic housecleaning and watched the game (most of it) while reading Mockingjay, the final book in the Hunger Games.  If you like books about futurist civilizations, you would enjoy these books.  I decided I better read it after reading a face book entry of someone commenting on the ending.  I realized that face book might ruin the book for me so I decided I needed to get it done.  Another minor achievement is I am now certified as a basketball coach for Special Olympics.  That involved some online training and also a basketball clinic with a trainer from the State office. 

I am almost done memorizing the "Living Christ".  It continues to be an amazing and sweet experience where many times I have been moved to tears.   Attending the temple on Friday became a tearful experience as often the words would flow through my mind. 

And just for fun and because it is that time of a year, I am kicking around the idea of going back to school and getting a Masters in Social Work.  It is the most useful degree for the work that I continue to do (although I will have to quit if I go back to school) and for the future as we think about missions, etc.  It is more recognizable worldwide.  My other option might be as a clinical psychologist but that is a four year PhD program and I don't see doing that.  The downside is that they don't have too many options for adjusting things around the rest of my life.  It is a hard choice.  Stay tuned to see what craziness I decide to do next!

And as they saw that is (some) of the rest of the story.

Have  restful and sweet Sabbath day at your houses as well.

Face Book

The world is apparently going to continue to change and I will be forced to change in some ways with it.  Other ways I stand firm on.  However, I now have a face book page.  It has been a process to decide to do this.  I liked that my kids knew some of the events and happenings in their cousins' lives even though they are scattered around the western United States.  Then at work we started a face book group for our birth parents and we have been encouraged to have a face book account so we can follow and add our support to "that wall".  Then Jena's functional skills (special ed) teacher asked about starting one for Jena.  One of Jena's goals this year is to work on learning email.  We want her to be able to keep in touch with her siblings and cousins throughout her life and felt it was a good skill for reading and writing as well.  The face book page, her teacher felt, was an age appropriate skill for Jena and one that could benefit her throughout her life and give her some  way to keep in touch and feel a part of the community.  So here I am with a face book page, (one of my friends commented that now that the last person in the world is on face book , they will no longer have to advertise.....) and Jena, too, has a page.  We will see where it fits with blogging, e-mails, journal keeping, and the all important actually talking to people in person or on the phone.  No promises except that I will be your "friend" if you ask me.

New Glasses

We are excited to present Jena with her brand-new glasses........

These are not just any new glasses, but a brand designed specifically for people with Down syndrome.

That means they truly fit and stay up (most of the time).  The ear and the nose pieces are set differently and it has made a big difference.  Hard to tell in the picture but they are navy blue which is one of her favorites colors. 

Okay, I know I am "geekish"...

...notice that I am not fully commiting to be a geek.  However, I like the weather and I am even writing a post about it and I understand that there are those who consider that to be odd or "geekish", so be it.

Did you notice the clouds today?  In northern Utah, they were amazing---black rain clouds, white fluffy ones, and blue sky peeking out here and there.  They were most beautiful when I was walking earlier this morning but I took these pictures later.  Texas always had great clouds as well...little sparse in much of Hong Kong..hopefully you enjoyed the sky whereever you were at.

Side note:  During the time we lived in Hong Kong and I started typing letters to my parents on our new home computer, I kept a copy of all the letters I wrote in a binder to serve as "somewhat poor" journal.  When you read the letters back to back you can notice the pattern--almost each time I started off with a comment about the weather which for Hong Kong usually meant "hot, humid, rain".  I apparently am not too creative.

                              Hopefully you are having awesome weather whereever you are.