Daughters and other sweet things......

A number of years ago, I made the comment to Gary that I wished that our daughters were closer to each other in age.  He commented something like"...you were there.  It wasn't like we weren't trying."  It made me laugh because I really had made the comment as if we had been in control.

Today I realized one of the benefits of having three daughters who are 7 years apart (Jessica and Tosha) and 6 years apart (Tosha and Jena).  I will be able to attend 18 years of YW General Meetings (to be accurate I can't remember when they started these meetings so I am not sure when Jessica and I began attending them).  Jena and I went tonight and it was awesome.  Gary got some pictures of us on our way out to the meeting..

Silly man.

The speakers were great and Pres. Uchtdorf was outstanding as he talked about fairy tales that start "Once upon a time...".  He reminded us that to get to the "happily ever after" the characters had to go through adventures and trials.    It was a great talk. 

The closing song was "How Firm A Foundation" and it was wonderful to sing that great hymn with her.  It made me cry.  Years ago when Jena was little, I didn't expect that she would read as well as she does, especially well enough to sing a hymn.  It was another sweet moment as her mother.

And that is the great thing about daughters....... even spaced years apart.  There are so many moments where you are just happy to be their mom.

PS...I guess I am thinking about daughters tonight because Gary, Jena, Gary's sister, Valerie and I went to the matinee production at the Hale Theater of "Fiddler on the Roof".  It was fabulous--one of the best muscials ever and one of the best shows we have seen at Hale Theater. 

If you remember, he had five daughters.

Guess where we are...and no, it is not Spain!

Any guesses?

Jessica posted on facebook that her status (whatever that is)...was Washington--Forks included!

(For those "twilight" illiterate people out there, that is a reference to the release on DVD

of the movie "New Moon).

(That is Rachel, Jessica's friend, who came with us.)

Anyone figure it out yet.......

Could be AZ..but it is not quite..

We are enjoying a quick trip to St. George.  On Wednesday afternoon, I found out that one of my couples had been selected to be placed with a baby on Saturday in St. George.  Usually we don't travel outside of the Wasatch front with our couples, but I decided it might be fun to have a little get-away.  Jena, Jessica, and Rachel joined me.  We headed down on Friday afternoon and will head back tomorrow and stop at Zions-Kolob Canyon on the way. 

Currently, I am watching the BYU game (it is tied...scary!) and the rest of them just left to go to the famous "In and Out" Burger.  They will eat and then bring me back a famous hamburger. 

Jessica was excited because she and Rachel had planned to go to the mid-night release of the movie "New Moon" in Layton.  They decided to try the St. George Wal-Mart and had a great time.  It was a smaller crowd and they had games and prizes.  Jessica ended up winning one of the games and got a free copy of the movie.  She was excited about that.

I worked this morning (everything went well) and then I came home to find them watching "Twilight"  Jena's choice, they claimed.  After I rounded them uup, we ate and then headed to the outlet mall.  Jena decided to pose as our shopper.

After that, we ended up to find the Sand Hallow State Park or something like that, we didn't find that park but we visited Quail Lake and took some pictures and then to Silver "somewhere".  There was a sign there that said it was the only place in the US where silver was found in sandstone.  It had a lot of rock walls left from old buildings, an old Church and some other old looking stuff.  It was so beatiful with the red cliffs and the rock walls.

In the background is an old Catholic Church.  This was just a rock building.  I  think it said that it was built in 1901...a new paint job on the door however.

One of the rock walls...we got some fun pictures around this wall, but I am sure you don't want to see all of them.  It was beautiful weather and it was fun to be outside in it. 

Both of my friends that I hoped to visit haven't been home.  One just sent me an e-mail from her phone that she is on her way home from California so we will get together...after the game.

My sister, Valerie, is in Spain....

...and it looks wonderful.  As we folllow their postings from Spain, it is amazing to see the beautiful buildings, fountains, and just "old" stuff everywhere.  I might have to add Spain on my list of places to visit.

I grew up always wanting to go to China, Thailand, and Holland.  Odd combination and I am not really sure how that developed.  I remember playing in the sand box with my younger sisters when I was 12 and one of them said, "Let's dig to China".which was a common phrase at the time.  I remember thinking, "You can't dig to China but I am going to China."  In sixth grade, we were watching a film on south east Asia that included Thailand with water buffalos and monks in orange robes.  Then it was more like a feeling indicating that I would see those very things in person.  Holland I have no idea why except I want to see the windwills.  I did like a lot of fairy tales and some of those had Dutch connections.  Anyway, those were the three places that I really wanted to see.  The only other big thing I wanted to visit as a kid was the Panama Canel which I think everyone should want to see.  (Point of disclaimer in case Gary is reading this:  Since becoming an adult, I have added a few places in addition to those mentioned above.)

That said, in our great opportunities to travel, I love the people, nature, and animals of the area.  The best way to describe it is that I like knowing what that piece of the globe looks like and feels like to be there.  I have never been a "great building" kind of traveler.  And, with the exception of Holland, have not been too interested in Europe.  However, I may have to reconsider this stance.  Spain looks amazing, my brother Rick and his family took at trip to Germany and Austria and that looked awesome, and Gary says that he definately wants to take me to England (in June when the weather is nice).....and of course, there is Africa with the amazing animal life..........and you get the message, the list can go on and on.  And then there is the oceans.............

Hopefully, there is time to visit these amazing places in the hereafter, because there isn't time to see it all before.  I am so lucky that I have family and friends to share their travels with...it is almost as good as going yourself (and certainly more affortable!)  What an amazing place we live!

Happy trails to you.

A stock photo of China

Tosha's pictures....

one of her ...

and a couple that she took while on a walk awhile ago.

I mentioned that I like fences.  She took several of a barbed wire fence that were good.  I picked this one because the same plants are around it as in the fence picture that I posted last week.

Just a cute picture of Jena....

....to share.  We took a couple of pictures of Jena to included in an e-mail she was sending to a friend who wasn't feeling well.  I liked this one and decided to share it. 

Now that I have posted a picture of Jena and Ben recently, I guess I should include one of everyone else.  I don't have any recent of Scott so I will nab him next time he is here.  Here is Jessica and Jena at the play last week "Seven Brides from Seven Brothers".

Jena and I went to see it on Friday night with Jena's friend, Kaitlyn, and her mom.  Jena loved it the second time too.  Her favorite brother was Frank "becasue he is hot", she and Kaitlyn loved the fighting scene the best and her favorite song was "Goin' a Courtin'".

Tosha recently download some cute pictures she has taken but I am wating to have her permission to put them on the blog so I guess I will add them later.

Hard to believe that it is already March...................life is flying by it seems.

One other note:  In case any of you want to start writing in a journal, but aren't have any luck with it, try http://www.ldsjournal.com/.  It is free (except if you want a printed copy and then there is a charge,  I haven't done it long enough to print out a book yet.)  It has a number of nice features like e-mail reminders if you haven't written for a while and also a "journal jar" feature so when you start a new entry there is a statement or questions that you can answer.  I find tha helpful to give me something to start with and is gives more variety to the things I write about.

Meet Bobo

I think that we mentioned that Ben got a rat for Christmas.  He has finally picked a name so we thought we would introduce him to everybody.  This is Bobo, a dumbo rat (with Ben, of course).

I remember one of my sister-in-laws commented that I was "too supportive" about my children's interests in pets.  I think that our list includes cats, dogs, fish, turtles, a bat (for one brief night), lizards, snakes, frogs, hamsters/gerbils, guineu pig, and a couple of birds.  Oh, and I can't forget Scott's pet ant which he played with one afternoon in Hong Kong (Jessica was at school and playmates were not nearby).  My personal favorites were the turtles both in Hong Kong and Texas--outside, quiet, but enjoyable to watch.  My kids have all enjoyed our dogs and although I like not having the mess and care of a dog, I have been glad to have them as pets.

Working..at home, Church, and LDS Family Services.

In 1999, I wrote a personal mission statement (I had heard some talks and read some things that made it seem like a good idea.  It was actually a very interesting thing to do and I would recommend it to anyone.)  Anyway, I recently reread it.  I spoke of my passion for families and the desire to help all children have a family to care and love them.  It is interesting to look back on the 10+ years since I wrote that and to see the many opportunities that I have been able to be a part of that process of families.

First of course is my own family..which many times seems to get lost in the shuffle of life and busyiness, but I love them and am so grateful for the actions and sacrifices which were made by others in our behalf so that we can be together.

Second, I am grateful for the opportunities in Church to be involved in helping families--whether serving in YW, Sunday School, Relief Society and now in Primary, all of which I have served in the last 10 years.  Teaching children their part of being and strengthing their familes is a sweet blessing.  Here is a picture of the great women that I serve with.  (again, pictures are really for my record not for you)  Me, Kristy, Debbie (the President), and Amy.

Third, working at LDS Family Services is a great priviledge.  It is not something I wanted to do (having a job of any kind was really never a life goal...in fact, I actually have a love -hate relationship with the whole thing.  But that is a story for another day.).  However, I do love the opportunity I have to work with birth parents, their families, and adoptive families.  I also work with awesome people that you would all want to know and love.  Here we are in a group shot, so now you can know who I work with.

From left to right:  Monica, Julie (caseworkers), Britanna (intern), James, our manager, Lisa (caseworker), Rhonda (amazing volunteer), Jana, Katie (secretary), and me (I smiled in the first picture, but a couple of other people had their eyes closed or something in the first picture so I am posting this one.  You all know I smile:)  ).

Late Winter Walk...

Usually on March 1st, I try again to start walking several mornings a week.  In the years since moving to Utah, I found I just waasn't good at walking in the snow and ice, so I don't walk in the winter, but March 1st is always my "try again date".  We have had a spell of warm weather so it has been great to be outside.  On Monday, I had such a great walk and there were so many birds that I decided to take pictures of my walk on Tuesday.  I actually didn't see as many birds but I heard them singing, chirping, honkong, and quacking all around me.  Sorry I can't included the songs from my walk on a post.  (By the way, I include pictures of these types of things because I want them included as I publish this blog in print at the end of the year.  They tell me that I can do it. You really don't need to view the pictures from my winter walk.)

I walk at Jensen Park which is a area about a mile south of our house and the southeast part of Syracuse (and yes, I do drive down to it to start my walk which Gary thinks is funny, but I want to use my walking time to walk the trails not the sidewalks of my neighborhood.)

Here are some of the sights as I walk a trail that makes a square around the southeast edge of the park.  Here is the view to the west from the parking lot where I start.  It was a cloudy morning, but that is Antelope Island in the background.

A bit of frost still on the plants in the morning.  It isn't quite spring yet.

This is a shot of the trail as I was walking east toward the Wasatch Peaks of the Rocky Mountains.  I was walking around 8:00 in the morning.

A old fence at the northeast cornor of my walk.  I like old fences even if they are falling down.

Another picture to the west from the southeast corner of my walk.  You can see more clearly the snow on the mountain at Antelope Island.

Trying to be a bit artsy with the camera.  That is an old metal shed in the background.

Not everything is pretty along the southern edge of the walk.  This is a deserted cattle feedlot, I guess.  But even these meetings remind me of the historical background of Syracuse and the surrounding areas and there are still horses and cattle that graze all through these fields.

I must have missed taking pictures up the west side of my walk.  This is a view of the nesting boxes throughout the area surrounding the large man=made fishing hole at Jensen Pond.  Note of trivia:  Gary served on the citizen committee for this project, deciding important things like what colors should the signs be, etc.  Our ward did several service projects and  Eagle projects to help complete areas of the Park.  It is still being added to.  Actually these might be the actual bird boxes one of our Scout troops worked on.

I promised a bird and here he is.

I love this bridge and no matter which trails I take I try to end my walk by crossing this bridge and checking out that wildlife.  Even this early in the season there were three fishermen trying their luck.  Jena really wants to fish here sometime.  Hope to get it on the list this year.

View to the west off the bridge

View to the east off the bridge.  The sun is peeking out from the clouds.

More birds.  It is fun to live in a place again where you hear the ducks and geese as they travel north and south each year.

"Self-picture"

(You know where you hold the camera out and take your own picture.)

I hope you enjoyed my walk at Jensen Pond, Syracuse, UT.

Join me in person sometime.

(I hope this looks okay when I post it.  I don't know how to make the pictures and the text flow together when it posts.)

Happy Anniversary to you, Gary Hall!

Today Gary and I are celebrating our 32nd anniversary.  (We are going to celebrate by watching the BYU-Utah basketball game and eating pizza.  I hope that BYU knows that they have to win to make it a good anniversary for us.)  Sometimes we do something big for our anniversary and some years not which is perfect for me.  It is just nice to have a day to be reminded of our marriage and how grateful I am that Gary asked me to marry him so many years ago.  There is no one else for me to travel my life's journey with to provide the fun, the balance, and the adventures.

Here is the top to our wedding cake  (and a well-traveled cake top it is.  It boggles my mind to think of how many times I must have packed and unpacked it over the years.  It has been half way across the world and back again.)  I displayed it on our hallway shelf during the Valentine/anniversary time.  And, in honor of our anniversary, I am also including our picture of the Provo Temple that is hung over our basement staircase,

May your "now...and forever"s be bright!

I love you, Gary.

Jessica and Jena are off to a Play and other things..

On last Friday, some friends invited Jena and I to go to see "Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" at a local theater in Ogden, so I made the arragements over the phone.  When I got home, I found out that Jessica had called and invited Jena to go to the same play for Saturday.  Jena had already said yes and is thrilled to go twice.

Here they are at the theater with their playbills.  Jena loved it, of course, and reported that "Frank is hot".  She is excited to go again on this Friday.

Notice her big smile with no metal in her mouth.  She has been smiling alot lately.

On Monday, we gathered together (sorry no pictures) with Gary's mom and his sister Valerie and her husband Allan to celebrate Chinese New Year at a local restaurant.  We are over 2 weeks late but Jena was just recovering from her surgery and couldn't yet eat Chinese food.  The food is American Chinese and we enjoy it, although it paled in comparison to the great food we had at the Golden Phoenix when we ate there with the group from Hong Kong.  I still haven't blogged about that yet, but I have a plan on what I want to do and I haven't had time to do it yet.  Patience!--note to self.