Happy day--Hall Report....

Good news from Jessica: She got a new job with RISE, a company which provides services for children and youth with disabilities to help them remain with families rather than in group homes and hospitals. She has been looking for a new job since things have been unstable at her current job with Head Start in Ogden because they might lose their federal funding. She is sad to leave the kids but glad to move forward to a new job. This company is expanding in Utah and is located in other places as well which gives room for upperward movement which she is glad about. It is located in Salt Lake and she will be moving down there in March. That will be sad for us since it will take more planning to see her but she is excited.

We survived the Blue and Gold Banquet (not that we had much to do. We have amazing Scout leaders who are "crazy" at the lengths they will go to plan a great Pack Meeting). We did a "Knights of the Roundtable" theme and ate with our hands (drumsticks, cooked potatoes, rolls, and carrot sticks with ecliars for dessert.

We jousted, catapulted, and lanced (is that a word).

It was great fun. Now I have to really start planning for Pack meeting next month. I am in charge of it as part of my ticket for my Wood Badge.

I have actually now completed three of the five goals for Wood Badge. I have the Pack Meeting in March and to complete the year History for our Pack which will be finished in August after Day Camps and summer Pack Meetings.

I also finshed "Your Excellency, George Washington" which was long but very interesting. It has been fun to read these biographies and then be reading Jena's US History book with her. I have started on "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin". Reading these books has made me want to expand out and read about James Madison and Alexander Hamiliton. There are always at least two sides to every story.

Jena also likes biographies too. She was read one on Abbigail Adams (that her teacher had) and is now reading one on Abe Lincoln that I found at Barnes and Noble.

Not to be forgotten from this past week is the amazing cookies Tosha made. You might not know that Tosha makes great cookies to eat. However her designs and decorating skills are amazing as well. I wish I had taken some pictures but we ate them before I could think of that. Next time....
you will want some of your own.

Gary got a new bowling ball and used it for the first time last week. It is one of those weighted balls that is suppose to have amazing spin once you learn how to use it. Gary says it will take some getting used to but he thinks he is going to like it. I am also the owner of a new ball(Christmas present from Gary), now drilled for my hand. However, I haven't used it yet. Maybe this week.

Yesterday, we got to go see Chantel run in an indoor track meet at Weber State. It was exciting to see her race and as an added bonus she won the race. It was close at the end and she said she was so glad when she heard the timers yell out "purple, red (U of U racer)" because that is when she knew for sure she had won.

Here are Jena and Gary as we were waiting for races at the meet.

We left right after Chantel's race to "race" to Gary's mom's house to watch the BYU game (yea, cougars.) and then Jena and I "raced" to dinner with Jena's friend, Kaitlyn, who then went with us to see "FIddle on the Roof" at Legacy Junior High (which was excellent, especially for a junior high). Lots of the neighborhood kids were in it which made it fun. And of course, so many people said hi to Jena. It is amazing who she knows. Even one of the actors in the "village" who was lined up near us at one point whispered hi to Jena in the middle of the play. She loved it.

Ben is hanging in there. Still on clozapine which is helping in some outward ways although he is not finding much inner calm yet. Scott is busy with school, moving in to more of his major classes in hospital admin.

That's us. Hope all is well with you. Have a great week.