Happy Thankgiving...

What does it mean if I have less time to blog now that I am not working as much?  Why is time like that?  It flies away so fast and I can't get done the things I would want to choose to do.  I must be doing something but it is hard to remember.

Thanksgiving weekend doesn't count for that.  It is about taking a break and being grateful for blessings that surround all of us---family, friends, food, and shelter, and most of all the gospel and all it teaches us about our Heavenly Father, our Elder brother, Jesus Christ, and His atonement for us.  So it is okay if all you did was hanging out with family, eat, play games, and enjoy some "off" time from work, laundry, and other tasks for regular life.

That's what we did.  Wednesday I made a quick trip down to Provo to pick up Katie (my niece) who came and spent most of the holiday with us. We spent Thursday with Gary's family at his mom's house, eating the turkey and the rest (although Gary realized later in the day that he hadn't had any turkey as his plate was too full when he reached that end of the serving table.  There is always next year.).  We played some games mainly Catch Phrase and Wits and Wagers.  We were planning to go bowling together but had found out the bowling alley was closed on Thursday so Friday morning we(Gary, Jena, and I) headed for an early morning bowling with Gary's sister and her husband.

Friday afternoon, my dad and Karla came up for the afternoon and evening and we played games non-stop until about 8 except for a dinner break for pizza.  Katie played games with us and then headed out with Tosha to go shooting and shopping.  Shooting at a range...not at fellow shoppers....:)

Saturday included Special Olympics bowling, "The Muppets" , another fast trip to BYU to take Katie home, and an evening of movie/TV watching and doing nothing much.  Sunday (today) a quiet day to rest from all of the playing around of the holiday.

While in Salt Lake on Wednesday after Jena's dentist appointment, I was in my first accident while driving...not my fault.  We were stopped at a light preparing to turn right when someone hit us from behind.  My car and his only had minor fender damage but just one more thing to add to the list of things to do.  No one was hurt which is always the most important thing.

Hall Ticker update:  Jessica is loving her job on the crisis line at DCFS, Scott and Chantel are counting down the days until the end of another semester at Weber State, Ben is learning about fish online while he is taking care of his own aquarium, Tosha is working at Cracker Barrel--good days and bad lately, and Jena is having fun practicing for the junior high production of "Guys and Dolls" which will be presented in February.  Gary is busy with work, Scouts, Stake Employment needs, and everything else anyone can think of for him to do--busy man.

And there we are.  Hope Thanksgiving was great for you.  Enjoy the upcoming Christmas season and have fun!

Easing back to my "new life"

And actually I spent about 12 hours working at LDS Family Services this past week as I wrote a home study summary (11 pages) and took care of some other issues.  This week I should work about 4-5 hours as I continue to support my clients and finish paperwork.  This will be the first week that I don't attend staff meeting at all so it will be a change .....

I had the experience on two different forms lately to write that I was not employed.  I felt "odd" for a moment like that made me seem "less capable" or can I say "less valuable", then immediately I realized that those feelings were not right nor even what I believed.  It is great that we have an option as a family for me to stay home and the things that I want to do and will be able to do as a result of not working are valuable and worthwhile.  I sat down and started writing what I wanted to do "since I wasn't working" and produced a list of 21 things in about 10 minutes.  It is now in my day planner and will help serve as a reminder of what is important to me at this time.  That is the awesome thing about this life.  We have choices and we also have the ability to seek counsel and direction from a loving Heavenly Father who knows even better than us where we should go and what we need to do in the time allotted to us.

We started the week hosting the Hall Annual Halloween "Chili and Scone" dinner at our home.  This is a time for people to gather after trick and treating and show Grandma Hall their costumes and eat and talk.  This is our first year to host it.  Grandma Hall (Gary's mom) started the tradition after having chili and scones for Halloween at friend's home while she and Dad Hall were engaged.  She thought it was a great idea and did it for 50 years, then Gary's sister's Valerie has hosted in for the past few years.  Their health isn't great this year so it moved around the corner to our house.  Using Valerie's great (and easy) chili recipe and her awesome large cooker, we fed about 30 people.  (No pictures because I had left my camera at work.)  We had Scott and Chantel as "bikers", Eric and Bree as Elizabeth and Mr. Darcy and Uncle Gary (my brother-in-law) as Harry Potter.  We set up our fire pit in the back yard and cooked marshmallows and just enjoyed the fall weather and the fire.  Good times.

Webelos hanging on to the wing.....

Gary took his Webelos to the Hill Air Force Base Airplane Museum. His partner knows everything about planes and dazzled the boys with his knowledge as they walked around. One of the volunteers there commented that he didn't even know as much as Bret did. It was a fun visit.

Snow on Saturday in Syracuse

First snow of the year

Our rain chain froze over night and then dripped all day as the sun melted the snow on the roof and on the chain.
 It was awesome.   Have I mentioned how I love our rain chain!  :)
Our neighbor asked if it was okay to put one in her house...we said YES!  We love them.



The big news for Saturday was my bowling score.  Jena started Special Olympics bowling on Saturday morning and Gary and I bowled as well while we waited for her.  In our second game, I bowled a 194 which is my highest ever in my entire life by 30 pins.  I am not sure how it happened but there it is in black and white.  Of course I followed that up with a 95 which shows what a fluke that was, but fun nonetheless.  Jena did well as well averaging 88.  She is going to move from developmental bowling to the regular division since she can bowl three games with no difficulty.

And that is our week.  Hope yours was good as well.