Special Olympic Area Track Meet and Stake Conference and final update of the month

After a fun night of rugby, Jena and I had to get up early yesterday and head off to Logan for the Area track meet.  The weather was predicted to be rainy and cold...and it was....and it didn't stop....Finally after a long delay they announced that they would only do the walks and the field events.  Jena does two runs, the softball throw and a walk relay.  Some people headed out but we stayed to do those events.  Then after a while longer, they called the whole meet off and said everyone present will go to State in June.  We were wet and cold but happy to head home early.  We got back to Syracuse around noon and we both took long naps.  It has been a busy month.


No complains but today when she saw this picture
she told me that she was cold!

That evening we had our "Adult" session of conference which included for the first time youth ages 12-18.  We met at the high school and had an excellent session on missionary work for the living and the dead.  It was great.  Today we had a broadcast session of Conference from the Conference Center with Neil L. Anderson presiding.  He gave an excellent talk about "Faith, Diligence, and Patience".

Having conference today gave us a chance to sleep in--finally and to have some extra time so that I am finally got up with this blog. Whew!

I post these cute pictures of Tosha and Chantel on our fridge but decided that I should have pictures of everyone there so printed off a few to hand up as well.

The Cute Mommies-to-Be

Chantel with her Easter Egg



Tosha at 23 weeks

The refrigerator display:

Chantel and Tosha
Ultrasounds of Miss Scarlett at 7weeks
and Mr. Niki at 20 weeks

And everyone else...


This past week my sister Valerie was in town for a writers conference. She spent one night with us on Thursday night and we were able to send the evening with Dad and Karla.  We went out to eat and had this amazing steak at Brio's in Fashion Place.  Then we played games--Numis or something like that which is a building type of game and then did family history.  We stayed until 11 p.m. which made it about mid-night when we got home.  It was way to short of a visit but fun anyway.

Other news:  Jessica is now working Monday through Fridays although it changes now and then.  She is still enjoying her work.  Scott is looking for a job in his field but in the meanwhile has started working towards management at Red Lobster.  It seems like most of the jobs he applies for are looking for some management experience in any field so he is hoping this will help him. Ben is changing from nights to day time working as a janitor.  It will still be only 2 hours a day Sunday through Thursday but we are hoping it allows him to do a few more social things with us in the evenings.  He is switching medications which is always a difficult process but made necessary by side effects.  Gary is still working at HP, doing Pinewood derbies and busy as ward clerk.

That sums it up.  Have a great day.

Easter Egg Hunts and Rugby games

This year the Marriott University Park invited us to have an Easter Egg Hunt for the foundation.  We ended up with two separate events--one for families with kids 15 years and younger from 10-11 and an Easter Egg Hunt, breakfast, and dance for those with Down syndrome 16 years and older from 11-2.  I arrived at the hotel about 8 to do a presentation about Down syndrome for the employees prior to our events. 

We had over 3200 Easter eggs filled by our ward YW, a YW/YM group in Pleasant View and a group from Weber State.  The ground was littered with eggs for both hunts.  The weather was beautiful to be outside and the hotel had a pretty back lawn to use.  It turned out great and people are hoping that we do it again.  One mom of a 16 year old said that it was the first time that her daughter had ever gotten more than one or two eggs at a hunt.  The rush of kids would scare her when she was little so they stopped taking her to the neighborhood hunts.  Her daughter loved it as did everyone else.

I delivered the eggs the day before.
This is what 3200 eggs looks like before the hunt.

Mont the Magician performed for both
groups and had a live bunny in that box.

And of course we had an Easter Bunny for photo ops
Jena is thrilled as you can see.

 Very fun...and tiring, too.  Jena and Gary were great helps for the day.  I think we all took naps when we got home.

The following Friday, April 25, the foundation also got invited to join the Olympus High School Rugby team for their warm-ups and to watch the game with their families for free.  The weather was terrible everywhere--rainy and windy but I felt like Jena and I should at least show up.  We took her friend Kaitlyn as well.  I am so glad  we did.  The weather right around the stadium was beautiful for almost the entire night, just a little rain now and then.  They taught the kids some rugby skills and were also so great with our kids.  And Jena and Kaitlyn thought they were cute too.  I really enjoyed watching my first live rugby game since BYU days.  Olympus won which was fun, too.  We hope to have a yearly event with them.

Tossing the ball.
It is a lot lighter than I had assumed it was.

Jena said this was her favorite
move when they lifted a player up
to catch the ball.

Kaitlyn and Jena during a bit of rain

Our group of kids

After the game---being silly!

The Master Ball

While Jena was getting ready for Prom, Tosha and Austen were getting ready for their "Masters Ball"  (I think that was what it was called.)  I thought it was fun that all of them would be dancing the same night, but actually Tosha and Austen didn't dance at this military event.  It was mostly a extremely fancy dinner with speakers, etc.  Tosha said it was quite fun and she wouldn't mind going again when the situation comes up.  They sent us a couple of pictures:

On top of everything else there is golf.....

One of Jena's other high school goals was to do something to earn a CHS sweater with her name on it.  I am not sure how she figures out these things but she is consistent.  I spoke with her teacher last year and we decided to have her try golf with the girls team.  He is the coach which makes it a nice transition for Jena and it turns out that she knows a number of the girls on the team.  She is serving as the manager for them this year.  She golfs with them during practices which she has really liked.  In addition, she makes treats for the girls on the day that they go to tournaments.  Only 8 girls go to each tournament.

For Easter she made one for the whole team.

Mr. Andreason and Jena at the golf course

This has been a great experience and the girls have been great.  Jena actually won a chipping contest one day by landing her chip about 18 inches for the hole.  This will be great practice for her as she starts golf in June with Special Olympics.

One note here:  This month I have thought a lot about Jena's birthparents.  One of their desires for her was to have a life surrounded by people who loved and accepted her where she could be fully included to the best of her ability. Jena's life is pretty typical for a teenager--a part-time job, theatre class, Prom, golf team and school.  There are some things that I would wish for her more but she is loving life and certainly making an impact in many ways with many different people.  I wish that her birthparents could know about her life and realize that their hopes and dreams for her are true.

And with two little grand children on the way, I also think about Scott's and Tosha's birthparents--their sacrifices for these children have meant everything to me and to Gary.  I am glad to know that if not on this earth-- in heaven I will be able to express my great love to them and to share these beautiful children with them again.  Enough mush......

Prom Day

Jena and Nick with other friends head out to Syracuse Fun Center for a morning of bowling (and Jena beat Nick).  Later Hadley Burton (a senior in our ward) told me that it had been so fun to be there with Jena and watch her enjoy herself and everyone around her.  I wish that I had seen that but I know Jena liked it.  She told me that she rolled a granny ball (between her legs) which she never does.  When I asked her why, she told me she was copying Nick.  Later Nick told us he was just trying to get one strike since Jena had gotten one earlier so he was trying everything with no luck.  I know how he feels because Jena beats me sometimes as well.

Waiting to go bowling

Taking a picture of Jena taking a picture of
her rose from the assembly the day before

While Jena was out bowling, I got to attend a special Relief Society meeting which was a combination of three wards.  Our speaker was Liz Lemon Swidell (not sure of the spelling of her name). She is an artist who paints a lot of pictures from the life of the Savior.  She shared some amazing and sweet stories about the involvement of revelation in our lives based on three parables about sheep.  It was so sweet and uplifting.  She is so talented and it is great to be at a point in my life where I treasure those talents in others without wondering why I don't have those talents (and I have a long list of talents I don't have...).  Our very uniqueness is such a wonderful aspect of life.  Now I understand more than when I was 20 that the talents which I have been given are the ones that are needed for the course of my life and the responsibilities and blessings which I am to have.  I wish that everyone could have been there. And the lunch and the décor was excellent (and if you knew Betty Van Orden (RS President), Cami Snow (2nd counselor) and Julie Burkenshaw who is in the Relief Society Presidency of one of the other wards and is also Betty's daughter, you can maybe imagine how beautiful it was.) The décor included  bunches of white balloons like clouds in the sky.  They were actually left from a Blue and Gold banquet the night before which had a pirate theme.  They fit perfectly with our garden party.  I wish I had taken a picture. It might come in handy in the future.

I headed home to start getting Jena ready to discover that she was off with Gary doing a few errands.  She arrived home in time to take a bubble bath in our big tub and then got dressed to head over to the Pessettos.  I had asked Abby to help do Jena's hair because that is another talent I don't have.  While there, Jessica arrived to take pictures and the "getting ready for prom party" really got started.

(Again I apologize to my other kids---I didn't have a blog and a digital camera back during your teenage years.  I wish that I had because there were many great moments I wished that I had blogged about with each of you.) 

It took three of us to put in the
waterfall braid.

The top view

The finished product

Thanks to Michelle and Abby for such a beautiful hairdo.

Then we headed back home for the next stage.  We did her make-up and then at the last minute she decided that she did want her nails done.  Jessica did them for her with silver shiny polish.

Jessica took lots of great pictures for her day
and posted them on Facebook.  Jena loved seeing them
and sharing them with her friends.

 Nick is actually the grandson of Betty Van Orden, our ward Relief Society president.  She is a wonderful woman and I knew that she was so excited about Jena and Nick going to Prom.  So a few days beforehand, I asked Nick if we could invite Betty over.  He said no problem.  Then of course we wanted to invite Grandma Hall, Scott and Chantel, along with Jessica and Ben.  We tried to Facetime with Tosha and Austen but the timing didn't work out as they had to head to a function that night as well.

Grandma Hall and Jena

Scott and Chantel with Jena

Trying to show her silver shoes to Gary

Nick and Jena
 

At the last minute I realized that I should have invited Nick's mom to come over as well so I was so glad that when Nick arrived she showed up in her car to take some pictures as well.  Heather had served in our stake RS presidency in the past, so I knew her from that but she didn't really know me too much.  It was fun to share part of this day with her and to get to know her better.  She is an awesome woman.

Jena and I had decided to have his grandmother
put on his flower but before his grandmother and grandpa got there
we had them pretend for pictures.

I loved these two pictures of Nick and
his grandmother.  I hope that someday
our little "Niki" will let me pin his flower for
his prom date.

After family mobs and hundreds of pictures,
they finally head out the door...

and into the car.

I was laughing as Heather was giving him instructions---do you have your wallet, the tickets, etc?  The typical mom things I can remember asking Scott and Ben when they each went to Homecoming.  Heather asked me if I was going to go to the school.  Nick had told me that they were meeting at the school to take pictures but I really didn't know anything else.  I told her that I hadn't been invited.  She laughed and said that she hadn't been either but we were all going...so off we went.  I am so glad I did.  It was a fun experience.

Driving separate cars Heather and I arrived at the school before any of the other couples or their parents.  There was a dance competition so there was no parking in the usual spots so that delayed everyone in meeting at the agreed location.  It turned out that there were 19 couples going together to Prom.  And it was great to see how many of them Jena knew and I knew as well.  Jena was totally comfortable with them as they took lots of pictures.  Here are a few I took:

This is Jena with Kate Meyer
SIs. Meyer insisted Jena wear her crown
and she got the best smile out of Jena.

Most of the evening Nick was in charge of the crown
and here is their silly picture with him actually wearing it.

Half of the group posing by the "C"

Nick and Jena at the "C"

After taking pictures in all possible combinations, they headed off to their rides to Salt Lake--which for them was this 28 passenger Party bus complete with neon lights, music, TV screens, and cup holders.  I took this pictures off of Facebook which is why I can't adjust it to a typical size.  I bet you wished you could have gone to Prom in this bus.  It took them to dinner at the Rodiza Grill and then to the dance at the Gateway




Between everyone taking and posting pictures there are probably hundreds out there somewhere mostly
One of the favorites from the night was this picture which I got by text from Jessica on Sunday morning who had received it from her friend Rachel who lives in Virginia who had seen it on her instagram account because it was tagged with Jena's name.  It was posted on Nick's account but when I tried to get the original from his mom she said that he didn't know who had taken the picture and posted it.  Here is the twice texted and instagramed picture of the last dance of Prom.

 

When I first saw it, I assumed that it was the "Queen's Dance" but when I asked Jena she didn't seem to think so.  However she loved this picture.  Nick's mom told me that Nick had shared that this was the last dance of the night.  There is a tradition that everyone got into a big circle along the walls and just stands together during the last dance of the night.  This time Nick felt like he wanted to dance one more time with Jena and so he pulled her out and they danced in the middle.  The crowd loved it and someone there snapped this picture.

 

She got home about 11:30 and spent 30 minutes talking about her day.  After she changed clothes and her hair was back into its regular ponytail.

The crown





Hair back to a ponytail with her
Charlie's  Angel pose she learned from
the other girls that afternoon.



Nick had told me not to worry about Prom that he would make sure that Jena had a great time.  I wasn't worried at all.  I knew that Jena would have a great time both because of Nick's friendship with her and also that Jena knows how to enjoy life whether it is a grand thing like prom or just playing games with family or friends.  It is one of her gifts and it is a great one.  Nevertheless this was a special day and checked off one of her goals for high school  "Attend Prom"  checked.

"Beneath Your Beautiful"

Prom week finally arrived.  Jena was excited to see her picture up on the bulletin board in her prom dress with the other girls who had been nominated for Prom royalty although she wasn't happy that they spelled her name with two "n"s.  She was excited to tell me that she voted for Kate on the day of election.  Kate is a good friend of Jena's and lives within our stake boundaries.  As luck would have it, we did one of the pinewood derbys in Kate's ward and saw her mom there.  Sis. Meyer told Jena that Kate had voted for her in the election the day before which was perfect. Friends voting for each other.

Jena had two early morning practices for the prom assembly on Friday morning.  She had to be there at 6:45 a.m. in her prom dress.  She thought it was very fun (and funny) to wear a prom dress to school.

She actually let me fix her hair so
that it was a bit curly and only
had a small pony tail instead of
her usual ponytail.

The Honor Guard
As they announced each couple they walked underneath
their raised swords

I made a little movie of Jena and her escort Braydon but I can't really post that in a blog.  Jena did great and she told me later that she wasn't even nervous to walk out on the stage in front of the whole school.  They announced who their parents were and then their dream date :  "Going to the Hale Theatre to see a Broadway musical" and their best Clearfield High memory:  "Being a who in the school play "Suessical"

One half of the stage of Prom royalty nominees

 And here she is Junior Prom Queen--Miss Jena Hall.  She handled herself great and although I didn't see it because I was blocked by the person placing the crown on her head, I heard that she waved to the auditorium which brought another round of applause and cheers.

Other members of our ward were there and I started getting texts of congratulations from people before I even had a chance to text Gary and our kids the news.  I think Jena would have been happy no matter what happened but it was interested to watch her deal with the attention and responses that she got that day and over the next week or so.  It was a very exciting start to her Prom weekend.

"Beneath Your Beautiful" was the theme of their prom and was actually sang by Brandon Dickson, a friend in our ward and Sadie Anderson who also went to school with Jena since elementary school.  Brandon played his own arrangement of the song on the piano as they both sang.  It was amazing.  He is very talented.  It is a song about loving fully and not just looking at the outside of someone else...or something like that.

And I have finally made it to April.......(it is now April 26th)

So a bit further behind that I like to be with the blog.  But I will keep plugging along and perhaps get caught up in the next few days.

I know I am a bit quirky but I still have this note from Tosha in my laundry room where she attached it one day last fall.  It has been there for awhile so like most things hanging I don't always notice it, but shortly after getting home from Oklahoma I saw it and decided to take a picture.  I miss that sweet girl but am so happy that Jena and I got to visit and spend time with her and Austen.

It was great as always to spend the weekend watching General Conference.  If we all would just love each other and be nice how great would this world be for everyone.  I have my favorite talks of course, but at the moment I am waiting to hear which one will be the lesson for our Relief Society in May as I have been asked to substitute on that day.  I have never got to teach one of the conference talk lessons and I am excited about it......let's see which one it is????

Spring has arrived and my tulips and other spring flowers popped up almost without me noticing.   I will refrain from posting more flowers pictures as likely I have done that every spring since I started this blog.  I love seeing the tulips, the yellow flowering bushes, and the lilacs in bloom and Jena tells me they smell good too.

Life continues to be busy.  We did four pinewood derbys this month and had lots of fun handing out with Cub Scouts again.  (To be totally accurate, Gary did four.  Jena and I missed the one yesterday as we were at another event.)  The track and computer worked awesome and Gary is a master of setting up and running the show.  It is fun.  Our next one will be for Jena's functional skill classroom next month.

And Baby Russell is................

still on the way, of course.  But Friday during our trip visiting Tosha and Austen, Jena and I got to go with them for their first (and maybe only) ultrasound.  Unlike Scott and Chantel who have an ultrasound at each appointment, their insurance allows for one unless there are problems which require additional follow ups and thankfully Baby Russell is doing great.

It was a very exciting day and a privilege that they share it with us.  First Tosha and Austen went in and started the ultrasound and then Austen came and got Jena and I so that we could go and meet this little one.  He was smiling but didn't reveal anything to us as we headed back to the room where Tosha waited for us.  The tech then let us see this cute person coming to join our family and it was very clear what sex this baby was....................

However Tosha and Austen didn't want to just text or call their family and friends but they wanted to do something to share the fun news.  We got some supplies (which was very fun) and then headed to the apartment (meanwhile they had to ignore texts from people wanted to know the exciting news).  Then Tosha and Austen went to work and Jena and I watched.  Tosha is very creative and she wanted it to be perfect so that they would know how excited they were to learn a little bit more about their new baby.  So for history the final product and the big reveal----

This is built in a suitcase which was part of their wedding décor, along with
the red airplane, blue bow, tags and little clothespins.  She added
the blanket, shoes and shirt.  I loved it and it was a big hit
on Facebook and with the family.

That's right---a little boy is on our way!  We are thrilled and feel so blessed to be "expecting" a grandson this summer as well as a grand-daughter.  I am so grateful how excited Tosha and Austen are to become parents to this little son.

Here is a picture Tosha sent taken last week:

And you can see that they are calling him Niki.  Austen is a big fan of Formula One racing and Niki Lauder is one of the great drivers from the 70s and 80s.  He and his friend James Hunt were featured in a recent Big screen movie called "Rush".  Actually the plan is to name him Niki James as James is Austen's and his dad's middle name.  They laughed when they realized that it was also the name of this other racer connected with Niki Lauder.  It turns out that one of the ladies I visiting teach worked in England for a racing company and knew Niki Lauder.  I will share more of her story and Niki Lauder if they really name him Niki when he arrives (it is still odd for me how babies can be totally named before they arrive.  I am not use to that yet.)