Fun Visits......

Jessica and Elessia missed Hall "Chili and Scones" so I promised that I would make it up to them so they headed up one night for Scones and Eggs (we had eaten too much leftover chili to have chili again).  These three spent a few hours singing away.  They had great fun.

Jena, Elessia, Jessica

We had a couple of visits from this sweet girl.  This was a picture we sent to Chantel one day when she was working and Scarlett got to spend time at Grandma's (and Grandpa's) house.

Face time between Aunt Jena and Scarlett

Unfortunately, our visits with sweet Niki and his mom and dad actually were through Face time.  How grateful I am to be able to see him and hear him goo and babble.  They just moved apartments and don't have internet so I am missing my weekly visits with them.  So glad that both Tosha and Austen sent me texts with updates and pictures.  Here is one recent one.

I got both of these pictures of my grandchildren with hats on the same day.
They are the "cutest".
I have a version of these pictures as the wall paper on my phone--how cheesy is that?

Leaves hanging on....

Sometime in the first part of November Gary and I headed over to his mom's to do some stuff with our RV.  We happened to notice her trees to the east.  They had lost all of their leaves except for on the very tops.  I had never noticed that before.  I instantly related with those leaves--I felt like I was hanging on too.  So I took a picture.  Sometimes hanging on is all we need to do.

There was about six to seven in a row like that.  (I know---I am weird--but I do try to hang on.)

The balance of blessings.....

One of the most memorable talks I have heard in Stake Conference was a talk about trials and blessings by Pres. White, our first Stake President in Syracuse.  Reading parts from his journal from May and June of 1978, he interwove a trial (their toddler daughter had an illness that eventually led to her being brain damaged) and the story of a friend whom he had baptized who was African-American.  If you are a history nut, you will realize that June 1978 was when the Blacks received the priesthood.  Pres. White was able to give him the priesthood after the prophecy was announced.  Then he talked about how during trials, blessings are being pour down upon us to strengthen us and give us hope.  We need to look for them.  The more difficult the challenge, the more the blessings are there.  The trick is to look.

I believe that to be true.  I have seen it so many times in my life.  I know that our Heavenly Father provides us sufficient "succor" for each and every day and some of that succor are direct blessings in other areas of our lives.

Sunday, November 8 was a perfect example and it was in fact literally a blessing--the blessing of sweet Scarlett by her dad, Scott.  Scott and Chantel had wanted to have Scarlett's blessing at home with just family.  A few days before they called to say that Sunday at 6:30 was the day and time.  It was a very sweet moment to see my son bless his beautiful daughter.  In the circle with her dad were both her grandpas and her Great-Grandpa Giberson, her Uncle Austen, and all three members of their Bishopric.  Scarlett did great as well as her dad.

Pictures:  (You probably have seen them on Facebook but this is my personal record which will be a hard copy.)

Chantel with Scarlett

The Hall side of the family
Jena, Judy, Gary, Great-Grandpa Giberson and Karla/Nana, Chantel, Scarlett, Scott, and Great-Grandma Hall

Dad Scott with Scarlett

How cute is this picture.  I love it!

It was a sweet end of a difficult day.  How great is that! Perfect.

The fight continues....

(Sunday, Nov. 9) Ben has been trying to manage his illness without anti-psychotics since mid-June.  He has lost weight, felt more motivation and desire for the future, he got interested in gardening and spent hours in our backyard during the summer tending parts of the garden, he even read parts of books from time to time.  That is the list of plusses.  Unfortunately, his illness continue to worsen over the five months.   It had become critical over the week prior as he had a couple of nights where he didn't sleep at all. Saturday night of Sadie's he again didn't sleep at all.  That next morning Gary and I made the decision to admit him to day treatment at Davis Behavioral.  We felt we needed the break from him and that perhaps being away from the house for half the day would help him sleep at night.  Ben agreed, so Gary came and took Jena to Church and I headed off with Ben.

Sunday night he was able to sleep for about five hours although not until 3 or so in the morning.  However Monday night he again could not settle down to sleep..  He paced and was filled with symptoms.  I tried to stay up with him to help him manage himself but by 4 in the morning he was so distressed that he asked to be taken into the CRU--which is the inpatient unit of DBH.  It is not a complete locked down unit.  It is considered a level 2 unit.

There are lots of details which aren't needed for historical preservation but we later that night spent some time at the ER and he was admitted to a hospital in West Valley City where they said was the closest bed.  We didn't have a great experience there and spent 8 days waiting to get him transferred to UNI which is the only hospital he has had experience with.

He had now been there about 8 days and is still really struggling.  He just wants to be home with us.  He is now, of course, on medications but it has been a very slow process to calm his symptoms.  It is so sad.

I think I have mentioned before:  I hate schizophrenia. 

I can't begin to imagine how Ben survives day to day, but he is a fighter and my hero.  He wants so badly to have the things of normal life--a job, a wife, and family.  Luckily the one thing I know for sure is that we are here for one reason and one reason only--to become the sons and daughters of God that He intended when he sent us off from heaven.  He has provided perfectly all we need to do that and in the end if we are successful and use the tools (the Atonement) He has given us all that He has will be ours and mortal life will just be a pleasant memory like a vacation or going to college.  In that end, Ben will have all and more that he might miss on earth.  1% of the people in the world have schizophrenia.  Poor Heavenly Father--He loves each one of them even more than I love and hurt for Ben.

A November Sunset

I was a bit reflective as I was driving home from Clearfield the night of Sadie's.  A couple of moms had started the conversation about the "last Sadie's" for their children.  One commented that she wished that she had had more than two kids as her son would be gone on a mission by the end of next summer.  I didn't wish that (about having more children--after all, I am almost 60 years old and quite old enough to not have a child in high school!) but again it is another ending of Jena's senior year.

Reflective or not, I was stuck by the beautiful sunsets over Antelope Island.  I pulled into a parking lot to take a few shots---

 

Breath-taking----

although the pictures are a poor substitute for the real moment!  :)

 

I love sunsets!

(I love sunrises as well but I am not really much of a morning person

so few pictures of sunrises!)

 Enjoy your sunset today (and sunrises for you morning people).

Jena's Sadies Weekend

As mentioned in a prior post, Jena asked Clarence Park to attend Sadies with her.  They joined a group of friends which included 21 couples--most of them from our stake as it turned out including many from our ward--mostly boys.  The theme was "Cinematic Duos".  They decided to go as Mulan and Shang which was great but turned out to be difficult to find costumes, especially when I was still run at about 25% most days.  Local costume shops had general Asian costumes but not Mulan nor in the right style (I probably was a bit more picky about that than I needed to be but it is China.  We had to have the right time period at least.)  Finally on Wednesday night, we decided to just go with matching karate outfits.  Even that was drama as many of the studios only sold ones with logos.  Ugg...by Friday morning I was once again on the internet trying to figure out what to do.  I finally thought to search marital arts and found a center in Ogden with solid black ones.  And the people were so nice.  I headed up in the afternoon with Jena and bought 2 of them.  When we got home Jena tried hers on and it was just a bit tight.  She was okay but I was kicking myself that I didn't take the owners offer to try it on.  However on my phone was a message from him telling me to definitely come back and trade them if they didn't fit.  I couldn't do it until late that night but it worked with their schedule too.  They acted like I was doing them a favor by buying from them.  I wanted to give them cookies.  I was so relieved to finally have that part done.  I am not the best costume mom (just ask my kids!).

Instead of a traditional "day date", their group decided to play night games at a large park in Kaysville which is located about 20 minutes away from our house.  We met them there as Jena had theatre prior to their 7:00 start time.  We arrived a bit early to find 15 scouts and 3 leaders having a bon fire, several high schoolers from a different high school already running around the huge playground, and it was pitch black and cold.  At 7:00, several cars poured into the parking lot including Clarence's so she hopped out with her donuts for the group and I drove off.  I have to say that I thought I was nuts leaving Jena there even with such a great group of kids.  What if she got lost in all of the confusion of 40 people and extras running around in the dark?  Only because I knew that Jena was exactly where she wanted to be and that Clarence and the other kids were great and had known Jena for a long time did I not drive back and get her.  She arrived home at 11:00--big smiles and happy!  They had finished the evening at a neighbor's home whose son was also in the group.  She loved just hanging there as well with the other kids.  A perfect start to the weekend.....

Saturday and the actual event--Here are some of the pictures we took of her and Clarence and the group:

Mulan aka Jena

the knot



Practicing her moves

Clarence and Jena

Many of these kids were in the same group for prom and they had decided to once again head to Clearfield High School to take group pictures prior to eating dinner at Red Robin's.  So once again, moms and dads headed over with them to take the pictures.

The group

A picture of the girls taking their selfie picture

The Seniors being silly

The boys

Girls being silly

And she had a great time--as predicted.  They ate together at Red Robin's (Jena had chicken strips and an Oreo milkshake).  The dance was back at the small gym which was decorated with movie posters and other drama stuff.  She even got to help clean up as Clarence was on the committee for decorating.  She is great at stuff like that and loved it.  Again she was home with big smiles and great memories.  It was fun to listen to her talk about the night.  The perfect end to the Sadies weekend!

2014 UDSF Conference "imagine"

Four weeks of being sick is not the best way to get ready for a conference.  Luckily I had some great help who took over more and more of my assignments during the month.  However there was some things I had to do.  Also it is often hard to even think through what help I needed when I was feeling miserable.

Ready or not--the day arrives and the event goes....I went to bed about 1 and got up at 5:30 to get down to Salt Lake in time to set up.  So appreciative to all of those who were there helping get things ready to go.  I basically floated on their coattails most of the day.

There was some excitement as the keynote speaker was confused about timing so missed the opening.  (He spoke at lunch instead.)  We had a teen/adult track (which Jena and her friend Kaitlyn were able to attend and had a awesome time) with lots of great activity.  However there was a moment of panic when the bus driver started heading to the second location instead of the lunch location and no one on the bus had the address (since the bus company was given the complete instructions).  I was answering my phone until I noticed a phone call for Jessica who was one of the volunteers.  I knew that she knew I couldn't answer the phone so I stepped out of lunch to help direct them to the right place.  All of the fun times of running a conference.  All in all it went well, people liked it and many people commented that they were surprised by many things that they learned.

No great pictures.  I only took this one which is actually a picture of a professional photo of Jena which was one on display at our conference:

Julia Crist, a senior fine arts student from BYU-I, is doing her senior project on individuals with Down syndrome.  She has a younger sister with DS.  She contacted UDSF in the summer to see if we could help her find families who would allow their children of any age with DS to be photographed for her project.  Sometime in the spring, she will hang them all in a display along with a brief bio of each person.  She spent about an hour talking with Jena and taking pictures of her all over our house and outside.  Her focus is on individuals with DS and the things they love.  I love this picture of Jena in her room with her guitar, especially as it has the quote she chose herself: "never ever give up  Dreams do come true."  Julia allowed us to display five of the prints at our conference.  It made for an impression welcome to the conference.

For our major "thank you" gifts we gave a print called "Trip to Holland".  The Cache county chapter had asked an artist in their area to paint a picture which could be auctioned at their Buddy Walk this year.  In addition, they asked if he would allow some prints which he did and signed and numbered each one. It is based on a famous essay in the disability community called "Trip to Holland" by Emily Kingsley. Trip to Holland  (click to read the essay).  I have seen this article used in a number of settings including infertility--anytime life heads different from what you planned or expected who happen. The artist was just given the article and he developed the art piece.  However, the piece of art work is amazing!

A bit hard to see but there is a mom and child walking the path to
the windmill.

Personally, I love tulips, windmills, clouds and impressionist art so of course, I love this and our presenters did as well.  I purchased one for myself (one of the benefits of leadership, I guess).

I came home with leftovers from lunch to feed my family for dinner.  And we actually got to meet Gary at Scott and Chantel's to hang out while Gary was working on their internet.  We had a great time playing with Scarlett and talking to Chantel.  By the time we got home, Jena and I were ready for bed in a flash and slept as late as we could possibly sleep.  For me I had to get up a bit earlier than normal to attend ward council as we were having a Emergency preparation activity on Nov. 14 so I had to report on it to the Ward Council.  With later church, I didn't need to be there until 9 so I got some great sleep....and a five hour nap that afternoon.

Again, I do like to be involved in things like this which I feel are useful to parents--a chance to learn new things but to also connect with other parents in a learning type of environment.  It is just nice to have it done. Whew...time for some homework!

Hall "Chili and Scones" Halloween

Carrying on the Hall tradition of chili and scones on Halloween is such a pleasure for me.  Using Gary's sister Valerie's recipe, it doesn't take much to make a huge pot of chili and add some dough and the evening is ready to go.  It is fun to have Mom Hall here and to see her enjoy the great grandchildren in their Halloween costumes.  Extra exciting this year because it was the first time we had a great grandchild of our own in the mix.

However a few days beforehand, I wasn't sure we could pull it off.  I was still sick from the kidney stone adventure and wasn't sure that I could do what needed to be done to be ready.  On top of that, the next day (Nov. 1) I was in charge of a UDSF Conference for 150 people.  It really seemed like more than I could do.  Gary just kept encouraging me to rest and not decided anything until Friday morning.

Friday morning, I woke feeling better than I had for over a month so spent 5-6 hours on follow-ups for the conference last minute details and then cleaned the house (loosely) and started dinner.  (Luckily spider webs fit right in at Halloween.) 

I was so glad that I did.  I loved having my family come and seeing the great nieces and nephews in their cute costumes.  I love watching my nieces and nephews parenting their children.  I went to bed (very late) but contended.  Gary knows me so well.  He knew I would have been so sad to miss that opportunity.

Traditional Pumpkin dinner a couple of days before Halloween

Natalie, Ezrie, and Lisa  (children of cousins)

Dallin and Dad Chris; Emily and Dad Eric

Princess Scarlett was a big hit.
I am glad that she came for her first "Chili and Scones Night".
Next year she will get a scone.

Jessica was sick so we missed seeing them that night.  And of course, Tosha and Austen with Niki were too far away.  :(   They attended a Halloween party at friends' home.

I hope that you all had a great Halloween as well.  Let the holidays begin..........

Endings are beginning....

 

On October 29, Jena and I attended an excellent YW in Excellence program at our ward.  While there, I realized that this is the last YW in Excellence program I will attend with a daughter (and maybe ever again in my life.)  With the way my three daughters are spaced, I never attended with two of them at one time but have attended them continuously since Jessica was 12 (Now we may have missed one due to illness or other conflict, I can't say that for sure.).  That means that I have been going for 19 years.  Pretty good for three daughters! 

With Jena being a senior, there are the normal endings for parents--and when it is your last one going through these ends, it causes a bit of heart tugging.  How quickly they have all grown!  How much I adore the five of them and now the additional family members which they are bringing into our lives. We are so lucky.