CHS Preference--2015 style!

Most of the day on Saturday was centered around getting Jena ready and off to her Preference related activities.

They had a day date to Classic skating where they were having so much fun they decided to play an extra 30 minutes.  They skated and played around and had a blast according to Gareth, Jena's date.

Then they went home and got cleaned up and dressed up.  It is amazing how beautiful they all are--

Jena and Gareth
she is the shortest and he is the tallest of the group

 They met at the Legacy Park in Syracuse for these pictures along with several other groups.  Jena knew lots of the girls when we arrived.  It was fun to see her comfortable and welcomed by her peers even those not in her group.

The FUNNY picture

And another one!

Jena and Kate
They are good friends.

The boys stare in the distance --it's a thing, apparently.

Fun flowers

And kisses from the girls!

They had dinner catered at one of the girl's homes, went to the dance in Ogden (which was awesome according to Jena and the others who went), and then went to Kate's house and played Headbandz (how do you spell that?) and Catch Phrase.  Jena got home just after mid-night, happy and content with her evening.

So fun on Facebook to watch all of the pictures of the kids being posted by their parents long before the dance even ended.  I loved talking to the teens at Church today and commenting on their dresses or ties or whatever.  It does make it feel like family as we share these things together.  Of course, Jena loved people complimenting her as well .

Oh, the high school days.........

Valentine's Day 2015

We are pretty low key about these holidays although I did decorate everyone's door during the night and gave them their favorite treat (those who live at home) and sent little gifts to the other kids.

Jena's door

 Gary and I headed out to dinner.  I didn't know where we were going and was surprised when he turned into the Carl's Junior parking lot---as I really don't care for Carl's Jr AND it was Valentine's Day after all.  We had talked about not going anywhere major since it was going to be crowded due to the holiday, but I was thinking Carl's Jr. was a bit too far down the list of preferred places.

He laughed as I reacted to Carl's Jr. and then headed back through the parking lot and parked by a strip mall.  We had dinner at a ma and pa type of place--Hibachi House which is a Japanese Grill.  It was perfect and the food was great.

And Gary was very proud of himself!  We will definitely go there again.

Grandchild Day

Austen and Niki-
the spoon feels good on his gums.

 Wednesday is the day that I watch Scarlett and I am always wishing Niki was there, too.  Tosha sent me a number of pictures of Niki so I am sharing them.


I am sure that Niki will be thrilled that I posted this
picture in our family blog when he is older.
Tosha said one day he found his nostril and kept
sticking his finger in there.  The next day and since,
he hasn't done that--she is glad.

 I decided to post this picture of Scarlett with my hat on since Niki was wearing his dad's hat.  Today we went and visited Great-grandma Hall where Scarlett mastered climbing up the one stair in her sunken living room.  This is a task all Hall grandchildren and now great-grandchildren learn early. Scarlett figured it out quickly.  However she is too little to figure out the coming down the one stairs, but she will have more practice.

Beautiful Tuesday

and actually all of this week.  The weather continues to be blue skies and awesome clouds with mild temps.  My tulips and other spring flowers are starting to pop out of the ground even though I am warning them it is much too early and a frost will certainly come.

Tuesday was a great day as Jena and I headed up to Snowbasin for her ski lesson and we got some great pictures along the way.

It is striking how little snow there is at Snowbasin.  Without the ability to manufacture snow, I doubt there would be any skiing at all up there.  As it is, there might just be a couple of more weeks when skiing will even be open.  These mild days are killing the snow.

Flags at the entrance

This is a small field where they introduce
first concepts of skis and snowboard.
They have helped mother nature a bit
with the snow.

Jena enjoyed skiing and did Becker which is a much steeper and long run than she has done this season so far.  She did great according to her teacher and they had fun singing Mary Poppins songs on the ski lifts.

We had to get gas so we stopped at a station in Morgan Green where Austen is from so we sent this picture to him to see if he could guess where we were.  He did!

On the way home the skies were amazing with some many types of clouds.  There is a spot going down Hwy. 193 to the west that I try to always notice the view.  It is a quirky thing I have.  There are certain spots that I try to not miss enjoying as I am driving or walking or whatever--each time.  No matter my mood or where I am going.  They serve to lift my spirit, cause me to slow down, or to remind myself how awesome life is.  Spots like the Provo Temple when trying through Utah county, two hilltops in Salt Lake where I once saw an amazing reflection of a sunset across the valley, you get the idea--they are all over the place.  This spot is one and so this time I asked Jena to take some pictures as we were driving down that specific spot--



Antelope Island
I took this picture to the southwest
while stopped at a stop light.
Hard to see in the picture but
you can see the island and the lake plus the sky.
At all times of the day, it is beautiful.

I once mentioned this spot in a lesson and several other women commented that they knew exactly the spot I meant because they too try to enjoy it each time.  That was awesome to know.

I loved the layers of clouds to the south--rows and rows of white, grey or in-between types of clouds.

The picture taking didn't end after we got home.  I took a couple of pictures when I got to school at the Utah State University-Kaysville campus later that evening.

Our building--where I am most Tuesday nights

 View to the southwest--the side of the building is on the right.

Sharing these pictures of clouds reminded me a statement I heard once from a LDS artist.  She was encouraging us to have art in our homes which uplifts and touches us.  Then she said, "Above the piles and clutter of life, a piece of art can still be seen and remind of important things."

I think that is what God did too.  He filled the skies and the earth and the oceans with amazing and beautiful things so that above the piles and clutter of life, we can look up (and around and down) and be renewed.  It's a good habit to have.  I love clouds!

"God's Breeze"

As I mentioned I am going to do my internship next year at DCFS working in the post-adoption services area although I will have opportunities to do a variety of things.  I was talking to my professor who does all of her research in the area of adoption how she got involved professionally with adoption--she was adopted as an infant so I wondered if that was her reason.

She responded, "It was really one of those "God's breezes".  During my PhD program at the University of Utah, the state of Utah needed some research done in adoption and my professor involved me and I knew it was the right place for me."  I loved that phrase "God's breeze".  Not a violent storm (or trial) that pushes you, but a quiet nudge in a direction that perhaps you haven't considered.  I have felt that too.

He said....

Yes.  (Photo provided by Jena).  She is excited.  They are going skating for their day date, pictures at a park and then a catered dinner at one of the girl's houses.  More pictures for sure next week.  The dance in on Saturday, the 14th.

Winter "Spring" day in Salt Lake

I attended a conference on Thursday which was held in the Salt Lake City Library (Issues in Attachment).  During the breaks I headed outside to enjoy the beautiful weather.

City street

The "Old"
East view of the Salt Lake Courthouse

The "New"
This is the view of the mountains beyond the Library wall
You can see the glass of the building on the left reflecting
the wall and the mountains in the background.

Another fun thing at the library was that they had a photo display from mainland China.  Photos from different areas were hung up and down in their gallery.  Although I had only been to one spot actually shown in the photos, many were classic China scenes which reminded me of trips into China and southeast Asia.

The Children's Library also had a display of Mercer Meyer but I decided to go see that on Friday on the second day of the conference.  Unfortunately I developed a migraine during the night and missed the entire second day (I was disappointed but as I only had two migraines the entire year last year, I can't really complain.  It has been about 6 months since my last one.) I might try to go down and check it out if I have some time next time I am in Salt Lake.  I and my kids loved his books.

The conference was very interesting and I was glad that I was able to be there for one day.

I like cities.  I like walking around and seeing things and being with people.  It was a nice day.

Wednesdays with Scarlett

It is always fun for Wednesdays to come because then we get to play with Scarlett.  Today she was concerned mostly about crawling and we crawled all over the place together, played with toys, and sang songs.  Gary came down and was laughing at me as we were crawling around the ottoman.  He thought it would be great to take a picture and post it on Facebook of me crawling and say "Grandma is making great progress with crawling."  Fun guy---and no pictures were taken (for the record).

Some times Scarlett leaves before Jena is home
very long, so Jena was happy to have
a little extra time this Wednesday..

Scarlett got to go with us to Jena's Preference Dress fitting.  Jena wanted a short party dress and she is thrilled with this one with the peacock design on it and it has her favorite blue color.  And the dress shop owner and seamstress both loved the dress Jena picked and the cute smiles they saw from Jena and Scarlett.

We dropped off Scarlett at home and got to play with her a bit longer with Chantel.  It is fun to watch her interact with Chantel (and Scott but he wasn't home during this visit.)  Scarlett loves us all but she truly loves her mom and dad which is precisely the way it should be.

After Scarlett leaves for the day, then I often miss Niki.  I feel the same way towards him as I do towards Scarlett but I miss not having that in person contact.  I sent a quick text to Tosha and Austen saying that I miss them and Niki--and Austen sent this back with the caption--"And he misses you too."

How sweet is that! Now I know that Niki doesn't miss me yet but I appreciate knowing that Tosha and Austen are teaching him to love all of his grandparents and relatives in Utah.  Can't wait until we see them again.

Jessica and Elessia were making fun of how "out of date" my cell phone wall paper was, so on Saturday when they were here, Elessia complied these two pictures for new wallpaper.


Cuteness!

The Note

While I was at school on Tuesday night, Jena wrote Gary this cute note.  It was so sweet that I posted it on Face book to share.  However I wanted to include it in our family blog as well. 

When you adopt a child with Down syndrome or any significant syndromes, you must consider the "worse case" situation and feel confident in your decision based on that. (Side note:  Actually in Jena's case, once it became clear she belongs to us, it was so clear that there seemed no longer to be a choice at all.)  So we weren't sure that Jena would ever read or write.  How lucky we are that she does.

And she and Gary did go to Artic Circle where she had a cookie dough milkshake.

(Side note: This format for notes is the one that I usually use.  I will put a little wave line after the person's name then draw a heart and sign it "Me" or "Mom" or put the heart and then a "U".  One early morning when Scott was sick during the night, he wrote a note for his car pool and hung it on our front door saying he wouldn't need a ride because he was sick and he signed it the same way with a drawn heart.  I loved it.  His defense was that was the way he thought all notes were signed.  This was before blogs and digital cameras or I would definitely have a picture of that note. Lucky Scott!)

Friday "Fun"

As I have confessed many times, I don't keep a journal so sometimes I like to record a week or a day of events to show how crazy life can sometimes be and it is okay and you can get by.  My Friday was actually one of those types of days.  I am not sure how so many things got piled on one day but they did and it actually was quite a good day.

9:00-10:40  Met with Aubrey Meyer, Family Preservation and Post Adoption director for the Division of Child and Family Services (DCFS).  It was the final interview for a position as an intern with them next year.  It is rare they take a first year intern but one of the people in my class is a supervisor in the area and he encouraged them to meet with me.  Plus they know my professor who is also very supportive of the plan.  Hopefully I will not be in over my head.  I left with books to read, more books to get and a suggestion to start reading the policies and procedures for the department.  That won't happen until the break between terms.

11:12:30  Meeting up at Weber State (25 minutes northeast)  with two professors who are charged with the task of setting up a "Think College" program on campus for individuals with cognitive delays.  Exciting times.  I had offered to get some parents together as a focus group and they took me up on it.  We had 15 parents at this meeting.

Talked in the halls with some parents and then zoomed back to Syracuse to get my hair cut and colored.  1:30-3:00

Had about an hour at home to touch bases with Gary, Ben, and Jena and then do some emails.  Then into the car again to run Jena and Emily down to theatre class in Centerville (25 minutes south).  Read homework for 45 minutes while they sang and danced.

Hopped back in the car to drop Emily home and then Jena and speed back up to Weber State for my second parent focus meeting with the professors (Northwest 33 minutes-rush hour-to Syracuse and then 25 minutes north east to Weber State).  We had 8 more parents who came that night.  Again it was another great opportunity for people to put in ideas as this program begins to take shape.  Done at 8ish and headed back home.

With all of the miles I put on the car that day, I felt like I should have done somewhere fun with Gary.  Luckily the weather here has been mild and beautiful so driving was good. 

Got home around 9:15 p.m.  It was a productive day but a crazy one.  Thank heavens for Gary manning the home front and making sure that things were okay and people got fed.

(Historical note: The weather is actually way too warm for this time of the year.  We have made some records for the warmest days in February ever and also the highest low temperatures at night.  We have had bits of rain which have included some snow in the mountains but not enough to prevent water concerns for the summer.  Some of the early spring flowers are starting to peek through the ground.  Might be a bad year for tulips if they start coming up and then get slammed with winter weather.)

And the Preference fun begins.............

When we were considering adopting Jena, I felt very strongly that we would not be alone as we raised her but that her life would be filled with angels to help her.  Kate Meyer is one of those angels.  I am not sure exactly when they first met but they have been friends throughout high school for sure and probably before.  She helped me as I was trying to help Jena decided on a date for Sadie's Dance in the fall and this week she reached out to me to see if Jena was planning on going to Preference.  Jena and I had just started having those conversations (started by Jena, of course. She is glad to have some control in these things.) Kate invited Jena and her date to join with their small group for the day date and dinner/dance.  Jena is thrilled.

She has asked Gareth Williams:

"Save the Date
Feb. 14
Will you go with me?
Jena
Check the Pig!"

All of these things were packed up in the blue bag with lots of tissue paper.  The pig was filled with candy as well.  We had planned on putting the coins in the pig as well but they were too big.  Hard to read but they just say "Gareth, Preference 2015, Jena).  Gareth and Jena were in seminary class together and he often joins Kate and Jena for lunch at school.

And we have found a short fancy party dress (black and dark teal)  for her to wear which she loves.  We are renting it from a local shop where she rented her Prom dress last year.  Pictures will follow when the big day arrives. Now the decision is what to do with her hair!!!  Jena is going to make sure she gets all of the fun out of high school and being a senior as she can. 

What happened to January 2015?

The speed by which that month flew by was shocking.......is this a feature of getting older or is our planet spinning faster these days?

One thing that makes time seem to be flying is the rate at which Scarlett and NIki continue to grow.  Week to week as I watch Scarlett in person and Niki by pictures and phone calls, you see those real changes they are making in development--it is awesome to watch!

Niki is just over five months and working on his "girl crazing charm" already.

Light is a bit off but look at this awesome smile!

Love those big brown eyes!

Happy Boy off on a ride

He is sitting up like a pro and now trying to pull himself up onto things.  



Toes are always good for something when you are a baby!

 

When Scarlett came for the day this week she was excited to share her new talents--pulling herself up on things--anything.

 



 

The we played "Peek-a-boo" and she was delighted to show her new talent:

Sometimes you would see a cute smile.....

Other times her "new talent"--sticking her tongue out!

She was very proud of herself!

We did have some additional busyness with two weeks of performances for Jena, a pinewood Derby, a conference for me, school and lots of stuff for the UDSF.  I was scrambling yesterday to at least talk to two of my three ladies I visiting taught and was able to drop off a treat--how lame is that on the last day of the month.  Going to do better this month especially as it only has 28 days in it!