Buddy Walk 2015

We had the third Buddy Walk since I became president of the Utah Down Syndrome Foundation on August 29th and it was great.  We didn't have as many people as we hoped due in part to having to do it in August rather than September.  People had a great time and it was fun----and I am so glad to have it done and over with.  Our Buddy Walk Chair person ended up having a lot of family crises and that left the bulk of the work to Steve, our CEO, and to me.  Planning for 1000 people for an event in Salt Lake becomes a full time job during the last month or so.  It was nuts.  Luckily my family is a great help.  A special thanks to Gary who ran rocket launching, Jessica and Elessia who passed out t-shirts, our good friends Hal and Jolynn Beckstrand who pitched in and helped everywhere, and Jena who is always willing to help.

Our theme was "Shoot for the Stars" so we centered things around Star Wars:

Zach singing

We had rocket designing and launching, a Bike Adventure Zone, inflatables, carnival games, lunch, dancing and the 1/2 mile walk around the park.  We had about 1000 people including Princess Laia and a Storm Trooper.

 

Liam in his cute Star Wars outfit

We got there about 6 in the morning and I headed up around 3.  This is what it looked like at our house for about a week until I actually got most things put away.

Gary's half of the garage

Something I took home that I had to take back to storage in Salt Lake

The Dining Room

And this was just the stuff that I needed to put away.  Down in our basement we had 5 balance bikes, 7 boxes of rockets, 6 rocket launchers, and several other boxes of items which we delivered to Logan on this past Friday for their upcoming Buddy Walk at the end of the month.

It was fun, but I am REALLY glad it is over!!!  Needless to say, but both Gary and I met our steps goal on that Saturday.

Change.....

(if I wrote in a journal, this is more of that type of entry, but since I don't I decided to add it here.  Feel free to skip if you like.)

I am a person who is not opposed to change--I like new adventures and new challenges.  I am somewhat of a risk taker and am willing to put myself in new situations especially if it involved things I am passionate about. When someone moves out of my neighborhood, I am sad but I am also excited about the opportunity to meet someone new.  I loved the opportunity to move to different places and feel that my life has been so enriched by each places we have lived as a family. And yet----this has been hard...................(nothing serious--don't be alarmed.)

It first started when we were in Oregon on our last day which was a Sunday.  In the morning Charon and Mike got texts from friends back in Utah telling them that they had announced in Church that there was going to be a special meeting the following Sunday evening and that a new ward was going to be created.  I wasn't really concerned.  The growth in the stake was in the south end.  Our ward was squarely in the middle--a nice large ward within a very square boundary.  We often walked the whole area on a Sunday evening.  No reason to be concerned. Although we went through several ward changes when we first moved here, it had been very stable for the past 9 years as the Walnut Grove Ward. Moving to a Utah ward was not easy for me and it took a long time to feel like I had a place here but we have grown to love our neighbors.  These were the people who knew our family as they grew and especially had nurtured and loved Jena.  In turn she loved them.  Because of our involvement in callings, she knew where almost everyone lived in our ward which was a great feeling for us.  We were safe and comfortable.

When we returned home from our trip I had a few brief conversations with different friends about the upcoming meeting.  However we all were very relaxed about the whole thing.  The growth is in the south not our area and we were okay.  There was some information going around that all but one ward was going to be adjusted.  Even with that, we worried about people on our edges of our ward but didn't expect much more than that.

Until the meeting started and the Stake President referred to the new ward as Barber Acres.  That was a neighborhood immediately to our west of where we lived and then I knew, even before seeing the map that this was going to be much more than losing some families on the edge of the ward.  The top third of our current ward was combined with 2/3s of another ward plus two cul-de-sacs from a third ward to create the new Barber Acre Ward.

It was been a three weeks and I am still in mourning.  I am sure that I will adjust but it really has been so much harder than it should be.  Maybe I am getting too old, maybe I am too busy in other parts of my life that I just wanted that to stay the same for me.  I am sad for Jena to lose that support group of people she knows and who know her. I am sad for Gary who has loved serving with the Bishopric as the ward clerk.  He too is facing lots of changes as he begins the process of looking for a new job.  We were comfortable with our roles within the ward and how we interacted and supported people and how they helped and supported us. 

I still don't have a calling.  Gary was sustained as Assistant 11 yr. leader but they changed the day of Scouts which makes it impossible for him to remain the whole time as he has a commitment with our brother-in-law so that is frustrating from the beginning.

The only thing really that has helped is two weird dreams I had Wednesday night prior to the Stake meeting.  In the first dream, all of Walnut Grove Ward was in the old Stake Center from my childhood.  During daylight hours we were under attack from Chinese Military helicopters.  At night we were trying to sneak out the children to safety a few a night.  This was an intense dream which woke me up.  The next dream started with a member of the Stake Presidency and his wife arriving our home (in some town we have never lived in) and they were there as our real estate agents to take us to our new home.  They drove us out to a house up on a hill which overlooked the whole city.  It was huge and had a pool off the family room which also had a view of the city below.  The dream was very detailed as we walked through each room and talked about it.  That even included checking the furnace.  The whole dream I kept saying "I don't want to move.  I like my house.  I don't want a bigger house with more things to do and take care of."  President Davis kept saying to me that I will learn to love this and this is what you need.  It is silly I know, but as I face the changes which are occurring, I do think to myself, "Some day I will be so glad this happened."  The problem is that I know that it takes work to get to that point--I am not sure I have energy to do that right now.

I put this in the family blog because this is something that will often face us as we grow in the gospel and in life.  Sometimes things are hard, it is not what we want, and we don't want to change or face new things.  Hopefully over time, all of us will see--it really was worth it!!!

(As for now, I may still have my private discussions with Heavenly Father who so far has been patient with my list of concerns and fears!  Advice is welcome from my family and friends!)

Home again Home again jiggety jig...

or something like that.  It was hard to leave Oregon, both because I loved it but also I knew that I was coming home to 2 crazy weeks of STUFF!  I think it took me about 2 weeks to truly catch up on the laundry as I was so busy with other things to really focus on it.  I am happy to report that no one had to go naked during that time although some mornings we were pulling things out of the dryer.

Tuesday, August 18--UDSF Lagoon Day

This time I handed out discount tickets with Liam as one of my partners so that Jessica and Elessia could ride some rides.  Then I headed out and enjoyed some rides as well as baby-tending Liam.  It was a fun day.

This is the new ride at Lagoon called the Cannibal--Gary loved it and rode on it twice despite the very long lines.

At 6:00 pm I ran Jena to her friend's Kaitlyn's birthday party at a pool in Kaysville.  She had a great time and Gary and I finished up the night at Lagoon with Jessica, Elessia, and Liam.  Mostly I was the smart one and held Liam while they rode the crazy rides that I am too old for.

Wednesday we had Scarlett as usual then Jena had pictures taken for her mission application and then headed to a practice for an upcoming concert in Layton that she was performing in.

Waiting for her turn
She loves being with friends and singing and dancing.

Thursday and Friday were spent in preparations for our upcoming Buddy Walk for the foundation.  More about that later.

Friday through Sunday was a special treat as it was Scarlett's first sleep over at our house.  We had a busy couple of days and she went everywhere with us and seemed to love every minute of it.

Right after she arrived we headed to Centerpoint where Jena had a dance practice for the concert on Saturday night.  Scarlett loved the music and the big mirror.  She would dance along with all of the dancers when ever the music was going.

Friday night we had an invitation to a summer BBQ with my visiting teachers.  There were lots of kids and Scarlett loved watching them and being a part of everything although she was careful to avoid the water fights.

We played at the park during Jena's early Saturday morning swimming time with Special Olympics.

For some reason almost every time Jena comes in the room, Scarlett goes over and hugs her or gives her a kiss and then she goes back to playing.  Jena has gotten more kisses than any one of us at our house.  I guess Jena is just more huggable than the rest of us.  It is so sweet and Jena loves it too.

 

We had a double treat because Jessica came up with Liam to spend some time with Scarlett and us.

Ben with Liam

Of course that made us miss sweet Niki and his family.  Oh how we wish they lived closer although we are thrilled for all of their adventures.

Saturday night we attended Zach's Summer Concert.  Zach is a young man with Down syndrome who sings, dances and plays some instruments. They organized this concert to raise money for some local groups that help people with Down syndrome--Gigi's Playhouse and the Friend to Friend class.  Jena performed in song and dance numbers  with both Gigi's and F2F.  She loves being on stage and dancing and singing.  It was a perfect night for an outdoor concert.

Gigi Playhouse and the Layton Dancers
"We are All in This Together"

Checking out the seats

IN the F2F number, she was Gertrude, I think.

Zach gave each of the girls a rose

Scarlett did great while she was here except for falling asleep.  She seemed very confused by me trying to get her to bed.  Once asleep she did stay asleep all night which was nice.  She was one happy girl to see her parents again when they arrived on Sunday.

Monday, August 24th-Jena was off to her first day at post-secondary school--STEPS.  The bus picks her up and brings her home right to our door each day.  She is liking it so far but mostly they have done field trips.

Second day, waiting for the bus and I am getting ready to go on my walk.

 

Still working on laundry at this point and four more days until our big Buddy Walk-----

Families are forever...............

A Sunday morning shot of the beach from the balcony:

When I started these blog posts about our trip to Oregon, I mentioned that it was filled of remembrances of my mom.  These were places she shared with me and taught me to love--the forests, history, and most of all the beach.  I drove through places of her childhood and my childhood and I felt such sweet feelings about her and the great influence she had and continues to have on my life.  I had one other sweet minute as we were heading back to Portland, we drove through the town of McMinnville when I saw this place--

Not the best picture as I was grabbing my camera to take the shot while we were driving down the road.  This is the place my mom went to her freshman year of college-Linville College--the first in her family to attend college. Of all of the towns and roads in Oregon on this last day we passed this very place.  My mom talked about college and how much she loved it which led in part I am sure my decision to go away to school. It was perfect.

As I planned the trip, I had asked if anyone wanted to attend a session at the Portland Temple.  We decided not to based on timing, etc., but Gary and I had figured a route which would allow us to stop at the temple on the way to the airport.  Our earlier lunch stop had taken much longer than I expected and Gary and I were debating on whether to reroute directly to the airport.  We decided to still squeeze in a quick stop.  I am so glad I did.  For some reason it become the perfect end to our family trip to Oregon.  The grounds were so quiet and so beautiful.

Charon and Mom Hall

Gary and Vonette Kerr

Of course, memories of my mom had been all around me during the entire trip.  However I also found myself missing Dad Hall and Gary's sister Valerie.  When we are together, it is natural to feel the loss of them sharing these adventures with us.  They would have loved this trip and sharing the beach with us.  I don't know for everyone else but for me, stopping at the temple brought strong feelings of these family members who had gone before, that we are still connected, that our love and associations are and will be for eternity!  I was in awe of the great plan of happiness that our Heavenly Father has for us.  It was truly the right and perfect end to our 80th Birthday trip.

All in all we put several hundred miles on our rental car, crossed on four different roads between Portland and the beach, and seen some amazing things.  I didn't want it to end.

Happy Birthday, Mom Hall!!! Thanks for sharing your day with us.

Gary carrying our kites through the airport.
Can't wait for another chance to fly them again.

Happy 80th Birthday, Mom Hall!

After a good night's sleep on the Washington side of the Columbia river, we decided to make our way slowly down to the Oregon coast and our beach house.  We couldn't check in until after 4:00 so that meant we had the day to fill along the way.

To get to Washington and then to get back and heading to the coast  required going on three more different bridges---I tell you that Portland is a bridge-lover's paradise.

Some of the fun of a trip is the odd things you find at unexpected places.  We stopped and got gas and saw this at the nearby grocery store.  It is actually a vehicle which they must use for parades and things like that.

 



In Oregon you are not allowed to pump your own gas (it is actually a law there).  As Gary was talking to the guy pumping our gas this morning, Gary mentioned that it was his mother's birthday.  The worker commented that it was his dad's birthday, too, and then proceeded to use the squeegee to draw a candle on the windshield in front of Mom Hall.  He insisted that she "blow" it out before he wiped it off.  It gave us all a laugh and it was a sweet fun moment with a stranger.

Our first planned stop was at the Tillamook Forest Center.  It was a beautiful spot even with a light rain during most of our visit.  Again this reminded me that my memory isn't what I think it is because I can not remember any of the history surrounding this place although it happened during part of my life time as a child.

This forest had several major burns at intervals of 6 years apart which damaged millions of acres of trees.  This started in the mid-1930s.  In a effort to both protect the forest in future fires and also to recover the forest, they started a massive forest rebuilding through the 1950s and 60s. Schools, church and communities sent volunteers to plan millions of Douglas firs.  They said that actually 2 out of every three seedlings planted were eaten by deer seeking food.  You would never know it looking at this forest today.  The visitor's center had a great film about the whole history of the area and it was so interesting.  As my cousins live nearby I wondered if they were part of those who planted in this area during that time.

A fire watch tower.
That would be another isolating and lonely
job.  This tower actually had a tiny room
but some only had a tiny seat for the watcher
to use as they searched for signs of fires

Along with the visitor's center there was some walk ways around the area including (you guessed it--another bridge).

Vonette, Mom Hall, Mike and Charon watching the stream with Gary on the umbrella

 We wandered down through the forests until Tillamook and after lunch headed to the Tillamook Cheese Factory.

This place was CRAZY.  The parking lot was huge and packed and there were long lines to buy ice cream and cheese.  Gone is my childhood memory of actually walking through the floors of the cheese factory while the workmen explain the cheese making process.  I loved that as a child and I was excited to share that with Gary.  However now Tillamook Cheese is big business.  We could look into the factory area and they had signs and short videos teaching about the process.  You still do get free cheese samples and I tasted everything this time.

From there we continued down a spur of 101 along the coast and enjoyed some beautiful scenery.  We stopped at this view area to share these views with Gary's mom.

The slight rain added a different look on the beach and it was stunning.  Finally we made it to Pacific City and the Kiwanda Beach House.  There was a moment of panic when the key code to the gated community didn't work and the agent didn't answer my first call at 5:01 pm on a Friday.  Luckily she called me right back with the new code and we finally made it to the beach house.

And it was truly on the beach with only sand from house to beach.  And we didn't want to leave!  Except for running to the store for pizza and groceries twice and eating out at a restaurant once, all we did was play games and play on the beach until Sunday morning.  It doesn't get much better than that.

Vonette and Gary headed for the water

Vonette couldn't remember a time when she had been at the beach so it was fun to share that experience with her.  Although all beaches in Oregon are declared public lands because this area is accessed only through the gated community there were not many people on the beach during the time we were there.  Now Oregon water is cold and since the air was not much warmer (around 75 degrees for a high), it was not really set up for much water play, but it was still amazing.

Our beach has the second largest "haystack"
on the Oregon coast line

Charon, Vonette, Mom, and Gary
on her 80th birthday.

We collected sea shells.

And watched the sunset.

 



 

And we got to wake up on Saturday and do it all again.  I had some suggestions of places to go or things we could do, but in the end, we just stayed and enjoyed our little piece of paradise.

 

East front view of house

You walk out the side of the house to the beach.
It was a bit of a walk through heavy sand and a little hill to the actual beach

One of our purchases on Saturday were some kites.  It was actually a bucket list item for me to fly a kite on the beach.  (Don't ask Gary how much the kites cost?  We actually brought them home with us to reuse.  I just reminded him that it was still cheap for a bucket list item.)

 

Selfie while we were both flying kites
Bucket List CHECKED

 

Mom watching us fly kites

Gary Kerr is flying a kite from his chair

This is Gary's kite.  It was a dragon fly and a bit
more complicated to fly.  I think he enjoyed the challenge of it.

Some inside views of the house:


The main living area with three windows looking out to the beach

View from our bedroom on the lower level

As I mentioned, some things you would have never seen--it is a bit hard to tell but this is what we found on top of a home along the side of the road.  It is mannequin legs in fishnet stockings and high heels coming out of a toilet.  I bet you have never seen that before!!  Thanks to Vonette for spotting this.

We ate out at the Pelican Bar for fish---although most of us ended up having some type of beef.  We did have some steamed clams and cuttlefish for appetizers.

 

 

 

The restaurant was even closer to the haystack so I got this view of the rock.

We headed back to the beach after dinner and started kite flying again.  Gary said that I really should have set my bucket list to be flying kites on the beach at sunset.  I took these pictures while flying my kite.  There was a great wind and it was perfect flying weather but it is still tricky to fly a kite and take a picture with a cell phone at the same time.

especially as I wanted to get closer to the rock in the ocean which was opposite the direction that my kite was flying.



I was doing great until for some reason my kite caught an odd breeze and it started going back and forth and finally fell down despite my best efforts.....so as Gary pointed out technically my kite fell before the sun actually set.  Lucky for him that my goal had already been met.

We had hoped to fly the kites at night but there was no wind then so we missed that moment.

Sunday we had a quiet morning and then packed up to head back to Portland to catch out afternoon flights but we made one more stop along the way................