A week of "Christmasing" around here......

This is one of the cute gifts that Jena received from her annual "Girls Christmas Party".  This party is with girls from her Special Olympics Comets team.  There are 12 of them and they have dinner, play games and exchange gifts--you get 12 of the same thing to pass out.  Jena had a great time.

 Here is the goodie bag she returned home with.

That was on Tuesday night and while she was partying in Layton, Gary and I drove down to Provo to have a family Christmas dinner with Ben and the others from his unit at the State Hospital.  We had ham and the usual Christmas stuff.  It was nice to meet some of the staff that Ben is around.

Wednesday night, Jena and the other students from Wonderwood performed at the Encore Orchestra event in Farmington.  They played on their xylophones--"Deck the Halls".  The rest of the performance was done by a youth orchestra which was very entertaining with some great Christmas music.  It was a fun event.  (We didn't buy tickets for any Christmas theatre or music concerts because we weren't sure when Zander would arrive, so it was nice to attend one concert.)

Russell and Jena enjoying the concert after they performed.

 Thursday I had my "company party" with The Children' Center which was fun.  I brought the balloons in a big box which was again a big hit.

Friday, Jena performed again with the Vista Harmonics, which is the choir at her school.  Singing with elastics on your braces isn't an easy task, but Jena loved it.

Saturday Jena and Gary had a Christmas party at bowling where Jena told me that she told Santa she wanted a guitar case (news to me!).  Then Saturday night we headed to Provo for a quick visit with Ben and then joined our friends for a Christmas party at Dan and Eileen Bradford's (again my white elephant gift was the balloons).  The Bradfords are friends from Hong Kong and this was a group of people mostly from Hong Kong.  Only a few were from our time in Hong Kong, but many of the women I have met over the years at our summer HK women luncheon.

Sunday, Jena and I got to spend time with these cute Sunbeams and talk about the birth of Jesus.

It doesn't get much better than that!

Sitting in the rocking chair....(mushy motherhood reflection)

rocking Liam to sleep, my mind began to wander and I reflected on the many times I have sat in the rocking chair (or actually the rocking recliner in many cases) and rocked a child.  It is funny how certain tiny moments of motherhood can coming rushing back at moments like this--

I remembered the first night that Scott was in our home for good.  His foster family had told us that they rocked him about 5 minutes and then laid him down in his bed to go to sleep.  I did the same thing that night.  After I put him to bed, Jessica (age 3 1/2) came in and asked to be rocked as well. Jessica was not a "rock to sleep" type of person except when she was sick--she liked her own bed even as a young infant. However that night, she wanted to be rocked and so I did. "How long to you rock Scott?", she asked. "5 minutes". "Okay, rock me for five minutes.  Watch the clock," she commanded.  After a minute or so she wiggled down and went and got her pillow to lay across my lap, and there we rocked for the whole five minutes, she mostly straight across my lap and me smiling and remembering that even though she had prayed for a brother since she could talk, it was still a bit of an adjustment to share her parents.

The first 10 days I was Tosha's mom, she was still in the hospital waiting for hip surgery. Our interactions were confined to her crib in the hospital ward, a folding chair, or walking in the outside garden.  When finally we got to bring her home to recover from a rash before surgery, it was a great pleasure to rock her to sleep that night.  Tosha was a cuddly baby and although she easily went to sleep in her crib, I loved the times I could rock her then and later, even with her body cast from her armpits to her ankles, even that was a pleasure.

I thought about the many young foster babies and toddlers which have been in our home--Wai Hing, Sang Chai, Nathan, Paige, Emily, and others...some for a night and others over a much longer time period--them too I often would rock for naps or mid night feedings.  Their faces and stories filled my thoughts as I rocked Liam this week.

I could picture night after night with Ben especially when he was struggling with his asthma and sitting up with him in the rocking chair was the best position for him to sleep. And sweet little Jena--my last little one--how I treasured those times when she needed to be rocked to sleep or because she wasn't feeling well.  I was older then and understood that these types of moments wouldn't last forever.

I didn't know then that I would be able to recreate those sweet moments of motherhood again with my grandchildren--Scarlett, Niki, Liam and soon for Zander. There is something about those moments--the rocking, the peace and quiet, the feelings of love and "mothering" that apparently live in our hearts and minds forever!

I rocked Liam much longer than I needed to that night.  I loved the flood of memories, the moments I recalled with my own little children, the places and bedrooms or hospital rooms or hotels where I rocked my children to sleep.  I was glad that I knew that there were many nights when I rocked them much longer than I needed to as well.  Even then in the busyness of mothering, I knew that I wouldn't hold them forever like that--cuddled, warm, next to my heart, in the quietness of the night.  They don't remember those moments, but I do and even now as I look at some of them with children of their own, those memories bring me to tears and thankfulness that I got to be a mother AND their mother.  Thanks, Jessica, Scott, Ben, Tosha and Jena for making me a mother and allowing me to rock you to sleep and to comfort you when you were sick or hurt.  How I love you and I love being your mom.

And thanks,Liam, for allowing me to rock you to sleep.

A look at the other three---

Liam was so excited when we got to his home on Tuesday and waiting for the rest of his family to show up from the hospital that he begged to get INTO his crib.  Immediately he pushed the buttons to start the music and he clapped and danced and laughed for several minutes.  He loves grandma and grandpa's house but he knew his home when he saw it!

Scott posted this darling picture of sweet Scarlett with her milk mustache.  I got to read her a bedtime story when I visited with them in the evening this past week.  I loved it.

I haven't gotten any recent updated pictures of Niki's face so here is one from the past month or so...

He might be a singer!!

Tosha did send me this gorgeous picture of Niki with their Christmas tree--

I can't wait for the time for them to all be together for the first time...hopefully next October is the current plan.

And the days march on....

After dropping Liam off, it seems like time is flying by.......Tuesday evening was the last day of the semester for school which meant my last presentation for the semester and then the last paper turned in on Wednesday morning ( 2 days early so yay!) and then

Wednesday afternoon after a meeting in Salt Lake, I headed down to Provo to visit Ben (we had a nice visit this time) and then had dinner and visited with some friends.  It was exactly the little break I needed.  I just needed more time as there were others I definitely still need to visit with.

On the way, I got a "out the passenger side of the car" photo of the Prove City Center LDS Temple.  It was dusk and the lights were on around the temple and it was so beautiful.  Much better than this little picture.

Thursday evening I finally had a moment to clean up the toys from Liam's visit.  Often I leave the toys out but we were having our "Hall Adult Almost Annual Christmas Party" on Friday night so I had to get things cleaned up to get ready for that.

We had our party and it was fun although many of our dear friends had conflicts and we missed having them.  I guess we are going to have another party in a month or two so that we can "party" with them at a less busy season.

Part of the cleaning the house and getting ready for the party meant that we had a deadline for getting at least some Christmas decorations put out.

Our advent calendar that Jena faithfully changes the date is swiftly moving toward Christmas.  It is a bit bittersweet this year with Ben in the hospital. He has always been home on Christmas and although I have adjusted (generally) to the idea that Jessica, Scott and Tosha are not ever going to walk into the family room and get their stockings off the mantle again, it will be hard to not have Ben with Jena in that yearly tradition.  We are trying to figure out the best way to celebrate with Ben so that he will feel the love and support we have for him.

This picture was taken yesterday on Dec. 10.

Saturday allowed me the first free time (not counting the days I was sick last week) to FINALLY work on Zander's quilt.  Although I have had the fabric for a number of months, time has gone in other directions.  With school done, I hope to finish Zander's quilt and start on baby James' quilt as well.

bottom almost half of the quilt (ignore the Christmas tablecloth around the edges)

Then Saturday night, Jena and I ushered at the Centerpoint Theatre and then stayed and watched the show "It's a Wonderful Life" which made me cry even though I have seen the movie many many times.  It is a great message.  We all matter to those around us, especially when we have reached out and done something kind.  Great message for this time of year and all year long.

And number #4 has arrived safe and sound....

Welcome to the Earth--

Zander Christopher Hall

who arrived on December 4, 2016.

6 lbs 13 oz.  19.25 inches long

He was born on a Sunday just like Jessica was although she was a spring baby and he is a winter boy. Jessica and Zander both did great.

I picked up Liam Sunday morning (a friend of theirs who lived nearby came during the night when they decided to head to the hospital).  Thanks, Paige.

Sunday evening Liam, Jena and I headed up to the hospital so that Liam could meet his new little brother.  He wasn't sure about the whole event that visit, but the next day when we went up, he was happier about it all and would point at the baby when he was asked if he had a new baby brother.

First family picture

I had had a cold the week before and was still coughing at night so I actually haven't held Zander yet. But I did have Elessia take a picture of me in my mask at the hospital so that Zander would know that we were so excited he arrived safe and sound and is the newest little member of our family.

Liam did so great at our house.  We played and played.  He had to go into work with me on two different times--once to call and reschedule my appointments (because I was sick and missed Thursday the week before, I hadn't gotten completely ready and brought home phone numbers for my clients of the week.) and once for a supervision meeting which he slept in my arms the entire meeting. He endear himself to my co-workers who think he is darling just like us.

After dropping him off and driving off to school, I couldn't believe how much I missed Liam.  I almost started talking to him in the car, but caught myself as I noticed his car seat wasn't there any more.  These little people we call grandchildren are pretty fun. 

One last picture (for this post) of sweet little Zander!!!

The score now stands at 1 granddaughter and 3 grandsons!

And another grandson on his way in February!

And then it was December

I glanced out my kitchen window and noticed this stunning sunset to the west......

And then when I went outside to take a picture, I was also able to catch the reflection of the sunset in our back windows which face south.....

And toward the east you could barely see the snow on the mountains and the pink and purple reflections of the sunset on the tops of the mountains .....

The air was crisp from the recent snowfall and I stood outside for a while until the sun set completed and the skies turned to dusk.  My only regret was that I didn't get a picture to the north from my front porch.  Nature is truly breathtaking at moments like this!  360 degrees of wonder.  Enjoy a sunset tonight (or tomorrow if it is already night when you read this.  :)   )

For the record--The Children's Center in 1981

This is a definite throwback picture- This was taken at a staff training at The Children's Center around 1981 or so.

I am in the back row second from the end on the right side.  The current director of TCC, Doug Goldsmith,  was a graduate student at this time and he is down two from me. Two further down from Doug is Jody (Webb) who was my roommate as a freshman and sophomore at BYU.  She was living in Provo and carpooled with me up to work each day.  She eventually graduated with a masters in marriage and family counseling and now lives in Hurricane, Utah.

The woman with the white hair was the famous Agi Plenk who started The Children's Center in the mid-60's to help the kids "being expelled from preschools."  It has grown to be a nationally recognized center for children from birth to age 6 and their families who are facing trauma or mental health issues.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

The Wednesday before Thanksgiving was a pretty day with blue skies.  Our front maple tree was filled with about 8 Robins which is very unusual for this time of the year.  However by the time I got my phone, most of them had flown away.

Jessica, Elessia and Liam headed up around lunch time and we began a busy time of chopping and assembling some freezer meals for upcoming Baby Zander's arrival.  I made 5 for us as well so that we are covered during these last two weeks of the school semester.  Crock pot meals are great for cold winter days when you have homework to do. 

Jena wanted to make cookies with Scarlett and Liam so in the evening, we rolled out cookie dough and frosted cookies.  As you can see, they were hard workers with a little help from their moms.

The cookies were great!

It was fun having Jessica. Elessia and Liam spend the night.  It made it even more like a holiday.  And it came in handy, as Gary and I woke early to go down to Provo to visit Ben and then pick up our niece Anna at BYU and bring her back for a couple of days.  Jessica was here to put in the turkey and we were able to play a few rounds of dominos as well (while Liam was sleeping).

I had found this picture of our first Thanksgiving with Scott.  This was exactly 30 years ago and Scarlett is the exact same age as Scott was in this picture (well plus a few days older.)

This picture was taken on the front porch of our home in West Jordan.  Notice on the front row Scott and Jessica are the ones with bare feet.  The back row is Jake Bird, Christie McKinney.  Front row Carmen McKinney, Jessica, Chera Bird and Scott.  Arms are my sister-in-laws--Chera Bird and Vonette Kerr.

I had to remind our children that we didn't take 100 pictures of the same shot to make sure everyone is looking in the right direction and don't have their cookies in their mouths.

No pictures from Thanksgiving day but it was nice to make things together with Anna, Jessica, Elessia and Jena.  My dad and Karla came for dinner as well as Scott, Chantel and Scarlett.  We missed Ben and Tosha, Austen and Niki.  We did all get to facetime with Tosha and Niki.  We passed the phone around the room and everyone got to say hello and enjoy seeing her and Niki.

Friday Jena, Anna and I headed off to the bowling alley for some practice.  Anna is taking bowling at BYU so we thought we should keep her in practice.  Gary missed out because he was taking Allan out to lunch at KFC because he had gotten 4 strikes in a row during bowling on Wednesday night.  That was Allan's tradition with his wife so Gary thought he would honor that.

NOw he needs to take me to KFC (not soon, we still have too many leftovers!).  I had the highest game I have ever bowled in my entire life during our third game.

our bowling selfie

Hard to see but it was a 193!!!!! I could have broken 200.  However after I got a strike in the 10th frame, I was walking up to bowl my first extra ball and thought to myself, if I do well in these two balls I could get 200...and I promptly hit my leg with the ball and got a gutter ball. Oh, well--shows that thinking does not help my bowling!!

Anna Giberson and Jena

Of course I had to print it off to prove to Gary--so it is hanging on the fridge where all such accomplishments end up.

We got home in time for my sister, Valerie and her husband Lance to arrive with my dad and the serious game playing began.  We sat downstairs in the game room and went from one game to another only breaking for snacks, water and food.  It was so fun.  However as they were getting ready to leave, Valerie and I sat down in the family room and began to quickly try to catch up.  In all of our game playing, we didn't get much conversation in.  I missed that and we will have to get together to catch up another time.  Thank heavens for phones.

After spending three days on fun, food, and games, Saturday began real life again as I spent the entire day working on homework and doing laundry.

Those piles of papers are the research I have done for my paper.
Let me say that it is much easier to do research online than
making a trip to the university library.
Technology is so useful.

Yoga pants and my "This is My Lazy Day shirt"--
perfect for a day when I must stay home and do homework.

I love school but the last two weeks of the semester can be brutal, especially if you are a bit behind on major projects.  Fortunately, I made great progress on everything yesterday and feel much better about what I have left to do.

Doesn't that look interesting!!!?????

Two weeks and two more semesters left until I am done with school!

A little bit of this and a little bit of that....

I know this picture is very hard to see but I was amazed to open the calendar on my tablet to discover that the light orange items had been added.  These are my amazon orders and when they are going to be delievered.  Amazing....too bad I can't figure out how to sync my tablet and phone so I can use both for calendaring.  Somehow Amazon can do it, but we can't  (And we have tried!)

The paint job is done on the main box of the library.  I have put the first coat on the doors but they need at least one more coat before they are hung.

I am now really excited as it is getting close to being done.  Gary is still concerned how we are going to put it up on its stand and screw it in but I am hoping to have a good weather day and several neighbors to help with that project.

Despite its weight, Gary was able to move it out of our kitchen in time for Thanksgiving holidays. (Thanks to those little furniture movers and a piece of carpet and Gary's moving know-how.)

Maybe we will have our ribbon cutting during the week before Christmas.  Watch facebook for the announcement!

Sis. Elaine Dalton

I don't know if you have ever pondered the "Five People--Living or Dead-that you would like to have lunch with" puzzle, but I have thought about it from time to time and filled the chairs with different people who I admire.  Those people change from time to time as life ebbs and flows around me.  A standard one for a long time has been the wife of Mormon (I have great respect for her as she was a wife in a very difficult time and raised a son like Moroni.).  My mom, Sheri Dew, Jane McCurry Owen(my great grandmother), Abigail Adams (a women like the wife of Mormon I think) and the list can go on.  One person on that list has been Elaine Dalton.  She served as the General Young Women's President in the Church and I loved her talks.  She was a good storyteller which I always like and could apply simple gospels lessons to life.

How lucky we were that we were able to attend the Young Church Service Missionary Fireside at the Little Theatre in the Conference Center in Salt Lake on Nov. 13th and hear her talk. She did a great job and it was an enjoyable and sweet moment to see all of those missionaries and their families together in one place.  

For the first time ever, the fireside was broadcasted to other locations throughout the US where YCSM are serving--Atlanta, Mesa, Idaho, San Diego, etc.  I think they said that there was over 550 missionaries serving in this program currently.  The goal is to make it possible for EVERY young man with a desire to serve to bring a mission to their "very door step" if that is what is required for them to serve.  Exciting times......

Jena with her cookie outside of the Little Theatre

So I had a little moment...actually two little moments of connection with Sis. Dalton.  These are those times which words can not really describe but you know and feel a deep sense of Heavenly Father's awareness of you. The first was just a glance across the audience, Sis. Dalton and I made eye contact--a random thing, but she smiled and I thought, "Well, it's not lunch but more than I expected."  Then they announced after the meeting Sis. Dalton wanted to shake hands with the missionaries.  However as we were heading quickly out to go visit Ben, I just hoped that we would get out the door before the crowd lined up to shake her hand.  After the prayer, we headed up the stairs and got in one of the the cookie lines (we didn't want to leave without one of their yummy cookies).  Around the corner came Sis. Dalton with some of the other leadership who was trying to have her stop at a certain point to shake hands.  She said, "People are in line, I will just go shake their hands while they wait.  She shook the hand of the missionary in front of us and then came and shook Jena's hand and thanked her for serving.  She then turned and grabbed my hand and said, "Good job, mom.  You are doing a good job."  A simple sentence and common to say in such a situation but the feeling was so intense that my eyes filled with tears.  Mothering is hard and while I am passionate about mothers and mothering, I know that I could have done so much better--especially knowing more now than I did then. But in that moment, I felt like my Heavenly Father was there, reassuring me it is okay, I needed that!

Teaching Sunbeams......

We have four Sunbeams in our class on most Sundays.  This is what it looks like for today---

The red bag in the middle is our usual stuff--crayons, handouts, bean bag, etc.  The white hamper on the right contains a CD player and a homemade xylophone (Jena made it at Wonderwood and we borrowed it for our lesson today.) and on the left is my rice box.  I made the rice box for work but used it first for an assignment for school.  I decided to make an activity today so that our Primary class can enjoy the rice before I take it to work.  That is about 40 lbs of rice in there. 

Our lesson today is on "Music Makes Us Happy" so we are going to have some fun times with music today.  Jena buried (Easter) eggs in the rice--some with pictures of instruments on them for us to pretend to play and others are rice shakers which we will use to make our own music.  Don't you wish you were a Sunbeam!

It is fun to work with the Sunbeams on Sunday before I work with basically the same age at my internship.  It reminds me what typical children should be doing and keeps some perspective as I work with my sweet clients and their parents.

MUSIC CAN MAKE ME HAPPY!!!!