Sunday, December 2, 2018

The grandchildren count is nine....

...and maybe holding at that amount.  That is great.  We love each one of them and are excited to watch them grow.  It is so amazing to me to watch our family go from our family of seven, add three spouses, and then one by one (or by two) add little grandchildren.  I am so glad that these nine grandchildren will have each other to grow up with and make memories.

So here they are:  Hall Grandchildren
Scarlett making chicken music

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Niki

Liam with Carter
Zander

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James
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Cooper


Carter


Alex
and because they are twins and it is fun to see them together
Alex and Carter together

and finally, last but certainly not least--
Ava
and one more from the hospital of Ava--
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And because Jessica and Tosha are silly like this, they decided to compare the three girls across state boundaries by using soda pop cans.

Carter, Ava, and Alex
And that is a wrap!!!  All nine together in a post for the first time.  Can't wait to have them all in the same place sometime in 2019.

She is here!!!


Ava Eileen Russell
Saturday, November 24 
6 lbs. 9 oz, and 19" small
just after 6:00 am
Tacoma, Washington

We were so glad for her safe arrival which was fast.  She arrived about 1 1/2 hours after they got to the hospital.  She had some trouble breathing at first, but she is doing great now and is loved by her mom and dad, brothers, and all of us.  I can't wait to meet her in person in a couple of weeks, but grateful for photos and facetime until then.



I didn't see Tosha for the first time until she was 10 months old, but I see her face reflected in Ava in a way that wasn't the same for her brothers (who are equally as darling in their own ways.)  It is so exciting to me that she carries my mother's name (and Tosha's middle name).

Austen's dad and step mother had gone up for the Thanksgiving week to spend time with the family and we were so glad that they were there when Ava decided to make her arrival.  They had to leave Saturday evening so they took care of the boys and then got to make a quick visit with Tosha and the baby before they left.

welcome to the world, little one!
We are so glad to have you in our family.

Th saga of the baby quilts continues

but I am making progress.  True to my comments in the past, I am loving the time I spend making these quilts and I hope that each one is a reminder of my love for each of these sweet grandchildren.

The Friday after Thanksgiving, I was able to finish the binding on James's quilt and then give it to James on Saturday when they came to play for a few hours.

The quilts I need to bind
Cutting the edging for James' quilt and also some squares for Baby Girl Russell......


James' quilt---well, at least he isn't two yet!!!   Years ago Scott had found a quilt of monsters that he liked.  This was way before he had any kids at all.  So when he was having a boy, I decided to do a monster quilt.  That one Scott liked was way too complicated for me, but I found this adorable fabric and tried my hand at making one monster.  I love how it turned out (and I really like how the person machine quilted it.)


One more quilt top to make and then four to bind and I will be caught up on this grandmother project.

I am not a crafty person nor do I like to sew, but there is something about quilts which I love.  The sewing is all straight, fabrics are so amazing--I think I got that part from my mom, figuring them out is challenging, and I love the finished projects.  I already have several more ideas to work on after these quilts are done.

I think we all like to be creative in our own way.  Most of my creativeness is not directed in tangible ways, unless you count weird Christmas party invitations as a tangible creative endeavour (and those aren't very lasting.)  I love this short clip from President Uchtdorf.  (For readers of the blog, search lds.org  media library  Create.)

https://www.lds.org/media-library/video/2009-02-06-create?lang=eng

Being creative is very satisfying...do something creative today!

Thanksgiving 2018 is "in the books"

Here it is the day before Thanksgiving and I still have my Halloween decorations on the dining room table waiting to be packed up and taken downstairs.......... no wonder I was surprised to see Christmas decorations in Parker a few weeks earlier.

Finally Thanksgiving morning, I managed to get the Halloween decorations downstairs and the Thanksgiving ones upstairs before everyone arrived for dinner.  Jack o lanterns really don't fit with Thanksgiving.
Carter and Alex combined weighed less than our turkey this year and that ham you see in the photo was one of the best hams we had eaten in a long time.  Mom Hall has brought it to add to dinner.
I never think to get pictures of the whole group, but got these of Scarlett and James as they were getting ready to leave to Thanksgiving dinner at their other grandparents' home.

Jessica and Elessia spent the night so we got some extra time with them.

Alex and Carter's first Thanksgiving--still young enough that they have to wear the shirts their parents dress them in.  :)
Thursday night after everyone was in bed, I was walking around the house cleaning up like I try to do each night--when I came around the corner and saw this pile of shoes in our mud room.  Probably due to the holiday and think about my blessings, I am not sure why--but when I saw this, I teared up.  It made me so happy to have a pile of shoes of people I love in my mud room.  It made me think of other piles of shoes in other mudrooms or entry ways of the different places we have lived with our kids and places where we have had Thanksgiving dinners together. Memories are such a power part of our lives and I was grateful to have that quiet moment to remember and be grateful for shoes, but more importantly, the people who walk in them--even those who shoes were not there that night.
Happy Thanksgiving to all of the Hall children, their spouses, and our grandchildren.  We count you as a great blessing in our lives!  And Happy Thanksgiving 2018 to all of our family and friends.

Weekend Three--UDSF Retreat, Reception, and BYU game

Back in the summer when I was planning my life...November looked open and available....so I bought BYU football tickets for Gary and I from a friend for Saturday night, November 17th.  Although years ago we had season tickets, it has been a long time since we have attended a football game.  It takes a big chunk of a day and it was hard to give that up on a Saturday.  I think the last game that we might have attended was with the Scouts on $5.00 night for Scout troops--in seats way up high on the endzones.  That was awhile back.  I was excited that we would have a chance to go together and hopefully enjoy a BYU win against New Mexico....................

Then we had to reschedule the UDSF retreat to November 16 and 17th at Bear Lake  (2 1/2 hours north east of Syracuse) and then a close friend of Jena's and ours got engaged and picked November 17 for her wedding and reception date.  We couldn't miss that, so we packed up, took a deep breathe, and we were off....

First to a cabin at Bear Lake for our annual retreat for UDSF.  We had an expanded group this year and it was a very useful and productive day and half of meetings mixed with some fun and game playing.  We played "Stipulations" at night which was a big hit.  Two people asked me the name of the game after we headed home the next day because they want to get it for Christmas.  This was another game we learned about at the Giberson family reunion and are now sharing with our part of the world. 

Like last year, we woke up to snow, but it quickly cleared up.
I love how the clouds are sitting on the lake and then...
the skies begin to clear and the colors totally changed.


A hanging chime by the front door of the house
where we stayed
We left at 1:30 and headed back to Syracuse, took showers, and headed to the reception.  They started early at 5:30 (because the bride's extended family are huge BYU fans and they wanted time to watch the game.) which worked for us.


Jena and Kalie (Watson) Jolley
The white flowers and the navy blue were
similar to the colors of Tosha's wedding
which happened also in November.
It was so fun to see friends from our old ward who were there to support Kalie and the Watson family.  After yummy tiny pies and other treats, we headed home, changed into layers of warm clothes and headed to the BYU game.

I am not sure why I love BYU sports so much.  Just being at the games remind me of my happy moments as a BYU student and how much I have been impacted by that part of my life.  And of course, I met Gary there so that was a bonus!



While I was in Colorado last week, Freya (who attended University of Nebraska) and I talked about football.  She was actually at the game a few years ago that BYU won in a last ditch "Hail Mary" pass into the endzone.  It broke their string of 22 home opener wins.  Freya said the campus was in mourning for awhile after that wondering why they hadn't picked a "cupcake team" for the opener.

So while waiting for the game to start, I sent her this photo and asked how Nebraska had done that day.

She sent this photo back and said they were cold, but they had won!  That is Freya with her boy friend, John.

So I did the following photo later in the game (when we started to get cold),

Go, BYU!!  I wonder if being family means I have to cheer for the Cornhuskers now.  Probably like I do for the Longhorns---I cheer for them except when they are playing BYU!

We won the game and made it home by 2:00 a.m.

Good thing I had the Primary lesson already prepared for the morning.  All about Job and his life experiences!  His story reminds me how lucky I am in my own life.  We have been so truly blessed and this weekend was simply another example of the blessings we are surrounded by.


Last Day of "Family-Part Two"

We woke up to snow on the ground in Parker.  Our plans was to attend Church before heading to the airport.  Uncle Mike and family left around 5:00 am to make their nine hour drive back to Nebraska, hoping to beat out the snow.  Dad and Karla changed their travel plans to stay an extra day in Parker to allow the snow in the mountains to get cleaned up before heading back to Salt Lake.


This ward was very friendly and we actually met someone who was raised in Plano and whose dad was the Stake President when we moved to Plano.  They happened to live in Rick's ward briefly when they were newly married.  Small world.

Before the meeting started, a sister introduced herself to us.  When we mentioned that we were just visiting and were siblings, her face became serious and concerned as she asked about why we were in town.  It was clear that she was worried that we were there for a funeral.  Once we told her that we were just gathering with some family, she was relieved and shared a big smile and welcome to the ward.   It is impossible to describe this brief interaction correctly but I was so touched by the genuine expression of love and caring that I felt from her, a stranger to us.  It makes me want to be more intentional as I reach out to those around me.  It was a sweet interaction.

Our selfie after Church--



After Church, we headed back and enjoyed our last minute conversation with Dad which I spoke about in an earlier post.  And then it was over.  Rick took Valerie and I to the airport and he returned the car and headed into Denver by train where he had a meeting the next day before heading back to Dallas.

I got home and stepped into a household of little people.  Liam was sick running a fever so Jessica came to our house on Saturday with Zander, Alex, and Carter to limit the opportunity for them getting sick.  They stayed until Wednesday so every night I got extra time holding babies and visiting with Jessica.  (And it seemed to work as no one else got sick.)



Life is immensely sweet!

Family--Part Two (Weekend Two-November 2018)

As perhaps is common with people who write blogs, I wondered prior to this day, what I would write on this post about meeting our Uncle Ed and Uncle Mike and the rest of our relatives.  Would it be like meeting nice people anywhere in the world--it would be okay--but life would go on without much difference?  Would it be hard and uncomfortable and we would all be happy to have it done?  Would it be something more and unexpected?  Who knew?  Like many things in life, it was an adventure and until it happened and you did it, you don't know.  And certainly, our experience is only our experience.  Different people in similar situations might have a totally different result.  I can only speak to our experience with these family members.  So here it is:

Family--Part Two

I think my dad said it best.  Sunday morning before Rick, Valerie, and I headed off to the airport to go home, we sat in the lobby with our dad and talked a bit about what happened the day before (don't worry I will be giving details and photos--you know I will!)  I asked my dad how he was feeling about everything.  These aren't his exact words but he said, "I wasn't sure what to think or what to expect beforehand.  But I can say it was so much more than I ever expected.  I can't imagine anything being better than it was.  It was so comfortable from the beginning."  I agree.  It was much more than I expected and I can't imagine one aspect that could have been better.

We all woke up on Saturday with a sense that today was the day finally where we were actually going to meet more people related to us by blood.  As a reminder, we had met my dad's biological mother's family, starting back in the late '70s when two aunts started doing genealogy and coming to Salt Lake.  We were living there at that time and I think both Valerie and I met them in the early 1980's.  They were younger siblings who hadn't really remember their older sister but knew of my dad.  I have even attended a family reunion in the mid-1990s with my family in South Dakota.  So we had done this somewhat before, but there was more of a mystery about the biological father's side.  After all of these years, it seems like a real gift and miracle that we were actually going to meet people who knew Leonard Tegland.  It seems likely to us based on the timing of events in Viola's life, that Leonard may have never even known that he fathered a son who was born in California, far from South Dakota.  But he did and we were about to find out what that means to us, to my dad, and to the two men who shared only biological connections to the same father.

It was a bit eerie heading into the eating area of the hotel's breakfast area.  Trying to be calm but also discover whether Uncle Mike and his family were here already.  We had not set up a plan to meet, but knew it could be possible we might.  But no--they weren't there, so we grabbed our breakfast and got a table on an upper layer of the lobby.  Shortly there after, I saw a man walking towards us and as I saw him recognize me, I asked, "Are you Uncle Mike?" "Yes, " was his reply.  "Want to join us for breakfast,"  "Of course."  He guided his wife, Jean, and daughter, Freya to the table.  And indeed, it was the two beautiful women I had seen checking in the night before.  And thus it started and the conversation began...and continued for the next three hours.  It ended only because we had to get ready to go meet with the rest of the family at 12:30 for lunch.

What did we talk about?  It is hard to remember and separate the different conversations that we had throughout the day.  We talked about our siblings, our dad, our lives and their lives and their extended families.  We asked about Leonard, our common relative.  My Uncle Mike is only about four years older than me and his wife is my age.  Leonard raised him along with Mike's mother.  He knew Leonard best, but Jean also knew him and shared things about him.  One thing we learned was that Leonard made the most amazing rolls using cake yeast and he always made them for Thanksgiving dinner.  This was one memory that Ed also shared along with some of his children later in the day.  Those rolls and the smell of those rolls is a memory of Leonard shared by the family.  I wonder if he will make those rolls for me someday.  Are there hot rolls in Heaven (and will I be able to smell them there?)  

Afterwards, Valerie said that whenever Mike mentioned his dad or Jean talked about Leonard, she tried to pay even closer attention to what was said.  It seemed so important to remember everything that was said about him.  I had that same feeling.


We had the desk worker take this photo for us--my brother, Rick, sister, Valerie, my cousin, Freya, Uncle Mike, and Aunt Jean with me.

So we talked for three hours and it was easy and comfortable and I doubt anyone passing by thought anything remarkable was happening...just happy conversation between family and friends.  But it was remarkable.  I don't know how to prove that and I don't have words to explain it.  It just was--right and remarkable.

As soon as we stepped apart after our first three hour conversation so we could get ready to go and meet everyone else, my eyes filled with tears.  It seemed so silly to be tearful at a moment like this.  These are three people that we just met--two of which I share DNA with--but what does that mean?  Why the emotion?  I told my sister on the way up in the elevator that I knew if she, Rick, and I sat down with three strangers and had a conversation that we all had skills to talk and listen that we could probably have an enjoyable conversation with any three people interested in having a conversation as well.  But this was different and this was more--

My dad called us as we were on the way to tell us that he, Ed and everyone else were already there--at 12:15 and waiting for us.  I am sure that my dad's plan was not to be there at first without us as he is a bit more reserved in social settings especially since his hearing has been more difficult.  My dad always liked to be early and it seemed like that might run in the family.  We parked and stepped into the arms and lives of Uncle Ed, his wife, Jan, and three of their four children--Kristine, Katrina, and Erik  (son John lives in Hong Kong).  Three grandchildren were also there--Sean (Kristine's son) and Jamila and Zahra (twin daughters of Katrina) and then Amy, Erik's wife.

We had a nice lunch at an old-fashion style diner.......

I took this photo as we left.  They were closing the restaurant after the lunch crowd and then would reopened later for dinner.  We sat in the back tables of the restaurant where the workers are cleaning.  As you can see, we were the last to leave.  I sat next to Aunt Jan and their daughter Katrina and across from Uncle Ed.  Dad, Mike, and Ed sat next to each other and there were conversations up and down the whole table.  A couple of times I thought we should all get up and switch places, but I knew that we would have time later as well, so I just tried to listen to all of the conversations at once!

Thanks, Uncle Ed, for a wonderful lunch and a sweet start to our afternoon together.

Here is one of the photos Ed sent prior to our meeting of his immediate family.

Jan, John, Ed, Kristine, Katrina, and Erik Tegland
(back in the 1970, I would guess)

Mike sent us some more up-to-date photos which made recognizing them at the hotel much easier.


Freya and Jean Tegland
Mike Tegland

A recent photo of Ed and Mike.....


We spent the afternoon, talking and looking at pictures which people had brought to share.  Again there were conversations everywhere and I wanted to be part of each one of them.  That is why I really have no photos from that afternoon.  I was busy talking and listening and trying to remember everything.

We headed outside for some formal photos and have these two (taken by Erik, a son of Ed.)

Mike, my dad (Richard), and Ed

 Mike, Dad, Ed
Erik, Freya, the wives--Jean, Karla, and Jan
Me, Katrina, Amy, Jamila, Kristina, Zahra, Valerie, and Rick
I did take some photos of everyone taking photos of the three brothers--
A look from the edge of the porch on to the street of Parker
A bit of fuzzy photo but these lights are required as part of restoration in the old city of Parker.

Freya and Erik getting photos
Hopefully, someone will share more photos from that afternoon and I can add them here later.

To summarize the rest of the afternoon, we finally said goodbye and headed back to our hotel.  Dad and Karla headed to rest after their 4 hour drive and big afternoon.  We headed down to play games again and this time we were joined by Mike, Jean, and Freya.  Mike is not a game player but Freya and Jean are and he joined in (and Uncle Mike actually won our game of Fruit Basket.)  In the middle of the game playing, we learned more about our Grandpa Leonard and built a sweet memory of just laughing and being together with this part of the Telgands.  It was great and again I wished that I could have shared it with all of my siblings and with my own family, but for this day and for this time, it was truly a perfect end to an amazing day.

Leonard had red hair just like my dad.  He was a cook and could make amazing rolls--definitely not like my dad (no offense--just not one of my dad's life skills. ) In many ways, he looked like my dad looked physically.  It was quite remarkable to hear Mike or Jean comment in passing that Leonard never was able or interested in fixing things around the house.  Wow, that is just like my dad.  How could this "non-interest" really be a part of the DNA? 

Grandpa Leonard Tegland
I asked Jan that afternoon what it was like for Ed to receive our email that day a year ago and to learn about my dad.  Ed is the one who had done his DNA and has done a lot of genealogy research about the family.  She said that he was very excited.  I asked Mike what his dad would be thinking about us all gathering and one of his comments was that he felt his dad would have been proud.  Mike said that he can remember how proud his dad was when Ed graduated from college and he was sure that he would have been proud of my dad as well.

So what does it mean to be a Family?  Families are collections of people--they can be connected by DNA, adoption, birth, marriage, or simply by strong relationships.  No one way is perfect, but the goal should be to build relationships of loving, caring, and nurturing between each person.  And to share our lives with each other--the good and the bad, the ups and the downs, the sweetness and the hard times.  And while ultimately as humans we should have a sense of connectedness and belonging to all others we share this planet with, those we call family have claim on us for some of our best efforts and deepest emotions.  On that Saturday in Parker, Colorado, our family extended to include the Teglands in a real and meaningful way.  It doesn't mean that we may see each other every year or even ever share a holiday meal.  What it does mean is that I know that my heart strings have expanded to include them and their children and grandchildren.  That if they are ever in Utah, I would love for them to stop in.  If I have something specific that they might need, I am a resource for them like a cousin would be.  Because of our DNA connections, we have chosen to become family.  And we will certainly invite them to our next Giberson reunion in 2021--and there should be ping pong!

I think Leonard was proud that day and probably is still smiling at the thought of his three sons standing together in front of a bright yellow house in Colorado!