A Found Letter

In the process of cleaning up the family history room, I found this gem.  It is a letter written to me at BYU from my youngest brother, Scott who would have been about 7 at the time.

It reads:  "Dear Judy I wish you wood come home soon and see our cat. Again it is a girl if you did not know it but it is APRIL AND. YOU said that you wood bee back in APRIL anyway so I Hope you get home in time to see that our cat have babys. IF IT does I think it will be a boy first, A girl next and I Hope when you get home some cherries will grow. ON the cherry tree  I think you know where it is but if you don,t know it is in the back yard but I think you know That they will grow in the backyard so that,s all so goodbye        love scott"   I loved it so much.  It reminded me of being a college student.  I can remember the apartment that I was living in then and I am sure that I was so happy to get a letter from Scott near the end of the semester when things tend to get overwhelming

I also remembered how hard it was on my little brothers when I left for college a few years before in 1973.  I was so excited to get accepted and to go to BYU, that it really never occured to me that it would really have much of an impact on my siblings.  A few weeks after I left, my mother wrote me the following story about Rick, my second youngest brother:  He had been asked to draw a picture in his Primary class of his family.  As the students were working on their pictures, the teacher was walking around the room and she noticed that Rick would cover up part of his picture every time she looked at it.  She (Sis. Judy Massey) asked Rick why.  He uncovered the picture and she saw that he had drawn me.  He quickly said, "I know that she does not live with us any more but my mom said she is still in our family." He was only six and didn't yet understand the whole ins and outs of families. How sweet was that!

I have a sweet memory from Scott as well:  When I got home from BYU for Christmas break my freshman year, Scott was thrilled and would often talk about how I was back from college.  I finally commented to my mom that I thought that Scott was thinking college was a one semester thing.  She agreed.  A few hours later, Scott made a comment again about me being home from college and I said, "Scott you know that I am going back to college after Christmas, right?"  In a very sad voice, he said, "Yes. Mom told me."  He was so disappointed and I felt so loved.

I don't actually remember the day I got the above letter from Scott, but reading it again yesterday reminded me of all of those things and once again, like I am sure I felt on that day in April 1976, I felt loved by my brother, Scott, and by each of my siblings.

So, of course, I took a photo to text it to him.  That is an amazing invention that we did not consider possible in 1976--I can reach out and communicate with my siblings any time day or night........but as I read this letter again and experience all of the memories they bring to me, I wonder if as we text, twitter, and Facebook, are we going to miss out on some of these things in the future?

And, Scott G., I am not sure if I ever told you thank you or not, but thanks for the letter, It means the world to me today!

A Typical Week in the Winter

I love reading letters that my mom wrote to her mom or journal entries from my relatives and think about how different my daily life is from theirs and probably in many ways that they could never even consider....so I decided to summarize our week.  This is for a hundred years from now so will be very boring reading for those of you alive today.

Monday:  I drove myself in my own car to work in Salt Lake (about 28 miles one way)--rush area traffic, of course, but not too bad.  Unfortunately, I started getting the chills mid-morning and when one of my two afternoon appointments cancelled due to illness, I cancelled the other one, and headed home.  Was running a fever, so I mostly slept and watched TV, including starting a new series called Blindspot which Gary had discovered.  Being off cable now for about 2 months has been a good thing and it is nice to be able to watch a series from the first show forward.

Gary, Jena and friends headed down to Provo without me and Gary was able to visit with Ben before heading back home.

Tuesday:  me still with a fever and slight headache, Gary busy with trying to go to the temple--He was meeting his brother in law, but timing didn't work out and Gary forgot his temple clothes, so they ended up not going.  I would imagine that even in 100 years from now, temple work will still be a "in-person" kind of thing.  Gary had Webelos with his new Scout partner, Chris Parsons, and they had a good time doing the "Cyber Chip", something Cubs need to do to learn safety on the internet.

Jena started her Geology class this week at BYU.  She took a picture of her first class, but somehow I lost it off my phone.

Wednesday: I was feeling better and it was my regularly scheduled day off which was good.  I had my yearly check-up and then went to get my new replacement drivers license.  Because I had completed the application on-line, I only waited about 2 minutes before being called and was out of there in about 5 minutes.  For a government process, that was terrific.

I think had a visit with Kristy Sparrow and Debbie Woodrow.  It was so nice to just sit and talk.  Debbie had to head back to work, but I kept Kristy until almost 3.  It reminded me of my other friends who I don't talk to much any more because our lives are busy and so different.  When you had kids in sports or Cub Scouts or simply playing at each other's homes, you had chances to talk often.  So I spent the evening texting some of my neighbors and nearby friends to check in on them and let them know I was thinking about them.  And Gary and I decided to invite people over for games this coming weekend (Feb. 3) to connect with some of the people who we love.

Meanwhile, Jena was having fun at BYU.

Jena, Sara, Emily and Brooke

Thursday:  Tosha and Austen finally got their household goods and his car from their shipment from Okinawa.  They have been without their stuff since November 14th--that is a long time, especially with two little boys.

I headed back to work finally and had a busy day with appointments and meetings.  I was suppose to watch Liam and Zander that evening, but everyone was sick at their house except for Liam.  Jessica sent me this picture mid-day.  She had told Liam that I was going to hang out with him today and he thought it was right then.  She reminded him it was at dinner time and it made him sad to wait.  You have to love grandchildren.

So Liam and I had dinner together at a nearby McDonald's where he played with some kids, following them around the play equipment.  It was fun to listen to them laughing together.

Jena headed to work at the bowling alley in the evening, despite showing signs of a cold.

Friday:  Work for me, school and skiing for Jena, and driving for Gary.  Jena came home from skiing and her cold was definitely progressing so she has had a quiet weekend at home.  At least, no fever for her and no cold for me.  And I think Friday was the first night I actually cooked dinner this whole week.  It was that kind of week---leftovers and eating out (or being sick.)

Saturday: This was the first Saturday in what seemed like months that I didn't have any place to go at all.  I prepared my Primary lesson and started doing the laundry and other mundane tasks in the morning, while Gary was doing Special Olympics bowling.  We let Jena sleep in so that she can be recovering from her cold.  Then I moved to my major task for the day.

 I thought that it had been a couple of years since I had cleaned out my craft closet in the basement.  I am guessing from the piles and stacks from a variety of events over the past few years that it might have been even longer ago than that.  Perhaps sometime before graduate school started in 2014.

I had always imagined having a craft closet where my grandchildren could come and get the things they wanted to draw or to paint.  Finally I feel like it is ready for that.  And any one in my family, come check out my closet before buying supplies at Hobby Lobby---After years of Cub Scouts, Primary, and UDSF events, I have enough crayons for everyone, yarn, paper and assorted craft supplies to keep us all busy for years.

There is no "before" picture, but trust me, it was not a pretty sight.  The floor in this closet was piled almost waist high with bags and boxes from different events where I didn't take time to put everything back "in its place."  It took most of the day to get it organized and things put into the right spot, here or in other places in the house.  I think there were five bags to the garbage and recycling with some more boxes that still need to be broken down.

As a by-product of cleaning the craft closet, I also cleaned up the sewing/exercise/family history room.  It also is a stopping point for boxes of "stuff" leftover from parties and events.

Lest, you feel discouraged and think my house is all organized.  Here is the wall you can't see in the above photo.  These are piles of photos and family history items which I have sorted into large categories and need to now sort and scan and do something with each item and organize it in a meaningful way.  That is a project for another day (and perhaps another year from now!)

Our "gift" from Walmart.
It came with coupons and some snacks.

Because I knew this day was going to be packed with cleaning and organizing, I decided to try out the "Pick Up Service" at our local WalMart.  People had been raving about it and I thought it was a good day to try.  I signed up, made my order, added the ap and waited until 7 p.m. and went to get my groceries.....and I loved it....except that I unintentional ordered UNSALTED mixed nuts instead of lightly salted and I ordered a huge bag of chicken nuggets.  Not bad for my first go.  I think it will be a weekly thing now.  It was so nice.  Everything was bagged together so it was easy to unload into the right place at home. That is something I didn't think would ever be possible without hiring someone to do your groceries shopping for you.  I highly recommend it!  (Now if someone would cook for me! Maybe a hundred years from now.......)

I gasped....

...when I left work last Thursday.  I had had a busy day and basically was in my office with no time to gaze out the window.  I don't know if that is why the colors of the night sky were so striking to me.  I literally gasped out loud at the beauty and stood and soaked it in.  It was a couple of minutes later as I stood by my car that I decided to get a picture and even then the lights and colors had changed slightly and it wasn't quite the same.  And the photos never match the intensity of nature at its peak!

I love the top of the old church in the distance.

I don't know what options there are when we are making our own world millions of years from now, but I am definitely on the "Earth" plan....sun, clouds, moon, stars, and clouds---it is a masterpiece every day.

In Primary, the leaders are talking a lot about the Primary children noticing things which shows them that Heavenly Father loves them.  This was one of those moments for me!  And I am glad to share it with you.

I went to help.....

Tosha and Austen move in.  But you have heard the saying about the plans of mice and men, things didn't actually go the way that it was planned.

When Tosha was here in December, we talked about me coming to Seattle on Martin Luther King weekend or President's weekend to help them get settled and let them have a date night or two.  At that time, they were expecting their stuff around January 11.  Tosha said that maybe President's Day would be best so they could be somewhat settled and she and Austen could enjoy getting away from it all.  I started making those plans and was watching flight prices, etc.  I was actually having a little trouble with a couple of work item things already set for the Friday before President's weekend as well that I had to resolve before booking flights.  I had already blocked off the Friday, January 12th as a day off and I just kept that as I always have things to do on my day off.

Then at the beginning of the year, Tosha texted and said that it was getting crazy with two little boys in an empty house and that if possible, she would like my help with the boys during their moving in time.  I immediately started looking for flights for Martin Luther King weekend, but the prices had gone up significantly, especially for my preferred days of travel from Thursday evening to Monday night.  Finally about a week before the trip, I thought to check for an early morning flight on Friday morning and finally was able to arrange the trip within a somewhat reasonable price (if you consider only having a 'personal item' being free on a flight reasonable.  Frontier chargers around $40 for a carry-on or $35 for a checked bag for each leg of the trip which was two legs on the way to Seattle. And if you want a seat assignment prior to boarding the plane, it is another $5 to $15 depending on the seat. I did manage to pack everything into a small backpack and then bought toothpaste, toothbrush, etc. in Seattle.)

Then a couple of days before I was to leave, Tosha text me and told me that their stuff had not arrived in time to be moved in on Thursday and wondered if I wanted to wait for a later trip.  Gary and I texted back and forth and decided that I would go ahead and go.  It would give Tosha and Austen a bit of a break and we could sightsee and have fun without worrying about unpacking.

So Friday morning at 3:15 a.m., I got up to get ready and head to the airport to catch my 5:15 a.m. flight to Denver and then the second part to Seattle.  The flight to Denver was uneventful, but somewhere on the flight or between gates 34 and 36 in Denver, including a bathroom stop, I lost my drivers license.  I realized it about 20 minutes before I was to get on my Seattle flight.  I rushed back to the original gate to see if it was found on the plane--No--and then headed to the Frontier counter, who gave me a piece of paper with the Frontier Lost and Found number, then I ran back to catch my flight.  After all, I didn't need a drivers license right then since I was already inside security.  I would just need it on Monday to get back to Salt Lake.

Once on the plane, after I caught my breath, I realized that I could just have Gary send my passport by express and I could get it by Monday, even though it was a holiday.  So I relaxed, read my book, and took a nap--the joys of traveling by yourself (mainly without children.)

I got off the plane and sent Gary a text, telling my problem and asking him to send my passport.  (Don't remind Gary how much this cost or how much trouble it was to do!)

Tosha and Austen and the boys picked me up and we headed off to their home.  One slight problem---they live on an Air Force base and to get on, you need to have ID---which now I did not.  It looked like I might be spending my stay in a hotel which was not the plan.  Gary thought to send me a picture of the passport and that worked.  The guard accepted it and allowed me on the base, but cautioned that other guards might not allow that so if I left base, I might not get on again.  We were relieved to make it on base.  Austen tried to get permission to use the photo of the passport, but no luck, so I remained on base for the entire stay until my passport arrived on Monday morning, then we headed out for lunch at the Spaghetti Factory and a nice drive up to Gig Harbor, before I had to head to the airport in the late afternoon.

So for three days, I played with Niki and Cooper and talked to Tosha and Austen....in their home with no furniture, paper plates and cups, some toys and books, and one pan. I sat on the floor, playing and singing and dancing with Niki and Cooper, reading books, and sending Tosha and Austen out to shop without them, see a couple of movies, and enjoy some adult time without two little boys.  It wasn't the plan for the trip...but it was pretty perfect for me.  I don't see Niki and Cooper much, but we were pretty attached to each other after that weekend.  Three days of grandmother time is pretty rare and I loved it.

Tosha and I did take the boys to check out every park on the Air Force base so that Austen could have some quiet to sleep for awhile.

These are from the Carter Lake park which is in walking distance of their home.

Western Washington--gorgeous trees and moss everywhere.....

 Tosha and Cooper on the big swing....

Cater Lake with ducks and geese...

That is one cute little boy......

These geese flew over head and then circled and landed in the lake.  It is amazing to watch the ducks and geese land on the water.

The geese decided to check out if Niki had any food for them but no luck, we didn't bring any seed.

This was in the back yard of their new home.  They have their own big pine tree there.

Niki and I played soccer for about 30 minutes one late afternoon while Cooper took his nap and Tosha and Austen ran some errands and saw a movie.

The skies were definately blue at some times during my stay, although there were some periods of clouds as well.  No real rain while I was there.  Tosha had commented how early the sun went down that far north on the earth.  The sun was setting around 4:30 or so when I was there.

Niki loves the book "Don't Push My Button."  We read it several times while I was there.  Parts of it he started to learn and would say the words as we turned the page.  It was so funny.   You really should read it with him when you have a chance.

The only other piece of civilization that they have is a washer and dryer, bought in part with their Christmas money from Grandma Hall.  They were so grateful.

My passport arrived and we headed off base.  This is Cooper trying the bread at the Spaghetti Factory.

Heading over a bridge out to Gig Harbor....

There are places so beautiful that you wonder why everyone doesn't live there--look at the trees and gorgeous waterfront.  That would be great to wake up to every morning......

It wasn't until Monday when we were driving around Gig Harbor that I saw this mountain for the first time this trip.  Austen said I could have seen it from the base, but I didn't know to look for it and where to look for it.  This is Mt. Rainier.  This is my mountain.  It is 14114' tall, the highest point of the Pacific Cascades and the highest peak in Washington state.  For those of you who don't know, I grew up in Eastern Washington (where the ground is like sand, the average waterfall is 7.67 inches a year, and sage brush and tumbleweeds are the only natural growing plants.)  However, you learn to be very proud of this beautiful mountain.  You learn about it in school in history and geography.  We camped near by on one trip that I can recall and saw it on a few other trips as we were heading to Seattle and back.

Having lived long  in Utah where mountain tops, one right after another, line the eastern skyline, it is striking to see one mountain top shoot from the ground and stand alone in the east.

I am getting old, I guess, because memories of my childhood flooded my mind and I got teary-eyed, looking at this beautiful mountain one more time. I look forward to more trips when we can explore the area more including making a trip to this mountain.

 After leaving the Gig Harbor area, we stopped at one more park where Tosha, Niki and I played at the park while Cooper and Austen napped in the car.

 

Then off to the airport---here was some art work over the train which took me out to the Alaska Airline flight-non-stop to Salt Lake.

And home again where Gary was waiting at 10:45 p.m.

No, it wasn't the helpful trip that I had envisioned where Tosha and Austen would get all settled while I played with the kids and helped unpack here and there nor was it a sightseeing trip, but again, it was perfect grandmother time with two little people (and their parents) who I adore and it doesn't get much better than that.

Happy 2018!!!!

Gary, Jena and I spent New Years Eve at Vonette and Gary's home up in Eden.  We had a steak dinner (thanks, Vonette and Gary) and mostly talked and made plans for our trip to DisneyWorld in October.  As we were heading east to drive to their house around 5, the moon was just rising and it was HUGE!  I am so disappointed that it doesn't look that big in the photo.  A full moon is a good start for the new year I think.

Hall Up-date:
Jena--still attending post-secondary school on Monday and Fridays with our district, Wonderwood College Bridge program at BYU on Monday night through Thursday afternoon, theatre class Friday, work 2 hours on Thursday nights at the bowling alley, bowls with Special Olympics on Saturday morning, ushers a couple of times a month for the Saturday matinees at Centerpoint Theatre and attend the Young Single Adult Ward in our area.  What can I say---she is a young adult and life is crazy!

Tosha, Austen, Niki, and Cooper-  They are living in Seattle in their new home on base with no furniture, few toys and clothes, 4 towels and a pot and paper plates.  Their stuff from Okinawa still has not arrived.  Tosha and Austen are on an air mattress with Cooper and Niki sleeps on the floor.  No TV or Wifi.  Imagine that with a 3 year old and a 9 month old.  And to make it extra fun, Austen has been working graveyards.

Ben-- He is still at the state hospital.  He is doing better and his symptoms are better managed, but the doctors are struggling to manage side effects which will impact his heart.  As you can imagine, we are very uncomfortable with the situation, but also know that Ben's options are very limited.

Scott, Chantel, Scarlett, and James--  Scott is enjoying his work at IHC in Insta care and community clinic administration. He just got accepted into an exclusive management training course that IHC offers, usually for people who have been with the company longer than he has.  We are very proud of him.  Chantel continues to train a few women each week in exercise and eating.  Scarlett is in a dance class and preschool.  James is growing up and will be one next month.

Jessica, Elessia, Liam, and Zander--  They are still in Magna and Jessica continues to work at DCFS in the intake office.  She is exploring other options within DCFS as she thinks a change will be good.  Elessia is still working at Michael's a few shifts a week.  Liam is in a music class and a preschool class as well.  Zander turned one last month.

Gary--He is the Webelos leader in our ward and has five boys in his group.  He also teaches the 9 year old Primary class with me. He just got a new co-leader in Webelos as the prior one is moving, and he is excited to work with him.  (Gary made a special trip up to the Scout Office to turn in Chris's application just because Chris was anxious to start his on-line training--Scouters know how great that attitude is!)  Gary is a dedicated Family History person and has done so much work cleaning up his family history lines on family search and ancestry.com.  He provides names to do the temple work for most of the family.  He helps his mom and they play cribbage almost weekly. In addition, he is the main driver and organizer of Jena's travels since I am often at work.  He takes his brother-in-law to dinner and bowling each week, meets another brother-in-law at the temple very often, and helps keep the house moving and milk in the fridge.  On the side, he is managing some of our investments and doing bookwork for a local builder.  He reports that retirement is great.  I actually don't know how he worked at all.

Me--  I am working 36 hours a week  (and actually what I do is take one day off each pay period) at The Children's Center.  I leave at 7:30 and get home about 6:45, depending on traffic.  I enjoy my work with young children and their families, although the paperwork part is a bit nuts!  I teach Primary with Gary.  I am still the president of the Utah Down Syndrome Foundation Board of Directors.  For the first time ever, we have stepped into the political world as a foundation and took a public stand in support of a proposed bill.  That will make the next few weeks very interesting.  Gary and I both keep track of our little library and love it when we see people walking or in cars, stopping and getting books in or out.

And this is how the Halls started 2018......and let the games begin..................

Primary 2017- CTR 5

And the 2017 blog wouldn't be completed without one last post about our sweet Primary class.  I am not sure of the rules (so I didn't ask anyone), but we took some pictures of the last day with our CTR 5 class.  They are now all six years old.  I mentioned to someone that they were the second hardest class I have ever taught ( the first was in 1979 in Sunset, UT, a story for another time).  And it is true.  They were all smart, talkative, and wanted to be the center of the universe--which is hard when there is six other little people, feeling the same way---but they were also SO fun and SO loving!  I will miss them so much.

Because of their amazing memories, we decided to do a review of the lessons over the year.  I took a big board and put on it left over handouts, coloring pages, scriptures, and activities from past lessons.  They did so great and it was fun to hear them retell lessons and things that they remembered. 

When we asked them to gather for a class photo, they immediately said that we needed to be in the picture with them, so we got the Primary secretary to come in and take the photo.

Boston H., Jared U., Morgan J., Drayden R., Jackson J., and Ava B.
not present was Jonah J.

One of the comments that our class made early on was that we didn't bring them treats every week.  No, we didn't.  We occasionally had food if it fit into the lesson in some way or another and we took them treats to their house for Halloween and Christmas.  So on our last day together, we ended class with ice cream sandwiches--and they were yummy.

Boston

Jared 

Morgan

Jackson

We played a bingo game with all of their names and some of the topics we discussed over the year.  They only sat this quiet because they were eating their ice cream sandwiches

 Not sure where Drayden was getting ready to jump off to---

At the beginning of the year, we measured them on a stick and then on the last day we measured them again to see who much they have grown.  Let me tell you that 5 turning six years olds grow quite a bit.

The class posing with the stick---yes, that is Jackson being dramatic....

Some closing lines---
From Ava (when I dropped off her Christmas gift):  "When I am grown up I want you and Bro. Hall to be my home teachers.  I am not sure how I will do it or if I can, but I want you to be my home teachers."  How cute is that!!

During our last class, Jared (we are pretty sure it was him) asked, "Will you still come to my baptism?"  and everyone joined in.  And of course, the answer is that we would be happy to attend each of their baptisms......

Definitely the second hardest class I have ever taught and I had to be creative and explore a variety of ways to teach and keep their interest.  Even with that, some days it seemed like crowd control at its finest (or poorest)---they were talkative, some times hit each other, and would get upset for some small thing or another.  And then, they would remember something from a lesson months ago or they would ask a serious question, and my heart would just fill with love for them.  I am not going to lie, there were tears in my eyes on December 31st as we talked and ate ice cream sandwiches one last time as their teachers.  We are forever tied, this rowdy class and I--I will be watching them be baptized, growing in life and in the gospel, serve missions, go to college and get jobs---and hopefully enjoy all that life has to offer them.  And, some day, they will be teaching a Primary class of their own and I hope them will remember how much we loved them and love their own classes just the same!

PS--(01/07/2018)and I think I got a hug from each one of them sometime today during Church.  Just checking in to make sure we hadn't forgotten them even though they have new teachers who will learn to love them, too!  We are now teaching the Valiant 9s--a class of 6 boys.  It was pretty exciting as they can read scriptures and ask very good questions.  I love that.  It is going to be another fun year in Primary!