J & E Hall Family Photos

Jessica sent these images from their recent family photo shoot----it was time to get a family photo with Baby Ezri in it!

The girls

The boys

Liam who is 5 3/4

Zander who is 4

Carter and 

Alex who are 2 1/2

Ezri who is 3 months.

So sweet!  I love photos---formal and informal.  I feel so lucky that I can carry pictures of my grandchildren on my phone and that on many days I get a photo or two from my kids of their children.  We are so lucky in this day and age.  My poor parents had to wait for months for photos!
 

Uhmm...What Has Happened Since Last I Blogged....

Well, the world is still dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.  We have gotten our second shot and one week post-shot, so one week to go for the suggested protection.  Jena was able to get her first shot this past week.  Gary and I had a couple of achy days and I was nausea during the 2nd 24 hours after the shot, but not bad compared to what others have reported and better than getting Covid.

My daffodils are blooming in my backyard:

through our bedroom blinds

We continue to serve in our mission doing usually 2 oral histories a week with all of the stuff related to researching, preparing, and then documenting them for submission to the Church History Library Catalog.  It is quite an honor to hear their stories.  We keep busy with working with our zone members as well. 

I got my hair cut shorter than I have had it for a long time.  I think I like it but it is an adjustment for sure.  Gary says he likes it so that is nice.

Friend-to-Friend had a drive by Celebration for St Patrick's Day (the Saturday before)--Jena loved seeing some of her old teachers and volunteers in this theatre group.

Her "loot" from the activity---

This was a drive-by event.  They had six or seven stations where they would greet you at your car window and give a treat.....

...and share a joke related to the holiday in some way!  Most of them were the "groaner" type of jokes, but Jena loves those too, especially when shared by some of her favorite people.

This was one the same Saturday as our second shots, so we were able to make a quick loop from Farmington Fairgrounds to the Centerville Center Pointe Theatre and then home.

HEALTH UPDATES:

After Ben's weight being somewhat stable for the past month, he had a drop in 7 lbs. this past week which is concerning to his doctors and to us.  Still no understand on how that is happening as he appears to be eating his meals.  Otherwise, he has remain much the same disorganized much of the time and dealing with psychosis.  Medications were adjusted this past week in hopes that will help his mental health.

My sister, Robin, has been having some trouble with her heart and had a angiogram.  Good news that everything looked good on that test and no blockages were found.

Tosha had her first surgery to repair damage caused by her partial mastectomy in the months prior to Ava's birth in 2018.  All went well for which we are so grateful although she is tired and sore from the process.

Yesterday was World Down Syndrome day--03-21!   We didn't celebrate but Jessica and Elessia and family headed to the drive-by Super Heroes Parade which turned into a Walk-by Parade as it was raining.

Carter

Zander and Liam with Batman and Cat Women
The boys and Alex with Tangled (below)

They loved meeting all of the princesses and Super Heroes.  It is great how this group has dedicated so many weekends providing Super Heroes and Princesses for kids involved in all types of non-profits.  They are an amazing group of people who have found a way to serve in a unique way....and thousands of kids have benefited from that service.

I have spent much of yesterday sorting through the boxes of photos and paperwork we took from Gary's mom's house.  Now Gary has a stack of books and papers related to the "boring" part of genealogy while I have the photos and other "fun stuff to organize. 

One classic is this photo of Gary--his high school graduation picture.  Mom and Dad Hall had all four of their kids' graduation photos on their hearth in the family room for a very long long time.  I didn't think to take a photo of the four of them together, but at least we have Gary's.  I am sure he was NOT thinking when he was graduating that in four months, he was going to meet his future wife!

  

AND THE BIGGEST NEWS IN THE PAST TWO WEEKS--

    WE ARE MOVING TO SALT LAKE CITY AT THE END OF APRIL!!!!!

We had already started moving towards the idea of moving down in June when Jena was done serving in the seminary for the school year, so it moves everything up a month for us.  Because we are zone leaders, we heard the news first so we were more prepared to get things started. For other missionaries, they are thrown into the whirlwind of adjusting their ideas and deciding whether they should make the move or continue to serve from home.  The Libraries and other campus buildings that our mission supports are not opening up yet, but the mission department has moved our mission up a level which allows people to move into Campus housing (as it is referred to.)  We are taking an apartment in the Brigham Apartments which are located on South Temple although the section that we are in is the north building which is along 1st Avenue. It is east of Temple Square about a block. We will be on the 6th floor.  At least that is the current plan.  It is currently being occupied by another senior couple who is leaving for their original mission to Hawaii on April 8th.  Two bedrooms and two bathrooms in about 980 sq. feet--it has been a very long time since we lived in that small of a space and in an apartment.  

We are very excited although I know it will be a big adjustment, especially at first when the library is still closed so we will be serving from our apartment.  Stay tuned for updates as they happen.

MY COVID POST

Although I have written about the Covid pandemic since it started in earnest in the US and therefore in our lives, I decided to accept the challenge issued at RootsTech and write about the pandemic specifically on:  how you lived, who you loved, and what you learned.

Like most Americans, I watched the news related to the emerging Covid-19 virus in Asia with concern for the people there and the loss of life, but really didn't consider that it would rise to a worldwide pandemic.  Over the past decade or two, there had been warning and outbreaks of illnesses in other parts of the world but they never "materialized" as a worldwide pandemic for a variety of reasons.  I assumed that this would be the same.  Of course, due to travel, the illness would come to the US but it would be dealt with and life would proceed....which it did until everything stopped--the unfolding of the restrictions and the changes in our lives have been dealt with in the blog for 2020.

How we lived:

Gary, Jena and I were at our home in Syracuse, Utah.  Jessica and family in Magna, Utah; Scott and family in Oro Valley, AZ; Ben nearby in Layton, UT; and Tosha and family in Tacoma, WA.

Jena's BYU program closed as the campus closed and also her workplace of the RUSH and all other activities that she was involved in.  She went from a full and meaningful life to be home 100% of the time.  So little was known about the virus that we were very cautious about going out anywhere because of our concern for her.  She has been amazing, but I know that she really misses her "old" life.  She uses zoom for meetings and interactions with friends, spends time writing and making cards for family and friends, and she helps round the house more than she ever has in the past.  During the spring and summer when I was still working, she did almost all of the laundry each week.  Now we both do it on Saturday- our P-day.

Many of Ben's activities were also closed but he continued to work 2 hours a day in cleaning at the CRU.  That made me nervous due to his asthma and other risk factors but felt it was more important for him to be out of the house every day and have a bit of structure, so I kept my worries from him.  He wore a mask but never seemed over concerned about things.  I began taking him grocery shopping once a week in addition to him coming to dinner each Sunday.  I think that Davis Behavioral Health did a good job in supporting Ben during this uncertain time.

We received our mission call and began serving our mission from home in the Utah Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission in the Church History Library.

Gary continued to interact with his mom because she was living alone, but was very cautious about going anywhere else especially during the first several months.  I didn't visit my dad for over three months to avoid carrying the virus to him as we were very concerned about his heart at that time.  

We had limited interactions with Jessica and her family since Jessica had to work and interacted with lots of people who may or may not have been following good practices.  We did do some outside activities during the summer.

We were lucky that all of our kids were able to continue to work in their jobs--with some changes in their schedules and with masks and social distancing.  It was good to not have to worry about the financial strain that many people had to deal with.

Despite Covid, I did make some trips--one to surprise Tosha for her birthday (although that trip was changed from a road trip with stops on the way with friends to flying there and back.), to AZ for my brother-in-law's passing (not from Covid), another trip to Washington in September, and then to Amarillo, Tx to gather with my siblings.  There were also two cancelled trip to Oro Valley in the middle of those trips due to the loss of Gary's mom as well as my brother-in-law's death.  Luckily Scott and Chantel did make a trip in the summer and we got to spent time with them at Willard Bay. We cancelled our big Oregon and Northern California RV trip that we had planned for July. And we also cancelled a trip to Virginia for my niece's wedding.

My work went from in person counseling at Layton Family Services Office to tele-therapy from my basement---you have to love the commute but I didn't love teletherapy although I think it was workable and helpful to my clients.  And I actually missed my commute as I had used it to transition from work to home.  Took me a while to adapt to that change.

We were fortunate to have food and toilet paper so didn't need to worry about the first rush on the stores.  We had some disposable masks stored, but had no trouble getting masks when that became the mandate. We started ordering groceries strictly online which still continues.  It has its good points and bad points but it is very convenient so I am likely to continue that in the future.  We have also kept Amazon busy for other needed items.

Having Sacrament at home was a sacred privilege never to be forgotten.  Yearning to go to Church, to shake hands and to hug each other, to serve in person, is also a feeling to not be forgotten.  And the temple--how I want to be there--what a waste of months and years when life seemed too busy to fit it in regularly.

We really have not gone many public places since the pandemic started even as things began to open up. Not because we felt afraid, but more because of the uncertainty of the virus especially early on and the sense that we wanted to be available if we were needed--specifically I was concerned about Gary's mom, my dad, and Carter who seemed to be struggling so much with breathing and lung issues.

I decided to work on getting more healthy during this time and lost about 30 lbs, and walked an hour many days a week.  I read more books (what a sacrifice for me-right?) and watched a lot more TV.  We started Friday Night Movie night which has been a fun tradition for all of us.

Who we loved:

Well, each other and all of the people mentioned above.  And sweet, smiley Ezri Jo who joined our family in December--one of the best gifts of 2020.

In addition, I tried to be more intentional in my ministering assignments in  reaching out to those sisters during this time to make sure they were doing okay.  I also began to do that with my friends, far and close, including making phone calls from time to time.

We joined together in Zoom meetings to celebrate my dad's birthday and later with extended family for the Owen Reunion and later with our first cousins in September--loving each other in new ways.

How I miss our friends--we have done some unplanned and planned porch visits--but life has moved on without seeing and being with them.  Friends are the bonus of life and they add so much to the enjoyment of it.  I can't wait to laugh with them again.

Porch visit supplies at Kevin and Jolie Watson's

What I have learned:

1.  I knew the Church was true before--but hello, world--look at the ways we were prepared over the past several years by policy and procedurals changes plus the directions to becoming spiritually stronger.  It is amazing to see.  I wrote a post about that last year.

2.  If I was going to be stuck inside with anyone, I want it to be Gary--now and forever.  He makes life fun and meaningful and he makes me feel better than I am.  Jena is a bonus--she is so patient and makes us laugh!

3.  I can do hard things.  When we first had to start working from home, we thought it would be for a month or so.  I think we all expected things to resolve quite quickly at first, but it dragged on and the world was in commotion over many things not just the virus.  We just kept living our lives and figuring things out a day at a time.  Perhaps we have been over cautious, maybe not enough, but I feel good about how we have managed things so far.

4.  I miss my PEOPLE!  The sense of coming and going in each other's lives in a natural ways, the meeting for lunch, the gathering together to party, the Sunday walk visits--the list goes on.  Not very often, but some days--it seemed too much to sacrifice--I just wanted to run to Michelle's for an afternoon chat or head to Cafe Rio for lunch with Laurie--throwing all caution to the wind, as they say.  I probably could have done those things and been fine, but we were trying to be good citizens and make solid decisions and avoid risk to ourselves and others--so IF we did get sick with the Covid-19, we knew we had done our best to prevent it.

5.  I have learned that as humans we have not changed much since the time of the Spanish Flu pandemic in 1918.  I studied about that pandemic to learn about ours and realized that humans reacted in much the same ways back then.  Our "growth in scientific knowledge" has not changed our human nature at all.  We just know more about the reasons for the virus.  Back then, viruses couldn't even be seen in microscopes of the day.  That insight removed one of the errors in my thinking that life was harder back then--to be good, follow the gospel, etc.  I mean I knew that I wouldn't have been a great pioneer!  But I realized that every time period of the world's existence has been and will always be a proving ground for God's children--each one has the needed experiences to mold and change us to do better.  The one advantage we have today is that we are part of the restoring of ALL things and ALL truth and we know that it will never again be removed from the earth until Christ comes again.  However, the tasks remains the same--each one of us changing toward God and His Will for us.  I have learned to be more diligently involved in that personal change with or without a pandemic.

6. On the flip side, people are creative and amazing--sewing millions of masks, singing out their windows to their neighbors during lock downs, neighborhood scavenger hunts, and Zoom games and gettogethers.  And medical workers of all kinds---truly awe inspiring!  And the teachers...and the parents teaching their kids at home....the heroes list is long!

7.  I learned (or was reminded) that when you are prepared, you shall not fear.

8.  The power of gratitude to help manage life is unmeasurable and real!

9.  One of the meme related to the pandemic which spoke to me was :  We are all in the storm, but our boats are not the same.  We were blessed to have an easier boat to row than many others.  Hopefully during this time, we have helped those around us row a bit easier as well.

And there you have it--my Covid-19 pandemic post!  Hopefully not one of you who ever reads this will have to live in a worldwide pandemic with quarantines, mask wearing, social distancing, and uncertainty on a global scale---

but you will face something, many things so----

Follow the living prophet and stay close to God and Christ.

Love the people in your family and your circle of influence and have compassion and kindness for everyone else on the planet.

You can do hard things.

Be prepared--physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Be grateful.

Marching Into March

I borrowed the title from my friend, Robynn Thiot, who also does a family blog almost weekly.  That described our week as well.

The main focus this week, of course, was our mission.  Much of what we do on our mission you don't really take pictures of to post on your blog--but it truly is a great experience.  We did two oral histories this week with mission presidents who served over 25 years ago--one in Alaska and one in California.  It is such a privilege to hear their sweet experiences and the great love they have for the Lord, the missionaries, and the places they served.  We had our  mission devotional with Elder LeGrand Curtis who serves as the Church Historian (Monday) and our zone devotional by a member of our zone (Wednesday).  

In addition, this week we spent some time on Zoom videoing our zone members introducing themselves and what they do for the Church History Library.  This is in preparation for the mission devotional on March 22nd that Gary and I are in charge of.  The purpose is to share with the mission what happens in our zone.  No one else has done something like this so we will see what happens.  However, we loved it--getting to talk to many of our zone members face to face on Zoom was a sweet experience. Now the problem is that we have about 12 minutes of material and we were planning on about 5-6.  Our zone members really supported the idea with about half of them participating.  I had provided a simple script which should have been under 25 seconds a person, but people added their own (very sweet touches) including their testimonies of their work, the love they have for the Church and Church history, etc.  Sweet things which make the whole thing very tender to us--but requiring some adjustments for our plans.  Gary has been working on that puzzle since Friday.  I am not going to talk as originally planned and we are going to re-film a couple of the introduction which were the longest. We will make it work.

The weather in Syracuse this week was beautiful so I enjoyed a few walks outside.  We are hoping to walk and start back on our weekly Sunday walks in the neighborhood later today as well.

On Friday, I headed to Bountiful Pond (although the sign calls it Bountiful Lake) and walked around it as well as bits of the Legacy Parkway Trail.  My eventual goal is to walk the whole trail the length of Davis County in bits and pieces--probably over the rest of my life.  :) It is something I consider is on my "secondary bucket list"--fun ideas but not required list!

I thought if I wrote a separate post about the walk--I would have called it "Two Bridges and a Tunnel"--I love bridges as you know and tunnels have a charm as well...and I love walking on new trails that I haven't been on before.

Clearly not enough snow on those mountains for the first week of March.  We have had very little snow this year so it is a worry for the water season.

Friday night I stayed at Jessica's with her four oldest kids.  Jessica returns to work on Monday after a 12 week maternity leave so an overnight getaway seemed to be appropriate.

Liam was very concerned that they took the baby with them.  He told me that Ezri wanted to spend the night with grandma just like they did.  When I pointed out that she needed to be with her mom to eat, Liam said that we could have fed her bottles and he would help.

Saturday was a pretty day except a bit windy so we spend a couple of hours in their backyard.

Our attempts at a selfie---Alex wanted to be in it, but couldn't sit still long enough for a good picture.  Liam said he loved this one!

Carter loved being outside.

Although this is designed for two kids to be back to back--Alex insisted on sitting front wards and leaned in to give Carter a hug.  It was sweet but I didn't have my camera ready for that moment.

We blew bubbles, read books and had a dance party with Alexa--all the normal grandmother things.

And that wrapped up our first week of March.