The second time is just as sweet

and perhaps even a bit sweeter........

the day finally arrived.  Graduation Day 2017---

However it almost didn't happen.  Well, that isn't exactly accurate--Graduation Day at Utah State University was going to happen with or without me.  What was in question was whether I would be there or not!

And no, it wasn't because I didn't turn in my last assignment.  I actually turned it in a day before the deadline and that really didn't matter because we were just "walking" not actually graduating.  We still have two classes left for the summer and will officially be done in August.

No, it start with Jena getting sick with a stomach bug on Tuesday morning which lasted for her until Thursday and then started for me on Wednesday night.  I tried to manage work on Thursday because I really was pretending I wasn't getting sick but that lasted about 30 minutes before I headed out the door and home again.  I was running a fever and all of the other stuff all day and was getting very discouraged about Friday.  Gary kept saying we don't need to decide until Friday morning so I didn't.
About 4:00 a.m. I woke up and felt good and didn't have a temp so I was excited--the graduation "walk" was on!  Then around 9:00 a.m. when I was starting to curl Jena's hair, I reached for the curling iron and picked up the wrong end--Ouch!!  That set us back about 30 minutes while Gary fixed my hand and I took a break.  (Randomly, although there were three little blisters at the time, they have cleared up in just a couple of days. A sweet mercy as I prepare for my trip to Japan.)

Finally I was ready to go and we headed to Logan with Grandma Hall and Jena.  It was a beautiful day and spring is a pretty time to be on campus.  This was my first and only time on campus as a student of Utah State University.  I got dropped off a bit early so walked around a bit to think and to take some pictures.

We arrived a bit early so we did a drive by
of the Logan Temple

It was a beautiful day and spring is a pretty time to be on campus.  This was my first and only time on campus as a student of Utah State University.  I got dropped off a bit early so walked around a bit to think and to take some pictures.

We had to gather at the Nelson Field House---

This is one of our fun photos as we waited
The Kaysville Cohort
The one with the red is our professor, Susan Egbert

In honor of Susan, many of us wore converse shoes--Susan wore them most days when she taught.  I think she liked the gesture.

The first of many pictures of our shoes---Curt is in the dress shoe.  His wife, not knowing, threw out his old converse shoes and he didn't realize it until he went to get them that morning. 

Susan was laughing because as we took the pictures of our shoes, someone said, "One, two, three!" as if our shoes were "smiling and looking at the camera".  That made us all start laughing and became a part of the shoe pictures after that.

Amber Hellstrand and Cami

Lori and Suzie

 One of my talented fellow classmates added some bling to her cap---

As I mentioned this was a season of graduations and at this one, I was joined by my nephew Eric McKinney who was graduating in statistics from USU in the same ceremony.  (My niece in law also graduates soon with her masters in school counseling from the University of Phoenix.)

Our walk from the Field house to the ceremony at the Spectrum: There were people along the way taking pictures and clapping for us,  It was one of those little moments that are strangely touching. They didn't know me at all--they were lined up for someone else along the way, but their clapping acknowledged a bit of the journey that is graduate school.  It is not an easy journey but it has been amazing.

Gary said that they were able to watch the march in from the big screen in the building.  Grandma Hall spotted me first.

I know this is a terrible picture but it is the only one that I got of Gary, Jena and Mom Hall in the crowd.  Yes they are there because I took this picture right after I saw Gary's signal in the crowd.

The back story:  Rick and Anna had shared that Rick, Linda and another set of parents by them had signaled Anna their location by the four of them making triangles with the lights of their phones. Gary told me that he would signal me in a similar way.  He had texted me the general location but then when I entered into the arena and taken my seat, I looked up and saw him making a "J" with his phone light.  He said he could see me smile when I saw him.  Cell phones are quite an invention. Thanks to Rick and Anna for that tip.

This is after we got our diploma.  We are seated in the third and fourth rows.

Amber Sagers

I was only three rows from the front so I got this picture of Eric receiving his "diploma" cover.

After the ceremony--Selfie with Gary

Picture of my hood---

Jena is a bit shorter than the Aggie Bull

We had a small reception over in the famous Quad.  Here is another photo of part of our cohort and of course, another shoe picture (they are "graduated" shoes now!)---

My main professors---Susan Egbert and Sean Camp.  We were truly blessed to be taught by these talent people- passionate about their work and about their role as mentors to us as social workers.  I will never forget them.  And they say, they will never forget us as we were awesome.  Like a good set of parents, they made us all feel like their favorites--

We gave our professors unique t-shirts with their "hallmark sayings" on them--

The fronts
Sean:  "I own that"
Susan: "Cross stitch that"

The backs
Sean:  "Don't get me started"  that was always the beginning of some great story or insight
Susan:  "Timing, Tact, and Dosage"    the critical elements in therapy

And after we ate our Aggies ice cream at the open house, we headed home, directly home, and did not stop at Olive Garden to say hi to Eric and company.  By then my meals of mostly toast and crackers was wearing off and also Gary was starting to get sick.  Yes, unfortunately, the bug had gotten Gary too. We headed home and went to sleep and actually did that most of the day on Saturday as well.  Which is why we missed our second graduation dinner--although this one we postponed. We were going to celebrate with the Utah kids and grandkids on Saturday evening but neither Gary or I were up to that so we postponed it.

I was able to manage to do some housecleaning in preparation for leaving for 12 days and I also did about 3 hours of homework for this upcoming semester--no rest for the wicked they say and no break for summer semester.  Today, Jena and I taught our Primary class and we took another long nap before I started updating the blog.

I also traded out Jena's mission items and added my graduation things on this entry table.

The College of Humanities and Social Sciences gave us the medal on the white ribbon.

As I was thinking about graduation I realized that it was in 1987, exactly 30 years ago and a few days that I graduated from BYU with my first masters degree in school psychology.  I wanted something to honor all of my education because all of it has informed who I am today.  So even though I am not a jewelry person, I found a BYU necklace and a Utah State University bracelet and ordered them off Amazon.  I combined them as a necklace and wore them throughout the day on Friday.

It was a small thing--a 12 hour break in a stomach bug--and "walking" was totally a selfish desire on my part.  It didn't matter in the great scheme of things.  I would still have finished school and become a social worker.  It didn't impact my grades or my connections in my cohort or with my professors. But it was a tender mercy nonetheless.  My prayer was answered and the fever and the other things left for a time and I was able to celebrate with my family and my cohort from school.  It was a small thing but I was so grateful to my Heavenly Father for allowing it to happen.

The second time was actually sweeter--because it was the first time that I shared it personally with other classmates who I had shared the journey with and our professors.  As we entered the tunnel into the arena, all professors and administration of Utah State University were lined along both sides clapping as we past by.  It was a special moment as I saw our social work professors reach out their hands to "high five" each one of us as we walked by them.  We loved them and they loved us and I think they were as proud of us as our families were.

When I graduated in 1979 with my BS in psychology, I didn't know who else I might have known who graduated at the same time.  My first masters program only included 8 students, but I was the only one that chose to do the thesis route.  They had to do a project which was a shorter process.  On top of that I had Jessica two weeks after finishing my course work which made an additional delay. We ended up graduating at different times.  This day was shared with about 15 of the 20 of us.  It was great to sit with them and to also see them reach their goal of becoming a social worker (almost).  I knew a bit of their own journey over the past 3 years and it was an honor to have share it with each one of them.

This is almost everyone except for Nancy who was sick on the day of this picture.  Rachel said that our of 16 shots this was the only one no one had their eyes closed--our cuddle picture!  Social workers!

And again--I can't thank Gary enough for his support, love, encouragement, and everything else he did so that I could do this again.  He is the only person that has attended all three of my college graduations!  That alone is a sacrifice.  All of my kids have also sacrificed time and energy from me because I was doing homework or internships and they have been my biggest cheerleaders.  I couldn't have done this without them either.

And grandkids---all of you have arrived since I was accepted into graduate school--(not caused by me going to graduate school) but you are my best graduate presents ever--Scarlett, Niki, Liam, Zander, James, and Cooper--I don't know if college is part of the great plan in place for you--we all have our own paths to discover, explore and accomplish, but I want you to know that you can achieve those things most important to you if you sacrifice other things that are good for something better, if you work hard and don't try to take the easy route and if you allow those around you to support you and be your cheerleaders! I will always stand as your support and cheerleader in your journey of life.  You can do hard things!!!

And that's a wrap--

GRADUATION DAY MAY 5, 2017

Jena's Celebrations

As I mentioned, Jena's goals after her mission were first to talk in Church and second was to celebrate!  Jena had been thinking about her talk for a couple of weeks and whenever she made a comment about it, I tried to remember it so that we could include those things in her actual talk.  I have including it here:

"I wanted to serve a mission a long time.  I wanted to go far away and learn to speak Chinese on my mission.

It made me sad when my mom told me that I would serve my mission at home.  I wanted to serve Heavenly Father so I went on a mission anyway.

I served at the Church History Museum and the Layton DI.  I worked hard and was happy.

At the DI, I worked with the clothes.  When you donate your clothes to the DI, you are serving.  Your clothes help people.  Sometimes your clothes might even be sent to Africa.

That is what Jesus and Heavenly Father want us to do. ..to serve others.

Doctrine and Covenants 4: verse 2 says     “O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength…”

I served others with my whole heart.  You can do the same every day and when you go on a mission.

I love Heavenly Father and Jesus.  I know the Church is true.

I like to read the Book of Mormon.  I know we should follow Pres. Monson and our Bishop.

I love my family, friends and the co-workers and other missionaries I served with.

In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."

The night before Jena commented that she wished that she was giving her talk in our old ward, Walnut Grove.  I was surprised because she hadn't ever said anything about that in the time since our ward divided.  I was the one who was so sad about her not giving her "farewell talk" there as it was shortly after our ward divided.  She didn't need to worry.  Sunday morning our chapel was filled with family, members of our ward-Barber Acres, and friends from Walnut Grove.

It was a unique and spiritual meeting to attend.  Not only was Jena speaking at the end of her mission, Brandon Dickson and Emmory Ralphs were speaking as they prepared to leave on their missions. These two outstanding young people are our neighbors, their parents sweet friends and they shared our Walnut Grove family with us, too. Brandon and Jena have been friends since he moved in Kindergarten.  He has one of the biggest hearts in the world and he had a soft spot for Jena.  They went through school together and shared the love of theatre so they shared performances and classes together often.  He is a young man who struggles with anxiety and really felt that a 2 year call away from home would be too much for him.  He talked about that struggle and the answers that came that led him to his 3 1/2 month service in Nauvoo as a performing missionary.  How great is that!  It will be a hard task for him but he will do his best to serve the Lord with the many great talents he has. Emmory is a year younger than Jena and Brandon but she was often part of Jena's Young Women's experiences. As a 19 year old young woman, she is ready to leave on Wednesday to serve her mission in Houston Texas-Spanish speaking.  

Jena spoke first and gave her talk--the longest one that she has ever given in Church.  She started with:  "Dear Brothers and Sisters, My talk is on service"...and then gave her talk as listed above.  She seemed relaxed and smiled from time to time.  Of course, I cried, but that had started long before as I saw these three friends sitting side by side from the start of the meeting.  Oh how they love each other and how much they love the Lord!  Emmory followed with her sweet talk about her journey to prepare to serve a mission.  Then--if they made highlight films of Sacrament meetings, this would have made it--Brandon and Emmory sang a duet together of "As Sister in Zion/Armies of Helaman". It was gorgeous.  Then Brandon shared his very personal account of trying to decided how to manage his anxiety and his desire to serve the Lord.  It was all so perfect.  Three young people serving the Lord, each in their own unique way.  It is not often if ever that you would see that in one meeting!  I count it a privilege to have been there and to have felt what I felt.  The closing moments of the meeting were also to be treasured as we sang "Called To Serve".  Watching these three friends with smiles on their faces sing this special hymn as they have offered their service to the Lord was a great moment as well.

We didn't get a picture of the three of them at Church
but this was taken at Emmory's after the celebrations!
Emmory Ralphs, Brandon Dickson and Jena

And on to the celebrations---well, first we went to Primary and then to the celebrating:

Saige Frances and Jena
with victory fingers and duck lips--
Didn't know that was a thing!

Family and friends--

Aliyah and Halle Mann
our neighbors and our niece's daughters

Jena and Grandma Hall

 Jena with two of our Primary students--

Jared

Morgan

Scarlett had Anna as her "swinger"
for a good share of the afternoon.

Scott, Chantel and James

Jena and Meggan Sparrow who is currently
serving her Young Church Service mission at the Pasta Mill

 After our celebration, we headed to the Stake offices where Jena was formally released as a Young Church Service missionary.  I guess Jena was a bit nervous because the first thing she said after the interview was over was "That was easy."  I guess she was thinking it would be more of an interview than it was.  It was sweet and I cried some more.

We made a quick trip to Emmory's and Brandon's and had to get a picture of this Texas flag. If they do the same thing this time that they did with their son who served in Ecuador, this flag will fly in our neighborhood for the next 18 months.  How great is that for me!!

We had collected pictures from Jena's mission and made a display on our dining room table so people could see what she did as a missionary.  Most of these pictures have been in the blog so you would have seen them but it was fun to see them printed and to share with our family and friends. During the summer we will make a scrapbook for her to keep them all in.

I was grateful for Anna's help as she helped us get the display ready on Saturday night and she ran home during Primary to stir the pulled port for us. And she was Scarlett's number 1 friend as she pushed her in the swing for a very long time during the afternoon.

It was a great day.  I posted on Facebook:
"Jena finished her next goals today....She gave an awesome talk in Church about serving a mission with two of her life long friends who were leaving on missions soon and then we held her celebration of her mission. She was formally released this afternoon as Young Church Service mission. One of those "best days" that last to eternity and beyond! Thanks to our family and friends who supported us today and especially supported Jena. We are blessed to have you all in our life."

Now this part of her life and our lives is finished.  It was a great experience in every aspect and we are just grateful for it all.

Graduation, Guests, and a Game

This is the season for graduations and my niece, Anna Giberson, started it off with her graduation from BYU with a major in art history and a minor in non-profits.  My brother, Rick and my sister-in-law Linda came up from Texas to be a part of her big day.

(borrowed this picture from Facebook)

We were hoping to celebrate with them at a late lunch (or early dinner) in Midvale with Dad and Karla.  However after taking about 30 minutes to go a short distance on the freeway, the news was that there was a 14 car pileup away with only one lane open. A quick storm had left water on the road which seemed to have been one of the factors. On a Friday afternoon that meant a huge delay so we hopped off the next exit and headed back home.

Dad and Karla with Anna

We were sad to miss that opportunity to celebrate (and unfortunately was not the only graduation dinner we missed! More later on that.) but were thrilled when Rick and Anna came to spend the night (Rick) and the weekend (Anna).  We had planned on Anna but Rick was an unexpected blessing. This is the second time in less than three months that I got to see him and we will connect again in August when Jena and I head to Texas for my niece's wedding.  We got some good conversation and game playing in.

This game is a cooperative game where all players are working together to save the world from the spread of disease.  This one is called "Pandemic Iberian" so the map is of the Spain and Portugal part of the world set in 1905 or so.  It is an interesting game to work together and we were so disappointed when we lost the first game Saturday morning.  We felt like we had learned some important things which could help us win the game.  However Rick was leaving for the airport around 1:00 and Jena, Anna and I were heading to the Centerpoint Theatre to usher and to watch the play "Oliver".

Then Rick received a notification that his flight had been cancelled due to possible storms in Dallas-Ft. Worth.  They put him on another flight which was going to take 6 hours or so and included a long layover instead of his planned non-stop.  He called and rearranged and got to spend Saturday night in Utah and take a non-stop flight in the morning--extra bonus for us all.  We got a ticket for him to attend the play as well and Gary joined us for the afternoon matinee ..........Side note:  When Rick texted Linda (who had left Utah on Friday afternoon to attend her nephew's wedding in Oakland), she mentioned that one of their friends and his daughter were in the play.  They had lived in their ward in Texas but had moved to Centerville about 3 years ago.  Unfortunately it was the wrong cast---because how amazing would have it been to see old friends performing when you didn't plan it!  They were performing in the Saturday evening cast that day.  But Rick texted them and mentioned that he was at the theatre and just after the show, they met up in the parking lot and were able to reconnect for the moment....back to the story....

and then we got to play one more game of Pandemic Iberian.

AND WE WON!!  On basically the last play of the game.  We were feeling really good about our strategy at first as it seemed like we were making good progress, but at the end it literally came down to the last four hands being played exactly right for us to win! Whew.  It will be fun to play it again.

When Rick asked if we wanted to play a game Saturday morning, I told him that it seemed somewhat wrong to play a game in the morning--something like eating chocolate before lunch.  It is something you do on vacations.  He pointed out that he was on vacation so we all supported his vacation by playing.  How glad I am that we did!  It was a great break from homework and other things of life.  It was exactly what I needed.

One more highlight---A couple of posts ago, I mentioned that I had received books from a friend in Texas. Well, my brother ended up taking a book from the library BACK to Texas!  He had mentioned something from a book he had read about a disaster on Mt. Everest,  I remembered a different book that I had read about the same event and it was in the library so he decided to read it to compare the two stories.  His book will be the one that has traveled the furthest, although that record will end when I travel to Japan on May 10th.