Merry Christmas 2021

Christmas Eve we headed to Provo, picked up Panda Express, and met up with Ben for a Christmas Eve dinner and activity.

The sun was just setting as we waited to get in. Clouds and sunsets are an unbeatable combination!

We ate, did a puzzle and played Uno plus ate snacks--after all it was Christmas Eve.

Our Christmas Eve selfie---

When we got home, we watched a movie and read the Christmas story before doing our traditional Christmas stocking train---

but we had no stockings (I couldn't reach them through our stuffed storage room) and no fireplace to hang them on.  Fortunately, Jena is a good sport and liked our make shift stockings out of bags.  She even commented that Gary and I had the same "pattern" as our actual stockings are also the same.  She liked that!

It wasn't until the next morning that I realized that we had forgotten one of the treasured "Hall" traditions.  I had forgotten to give Jena her Christmas pjs.!!!  After 37+ years, there were no pjs opened at our Christmas Eve.  (However, our grandchildren were able to open theirs so the tradition lives on!)

I pulled this little tree that usually sits in our kitchen to use for our tree......

and we hung our stockings on the kitchen peninsula

Christmas morning, I headed to Provo and got Ben and brought him to our apartment for Christmas morning (which happened around 11:30) complete with cinnamon rolls and juice.

The lineup--youngest to oldest to head to the family room

As usual, Jena had some creative name tags for me....this was one of my favorites:  "Father Time"...

And this was what was inside of it--a clock!  It made me laugh out loud!!! So clever.

Gary had commented on a commercial a few weeks ago about the extra large mug they were using and said he needed one for hot chocolate.  I found him this one, which made him laugh....

although it says it is "G" for Giberson, not Gary.  It should have been an "H."  Works for me, either way!

Ben gave us each a few gifts which I later found out were the gifts he had been given at the state hospital for Christmas.  Each Christmas volunteers in the community donate gifts for the patients.  When I asked Ben why he didn't keep them, he said that it was more important to him to give us gifts and that is what he had to give.  It made me cry.  Ben has a tender heart.

Our TV was playing Pandora with Christmas songs and it made an interesting design behind our little tree.  I don't know if you can see the red and white candy canes, but Jena made these for Gary while we were at Thiot's home in Texas.  They will always be a memory of our mission Christmas and the trip to Texas.

We made a quick trip up to Syracuse, so Ben was able to visit with Jessica and Elessia and the kids all who haven't seen him since September of 2020.  We then went back to our house and had Christmas dinner before heading back to Provo to drop him off.  Ben did fairly well considering the variety of things we did and being in the car a lot during the day.  We were also able to talk to Scott and Tosha and their families over the weekend.  Good times!

Not a traditional Christmas, but awesome in its own way and one we will remember.

Merry Christmas, dear family, and a Happy New Year!

It's Looking Like Christmas

We started getting a few  gifts piling up on our table so that became the bulk of our Christmas decorations.  I toyed with the idea of grabbing a Christmas tree from home, but it really didn't make much sense with the small amount of space we had.

Christmas cards also provided some decor---

The Thursday before Christmas, I went up to the house to hang out with the kids while Jessica and Elessia had an appointment.  It was fun to see their stockings hanging on the hooks where our kids' stockings have hung for 24 years.

Since the twins were napping and Liam REALLY wanted to play a game with me, we gerrymandered a way to first do a puzzle...by using the top of a dresser and the edge of the platform in our basement game room.

This is a puzzle that Niki loves to put together as well.

Ezri was not asleep (which is why we had to put our puzzle up high) but was pretty content to play with toys on the floor as long as we talked to her from time to time.

Our selfie

Then we played "Don't Wake Up Dad" which they thought was very funny. Liam won!

When Alex and Carter got up, they were happy to put their felt ornaments on their Christmas tree so that Ezri could come by and pull them off.

It was a fun afternoon.  We will have to play games again, Liam and Zander!

The Saga Of The Book Signing

This is the story about getting 12 busy missionary zone leader couples to sign 4 books without the mission presidency being aware of what was happening.  We serve all over the Temple Square Complex, referred to as the Campus.  Some serve in the Family Search Library, others in the Church History Library, the COB, and in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building on three different floors. Some of us are full-time missionaries and others only serve part-time.  In addition, with it being holiday season, people were traveling here and there throughout the month.  It took almost an act of Congress to find a time to gather to give the gifts.  Signing the books....I predicted it would be somewhat of a pain and take lots of my time!!!

What Actually Happened:

The meetings we had during the month always included someone of the mission presidency, so I knew that I was going to spend a good share of a week transporting four, heavy books from one place to another to get them signed.  I figured it would involve lots of emails, phone calls, and meeting up in different places of the Campus, but everyone was on board with the plan and I figured it would be worth it for the time it would take---

Sidebar story:  When I was a senior in high school and living in Amarillo, Texas, I remember a conversation I had with my dad.  We were cleaning up after a seminary activity. Only one or two of the people had showed up who were suppose to help with set up and most people had headed right out after it was done leaving the same few people to clean up as well. I said to my dad, "I can't wait until I am a grown-up and everyone does their part."  My dad, in a kind and tactful way, pointed out that things might not change that much when I was adult.  There were still people who did and people who didn't even as adults.  It was good advice, because I was prepared by the time I became an adult for the reality of this.

Fast forward to the signing of the books: (I didn't take exact notes as this was being played out, so it might be slightly out of order, but this is the gist!)

Friday, December 3rd, I dropped the books off in the mission office for Elder and Sister Temple to sign them.  They passed them to Elder and Sister Farnsworth who after they signed them....dropped them off in the book bag on the 1st floor of the Church History Library for the Carters to sign on Monday.  Without being asked, the Carters passed the books off to the Hiltbrands, also in the Church History Library who signed them.

The following Tuesday, I reached out to Hiltbrands, but they reported that they had gone to the Family History Library the day before and decided to drop them off there to be signed.  On Thursday, I discovered that three of the four couples there had signed them and one of them had dropped them off at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building to another couple who hadn't signed them yet.  I reached out to the couple at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and indicated that I was going to come and get the books on Thursday.  They said fine, but they would get another couple on the 3th floor to sign them first.  Later, she emailed back to say that the 6th floor couple was out of town but they had run into another couple from the COB at lunch and had them come and sign the books as well.  She wondered if I wanted her to keep the books until the 6th floor zone leaders returned.  Of course, I said yes.

Which meant on the following Wednesday, I went and picked up the books after our mission fireside from the 6th floor zone leaders.  When I saw the books for the first time after starting this chain of events, I noticed that one of the zone leaders had actually made a list of the zone leaders and put it with the books so that people could mark it off after they had signed.  Smart idea--but not mine.

 I took them back on Thursday to the Family Search Library for the remaining zone leaders to sign.  When they signed them, they insisted on bringing them back to us at the Church History Library.  Then I was able to carry them home, wrap them and bring them to the mission home.

I know it is a confusing tale but the summary was that I only delivered it to two other couples--the first ones to sign and the last ones.  Without asking, these amazing zone leaders did the leg work themselves, passing the books between themselves without fanfare.

And THAT is why we love those we serve with.  They are the people who stay until the last chair is put away or volunteer for the dirt jobs.  These missionary leaders are amazing!  I want to be like them when I grow up!

Mission Presidency and Zone Leadership Christmas Moment

with donuts!  We gathered as a surprise for the mission presidency and their wives on Wednesday, December 22 to wish them Merry Christmas and share the gifts we had gotten for them. It was a nice surprise and they were very touched.

This time we had to transfer the donuts from the COB cafeteria to the Church History Library and then back through the tunnel....

which is currently being repaired.....to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and up to our mission office on the 3rd floor.

Here are our great mission presidency!

From left to right:  President and Sister Parker, President and Sister Larson, Sister and President Randall, Elder Burnham (who serves as executive secretary--Sister Burnham is in the red on the next photo where they opened our gifts to them.)

And then we ate donuts!

L to R:  Elder and Sister Temple, President Larson,
Elder and Sister Drasso, Sister and Elder Chin

L to r:  Sister and President Randall, President and Sister Parker
Sister and Elder Brough, Sister Larson, Elder and Sister Burnham

Sister and Elder Carter and Elder Farnsworth

Elder and Sister Workman

Sister and Elder Hiltbrand, Jena, Gary

The Church History Group:  Hiltbrands, Parkers, us, Carters

Our mission theme is: "Hear Him" so the recent book release at Deseret Book of the photo book with that same theme was perfect for them.  We had been given one by one of our missionaries so I knew it would be right for them.  We had each of the zone leader couples sign that books...and that process deserves its own post....don't miss it!