Happy New Years Eve

Tonight we celebrated the end of 2017 together at the farm.

Just us.

We had soda floats and played apples to apples.

We laughed together.

We tried to light off paper lanterns but the wind was blowing.

And we were worried about lighting the forest on fire.

Makenna's lantern went REALLY far and we saw it land and hoped it was in the field and not the woods.

Matt's caught on fire before it could even take off.

Brittan's went out in the sky somewhere.

Corban and I didn't even get ours off the ground. 

We also watched a slide show of our year together.

It's been a good year.

It has also been a hard year.

But that is how it always goes. 

Now on to 2018.

Here are several things that I look forward to happening this year:

*Dallin coming home

*Me, Kenna and Corban going to California

*Me going to RootsTech

*Kenna and I (and whoever else) doing a backpacking trip to Reed lakes overnight

*And the farming season

Cold and Warm

I just can't even with this little boy.

He is my warmth on days like today when it is so, so cold outside.

I went to pick him up this morning to come and play and he just hugged me so much. 

He was decked out in his rabbit outfit that his grandpa bought him for Christmas.

He had fun eating candy and bananas.

He also got into the super glue and glued his fingers together.

We were able to pull them apart but then he had glue on his fingers and wouldn't touch stuff because he didn't like how it felt. 

It really is true that grandkids are the blessing for not killing our kids. 

He is such a great blessing.

On a side note I took this picture of the frost on a tree on the side of the road.

It has been incredibly beautiful but really cold.

Like -3.

 

Christmas 2017

It was a low key Christmas. 

We got up early and opened presents.

Then I counted down the minutes until Dallin's face came across my computer screen. 

We had a great visit with him.

Then Sam and her family came over and the kids all decorated gingerbread houses.

It was a huge mess, but fun memories were made.

It was a good Christmas.

We also had dinner with ham, potatoes, rolls, and green beans.

There was pumpkin pie and pumpkin pecan pie.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Today has been a great day together. 

We went to church this morning and sang The First Noel as a family in the sacrament meeting. 

Then we came home and hung out all day.

The kids and I went on a walk, we opened pjs, we made pies and Reese's cup cookies.

We also had the traditional lasagna and did photos of the pjs.

Brittan and Corban put on a show of Darryl and Rudolph with fairies, itching powder, and a ukulele gun. 

Music was included.

I love these times when we gather and are really together.

I love these crazies! 

And tomorrow we get to talk to Dallin!

 

 

Relationships

It became VERY evident to me, through some interactions with people that are close in relation, that I needed to learn how to show forth more love, empathy and compassion but still maintain healthy boundaries.

I called my sister, Tracie and asked her to recommend a book that taught how to do that.

She replied with, "The New Testament"

And I may have said "Shut up" out loud. 

But then the a thought popped into my mind on how to do that. 

The idea came to study every single interaction that Christ had with other people in the New Testament and try to learn how he responded in each situation. 

Since seminary is out for two weeks this is the perfect time to do such an indepth study. 

It has been fascinating and eye opening.

I wanted to share some of the ones that have impacted me the most. 

Some have helped me feel better about things I am doing and others have given me direction on how to handle different circumstances.

I imagine as this study continues I will find all the answers that I am seeking. 

Principles I have learned from Christ about how to interact with others:

• When others come to us and ask for our help we should help them. (Matt 8:1-4)
• Even though we may be different than someone and we may follow different life paths we can still recognize the good in them and help in appropriate ways. (Matt 8:5-14)
• We can be more like Christ by being kindly honest in our interactions with others. (Matt 8:18-20)
• My understanding of the plan of salvation and faith in Christ can help me calm the storms in others and remain calm. (Matt 8:23-27)
• It is okay to not spend our energy/time on those who are judgmental of us or try to distract us from our purpose. (Matt 9:10-13)
• We need to be careful of who we 'let in'. (Luke 8:41-42;49-56; Matt 9:18-19,23-26 and Mark 5:21-24,35-43)

The last one I thought was very interesting and helped me a lot.

The philosophy of the world is that we need to let everyone in and everyone should be included in everything, but that is not what I am finding to be true in regards to this study. 

I have also noticed that Christ NEVER sought someone out to call them to repentance. 

This has helped me resolve a conflict that I've been struggling with. 

I'm grateful for my sister's suggestion even though initially I was resistant.

It's true that the scriptures have the answers to EVERY SINGLE question we will have in this life.

I imagine I will learn quite a bit more over the next two weeks.

Gaining

There is chocolate everywhere.

Everywhere.

And for some strange reason I have eaten 3 egg mcmuffins this week.

I'm not sure what is wrong with me, but I didn't want to talk about that kind of gaining.

Although, I might gain the holiday 5 at this point.

No, I wanted to talk about gaining light.

YAY!!!

It's that beautiful, amazing time of the year.

We are officially gaining light today.

I am beside myself ecstatic. 

And to start it off we got an incredible and amazing sunrise.

But, my stomach hurts right now from so many cabury christmas bells.

I may need an intervention.

Watching the Snow Fall

Last night Corban and I decided to take some time and watch the snow fall.

We had a winter storm warning and it was really coming down. 

We got probably a foot or more of snow. 

We brought blankets out and snuggled together on the porch couch.

It was pretty cold but we covered our heads to warm up.

It is always so beautiful right after it snows. 

It's even more beautiful sharing it with Corban.

Rejoice

Life has been heavy.

I have missed seeing the sunlight.

That really wears on a person.

For reals!

This morning I headed out for seminary and was pushed off into a ditch by another driver who was in way too much of a hurry.

It took me a good while to get out.

When seminary started I was feeling ALL the emotions of things that have been happening and told my class that if I fell apart it had nothing to do with them and I would try my hardest to keep it together. 

Then we looked at the Light the World suggestion for the day. 

"Rejoice and be exceedingly glad."

Matt. 5 :12

God loves us and wants us to be happy. We have many reasons to be happy, even if we don't realize all of them. One way we find joy is by helping others feel joy.

 Of course that was the suggestion.

And then as we were doing our reading block it said, 

"Lift up thy head and rejoice, for thou hast great reason to rejoice." Alma 8:15 

Message received!

As I drove home from seminary I still couldn't get to the rejoicing part.

I walked in the door, walked up the stairs and climbed back in bed.

I didn't crawl back out until 11am and that was only because I had to take Trapper to the vet. 

So here is my attempt at rejoicing.

It may be feeble but I know that Heavenly Father accepts all of our righteous efforts. 

• Heavenly Father knows exactly where I am and I know that my Savior has felt everything I am feeling. He has prepared a way for me to bear the burdens placed on me. That is reason enough to rejoice.
• I found reason to rejoice when Brittan called me to check on me and told me she bought me a kit kat. Just her desire to help me feel better is reason to rejoice. I love that she is mine. 
• It's snowing. Normally that is not reason to rejoice but right now it is beautiful and we are supposed to get over a foot. I love it when it first snows, especially if I don't have to go anywhere, because it is so clean and white outside. 
•  I saw the sun yesterday. It was beautiful!
• I am married to Matt Hale. He helps me keep my head on.
• Dallin's efforts in serving the Lord on a mission are blessing our family. Sometimes we don't see those blessings but I know they are there. 
• I know that there are unseen angels/ancestors that are helping me. They love me. They love my family. What a comfort to know we are connected even with the veil between us. 

I don't have answers to the things that weigh heavy on my heart.

I don't know how to have love, compassion and empathy while having healthy boundaries with people. 

I do know that Heavenly Father loves me and them though.

And that one day it will all be okay.

 

 

 

Hayes Christmas Party 2017

Tonight we met at the church building for our party.

Marissa did an AMAZING job at the decorations.

It took awhile for everyone to get there but once they did we had soup and bread- which was fabulous.

We really missed the family that wasn't with us this year. 

The kids had a blast because Marissa put together a ton of games.

Mom made sugar cookies for them to decorate and they could just run and run because it was at the church. 

Sunday Selfie

Kenna and I took this Sunday Selfie and I thought it needed to be shared.

It was a good day. 

I love this girl! 

The Aftermath

I'll put the words first so you can decide to scroll down and see or not. 

I mentioned before that we took Trapper to the vet on Tuesday.

I posted before Matt went and picked him up. 

It ended up costing around $800.

Once the vet got him all shaved it was way worse than she originally thought. 

It basically looks like someone tried to saw him in half. 

It's been several days now and I took these pictures this morning.

It looks a lot better than it did 4 days ago. 

I am hopeful that he has learned a valuable lesson and will stay closer to home.

He's a really smart dog.

Maybe he will figure it out. 

Anyway, for the brave of heart, here are the pictures that I took this morning.

 

The Pukes

Today was a pretty low key day with lots of couch sitting and puking.

Poor Corban got the stomach bug that Makenna and Brittan had last week. 

At one point I sent Matt a text that said, "He's doing REALLY well perfecting the man cold. His complaining is on point."

He made it to the bathroom basically every time.

At one point he looked at me and said, "Save me!"

It made me laugh but poor kid.

He felt miserable!

One Picture

I only took one photo today.

This one of Makenna.

With a fake bear head.

In Target.

It's been a bit of a crazy day.

I took Trapper to the vet.

He had some serious infections from his days in the snare he was trapped in.

They had to put a drain in and clean out wounds.

The vet said she used 6 packages of sutures to sew him up.

He will have to wear the cone of shame for a while. 

In three days we have to go back in to get the drain taken out.

In 14 days we have to have the sutures taken out.

I'm irritated that he ran away and got hurt.

I am also irritated that it cost way over $500 to get him fixed.

I also haven't eaten well in two days ('tis the season for crap) and my body is not happy with me.

It's amazing what an effect the food we eat has on our attitude.

Anyway, tomorrow is a new day.

p.s. we didn't buy the bear head. 

Winter Wonderland

One thing is for absolute certain.

When the sun shines in Alaska in the winter it is glorious.

This morning I noticed the sun peeking up over the mountains and ran out to enjoy it.

It was 1020 in the morning but you know....

I sat out on the front porch and just watched the colors spread across the sky.

They I put on my boots and tracked through the snow to get an unobstructed view of the mountains.

It was 40 degrees outside and I didn't even have a coat on.

After that I walked down to the lake to check things out.

The orange swing is patiently waiting for summer

Our Anniversary

Matt and I are kind of lame.

This morning I got up and went downstairs to finish my lesson for Gospel Doctrine.

I pulled up Facebook and it told me that it was our anniversary.

Oops.

I went upstairs and told Matt happy anniversary to which he replied, "Is that today?"

Haha.

We are the worst with our anniversary.

So our day was spent in church meetings, then we went to dinner at Esther's house, and then went to choir practice.

We were discussing how it really should be more important to us, but one thing is for sure.

I love Matt Hale.

I am so glad we have spent the last 23 years under the same roof.

I look forward to all the years ahead.

Maybe next year we will remember better. 

Here is a picture of our amazing dinner:

Birthday celebration and Trapper

Makenna broke with tradition this year and instead of Luck Wishbone we went to Vagabond Blues. 

I swear Matt does know how to smile. 

We had a good time. 

While we were there we got word that a neighbor saw Trapper.

He has been gone since Sunday.

By the time we got home he was home.

However, it appears he had been caught in a trap for the last week.

He was starving and is hurt.

We live so far out that a lot of time trappers put out lines and he must have gotten caught in one.

The problem with that is that they should have been checking them more often and someone had to have let him out of it so someone knows what happened.

Anyway, he currently had a dog tag with every phone number Matt and I have on it and a GPS tracker so we can find him easier. 

I mostly hate the idea of trapping.

Making animals suffer like that is NOT right.

I am not opposed to killing animals for food when needed but making them suffer is so wrong on so many levels. 

Fun at the inlet and Bethlehem

The sun peeked out for a few minutes and we stopped on the way home to grab a photo at the inlet.

It was so beautiful.

I've never able to capture what my eyes are really seeing.

Then we had a beautiful ward Christmas party that was decorated like Bethlehem.

We went to booths and got food.

There were activities for the kids: making clay pots, basket weaving and playing with dreidels.  

I only got one picture of me and the beautiful Esther Hopkin!