Shakin'

Funny Story:

So this morning I left the house at about 820 or so to take Makenna to babysit for someone.

The front end of my car has been acting up lately so I have been particularly aware of how the car feels when I drive.

Well, we were headed down the road and it was NOT driving right.

The first thing I thought was that something major had broken and the wheels had tilted inward.

I tried to slow the car down while I called Matt to come and get us.

I stopped the car but it kept moving.

I had no idea why that would happen.

I turned off the car worried.

It continued to move.

I thought that it was going to explode or something so Makenna and I got out.

As we stepped out of the car, Matt had answered and was freaking out about an earthquake.

At no point, until that moment, did it ever occur to me that we were experiencing an earthquake.
It was a 7.2!

We got back in the car while Matt told me how bad it was, how things fell off the walls, and things were broken.

He told me that kids were having a hard time.

Then he told me he wanted me to turn around and come home because there was a tsunami warning.

Well, I had passed a few cars and they told me the road was broken up a bit ahead.

We kept going while I called the lady Makenna was supposed to babysit for.

I wanted to see the cracks.

They were pretty substantial but you could maneuver over them if you went slowly. 

We turned around and made our way home, stopping every car we could to tell them about the road.

One of the people told us about how bad the road past the prison was.

After I got home, Matt and I went to check on a neighbors house and decided to explore the really bad crack.

It was!

 Bridges are out, roads are closed, two high schools had a TON of damage, and my parents house didn't fair well evidently, but I don't think there is any death toll.

Our house is fine.

Corban was worried because we've had aftershocks all day, so he packed a suitcase to evacuate.

He was telling me what was in it and explained he forgot underwear and thought he probably should put that in there.

Hahaha.

I told Matt- Time to move! 

It's going to take a little while to fix all the broken roads but Alaska is pretty hard core and I'm sure mostly everything will be up and running again within days. 

There is Beauty all Around

Sometimes when I am driving home I see the most amazing things!

I'm grateful for the Master Artist that makes dark winter days beautiful.

Cookies

I have been so excited to decorate cookies.

I watched several videos and looked at Pinterest to find ideas.

I could hardly wait to do it. 

Brittan and I cut out all the cookies and baked them.

Then most of us gathered around the island and decorated them.

They didn't quite turn out like I imagined but it was still fun to spend time with my girls and Matt.

They didn't taste too bad either. 

 

Decorating

Tonight we gathered in the living room and decorated the tree.

We had Christmas music playing and Matt made hot cocoa.

We laughed at all the ornaments that have been used and reused for the last 24 years.

Dallin fixed the very first ornament that Matt and I got our first Christmas so it could once again hang on the tree.

Then we sat and discussed what we were going to do as individuals and as a family for #LighttheWorld 

I'm pretty excited to do some good in the world with my family.

Then everyone escaped to their corners and Matt and I joined the girls in their room (it doesn't smell as bad :)

For some reason, Matt decided that he wanted to paint our nails.

We decided on toes and he went to town.

It was really funny.

I need some nail polish remover now.

 

Adventure

Yesterday morning Matt mentioned that the moon over the lake out back was amazing.

I decided to check it out and it really was.

It is so beautiful this time of year.

But so, so cold and also dark most of the time.

I took this picture at 8:42 and the sun was just barely starting to light the sky.

We moved to Alaska in 2002.

We had a 5 year plan.

It's been 16 years.

Our kids don't know anything different.

But Matt and I still entertain the idea of moving to the lower forty eight often.

I love Harvest Point Farm.

I don't know that we will stay here forever though.

I'm open to new adventure.

That seems to be the thing with Matt and I.

We really can't sit still for very long. 

Hale Thanksgiving 2018

Today was such a great day to celebrate what we are grateful for.

This season I am most grateful for this family Matt and I have created.

Sam and her family came over for dinner and then stayed and went ice skating on the lake.

We ate lots of yummy food including Matt's mom's pumpkin pecan pie.

It is fun to have food traditions.

I made my mom's famous rolls as well.

We were going to decorate the tree but there was a little mishap with it and the top half was encased in ice.

It is still thawing in my shower.

The best family picture we took was this one, where Dallin's head is cut off.

 I love these people and am so grateful to be part of their lives.

Next year we will be missing our Brittan as she goes to serve the Lord.

She will be missed but I am so proud of her.

 

Mission Call

This morning, as I was driving home from dropping off Makenna at school, I got this text:

"I got my mission call!!"

We have been anxiously awaiting this call for many, many months.

There was a little bump in the road at first and the mission department asked Bri to do a few more things.

Once done her papers were resubmitted.

I called her immediately.

She wasn't telling anyone until this evening.

She had already read it and said that when she read the words she knew that was exactly where she was supposed to go.

We made guesses and I actually guessed Idaho in the morning but then changed my guess to either North Carolina or Virginia.

We gathered at 7 pm, did a Facebook live, which was something I had never done before. 

It was quite humorous.

And then she read her call:

Idaho Falls, Idaho!!!

I am so excited for her.

There are so many people that she will run into that she knows there.

She will be an amazing missionary.

She leaves January 9th so we need to hustle to get everything done.

Gosh I love her and will miss her!

Hayes Family Thanksgiving

Hayes Family Thanksgiving was a success!

This year we all gathered at Marissa and Dave's new house.

She was excited about her King table.

It was pretty fun to have almost everyone at the same table.

There was WAY to much food.

WAY to much! 

The company was good.

Those that live out of state or couldn't be there were missed.

I really love my family.

We are crazy and dysfunctional and crazy dysfunctional but these people are the cream of the crop. 

Plus they make the cutest kids!

Cranes

Once, ten years ago, my kids and I took on a challenge to fold 999 cranes for Matt.

Since then, the kids have made many more cranes and handed them to me.

They mostly fold them in church or while they are sitting next to me at the computer desk. 

Each and every crane they hand me is an expression of their love for me.

Just like folding those 999 cranes for Matt was our expression of love for him.  

It seems crazy that they are all growing up and getting their own lives.

Sam has her family now, Dallin will soon go and do his own thing, and Brittan will be leaving on a mission soon.

Then there will be just two left.

But Makenna only has a a year and half left and she will graduate.

I love where we are at in this time of our lives, but it is crazy how no matter what, change is constant! 

I love being a mom to these kids that heaven blessed me with.

 

Homeschool

Corban is part of a school program for homeschooled kids at the local charter school, Twindly Bridge.

It's a pretty cool deal.

He goes to classes once a week (on Thursday) for the entire day and gets to socialize with kids around his age.

This set of sessions he took spanish, taekwondo, physics, board games and ukulele.  

The also offer some pretty cool field trips.

Yesterday we put aside the Algebra and went on a field trip.

A new, indoor trampoline park just opened in town.

That place is pretty amazing.

It was huge inside.

There were arcade games, virtual reality games, styrofoam pits, tons of trampolines and an obstacle course.

He played for two hours without stopping.

The homeschool aspect is still working, I think.

This semester we decided to try BYU classes.

They are challenging and there is a lot of information to cover.

Some days are harder then others trying to keep him focused.

The other day I mentioned that homeschool might not be working for us anymore and we might want to look at public school again.

He said, "Are you trying to threaten me?"

Haha.

There are times when I think about how much easier my life would be if I was not homeschooling him, but I am confident that if he was in public school he wouldn't learn a thing.

So we plow forward with the hopes (and prayers) that this is what is best for him in the long term.

As a parent, I just want to do what is best for my kids.

Sometimes I don't know what that means.

Thank goodness they are Heavenly Fathers kids too and He lets me know.

 

Warmer weather

Even though it snowed on Sunday, the weather has been incredible.

We've been in the 40's lately.

The sunsets have been awesome.

Yesterday evening, after the sun had already gone done, I went down to the lake in the dimming light.

I wanted to sit on my bench, but it was all wet.

The fog had rolled in.

It was perfectly quiet.

Seriously.

There was not a single sound down there.

I don't know if the fog insulated the world, but I marveled at the lack of sound.

And it didn't feel cold at all.

I live in one of the most beautiful places on the planet.

 I was thinking about this today.

Growing up in Arizona I never really paid much attention to the weather or the seasons.

Living in Alaska has given me perspective of the extreme in nature.

I had the distinct thought about being grateful for being able to enjoy such beauty.

Lots of times I get caught up in what Alaska is not, in any given season.

But there is much to be grateful for.

I still want to go sit on a beach for a little while somewhere though.

 

First Snow

This morning when I got up and looked out the window I found the ground covered in white.

And it was still snowing.

I love how snow insulates the world and makes it a little more quiet and a lot more peaceful.

We got up and got ready for church but then received the texts, emails and calls that church was cancelled.

I wondered why, since they never cancel church for snow but then found out that there was freezing rain in town.

We live 30 minutes from town and sometimes, I swear, we live in a different country.

So we got into our comfy clothes, determined that we would have our own church service later in the day, turned on some gospel music, and enjoyed each others company.

Makenna and I decided to bake and made a pumpkin roll which was promptly inhaled. 

 Corban decided that the snow needed to be played with so he and Trapper went out and started on a snowman.

It is seriously the most perfect packing snow.

And it was fun to watch out the window as Corban pelted Trapper with snowballs and then Trapper attacked him.

 

Sealings

Last night we spent our evening in the temple.

I brought family names.

We decided to spent the time doing sealings.

I love sealings.

The spirit is ALWAYS super strong during that time.

For those who don't know, sealings are an ordinance done that binds families together forever.

Wives to husbands and children to parents.
I had brought two couples, 19 daughters and 14 sons.
We were able to seal all of them.
I got emotional as I knelt at the alter with  my kids and Matt.
I felt those in the spirit world rejoicing at one point as 3 sisters were sealed to their parents at the same time.
The work of the temple beings such incredible joy.
When I serve there I know that I am part of something much bigger than this world has to offer.
 And serving with our children brings more joy than I have felt in a long time. 
How grateful I am that temples dot the earth.

Sun and Service

Trapper ran away again.

He ran to the correctional farm, which is 4 miles away.

It's been a while since he's been there and they didn't know who he belonged to.

So they called the pound.

Over $100 later we sprung him from doggy jail and he's been spending his free time chained up on the porch.

Well tonight I took him on a walk and he took off runny.

He was going crazy stretching his legs.

And then he started to eat the dried grass.

Weirdo!

The weather was perfect out.

It was about 35 degrees, the sun was shining and I could still smell a little bit of autumn.

Autumn is long gone but I could smell something that smelled like it.

I am always grateful for sun.

I also got to do some fun things today.

I was able to help a friend of mine find about 15 ancestors.

That was so cool!

And I was able to play piano at a baptism.

Life feels good today.

 

Voted

It's Tuesday.

Kenna had school.

Afton came to play.

I voted.

(cutest photo bomber ever!) 
Also Kenna and I did some yoga.
Afton wanted to help us.