2018 in Review

This is one of my most favorite pictures that I took this year.

There were so many actually. 

I love the chance each December to review our year. 

It takes me about a week to move the blog posts from the year into a program that prints them into a book.

I have been doing this since 2005.

Last night Makenna had grabbed several and was looking through them.

She thanked me for keeping the record.

We talked about how all those things could be lost if there was no record made of them.

This year of 2018 has been one of the hardest for me.

I've had to face my mortality, wore my knees out for a particular child, shed so many tears over another child, had to do pulse checks on a family member to make sure they didn't choose to exit this life, dealt with another family member that has mental health issues, cried over the death of a friend, and so much more it seems.

But those are not things I write about here.

There is a reason why I do not write about those things here.

They get recorded but not here.

I learned long ago that the magnitude of our sorrows and struggles is matched by the magnitude of our blessings.

That was true of this year too.

I decided to go back over the year and choose one thing each month that displayed how blessed and good this year was.

As I looked, I realized many months I could not choose just one.

Here they are:

January- Afton time. Anytime spent with him is a huge blessing to me.

February- California with Corban and Makenna. This trip was just what my soul needed and I love getting out and spending time with my kids.

March- Being published in the Frontiersman. Being able to share how we are linked to our ancestors with my community was a huge blessing to me.

April- Celebrating Esther.  Women need women and I am so grateful for my tribe.

May- Discovering who my great great grandfather was. This was a HUGE accomplishment that I determined to discover in 1990 something. I had tons of heavenly help with this. 

June- Homer and Twin Peaks. My birthday celebration in Homer was super fun and I still think about that dulce de leche gelatto. And finally hiking Twin Peaks was a highlight. One thing is for sure, Alaska's scenery never disappoints. 

July- Dallin came home. A lot of fun things happened in July but nothing tops the hug from my son when he walked through security at the airport. I missed him terribly.

August- Lost Lake and Utah. Spending two days in the Alaskan wilderness with Makenna, Raylene, and Esther was so fun. I also LOVED going to Utah with Matt. When we are able to get away from the stresses of our lives we just reconnect every time. I really love that. 

September- California with Dallin, Corban getting his patriarchal blessing and Arizona with Brittan. This month was packed full of beautiful things that all connected to eternity. I loved spending so much time with individual kids. 

October- Brittan going through the temple. Nothing is better than being in the temple with my kids. Nothing!  

November-  Earthquake and mission call. The events of the earthquake reminded me that Heavenly Father is protecting me and Brittans long awaited mission call was such a beautiful thing to experience. 

December- Grandbaby #2. I'm excited for another baby to come to our family. I can't wait to hold that little one come summer.

It was a beautiful year!

I'm excited for 2019.

Mood

The days following Christmas were kind of a detox.

We had some rough things happen on Christmas day and the day following.

Mental illness is a real thing and it can be scary at times.

We had Afton over for a full day on Friday so some things could settle at his house. 

I just love this kid. 

He ate every piece of chocolate he could find.

Then he wanted to wear Makenna's head band.

I love being a grandma.

Two year olds can be a handful but he's really great.

The house was completely destroyed by the time we took him home, but it was totally worth it.

Tomorrow is New years Eve.

I'm excited to share a recap of our year and also some plans for this next year.

Christmas Time the Hale Way 2018

Every year we open pjs on Christmas eve.

This year was no different except I didn't get Matt any because he was being picky. :)

Christmas Day we ruffled through our stockings and opened gifts.

We chose names this year and Brittan had my name.

Her gifts were incredibly thoughtful.

She got me a blanket that I can wrap myself in when I am missing her when she leaves on her mission and she also drew me a really cool family tree that I need to go and get a frame for.

 Makenna wants a white VW bug really badly so we got one for her.

It fit in her stocking but she didn't specify size.

 We went and got Sam and her family after breakfast was done.

They spent several hours with us.

Afton loved opening his presents.

And I love Afton!

 We did experience some really hard things Christmas Day and today we have all been decompressing a bit, but I saw Heavenly Fathers hand in the day in two very specific ways.

I am grateful that even in difficult times, especially in difficult times, He is there. 

Here's a smattering of some of my favorite shots from the day.

 

Hayes Christmas 2018

Last night was our Hayes Christmas party.

We had it at Travis' this year.

It is interesting that the family keeps getting bigger and bigger but our party has gotten much smaller.

Carrie and Dustin have moved their families to the lower 48.

Of my 10 siblings, 4 live out of state now.

Erin came for a minute last night but was so sick and ended up heading home.

There were less people but still lots of noise and laughing.

I love this group of people.

Dad ended up with an ice cube tray shaped like teeth.

It was hilarious because he only has a few teeth left in his head.

It was a great way to spend our night before Christmas eve!

 

Gifts from the Heart

Yesterday I picked up them mail and we had a package from the Gollnick family. 

They are people that Matt knew as a child and we have reconnected with over social media in the last few years.

Mary Ann and I share a common love for family history and she is always so faithful at sending us a card and sometimes a gift at Christmas. 

Unfortunately, I do not have it as together as she does and often miss the mark at letting her know we love her.

(We love you!) 

Anyway, I opened the box and pulled out this book. 

The letter with it said she loved book folding art.

At first I couldn't figure out what the art part was.

I just saw lots of folds.

Then I held it out open in front of me and was so surprised to see our name in the pages!

I was excited.

I immediately showed the kids and they thought it was so cool.

When I showed it to Matt he immediately lamented on how lame we are in our correspondence with them, but was so excited for the gift.

Then I thought about how much time that must taken.

This is truly a gift to our family.

Thank you Mary Ann!

We love you and maybe we'll get a New Years card out.

haha! 

Favorite

We've had some pretty incredible things happen this year.

I'll share a recap in another post.

Tonight tops the list of those incredible things.

Back at the end of November we had a family council where we talked about what we wanted to do to Light the World this Christmas season.

Corban asked if we could all attend the temple together.

I LOVED that idea.

Last week, I spent several hours finding ancestors that we could go and do baptisms for.

We ended up with about 20 female and 20 male names.

And tonight we got our opportunity.

Seeing my Dallin in the font baptizing Corban for our ancestors almost made my heart explode with joy.

Being baptized myself for more ancestors by Dallin will be a treasured moment.

One of my most desired bucket list items is to be in the temple with all my kids someday.

We were almost all there tonight.

And it was a time to be treasured.

Corban said he felt the Spirit while he was being baptized.

That Spirit got run off a little when we were doing confirmations and he farted!

It was all we could do to not laugh out loud at him.

There was too much snickering.

Thirteen year old boys!

Anyway, I will treasure seeing all of us dressed in white, doing sign language across the baptismal font with each other, and being there to light our family on both sides of the veil.

These are the moments people.

These are the moments that a life well lived are made of.

 

Completed!

The prophet gave this invitation in October:

"I invite you to read the Book of Mormon between now and the end of the year. As impossible as that may seem with all you are trying to manage in your life, if you will accept this invitation with full purpose of heart, the Lord will help you find a way to achieve it. And, as you prayerfully study, I promise that the heavens will open for you. The Lord will bless you with increased inspiration and revelation. As you read, I would encourage you to mark each verse that speaks of or refers to the Savior. Then, be intentional about talking of Christ, rejoicing in Christ, and preaching of Christ with your families and friends. You and they will be drawn closer to the Savior through this process. And changes, even miracles, will begin to happen."

I finished the Book of Mormon this morning.

It feels good to have been given an invitation from a prophet of God and being able to complete it.

I wanted to focus on the blessings he promised and see how I have seen them in my life these last several months.

The heavens will open- 

This last week I just thought about how it seems like answers to prayers have come a little more easily lately.

He's answered prayers about finances, calmed my mind about family situations and instructed me to repent about my feelings toward a family member(I'm still working on that last one).

That definitely feels like the heavens opening!

I have seen the heavens open for me and my family from reading the Book of Mormon!

Increased inspiration and revelation-

I can think of a few recent ones right off the bat.

Our family decided to do a temple trip for Light the World and do our own family names.

I was having a hard time finding people to take and then I had the thought to look at a certain line and do the kids of that couple.

Within a few hours I had over 25 people that need work done.

 Another one that happened a little while back was at our stake conference.

I had been sitting on the stand and noticed a friend of mine in the audience.

I could tell from her body language that something was not right.

I felt prompted to go up to her and give her a hug and tell her I loved her.

The next day she sent me a message and said,

 "Thank you for reaching out to me yesterday. I felt that in the last few years I’ve become invisible. Nice to know someone loves me. It’s going to be a hard year with no guarantees at the end of it."

And one last one, even though there are so many more.

In General conference I was prompted to say something very specifc to a family member.

I waited and waited for months to find the right opportunity to do it.

I talked with this person so many times in those months and it never felt right.

And then, one day we were talking on the phone, and the Spirit said, "Ask now!"

I did and that conversation has led to some very hopeful, life changing conversations since then.

I have seen increased inspiration and revelation in my life from reading the Book of Mormon! 

Drawn closer to the Savior-

Part of the challenge was to mark every time that Christ was mentioned in the Book of Mormon.

I was shocked to see that within the first chapter He was mentioned 19 times!

I think the biggest way that I have drawn closer to Him through this experience is that my Hope has increased.

There has been some really, really hard things that our family has gone through and that I have gone through in the past several months.

But my hope that things will be okay has remained firm and even increased.

And really, He is the Hope!

I have drawn closer to the Savior by reading the Book of Mormon.

Miracles will begin to happen-

The secular definition of miracle is-

"a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency." 

Pondering on this one I think immediately of the earthquake we just had.

The Spirit told me why I didn't experience the full brunt of the earthquake.

It is literally a miracle to me how that all transpired.

Miracles still happen!

I KNOW this because they have happened to me.

The prophet said that miracles will BEGIN to happen.

There is another miracle that is beginning to happen in the life of someone I love.

I'm excited to see that miracle unfold!

I am seeing miracles by having read the Book of Mormon.

So, if you have not taken the prophets challenge to read the Book of Mormon yet- DO IT!!!

The blessings of this invitation are far beyond any time restraint it may incur.

Plus the Book of Mormon is totally awesome!

Eight Days

Only eight more days until Christmas morning!

I know Corban is excited.

He keeps asking how many days are left. 

I love that even at 13 he is still excited.

We've been doing little things to Light the World this season.

I am MOST excited for what we are doing this week. 

Yesterday I spent several hours doing research and finding family names that we can take to the temple.

I've been doing family history for a LOT of years and as you can imagine it is getting harder to find names to take.

But I found 10 females and 15 males that we can take.

I sent an email to the temple asking if we could come and do baptisms on Friday.

I'm actually SO excited to have all my kids (except Sam) in the temple with Matt and I.

I have great hope that someday Sam will join us as well.

One of my greatest desires in this life is to have all my kids in the temple with me, even if it's just once.

Anyway, we have a few presents tucked under the tree.

I want to get a few more items but we are mostly done.

It's been super tight financially so it is quite a miracle to have what we do this season.

And I am incredibly grateful for it.

Eight more days!

 

Light

It's been a pretty non-eventful week.

We've done Algebra, Kenna took finals, we've stayed home a lot.

But last night we went to the temple for our weekly visit.

It was me, Matt and Dallin.

We were able to seal 4 of our family members to their parents.

That is always a cool experience.

The drive and out was harrowing though.

We were basically driving in a blizzard and most Alaskans know how to do that but evidently, last night, the people that were on the road had forgotten

I lost count of how many cars in were in the ditches.

I was relieved to finally get home.

It just kept snowing and snowing.

We will definitely be having a white Christmas.

I love this selfie I took because of the light that is emanating from the temple. 

 That light is so welcome, especially this time of year when it is so dark out most of the time.

BUT

we are only 6 days away from gaining light again!

 

Twenty Four years

Today marks 24 years of marriage.

Matt bought me roses.

I thought it would be fun to go into the archives and share with you my journal entry about this day all those years ago.

Enjoy!

"I am now Ginny Louise Hale! And I love it. I love Matt more than anything in this world. It is so nice to have someone here all the time. The temple was so awesome. I cried when we were sealed just because I was so happy!. It was so beautiful. And he looked like a king. After the temple ceremony we went out on the steps and took pictures- loads of them!!!" 

It is amazing to me that we have been married all these years.

I'm still grateful to have someone here with me in this life.

Here is my favorite picture of us from this year:

 

Grandbaby #2!

It appears that Matt and I are going to be grandparents again!

Baby #2 is due sometime in June.

My birthday is the 26th and Corban's is the 9th.

We'll see how close this one gets to those dates.

I'm excited to hold a little baby again!

Colony Christmas

Palmer, Alaska does this really cool three day event during the month of December every year called Colony Christmas.

They have places all over town with activities and things to do.

They do a parade and light off fireworks.

In the 16 years we have lived here we have only attended the parade once.

And it was so long ago the kids didn't even remember doing it.

We didn't have anything to do today so I looked up the activities, made a list and we headed off.

We rode in a two-horse open sleigh, petted a reindeer, frosted a sugar cookie, saw Santa(so many Santa's), got hot cocoa, walked through a craft bazaar, looked at hundreds of nativities, and watched the parade and fireworks.

It was raining and that made it colder then it would have been, but it was nice to spend some time with the kids.

Matt had a ministering appointment so he didn't make it though. 

Still fun times! 

SIXTEEN!!!

Time keeps flying by.

It's crazy to me.

Today we celebrate the birth of Makenna.

You know, I didn't even know she was coming and if Corban had been born before her we might have stopped having kids after him.

I'm glad she came.

She is good.

She is happy.

She is funny.

She is beautiful.

She is righteous.

And she loves.

I feel pretty blessed to be her mom and so grateful she is my daughter. 

Now she can date and drive.

Life is really just beginning for her.

I'm excited to see who she will become.

I love who she already is!

Also, she wanted a cheesecake for her birthday and I made it in the Instant Pot.
It was a huge success! 

I feel kind of accomplished over that.

 

This Stage

On the way home from church today, there was a lot of work going on to fix the damage the earthquake caused. 

We were driving one direction and Bri and Dal were stopped going the other direction for our traffic to go through since the road was down to one lane.

I blew kisses at them as we passed and then had this overwhelming sense of love for those two.

I told Matt that I really liked them.

Then he said, "We are at a fun stage in our lives."

We are!

All are kids are independent and in charge of their lives.

Corban may only be 13 but he makes all his own food and doesn't have to be entertained.

None of them really have to be entertained.

 Makenna likes to hold my hand all the time but other then that they are not really clingy either.

This is some of what our family looks like right now:

*They all make their own food. I never have to make them dinner- I kind of love that!

* They wash their own clothes. That is awesome too!

*All the kids that live at home love the gospel and believe it is true. That makes my heart happy!

 *We have fun when we are together- like tonight when Matt did a face mask with the girls or times when we harmonize in the car together.

*We have family councils to discuss what is happening in our lives and get their suggestions about what we should do as a family. We came up with some great ideas for #LighttheWorld.

I am grateful for this family of mine.

They are good people and I really like spending my time with them!