Selfie

When Lilly steals my phone:

Black Friday

"Mom- it's black friday. Do we have to wear black all day?" ~Sophia

"Mom, on Black Friday are we supposed to help blind people? ~Lilly

Officer Johnson

Sergeant Derek Johnson  Draper Police Department, Utah

   End of Watch: Sunday, September 1, 2013

 

Anna, Jim and I had the opportunity of getting to know Officer Johnson via Peer Court. We were grief stricken by this tragic news. Sergeant Derek Johnson was shot and killed when he stopped to check on a vehicle parked on the side of South Fort Street shortly before 6:00 am. We were awakened that morning by hearing a helicopter flying low over our home. After receiving many texts, phone calls and watching the local news we were informed that we were to stay in our home and that church had been cancelled.

Investigators determined that a man and woman had been in an accident at 900 East and 13800 South, striking fixed objects, and kept going until they came to a stop at 13200 S. Fort St., where Johnson came across them. As he drove up, Johnson, 32, was "ambushed" by the man in a silver Volvo, who also shot the 34-year-old woman with him. After shooting at Johnson, the man turned the gun on himself. The man and woman survived the gun shots and have been sentenced to jail. 

The above pictures are of Kirsten helping put up flags the day before the funeral. On the day of, starting in Draper, Flags and people lined the entire procession. 

After talking her off a ledge for about 30 minutes this was sent this summer via text from Kirsten on her first night at Retreat for Girls and feeling very homesick:

I am sad

 Our Response:

 We're "sadder"

We were only hoping it would cheer her up.
It did.
She stayed
And she had the best week ever!

Anna's sunset

She took theses pictures while on a train heading downtown.

Simply Gorgeous!

Hair

This is how they insist that I do their hair.  

Tight pony tail with a single curl on the side. 

It's "sort of " a nod to the Hasidic Jew,

a very cute 4 year old and 6 year old Jew at that.

cavities

 This is what post sedation looks like on a 4 year old - she had "a few" cavities.

And by "A Few" I mean 8. 

That's right, 8.

 I don't get it either. 

We are very diligent when it comes to feeding her candy, cakes, cookies, soda pop and any other sugary treat you can imagine all without the slightest concern for oral care. We in no way believe in brushing much less flossing.

Why would we? Those baby teeth are eventually going to come out.

Right?!

I will say that the "princess juice" they gave her sure worked fast and took a while to wear off.  It was a blissful afternoon in the Hall house.

Halloween 2013

first day of school

Better Late than Never right? 

 Anna: a Junior ~ Kirsten: a Freshman ~ Brinn Fairbanks: a Freshman

Lilly: First Grade

Sophia:  Preschool

"Mom, take a picture of my pose like a model"

UEA

UEA was really fun and adventurous.

We had Lunch with Dad and took these crazy pictures outside of his office on these weird Discover Card cement Balls. 

 Anna's Miley Cyrus, Wrecking Ball Impression

 Kirsten photo-bombing Anna's Wrecking Ball impression

 

Then we Hiked to the top of Ensign Peak

And lastly we visited the capitol. 

The best thing about the day was that everything we did was at the request of one of the girls. Totally unplanned and spontaneous. We had a fun time-It was such a great day.

Jim's Garden Haiku

These are from Jim's garden. 

He brings me fresh flowers every summer 

and I love him for that.

NTT

If I had my way, cell phones would have the same age restrictions as alcohol and cigarettes. I have a tendency to shut down any idea regarding cell phones and cell phone use so when Jim suggested "No Technology Tuesday" I embraced it wholeheartedly.

Yesterday was super interesting as I engaged in a conversation (ok maybe an argument) with my daughter who refused to call and talk to a friend and insisted on texting. She thought that it was totally dumb to call someone just to arrange for a study group.  I listened in awe thinking "how in the world have my kids come to a point in their lives where basic human, voice interaction is a bad thing?!" Something must be done!

Later that night as soon as the kids were in bed I checked my phone and saw that I had 10 text messages...which I quickly texted back to because it would have been rude to leave them ignored.


2 days ago, I stumbled upon this quote that I had copied and pasted in my notebook in my phone. I remember reading it thinking how I could not wait to share it with my husband and girls merely to prove a point...my point.

"Part of the tragedy I speak of is that many do not recognize they are trapped or soon will be. They see this as a form of entertainment that serves as a relief from the troubles of the day. In reality, it is only relieving them of their spirituality and their capacity to draw on the powers of heaven in times of need." 

H. Burke Peterson Oct. General Conference 2012

Point well taken. And I am totally guilty. I find my self checking my phone first thing in the morning, after I get out of the shower (in case I maybe didn't hear it go off), at a stop light, in lines, if I am ever waiting, while I cook dinner, while I watch TV, right before I go to bed.  You would think I was running a Fortune 500 company or that I was a Pimp. I am sure there is some deeper hidden meaning to my incessant checking of the phone... admittance is the first step right?!

But,  It has gotten out of control. I am out of control.

 I set a new goal. I have decided to put the scriptures app on my phone at the bottom with my 3 other most used apps. The Goal: every time I go to my phone during one of those "unnecessary" times I will hit the scriptures app and read. 

Couldn't hurt...might help. 

No Tehcnology Tuesday

3 weeks ago, we decided to do something radical here at the Hall house in an effort to reduce the amount of time spent on the use of technology. So we introduced "No Technology Tuesday". Why Tuesday? Because Jim and the 2 oldest girls are at Mutual thus making Tuesday night less of a "sacrifice" than any other night.

Here is how I apprised my technological world of this change (via text message of course):

"So the Hall's are going old school....tomorrow is our first day of 'No Technology Tuesday'  if you need to get a hold of me on Tuesday's call me on the land line. The good news: we still have call waiting."

Here are a few of the responses:

"I love this! If I need to send you a message, just keep your eyes on look oout for my carrier pigeon"

"What the H Tammy? Your one dress away..."

"...From living in the compound known as Colorado City or is it 'Breaking Amish/Draper City?"

"I love it!!! Go Halls!!!"

Love it! Good luck entertaining your brood!" 

"Wow you guys are rich. My parents turned off call waiting years ago to save for retirement. And P.S. that idea is fabulous!" 

WEEK 1
I woke up and began my morning ritual: turned on the Today Show to hear the top stories of the day as well as the morning banter and sub par jokes from a sugar/carb deprived weather guy.  Jim came running out of the bathroom to remind me of  N.T.T. UGH! I turned it off and successfully got everyone off to school.

 Soph and I got ready (she doesn't have school on Tuesday making this a bit more difficult-how to entertain a 4 year old all day) and we ran some errands. Then we went to the farm and spent the afternoon enjoying "All you can ride, Pony Rides"  I'm fairly certain that Thanksgiving Point is now re-thinking their "Unlimited pony rides for members" rule.

 
After school everyone did homework, read and practiced-without complaint, thank you very much! 
After dinner all 4 of the girls took a bike ride together.
7:00 Jim, Anna and Kirsten left.
Soph, Lilly and I took a walk and ate ice cream.
By the time everyone got home it was 8:30-so we all hung out in the living room and talked for 30 minutes.
N.T.T.=very successful!



WEEK 2
After getting everyone to school Soph went over to play with Glory May. I cleaned and did the little girls laundry.

Lunch time: Soph did NOT like being reminded of N.T.T.  (She didn't like me taking a this picture of her either) sorry kid- no TV during lunch today
That night mutual was cancelled so we found ourselves in a bit of a quandry: what do we do for the next 3 hours.
Lilly and I started doing some puzzles.
Anna read.
Soph and Kirsten rode bikes... and that all lasted until about 6:30.
Then it began.
Anna hit the wall and complained of being "miserably bored".
Kirsten found a constructive way to use her time by teasing her sisters.
Lilly began crying over how hard the puzzle was and that 1000 pieces was just too many (I may have gotten a bit overzealous)
Soph hit the wall hard and managed to get on every last nerve of every living/breathing organism within a 10 mile radius. 
N.T.T.= not so successful

WEEK 3

I hit the wall. 
Mutual was cancelled again except for the men. Jim left to help a hoarding woman move. At first I thought "LUCKY!" but after hearing the stories I'm not so sure.
Honestly I have no idea how Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy did it. Do you think they ever got in fights? I mean real fights?  It was a rough night here at the Hall house. No play's were acted out. No poems were read. No sing along's as I played the piano. Let's just say for the sake of my reputation as well as my children's, bed time moved up by 45 minutes and when Jim got home at 9 everyone was in bed and momma bear was ready to hibernate. 
What I find amazing is how much I rely on technology. There was so much to do and respond to via technology that I was in a frenzy just thinking about doing it all and counting down the hours until I could.

Ok, I'll admit, I cheated. As soon as the kids were in bed I got online-it felt so good. My heart stopped racing. I felt peace-it was probably the spirit or something. :)
 
N.T.T.= Brutal but not giving up!

Stay tuned for more updates and wish us luck!