More Christmas Lights!

We didn't get around to looking at Christmas lights until Christmas night. One of the best places to go around here is the Toyon Way/Red Bud Lane area of of El Margarita. We saw some great houses - like the one below with Kim and David standing under the blue arch.

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This last house is a Gingerbread House made by one talented lady on our ward. She designed it to look like the "Crooked House" in England. It's hard to tell from this angle, but it really is pretty crooked.

Have a Holly, Jolly Christmas!

For those who grew up in our household, you will recognize the settings for the scenes portrayed below. For others - well, you'll just have to imagine the fun we have. We had a great day. Many thanks to our children and grandchildren who were making happy traditions of their own. You've blessed our lives in countless ways.

Mom, Kim, and David open stockings on Mom & Dad's bed

Mom displaying a couple of gifts given by loving family members

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Kimberly opening one of her gifts, and Dad wearing what is now his favorite hat

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The leftovers.

Yes, we had the traditional Hall Christmas Eve dinner with cheese and sausage, crackers and nuts, soup and vegetables - with copious amounts of cookies, candy, and other assorted treats.

(you know, the four food groups: candy, candy canes, candy corn, and syrup)

David left today (needs to be at work Monday), Kimberly leaves tomorrow, but both went to Church with us today. It is SO MUCH FUN having them here. I don't know what we'll do when they get families of their own.

December 17, 62 A.D. - Lazarus Dies for the Second Time

I've shared this before I think, but I always think about it this time of year, and it makes me ponder.

In the Old Farmers Almanac several years ago, on this date, the little note said: "Lazarus dies for the second time - A.D. 62."

Now that's interesting. So I get to thinking and the first thing that occurs to me is that 62 is probably the about average age for a man living at that time. The second thing that comes to mind is that if that's true, then he was born in or about A.D. 0, and that would make him about the same age as Christ. It also occurs to me that they may well have been childhood friends.

In John 11 is we read that Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and also Lazarus. A few verses later, after Jesus sees the family and other mourners weeping over Lazarus' death, we see the famous verse: "Jesus wept." He then proceeds to the tomb, asks for the stone to be rolled aways, and calls out: "Lazarus, come forth!"

Remembering that Lazarus had been in the grave four days already, and that Christ could have come sooner, but chose not to, it is not readily apparent to his family or others (maybe not even to us) what the purpose of all this could be.

However, overarching the entire scene is Christ's teaching that not only is Lazarus' illness "not unto death," but hints that future events surrounding this will occur "for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby."

Reflecting on the sometimes unfathomable occurrences in my own life, and knowing of Christ's infinite love for me personally, that particular teaching often makes me ponder just how many of my challenges are "not unto death" like I think they are, but in fact are solely so that the Son of God may be glorified. That is, if I will be more faithful, more humble, and more willing to let Him work his miracles in my life as He did in Lazarus'.

Merry Christmas

Soon the bells will start...

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here. I got the first strands of lights up on the house last weekend (the eaves, the garage and the windows and door), then they failed, then I fixed them. Later in the week I got the tree up in the yard, and today I added a couple of new items: rope lights on the sidewalk that I bought at an after Christmas sale for 2 bucks last year, and some old white drape lights I picked up somewhere. Basically,it's my standard plan with a little embellishment.

Mom bought a really nice tree a couple of weeks ago and we put put it up and decorated it last Monday (with popcorn and cranberries of course). Now all we need is to get out of school and have fun with David and Kimberly.

A Mad Dash, and Home Again Quickly

We had planned on leaving for Utah Tuesday to be with nearly the whole family for Thanksgiving, but the weather was quickly turning bad, so we packed up fast and got out of town Monday just after noon. We expected I-80 over Donner Summit to have chain at least part of the way, but we lucked out and never had to put them on at all. There were some pretty snow scenes along the way, but traffic VERY slow due to the prior chain control.

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We made a planned overnight stop in Winnemucca, hoping to get on the road again before the approaching storms from the West. No such luck. Just after we got up the next morning it started snowing heavily. But by the time we were ready to go it had let up and we decided to take our chances on the road. It wasn't too bad really - even in Mom's little KIA (the Jeep was in the shop getting a fuel line leak taken care of) and we only put chains on once, but otherwise did well. The video below pretty much describes the trip.

Chris and Lorna opened up their house to everyone and we eventually had 8 adults (yes, counting me) and 6 children, ages 6 and under (4 of them under 2). The food was great, the atmosphere lively, and the company entertaining. Below are some of the scenes we enjoyed:

The Master Chefs at Work...........................................with a little help from their friends
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Family gathered around the table doing what else?;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;Lorna was fabulous at providing the food
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Some beautiful (VERY cold) scenes from a late afternoon trip to the park - preserving sanity for both young and old

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More beautiful scenes...;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;of more beautiful people
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And finally, 2 short videos of Trevor & Michelle's kids. It's not like they're not cute or anything. . . Lizzie and Jane

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It was a good trip, but cut a bit short when we saw that snow was predicted all across Nevada for our planned trip home on Saturday. So we once again packed up quickly and dashed off home Friday about noon. It was good to have Saturday to recuperate, even though the weather was miserable here in YC too.

This may be the last post you see from me for a couple weeks. I have tons of work to catch up on (from being away all last week), the house Christmas lights to get up, my band's Christmas Concert Thursday night, and a whole weeks worth of meetings and interviews the week after that. Then I can get serious about preparing for and enjoying the Christmas holiday. Until then, Christmas tunes on the radio and iPod will be my only respite.

Miserable Day for a Run

Today was the 3rd annual Turkey Trot for Hands of Hope. This is an organization that assists homeless children who are enrolled in local schools districts. I know most of the people who started it and they're all good people. I like to support their efforts.

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At the same time, I don't particularly like running, and I hate rain and cold. Today was miserable with all three. So why did I do it? In part to support a worthy cause, and in part just because it presented something hard to do - and I think it's important to do hard things. Well, okay, there's the free pancakes and sausage afterward too. (hey, food is important)

This video clip is of runners at the starting line trying to keep warm. If things had started on time we would have missed nearly all the hard rain. As it was, it started to really come down just as we got ready for the starting gun. I thought things were going pretty well - until I turned into the driving rain near the half-way point. This was one of the few times I never got warm while running. Kept my hat, ear socks, and gloves on, and my jacket zipped all the way up for the whole race. Brrrr!

That's a Crock (-er Art Museum)

So Mom and I spent some of our off day throwing money at the beneficiaries of one of the Big Four (railroad barons Stanford, Huntington. Hopkins, and Crocker). I've always loved going to this pace - mostly beacuse of the beautiful wood throughout the grand old home that housed the gallery. It's interesting parket floor, huge mirrors, and marvelous ballroom (with a balcony) are just fun to be it. Nowadays the art museum is vastly expanded and most of the art is not displayed in the house. (Too bad)

Below are a couple of examples of contemporary exhibits that caught my eye. The first is "Moon Pie." The lower one is a genre I always gravitate to. Huge heads carved out of stone - looking at you. There's just something appealing about that to me.

Get it?

Afterward we walked over to Old Sac and shared a Capital City waffle cone with hot fudge, whipped cream an a cherry on top. Don't worry, it didn't spoil our appetites as we went from there to IKEA and ate an äkte (real) Swedish meal of meatballs, mash potatoes and lingon berry jam. Then we waddled around the store looking and buying, buying and looking.

I bought some odds and ends of Swedish food to share with Elder Per Malm (newly sustained to the 1st Quorum of Seventy, and someone I knew well when I served in Sweden). He will be here Monday on a mission tour and I'll have the chance to eat lunch with him.

Highdee-Ho neigbors

Glinda, Elphie and the Crew

I hate to post photos that others have or might post on their own blogs, but these were just too good not to share. For Halloween Pam is the good witch and Kim the bad.

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From right to left, Lucy (as Dorothy), Grant (as the dark Spiderman), and Molly (as the hammered little furry animal). What a group.

THE GIANTS WIN THE SERIES!

Mom and I watched game 5 of the World Series last night for FHE. It's been an unexpected pleasure for me to see the Giants do so well this year. I remember following the A's as a youth and watching their great teams of the mid-70's. But ever since I moved back here in 1981, I've been a die-hard Giants fan - most years with little so show for it.

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My good friend Stan Richins was at last Thursday's Game 2 at Pac-Bell Park and picked up these souvenirs for me. The orange rally towel and the placard that became the rallying cry for all Giants fans this year, as the bull pen grew beards in support of one another.

From 4th place, 6.5 games out half way through August, to world champions. First time in 56 years - and first time ever since moving to Sn Francisco. What a ride.

This would be a fun (but expensive) Christmas present.

I didn't get around to snapping any photos of the Halloween scene I created for our front door this year (a scary jack-o-lantern, a spook that rises and haunts, and as I open the door the Trick-or-Treaters are met by a huge skeleton in a black cape offering them candy - more than one very young child got a fright), but I did get Melody to take a few pics of my buffalo robe. Courtesy of a very generous donor.

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And yes, it has a very "musk-y" smell to it.
But I'll tell you this, I wouldn't want to be without it in a snowstorm.

Spectacular photo

Some of you have probably seen this photo of the Oquirrh Mountain Temple with wide
fires burning in the background. Someone noted that it made them think of Hymn #2.

Actually, for me the words of another song came to mind. From The Sound of Music. "The hills are alive...."

I know, I have strange thoughts in my head. You're just lucky I don't share ALL of the them.

Thoughts on the passing scene...

I've still been very busy for the past two weeks, but things seem to be lightening up now. I've been able to get through most of the instrument repair work, Melody is starting to feel better, and stake conference is over.

Conference was wonderful. I don't know how it happens, but every speaker was great. The music was probably the best we've ever had, and added so much to the meetings. I have a couple of great men for counselors, and it is a pleasure to listen to them preach in these meetings.

I have a performance this week with my top bands. There is a student delegation visiting from our Sister City, Toride, Japan and we will be there to welcome them. We generally play for a half an hour, then play both US and Japan's national anthems during a short ceremony. It's fun, but takes a lot of work to set up and make happen.

Yesterday and today have been quite rainy. Downright stormy today with lots of wind and plenty of water. Tomorrow will be more of the same. Guess it's that time of year. I miss the warmth of summer already.

One final thing. My good friend Cliff Johnson is always giving me things (mostly because his wife is helping him get rid of stuff that she doesn't really think he needs to keep anymore - they're moving soon). This last week he gave me his buffalo robe outfit. He got it from an old Indian who used it in Hollywood films. It consists of a headdress (complete with horns) and a very heavy coat with tail. It smells pretty strong right now, but I'm airing it out and look forward to wearing it to some big scout function someday. Anyone who comes to visit is welcome to try it on!

Maybe I'll post a photo of it soon.

Word

Words on the T-shirt a geocaching friend gave me for my B-Day.

Very funny.

The rest of the day has gone pretty well too. Pam's family left this morning, Chris' family arrives tomorrow. I still feel like I'm 4 days behind on all my To-Do list jobs, but tonight Mom & ate In-N-Out Burgers and watched the Giants win the NLDS. A good end to the day.

It's a Beautiful Day at the Pumpkin Farm

We took Grant, Lucy and Molly to the Pumpkin Farm today (okay, Pam & Rom came too). It was a great day. We've never been there before on a Saturday, mostly because it costs money to park on Saturdays, but it wasn't too crowded and there were LOTS of things going on!

Since it was the closest thing to a State or County Fair, we ate lots of fun food: huge cinnamon rolls, roasted corn on the cob, caramel apples, apple cider, pumpkin muffins. Yummm!

Here's a few shots of the kids - and the train ride.

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The Fishers on the Pumpkin Train

Nice ambiance, but the service is terrible!

Our stake is part of a new Church program that teams 8 stakes together to maintain and improve a single Girls Camp property. This is being done thorughout Northern California. We have been working with some stakes in the Sacramento area to improve a place called Camp Bountiful - not too far from Malakof Diggins Stake Park east of Nevada City. Recently (under the direction of Barrow's Landscaping) we installed a large lawn area.

Two weeks later this bear wandered in to camp and took a seat at one of the tables. He looks ready to eat - but eat what? Fortunately, the camp closes for the year in a couple of weeks.

Pam and the kids are here. More on that as we take pictures and videos.

Another Week, Another Nickle

Not much to report this week. Mom is still trying to work through her illness. It will be with her for a while yet. She is able to get to work every day and yesterday she went to stake choir practice, so we're hoping for a good week.

It's still very busy for me at school and at Church, but I'm also hoping for a good (not so heavy) week.

What we're both really excited about is that in the next three weeks we will get to see first, Pam and Rob's family and next, Chris and Lorna's family. Woohoo!

Update upon Update

It's been a busy couple of weeks. Mom is still not doing too well, though the medications from the doctor are starting to provide some relief. She hopes to be able to be strong enough to return to work Monday the 20th. Which brings up another issue: The school district expanded Mel's part time Health Aid job at Butte Vista K-8 School from 3 hours to 6. She's not too excited about working twice the number of hours, but the school wanted her for the job (of course they interviewed others, but chose her). Anyway, the longer days start next week. We hope for the best.

For my part, I have over 100 students at one school and nearly 70 at the other. Combined, they are really some very good musicians. Of the 170 or so total, roughly 70 of them are first time students (hoo boy, beginners). I'm having fun - but it sure has been hectic getting things going this year.

To make things even more interesting, the little bit of musical instrument repair work I've been doing the past couple of years to help out local music teachers has started to boom. Now teachers from other districts are bringing stuff to me, as well as string instrument teachers bringing in violins, bows to re-hair, etc.

I really hadn't wanted anywhere near this much work. But how does one extricate himself from something like this?

Thank goodness for a day off today. I'm going to go ride my bike. . .

All about Emmett

Actually, this is more stealing from my kids' blogs and posting it on mine. I'm only about seven months behind in posting anything about my newest grandson, Emmett Daniel Hall. Chris and Lorna are the first to have produced what I've always wanted: a red-headed child.

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He is the cutest kid in the world! He has the natural good looks found in the other members of his family (Chris, Lorna, Kayla and Ian - not grandpa). While he may not have his grandpa's looks, it's clear he has the same incredibly high level of intelligence. . . Here he's gettin' ready to roll (well, crawl).

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