Halgren Heartbeat

Monday, February 20, 2012

Blessing of Paige Halgren

~ Blessing Day for Paige Halgren ~

We all went down for the blessing of our new granddaughter Paige. Kirk, Kallie, Kyndal and Lindsey went home before we took this picture....we are glad they came but sad we missed out on getting them in the picture. It was great to have everyone there for the blessing though! Michelle came with us too.

Grandma Tracey gets to hold and feed baby Paige her bottle...
what all grandma's love to do!

Then it was Grandpa Mark's turn to hold baby Paige....

what a sweet baby she is!

We had Stake Conference this weekend and Mark had a meeting he had to be to Saturday night so we weren't able to come down until Sunday morning. We haven't had snow at all month but it decided to snow that night right before we had to leave. We got a few inches and the roads were extremely icy. We were glad that it was a little colder that morning plus it has snowed a little bit more so the roads weren't as icy as they were Saturday night. But especially glad Mark is such an excellent driver as we headed on down to Rexburg through the canyon. What a wonderful day being with family and seeing our son, Zach bless his little girl. He did an excellent job. So glad we didn't miss it! We are so blessed with such wonderful children, daughter-in-laws and granddaughters!

Fairmont Getaway

Dad and I got away in January to Fairmont Hot Springs. Dad had a Principal's Conference there and I decided to tag along for a few days. It was so wonderful to relax for a few days and enjoy the hot pools. I got to enjoy them more than Dad did since he was at meeting during the day....but I loved it!

One thing we regret is that we didn't take any pictures of us swimming. The first night was so cold and the wind was so frigid that we just swam in the inside pool. The second time we went outside and enjoyed the warm water in the afternoon but forgot our camera. We were going to come back later and slide down the waterslide but went to a movie in town after dinner instead. I would have loved to have seen dad go down the waterslide...so bummed! We had a great time together!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Merry Christmas - 2011

Here we are pausing to pose in front of our tree...twenty-seven years of marriage and counting. It's been a year filled with blessings and challenges. We added a new daughter-in-law (Breks' wife, Kara) and a cute little grand-daughter (Kirk and Kallie's ~ Kyndal Reece Halgren born on August 15). We just love being grandparents! This year we enjoyed doing things with our family, and the opportunity to have K3 (Kirk, Kallie, Kyndal) live with us. We are so blessed by our knowledge of the Plan of Salvation and the assurance of the love our Savior, Jesus Christ. We enjoyed having an apostle, D Todd Christofferson, at our stake conference.

Mark felt left out that everyone was going to college so he finished his superintendent's endorsement, mainly to open up some retirement options in the future. He's not a fan of on-line classes but learned alot in his summer classes. So with work, school, and his church calling he has been very busy. Tracey was just released as the Activity Day Leader and called for a brief stint in the Stake Primary Presidency but was released when Mark was called to be Bishop. Yes, she's still delivering papers at 4 a.m. along with working at the school full time and coaching volleyball. We finished some home improvement projects this fall since we weren't chasing Lindsey's games like we did last school year. She graduated from High School in June.

Lindsey is still nursing a sore elbow from track and is attending the UM in Missoula while Kirk attends MSU here in Bozeman ~ Cat/Griz rivalry. Zach and Jess, Brek and Kara have been going to college at BYU-I in Iceburg...Rexburg. Jake continues to be a great example as an emissary of Christ to the fine people of Curitiba Brazil. We look forward to his weekly reports and yearn for his return in July of this year. Our other anticipated events in 2012 include Brek's assignment and Basic Training in the Air Force, the arrival of Zach & Jessica's baby girl (Paige), and always the opportunity to be together with family and friends.

Have a blessed 2012!

Bishop Mark Halgren

When Jake fell off the plank leading to the dock when he was little for the second time in one visit he yelled out, "Not again!" That's been our family's cry whenever there's a recurrent event (like torn ACL's) that we weren't anticipating. That was my initial reaction when I was called to be the Bishop of the Belgrade 2nd Ward. I thought that my service as the University Ward Bishop (2000-2003) had earned me a Get-out-of -jail-free card but I was assured by the Stake President that it didn't work that way. My only consolation is that "whom God calls, God qualifies" because I'm definitely overwhelmed by the challenges and breadth of responsibilities. I was sustained and set apart on December 11---just in time to jump right in to tithing settlement.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Brian Regan

Comic - Brian Regan

Mark got us tickets to see Comedian Brian Regan

up at Montana State University.

Not very good pictures even though we were in the

second row ~ close to the middle of the stage.

What a blast to go see Brian regan live at the Brick!

Kyndal volunteered to go to Aunt Alison's so Kirk and Kallie could go with us too. Brian's brother, Dennis, was the warm-up comedian and he was almost as funny as Brian, although he had a deadpan style. He said that he knew he was pretty far north when the mexican food place was called Taco Johns.

Brian was a total maniac. We laughed so hard that we ached. He is truly the king of hyperbole and a blast to watch. We may just have to ask Santa for the DVD's.

We are a little disconcerted that so many of our friends and coworkers don't know who Brian is. We have been spreading the word with evangelical zeal. Hey, take luck!