Young Writers

Brynn and Mason come from a long line of writers. My Grandma Hale was a gifted writer and poet. She passed her love for writing down to my Dad who has written two books that were published (and several that weren't) and wrote columns for the Daily Herald for many years. I can't claim to be half as talented as that, but I have always enjoyed expressing myself through writing. I can still remember being in first grade where we had a writing bag that was passed from student to student each week. Inside the bag were materials such as cardstock, paper, markers, stencils, stickers, a stapler, etc. to write and illustrate your own story. When you brought your completed story back to school you got to share it with the class. I wrote the story _______________ and was sure it was the greatest book of all time. In 2nd and 3rd grade I was selected to be one of only a few students from the school to attend a young writers conference at BYU where we participated in workshops and activites to learn more about the writing process and also got to meet and listen to different authors and illustrators. I really enjoyed it and it stands out in my mind as a time when I was told I was a gifted writer and it helped me become more confident in myself and my abilities. For most of Elementary school I aspired to be an author when I grew up. Does being an author of 500 posts on a private blog count as reaching that goal? Probably not. In Junior High I continued to enjoy writing and was able to apply for and be accepted onto the Newspaper and Yearbook staff for my 9th grade year at Canyon View Junior High.
Seeing how these early life experiences shaped my love for writing, it brings me great joy to see my children's love to write grow.

Mason has always dreamed of writing a book that is published by Scholastic (he doesn't want it to be published by some no name publisher he's never heard of). He has started writing several stories, but unfortunately doesn't quite have the attention span to get past the first chapter. That first chapter always contains some great writing, though. He has filled up quite a few notebooks with his own version of graphic novels like Big Nate and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He currently talks frequently about becoming an author after he retires from the NFL, just like one of his favorite authors, Tim Green.

Brynn loves to write. And write, and write, and write. Last year, in first grade, she filled an entire 2 inch binder with all the journal writing and stories she did in class. At the end of the year she took all her stories and made her own little library, complete with Library cards for each person in our family so we could check out her books whenever we wanted to.

This year we encouraged each of them to enter a story into the school's Reflections contest. The theme was "What is your story?" Mason wrote about his dream of playing for the Eagles and winning the Super Bowl. He creatively wrote it in the voice of a commentator doing a play by play of the game. Brynn wanted to write a story about a girl in second grade in the voice of her writing in her diary each day. They both won awards of excellence in Literature which means they were in the school's top 5 and advanced onto city. We are so proud of them and their hard work. I hope that this will be one of the little experiences in their life where they felt successful and it will help their confidence grow and they will continue to have a desire write.

 Super Bowl 51

By Mason Murray

Welcome to Super bowl 51! If you’re just joining us, it has been a tremendous game between the Eagles and the Patriots! The Patriots lead 55 to 51 after star tight end Rob Gronkowski scored on a 40 yard touchdown pass. The Patriots line up to kick off and it’s a booming kick downfield. Darren Sproles muffs the kick! The Eagles pick it up and are tackled at their own 1 yard line. The clock stops with 1:00 left in the game.

Eagles’ quarterback, Carson Wentz, trots onto the field. Wentz takes the snap. He is under heavy pressure, and is scrambling around in the end zone. He breaks a tackle avoiding a safety. Wentz spots star wide receiver, Mason Murray, open at the Eagles’ 35. Murray makes an amazing diving catch and it is first down and ten to go at the Eagles’ 35.

The Eagles’ offense runs to the line. Wentz spikes the ball to stop the clock with 40 seconds left in the game. With the play clock ticking down the Eagles huddle up and Wentz looks to the sideline to get the play call from the coach.  The offense sets up with 5 seconds left on the play clock. Wentz quickly takes the snap and hands it off to Darren Sproles. Sproles tries to run up the middle but only gets a 3 yard gain. The Eagles spend their last timeout with 21 seconds left on the clock.  Head coach, Doug Peterson, talks to the offense and they hurry back out onto the field. It’s third down and 7 to go.

 If the Eagles do not get this first down they will have to try to convert on 4^th down. Wentz takes the snap, and spots Mason Murray at midfield. Murray makes the catch and is tackled at midfield. There is 9 seconds left and the Eagles hurry to the line and spike the ball with 3 seconds left. They have time to run only one more play. They are down by 4 so kicking a field goal is not an option, they must go for a touchdown. Wentz takes the snap and throws it towards Mason Murray in the end zone . But the defender is all over him! The defender pins down Murray’s right arm, which is an obvious pass interference.  Murray leaps out with his left arm, and it is caught!!!! A one handed catch by Mason Murray! An exact replica of Odell Beckham Jr’s one handed catch! The Philadelphia Eagles are world champions, and have won their first super bowl! The MVP (Most Valuable Player), Mason Murray comes up with a one handed catch to win the super bowl for the Eagles! Thank you for watching Super Bowl 51! We will be back in a moment for the trophy presentation!    

My First Day of School

By: Brynn Murray

Chapter 1

Hi! My name is Ellie. I am 7 years old. This is a story that is about my first day in second grade. Tomorrow is my first day going to my new school. The school is called Foothill Elementary. My teacher’s name is Mrs. Murray. She seems like a really, really nice teacher. I have not met her yet. I just have a feeling that she will be nice to everyone in the class. I have about one or two people in the school I know. Elizabeth is in my class. Emma is in third grade. I do not get to see Emma a lot at school and you know why. I have to go to sleep now. It is getting late out here. See you tomorrow. Bye!

Chapter 2

Hi! I’m back. I just woke up at 6:00 in the morning. I woke up so early in the morning because I was so so so excited for school! I already have my clothes set up! I know I am going to have a great school year. I already have plans set up with my friends on where to meet before and after school today. I am going early to meet my friends at the park. I am kind of scared for my first day at school. I am just so so so excited for school today! See you later. Bye!

Chapter 3

Hi! I am back. I just got home from school. At school I had so much fun! I will tell you about my day right after I take off my backpack. It is so heavy.  So, at school today I got introduced. I got to say my name and tell some things about myself. It was so fun! And I met some new friends at school. Their names are Elizabeth, Madyson, Mady, Isabella, Bell, Bella, Rosy, and that is all the friends I met today. The good news is that we all sit by each other in class. That is how we met.  

At school we have two recesses. We made up a game at recess. The game is called run from the puppies. It is where there are cats and dogs. The cats run from the dogs. If you get tagged by a dog you become a dog. Once everyone is a dog the game is over. It is very fun in action. I love school so far, but I still have more to tell you so let’s get on with it. So, I have a lot of fun in my first year in a new school. The next thing I did was go to lunch. In my lunch I got a sandwich and chips and a juice box. I love juice boxes.  I just wanted to tell you about my school day. Bye!   

BeUTAHful Fall

Being back in Utah this fall and being able to watch as all the trees on my beloved mountains changed colors was wonderful. One afternoon on our way home from preschool Miles looked at the mountains and noticed they were turning yellow, orange, and even red. He got very excited and asked if we could go on a field trip to the mountains to find some red leaves. This sounded like a wonderful plan to me so we headed up Provo Canyon to South Fork for a little nature walk to collect leaves. Miles was so excited to be hiking on the mountain as he collected different colors and shapes of leaves. It was a pretty perfect day with my little boys.

I was excited to take the whole family on a drive of Alpine Loop to enjoy all the fall colors. Because of Scott's work travel we had to wait a couple of weeks before we could go. Brynn prepared activity binders for all of the kids with scavenger hunts and all sorts of nature activites for them to do along the way. We are all set and excitedly took off up the canyon only to find out we were a week too late and all the leaves had already fallen. Oops! Fall fail. But we still went for a stroll around Cascade Springs and got to see a moose from afar and a "rat-a-coon", as Brynn adorably calls them.

While we may have missed the leaves in the mountains, we moved into our new house just in time to enjoy all the falling leaves in our new yard.

So grateful for a beUTAHful fall.

Halloween

I gave up trying to do a coordinated family theme years ago, but this year after all the kids had picked their costumes I realized that with a small stretch of the imgination we could pass as having a family theme. 

Presenting ... Team Murray:

Carson Wentz, the game ball, the cheerleader, and the mascot Bumblebee.

Mason knew he wanted to be a football player for Halloween months ago. Once he decided to be his favorite player, Carson Wentz, then he started planning (obsessing over) every last detail of his costume to make sure he was an exact replica. Because if he didn't have just one black sleeve then no one would even know who he was. It all came together and Mason was thrilled with the finished product - which is truly saying something.

 Brynn saw this BYU cheerleading outfit and immediately knew that's what she wanted to be for Halloween. When we were only able to find a single pom pom in our costume box she insisted it was just fine because she would need a hand to carry her treat bucket anyway. I ended up buying her new pom poms anyway and you would have thought it was Christmas morning with all the gratitude she expressed. Brynn is so easy going about her costume each year. It is very refreshing.

Miles decided pretty much the day after being Optimus Prime for Halloween last year, that he was going to be Bumblebee this year and he has stuck with it. Originally we borrowed our cousin's old bumblebee costume for him to wear, but after he wore it for 3 days straight, I decided it would be worth getting him his own to have in our dress ups. Once again, you would have thought I gave him the moon by his reaction. He wanted to make sure I took a picture with his mask up so we would know who it was. 

 We had ourselves a very grumpy game ball who was later diagnosed with a double ear infection, so we'll cut him some slack for not smiling in any pictures. It was actually Mason's idea for Ryan to be a football so he would match his costume. I thought they turned out pretty cute together. 

I think we have officially discarded our old tradition of carving our pumpkins to match our costumes and that is just fine by me. Grandpa showed Miles a picture of a Jack-o-lantern and Miles wanted his pumpkin to look just like that. He teamed up with Grandpa, but after a single look at the guts inside the pumpkin Miles declared he was going to throw up and ran off and played while Grandpa did all the work. Brynn wanted to create her own design and created what is very possibly my favorite pumpkin face ever and I helped her carve it out. Mason searched and searched and searched to find the perfect (aka most complex) design. After settling on an intricate dragon he paced around the table while Scott carved and had more than one blow up when Scott "ruined his pumpkin" several times by not cutting perfectly. While we were dealing with that fun, Brynn and Miles helped Ryan out by coloring his pumpkin for him. Probably my favorite thing of all about our pumpkins this year is that when we went to pick out pumpkins the kids all insisted we needed to get a white pumpkin for our angel Ellie. This will definitely be a new tradition for us.

The Sunday before Halloween Grandma hosted her traditional Halloween party. This was the first time in all the years she has done it that all of her grandchildren were there. It made for a very exciting Spider Web this year. 

It must be documented how much progress Brynn has made conquering some of her fears. As we went around trick or treating with the Glahns I was reminded how last year Brynn would stay back on the sidewalk while the other kids went to the door until she could tell if there was dog in the house or not. If there was a dog she would skip getting a treat at that house, it wasn't worth it to her. This year she ran right up to every door and we only had a couple times when a yappy dog startled her but even then she handled it really well. She even went to "the Scary Werewolf house" that the Glahn's took us to and handled it so well.

Mason ditched us to go trick-or-treating with his best buddy Maddox and had a blast.

 Another great Halloween is in the books.

(un)photogenic

I know I may be biased, but Scott and I have some pretty cute kiddos. Unfortunately, pictures don't always capture their true cuteness very well.  We aren't exactly what one would call a photogenic family, and Ryan might just be the least photogenic of us all. Now don't get me wrong, Ryan is one stinkin' cute baby! Scott would argue he is our cutest baby (that wouldn't have anything to do with the fact that he looks 100% like a Murray baby), but trying to get a decent picture of him lately is nearly impossible. Because of the difficulty I was having getting a good picture of Ryan, I decided it was time to turn to the professionals and I took him into a photo studio to get some basic 4-month pictures just like I had for my other kids. I guess I underestimated the severity of this un-photogenic baby because the whole photo session was completely AWFUL! Ryan wouldn't hold still, wouldn't keep his hands out of his face, and would only flash a smile for 0.01 seconds. I felt so bad for the poor photographer. The photo shoot seemed endless and only got worse as time went on, but she couldn't really wrap it up because we literally had not gotten a single shot that was even half decent. Finally I called it quits. These two pictures were the best that we got. Looking back now I kind of love them because they perfectly captured my uncooperative and un-photogenic baby who is just too cute for cameras to capture.

The good news is there is hope for Ryan. As I mentioned before, all of my kids have had their fair share of awkward pictures taken. None of them more than Mason. This week, however, I got the big kids' school pictures back and was blown away at how great they all turned out. Especially Mason's! He is such a handsome kid and this picture captures his great smile perfectly.

Whether the pictures show it or not, I think we have four of the cutest kids around.

All-together Playground

In 2014, right around the time Ellie passed away, Orem City approved the building of an "All-Together Playground". This is an all accessible playground designed to allow children with special needs to play alongside their peers. The city approved $150,000 to put toward the $1 million project. It was then up to the community to come up with the remaining $850,000 to make this park a reality. I have watched from a distance in Omaha over the last two years as our home community has come together to make this park a reality. There have been fundraising events including an all-together triathlon with the Iron Cowboy, Jimmer Fredette put on an all-together shootout, and a belly-flop contest just to name a few. There were also countless private donations like famous stand up comedian Brian Regan who donated all the proceeds from one of his shows in Salt Lake which donated the $10,000 wheelchair swing for the playground. People in the community could donate money to have their name put on a fence picket that surrounds the park or put a business logo on a paver. Our family decided to use Ellie's Christmas money last year to purchase three fence pickets. We chose to put Ellie Jane Murray, The Murray Family, and The Hale Family on the pickets. My parents also wanted to donate a paver and chose to put the Friends of 4p+ logo on it.
The final step was building the playground. This was to be done over a week's time with the help of 3,800 volunteers led by a team of professionals that were donating their time and services. We felt so fortunate to be back in Utah and be able to participate in this huge effort. Scott, Mason and I (you had to be 9 or older to help) spent our Labor Day doing a 4 hour shift at the playground. Our assignment was to help measure, mark, and drill holes in a whole lot of boards and carry them around the playground to where they needed to go. It was such an incredible experience to be a part of.

This weekend was the grand opening of the playground and we went to check it out. Let's just say it is going to be a very popular place!! It was amazing to see the love and acceptance that overflowed there as children and parents of all different abilities played side by side without giving a second glance at each other's differences. This playground is a light in our world that is so full of hate and intolerance.

Ellie's picket is perfectly placed right by the swings.

Ellie would have loved this swing!

My thoughts while we played on the playground naturally turned to Ellie and how much she would have loved it there. Swinging was one of her favorite things to do and always got her smiling and laughing. There is a very good chance that 3-year-old Ellie would be using a walker or wheelchair to get around and this park would have allowed her to play and explore with her brothers and sister. I'm sure it would have been a favorite place for our family to bring her.

Gifts from the Heart

“When a child gives you a gift, even if it is a rock they just picked up, exude gratitude. It may be the only thing they have to give, and they have chosen to give it to you." - Dean Jackson

I saw this quote the other day and it reminds me so much of Miles. Miles is always bringing me little gifts that may not seem like much, but they are so genuinely from his heart they might as well be solid gold to me.
A classic example was last spring when Scott took the kids to a movie night at their school. I had worked the night before and hadn't slept so I opted to stay home for an early bedtime while he took them to the movie. When they got home Miles came into my room and gave me about 1/4 inch of a piece of his licorice that he had saved to give me. He was so sincere and sweet as he gave it to me. Scott later told me that as they were walking out to the car Miles had tripped and fallen in the street. Scott picked him up quickly and crossed the street since a car was coming. Miles was extremely upset as Scott put him in the car. Through his tears was finally able to explain that he had dropped the piece of licorice he had been saving for me. He wouldn't leave until Scott had gone back and retrieved the tiny little piece from the road. 

Another experience along same lines happened a few months later when everyone went to the College World Series while I stayed home with Ryan. When they walked in the door I recieved another special treat from Miles. He had gotten a bag of cotton candy during the game and before it was gone he took a piece to save for me. He rolled this piece of cotton candy in his hands the rest of the game and the whole ride home. When he walked in the door he proudly presented me with a small, hard, rolled up ball of cotton candy. He was so excited to give it to me that I was half tempted to eat it right then and there, but the other half of me won out and I waited until he wasn't looking and pretended to eat it but really threw it away.
Since then there have been countless times when Miles has come up with some simple but sweet surprises for me. Just today Miles came running in the door from preschool announcing he had a surprise for me. He pulled out from behind his back a heart shaped leaf. He told me he found it on the ground and picked it up for me because he loves me so much.
Oh how I love this sweet boy.

My Ellie Place

Moving back to Utah brings with it a lot of positive things, but at the top of that list is finally living close to Ellie's grave and being able to visit whenever we would like. There was never a moment's doubt that we wanted Ellie buried at home in Utah. However, burying my child and then leaving her behind when we returned to Omaha was extremely hard to do. Even though I know that she is not really there and I am just as close to Ellie's spirit in Omaha as at her grave site in Utah, I needed a physical place that I could go. It didn't take me long to find the place that would become my Ellie place in Omaha.
The Winter Quarters Temple that is located in Omaha was built adjacent to The Mormon Pioneer Cemetery, where some of the hundreds of pioneers that died from illness, hunger, and exposure while at winter quarters were buried. In the cemetery there is a monument with a statue of a mother and father burying an infant in a shallow grave. I felt such a connection with this statue - but more importantly with my ancestors whose lives it depicted. My patriarchal blessing instructs me to "let your heart turn to your forefathers... your life will be enriched by the love that will be extended to you from your forebearers in this life and throughout eternity." It was part of my blessing I hadn't paid much attention to before but stood out to me as an answer to my prayers as I was searching for direction after Ellie's death. I felt so incredibly alone as I faced the grief of losing a child. It's not something that very many people can relate to in this day in age. But as I began reading stories of my ancestors and getting to know them better I felt their empathy and love from the other side of the veil in a way I never had before. So many of them had experienced so much loss and heartache during their lives. My own namesake, Rachel Hale Hoagland, at the age of 17 her Father, Mother, and two little sisters all suddenly died within a weeks time right there in Winter Quarters. They were buried in Council Bluffs, Iowa in an unmarked grave. Rachel had been left to care for her three brothers and get them across the plains to Salt Lake City. She knew what it was like to bury someone you love and leave them behind. This was just one of the many stories that My Ellie Place represented for me.
My love for this place grew deeper when in Stake Conference just a month after Ellie's death a general authority spoke about the sacredness of this cemetery. I honestly cannot remember all the details of what he said, but I remember how touched I was as I felt he was delivering a message straight to me as he spoke. I do remember he talked about how when the Winter Quarters temple was dedicated, the cemetery was dedicated as part of the temple grounds. He spoke about how the spirit of the temple existed on these grounds and served as the perfect reminder of the sacred ordinances that binds our families together for eternity. That is exactly how I feel whenever I step foot in this beautiful and sacred place.

In the weeks and months after Ellie's death I had communication with several people who had experienced loosing a young child or sibling. All of them expressed that the times when their family had felt the greatest presence and influence of their loved one was when engaged in missionary work. This really resonated with me and helped me realize that Ellie was now a missionary in the spirit world. I felt a very deep desire to help her by doing all the work I could on this side of the veil to help and support her on her mission. I was determined to dive into our family history. As I began reading and learning all that I could about my family lines I was filled with comfort. I have expressed before the anxiety I felt after Ellie died feeling like she was all alone. There was not a single person she knew who was with her. As I read about and got to know my ancestors better I knew without a doubt that Ellie was with them. One particularly sweet experience I had was while reading about my Grandpa Allred's mom, Anna Elizabeth Accord, who I received my middle name after. As I read about this amazing woman who children gravitated to and who cared for and loved them all, I felt an embrace of love surround me as if she was right there with me and I had a clear understanding that Ellie was with her and she loved her very very much. From that moment on I have not had an ounce of worry about who Ellie is with.

As hard as it was being away from Ellie's spot back in Utah, I am grateful for my Ellie place in Omaha and the relationship I have been able to develop with my pioneer ancestors who sacrificed so much so that I could be raised in the gospel and sealed to my family for all eternity.