It’s true.
I’m lucky.
I get to see Jason everywhere.

Thanks for coming to Yosemite, Sequoia and King’s Canyon with us, babe.
You nailed those hikes.

Finding light and peace in this incredible place.
Yosemite National Park – where the valley looks like a painting, you can ride bikes surrounded by trees that reach to the sky…

…and climbing to the top of the world actually happens.

Many of you have been asking about Jason’s obituary. It can be found online at Lindquist Mortuary.

I hope you enjoy remembering with us.

Thank you.

Thank you for being his people.
Thank you for loving him and recognizing that his greatest goal in life was to give and live with hope, gratitude, humor, great purpose, hard work and never-ending perseverance.

Jason was a fan. He was passionate about many things.
In lieu of flowers, I thought it would be fitting if we helped Jason to continue his great mission to help youth achieve their dreams.

We have two options for you to donate if you wish. The first is for our local youth lacrosse program.
He was an incredible coach and advocate, who taught each young player to become something – not just practice lacrosse skills.
He wanted everyone to play and tried recruiting you if you were the right age!
A memorial fund has been set up to provide for those who may not otherwise have the means to play LAX to the MAX here in Syracuse.
The following link will give you the chance to help Jason grow these young people as they play a game that he and Coleman shared:
https://www.syracuselacrosse.org/

Jason bled blue – he loved BYU and was the student body president the year we were married. We met through the BYU Student Leadership program. We have had the same season football seats since we were students – for over 30 years! We’re serious fans!
The S. Jason Hall BYU Leadership Scholarship has been set up by our dear friends who served by our side all those years ago. A link and instructions for this endowment fund is below if you wish to help Jason continue sharing his passion for BYU and youth leadership.

Online: Go to www.ldsphilanthropies.org
Click on Donate Online.In the Search box under the donation options enter “S. Jason Hall Leadership Endowed Fund” and the fund will come up in place of “Other” at the end of the donation options list. Enter the amount to donate and complete the payment information.

And a final note….
Thank you for your stories and kind words and prayers.
We love them.We feel them.We are strengthened by them.

Jason collected people.
It was one of his greatest talents and gifts.He gave Coleman that same trait (lucky kid!)
Jason’s genuine interest in the individual was evident in the questions he would ask you while waiting for an appointment or standing in line at the grocery store.
Or being there to cheer you on.Or saying just the right thing in that pivotal moment.
Or speeding along on his way to get something done.
Or telling a joke.
Or giving a speech.
Or weaving a story that had you hooked.
Or having hard days but overcoming when he shouldn’t have been able to.

He lived his life with joy. Collecting relationships and conversations and experiences with you.

Thank you for being his people.

Heartbroken.

We took this amazing picture two days ago at Coleman’s Decathlon. As of 6:38 am this morning (Friday, May 24) Jason was gone.

Eight hours earlier he was headed to the ER in an ambulance because he was struggling to breathe. It came on suddenly and has never happened before.

They couldn’t get his oxygen levels to go any higher than 50.
Finding a strong pulse was a touch and go experience as they sent him up to ICU. The incredibly diligent nurses and doctor did all they could…suctioning for what they were hoping would be more fluid on and around his lungs.
But it didn’t happen.

His low oxygen levels baffled the doctor. He still tried everything.
At 5:10 am Jason went into cardiac arrest.The room filled with staff to take turns with compressions, epinephrine, meds, IVs and anything else the pulmonary doctor called out to do.

Time ticked by. Only 15-20 minutes before brain function was affected. His heart started beating at 12 minutes.
15 minutes later he was in cardiac arrest again.
The doctor said that when he first came to the ICU he had no response in his eyes — a sign of injury to the brain.

Jason would not want this. I knew it. His mind is sharp and it’s one of his greatest assets for overcoming the limitations of his body.
I asked them to keep him alive till his parents arrived about 7 minutes later.

Then we told the doctor it was enough. They took him off the machines and called his time of death 6:12 am.

At 6:13, his heart started beating and his pulse was strong. They were still breathing for him from the bag and his oxygen was terrifyingly low.
What is this??? They were astounded to see Jason do what he does best – fight harder. Because giving up was never his option.

I laughed and said, “Typical Jason. Let’s let him have his moment.” We waited for the heart beats to stop. It took many minutes. With each beat I felt him say, “Coleman. Coleman. I love you. You can do this.” Then they stopped. About 6:30 am.
The man who ALWAYS came back…was gone.

But he is now free. Free from that neck brace. Free from that chair. Free from the constant pain. Free from struggles of a body that doesn’t give back
He can run. He can stand 6’3” tall. He is strong. He is mighty.

Finally.

The van is totaled. I’ll be honest, this lifeline to independence for Jason is a long process to recover from. But we’ll do it.

I am sore but Jason had a concussion. He was repeating the same four questions and telling the same dad joke over and over..
“I guess we’re not going to make the movie!”
Haha. Good one, Jas. Again.

I almost didn’t take him to the hospital! For real. We’re hospital veterans – no freaking out from this wife! It was just a concussion. What would they really be able to do????

Let’s just say thank goodness we went! In the ER they did CT scans and x-rays.
“He has multiple neck fractures. One is at C2.”
“Wait. What?” I said.
“His mobility is fine.” I said.
“How can his neck be broken?” I said.
I was stunned. Baffled. Shocked. I kept replaying his movement in my head. Nothing was different.

How could he have a broken neck?

7 fractures in his neck and back.
That’s what they saw after two MRIs.
A thorough, caring neurosurgeon determined he didn’t need surgery.

Miracle.

He came home with a neck and chest brace – for the next 3 months.

No driving. But since he doesn’t have a van to drive anyway, it’s a great time to get a new one, right??!!

On Tuesday we noticed that he had lost some mobility in his right wrist and arm. His wrist was “floppy.” We knew that look. We knew what it could mean for his life.

That’s when I cried.
Please no.
Please. Not that.

After more MRIs and testing, the University of Utah neurosurgeons decided that he still didn’t need surgery.

Miracle.

They are hopeful that his mobility will return.
And that will be….
a miracle.

We are back at home and moving forward.
A rental van comes on Monday and we’ve started the process to get a new one for ourselves.

He sits up in his chair each day.
Working his wrist.
Practicing moving his chair with the brace on.
Trying to stay sitting as long as possible.

Thank you for the prayers. They have created the miracles.

Next miracle needed: regain previous mobility in his wrist and arm.
We are a house of believers.
We can do this.

It’s a party.  A family party.

But not just any family party.

A party dedicated to celebrating….really celebrating….EVERYONE in our immediate family.  Here’s the thing, though.  It is a family party that will work for ANY group – youth groups, Activity Days, even co-workers.  Totally applicable – just tweak it to fit your needs.

There have been a lot of great things happening in our family recently and my sister, Kara, decided to throw a party for all of us to recognize what an awesome family we have.  We are the Coleman family and COLEMANS ROCK!  This party included our parents and our siblings’ families.  There are 6 siblings in my family and 17 grandchildren.  Everyone who could make it came to the celebration.

1.  INVITATIONS – ask everyone to send in 3-4 things about each person in their immediate family.  Some people had no problem sharing their awesomeness on their own and some people needed a family member to submit their accomplishments for them – either way is fine.  Just find 3-4 things that you can share about each person.  It was easy to email the lists to Kara before the party.  But be prepared to hound some of the people to get their lists in or to help them come up with ideas.  You can also assign food for a dinner or lunch if you choose.

2.  ACCOMPLISHMENTS – we kept it simple and just hand wrote each person’s accomplishments and talents on bright colored paper squares.  Multiple people helped write them because it took forever.  It’s ok if they’re not perfect or the same or extravagant.  Remember the purpose – to share why each person in the family ROCKS….it’s not about perfect-looking writing.

What do you think happened as people trickled in to the party that day?  Reading.  Laughing.  Talking.  Sharing.  Celebrating.  “Wow, you ran a half marathon?  I didn’t know that!  Awesome!”  “That is so exciting that you got into the Nursing Program.  You will be great!”  “Tell me about your new job.”  “Hey, did you see Mackenzie’s over there?  That’s a good one!”

Keep in mind that EVERYONE who was going to be there that night had their own accomplishments included.  My niece brought her boyfriend – we learned that he won a 4-wheeler in a milk-drinking contest.  My other niece had brought her friend with them on their family vacation from Washington.  We learned that she is #1 in her class and on track for Valedictorian next year.  What???!!!  Awesome!

3.  DINNER – we like planned pot lucks in our family so Kara planned the Mexican menu and everyone contributed something to the cause, helping to get it ready all together.

4.  PROGRAM / LESSON – Kara was brilliant in planning the lesson portion of the evening.  Very short.  Kept it light but meaningful.  Perfect.  My brother, Kyle, gave a short lesson about magnifying your talents (see below).  Jason spoke about his Grandma Hall who was a celebrator.  She liked to play the game, “Why is it Like Me?” and for each person’s birthday, they did “I Love ___________ Because….” (see below for instructions of each game).  He shared why these habits were so important for their family to do together and how amazing it is that we can share that same celebrating attitude in our family.  Colemans Rock!  We love celebrating each other!

The messages were short, taught important lessons, and were applicable to all ages in attendance.

Talents Lesson Overview:

1. Pass around clear pebbles or marbles and have everyone take one.  Discuss how each is individual just like each of us.
2. Ask everyone to think about a talent that they have and how that talent has helped someone.  Have a few people share (Kyle knew who he wanted to share in advance – people who don’t normally want the spotlight, and people of different ages – this was a really special part of the lesson when we got to hear why each person is awesome).   Ask one person in advance to choose NOT to share something about themselves when asked – this is a secret.
3. When each of the 4 people share, give them another pebble if they share their talent with us.  Take away their pebble if they choose not to share.
4. Retell the parable of the talents found in Matthew 25:14-30.
5. Each of us has been given our own talents and when we share them with others, we are given more talents.  God wants us to recognize our talents and share them with others for good.  Where can we find out what our talents are? (patriarchal blessing, work opportunities, prayer and personal revelation, others can tell us, etc.)
6. When we recognize our talents and work to develop them and share them, we are given more talents and we are happy.

“Why Is It Like Me?” Game

1. One person goes out of the room.  As a group, the other people in the room choose one item in the room that they want the person to guess.
2. The person comes back in and says, “Why is it like me?
3. Giving positive clues, the group tells them why the item is like that person.  “It is bright.”  “It shines.”  “It smells great!”  Whatever you choose – the clues being harder for older people and easier for younger ones.
4. The person guesses till they discover the item – feeling GREAT because everyone just said such nice things about them!
5. Repeat.

“I Love __________ Because….”
This family tradition has lasted through to our generation.  On your birthday or other special day, everyone goes around the table and tells why they love the birthday person.  It doesn’t matter if you are a friend visiting and you just met the birthday person for the first time that day or not – everyone tells why they love the birthday person.  We have warned many friends attending our family events to be prepared because they will not be given a pass!

This tradition does two things: 1.  It teaches everyone how to celebrate each other.  2.  It teaches YOU to accept compliments and love from others.

I believe that this is why Jason’s family is so good at recognizing each other’s talents and why they have a strong sense of self.  They have PRACTICED it their whole lives so now they are good at it.  It is an amazing quality to develop in a family.

5.  DANCE PARTY – the evening ended in a spontaneous dance party, complete with a Congo Line and singing along to the “Frozen” soundtrack, of course.

Simple.  Meaningful.  Fun.  My three favorite descriptive words for any event.  Don’t you wish you were there?

Enjoy!

Seems like a simple activity, right?  Even our simple activities need to have a plan in order to make them meaningful.  We can always make sure there is purpose in everything we do in Activity Days – not just the big events.

The Planning With a Purpose model outlines steps to plan and carry out leadership responsibilities, activities and real life decisions.  I learned it while serving in the student government at BYU and have practiced it ever since.

Here is a step-by-step tutorial on how to use the Planning With a Purpose model.  And I’m using our sledding activity as the idea we are planning.

Click here to see how we implemented it using two of our 11-year-old Activity Day girls as the leaders for our Snowman Glove Service Project.  This model shows Activity Days but it is ready to be used for Young Women, Young Men, Relief Society – or any kind of planning you are doing.

THIS MODEL COMES FROM MY TRAINING
AT BRIGHAM YOUNG UNIVERSITY.   GO COUGS!

Thank you, BYUSA for teaching me this wonderful method of planning!  I am lucky and blessed to have practiced it for the last 20 years.

Planning with a Purpose Instructions

Planning with a Purpose Notebook Cover – 8×11

1.  What do we value?
Make a list of things that are important to us (you can use the download below if you choose).
What does the handbook say our purpose is?
What direction do we have from our bishop or other leaders?
What are the needs of the people in our group?

Holly & Sydney helped us decide on our values – use “guided practice” to help the youth learn how to do each step, including creating values. “Guided practice” can take the form of asking leading questions such as, “What does the handbook say our purpose is?  How should we included that in our values?”  It is ok to suggest ways to round out their thoughts to get a more complete end result.  That modeling is part of “guided practice.”

Whether you are training youth leaders or planning the activities yourself, use these same values while planning every activity.

• We value accomplishing the Faith in God requirements.
• We value everyone feeling included.
• We value people coming.
• We value making friends.
• We value respect toward each other.
• We value learning in a fun way (short lesson plus activity of some sort)

Planning with a Purpose Values Sheet

2.  What do we want to have happen? (goals)
Instead of asking, “What do we want to do?” always ask, “WHAT DO WE WANT TO HAVE HAPPEN?
Refer to your list of values to help you answer this question – your values and goals should go hand-in-hand.

For our sledding activity, this is what we came up with:

• have fun practicing sledding
• be safe
• lots of girls to come and feel included

3.  How are we going to make this happen? (plans + implementation)
Plan what you are going to do.  Always remember to look at the values to make sure it’s really what you want to have happen.
Ask: “How does this help us reach our goals of what we want to have happen?”
If your plan doesn’t meet your goals in a meaningful way, try something different.

NOTE: Listen to the Holy Ghost as you plan.  
The Holy Ghost can help us feel peace about our decisions and even help us formulate ideas for how to carry out what you want to have happen.

Use this planning sheet or a piece of paper to make your plans.  (this download comes in 2 different sizes below the picture)

Planning with a Purpose Planning Sheet – Half Page Version

Planning with a Purpose Planning Sheet – Full Page 1

Planning with a Purpose Planning Sheet – Full Page 2

For the sledding activity, here is our plan:

1.  Turn in permission slips (attach to calendar so parents have them already) – Sister Denny in charge
2.  Meet @ Sister Denny’s at 2:30 (wear snow clothes and bring sleds – put info on calendar + text reminder)
3.  Sister Hall + Sister Denny will drive everyone to location (get other driver if necessary) – Sister Denny in charge
4.  Sled for about an hour.  Holly + Sydney will monitor the experience and make sure each girl is feeling included, having fun, and a part of the group.  They will bring them into the group if necessary.
5.  Go home – drop girls off at homes

4.  Evaluate the process and the implementation
Ask yourself often:
What DID we want to have happen?
Is that actually happening / did that happen?
Do we need to change something to get closer to what we want to have happen?
How can we do that?

This evaluation happens after the activity – it will help you plan future activities and build on what progress you are making along the way.  I encourage you to not skip this step!

Give Planning With a Purpose a try!  You can do it!

Get ready – this is a long post but it takes you through exactly how I used Planning With a Purpose to teach these girls how to plan and implement a meaningful activity.  It will work for any activity – not just this one.  These are the words and plans of our two youth leaders, Holly and Sydney, after simple leadership training on the Planning With a Purpose model.  I will have the Planning With a Purpose booklet that we used for training available in the near future for download.

What we wanted to have happen (goals):

1. We want lots of girls to come to the activity.
2. We want the girls to understand that service can be fun.
3. We want them to understand that some people don’t have gloves & be grateful that we do.

How we made that happen (plans and implementation):

• Invite friends and people who don’t normally come.  Tell them it will be fun – that we do activities and not just a lesson the whole time.
• Create a flyer, announce it in our church classes, send texts to remind everyone.
• Encourage everyone earn the money themselves for the gloves and candy boxes.
• Have a lesson to talk about how some people don’t have gloves and why it’s important to serve others.
• Create at least 20 candy box snowmen with glove hats to donate to a local charity.

FLYER

Weeks in ICU, a pseudo-cyst in my abdomen that made me swell larger than when I was pregnant, pain so intense that I couldn’t move or breath for fear of triggering a greater ache.  My only nutrition for about seven months was from a bag I carried around to a picc line in my arm.  My pancreas was removed except for 30%, my gallbladder is gone and my organs are rearranged in a way that affects my digestion and creates a constant pain.

But I did survive.  Two and a half years later, after working my way through a laundry list of problems and ailments – some temporary (the need for iron infusions each week) and some permanent (diabetes) – my doctor said, “You need to gain more weight.”

I was a ghost.  I had gained 60 pounds in one week because of the pseudo-cyst and water retention at the beginning of my illness.  I then lost much more than that while on my picc line.  I had survived but I wasn’t very healthy.

My ability to eat real food was a challenge for many months so when my body finally kicked in and started hanging on to the food I was eating, craziness happened.  I’m not kidding.  The diabetes wasn’t familiar to me and we were playing with my insulin a lot.  I wasn’t experienced in how to read my new body and the sugar lows so when I finally felt cravings for food I acted on them….even when it happened three times a night.  I was ravenous.  Suddenly starving after 2 years.  Since I was told to eat, I ate.

Six months later, I was 20 pounds overweight and my doctor was saying, “OK, now you need to lose weight.”  Talk about frustrating!  I couldn’t believe I had done that!  But I tried not to beat myself up too badly because again, this was one journey I was on in my life.  One experience.  One adversity.  One challenge.  And I was working my way through it.

This was so much more than losing weight, though.  My pain level was still controlling me on a daily basis and I was on many different medications and supplements.  A pill for this, a tablet for that.  I looked at my handful of pills one night and thought, “What am I doing?  There has to be another solution.”

Thus started my attack on my own poor health.  I have a 4-year-old son and I wanted to live a long and healthy life with him and for him.  It was time to tackle this thing.

What have I been doing since?  Knocking out my health issues and taking control of my own body in more natural ways.  I believe in doctors.  I believe in medication and prescriptions.  But I was ready to try some holistic options for certain things.  Here’s what I’m doing and how it’s affecting me:

1.  FOOT ZONING

My first step was to try foot zoning because my neighbor, Kathleen, has been certified in it and she is a down-to-earth person who was looking for ways to help her family with different medical issues.  She is not mystical or too extreme and that is why I finally tried it. It is similar to reflexology where the entire body is mapped out on the feet but as they work and massage the feet in a specific pattern and method, the entire body is affected.

My expectations were low and there are many claims of things that it can do to help our bodies.  I didn’t really see the kind of results that others might experience with this method of treatment but after the initial series of 8 sessions, there was one major change in how I felt.

My energy level was remarkably improved.

For the first time in 2 1/2 years I could keep up with my son.  I still felt pain every day but I no longer needed a nap every afternoon.  Naps were over for me and I could move easier and was more free than I had felt since I got sick.  That was worth every penny.  I still do foot zoning about every two weeks to keep things going.  My health issues are long term and we are working toward a maintenance schedule of once per month.  Foot zoning is one piece of the puzzle in my attack to gain a healthy body.

2.  ACUPUNCTURE

I had heard that Chinese acupuncture helped with pain and since I was taking 6-8 low-grade pain pills in every 24-hour period, pain was ruling my life.  I went to a local acupuncturist with hope but again, not very high expectations.  I started on a 8-session series where I visited her twice a week and she targeted my abdominal area, digestion and pseudo-cyst area.  She also worked on helping me sleep better and controlling my food cravings.

Acupuncture has changed my life.

After 6 weeks I was able to drop to just one pain pill every 12 hours and I’m working on getting off of those right now.  I have left behind many of my other meds because my digestive issues are more controlled and healed.  My body temperature has been extreme – I am always hot and can’t really function in anything but cool areas since my illness.  My body temperature is now more normal.  My food cravings are very controlled.  My sleep is better than it has been in a long time.  I have to roll Jason over every night, usually twice a night, so being able to maximize my sleep and get back to sleep easily is really important to my overall health.

I am now down to one session per week and feeling the effects like nothing I have ever experienced.  I am a believer.  After feeling this kind of pain for almost 3 years and to be virtually free of it after 6 weeks is remarkable to me.  I feel balanced in so many ways and I am grateful for this method of treatment that has literally changed my life.

3.  HEALTHY LIVING CHALLENGE

Finally, my friend LynDee spearheaded a challenge that has been floating around the internet for awhile, tweaked it to fit the needs of our neighborhood and invited some truly committed women to be a part of it.  It involves having partners to keep you accountable, exercise almost every day and keeping track of good and bad foods you eat.  Everything has a point value and the goal is to get as many points as you can by the end of each week, report your points and see where you land on the leaderboard.  Oh, and you get points for losing weight but weight is not the focus here.  It’s all about eating right and moving more. (click here to see post explaining the challenge & free downloads)

I’ll share the program in more detail in this future blogpost but I want you to think about joining in with us for our next 6-week session.  We’re finished with our second session this week and we will be starting up again on April 12.  Start thinking about it.  Do you want to change your health?  Nutrition is key and this challenge helps you focus on healthy eating and healthy habits.  I’ve lost 14 pounds in 8 weeks but more than that, I look great.  I look healthy.

FINAL THOUGHT

This is my journey.  And my tools to navigate this particular path.  It may not be the same path that you need to take but I wanted to share my experience with you since it has impacted my overall health so dramatically in just a few short months.  I started Foot Zoning last fall but acupuncture began 10 weeks  ago and the Healthy Living Challenge began just six weeks ago.  All of these things are working together for the same goal.  The same good.  The same results.  One step at a time.  I am not an expert on any of these things.  I’m just sharing my experiences.  I add what I can, when I feel like I can tackle it.  We should all do what we can, when we can without feeling pressure to do something we are not ready to do.

I am reminded of this post from 2011 (click here for free download).  The idea of balance applies at every stage, including this one.  But I can’t help thinking of it in new a new light – balanced energy, a balanced diet, a balanced spirit, a balanced body.  This is what matters most right now in my life in order to make the most of the rest of my life.

But I would love to join you on my journey this next round of our Healthy Living Challenge!  Watch for more info about the program – coming soon!

Here’s to a journey full of health, energy and joy.