JULY 2022

 INDEPENDENCE DAY!
We had such a fun and busy holiday this year!!  I was surprised we were able to fit it all in and have so much fun!  It started with an early morning 5K for most of the kids.  It was $90 for five family members so I signed up Bradley, Luke, Noah, Erika and Molly with the hopes that Brad could run with Molly (I figured he shouldn't be running full out yet from his ankle sprain).  I wasn't sure how it was going to go when the night before, Brad was experiencing some severe pain in his achilles tendon, so I started trying to psych myself up to run with Molly.  I was almost there the morning of, but then Brad woke up feeling alright!  So of course I was a little bummed I didn't get to run with them- HA!  Not really, but you know how I am.  So anyway.  Kelly, Sadie, Jack and I were their cheerleaders and we all went up to the Davis High track and cheered our runners on!  It was great!  I loved chatting with Jen Hughs for a minute and all of her compliments about how I look and how awesome it is that my kids like each other :).  She's awesome.  I was really grateful for Kelly's help with Sadie too.  She is such a handful these days- Sadie, not Kelly :).  Takes a village.  I loved that Jack shared with me that he likes running, just not that far.  He's so cute.  He said he might do race cats with Molly in the fall, but only so that Molly can do it :).  The runners all did so amazing!  Noah came in first of our stars at 23:26 ish.  He got 14th in his age group!  Pretty awesome!  Luke was next at 25:00- I think he was like 26th? in his age.  How cool is that!!!  This is his first year really in a long time to be running like this and he's already doing so well!  Erika came flying down the track like an F-16 :) with her big beautiful strides, totally killing it, passing at least three people at 25:33.  She really brought new meaning to sprint to the finish.  Jen Hughs was especially amazed at her kick at the end!  Erika was 1st place in her age group!  How fun is that!  And then cute Bradley and Molly, holding hands, got a little kick as well- in the form of Brad bribing Molly with an ice cream cone if she could pass the girl in front of her :).  Good bribe cuz it got her a medal too!  They came in at 37:45 and Molly got 3rd place in her age.  Brad was so sweet to sacrifice his bib to his friend and sacrifice this racing opportunity to take care of Molly.  It really was for the best, if you ask me, for his ankle, but I am still very grateful for his sacrifice.  He's a good big brother.  They all did so well and could still breathe when it was over!  This is a huge improvement from the past 5Ks they've done.  They usually all crash on the ground, feel like they are going to throw up, need to sleep all day... they've really grown a lot!  It's so cool!  Such an inspiration to me.  I am so proud of them!  I wish Nate could have been there to see them.  

The next fun for the day was the parade.  We hurried home, some showered, and we set out for our spot in front of the Kung Fu Gourmet (it's called Buddha Belly this year, but nobody knows what I'm talking about if I call it that :) ).  I am not a huge fan of the spot saving.  So we try to just get there an hour early and it has always worked.  We were excited to share the spot with the Maughans this year.  We were also really excited to see Noah in the parade this year!  The KJH Hope squad was going to walk in it!  We sat and killed the hour taking pictures and talking.  It really wasn't too bad.  Hot, but not horrible.  The Maughans showed up right before and put up some shade, which I was glad the kids took advantage of that and I was able to sit under there for the hour that we watched and waited for the parade.  And I got to talk with Emily which was nice.  This year's parade took a turn we weren't expecting.  We ony saw probably a tenth of the parade, the fire truck was one of the last things, and then the parade just stopped.  We had no idea why so of course we sat there complaining about how long it was taking to get to the next thing.  We hadn't seen the DHS band or the Hope squad, so there was some whining.  Then we started speculating about what could have happened.  I wish I hadn't been so insensitive with my speculations and I wish I would have thought about what I was saying first, but eventually we found out that someone had in fact been hurt.  Noah called me and told me that someone had fallen off a float and was run over by it.  The ambulance had come to get the person and the parade was canceled.  It was so strange.  We were all a little bummed and stunned.  As the day went on we were given more information, some correct, some not, but we tried to be thoughtful with each step of the process.  We said a little prayer in the parking lot by our parade spot, for the little girl when we learned it was a dancer in the parade and that she had been sent to the hospital in an ambulance after receiving CPR.  I was glad we could do that.  It took us about a half hour to get home from the parade and we rode in almost silence.  Just thinking about this girl and the family was heartbreaking.  Lots of questions from Molly.  How strange to have the parade end so abruptly and not really understand what is going on.  They all handled it so well.  We learned later that the girl had passed away.  My heart just sunk.  I immediately thought of the mom and dad of this 8 year old girl and what the 4th of July will now look like to them.  It's still so heavy.  What a tragic event.  It was cool that the kids wanted to say a prayer for her family then.  Brad came in from the food making and we all said a prayer for them.  I couldn't help but remind everyone that people are not taken before their time.  It was her time to go.  She died doing something she loved and having a fun holiday with family and friends.  But still so heartbreaking.  And there was a definite still in the air.  Nobody had much to say about it, but you could feel it.  So sad.  

Our next event that day was the family party in 3 hours.  So we decided to clean up the yard and house first and get things all ready to go before resting.  This was a tough decision and so many tired runners sacrificed naps and rest to get it done.  I was really grateful for all of them!  It was really nice that Kelly was here to direct things in the back yard- they did great!  And Bradley!  He was Nate's substitute on the food!  He has a little more sympathy for Nate and all the smoke inhalation.  Everyone pitched in and that was really nice.  We still had so many thing from our camping trip that we needed to take care of so it wasn't an easy project.  We got everything done, I made my red, white and blue poke cake and my pasta salad (angel hair pasta with all the yummy stuff and Italian dressing).  We did end up with some time to rest and even did our nails so that Meg could see them later :).  I really love how they turned out.  We did pretty good and were ready to go when everyone started showing up.  We had Dan and Adele and their family, Jen, Ruth, The Taylors and Ashlyn and Brycen!  So pretty good turn out!  Plenty of food, plenty of fun!  Most people sat in the house which was not what we'd planned but it was so hot outside so it was okay.  We did all our fun water balloon stuff in the back yard.  It was a great time!  Then most of them, everyone except Dan's family, came with us over to Barnes Park for the fireworks show!!!  Heidi and her kids and Grandpa Hatch also joined us there.  We found our awesome spot after being disappointed by the parking situation.  But made do :).  It was a little loud.  We needed to move over like 30 feet away from the speaker, but other than that, it was perfect!  The kids all played frisbee and football, spikeball and walked over to the food trucks.  Heidi took Sadie with her and Porter and got her some cotton candy :).  It was so much fun!!  Kelly invited Marco.  There were so many people and so much going on- I just loved it :).  The fireworks were amazing!!  I loved it!! I really loved the tasteful way they recognized Macie Hill at the beginning of the show and that we could have a moment of silence for her and her family.  The show was amazing as usual!  Even though, according to my dad, the fireworks were 5 times more expensive than last year, the show seemed just as great!  We loved it!  I love that they choreograph it so well and the music choice was perfect too!  So fun!!  I loved my dad's and Ruth's reactions to it.  So fun!!  It did take us about 45 minutes to get out of the area, which was a bummer since Nate had to get up early and go to work in the morning, but we made it home and everyone was happy to go to bed :).  I loved all the prayers for that sweet little girl all day and even before bed.  I loved all the time we got together and the fun we all had.  I'm so grateful for our freedoms and the things that we enjoy because others sacrificed and made this all possible.  I'm sad for some of the things going on in our country right now, and also very happy for other things, and overall, we have some work to do, but I am still so glad I live in this country and am able to enjoy the freedoms I do.  I am proud to be an American and I'm so glad I know that this country was founded by good men who were directed by God.  This is His country.  I hope we can take care of it and that we can be blessed.  Happy 4th of July!!  7-4-22

WARD POOL PARTY
We had another successful pool party!  Felt like it had been forever since we missed the last two years, but felt really great to have it back.  Nate made the food as usual.  We ate at the church pavillion instead of the pool, which was interesting.  Maybe they just need to do that sooner so that the people cleaning up don't have to miss the pool part.  Or something.  I don't know.  But we were a little late getting over to the food, then took a while to get leftovers divided up and take things home, but we made it to the pool by around 7:45.  We loved the pool!  EVERYONE seemed to be having so much fun!!  Sadie was a little fishy in the water!  It was almost like she wasn't in someone's arms the entire time, she seemed so confident and comfortable in the water!  I loved that!  Molly had a life jacket on so she felt pretty safe and made her way around the pool fairly comfortably as well.  Jack was MIA the whole time, I think I only saw him a few times :).  He was very busy playing with the goggles and his friends.  Cute little fish!  Probably a shark though if I think about it.  Erika did a lot with Kate, the diving boards, the deep end with the big kids, the shallow with the little kids... She was having a lot of fun!  Noah, Luke, Brad and Kelly were very busy with friends (in fact Brandon also came with us) playing all kinds of games.  Basketball, legs up on the edge of the pool, laying back along the wall, a version of score on Brad... sounded like they had a lot of fun.  I was glad Nate was content to play with Sadie and Molly through a lot of it, I was able to talk to friends, go off the diving board a few times- that was so fun!  I haven't done that in a long time!  But I did love being with my little fishies as well, when Nate got out.  Fun times!  We were pretty cold most of the time we were there, but it was still sad to leave when it got over.  7-6-22

DR. SMITH
We've reached six months with Dr. Smith.  Time to retest and measure her progress.  I'm really anxious to hear what he's found with all the testing.  7-7-22

HOST FOR DXC
We got to host the boys on the cross country team this morning!!  This was a lot of fun.  We decided pancakes were a must.  We had strawberries and raspberries along with syrup, nutella and whipped cream to put on top. I think the boys were excited to have it start and end at our house :).  So fun!  Brandon's mom, Sarah Jane, offered to bring the strawberries and came to keep me company while I made the pancakes in my messy kitchen.  We had a lot of fun doing this!  Nate and Coach T had buddied up by the end, I saw them in the backyard looking at his smokers :).  I really love this group of guys and I'm so glad my boys have found waking up at 6:30 to go running a valuable summer activity.  I'm really so proud of them!  7-8-22

DATE NIGHT
Nate and I went on our date to Blue Fin tonight.  This was a REALLY good sushi place!!  We loved the sushi tacos, the amazing sauce on the edamame, and the recommended Hawaiian roll.  The coral reef roll was pretty cool-looking and they were all tasty, but the Hawaiian one was our favorite.  SO YUMMY!!!  And I didn't feel as sick and bloated as I usually do when we go to Sushi Monster.  We need to take Charity there sometime :).  After sushi we went to see the new Thor movie.  It was entertaining, but really turned me off with all the gay and lesbian stuff.  I'm getting so tired of all of that being shoved into our movies.  It's not even part of the story, it's just an add-in and a lot of times in this movie, didn't really fit or need to be there.  So annoying.  But we had a great night together.  7-8-22

PICKLE BALL
Christie invited us to go play pickleball with them at the new place, The Kitchen, in West Kaysville.  I had no idea just how fun this would end up being!  We brough Brad and Luke with us.  We played a couple games of Nate and I vs. Luke and Brad and then changed it up so it was Nate and Luke vs. Brad and I.  It was so much fun!!  7-9-22

FUNNY
Jack: did you know I love you?
Sadie: I don't know you.
HAHAHA!!  7-9-22

NOAH'S TALK
Noah was asked to speak about Trek and dealing with trials in life and he did such a great job!  We were so proud of him!  He had such a positive spin on his talk and talked about how Trek was kind of easy for him, but that there was a lot of Gospel application.  He talked about his own trials and how he has tried to overcome them.  I loved tha the talked about Vita and how much he loves it this year, versus how he felt about it last year.  Cute boy.  He was so funny mentioning all the luxuries they enjoyed on trek and how he didn't love walking in circles everyday.  We loved it!  Great job Noah!  7-10-22

GIRLS CAMP MEETING
We finally got a number for our budget!!  Such a relief!!  Thanks to Rachel basically!  7-10-22

SADIE'S THIRD BIRTHDAY!!!
I cannot believe this little princess is three already!!  But at the same time, she can't believe she's only three :).  She's a very mature three.  And also very dependent- HAHA!  But she sure loved her day!!  I was so happy she never really got overstimulated and grumpy like most kids this age.  She was mostly looking forward to her cupcakes!  So first thing in the morning, we got started on her cupcakes.  She was helping me a lot in the beginning, but it was such an involved project, she kind of lost interest after a while.  She was really anxious to put the candles on :).  We made the cupcakes from the Enchanted Princess cupcake game we've had forever.  This was a long time coming!  I have wanted to try these forever!  It worked out REALLY well!!  I was suprrised!  It did take five hours to make them all, but still pretty fun.  We decided to do small ones so that we could recreate all the textures.  That was smart.  They turned out SO CUTE!!  I was pleasantly surprised with how well we did!!  Our Pocahontas one is missing, so that was the only one we didn't do. I decided since we were combining the party with Alyssa we needed some puppy cupcakes for her, so I threw some puppies together. So fun!  So her day was full of doing things she wanted to do.  When she lost interest in the cupcakes we let her open her splash pad and she, Molly and Erika went out and played with that for quite a while!  She ended up giving herself a nap on the couch after.  That was pretty adorable.  She woke up just in time to head to the pool for her party!  We found out at the last minute that the pool closes at 6:30 so we decided to start with swimming and end with the cupcakes and pizza.  It worked out pretty well.  She loved the shallow end this time and ran around splashing people, jumping off the side, just pretending like she's completely independent :).  It was fun to watch her own the place.  The Taylors surprised us by coming, Heidi and her kids were there, along with Grandpa and Grandma Hatch.  Fun stuff!  So after the swimming that seemed to end sooner than I wanted, we headed over to the pavillion.  My mom had generously brought the pizza for us- so nice, and Kelly had grabbed the cupcakes (she was having some pretty severe pain so she didn't swim, but we were so glad she could make it down- this was her official move home day), so we ate pizza, blew out candles, ate cupcakes, opened presents, and then goofed around for a bit!  I thought it was a great party!  I loved Sadie's mood the whole day.  She actually was in a pretty good mood ALL day.  I had asked the kids not to over-stimulate her, so that seemed to pay off.  She loved all her gifts!  She couldn't wait a second to put her dress from Heidi on. And she made everyone hold the little puppies while she checked them out with her new pet doctor stuff from Grandma.  She loved the dog from grandpa and the unicorn squishmallow from the Taylors.  It was a lot of fun.  When we got home, we realized we had forgotten our free slurpees, so we headed over to 7-11.  Ours didn't have anymore supplies so we debated and then just had to try the 7-11 up by Winco and sure enough, they had plenty!  So we all got our free slurpees and then came home for a few more gifts for her to open- star sheets and blanket, her beloved Belle nightgown, and a Bingo stuffed toy from Molly!!  The nightgown and Bingo were a big hit :).  It was so fun to spoil her and see her enjoying everything so much.  Fun girl!!  Fun day!!  Sadie is a very busy, go go go kind of kid.  She doesn't stop.  She loves to be outside and playing, but doesn't like to do anything by herself.  She needs to have a few people with her to be comfortable.  She thinks she likes food, but hardly eats anything.  Except the occasional 3 bowls of cereal or two helpings of mac and cheese.  She does have moments.  But even candy, she usually gets bored before the last stump.  She is musical and likes to sing and dance to any and all music, or no music :).  She loves her Twinkle Star and I Am A Child of God before going to sleep.  Or "monster game" when it's Nate's turn.  She loves her older siblings so much.  She lives to see them and be thrown around, coddled, entertained, and spoiled by them.  She is a fun little sister and makes us laugh on the regular.  She's been such a great addition to our home- I actually almost typed addiction and that is actually kind of accurate- she's who everyone wants to be by, talking to, or playing with most of the day.  She really gets overstimulated before they get sick of her :).  But such a great addition as well.  We've been so grateful for the prompting and spiritual impressions we had before deciding to bring this sweet little princess into our world, and now I can't imagine our world without her!  She is such a joy and a blessing.  Sadie, we love you so much!!  Happy Birthday, three year old!!  7-11-22

BREAKFAST WITH THE TAYLORSVILLE LADIES
Sherry Dilworth was in town this week and wanted to get together with Meredith, Julie and me so we (after a lot of funny planning involving trying to find a park with a splash pad and then realizing that Meredith's kids are too big for splash pad- she's so funny) decided to just ditch the kids and go to breakfast.  We went to PAC by Leatherby's.  I wish I could remember what the PAC stands for, but it's the "Home of the Heavenly Pancakes" and was really good!!  I totally broke ranks and ate a bunch of stuff I shouldn't have- including some of a pancake that was actually really heavenly.  It was so nice to be able to catch up with all these ladies!  We talked in the restaurant til about 11:00 after Meredith left at 10:00, and then Julie, Sherry and I felt the need to get out and then stood and talked for another hour out front til Sherry left and then Julie and I sat down and talked for another hour and a half!  I didn't get home from breakfast until 2:00!!  Kinda nuts, but so worth it!!  I loved it.  It's always a good checking point to be with them and talk about some of the old and look at how far we've come.  Really a gounding experience.  We don't see everything eye to eye, but it's fun to catch up.  7-12-22

LAUNDROMAT
Our two year old washer broke last week after washing sleeping bags after camping.  I already did a few loads at the laundromat Saturday, but the boys were leaving for camp tomorrow and needed some clothes to take, so I made a quick trip to do two loads on Tuesday.  I was able to catch up on my Mission Impossible movie which was nice.  It was kind of a day of doing things for me which was nice.  Got their clothes clean just in time for their date.  7-12-22

WARDIE DATE
Brad finally talked Luke into going on a group date.  I had suggested asking Lexi and girls in the ward, so Luke asked Lexi, Brad asked Molly and then they invited Brandon to join them and he decided to take Rachel!  So it was kind of a wardy date :).  They went to Boondocks for bowling, Cherry Hill for mini golf and then Berry Station for ice cream.  They got home a little earlier than usual, 10:30, but sat on my bed and talked about the whole date when they got home!  It was so fun!!  They had had a lot of fun, playing backwards bowling and Molly's wild swing in mini golf.  It sounded like they were really pumped and had had a lot of fun!  Cute kids!!  I was happy it went well.  7-12-22

SADIE WELL-CHECK 3 YEARS
Sadie's appointment went well.  She did pretty good with the doctor, did everything he asked as long as Molly did it first :).  It was pretty cute.  I should really just schedule their appointment together from now on, maybe.  I asked about her leg/knee hurting all the time and he checked her out.  He said her feet are turned in just a little and that we could watch that.  I think she just wants to be held sometimes, but we'll see.  Everything else looked good!  She's growing really well.  I can't believe our baby girl is three!!  Blows my mind really.  7-20-22

BOYS CAMP
The boys were busy doing all their last minute packing Wednesday morning when I got back from taking Noah and Erika to XC.  They loaded up the van and said their goodbyes.  They were still around for quite a while after that but finally left for Rockport.  We are going to miss them, but hope they have a great time!!  7-13-22--7-16-22

YOUNG MENS CAMP
The boys headed off to Young Mens camp on Wednesday morning after making sack lunches in Moore's garage :).  They went up to Rockport Reservoir.  Sounded like they had a lot of fun, a lot of food, and some rain and thunderstorms to go with their lake play and really awesome hike up into the clouds.  They all really enjoyed the hike a lot and that's what I've heard most about.  I think they all had a good time.  I can't believe Nate worked two mids in the middle of it.  Sounded like a great time though!  I'm glad they survived.  7-13-22--7-16-22

ME AND THE LITTLES
We have three whole days for just the littles and I to party so we had to plan some fun things.  So far we've had a good time!  Wednesday we were kind of waiting around for the Washer guy, not sure when he was coming, but we ended up going to Station Park to browse the Teton Toy store, get some Pretzel Bites, get some extremely overpriced candy at It's Sugar, and some lotion for our big girl at Bath and Body Works.  So that was a fun little outing!  Sadie was at the end of her rope by the time we were walking to the car- that was annoying.  But she napped in the car.  We were lucky we came home when we did because the Washer guy showed up shortly after.  Wednesday evening we had our ham and cheese sliders for dinner and then rushed off to our Camp Kickoff activity.  I was so glad Jack, Molly and Sadie were content to go to the Nursery and stayed there happily for the entire thing.  Then came home for a fun movie night, watching Hotel For Dogs.  I worked on the camp hoodies and got the order all finalized!!  This is getting pretty exciting!  

THE WASHER
He was here for a good two hours putting in the new part and then troubleshooting some other things.  The new part didn't help.  It was still not turning during the wash cycle.  But making a really loud and cruching groaning sound.  Such a disappointment.  Steve wanted to check on a part that he didn't recognize, so he left with the hope that he would figure it out, buy the cheap part and fix it, but alas, when Nate called Wednesday night, he informed me that Steve and figured out the part, it was the transmission, it is going to be near $600 to fix it.  So we need to buy a new washer.  Ugh.  I was devastated!  We just bought this one and we had splurged and got a good one so it would last!!  Should have gotten the extended warranty apparently.  Only because we overuse washers.  But ugh.  I remembered Sunday's talks on trials and decided I better just suck it up, wiped away my tears and started looking online for a new washer.  Hopefully, Heavenly Father will help us with the money.  So anyway.  7-13-22

Thursday (after my dad rescheduled our lunch) we made plans to go to Wardle Fields Park with the Maughans.  This was pretty fun.  We haven't been there in four years!   The kids played their hearts out.  We had a lot of fun.  Erika and Kate were the playground cool kids, helping everyone and directing them on the proper way to play with everything :).  They seemed like they were having a lot of fun.  Erika mentioned that she liked running along the top of the rocks.  Wait til she starts running up the top of real mountains and gets that exhileration- I've heard it's amazing :).  Jack was mostly anxious to go home, but he did have some fun with Will.  He's been really anxious to get back in school all summer and really hates going places.  I'm trying to help him find the fun in everything, but he really just likes to be at home.  But he was hilarious when he got dunked and came over dripping like a wet dog :).  Cute kid.  Didn't even get mad.  Molly had a pretty good time.  Things weren't really going how she had planned I think. She wanted to play with the big kids more and couldn't decide if she wanted to be there or not and come home and nurse her six year molars as they slowly come in.  But she did have some fun.  She is in an uncomfortable stage where she feels older, but the older kids don't quite feel the same.  She'll get there.  Sadie had the time of her life!  I hardly saw her except when she came to warm up in her towel.  She was EVERYWHERE!!  I would see her in one area then turn away for a few seconds and then she was nowhere near that area when I looked back!  I spent most of the time looking for her bright pink shirt :).  She did make a new "best friend" while she was there.  They were adorable.  I loved watching them look at each other's swim shirts and talking.  I can only imagine what kind of compliments Sadie was giving her :).  They held hands and walked around a lot, which was adorable!  When I went to get a picture Sadie says, "This is my new friend!" and her friend said, "Hi, I'm Madison!" and Sadie repeated, "She's Madison." To which I said, "Hi Madison! nice to meet you!"  And then the conversation repeated itself like two more times- HA!  They were adorable!!  I loved it.  I got to sit and talk with Emily the entire time.  I was texting Steve a lot, trying to help him.  And getting texts from Nate about him making it back up to camp in the Forerunner.  Kinda crazy, but it was a great time!  We drove home and crashed on the couches in front of Bluey!  After some rest, we packed up a basket of laundry and headed to Grandma's for some pizza and then Erika and I headed out for Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  It was such a nice time with Erika, first of all.  We laughed and talked the entire time, which was awesome.  We loved the names of the cast members.  I think we said "Smedshammer" about a half a million times.  Along with the word "sledgehammer" HAHAHA!!!  And Warburton.  Kinda funny.  But we also really enjoyed seeing Julie Clemens in her play!!  She has such fun energy!!  She was made for the stage!  So fun!  They were doing a little 90's theme to it with their costumes in the first act, which was super cute for me, I think it was over Erika's head :).  But so fun!  We got to talk with Kregg, Lacie and Tony after, which was awesome.  I love that family!!  So fun!  We hurried back to get the kids at my mom's.  Grabbed our freshly washed clothes, and got home at 11:00 just in time to crawl into bed.  (without setting my alarm- dang it!)

ANSWERED PRAYERS
When we got to the splash pad the sun was out and shining and I realized I'd forgotten the sunblock, so I said a quick little prayer, just asking for a tiny miracle to protect my kids.  The morning had been kind of rough with bad news after bad news and I really just needed some relief.  I said the prayer and then didn't think or worry about it again.  But shortly after that prayer was when the dark, thick, storm clouds started rolling in.  We were feeling kind of betrayed by the weather app and all the emails about a heat wave, thinking it was going to rain even though there had been no talk of that anywhere!  But after a few hours of sitting there in the shade of these clouds, I realized this was the answer to my prayer :).  Nobody got sunburnt.  It didn't even rain or lightning and it wasn't too hot (I still think the kids were probably a little cold, but hey, beggars can't be choosers!).  It's interesting how the Lord will often answer our prayers in unexpected ways.  In ways that might even seem inconvenient or not what we want.  But it's really cool to know that He does answer them.  I am trying to figure out which prayer my broken washer is answering :).  It is very undesirable, but who knows, maybe it's for a good cause? 7-14-22

Friday, we slept in!  I had completely spaced setting an alarm to wake Erika up for XC, so I of course felt horrible when I saw Emily's text from an hour before asking if I was still going to give Kate a ride.  Erika was devastated when she woke up at 9:30.  But to be honest, I think it was kind of a good thing- she was pretty tired.  I do feel bad about the mix-up with Kate.  This is why I don't like carpools.  It was my idea even, to give her a ride!  But anyway.  I was able to go to lunch with my Dad.  We were going to go to Twigs, but they were closed for remodeling until today and it wasn't til we got there that we learned it doesn't reopen until 5:00.  Eye roll.  But we improvised and went to Johnny Rockets instead.  We both got Philly Cheesesteak Sandwiches- so yummy!  And we had a really nice time talking.  I love hanging out with my dad.  The rain put a damper on our plan to go swimming, so we bummed around the house instead.  Kind of a drag, but by the time I could think of something to do the washer guy came.  He sat up there for a good three hours trying to get it to drain so he could take out the part he'd put in there.  Kind of annoying.  He was funny to talk to.  I guess I had a good enough sob story, he decided not to charge us the $50 to come.  Kinda nice.  I feel a little guilty though.  He was in a very spiritual mood today.  So we're getting ready to eat dinner and then head over to grandma Hatch's house for a fairy garden party and then hurry back home for Jack's adventure days outdoor movie activity.  Gonna be a full evening.  7-15-22

Saturday, we woke up bright and early and made our way to Main Street in Bountiful for the Handcart Days Parade.  This was pretty fun.  Not what it used to be, but good enough.  They did it in the morning this year, first time, which was nice because the sun wasn't in our eyes.  We did use our old spot by the library, worked great.  We liked the floats.  We didn't like that they were handing out candy one piece at a time.  Kinda lame.  We had fun though.  Grandma and Simon joined us about a tenth of the way in.  Then they came over to the park for the carnival too.  This was pretty fun, but also very hot.  We did all the fun little pioneer/mountainman/olden times stuff to earn beads and then get an arrowhead to make a necklace.  That was fun.  Then we were going to head over for the bouncy houses, but found out they were five bucks a pop!!  Not really in our budget.  We didn't have any cash anyway, so the food was out too, but we still managed to have some fun.  Reminded me of the good ol' days of easy to please kids.  Course these ones are a little harder to convince that they are pleased :).  But Erika was a big help!  We came home and were surprised to find the boys here already!  We got to hear about all of their adventures and cool hike.  Sounded like they had a great time!  Saturday night I went back down to my mom's to wash another load for Sunday.  Thursday can't come soon enough.  7-16-22

WASHER AND DRYER
We picked out a new washer and dryer.  It was quite the emotional experience for some reason.  It is so hard to know what to get.  We decided to just go with the biggest one they had, which was the same one we already had, but with a new dryer as well and with an extended 5 year warranty.  So hopefully they last us at least five years!  They will be delivered on Thursday!  Baby steps to Thursday.  7-16-22

MOLLY'S TALK
Molly gave her talk all by herself today!  She also helped me write it.  Most of the things she said were her idea.  It was interesting trying to put it all together really :).  But she did so amazing!! Such a brave little reader!!  This was her talk:

Trusting someone means that you can follow them and believe what they tell you.  When you trust someone you aren’t worried about them hurting you. 

Some of the people I trust are: my family, Heavenly Father, Jesus, Prophets and missionaries.

One time, I wanted to play with my sister Erika, but she was going to go play with her friend Kate.  She told me that she would come back and play with me with Kate.  I waited for her and trusted her that she would come back and she did! 

While my family was camping there was a lot of scary lightning and thunder.  My dad told me that I didn’t need to worry or be scared.  I trusted him and then everything was okay. 

I like to read my scriptures at night so that I can learn about Jesus and so that I can do what Heavenly Father has asked me to do.  He has promised that if we read our scriptures we can be blessed.  I trust Heavenly Father and that he will bless me for doing what is right.

We can trust Jesus because He has done a lot of nice things for us.  He is there when we need help.  He is there when we’re sick.  He is there when we are sad.  He loves us!  We can trust Him because he created us.  He wants me to be good and be like Him and I trust Him and want to follow what He has taught. 

If we follow Jesus and trust in Him He will bless us and we can live with Him again. 

I would like to bear my testimony that I believe that Jesus is always there for us when we need Him.  I believe the temple is true and that because of the temple I can be with my family forever.  I believe we can follow Jesus Christ.  I believe that Heavenly Father hears me when I pray. 

I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.  

7-17-22

SWIMMING
We had talked about going swimming while the boys were gone, but with the weather and other plans, we didn't make it so Monday it was a must!  We invited the Maughans to come with us.  We had such a great time!  Sadie has been really fun to take to the pool lately- has so much fun in the water.  Molly did too this time!  She's very slowly learning how to swim.  She'll get there.  We all watched alone when we got home :).  7-18-22

PARTY TIME
Molly had two birthday parties this week- one for Holly, one for Jonah (Jonah's she skipped because she was already late, not sure what that was all about).  Then Jack had Liam's party.  They both had a great time when they went and all was well.  7-19-22

PARADE FLOATS
Julie invited us down to Sandy to go see the Days of '47 parade floats.  This was a lot of fun!!  We were even able to grab Nate on our way down there!  We walked around laughing and talking and admiring the floats!  I loved the one with the giant s'mores, the one where the kids are building a temple out of cardboard and recyclable things.  SO CUTE!!  There were a lot of very cute/creative ideas.  The Armies of Helium was super creative!  Fun stuff.  We got our balloon animals after standing in line for a half hour and then said our goodbyes.  It was a lot of fun.  I love those little impromptu outings.  7-19-22

MINISTERS
I don't know if I've ever documented our amazing ministers.  We have Greg Richardson and Bryan Radik.  They are both kind of interesting people, fun to talk to and we really appreciate their dedication to their ministering callings.  They are really sweet and come over very regularly still, even since the Prophet said we didn't need to visit.  They remember everyone's birthdays and bring a treat for them, and sometimes visit as well.  It's been a lot of fun to get to know them and feel like they care about us.  7-19-2

MOLLY- BETTER LATE THAN NEVER?
Molly had an interesting little problem the other day.  She was invited to Jonah's party and was really excited about it.  When it came time for the party, we had gotten wrapped up in a game of Bananagrams so it took a text from Emily reminding me about it seven minutes after it started.  I did my usual panic, "oh no! we're late! let's hurry! where are your shoes? come on! we need to hurry!" thing that so many of my kids have not benefited from and I think I just set her in a little bit of an anxiety attack.  She suddenly couldn't move.  She didn't want to be late so she just wasn't going to go to the party.  It was so strange.  We all tried to talk her into going, Erika even walked her over there to "just give him his present" thinking she would see all the fun and want to join in, but nope.  She came right back home.  It was so strange.  I was really glad when The Spirit pointed out to me that this was in response to MY freaking out.  That if I had remained calm and not been so uptight and worried about being late, she wouldn't have reacted that way.  I feel bad that it went the way it did, but I was glad I could just back off and let her feel what she was feeling and not protect my ego, but let her decide.  She never went to the party, but when it was over, she went over and had some cake and played with Jonah.  I am not good at doing this so it was pretty big.  Hopefully I learned my lesson.  7-20-22

NEW WASHER AND DRYER
Our new washer and dryer were delivered today!  Oh blessed day!  I was so relieved!  I mean, there was some frustration with how they installed the dryer vent, but I called and they will send someone Tuesday and it seems to be working okay for now.  It sure feels good to wash our clothes and get rolling in that direction.  They look really nice, silver, and don't take up as much room as the old ones, so that is awesome.  7-21-22

JACK WATERING PEARCE'S PLANTS
Jack was asked to water the Pearce's plants while they were away.  He did such a great job!  I was so proud of him!  I was glad he was nice enough to accept the job and then remembered what he needed to do- it was awesome.  Such a good kid!  It was funny that they had turned their water off so it was tricky to get water in the watering can, but we did it!  Jack is growing up.  He loved getting $10 for it as well :).  7-21-22

ERIKA TEMPLE WITH THE MAUGHANS
Erika got to go to the temple with the Maughans on Thursday, they went to Brigham City which was a surprise, but she had a great time and was able to go under the water pretty well- she was happy about that :).  7-21-22

GILLIAN BERRETT WEDDING
Gill Berrett invited us to her wedding ceremony on Friday.  I felt so special that she had invited us to the ceremony.  So we drove (the long way) to Paradise, UT and got to see her married to Hayden Anderson.  I'm really happy for her.  She looks so happy and is doing big things right now.  I was happy to hear that his dad is their Bishop and he's the one who married them.  They are a cute couple- with the dogs too :).  I was happy I got to give her a hug before we left.  Cute place, big white barn, cute decor.  Really sweet experience.  7-22-22

DATE NIGHT
This week we went to the Sushi place down in Centerville that we like.  We got the Fire Fire Roll again- super yummy.  I really liked the sweet one Nate picked, now I can't remember what it's called.  So yummy though!  Then we went over to the theater to see The Gray Man.  We really liked this one.  It was very entertaining.  I liked that they made fun of Chris Evans' character the whole time.  He was the villain.  So that made it okay to watch a movie with him in it.  Funny, after the movie we found out that it's actually on Netflix, so we had just paid to go see a movie we could have watched for free.  But Nate was right, seeing it on the big screen was more fun.  It was really cool!  I liked it!  7-22-22

TEMPLE WITH THE MAYS
We went up to the Ogden temple this time :).  We did some more of Brian's bio-family names.  I love being able to go to the temple again!  It's been really nice!  And I love that Christie is reminding me and planning it with me.  We've been a lot lately!  Good stuff.  7-23-22

ERIKA BABYSITTING PEREZES
This was Erika's first real babysitting gig.  She went all by herself (took the new "family phone") and did an awesome job!  I have loved hearing her stories about Julia calling her "teenager" and stuff.  Really proud of her!  7-23-22

THE VAN BATTERY
So this is kind of a crazy little story.  Brad, Sadie and I started out to go find the perfect gift for Nate.  I had been receiving texts from my mom and dad to go visit Steve and hang out, but I really needed to focus on Nate's birthday and get those things done.  I didn't really have time to go up to Steve's with how much I had been gone the last couple days.  So we went to a few stores, decided to get him a charcoal grill, and had the hardest time finding one.  It was so strange.  Well, as we were leaving Home Depot, or trying to leave, the car wouldn't start.  Not even a click!  I knew it was the battery because we had been having trouble with it for the last little while.  I looked around and knew that it wouldn't be hard to find someone who could give me a jump.  But I couldn't shake the feeling that this would also give Steve something to do if I texted him.  So I did.  He answered right away and came flying to our rescue.  It was such a hot evening, it was a big deal to stand there with his car running trying to get our battery charged.  It was crazy.  We tried for too long.  Probably an hour and nothing.  I even ran into Home Depot and got a wire brush to clean the terminals with.  It was crazy.  No luck.  So after some convincing and refusing to just leave me there, Steve drove us over to Lowe's where we finally heard back from Nate and got the okay to buy a new battery, picked up Nate's gift- very relieved they had one- and then up to Steve's for some tools.  He then drove us down to O'Reily's for a new battery- helped so much with picking it out- and then back to Home Depot to have Steve switch out the old one with the new one.  It was such a blessing that he was able to do that for me.  I was really grateful.  He was his usual self and acted like it was nothing.  Such a good little brother.  All of this took about four hours!  We didn't hate the time, Brad and Sadie kept us entertained and we had fun talking.  It was a good time for the most part.  Hot, but good.  We were all sweating so bad. Sadie looked like she had taken a dip in a pool!  She was so cute afterwards, "Steve fixed our car? Dat nice!"  And it was cool for Brad to see what it looks like when a brother helps his sister.  Felt kind of like the old days when Steve would rescue me a couple times a week.  What would I do without Steve!  7-23-22

PIONEER DAY
We had an interesting Pioneer Day.  It was different since it was Sunday.  But we had the pleasure of listening to Brad's talk and singing all our favorite pioneer songs.  We got to go over to the Taylor's that night with my Lemon Tarragon Pasta and some Scotcheroos in tow.  That was fun.  Windy, but really fun.  Sadie got quite the scare when some nearby fireworks went off.  She was so cute, screaming and running across the yard to me, in terror.  Poor little girl can't decide how she feels about fireworks anymore :).  Cutie.  7-24-22

BRAD'S TALK
Brad did a great job Sunday, talking about camp and how to love like Christ did.  Everyone loved his comment about not wanting to wash his family's feet on his last day.  He was funny and so cute up there.  I loved hearing about his time serving Becky, pulling weeds, and what a good, memorable time that was for him.  I wish I'd sent the link to Becky so she could hear him.  He talked about how a simple text from a friend when he broke his leg last year was Christlike love as well.  Very cool.  I was so proud of him.  I can't believe that possibly in less than a year he could be giving a mission farewell talk.  Time is going too fast.  7-24-22

NATE'S BIRTHDAY
We had some fun plans for Nate's birthday this year!  I was glad about that.  We took the morning to get things ready for our big day, as well as making his Sushi Cake :) which turned out pretty cute if I do say so.  Then around 2:00 we headed out to go float the Weber river!  This turned out to be a lot of fun!  My dad came with us.  We met up with Charity up there.  There's always a little crazy getting the cars figured out and the shuttling, but it worked out really well.  Charity left her car at the pull out spot.  Then we drove everyone and the tubes up to the put in spot.  We filled up the tubes that had gotten a little low on the drive up.  We took some pictures.  We made sure that Charity had the keys to her car- hahahaha!!!  Then hopped on our tubes- and Nate, Jack and Sadie in his new kayak- and floated down the river!  It was so much fun!  I had Molly with me and she wasn't having the time of her life to begin with, but just as I predicted, she ended up having a lot of fun by the end and was able to say she liked it :).  I was really grateful for the frisbees from the stranger- to help paddle myself away from the sides.  That was the hardest part for Molly.  She was so worried about our tube popping.  I loved being with Brad and Charity for a few minutes- they were very exciting.  Possibly too exciting for Molly.  Brad standing on the rock with his tube up in the air comes to mind :).  Luke was fun- I hope I never forget Molly laughing as Luke floated right under the trees and brush along the side, not really able to get out, but not really stopping either.  Kinda funny.  I didn't get to see much of anyone else.  We caught glimpses of Noah and Nate with the littles, but I don't remember seeing Kelly or Erika at all.  Apparently, they went really slow and couldn't stay out of the brush on the sides and all the eddys.  Kinda funny.  We were by grandpa a little- he seemed like he had a good time.  Molly had enjoyed her ride up with him which was cute.  Nate said that Sadie just sat there the entire time, got out and floated in the water a little on her own here and there as they waited for Kelly and Erika.  I loved Sadie's "That was SO MUCH FUN!" afterwards.  She loved it.  Jack had enough fun too :).  He said he liked it and was in a really good mood the rest of the evening.  I think he had had a lot of time to think about dinosaurs while we were floating :).  We got back to the cars, hurried home to change, chat with Ruth and Jen, open a few gifts from them and then headed back out for Red Robin which was way too packed, so we went over to Applebee's instead.  This turned out to be a really great plan B- they were so awesome to Nate the whole time, they loved our cake :) and brought all the plates so we could serve it- they sang to him and got all excited about his birthday!  It was great!!  I really don't think we would have gotten that kind of attention at Red Robin.  So it was a good thing we couldn't go there.  We got home and surprised Nate with his charcoal grill which he loved.  Sadie and Molly played in the box and we got to hear Sadie say, "Awkward" and hear all about Charity's new position on the Cache Valley GOP something... sorry, I have no idea what it is- but it sounds important!  I'm so proud of her for stretching herself and getting involved in something new and doing it all on her own!  Then Charity headed home and we all crashed in bed!!  Everyone seemed pretty exhausted.  7-25-22

SADIE AND BRAD
Brad said, "She just doesn't like me." in the car about some weird girl at school and Sadie pipes in with, "I like you, Bad!"  Melted my heart.  7-25-22

LUNCH WITH STEVE
Steve and I finally got to go have fun together- not him helping me, not a birthday party, but just a good ol' hang out.  We went to Chipotle.  I don't remember ever going there before but the food was amazing!  We had a great time talking and watching all the people coming in and out.  It was a really good time with Steve.  He got to tell me all about his interview with Hughs and how he got the job.  I'm happy for him.  I hope things are looking up for him soon here.  7-26-22

BACKPACKING- KINGS PEAK
Nate, Bradley, Luke and Noah got up bright and early Wednesday morning to finish packing and doing their last minute stuff before heading out to Kings Peak.  This has been much anticipated and they've been so exxcited for it, but also super nervous.  They were not wanting it to rain too much and hoping things would go well weather-wise.  I got a text Thursday from them saying they were in a hailstorm but 100 yards from the top!  Pretty funny.  Their pictures looked great!  It was fun to hear from them and know that they were doing well.  I can't wait to hear abaout it!  7-27-22

FUNCTIONAL NEUROLOGIST
Kelly was back at Dr. Smith's office!  It's been like two weeks since her last visit.  We got to go over some of her results from her testing to see her progress.  I have to admit that other than her pain being about 50% gone, she hasn't improved on a lot of the other things.  Which was a little disappointing, but also doesn't really matter.  We went for the pain, not for balance, so I hope this has all been worth it.  I mean, she says she has less pain, so hopefully.  7-27-22

WEDNESDAY
So for our first day of fun everyone mostly just played with friends.  Erika was swimming at Cindy Jones' house with Kate.  Molly was at Kenzie's house.  Kelly was gone to Draper for an endowment session.  It was just Jack, Sadie and I for quite a while.  When Erika got home we decided we needed to go get some Dinner, so we grabbed Molly and went down (the long way) to Centerville Chick-fil-a because I thought they had a better play place than the Farmington one.  Turns out they don't have one at all anymore.  But we ate there anyway- Sadie had fallen asleep in the car so she slept in my arms the whole time.  It was a nice time though!  We came home and had a movie night.  7-27-22

THURSDAY
We met up with Heidi and her kids at the Kaysville Splash Pad.  This was a fun time.  Highlights: Porter and Kelly's conversation about his shark hat.  
Kelly: can I try it on? 
Porter:  no, it says only kids who like sharks can wear it
Kelly: oh I LOVE sharks!  Can you just put it on my head?
Porter: You can just buy one
Then Erika running around throwing buckets of water at Porter and him laughing hysterically.  Cute Alyssa, Sadie and Molly being buds. We got a little visit from Ty while we were there- he gave us a package of chewy chips ahoy cookies and we shared fruit snacks and beef jerky :).  Good times!  
We had another movie night that night.  7-28-22

FRIDAY
I got my teeth cleaned (very exciting), grabbed Erika from cross country, we bummed around a little and then Molly asked if we could go to the zoo, so we did!  That was a lot of fun.  We rode the train first thing and then went the opposite direction we usually go so that we could hit the splash pad and the animals we didn't see last time we were there :).  It was a fun outing.  We had a lazy evening, the kids ran around with their friends, Erika went to Maughan's for a projector movie, so we had another movie night here too :).  Then we ended the night with a surprise arrival from the boys!!  They had come home a day early!  With all that they encountered out there, I'm surprised we didn't see them sooner!  I need to have them write about their experience on King's Peak (or close to it!) lightning, electricity sparks on Nate's phone, a WOLF!!  Crazy stuff!  Fun stories!!  It was another late night for all of us :).  But we were so grateful our boys were home safe!  7-29-22

SHOPPING WITH MY BOYS
Bradley, Luke and Noah all needed some last minute things for Cross Country camp next week so the four of us went shopping together :).  My mom heart was so happy.  I loved it.  Hopefully I never forget all the good feels of that day.  I loved noticing their different shopping styles and choices of clothing and treats.  Brad could have bought a hundred more pairs of running shorts along with everything else in the store, Luke needed to go to several different stores to find what he wanted and Noah was somewhere in between.  I loved Luke's dilemma with buying the right kind of snacks.  His plan to just "follow Brad around and buy what he gets" HA!  So funny!  I'm excited for them to all go to camp together- just a cool opportunity for all of them.  I hope they survive.  7-30-22

CHARITY
I was supposed to go up to Logan for the Manwaring's wedding, and I came home to get kids and go and to my surprise Charity was here!!  I was so shocked!  I had been planning on surprising her while I was up there by her.  Needless to say, I made the decision to stay home and spend the evening with her.  It was some much needed time together!  I love being with her and talking with her.  We feel the same on so many issues lately that we can really get going :). Love that girl!  I'm so proud of her and all that she is accomplishing right now- it's hard, but she's doing it!  Such a cool girl!!  7-30-22

TY CLEMENS' HOMECOMING
We all got to go out to Tooele for Ty's homecoming!  That was really cool.  The kids can't get over how weird their church was and the way the deacons passed the sacrament and how different it all was :).  Old building with a half wall dividing the chapel and cultural hall- kinda weird.  Very cool building though!  We got to go over to the park with them after wards and had yummy crock pot pulled pork which was so delicious!  I totally broke ranks eating it!  I loved seeing Julie, loved seeing Lacie and Tony, loved that Sadie was talking to everyone and being so sociable :).  She was so happy that Julie liked her dress and her hair :).  She even asked Julie if she liked her hair- haha!  Funny girl.  We didn't get to stay very long because I wanted to get back in time to spend a LITTLE time with Nate, but it was really fun to see everyone!  I was grateful I had Luke, Noah, Erika, Jack, Molly and Sadie with me- Brad and Nate were loners at our ward :(.  Good times.  7-31-22