JANUARY 2026

 NEW YEAR'S DAY WITH THE MAUGHANS
We met up with the Maughans at the church to wear out chair soccer and lightning.  We didn't end up playing any board games for some reason.  Some of us sat and chatted a little and there were lots of snacks the whole time.  It was fun.  It was definitely a different hang out without most of the old kids!  No Charity, Kelly, Rachel or Josh.  But we managed to have some fun I think.  1-1-2026

JACK WAS ORDAINED A TEACHER!
This was really neat!  I think Jack was really looking forward to it and the thought of moving up in the Priesthood.  He likes passing the Sacrament and still does it sometimes, but I think he was looking forward to preparing it.  He likes that he now has control over the Chex and getting them on the tray without cross contamination.  So we all met in the Deacon's room and Noah got to ordain Jack to the office of Teacher.  Pretty sweet.  I loved hearing what Noah blessed him with and knowing that Noah was just there, he would know the concerns and be in tune to what Jack will need for this position.  It's just so cool to see my boys bless each other's lives.  So cool!!  1-4-26

DAVID
We took everyone to see David on Monday- we were off for school, which was awesome.  It was a really cute movie!  We loved it!  I kept wondering where the movie would end- like in the life of David- if they would do it all, but they stopped before Bathsheba, or just didn't tell that part.  Kinda cool still.  I think it's important to recognize that even good people sin.  But it was a fun time with everyone.  1-5-26

JACK GOT BRACES
The day came!  He was excited, not excited.  Kinda wild.  It's so crazy that Jack is now, officially a teenager with his cute brace-face :).   He did so well- unfortunately, I wasn't able to be at the orthodontist with him, Nate went- but he did so well and hardly complained about pain at all.  We did stock up on yogurt, pudding, soft foods, etc.  Here we go!  1-6-26

PLAYING WITH KELLY
I got to go down to Salt Lake to spend some time with Kelly while she nannied.  I met Ollie- super cute little guy!  He loved it when I pushed him on the swing :).  It was a really nice time with Kelly.  I wish I had the energy I need to be more fun and wish I could be more helpful and fun.  But I loved being with her and feeling her energy and brightness.  We need to hang out more often.  1-7-26

NEW BUNK BEDS FOR SADIE AND MOLLY!
We did it!  We finally bought a new bed for the little girls.  Sadie's bed broke and has been at a 45 degree angle for the past... really long time.  We chose a triple bunk bed so that they could use the bottom area for toys and fun.  We still need to work on that.  But I spent the entire day Thursday putting the bed together.  It took forever!  It was really hard!!  But I did feel pretty awesome when miraculously I got the top bunk placed on top of the bottom two!  ALL BY MYSELF!!  I'm still not sure how I did it.  Must have had some unseen help.  But I am also really proud of myself.  It was a lot like my recent Lego sets where I just felt good accomplishing something.  I like those things.  The girls loved it!  They have little stairs that go up to the top- they can both use those.  No slide unfortunately, we decided a slide would be too short to be fun and also take up too much room.  They filled the bottom with their stuffies and "reading nook" supplies.  The shelves are all covered.  I think it was a good change.  I hope they actually like it.  No more watching movies in bed for Sadie and dad, which was a total bummer for Sadie, but she handled it well.  1-8-26

BIRTHDAY TABLES WITH SADIE
It was July birthday tables on Friday!  So much fun!!  Sadie had her two friends Caroline and Austin come up with her and that was awesome.  We loved being with her.  She got Chick-fil-a and Pretzel Bites.  We got to share some of the pretzel bites with Molly and that was fun.  She was very quick to pack up and leave- which was funny, but she did hug us and love us goodbye.  1-9-26

GREENLAND DATE NIGHT
Nate and I decided that we needed to watch Greenland for our date (there are NO good movies out right now) so we went to dinner and then came home to watch Greenland.  It was funny how many of the kids wanted to join in- even Kelly and Devan joined us.  A bunch of Brad's friends came.  It was so fun!  We let Sadie and Molly watch a movie on the laptop.  Fun time though!  We need to do this more often.  1-9-26

GREENLAND 2 WITH ALL THE BIG KIDS
I mostly thought of this idea as like a celebrating Noah kind of activity- for his birthday- but we never sang to him or did anything birthday related, so I don't know if it still counts as such.  But anyway.  We planned it all out, had grandma come watch the girls.  We had to go  before Nate has work, so it was an 11:50 show.  We were all pretty excited for this!  I think the movie was pretty good- we all thought it was more of what the first one was about.  Pretty crazy to think about though and very entertaining.  We loved the first one, so we were pretty easy to please.  It was super fun to have the Hollists and Brenchleys with us too of course.  Good times!  1-10-26

NOAH'S 18TH BIRTHDAY!
He did it!! He turned into an adult!  I watched it happen.  I think Noah had a pretty good day.  He loved the sign we all slaved over.  He got to go to church and do all the Sunday things all day.  I mean, it was  a pretty great day overall :).  We had grandparents over the next day, for brownies and ice cream and spoiling Noah with cards full of money.  So that was pretty fun too.  It was fun to see Noah spoiled and happy.  I mean, he's usually happy, but I do think he deserves a little extra spoiling once in a while.  He was very gracious.  I tried to talk him into doing something with his friends like dinner or sushi or something, but nope.  We also got to take him to Tucanos a couple of nights later for some yummy tummy-filling food- he loves Tucanos, so that was fun.  It's crazy he's already 18.  I have very fond memories of just holding him in the rocking chair when he was a newborn.  Great idea being born in January where the world slows down.  I literally would just lay there with him next to me for pretty long periods of time.  He was super snuggly.   I loved the peace that came with Noah.  It was a huge blessing at that time.  Cool that his name means rest or peace.  Fit him so well.  But here we are- filling out mission papers, thinking about college and doing an internship with Mountain Land PT.  He's really doing it all.  All grown up.  I'm really proud of him and all that he has ahead and the life that I am certain he will live.  He's a pretty amazing kid.  He's gonna do some amazing things.  1-11-26

NOAH PHYSICAL- TB TEST
Noah's just got a few more things to do before he can submit his papers, so we went and got another physical- the sport one wasn't enough- and they inserted the TB test stuff.  Kinda fun.  Just one of the milestones.  11-13-26

LUNCH WITH BARBARA FARNES
Barbara and I headed up to Applebees this week.  She was worried about me after I said this past year was hard.  I reminded her that I am just a big baby so she need not worry.  She had just had some dental issues so she was missing a tooth while we ate, kind of distracting, but also fine.  1-13-26

FROZEN PLAY WITH MOLLY AND SADIE
This was one of the gifts we gave the girls this year- tickets to see Frozen at the Hale Center Theater.  This ended up being SO COOL!!!  I was actually extremely entertained the entire time!  And so were the girls!  We loved all the special effects!  We got to learn about how they do a lot of it when they had "question time" aka: the stuff wasn't working.  The girls loved the quick dress change during Let it Go- we still don't know how they did that!!  So cool!!  The characters were so fun and the props.  It was a lot of fun.  We need to do something like that again.  1-14-26

PELVIC FLOOR PT
Had my second appointment.  It was not as bad as the first and she said I have improved significantly!  Which I was very proud of- I've been doing the breathing really well.  1-15-26

SHOPPING AND LUNCH WITH DAD
We went to our usual- Olive Garden- for lunch, and then shopping for my birthday gift!  I was thinking bed sheets, so I wanted to go to the Home store right there by Olive Garden, but when we pulled up we learned that it was closed for good!  So dumb.  So we went to Michaels and there was nothing there.  Then we decided to go up to Kohls.  I found some really pretty white striped white sheets.  I guess I should put them on my bed, but I am really excited about them.  It was a nice time with my dad too.  It's nice to hang out.  1-15-26

DATE NIGHT/TEAM DINNER FOR ERIKA
We got to do the team dinner with Emily on Friday.  Nate made pulled pork.  We took that and some coleslaw and buns.  Super easy.  I still can't believe they eat in the locker room.  I think it went okay though!  Erika has been playing really well lately and getting to dress for JV or Varsity a few times- so much fun!!  I'm happy they finally see it!  We brought the food, watched Erika play, went out on our date to a cool place where you cook your own food, found out Erika was going to dress for JV, went back, watched a lot of the JV game and then took all the leftovers home.  Big night.  1-16-26

COURTNEY!!
We finally got our families together- sort of- she came over with Briggs and we all talked and the kids played with Briggs.  It was a lot of fun!  We earned ourselves a babysitting job for Tuesday night!  1-17-26

NORTH COTTONWOOD PARK
We tried out the new Farmington park on Saturday!  This was a great idea that a LOT of people had at the same time.  It was super busy.  But the park is really awesome!  We totally loved it!  Super cool- super TALL slides, the cool 40 yard dash, the ninja course.  The kids had a blast.  The boys tried out the basketball courts and Molly and Jack tried out the little trail.  It's really nice!!  I'm excited for it!  Weird warm weather lately.  1-17-26

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR DAY
This was kind of a bust.  I had plans that I thought were kind of fun, but with the timing and then people not really caring about it- Bring your own bucket day was a nope.  It was fine.  We still got to go out to Daybreak for some TIOs with Grandma Ruthie and Jen.  That was a lot of fun.  She was so nice to pay for it all.  We were happy to get the Brenchleys there.  Charity had to work.  But the rest of us were there as well.  On our way home we stopped at Claire's house!  It was her dog, Skylar's birthday the next day so we celebrated her birthday with her :).  That was pretty fun.  Claire is always fun to chat with.  We of course overstayed our welcome, but it was awesomse.  1-19-26

CAKES
I've been making a lot of cakes lately- well two I guess- for other people.  That's been kind of fun.  REally simple ones, so that's good.  I did a panda one for Lacie Desmond and Tuesday I did a KPOP one for Addie Barth.  I got to help set up for her party a little and hopefully took a little off Marianne's plate.  I like doing those kinds of things.  Brad helped me :).  1-20-26

ERIKA AGAINST LAYTON
Erika had her most amazing game on Tuesday!  She's had a lot of good ones lately that I kept calling her game, but this- THIS was her game!!  She did SO AWESOME!!  She was our energy, our momentum shifter, she was incredible on defense!  She stopped the other team for the three last quarters.  We out scored them all three.  Unfortunately, she didn't get to start the game, so it was over before she started, but I really loved it just because she did so amazing!!  I'm fine losing if Erika is playing that well!  She got to dress for JV and Varsity at the Friday game because she's been so impressive lately!!  So proud of her!!  1-20-26

JACK ENDO
Well.  This was a huge let down.  We went to Jack's second appointment with this amazing Endo- Brett- we got from the Sanchezes, and after our amazing appointment where he really did some good things with Jack's doses, we learned that he is no longer going to be seeing patients.  UGH.  So we are now in the market for a new Endo.  Again.  This is a hard thing for Jack and I.  We are going to be tough and not let it get us down.  1-21-26

BREAKFAST WITH KRISTA
We really need to hang out more.  I love spending time with Krista.  She's awesome.  We squeezed in a breakfast at Kneaders and it was awesome.  1-22-26

LUNCH WITH STEPHANI
We went to Applebees this time.  It was great.  She is such a sweet friend and I feel like we are able to talk and get things done when we hang out.  So grateful for her listening ear.  1-23-26

PLAY DATE WITH LAYLA
Hunter's sister, Talia let us come up to their house so that the girls could play with Layla- and Lamont of course.  It ended up being a really fun little playdate for all us adults (Charity and Hunter joined us there.  Jack even came.), I don't feel like the little girls had the time of their lives, but maybe they needed a few more hours :).  Just kidding.  They played pretty good once they got out the playdough.  I loved visiting with Charity and Talia- so much fun.  1-24-26

WARD CONFERENCES
We're back at it- can't believe it's been a year!- I went to two wards this Sunday, Columbia Heights and Sego Lily.  Things went well.  The way Martha invited the young men to join up, and then assigned everyone a spot to speak, we are only going to teach twice the entire time.  Kinda weird.  I can't help but wonder if Martha just doesn't want us to speak.  She keeps making plans that make it so we don't.  It's strange.  But whatever.  We also had our Youth committee meeting and then an adult youth conference committee meeting.  It was a very long Sunday for me. I'm struggling a lot with all the committees and hooplah for Youth Conference.  It's crazy.  I've gotta some how get over it all.  1-25-26

SOMETHING HAPPENED
So I'm not sure what it was yesterday, but something happened.  I was in a dark hole.  I was feeling really down and discouraged about everything.  It was really hard.  I don't know how my mind can go there so quickly.  I took like two naps, didn't shower, didn't do a lot of the things I needed to do- although, I did wash the dishes- took me about 45 minutes less than I had invisioned for some reason.  It was wild.  I did end up putting on a  new patch last night and maybe that's why the darkness faded, I feel much better today.  It was just so hard.  I hope I can figure out a way to snap out of those or just not get there again.  It's weird.  1-26-26

LUKE'S PHONE CALL
I feel a little bad, I'm so bad at updating my blog that I am not recording all of the phone calls with him.  This week was a really good one.  He told us about his freezing temps and being stuck in his apartment.  That's been a challenge I bet.  And he told us about Cody and how his mom was pretty rude to them on the phone after they called her "sister ___".  At least she's letting him get baptized.  I hope!!  And he and Brad got to plan Brad's visit.  I can't believe his president is letting him visit!!  So cool!!  1-26-26

CHILI'S
Brad, Erika and I got to go to Chili's today for lunch!  Lots of funny and fun conversation.  I love my kids.  They are the best!!  1-27-26

ERIKA
Basketball has been a lot of fun this past week!  Erika has cranked up her game so well!  Some serious defense and even scoring has gone up!  I think she scored about 15 points in her game.  And she was our main defender.  It was a pretty exciting game- she had the young women there watching, grandma Hatch came and Bishop was there to watch her play on the sophomore game- that was the good one and then on the JV game as well!  Pretty cool  Erika got to dress for Varsity and JV- she played for a few minutes in JV.  It was a little weird because they put her out htere with the girls she plays with on the sophomore team so kinda weird, but she did great!  It was a lot of fun!  I'm really proud of her!!  She's doing it all while putting up with her knees hurting a ton.  1-27-26

WEBER GAMES
Erika's been asked to play up so much lately, it's been so fun to see her play a few times.  It's been a lot of fun to just sit there with Nate and cheer on the Varsity and JV teams too.  Date night!  Sadie and Molly have been so patient and accommodating.  We drove up and back from Weber High an obscene amount this Friday going back and forth with different people and so that we could sneak in a dinner and driving kids around.  Fun stuff.  1-30-26