Memorial Day Barbecue

MEMORIAL DAY
Memorial Day was a lot of fun!  We got up at the crack of dawn to go to the Ward Breakfast at Ponds Park.  This is a fun tradition we inherited when we became part of the Ponds Park Ward.  We didn't get to have Nate with us which is a definite bummer, but we managed to still have some fun.  Jack couldn't find his shoes, so he came barefoot and rode in the wagon all the way there.  Then spent a good portion of his time there curled up in a blanket in the wagon.  Looked like we'd smuggled in a puppy or a baby or something.  He was really cold.  Should have put him in pants I guess.  The weather wasn't perfect, but it actually held out pretty long for our breakfast before finally dumping on us.  I loved that they did games this year!  Audrey hid some flags for the kids to find which my kids LOVED.  Then she had them do three legged races for bags of Red Vines.  So cool :).  I LOVED how simple it was and yet how much fun the kids were having!  Luke and Brad were determined to win and finally did.  I was partners with a couple of the kids that didn't have one, that was fun :).  It was hard losing though since that's never happened to me before in three-legged racing.  But it was all good.  I can't eat Red Vines right now anyway.  So I did get to talk to a few people, the Nybo girls were fun to talk to about Disneyland, and then I managed to get a few words in with Emily before I realized I needed to go get my groceries.  But it was a nice time.  The rest of the day we mostly bummed around.  It was actually really nice and I felt like it was the perfect little recharge before this last lap of school!  Made me feel like I really could sprint to the finish!  We played some games, but surprisingly did NOT turn on the TV or computer!  It was no screen day and we actually did it!  Then we headed out, picked up Nate and went to the Taylors' for the family barbecue.  Unfortunately it was pouring rain, so we just ate inside, which was a bummer with my allergies being as bad as they've been lately.  They have two dogs, so I really didn't stand a chance.  But we had fun.  I enjoyed it.  Time to gear up for the last week of school!!!  We can do this!  5-28-18

Week of 6-17-18

INCREDIBLES 2
I had mentioned to Grandpa Hatch that we should go to Incredibles with HIM since we loved watching the first one with him so much.  So we couldn't even wait, we went on Monday for Family Night.  I purposely sat by Jack and he did NOT disappoint!  Laughed at ALL the funny stuff with his cute husky laugh.  My favorite part was when Jack Jack gets big and is sitting on top of one of the super heroes and I look over at Jack and he is folded in half with his jaw down to the ground, just struggling to get his next breath, but with a huge smile on.  It was SO FUNNY!!  The kids liked the movie, but some of them were too scared.  And I was a little disappointed with the language and adult theme of some of it.  But hopefully it wasn't too much for them.  I LOVED it overall.  The kids loved it.  Although, Jack said, "That was a funny movie, but I never want to see it again, it was too scary!"  So there you have it.  Molly started out on the same chair with Erika (cuz I couldn't get another seat) and then ended up in my lap, but the cool thing is- she lasted the ENTIRE movie!  Didn't have to go out once!  Pretty awesome.  I loved that Grandpa kept poking his head out and looking over to see the kids' reactions more than watching the movie :).  He's so fun.  I miss hanging out with him more often.  6-18-18

MINISTERING INTERVIEW
Kelly and I finally had our ministering interview with Shelly Smedley.  That was awesome.  I think we're going to be a great companionship.  I loved some of the things Shelly pointed out.  6-19-18

FLAMING GORGE FOR THE BOYS- PLAY PLAY PLAY FOR THE GIRLS
Nate took all the boys up to Flaming Gorge to try out Randy Browning's Charter company.  It was tough to find a day they could go with Nate's schedule and our camps and such, so he settled on a Wednesday even though that meant working the mid and leaving at 4:00 to pick up the boys and head up there at 4:30!!  Kinda nuts!  It was a little weird for me since Charity, Kelly and I had stayed up late that same night watching movies, I only got about an hour of sleep before I started hearing the boys hustling and bustling around downstairs.  They are so funny!  Got up WAY early to sit around and wait for Nate :).  Everyone had been packed the night before.  So they could have gotten up at 4:25.  But it was cute.  I got up with them and saw them off.  Then went back to bed for a few more hours.  Nate promised he'd pull over if he got too tired.  We managed to eat some breakfast, then get to Playgroup down at West Bountiful Park a little late.  After the park we went and grabbed some lunch at Carls Jr. to eat at home since Molly had konked out in the car.  I was so proud of myself for eating the hamburger (which was REALLY yummy by the way) without the bun!  Go me!  Have I mentioned I started the KETO diet on Monday?  Anyway.  We ate lunch, kinda bummed around while Charity went to lunch with a guy who works at Cafe Rio, I think his name is Dean?  Free food is a good incentive apparently.  Even free Cafe Rio.  She hates Cafe Rio.  Then out of nowhere our awesome friends the Blackburns just stopped by!!  From Lehi!  What a fun surprise that was!!  We got to talk with Bliss for a good hour.  I love her.  And she looked awesome.  After that we headed down to Station Park for some (mostly) window shopping.  Erika and Molly picked having some candy at It's Sugar, Charity and Kelly picked some yummy stuff at Bath and Body Works.  They all had some pretzel bites too :).  So lots of fun there.  We got to throw our pennies in the fountain, and browsed Claires til Molly screeched.  Lots of fun!  It was really fun to just be the girls- that hasn't happened in a while.  Even if we are such a spread out range of ages these days :).  I still wish I'd gotten the four cute little key chains-- that would have made the perfect souvenir.  We debated about where to eat dinner and then just decided Molly was too grumpy for a restaurant and got some food at Smith's.  We were getting pretty late into the evening, but still wanted to go on our bike ride to get snow cones, so at 8:00 pm we were headed down the driveway on our bikes to get some snow cones.  Kinda crazy and looking back, not the most well prepared for activity.  We needed to bring the head lamps.  But whatever.  We got down there safely, even with Charity riding on a flat tire, and had our snow cones.  Before departure, we were sure to say a prayer that our bikes could handle the bike trail since riding on the street in the dark was just way too dangerous.  Thankfully, we were blessed with a little miracle and all was well.  I loved hearing Erika cheer as she went down the big hill.  And since I'd figured out how to pump up Charity's tire, it was smooth sailing for her too until going up the big hill.  But it ended up being a fun little bike ride.  When we got home we watched Return to Me and then crashed.  Our plans for morning were Kneaders, Seagull Book and then swimming with the Maughans for Rachel's birthday.  We got to Kneaders with only 10 minutes for Charity to spare.  She gobbled up her French Toast and headed over to work.  We ate- I had a yummy greek omelet that was actually really yummy and I didn't even miss the french toast.  Well, maybe a little, but I felt really good about it all :).  We went over to Seagull to visit Charity and try on some cute clothes!  I found the cutest dress and Kelly's reaction to it, when I stepped out of the dressing room had me sold.  She's so sweet to me :).  I bought it.  I felt bad we were so hard to ring up when Joan was doing it.  Then we said goodbye and ran home to get swim suits on and go swimming.  We had so much fun at the Jones' pool with the Maughans.  Definitely a highlight of the day.  We all got sunburnt.  Molly was so brave and had so much fun!  Only a few little screeches here and there.  Still working on that.  I'm not sure how, but I forgot towels?!!!  Weird.  Good times though.  When we pulled into the driveway we saw that the boys had also gotten home!  It was fun to hear all about their trip.  I will have to have one of them write about it.  All the salmon and the two really big trout.  Sounded like a lot of fun.  Minus Jack crashing into the pole at the KOA.  The girls got to go to Stake Youth Conference that night.  They loved it!  Basically they did a carnival for the Special Needs Mutual.  Cool stuff.  6-20-18 and 6-21-18

THE DRYER
Our dryer is out of commission.  Somehow the very tippy tip of a towel got jammed into the grate over the vent thingy, and just tore a chunk of the plastic grate off!  Kinda weird that the towel was stronger than that plastic grate.  So there are sharp edges and I worried about them tearing clothes so I started looking on KSL for a new dryer.  Nate intelligently started calling repair guys.  While we were deliberating I decided to finally take care of the lint in there, and vacuum it out.  Found LOTS of fun surprises in there.  Money was a big one.  Had to have Kelly and Erika help me fish it all out.  But I guess in the process of CLEANING it, we knocked some lint where it shouldn't be and when we turned the thing back on to see how well it worked it put off a really horrible burnt smell.  So yeah, we needed to fix the thing or replace.  Luckily, Nate found someone who could come Monday.  We will find out then what the damages are and if it's worth fixing.  In the meantime we can't wash clothes here.  Kind of a bummer... kinda not.  6-21-18

THE AIRSHOW
We had THE BEST TIME at the Air Show this year!  We picked the PEFECT time to go- parked at Northridge High and shuttled up to the base- SO MUCH EASIER THAN LAST TIME!!  Only took us about a half hour to get to the entrance gate and then only 10 or so minutes to get past security.  Pretty miraculous after last time's experience.  We walked around and saw some of the planes and booths.  Then we parked ourselves up front to watch the F-35's- brand new this year!  And SO AMAZING!!!  They were SO POWERFUL!  And my dad says they can take off vertical like a helicopter- too bad we missed that.  During the 30 minute intermission, we headed over to the Go Army tent to show off our pull-up and push-up skills!  Erika, Noah, Jack, Brad, Luke, and Nate all did the pull-ups and got cool water bottles for that.  Then ALL of us (minus Molly) did the push-ups.  And we ALL beat the goal that they guy gave us.  I was so impressed with Charity's 20 and Kelly's 30!!  And my OWN 21!!  Pretty cool.  I got a free shirt.  Everyone else got a drawstring bag with a phone fan in them.  Nate got everything because he broke the record for the day getting 86 push-ups.  "You just broke the record, sir", mumbled under his breath, almost irritated that he was taking so long.  HA!!  Nate's the coolest.  I was pretty proud of us.  Then we spun a spinner got a few small beach balls and some key lights and slap bracelet (we're way into the free crap), and then settled in our spot for the day as close to the tarmac as we could get.  Which wasn't really close.  But we were kinda close to the water which was handy.  And closer than usual to the bathrooms.  But lots of fun!!  I especially loved playing with Molly with the water- she had the little lid from my water bottle in her hands and we were filling it up so she could go toss it on people or with her cute little hands, pull the back of their shirt open and pour it down.  The best was when she pulled Jack's hat off to get his hair wet!!  She was having the time of her life and everyone was helping to make it that way- gotta love those moments.  Even if there are bouts of little arguments going on between the older kids.  This might sound bad, but I'm looking forward to my week of not having to listen to the big kids argue.  Just to clarify- I AM GOING TO MISS THEM, I AM JUST NOT GOING TO MISS THEIR FIGHTING that has become pretty consistent these last few weeks.... that's all I'm going to say.  The air show was great- we loved the stunt planes and covered up Molly's ears with her B for the loud jets.  We were bummed there wasn't a jet truck race- not sure how that got skipped.  And I was of course bummed that there wasn't a B2 bomber.  Even though they haven't had that in the show for probably a decade.  But still!  I love that thing!  We said goodbye to Nate, Charity, Kelly, Jack and Molly at 3:00 when they had to get home for work, work, babysitting, and to get out of my hair.  The rest of us got to watch the Thunderbirds!!  I LOVE the Thunderbirds, so I was so happy that Nate made it possible for me to watch them uninterrupted or distracted.  Although, Jack would have loved them!  Brad, Luke, Noah and Erika humored me as I got all excited with each stunt.  They were cute too, I loved Luke's nervousness when they would get so close and almost hit.  Erika too got all wiggly and then relieved when they barely missed.  Fun stuff.  It was a short walk back to the shuttle drop off and then a REALLY LONG WAIT to get on the bus.  If it had been up to Brad and Noah, we would have just walked all the way back to Northridge High, but according to my maps app, we saved about three minutes NOT walking but waiting for the shuttle.  HA!  Yeah, not sure which would have been better.  But actually, I kind of liked waiting in line- we played chopsticks and 21 and actually entertained ourselves pretty well.  When we got home we crashed!  Everyone wanted to rest.  Big day and lots of sunburns.  Although, not as many as their would have been had I not doused them in sunblock before we left.  Not sure how some did and some didn't...  Good times. After dinner and resting the kids all played night games til about 10:00 with about 10 of the neighbor kids- love that about summer!  6-23-18

GRANDPA RUSS
Saturday marked one year from when Grandpa Russ died.  Can't believe it's already been a year.  It was neat to think about him during the Air Show though.  Felt like a great way to celebrate his life.  As well as Nate and the boys' trip to Flaming Gorge.

Week of 6-10-18

FAMILY MEETING
We made it to the family meeting this month!  That was a lot of fun.  Felt like it had been a really long time since we'd been.  Probably has.  We had a nice lesson about "Sticking to the Riesens to D.O.T.S (Depend On The Savior)"  Nate's mom is adorable.  She gave all the sons/son-in-laws a tie with a quote from Nate's Dad sewn on the inside.  Nate's says, "Finer than frogs hair".  Pretty cute.  We stayed around to play with cousins and I actually got to visit with Ali for a while, which was fun.  So it was a nice time!  Didn't get home til 10:30, but all was well.  6-10-18

ERIKA ZOO WITH MORGAN
Erika got invited to go to the zoo with Morgan on Monday morning.  She had so much fun!  She bought a slinky with her souvenir money.  She was such a different little girl when she got home :).  Made us all smile.  I think the freedom and getting out and away from everyone does that to kids.  She is such a fun girl.  I'm glad she got to do something different.  6-11-18

BLOOD WORK
Still haven't heard back from the doctor about my blood work.  Kind of irritated that they gave me a doctor who was going out of town the day after I had my blood drawn and was gone for a week!  Didn't think that one out very well I guess.  I'm trying to be patient.  We'll see how long it lasts.  Usually no news is good news right?  And what would be good news at this point??  6-11-18

FHE
Since scribe is the "nothing" job for FHE, and because I know Charity is not going to write about it--
We had an awesome lesson from Erika about answering Gospel questions with a smile.  We got to role play some non-member questions.  I thought everyone did a great job of answering things!  Pretty cool.  For Jack's game he had 1-10 written on sheets of paper and he would hand them all out while our eyes were closed, then we each had to guess which number we'd been given.  Then after a couple rounds of that he hid them throughout the house and we had to find them :).  Very creative!  For Molly's treat we had.... drum roll please.... BACON!  HA!!!  She's so funny.  She picked it!  And it was delicious.  6-11-18

LAZY DAY
We were tending Gabby Mavy today so we tried to just take it easy.  I did about 10 loads of laundry, but other than that, we mostly sat around and did nothing... well, if you call messing up the kitchen nothing.  We did run a few errands and I was reminded of how much I hate those dumb awkward car seats and hauling them around.  But other than that.  Uneventful.  Kind of how I like my summer days!  The kids all ran around and did their stuff.  Baseball with the water balloons, trampoline, bikes, Erika and Brad actually went on a bike ride, lots and LOTS of Studio C, Kelly and I spent some time playing Sequence and browsing Pinterest together, that was fun, baseball at the Clemens's.  Lots of fun.  6-12-18

WARD POOL PARTY
We had the beloved ward pool party on Wednesday!  This is one of the highlights of the summer every year now.  It's fun that the kids love it so much.  Nate got to do the meat again which he loves doing, but stresses so much about it the whole time before, during and even a little after.  He cares SO MUCH!  But he did awesome, as usual, everyone loved it!  There was quite a bit left over which is just a given when you have to plan on the whole ward being there.  Charity, Kelly, and Brad spent a lot of their time together, over in the deep end and going off the diving boards, although I did see Brad over playing basketball a LOT of the night.  Luke got to go off the diving board and then braved the high dive for his first time!!  He was so cute about it.  He loved how it felt in his tummy before he jumped off :).  I was so proud of him- he went off about a million times after that.  Noah was all over the place with his friends.  I'm pretty sure I saw him go off the diving board a few times as well.  Along with Erika.  She was everywhere as well.  She spent a lot of time on the slides and then the diving board followed.  They were all so brave going off the diving board.  Jack was a little buoy the entire time- totally bobbing all over the shallow end with Will and Liam.  It was fun to see him so comfortable in the water and having such a great time.  I didn't even have to stay that close to him.  He was very careful, but very adventurous at the same time- pretty cute.  Molly and I were total buds all evening.  We stayed together the entire time.  We had a lot of fun watching the kids on the diving board and running around in the super shallow area.  She was super cute and got really comfortable in the water.  Not like last year where it took forever to adjust.  She didn't love the slide.  The kids really wanted her to experience it so they put her on it, but she fell over and then tried to stand up and walk out at the end.  She was not happy after that, Bob, not happy.  But everything else... Her poor little lips were purple when it was time to go though.  Nate had a good time I think.  I hardly saw him all evening.  He swam and then got in some Dave Noriega bonding time.  Oh, and we can't forget his little interlude with Sis. Smith (teehee).  Funny stuff.  It's fun to see him more comfortable in the swimming pool these days :).  Very cool.  And hot at the same time :).  6-13-18

COLD STONE
We were craving something cold, so we piled all the kids in the car.  I think we were missing Charity and had Enoch, Kate Maughan and Maya Mavy with us (she had randomly showed up on our doorstep and asked if she could stay til 8:00 that night- kinda strange, but whatever).  It was fun to watch everyone devour their ice cream and spend their extra money on chocolates :).  Then we went over to Gailey Park on the way home.  Good times.  6-14-18

BECKY
Thursday and Friday mornings were both spent down in West Jordan (Nate, Brad, Molly and I) to help Becky with some errands.  Thursday we were supposed to take her cat to the groomers, but Adam ended up shaving him, so we just went to Macey's for some birthday stuff for Adam.  We had a good time hanging out with Becky.  She seemed to be doing a lot better from her surgery.  When we got back, we decided that Nate needed to do some repairs and stuff in her house, so Friday, when I was taking her to her doctor appointment, Nate, Brad and part of the time Enoch, worked on her house and yard.  I thought it was so cool all that they got done.  Nate put in a new spigot out back to make her swamp cooler easier to use and a bunch of other repairs around the house.  I got to spend time with Becky.  That was nice too.  It's always good to talk with her.  I'm sad for all that she's got going on in her life right now, but hopeful.  Seems like things can get better soon.  Thursday we had picked up Enoch for a sleepover and Friday we of course brought him home.  That was fun for him and Brad.  They went fishing most of the time he was here.  6-14-18, 6-15-18

BIRTHDAY DATE WITH KELLY
Kelly finally settled on Manicures and dinner out, but while we were getting manicures, we got the crazy idea to go see Incredibles 2 as well.  Our manicures were great, we talked a ton and tried to get the girl doing them to talk, but didn't really succeed.  Still fun :).  Then headed back to the theater in Station Park for the movie.  What a CUTE MOVIE!!  We both LOVED it!  It was so much fun!  I could totally hear Jack laughing at all the funny parts and kept wishing he was with us too :).  All the boys for that matter- I could see them loving it.  It was adorable.  So being as late as it was after the late movie, we just went to Costa Vida for dinner.  Surprised it closes at 10:30.  We still had a good half hour!  Yummy food and then to the grocery store for some incidentals.  But we had a great time!  I love spending time with Kelly.  She's such a cute girl and makes me feel like a friend.  6-17-18

Week of 6-3-18

SHARING TIME
I followed the outline in the Sharing Time manual exactly.  And things went really well.  I was surprised.  It was nice to have the kids listening and showing some respect this week.  Not sure where it came from but it was nice.  I will say WHY DO I ALWAYS HAVE TO GET THE CRAMPS OF DEATH WHILE I'M TEACHING SHARING TIME????  UGH!  There.  I'm done.  6-3-18

PRESIDENT NELSON'S FIRESIDE
Charity, Kelly and Bradley all went to the Stake Center to watch the broadcast, Luke chose to stay home and watch it on the TV with me.  What an AWESOME fireside that was!!  I was just on pins and needles the entire time anxious to hear what he was going to say!  I love his idea to "Enlist in the Lord's Youth Battalion in helping to Gather Israel!"  So cool!  We are going to work on his five things together.  I love that he gave practical things for them to apply to their lives!  Just really awesome!!  6-3-18

PLANNING
I was talking with the kids Sunday night about how we would like to implement some more youth lead in our home considering there isn't going to be as much of it at church anymore.  They were all really excited about some of the ideas they came up with.  I only was wishing Nate was there so that we could solidify some of it.  I thought they got really creative, wanting to turn our family into a city and everyone has different responsibilities, kinda cute.  We'll see what ends up happening.  I think it's cool that they are bummed about the youth lead fizzling out a little and anxious to do more here.  Makes me happy.  6-3-18

BASKETBALL CAMP FOR LUKE AND BRAD
Brad and Luke went to their first basketball camp on Monday.  Including the funny line to pay and the weird lady who thought she deserved special treatment and could skip the line-- I'd say the first day was a success!  I sat and watched them do a dribbling drill before I left them there.  Looked pretty serious.  Then when I picked them up, Luke came running out to the car, couldn't even wait for Brad, just jumped in and the first thing he said, with a big huge smile, "That coach is so... weird!"  Then he proceeded to tell me how the coach had them choose who they thought would win the final round of lightning and if they chose right they would get a Gatorade. "I thought he was joking so I just picked the side that didn't have very many people, and HE WON!  So I got a Gatorade!  It was so funny!"  Such a fun, cute kid.  I loved hearing about it all- they really had a fun time!  I was so glad.  Not like Brad's experience last year where he didn't know anyone really.  It's nice that they have each other.  On Tuesday, I went early to pick them up and watched them play for a little while- that was fun.  They were on opposing teams when I first got there.  Kinda crazy to watch them play against each other.  But fun still too.  They are both so good!  I'm so proud of all the hard work they've put into this skill and how they've magnified their talents!  Fun stuff.  6-4-18

FIRST DAY OF SUMMER
So I think today was a good sign of how great this summer is going to be!  It was awesome!  I loved sleeping in a little, lazying around.  I did get TONS of laundry done, and everyone had to have jobs done before they could do anything (which meant Jack moped around for a few hours before finally deciding playing with Will was worth vacuuming the stairs- his new job), so it wasn't completely unproductive.  Kelly and I managed to squeeze in about three hours of Sequence.  Yes, the board game.  It was fun.  Everyone just kind of ran around with friends playing on trampolines, water balloons (Luke and Clint rode bikes all the way from his house to ours to get our balloons and took them back to Clint's!).  Bradley went fishing (this should have been first since he got up at 5:00 in the morning! to go fishing before Basketball camp!).  Noah and his friends played Bigger or Better (much to my dismay).  Charity had to work, so that was rough, but most of it was fun stuff!  6-4-18

VISITING BECKY IN THE HOSPITAL
Becky had her surgery to remove the tumor and basically a hysterectomy on Friday.  Things didn't go so well, so she was still there on Monday.  There was a lot more to be done I guess.  We went to visit her and she seemed to be doing better than we'd heard the days before so that was good.  She was fun to talk to, as always.  The kids were a little sleepy from the drive, so less than entertaining on our end, but all was well.  Jen showed up just before we left and livened things up a bit for us :).  It was nice to spend that time with them.  Hopefully, Becky will be able to keep her oxygen up and get out of there soon.  Or at least be feeling better.  6-4-18

MOTHER DAUGHTER LUAU
Erika and I got to spend the evening together for her Activity Days Mother/Daughter party.  This was a lot of fun!  Something I haven't done in a long time!  We had a lot of fun guessing the baby pictures.  Erika's was so the cutest!  Just had to throw that out there.  Then we ate Hawaiian Haystacks.  Then we played the "That's my mom" game.  Then we had floats and it was time to go.  I am pretty proud of my Erika.  She's such a good girl and so fun to be with!  I wish we could do that more often!  6-5-18

PRESIDENTIAL FITNESS
So.  I'm a little annoyed right now.  I probably should just get over this, but I am struggling.  I emailed Mrs. Gorze, the PE teacher asking if there could have been a mistake with Luke's scores and politely asked for his scores.  She responded saying she had triple checked everything, but didn't give the scores, so then I replied asking for the scores and she hasn't responded at all.  I realize school is out, maybe she's on vacation, but I'm a little irritated.  I know Luke is unusually obsessed with the whole thing, but what is wrong with telling us what she has down for his scores??  I am hoping she has something wrong and we can clear it up and he can still get his certificate that he wants, but that doesn't have to happen.  And if we had his scores, we would know where he went wrong if he did.  She was really dismissive with her "'they' don't do that award anymore", which bugs me and I really wish "they" would have told the kids they weren't going to do the three year one.  I think I'm just going to go ask Mr. Denhalter about it next week.  If I'm not over it by then I guess.  I just feel like Luke deserves it and I'm the only one who is going to fight for it for him.  6-5-18

SECRETARY
I just got a text reminding me about the meeting for the DGL Parent board tonight and couldn't go and then later in the thread (at 10:30 at night), they asked me if I'd be the secretary so I said, "sure!"  So I guess we'll see what that means?!  I'm a little nervous, but I'm also feeling pretty good about it.  It can't be as bad as PTA President and I survived that?? 6-5-18

GRANDMA HATCH'S 60TH BIRTHDAY
I'm a little bugged at myself for not giving myself more time to make her cake that day.  I put it off til later, since it was an easier one and I had made it even easier by buying the actual cake part, but of course, since I thought it looked easy, I ran into a bunch of problems at the last minute.  Kind of annoying.  I will say that I was able to get the color of the flower pot just perfectly!  Too bad she never got to see it.  We will have to try harder next time.  But anyway!  Simon treated us all to dinner at Golden Corral.  That ended up being a lot of fun!  I think my most favorite part of the evening was when I looked down the buffet towards our private room and saw cute little Jack there, standing at the chocolate fountain with a skewer of something he was drowning in chocolate, along with a plate covered in skewers of chocolate covered who knows whats :).  He was taking the "eat whatever you want" very seriously :).  It was SO CUTE!!  I loved it.  And I loved the cotton candy :).  It was fun to see Heidi and John and Porter and of course Steve was very entertaining so that was good :).  I'm trying to remember what it was that he ate to earn my dollar.  Something gross probably.  We all went around the room and told either something we love about Grandma or a favorite memory.  I shared about our sleepover we had a decade or so ago when we lived in Eagle Mountain and we were doing Yoga in the middle of the night.  Lots of fun.  Nate and the older four had to leave early for Mutual.  And Noah had missed it for a cool hike with the scouts.  6-6-18

SONS OF UTAH PIONEERS TAKE TWO
So two years ago Nate did a catering job for Emily's Dad's SUP group, and what do you know, he asked Nate to do it again this year!  Nate's been very anxious and (I think) excited for this.  Lots of planning and preparation goes into it for weeks before.  I had the privilege of making the potato salad.  Last time it was for 132 people, this time it was 105, so a little less, but not much.  Still took about four hours to make all the potato salad.  Which is kinda nuts!  We worked our little butts off that morning/afternoon (well past the 12:00 departure time we'd given ourselves for Bear Lake, unfortunately).  But we got all the food over to Jeff (who was going to serve it all) by 5:00.  It ended up going pretty well from what Jeff said.  That was a huge relief!  You could feel the relief as Nate was talking to him (while he was driving) on the way to Bear Lake.  Time to get ready for the ward pool party food!  6-7-18

Week of 5-27-18

PRIMARY SOLO
Well, I can't believe it, but Barbara let me handle Primary all by my lonesome.  It took some talking into.  Once she found out Natalie and Terrie weren't going to be there, she panicked a little.  I was actually REALLY pleased with how it all went!  I remember a little panic when I realized I needed to get down to the Primary room a little early (as Barbara usually does) to set up the chairs the way we like them, get the chair covers on, get the opening exercises stuff all ready and people assigned to them... a few other things.  But I left a little early and got it all done!  I was pretty proud of myself actually.  I think Junior Primary could have gone more smoothly and I think I put too much pressure on Bro. Thaxton to fill the time, but all was well.  It was funny that Shalane had almost called in sick that morning because she was under the weather.  Now that would have been funny for me to have to fill in for her too!  But really, I just did what I normally would have done, conducting and a few little maintenance things.  Senior Primary I had a minute to share with them what I had read in the Doctrine and Covenants that morning about how satan gets his power and that it's through our disobedience.  It was cool to witness them listening intently to me!!  It's been a while since they did that.  I had a brief little "you are saying what I want you to say" moment when words were coming out of my mouth that I hadn't really planned out and making sense.  And I don't know if it was what I said, but the kids were awesome today!!  Even the boys in the back and the girls on the side!!  EVEN MASON!!  It was amazing.  I was pretty happy with how Senior Primary went.  It was a successful day in Primary.  Surprisingly.  5-27-18

NOT MY FAVORITE DAY
Today was supposed to be my day to get things done and all under control before I ditch my house for two days to do Field Day and Sixth Grade Dance.  But of course, the planets just couldn't align.  It was annoying.  As I was trying to talk Jack into getting out of the tub (he'd wet the bed and NEEDED a bath), Charity comes in with the bad news that her car wouldn't start. Which happened to be at the WORST POSSIBLE TIME because RIGHT THEN Mitch shows up with the produce and I hadn't moved the car, or opened the garage or even gotten the clipboard and check book ready.  So I threw in the towel (literally) at Jack, so telling him he just needed to get out.  Ran outside, moved the car, got the clipboard/check, opened the garage, paid Mitch, hurried and ran Charity up to school, got back in time to see Luke off- he was riding his bike for a field trip.  And then frantically got Jack ready for school.  This was difficult as well.  We needed to be on time because I needed to pick up Otter Pops from Mrs. Turnbow (she needed last minute help because another mom couldn't do it) for their field trip today too!  I didn't even check to make sure Noah had a swim suit or anything for HIS field trip!  It was a big day for field trips!  So anyway.  The morning was CHAOTIC to say the least.  I was glad I'd gotten up on time and had my ME time.  So Molly and I got some laundry done, ate some bacon, and did produce.  Then ran over to the park to deliver the Otter Pops.  It was a nice time, I just sat and talked to Becky for a few minutes.  Molly followed Erika around.  It was short, but kind of broke up our day in a weird way.  We came home, weeded the garden and then it was time to go get the Kindergarteners.  Lunch, then Molly's nap and I hit a brick wall!!  Jack had gone off to play with his friends so I did the unthinkable and took a nap too!!  It was so needed!  I don't know what's happened these last few weeks, I just have zero energy.  This really goes along with my low iron theory and why my hair is falling out, which reminds me- I finally made an appointment to go figure that out- but man, I was just exhausted!  I slept for quite a while, waking up to pretend like I wasn't napping when Jack came in with his friends for a few minutes to get food and then go back out and play.  Kinda nuts.  But THEN as the school day was coming to an end, another "storm" hit.  Charity needed a ride home from the Elementary school, but Molly was still sleeping and Jack was off playing so I made her walk.  Natalie called and her kids needed rides home, so I was waiting for Charity to walk in so that I could go pick up Elementary kids.  I got there, took them home, but Natalie wasn't home yet, so I waited a little while for her.  Then Charity called, needing a ride to work!  She was going to be late, so I rushed home to get her and take her up to work, which was cramping my plans to get Noah up to the eye doctor with his broken glasses to get them fixed.  This was all a little hectic at the time, as I'm typing it up, I'm realizing it may have just been the tiredness I was feeling.  We did get up to the eye doctor before they closed, thankfully!  But much to Noah's dismay, they couldn't fix them.  We have to wait for replacements, unfortunately.  He was sad about that.  We got home in time for me to start on dinner.  I was trying to think of reasons to miss Pack meeting because I just wasn't feeling it tonight, so I came up with random tasks.  I did help Kelly with her resume so she could apply to Gnarly's, and Erika and I picked out my baby picture for our Mother/Daughter dinner.  So that was fun.  Cathie Nybo called just before Pack Meeting asking if we could take Tony and Molly with us and so there it was- the reason to go.  Kind of a bummer, but probably for the best.  It was a great Pack Meeting.  Bro. Gines does a good job, it's so nice that he does it so well.  Noah got a few awards!  We came home to the Produce drama- I had three ladies who forgot their baskets, one who had opted out too late, but I wasn't aware, one who underpaid, and one who didn't do the venmo payment they checked off doing.  So that was nuts!  Luckily Lisa bought the extra basket.  I picked up Charity from work, took Luke to the store to get his auction item(s) (she lets them sell ONE THING, but he always breaks the rules and sells a bunch of things AS ONE item... such a stinker).  And it was time to see Nate off to the mid.  WHAT A DAY!!  And it wasn't even supposed to be a busy day!!  When it started I had almost nothing on my schedule!!  So weird.  5-29-18 (I just realized I put the wrong date on the check for Produce this morning)

FIELD DAY!
I absolutely love field day!  It's one of my favorite days.  Definitely my favorite activity that the PTA puts on.  This is funny though, because it's also one of the hardest days!  I always drive myself into the ground.  It was another set up, work both shifts, clean up year.  I kind of just felt like I should this year.  Plus, I like field day :).  It was a fun year though!  Emily and I both met our match with the dunk tank.  I think we were a little overzealous picking that for both shifts of the day.  Next year, I vote we do water high jump.  But we managed to have some fun and didn't kill any of the 6th graders.  Almost, but not quite.  I love seeing my kids out there and watching them in their space.  It's crazy that the year is coming to an end, but really couldn't come soon enough.  I'm done!!  I got pretty fried.  Most of the kids loved the water slide.  The illegal water slide :). haha.  They all seemed to enjoy the dunk tank too.  Noah even got to do it after school which was fun.  This is a jumbled mess of information just like my head right now!  Good day!  5-30-18

SIXTH GRADE DANCE
This was another much anticipated event, less exciting for some of us, but still anticipated.  I had been to the planning meeting and been on the texting/emailing groups for the decorations, etc., and there had been a LOT of opinions and ideas for this, so let's just say I was overwhelmed by it all.  I was planning on helping set up, but didn't have anything to contribute really.  So anyway.  We showed up at 9:00 to set up and there was the awards assembly going on, so we had to come back at 10:30.  We basically sat around and watched everyone else set up.  Not a lot we could do.  I guess we did contribute a few helpful ideas, but yeah, kind of like a bunch of fifth wheels (Kelly was with Nate, Molly and I).  About 15 minutes to 1:00 we picked up the balloon columns (latex balloons- eye roll) from Natalie Chamberlain's house and delivered those through a back door in the school.  Then it was time for the dance!  This dance is really a lot of fun, but it was hard to tell with all the negativity the moms were dishing out!  It was a little annoying.  Everyone's stressed about how the dance card situation was, and who was feeling left out and who was dancing with who- it was a little weird how much they all cared about it.  I mean, it's a system that those sixth grade teachers have been doing for YEARS!  It is FINE!  But anyway.  I loved watching Luke!  He is such a fun kid.  He really does just have a good time.  I found out later that I was embarrassing him by being there which one might assume, but I really had no idea that he was embarrassed at the time.  He danced with his crush which was super cute and was super sweet to dance with a lot of other girls that I know he doesn't love.  He was in his cute suit so it was extra cute when he was dancing and doing all the line dances.  He is just so cute!!  I loved it!  I loved that he and Clint had their own, little table with all their goodies on it.  Whenever I couldn't find him I just looked for his little head, bobbing up and down- he was so jumpy :).  Kelly and Charity came to the dance with me and ended up being Mrs. Williams' saints, dancing with the boys who didn't have partners.  So fun :).  I think they really liked it.  And actually, Kelly was extra special that day, going around cheering kids up, helping nervous boys and girls and just being a good little friend to everyone.  She is so good at that.  I love that about her.  Several moms expressed appreciation for her and her attempts to make things fun for everyone.  It was a lot of fun!  5-31-18

KELLY'S DITCH DAY
So Kelly was a fun little friend to have around on Thursday.  This was supposed to be her ditch day and she ended up hanging out with Nate and I, doing all our errands with us, having lunch together (which she cancelled with her friend to go with us!  How cute is that!), and working on the dance stuff with us.  It was a lot of fun and I have to admit I was really flattered by the fact that she CHOSE to be with us!  Love that girl.  5-31-18

NOAH'S PRINCIPAL'S AWARD
So during the awards ceremony they read the name on the certificate wrong and said, "Noah Clemens" instead.  So neither of them went up to receive it.  So after the ceremony and while we were all in the gym setting up for the dance, they made the announcement to the moms and we all cheered for him there.  It was a little lame how they ended up presenting it to him, but we were still very proud of him!  This is like a citizenship award.  Something that Noah can earn just by being himself.  He really is deserving of this and I'm glad he got some recognition for that.  He's a good kid!  5-31-18

CLEANING THE TEMPLE
I signed up to go clean the temple on Thursday night.  9:30-12:00 which is the only thing that makes that a sacrifice for me, since I love it so much.  Giving up sleep is a sacrifice though.  It was fun to have the Shadowbrook ward there with us and be able to work together a little.  Bishop McGrath and the Grays.  I ended up on the vacuuming crew which ended up being a lot of fun and not too hard.  I got to vacuum endowment rooms, waiting rooms, hallways, sealing rooms, the Celestial room, behind the veil, Bride's dressing room, the women's dressing room, and the stairs!  So lots of fun.  I just love being in the temple after hours and feeling the Spirit there.  It's not creepy like the church buildings can be when they're empty.  I always picture Grandma Mottishaw there.  I constantly wonder if it's going to count for blessings or if I forfeit those because I love it so much :).  5-31-18

BLOOD TESTS
My hair loss was getting to me this week and I couldn't take it anymore, so I scheduled an appointment and I went to the doctor.  I really liked the doctor, his name was Dr. Child.  He listened to all my weird symptoms and talked about stress and how that could be a cause.  He decided to run several different tests on my blood first and then go from there.  Unfortunately, he is supposed to be out of town so I won't even get my results for another week.  That bugs, but whatever.  I'm not sure what I want or think they'll find out. 6-1-18

PROJECTOR MOVIE
We let the kids invite friends and get some goodies to have an end of school projector movie night.  We rented Inside Out, lots of fun!  6-1-18