Erika's Birthday (2 days of fun!)

ERIKA'S 9TH BIRTHDAY
Cute Erika got to sleep in, then woke up to her beautiful sign the Kelly created for her the night before.  She'd done it the long way so it didn't fit on the door, but I kind of liked the new spot she put it- that wall has been pretty bare for a very long time.  Then we all piled into the car and went to breakfast at IHOP (Erika's choice).  The place was PACKED!  We waited for a very long time.  Didn't help that we were a party of 10, but I"m really glad we didn't split up to make it go quicker.  We had a nice time!  Molly had a few moments of insanity, but that was over once the food came.  I loved sitting there with everyone.  We have a good family.  I got the yummiest bacon and sausage omelet.  Then a balloon lady came over and made a few fun balloons.  I think Erika got a green dog, Molly got a purple cat, Jack got a red plane, Noah and Luke got swords (which popped when we got in the car).  That was fun and unusual though :).  Memorable.  It was a fun way to spend the morning.  We had to hurry home for Nate, Brad and Luke to go to their stupid basketball draft which ended up being a TOTAL waste of two hours.  I seriously don't even want to think about it.  The time wasting ALONE!  If only Robyn Dixon could get her act together one of these years.  Whatever.  They came home and we hurried off to Jack's basketball game.  Which was super cute.  I love watching him play, he cracks me up.  The rest of the day was pretty chill- I think Erika had a good time using her new presents. We did grab a Dairy Queen ice cream cake on our way home so that Erika would have something to put her candles in.  Plus, it was cheaper than going out for Blizzards like I'd originally planned to do.  Then I had to leave for a couple hours for the adult meeting and she made her gummy worms and worked on her bracelets while I was gone.  I think it was a good day.  We were glad we still had one more day to celebrate her at her family party though :).  11-10-18

ERIKA'S FAMILY PARTY
We had to celebrate Erika's birthday a couple days late.  We had planned a swimming party with cake and ice cream before heading to the pool.  Well, earlier in the day, Noah had been feeling pretty sick and "looking green" so he came home early, rested on the couch next to a bowl most of the afternoon and by the evening had puked.  So I did not get to go to the party, but to keep things alive, everyone else still did.  We had Grandpa Hatch and Grandma Hatch over for presents and cake and ice cream (Jen had cancelled to stay away from the germs- don't blame her), then the Taylors met up with Nate and the kids at the pool.  Everyone seemed to have a great time!  Minus Molly- she had been in the middle of a nap so she stayed home, but she, Noah and I watched some movies and that was still kind of fun :).  I was glad Erika got her party.  She seemed pretty happy about it all.  11-12-18

The next day, yes, three days AFTER her birthday, her present had arrived!  So I let her open it right away :)

 It was her soccer necklace!

Week of 12-9-18

ERIKA SICK
Sunday morning, Erika was talking about her stomach hurting.  I didn't think much of it, but it got worse.  I finally decided she needed to stay home.  I wanted to go to choir, but I was planning on going back home to her after the Sacrament.  Well, after choir, when I was sitting next to Nate (first time in forever that we've sat next to each other at church!), I got a call from Erika- she was crying and I could barely understand her.  So I ran home right away, found out she had thrown up and was pretty distraught!  It was so sad!  I felt so bad that I wasn't here for her when she threw up.  So I stayed here right next to her for the rest of the day.  Nate brought Molly home with him when he left for work which was good and then we picked up everyone else when church was over.  It's nice that my kids are old enough I can let them stay there on their own.  Erika eventually got feeling better and only missed one day of school.  12-9-18

MOLLY
Molly cracks us up most of the time.  She says the funniest things.  And in the funniest ways.  Helps that she has a lithp now :).  I have to record this one because I'm thinking about it.  She was stretched above the floor from the couch to the ottoman with her arms on the couch, feet on the ottoman, and her little bum was dangling down between.  She had some larger pjs on so her cute little naked bum was hanging out of her pants.  I think she could feel the breeze because she looked over at me and said, "Do you think my bum ith hanging out of my pants or no?" With a huge smile I said, yep!  And she just laughed!  She's so funny!  12-9-18

FHE
Kelly taught a really awesome lesson on prayer tonight.  I couldn't believe how inspired she'd been to choose that topic.  It was just what I needed.  "All these things wherewith ye are troubled, shall work together for your good" (or something like that).  Totally needed to hear that.  She did awesome.  Brad's activity was to watch the Jazz lose to the Thunder on a smaller non-HD screen- kinda torture if I'm being honest.  Brad went to bed early.  We got Blizzards for the treat even though we had a plate of caramel popcorn and a plate of snickerdoodles sitting on our counter :).  12-10-18

UNION PARTY AT THE WAIRHOUSE
This was a fun change from how the parties have been in the past- I think we thank Stephanie for that.  They had a family party at the Wairhouse and then a drinking party at a bar down the street after for everyone else.  I still think it's lame that they use union money for people's alcohol habits, but at least they're putting some toward our fun as well :).  The kids had a blast!  Charity had to work which was a total bummer, but everyone else just ran around and had fun!  It's funny how those places really wear them out.  Only an hour and a half into it, they start to get a little tired and come around me a little more.  I of course just sat around and watched everyone, no jumping for Nate or I, although I would have loved it.  Molly got around, mostly on the big, long trampoline area, where she could count how long it took her to get from one end to the other, mostly running on the pads though :).  Jack was everywhere, he also loved the "Ninja Warrior course" that they had too- a ropes course above ground, pretty cool.  Erika helped Molly have fun and then played with Jack a lot on the ropes course.  Noah had a good time, enjoyed doing tricks on the sideways ones, until he fell and hit his head.  I think he got tired- he was complaining near the end, but I think he had fun for the most part.  Luke liked the basketball court area- he and Brad both had a lot of fun dunking and helping each other alli-oop (however you spell that), they both spent some time in the dodge ball arena, which seemed to build up a little bit of adrenaline- I can't believe how hard some of those guys were throwing the balls!  Kelly sat with me for most of the time.  She also spent a lot of time helping Molly and I think she enjoyed the foam pit the most.  It was a lot of fun.  Hopefully they do something like this again next year. 12-11-18

TEMPLE SQUARE CONCERT
Charity and her A capella choir got to perform at Temple Square on Wednesday.  I knew I wasn't going to be able to make it to her concert the next night so Kelly and I headed downtown for some entertainment.  We found them in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building on the top floor, on the mezzanine.  It was a lot of fun to run around that building, reminiscing about Nate's and my time there while we were dating- I'm sure Kelly thoroughly enjoyed the tour :).  Then we got settled and listened to Charity sing.  They sang some really beautiful songs!  I loved how the sound carried- they were perfect acoustics for the songs they did.  It was really neat!  I love that she has embraced this talent of hers and that she magnifies it so well.  I'm glad I got to hear her perform.  We hurried home so that Nate and everyone could head off to mutual.  12-12-18

NOAH SINGING AT THE STARZ GAME
So Thursday afternoon, I took Noah to the school, no coat- had to run back home for the coat he had left in the car- "I am 100% sure it isn't in the car!"-- so that he would have a coat on his big choir field trip to the Salt Lake Starz game!  This was a really cool experience for these kids- I was so happy for him!  He was super nervous and super excited at the same time.  He took off on the bus whether I was ready to let him go do that or not!  A little later in the evening, Erika and I took off to go watch him sing the National Anthem.  It was good we left when we did- we were stuck in traffic and not really sure if we were going to make it.  We said a prayer that we could get there on time and not miss Noah's choir.  THANKFULLY, we made it with lots of time to spare.  We were sure to thank Heavenly Father right when we parked.  We ran inside, another little miracle, the lady at the counter was able to find my tickets online, even though I was not! and let us in.  I was so glad I didn't have to buy more.  We found our seats and still had to wait about 20 minutes before it started- that's how early we got there!  And they started late too, but hey- I'm calling it a miracle!  We watched them sing and that was a lot of fun.  I need to snatch some pictures from other people- I was so anxious to get a Marco Polo for Nate, I didn't really get anything else!  Which is horrible, I know.  But anyway.  It was a neat experience.  Noah did great and realized he didn't need to be so nervous!  I loved hanging out with Erika and sometimes Noah throughout the rest of the game.  Erika and I made our way down to the fun Kids Zone where we waited in line for a good half hour (at least) to get her a fun balloon animal.  She chose a monkey and it was seriously the cutest monkey balloon I've seen!  With an adorable little banana.  We got some food (big mistake on my part- I ate a polish dog... with the BUN!!  UGH!!  I was SO SICK FOR THE REST OF THE NIGHT!!) and watched the SL Starz beat the Arizona Suns.  It was a fun close game at the end.  Unfortunately, Noah had had to leave early, since he had chosen to ride the bus and I'd promised Cathie and Natalie that he would be riding the bus.  So he missed the end of the game.  He did get some autographs from a few Jazz players which was awesome.  Almost got some from the mascots, and unfortunately didn't get to meet Donovan.  But it was a good night for all three of us!  A night to remember.  12-13-18

CHARITY'S CONCERT
I wish I could say something about her concert- if I remember and she follows through, I will get her commentary.  I'm sad I missed it even though I did get to see her perform the day before.  I don't like to miss those things.  We'll see what she says :).  12-13-18

JACK'S SHOW AND TELL
Jackie got to do his show and tell on Friday!  This was pretty exciting!  He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he knew he needed to bring a toy and that kids were going to ask questions :).  It was super cute!  He brought his Power Ranger Dinosaur and showed that off for a few seconds.  Then Mrs. Burns asked me to say a few things about Jack.  Which I did.  Then Jack got to use the cool pointer to point to his classmates, who were dying to ask him a question.  It was so adorable!  He loved every minute of it- I could tell because he was trying really hard not to smile :).  I love the questions they ask, and his funny quick answers.  He was actually very good at some of them.  "What is your favorite planet?"  "Earth."  Of course!  And his favorite candy was licorice- which I thought was funny since I've never even seen him eat it.  Also, that night for our movie night, we purposely got licorice so that we could please Jack, and he gave his piece to Erika because he "doesn't like it".  HAHAHA!  Funny kid.  I did love at the last question, Mrs. Burns had announced that he could do one more and he picked Ross, but right as he picked Ross, his eyes were drawn back to Navy, in the back of the room, and he looked like he was disappointed in himself for not choosing her!  Made me smile.  I love that little guy.  He's such a sweetheart.  He came back to the back, gave me a hug, then hurried over to his little sister to hug her as well!  SO CUTE!!  It really made my day!  Then he hugged Nate too, and went back to his seat.  Fun times.  12-14-18

Week of 12-2-18

MOLLY IN PRIMARY
Molly has been having a rough time at church lately.  She falls asleep in Sacrament meeting, sometimes even just a few minutes before it's over, and then sleeps on either Nate or me until she wakes up.  Then she refuses to go to nursery, or sit in Primary, or anything that resembles reverence.  It's been difficult.  Today I dragged her into nursery and made her got.  Then every time I walked past the room, I could hear her crying for her mommy- for the entire hour!  So sad.  They've been bringing the soon to be sunbeams in for singing time each Sunday this month to get them used to the idea of Primary.  Molly did better last year at this time, when she came with all the ones older than her.  I'm not sure how this is going to go- I might start hiding when she comes in.  12-2-18

PUPPET SHOWS
We cleaned up the toy room not too long ago and found all our puppets- the kids got them out and did a few shows for us- lots of fun!  12-2-18

BRAD SICK??
So Brad got sick this week! Kinda weird!  He had a sore throat and fever and chills.  He kept trying to tough it out, but it was a bad one.  He did stay home on Tuesday.  It was fun to have him home, but I felt so bad for him.  He never gets sick!  He only missed one day of school, but it did set him back.  He was so worried about school, he went back before he was better.  I wish they wouldn't make it so hard to catch up when you're not there.  But anyway.  12-4-18

CHARITY'S CCR
We got to sit and talk about Charity's plans for school next year and in the future.  I think my favorite part was when her counselor told her she didn't need to cross BYU off her list- she was still a candidate.  She seemed really relieved by that.  I like how she is really getting some ideas of what she wants to do with her future.  Time to start applying for scholarships! 12-5-18

TEACHER IMPLEMENTATION TRAINING
We had our little training meeting that the stake asked us to have to get the Primary teachers on track for Come Follow Me.  Nate made cheesecakes for me :).  Barbara was not able to attend and Natalie had to show up late, so I kind of took over and conducted, showed the videos, bore my testimony and shared some thoughts.  It felt so good :).  This is the first time in a very long time that I have felt useful in the Presidency.  It was nice.  Things went pretty well.  12-6-18

BRAD'S MUSIC CONCERT
We made our way up to the Junior High after taking kids to school on Friday so that we could watch all the music department perform!  Brad's choir did a few numbers.  It was a lot of fun to watch him up there singing.  I'm so proud of him and that he has magnified this talent of his so much!  He's done it all on his own too!  It's so cool.  He looked so cute in his Santa Hat :).  Unfortunately, Molly wasn't too interested in watching and once she pinched her fingers in the bathroom door, she was done.  We let Dad watch the last song without us (course we had seen it in the first round of the assembly anyway) so it was all good.  Good job Brad!  12-7-18

CHARITY'S DAY DATE
I did a stupid thing and tried to plan.  I thought it would be nice to get the rest of the kids out of the house while Charity had her date, making gingerbread houses, here.  WEll, I forgot to calculate in the time looking at Layton Lights and getting candy, which apparently takes almost two and a half hours!  So by the time they got here, the movie (Kelly, Brad, Noah, and Erika) and Get Air time (Luke) the other kids had had, were over!  So basically, I ran around like a crazy person for no reason!  Which is fine- it actually ended up going really well, just having the kids hang out downstairs.  Everyone was really respectful of Charity and her friends and I think they had a good time :).  12-8-18

Week of 11-25-18

NATE HALF DAY
Today was a big day!  Luke was getting set apart for his calling as Second Counselor in the Deacon's quorum and then we had tithing settlement!  So Nate decided it was a good day to use some of his credit hours and didn't go into work until after tithing settlement.  It was a nice Sunday.  Molly slept at the end of Sacrament meeting so Nate took her in his arms to Sunday School.  Then brought her to me (still asleep!) for the third hour.  She woke up shortly after and was totally irreverent in Primary so I went with her to Nursery.  We've got to get her to stop falling asleep before Nursery.  She's getting out of the habit now!  I loved hearing Luke's blessing.  It's always so cool to hear what Heavenly Father has to say to them and know that He knows them.  He will do great at his new calling!  I'm proud of him.  Tithing settlement went really quick this time.  He almost didn't ask me for a declaration :).  But it was nice.  The kids liked the candy :).  We were sad to say goodbye to Nate, but we survived another Sunday evening without him.  11-25-18

JACK
Jack is growing up so much lately.  I feel like a lot of it is because of Mrs. Burns.  She is really good at helping kids move on to the next thing.  He's been different lately about helping out and doing things on his own.  Today I asked him to clear and set the table.  He was not happy about the idea and asked why a few times, but when I said, "I have asked every single person in this house to help out with dinner tonight and they all helped me without complaining or saying a word about it.  You can do that too!"  He was on it!  Didn't say another word and even went above and beyond by scrubbing the table too!  I was so proud of him!  He's been way into making things lately.  Especially with tin foil.  It's been cute to see his creations.  Not as cute to see his messes, but he's learning to clean those up too.  It's really fun to see him developing and doing new things that are just Jack.  I told him he needs to ask Santa for a box of tin foil :).  11-25-18

FHE
Family night was really great this week.  Brad taught a lesson on patience.  I loved the story he chose in the Friend about the brother with Down's Syndrome.  Very cool.  And I loved that he showed me the "Guide to the Scriptures" that I didn't know about.  Then our treat was F'zookies- Noah's treat- I totally ate some of the dough and then had a few bites of the finished product with the ice cream!!  Loved it!  It tasted amazing!!  But I didn't love the stomach ache, shakiness, and my heart was racing all night long.  That was not amazing.  I need to learn my lesson.  We watched the Jazz lose again for our activity.  I'm with Erika- no more Jazz games for FHE activities.  But it was a good night with everyone.  11-26-18

RELIEF SOCIETY PROGRESSIVE DINNER
I really love this activity every year.  It's been a fun one.  Somehow this year, I ended up being in the same group as a lot of people several times.  Which was great when it came to Richelle Pearce, but not so great with a few others.  I still had a great time though.  It was good food (which I cheated a little and ate some things I shouldn't including an AMAZING chocolate cake- tiny sliver of it mind you- that Sarah made! So GOOD!!), good company.  Very enjoyable.  I was a little jealous I didn't get to go to Barbara's... sounded like a great time over there :).  All night long :).  11-27-18

ERIKA DENTIST
So while Erika was having major work done- two cavities filled and a teeth pulled!  I got to hear all about the new curriculum that will come out in 2020.  Dr. Morgan's ward is one of the pilot wards for the program and he spilled all the beans!  I am super excited about it now.  I feel like this gave me the recharge I needed :).  It's going to be awesome!  11-28-18

SHELVES
So Friday, Nate spent the entire day in the garage putting in some shelves for all of our crazy totes!  I am SO IMPRESSED!  I really can't express how impressed I am.  And he used the lumber from the shed, so doubly impressive.  It looks great and it alleviates a lot of clutter from the garage.  So that even with the weight bench, ping pong table, my bike and the trailer, and a few other big items, we are still able to park Nate's car in there!  That will be nice this winter.  So pretty cool!  We're making all kinds of progress on our ideas with the backyard, garage and basement.  Makes me happy.  One cute thing- with all the sawing and hammering in the garage, Molly couldn't hear her show, so she got up several times, opened the door to the garage, and told Nate he needed to be quiet so she could hear her show.  He was "too loud"! HA!  11-30-18

GRANDMA HATCH'S PARTY
Since the Hatches were in town, we needed a get-together at Grandma Hatch's house.  She decided to count it as the family Christmas party.  It was a nice time.  It was a good thing we brought a salad or Nate and I would have had nothing to eat.  But it was a good salad.  I filled up on it.  The kids had a great time.  Loved the game Heidi and John brought with the prizes wrapped up in a big ball of saran wrap.  I think Kelly dominated on this game- she's had a lot of practice.  But everyone really enjoyed it.  Luke came away with a ton too.  My mom really wanted it to be a Polar Express party, so she turned the movie on towards the end.  I think the kids like that show.  11-30-18

WARD CHRISTMAS PARTY
We went to our ward party on Saturday morning.  It was a breakfast.  They had amazing decorations!  The food was great too- just wish I could have eaten more of it!  For some reason I was STARVING the entire time, just feeling really hungry and probably a little hangry, so that was a bummer.  I really should have eaten something before I left!  Lesson learned.  For some reason I thought I'd be okay.  But it was nice.  They had a little shadow show of the nativity, that was cool, just the sound was weird, so it was difficult for me to enjoy that.  But I did get to meet the Guerra's and see their new cute baby!  So that was awesome! 12-1-18